It may feel a little like déjà vu when actor JD Pardo is introduced to audiences as Dell in Road House, a reimagined version of the 1989 cult movie about a bouncer hired to clean up a rowdy bar.
Dell, like Pardo’s character in the FX series Mayans M.C., E.Z. Reyes, is a tough biker who isn’t afraid to come to blows with anyone who gets in his way. In Road House, the person standing in Dell’s way is Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal), a former UFC fighter hired to boot troublemakers from a bar in the Florida Keys.
“I didn’t really look at my role in Road House as, you know, ‘I’m E.Z. Reyes,’” Pardo, 43, told Remezcla during a recent interview during SXSW. “In Road House, I’m just trying to be that crazy ‘Florida Man’ that you always hear about. I was just trying to be that guy and have as much fun with it as possible.”
In the new Road House, Dell gets a chance to be a little crazy during his fight scenes. Pardo said he was used to getting down and dirty with the stunts during his time on Mayans M.C., so he knew taking a fake punch (and sometimes a real punch) was part of the job.
“The stunt scenes … can get brutal,” Pardo said. “It’s choreographed, and everything is about timing and camera angles. Sometimes the actors are really amped up, and they’re bringing all that adrenaline.”
After five seasons on Mayans M.C., Pardo knows all about the adrenaline highs. It couldn’t have been more tense when his character was killed in the series finale by members of his own motorcycle gang. Months later, Pardo still hears from fans about his heartbreaking demise.
“The fans’ reactions have been great,” Pardo said. “It’s so funny because I’ll pull up to a restaurant or wherever and the valet will be like, ‘Man, they did you so wrong!’ In a way, that’s how I felt. So, I always respond to them after they say, ‘They did you so wrong!” I’m like, ‘Yeah, how do you think I felt?!’”
Mayans M.C. is an experience Pardo will never forget as he forages a new path for himself in Hollywood. He said he tries “not to think about” the series too much, and hopes to shed his Mayans M.C. character and “move on.”
“As much as something can be so good for you and bring all this awareness to you in the business, the downside of it is that it can be very limiting,” Pardo said. “It can only showcase one aspect of you. I was the lead in Mayans, so naturally, that’s going to really throw me out there and put me in that light.”
Whatever project comes his way next, JD Pardo is looking for a strong narrative that will make audiences feel something. “That’s what entertainment is all about, at least for me as a storyteller,” he said. “That’s why we do it.”
