Timothy Granaderos is a rising star in Hollywood. The actor plays Montgomery de la Cruz on the hit Netflix series 13 Reasons Why that has arguably become the biggest show of the year. He also currently plays Ash on go90’s T@gged. Timothy took time out of his busy schedule to talk about playing Montgomery on 13 Reasons Why, his hopes for a backstory, the response the show has gotten, and so much more. Plus, he’s got some scoop on T@gged season 2! Here’s our interview with Timothy:
Congratulations on season 2! Do you have any idea if Monty’s going to be in it? I feel like he has to be.
I hope so. Here’s the thing: I’m celebrating the pickup of season 2 just because the story is so important, and there’s so many cool things to take from it. But as an actor, I don’t know any information, so I’m being very hesitant about getting excited for my role in season 2. All you can do is hope that you get included in some capacity and that’s what I’m doing. Either way, I’m happy for all the cast and crew and Brian Yorkey. It’s just an amazing accomplishment.
Do you have any hopes for season 2?
From my perspective, I hope we get to dive into Monty’s background a little bit and figure out why he is the way he is. From a viewer’s perspective, I want to see everyone who deserves to be held accountable [for what happened to Hannah] held accountable in season 2. I think that’s something huge that we can explore.
Do you have any idea 13 Reasons Why was going to be this big?
You know, when we saw the audition notes come through and we saw who was attached and knew it was Netflix, you kind of speculate what it’s going to be. And then you read the script and get the content and you’re like, “Wow, this is really important.” I didn’t even have a huge part in it, but still just being a small part you realize how big of a story it was and how many people could relate and how many people it reached.
While Montgomery was a supporting player, he was a major factor in pushing Tyler and Alex to their breaking points. Do you personally think he’s redeemable in any way?
I’m an optimist as a person, and I like to believe that there’s good in everyone. It goes with this theme of: You never really know what’s going on behind the scenes. So it’s easy to judge someone just based on the surface stuff. I like to think, and I’ve created this whole other backstory, that he’s just a product of his environment. Hopefully there are some redeeming qualities that we maybe get to explore in season 2, but I won’t know until Brian Yorkey does.
Okay, we have to talk about Tyler and the photos in the darkroom. I had to look back and I saw that Monty was in one of the photos. That scene alone was the source of a lot of fan theories.
Oh gosh, I know. I read a few of them.
Are there any theories you’ve seen on the internet that have blown your mind?
There’s the main one I think that Tyler’s going after all the people who wronged him and Alex was the first one. But if you flip it, people are also saying that Alex was nice to Tyler so he took him off his hit list. I don’t know. It just leaves so many questions in the air. Of course, right behind Alex is Montgomery’s face, so as an actor I immediately go, “Oh, I’m not going to make it to the next season.” It’s scary, but from an actor’s perspective, all you want to do is get on something. We’ll see.
What was it like playing the bad guy? Montgomery was very mean and not a nice guy at all.
Well, I think we were all kind of the bad guy. But Montomgery, you’re right. There weren’t very redeeming qualities so towards the end it was kind of a joke of, “Oh, who am I going to push today?” Which is so not in my nature. I mean, I just got to bully on people, which isn’t cool, so from my perspective it was a challenge.
There are so many huge moments over the course of the 13 episodes, is there a moment in season 1 that has stayed with you?
There are so many scenes. Obviously, the finale with Hannah. That scene… I don’t really have to turn my face when I’m watching things, but that was very hard to watch. Katherine Langford was just so engaging in that scene. You immediately think that people actually go through this and feel like they’re alone. You’re watching into this very personal, sad moment and I think that was just the hardest thing for me. Just watching afterwards in my living room.
For you, what’s been the response from fans?
I wrapped 13 Reasons thinking that people aren’t going to like me. I thought that they’re not going to like Montgomery, and they’re not going to like me as Timothy. It’s actually been kind of an awesome response. The fans are just loving it and reaching out and relating to the characters and finding ways to relate to the characters. It’s been quite an awesome response on social media. I think the cooler idea is that we get to reach a bigger audience of people so you get to spread a good message.
You’ve been involved with two shows [13 Reasons Why and T@gged] that deal with social media and its impact, so in real life, do you find yourself wary of social media?
Oh yeah, 100%. I keep saying that social media is an extension of you, and you want to portray yourself as honestly as possible, but you have to respect some line of privacy. Because once you put something out there, it’s out there forever. People can make it into whatever they want to. I have so many random, weird pictures or still frames from stories that I’ve put up that have just taken on a life of their own on social media. So I always try to be safe, and I want fans or people looking at my stuff to look at a picture and see into my personality, but I also want to respect the line of privacy because it is kind of scary. That world is all new. I think no one really realizes until maybe now how scary and threatening it can be.
What’s next for Ash on T@gged this season? The stakes are high on this show, so what can we expect?
Well, you’re right. The stakes are really high in season 2. I think there was a big growth in the characters between season 1 and 2 because of what they had gone through in season 1, so in season 2 they’re just trying to pick up the pieces, and Ash specifically is growing and maturing as an individual as well as in his relationship with Elisia. In season 2, I think he’s just trying to become an adult. He’s trying to leave the drug dealing stuff behind and just focus on being a mature adult. Some new characters get introduced that might things interesting.
I feel like he’s a good guy at the end of the day. He’s done some bad things, but he’s a good guy at his core.
Yeah, I’m glad you think that. I think what I connect to the most with Ash is that he’s a good person deep down. He may be doing x, y, z, but deep down he stays true to himself and relationships around him.
Are there more complications ahead for Ash and Elisia?
I think with their relationship the roots are so deep. As with any relationship that you’ve been in for a long time, sometimes you take it for granted. And I think Alicia tends to push Ash away and, you know, Ash knows why. He knows why she does that and where it comes from. But at the end of the day, he cares for her so much, she could kick him out and he’d still run back and catch up.
HollywoodLifers, do you think Montgomery will show up on 13 Reasons Why season 2? Let us know!