By Julio Martinez
TV Writer Shea Serrano has created an eight-episode coming-of-age, single-camera comedy, inspired by Serrano’s life growing up on the southside of San Antonio. It follows a San Antonio teenager balancing college aspirations, societal expectations and a hectic home life anchored by his single mom and five uncles who each think they know best and are intent on steering their nephew in “the right” direction in FreeVee’s Primo.
Co-executive produced by Mike Shur (co-creator of Brooklyn Nine-Nine). Primo follows the daily life of Rafa Gonzales (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio), a wide-eyed 16-year-old, being raised by his relentlessly matriarchal mother, Drea (Christina Vidal), who not only rules Rafa’s life but also his five overbearing uncles, Rollie (Johnny Rey Diaz), Mike (Henri Esteve), Ryan (Carlos Santos), Jay (Jonathan Medina) and Mondo (Efraín Villa), as they survive day-by-day.
Diaz-Siverio, a relative newcomer with Primo being his series regular role, admits he did not have prior experience of growing up with older brothers. “I had a lot of older cousins whom I spent Summer vacations with,” he explained. “They let me know I was at the lower end of the pecking order.” While Christina Vidal, chimes in about her sibling rivalry experience. “I was the youngest with two sisters and a brother. I remember my brother practicing karate on me. Someone was always bossing me around.”
Vidal, on the other hand brings an extensive career as an actress and singer to the table. She is best known for her roles in films such as Life with Mikey (opposite Michael J. Fox and her debut at age 12), Brink!, Freaky Friday, See No Evil, and her title role in the Nickelodeon sitcom, Taina (2001–2002), followed by Code Black (2015-16) and Training Day (2017). As a singer, at age 17, she joined a girl group called Gemstone (with Jade Villalon and Crystal Grant). In 2002, she provided guest vocals on the remix of Will Smith’s summer hit, Black Suits Comin’ from the Men in Black II soundtrack. She also recorded a track for the workout CD called Byou from Sabrina Bryab of The Cheetah Girls.
Vidal understands the dilemma for Rafa in this series, navigating his way through his junior year in high school, attempting to find his place in a family that has no boundaries. “It is chaos for Rafa,” she affirms. “All the uncles are at the house all the time, eating the food, bossing Rafa around as if they live there.”
“Rafa is used to the chaos. He’s never known anything else”, Diaz-Silverio adds. “Through it all he is trying to concentrate on three things: he wants to bond with his friends as he is nearing the end of high school; he’s sure he just met the girl of his dreams, Mya (Stakiah Lynn Washington); and he just found out he has a real chance to become the first person in his family to go to college.”
Diaz-Silverio started his acting career at a young age in live theater and film. Now 21 years old, although he plays a lot younger, Diaz-Silverio also has a film e starred in with Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman in Zach Braff’s A Good Person (MGM). Other works include Samuel D. Hunter’s A Bright New Boise at the Signature Theater and he was nominated for a 2023 Helen Hayes Award for his work in John Proctor Is The Villain at Washington D.C.’s Studio Theatre.
“I was raised by a single mother and I did have five uncles who all lived nearby in South San Antonio,” screenwriter Serrano tells us. He mixed in elements of his married life. “Mya is based on my wife, Laramie, who I met during my first year of college. We both graduated and went on to become teachers.”
Serrano’s road to screenwriting was serendipitous. “After college, I became a middle-school science teacher. My wife went through a difficult pregnancy and couldn’t work for a while. I looked at different jobs I could do while still teaching. I became a sports writer for a local neighborhood paper, making fifteen dollars per article.” Then over the next eight years, Serrano worked his way up to writing for ESPN.
“Then one night I was out having dinner with Laramie and discussed with her writing a series about the people who were important to me,” he explained. She thought it a was brilliant idea. Serrano called his friend Mike Schur. “Mike liked the concept and guided me through the whole process,” he recalls fondly. “I am amazed. This is my first screenwriting job, an eight-episode television sitcom. I am simultaneously overwhelmed and overjoyed.”
Primo debuts May 19, streaming on Amazon Freevee. Over the course of the eight episodes, Rafa, his mom, uncles, friends, and crush—will all help one another grow in ways they expected…whether they like it or not. It is also very, very funny.