Mexican actor Alexis Sides landed his first major role when he was cast as Pedro aka Potato in Paramount+ series ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’, the TV spin-off from the iconic 1978 film ‘Grease’.
One of the members of the T-Birds, Potato has slowly become a fan favourite and recent episodes have hinted that the character may be about to embark on a romance with Pink Ladies member Nancy (Tricia Fukuhara). The latest episode of the series, which arrives in the US today and the UK tomorrow (Friday) promises to be a big one for Potato.
I caught up with Alexis to talk about being part of ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’, find out what’s in store for Potato and to discuss his love of cooking and baking…
‘Grease’ is such a huge brand for Paramount and ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ is a huge priority for them. How did you feel when you found out you were going to be a part of the show?
It was just crazy. I’ve been auditioning for a long time and this is my first project. As a theatre kid in Mexico, I grew up knowing about ‘Vaselina’, which is what we call ‘Grease’ in Mexico. I’d heard the music in English and Spanish. I was aware of how big this franchise is, if not one of the biggest ones in the movie industry and theatre and Broadway as well. I was pretty excited. When I found out that I was not only part of ‘Grease’, but one of the T-Birds I was over the moon.
It must have been crazy to slip on one of those jackets and step into that world? The costumes and the styling is such a big part of this show. What was that like for you?
I don’t think you can feel like the character until you put on the costume. You can do whatever you want beforehand and create a backstory and do whatever you want to your character, but as soon as you put on the costume, that for me is the moment where I fully delve into the character. There are things that (the costume department) can give you that you didn’t know that the character had, and that can give you indications of things that you didn’t even know (about the character). It’s pretty cool putting on those jackets and the T-Birds one was pretty epic! Pretty legendary.
It must have been quite tempting to slip that jacket in your bag and take it home when you finished filming?
It was very tempting to ask but they definitely have seasons planned so I’m like, ‘you know what? I’m not gonna ask right now in this first season’. I was lucky enough to snag one of the marketing jackets of the T-Birds but that’s the only thing (I have). Not the original one though. The original one, hopefully I can get it at the end of all the seasons, if it happens.
Let’s talk about your character, who is known as Potato…
(laughs) The only vegetable in the show!
Your character has been slowly revealing himself episode-by-episode and it looks like there’s going to be a romance with Nancy. How has the first half of the season been for you?
It was fun. Hanging with the T-Birds and just being silly on camera in the background, and coming up with silly things to do was really fun. Doing it in the T-Birds jacket is just amazing. I really can’t wait to see how everybody reacts to the upcoming episodes. It’s not only Potato, there’s a lot of characters whose story we see develop in the upcoming episodes so I’m not only excited about Potato, I’m excited about everybody else. Shy Guy has a lot of development. Wally has a lot of development and Buddy has a lot of development in the upcoming episodes, so I can’t wait to see all that happen. I knew that the last four or five episodes were going to be the most loaded ones in terms of story arcs and developments.
One of the things that’s quite rare about this show is that the writers have managed to flesh out an incredibly large ensemble cast, which is pretty rare…
I think that’s one of the things, for example, that was missed on ‘Grease’ and I see a lot of people talking about that. We definitely get the chance to delve into the characters in this show. ‘Grease’ is only (just over) an hour and a half so you don’t really get an opportunity to really delve into the other characters; the other T-Birds and the other Pink Ladies as much as you would like. In this show, we have 10 hours worth of screen time so the writers really have an opportunity to explore the characters and tell the story.
The show is a huge production as you’re not only required to act, you need to learn songs and choreography too. What’s that like?
It’s fun. I come from a theatre background, that’s how I started acting. For me, it’s really fun doing all that. For the body, it gets really tiring to a point, but it’s just the happiness helps to overcome the tiredness. ‘New Cool’, the T-Birds’ first song when we’re in a fantasy scene, (we were in) a dark closed room. There was about 20-25 people in total in that small room. It was steamy, like I was sweating but we kept the energy going. There is an energy inside of the room that is just unmatched to anything. You forget about how much you’re sweating and you forget that it’s the 10th time that you’re doing this part. It all comes together for sure.
The way the show is filmed, especially those musical numbers, is so impressive. I remember having to pick my jaw up from the floor at the drive-in sequence in episode 1 where you’re all singing ‘Grease’…
Yeah, it gives you the illusion that it’s theatre. There are all these moving elements and everything, the one shot. It gives you the sense that it’s theatre.
I know you can’t tell me too much about what’s coming up but can you tease anything about what viewers can expect for Potato in these back four episodes?
Well, not only for Potato, in the upcoming episode there’s a lot happening with the T-Birds. That’s all I can say. We’re going to continue from the last episode where the T-Birds were driving away. We’re gonna see what happened when they went away and for the upcoming episodes who knows? We’ve still got the prom coming up so that’s going to be interesting and the fair. There’s a lot of sneak peeks that they released in the trailers so if people are interested in finding out what’s coming up in these following episodes, pay attention to the teaser trailers, because there’s a lot of info there. I’ve seen on Reddit already there are people coming up with theories. It’s really fun to see them.
The fans online miss absolutely nothing and they can give you instant feedback. It seems that they’ve really taken to the show, particularly recreating songs on TikTok. What’s it been like to see the reactions in real time?
It’s interesting, it’s very fun. This is my first time having people talk about a show that I’m part of and having people talking about my character. It’s been really interesting, fun… time consuming because I have (hashtags) bookmarked on my Twitter, on TikTok and Tumblr. It’s just really fun to see everything and obviously I don’t take a lot of the comments seriously but I do know when to take feedback. That’s something that is really good because sometimes you know when to take feedback about your character and it’s just fun to see people who like my character the most. I can’t wait to see what else they come up with.
I was reading that outside of acting, you have a passion for cooking. I’m a self-taught cook and baker so I want to know what your speciality is…
I’m more of a baker but I love doing both. I just like cooking new things. Whenever I see something that I like on TV, something challenging, I like to recreate it like lasagne. I love to do it from scratch, doing my own tomato sauce from your celery, carrot and onion, mixing it with oil. I don’t know, Mexican and Italian, there’s not a favorite dish that I have. I do love cooking new things and I’ve been learning a lot of Mexican because Mexican is really hard and ingredients are hard to get here in Canada. That’s a good question. Let’s say lasagne. I like doing lasagne because it’s a constructive thing. It’s meticulous and I like those kinds of things. I’m a perfectionist so when I make lasagne it has to be perfect. I cut the slices to the point (laughs).
Making pasta is incredibly therapeutic…
With your music in the background and everything. I love it!
We sound very similar in the kitchen. I also pick challenging things I see on TV and try to make them…
‘The Great British Bake Off’ you know it? I love it. That’s what started me on baking to be honest.
What else do you have in the pipeline at the moment?
There’s the Writers’ Strike (at the moment) that I hope gets solved soon. The writers are a big part of the industry and without them we wouldn’t have the industry that we have nowadays. They’re the essential part of the show so I hope that gets solved soon. Because of that, unfortunately, there’s not a lot of things happening right now. I can say that I recently booked a small part in an upcoming TV show. As it comes closer, I’ll be sharing news on my Instagram. Right now it’s just auditioning and hoping for the best with Season Two.
There’s so much buzz around this show, surely there has to be a season 2?
Hopefully. I am biased but I love this show. I saw the first five episodes a month before it was aired. The songs and the choreography, the characters, the set design… everything is just so good. I don’t see why it’s not gonna get picked up for a second season but you never know nowadays! You never know.
‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ is streaming now on Paramount+ with new episodes dropping Thursday in the US and Friday in the UK. Watch the trailer for the series below:
