The TV Chick

Photo Credit: Lesley Bryce 

I adore Army Wives. It’s a truly unique show, full of all the drama and cliffhangers you could possibly want. This season has been an interesting one, with some new faces and the lack of one of my favorites (come back Pamela!) and a couple of near death experiences. One of those new faces is Joseph Julian “JJ” Soria, who plays Hector Cruz. He’s a young soldier, who cheated on his wife Gloria and now has to face the consequences of his one night stand. Those consequences are not small though, and they come in the form of a pregnant girl and a broken marriage. I recently had the chance to chat with JJ about what’s coming up for Hector and Gloria, being the newbie in the cast and what he would like to see from Hector going forward.

When you first got the role of Hector, did you do any research into army life?
The research that I did was probably the night before I started working because on the plane, I met up with Drew Fuller, who plays Trevor. And he kind of took me under his wing and he said “watch this documentary, here’s the book, watch a couple episodes and get up to speed.” And that’s exactly what I did. The documentary, called Restrepo, gave me really good insight on the mind of someone who was in the service and I took a look at the book and watched a couple of episodes.

It’s been a big season for Hector. Have you been surprised by all the twists and turns for him and Gloria?
There was a bit of a twist for me and I was like, “What?! Oh man!” Out of the main cast, I was the dark horse. I was the bad seed, so to speak. It’s kind of turned that way. But in my opinion, Hector really isn’t a bad guy. He’s a young kid who’s made some dumb choices. We can all relate to that. So he’s ambitious. He wants to be the best soldier he can be. He wants to be the best husband he can be. He’s hot headed, he’s stubborn, and that’s where they clash. They’re growing up. They’re kids. And unfortunately, he made a big mistake. We don’t know if he’s going to get himself out of it. He knows he loves his wife, truly. He just did something that was a big mistake.

I take it that you are rooting for Hector and Gloria to resolve their issues.
Of course. You want any couple to last. You want any couple to make the best of it and work through whatever challenges they are going through. You never want anyone not to make it. I don’t.

This week’s episode has the return of Penny. I know you can’t say too much but what can you share about her return and what’s coming up?
Every time Penny came into the script, I was like oh crap! Expect more drama. Any time she’s in the story, you can expect bad news for the Cruz [family].

You came into the show in the sixth season, with a very tight knit cast. Have they been very welcoming?
Oh my God, they have been so welcoming. That is my biggest compliment to everyone across the board, cast and crew. It’s very much a family atmosphere, everyone supports one another. No egos, literally. I have been blessed to be a part of really cool projects, and projects that have none of that Hollywood crap. It’s all about just going there, having fun together and making the best product, and putting that product out there. And that’s what we do. They took us both under their wing, Alyssa and myself, and were very welcoming.

You’ve mostly worked with Alyssa and Drew. Is there anyone that you’d love to have a scene with that you haven’t worked with yet?
They’re all really good actors, so I’d love to work with all of them. I’ve established a good rapport with Bobby Burke [who plays General Kevin Clarke], so that’s someone I’d like to work with more. But everybody. Everybody across the board.

What would you like to see from Hector going forward after all of his mistakes?
They’ve told me the storyline that they’re considering if the show gets picked up for another season. And I’m excited about it. I think there’s some more turmoil for Hector. That’s the thing, they didn’t want this whole thing to happen and then they don’t know, we don’t know, if this couple’s going to make it or not. They wanted to make it realistic. No couple goes through something like that and then two weeks later are back together. That takes time. You get cheated on like that in a marriage, someone you commit your life to, and then oh okay, you slept with somebody? Alright. That’s not realistic. So, I want to see him rebound. And I’m excited about what they have coming next season if there is a next season. [Hector] will have a lot of heartache and pain. I think I will be going through a lot of stuff but I think it will be worthwhile. I say hopefully because I don’t know exactly what they have planned. But at the end of the day, I would like to see everything work out for the best.

Can we expect to see some more big cliffhangers?
Oh yeah. Of course.

It wouldn’t be Army Wives without a big cliffhanger.
Exactly. It wouldn’t be Army Wives without it.

Do you have any other projects coming up that we should watch for?
Right now, I’m working on a film called Ten Cent Pistol. And then I have a short film that I’m really excited about coming up next week. Next year, I have two films coming out. One is called Mission Park, which I haven’t even seen yet but it’s gotten good reviews.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 10 PM to Lifetime for an all new episode of Army Wives.