BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — When I met the lead of campy new spy drama “Matador,” he asked me to pinch him.
Austin native Gabriel Luna wanted to make sure he wasn’t just dreaming, that he really was in a TV series that also starred the esteemed Alfred Molina.
“Fred is one of the world’s greatest actors,” Luna said of Molina in a one-on-one interview. “Every day I work with him is another chance to do the best work I’ve ever done.”
“Fred is one of the world’s greatest actors,” Luna said of Molina in a one-on-one interview. “Every day I work with him is another chance to do the best work I’ve ever done.”
“Matador” debuts at 8 p.m. Tuesday on Robert Rodriguez’s El Rey Network.
In the hour-long drama, Luna plays Tony Bravo, a former DEA agent who joins a professional soccer team — Los Angeles Riot — in order to go undercover for a super-secret branch of the CIA and gain access to circles believed to be engaging in corrupt activities. Of particular interest is the team’s billionaire owner (Molina) who is suspected of being involved in clandestine activities of the international kind.
Rodriguez directed the first episode, and you can see his influence in almost every scene: the surprises, the humor, the cleaver-in-the-head violence. ”It’s kick-ass,” Rodriguez said of the series at a press session here. “It’s unpredictable. The characters are really engaging, and then the twists and turns. . .It’s your dream kind of show to do.”
Luna is especially engaging as rough-around-the-edges spy Bravo — whether he’s pursuing criminals, flirting with fetching females who cross his path or chasing the ball on the soccer field.
The actor also was a delight in person — polite, personable and genuinely excited to learn I was from San Antonio.
“I’ve been a Spurs fan for so long!” Luna announced. “Timmy’s been the best player since Jordan and he has the trophies to prove it!”
Luna’s own sport was football, however. “It was my passion in high school,” he said.
His Texas childhood was anything but typical, however. “My mother was a 15-year-old widow. My father passed away before I was born,” Luna said.
Knowing it was up to him to make something out of his life, he studied hard and graduated “17th out of a class of 500-plus.”
He’d hoped to go to college on a football scholarship but that was shattered by a dislocated shoulder.
However, something unexpected happened that put him on his current path. His grandmother set a box in front of him and in it were yearbooks that belonged to the father he’d never met. “At the bottom was a VHS tape. On it was my father, acting in a play. There he was, this guy who was the spitting image of me, walking and talking on stage in all his glory. Seeing that gave me a sense of empowerment.”
Luna decided to give acting a shot as well. He tried out for a school play and got the part. He was so impressive, in fact, that he was offered a full scholarship to St. Edward’s University.
From there, he got small roles in movies such as “Bernie” and “Temple Grandin” and guest parts in TV shows such as “Touch” and “NCIS: Los Angeles.”
“Matador” is definitely his biggest break — and he’s determined to make Rodriguez proud.
Judging by what I’ve seen, Luna is well on his way.
