In ‘Florida Man,’ Edgar Ramirez ‘has fun with’ popular meme

Edgar Ramirez says his new series “Florida Man,” now on Netflix, would possibly percentage a reputation with the popular meme of the similar identify, however it isn’t making fun of the state or its citizens.

“It does not make fun of that, it has fun with it, which is completely different,” mentioned Ramirez in an interview.

In “ Florida Man ” — the TV display — Ramirez performs Mike Valentine, an ex-cop in Philadelphia who falls from grace on account of a playing habit. He additionally nonetheless owes a large debt to a neighborhood mob boss (Emory Cohen) so he frequently has to do his grimy paintings. On his orders, Ramirez’s persona begrudgingly returns to his house state of Florida to trace down his boss’ runaway female friend (Abbey Lee). What he intends to be a handy guide a rough go back and forth turns right into a wild treasure hunt that opens up a Pandora’s field about his previous.

“It is humorous, however it’s darkish. It’s offbeat, it’s abnormal, it’s bizarre,” Ramirez mentioned. “The absurdity of the situations is where the comedy lies.”

He says Valentine is one of those people who believes he innocently finds himself in absurd situations — but in reality, he courts it.

“He’s very dramatic. I think that he foolishly thinks the way to get out of chaos is by creating more chaos. He believes that he can outrun the ghosts of his past,” he said.

Despite its title, “Florida Man” is filmed in North Carolina. To get a feel for Florida, Ramirez spoke to the show’s creator, Donald Todd, who is from there. He also traveled to the state.

“I went to the puts that impressed the tale … to have a look at the characters, the ambience within the air and the temper that impressed the display,” he mentioned.

Before he ever went into appearing, Ramirez labored in journalism in his house nation of Venezuela and says that need to be told about other people and issues remains to be inside him, and serves him as of late.

“Maybe it has to do with my journalistic background, you know? I’m interested in the human experience. I’m a very curious person,” he said. “That curiosity is the driving force of everything that I do, not only as an actor, but in other interests that I have.”

The actor — whose past roles include “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Carlos” and “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” says the fun of “Florida Man” set him up mentally to enter his subsequent activity, now filming: season two of Peacock’s anthology sequence “Dr. Death.” It’s based on the podcast of the same name. Ramirez will play the con man masked as a world-renowned surgeon whom a TV producer falls for, based on a true story. He says that role is “one of the darkest” he’s ever had.

“We see it a lot, especially when women are conned. ‘How could she fall for that? Oh, my gosh. She’s so naive’ and all of that. It’s almost like they’re being blamed,” he mentioned. “The truth is that they’re individuals who devote their whole existence to con folks, so it’s now not the sufferer’s fault.”