Gregg Sulkin on Sparks Flying With Mayan in ‘Lopez vs. Lopez’ Guest Spot (VIDEO)
Is family history destined to repeat itself? That’s what concerns Mayan (Mayan Lopez) in the March 24 episode of the NBC comedy.
In “Lopez vs Cheating” on Lopez vs. Lopez, Gregg Sulkin guest stars as a visiting veterinarian who takes an interest in Mayan, leading her to worry that she might be destined to repeat the Lopez legacy of cheating, going all the way back to her Aztec ancestor, Tonto Tecate-Can. Watch Mayan awkwardly introduce herself to Dr. Bell in the exclusive sneak peek above.
Sulkin previews his guest spot and talks working with the cast and director Danielle Fishel.
What should we know about Dr. Bell going into this episode?
Gregg Sulkin: He is a bird specialist. I’m visiting Mayan’s veterinary clinic and during that week when I’m there, I’m preparing for BirdCon. But as I take a professional interest in Mayan and as Mayan assists me at BirdCon, the family and Quinten [Matt Shively], Mayan’s partner, is worried that I could have ulterior motives and that Mayan may end up falling into the trap of cheating on Quinten due to the DNA that potentially exists within the family.
I’ve never played a bird specialist before. I’ve never worked with birds before. I’ve worked with cats, I’ve worked with dogs, but never birds. So it was a very interesting experience and especially when you’re trying to make a scene look very romantic and birds fly around your head, you don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Nicole Weingart/NBC
Is he interested in her personally or is it just professional?
He definitely has a professional interest in her and we will see where the episode then continues. But no, I think he admires Mayan for the talented woman that she is.
What are their interactions like then, because there might be like that undercurrent of maybe something personal?
Well, definitely comedic. I think it’s a really funny character. A lot of comedy comes from obviously George and Quinten, who potentially think that I may have ulterior motives, and so watching that unfold is a lot of fun. And I’ve known Matt for a very long time, so to get to work with Matt was great, and then obviously to get to work with George too is fantastic.
Talk about that reunion with Matt.
We’ve had a lot of respect for one another because I feel like every pilot season — which is a very lucky position to be in — we’ve just always been in the circuit for a very long time. Also we live in the same neighborhood. So two weeks actually before we started, I bumped into him at Ralph’s and he told me, “Hey, I hear you may be coming on our show.” I was like, “Well, this is the first time I’m hearing of it, so thank you for telling me.” Two hours later, I’ve got a phone call telling me about the show. He’s a great actor and he’s worked for years, so it was nice to be able to be on set with him.
Tell me everything about BirdCon.
There’s a line that Dr. Bell says, “BirdCon is like Comic-Con, but instead of regular nerds, it’s bird nerds.” And obviously that’s Dr. Bell saying those words, not myself, because I’ve been to Comic-Con and I love those people. I would never label the community that comes out to Comic-Con as obviously nerds. I think they’re an amazing, very passionate group of people. I’ve spent many years, around the world, to be honest, meeting people at Comic-Cons and things like that just because I did a Marvel show. But it’s basically a bunch of bird admirers, who instead of going to see a Marvel show, you’re going to go and check out hawks.
Working with a bunch of birds on set was definitely an experience. They’re animals, so if they need to go to the bathroom, they need to go to the bathroom and you have no control over that. Also if they speak or fly away, you also have no control over that either. So filming those days, I think the first assistant director definitely padded some extra hours on those scenes and working with the birds.
Nicole Weingart/NBC
You talked a bit about this already, but talk about working with the cast because is this such a funny show and I imagine with George, Mayan, and everyone else, that must be the case behind the scenes as well. So any anecdotes you can share?
I definitely feel very lucky to have joined the show. I think George and Mayan are terrific. I think their dynamic on the show is wonderful. It’s also really nice to work with a father and daughter. They haven’t been shy in sharing their own sort of personal journey, and I think where they are today is really beautiful in the sense of they’re working together, that they are a family at the end of the day and this show has brought them closer together, which has been really, really nice to see.
And then on the work side of stuff, it’s great. It really is like a family atmosphere and I really, really, really enjoyed the show. There’s a lot of love there. There’s a lot of comedy. Obviously George has been doing this for a very long time, and so personally I was watching him when I wasn’t working just to see if I can pick up some tips. He’s not afraid to try anything. He’ll push the limits, which as an actor, it’s really inspiring to see because when hopefully I lead my next multi-cam comedy and hopefully a network one, I’ve learned a lot from George’s sort of braveness when you’re on the floor and to take risks and to push the comedic boundaries. So it was great. And Mayan’s become a friend of mine now. Hopefully this won’t be the last of Dr. Bell because I really, really, really enjoyed working with them.
Yeah, I was wondering: What are the chances of seeing you again?
I really enjoyed my experience. I think it all just depends on obviously scheduling and the stars aligning when it comes to that stuff. Obviously I would love to be part of the show and I know that George was very kind and said that he’d love me to come back on the show. We’ll see what happens. I think there’s a lot of mini logistics that I’m sure could be sorted out. But yes, I loved it. Working just for NBC even was great because I hadn’t worked at NBC yet. So that was a fun, exciting opportunity for me too.
And Danielle Fishel directed you.
I love Danielle. Obviously I know that people have a lot of admiration for Danielle and I understand why because I think she’s so talented. George even said a few days in, he just sort of announced it to the crew, that Danielle was just doing such a fabulous job. I think especially on multi-cam, it’s really nice to have a director that has acted before. I experienced that with Phil Lewis, who obviously has done a ton of multi-cam. I really, really enjoyed that experience. Danielle was exactly the same, because if you’re not understanding something or she may have an idea, she’ll literally get up on her feet and kind of do it for you because she gets it and she understands the physicality that a sitcom sort of requires actors to have. And sometimes when things aren’t funny, it’s really amazing to have a director that’s willing to go in the trenches with you and figure it out together. So having Danielle was really lovely and I loved working with her.
What else do you have coming up?
I have a BBC1 show coming out called World on Fire, which is actually amazing. I just joined their second season. That’s coming out in the summer. I’m really, really, really proud of that show. It’s unbelievable.
And I’m actually in the car right now on the way to finish a Tyler Perry movie with Kerry Washington, Oprah, Susan Sarandon. It’s kind of crazy when I say I’m in a movie with Oprah. It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but that’s a World War II drama for Netflix, which is an unbelievable story. It’s called Six Triple Eight.
Is there anything else you can share about that?
I have a ton of respect for Tyler Perry and what he’s built and how hardworking he is and he’s a machine, but he’s also extremely kind and extremely humble and gracious. So I’m just happy to now be part of Tyler’s world and Tyler’s vision and the movie’s an unbelievable story. I’m really, really, really excited for people to see that.
Lopez vs. Lopez, Fridays, 8/7c, NBC
