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Justina Machado is grateful to be back.
The actress has returned for Season 4 of “One Day at a Time,” an award-winning comedy inspired by Emmy winner Norman Lear’s 1975 series of the same name. The heartfelt sitcom follows three generations of a Cuban-American family navigating the ups and downs of life in Los Angeles all living together under one roof. The critically acclaimed show tackles timely issues, including mental illness, immigration, and racism, among others.
While “One Day at a Time” ran for three seasons on Netflix, it was ultimately canceled. However, the news prompted an outpouring of audience support, causing the series to be revived by Pop TV.
In the show, Machado, 47, plays Penelope Alvarez, a single mother raising two children. She spoke to Fox News about what it was like auditioning for Lear, 97, working alongside Rita Moreno, why we need family-friendly programming now more than ever, and the one message she has for critics.
Norman Lear
(Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
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Fox News: You previously auditioned at Norman Lear’s house. What was that like?
Justina Machado: Well, it was one of the auditions, because I had many. I was terrified. I was so scared. I was like, “Oh God, here we go. Here we go.” And you know, he’s just so lovely. We pull up to his place and we go in there. I mean, I go in there and I sit down and I’m having this really wonderful conversation with him.
And then after 30 minutes of us having this pretty conversation, just he and I, he goes, “OK, now read for me.” So then I had to audition for him after sitting there and speaking to him for 30 minutes. I was like, “Oh God.” It’s like because, you know, it’s always nerve-wracking to audition. It was surreal. But it was also really exciting because when I left I knew that something special had happened and I was pretty sure I had the job. So it was pretty exciting.
Fox News: What has surprised you the most about Rita Moreno?
Machado: She’s so brave. She will try, because we filmed this in front of a studio audience, and they give us so much life and so much energy. But just her going out there and trying things, and being so funny and getting it and when she gets something, it’s just kind of like magic. She’s magical. She’s courageous, and she’s a really hard worker and she’s Rita Moreno, so she doesn’t have to be the really hard worker. And yet that’s what she lives for. She’s one of the greatest artists. So she’s just amazing to be around.
Rita Moreno
(Photo by Brad Barket/Invision/AP)
Fox News: Have you ever met any celebrity fans of “One Day at a Time”?
Machado: Yeah, Christian Slater. That was really surprising. I was at a Golden Globes party and he was saying hi to somebody. I thought he was talking to somebody behind me. So I was looking behind me, but he was trying to get my attention and he was with his wife and they were so lovely. They said, “We’re such fans of the show. We love you on the show.” So that was surprising, Christian Slater.
MacKenzie Phillips (R) and Valerie Bertinelli in the original ‘One Day at a Time.’
(CBS via Getty Images)
Fox News: Reboots and remakes are all the rage, but they also tend to face a lot of criticism. What will you tell critics who feel that this show should be its own thing, as opposed to being a remake of a classic?
Machado: It is its own thing because it’s really a reimagining of “One Day at a Time.” We have the basics, a single mom who lives with her kids. But in the original, they didn’t have the grandmother living there, and there were two girls as opposed to a boy and a girl. And we’re a Latinx family. So it’s a lot different than you would think, even though we share some basic commonalities. So I would say give it a try because I think you’re going to like it. It’s going to be a spin on something. I mean, ours definitely is a reimagining and it’s people that love the original also love ours.
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Fox News: Why do you believe family-friendly programming is crucial to have now more than ever?
Machado: I think one of the reasons is because the families are stuck together. So they have to kind of watch something that everyone is going to find something to relate to and enjoy as a family. And also it just the wonderful thing about the Alvarez family is they are already on top of each other.
They live in this little apartment and they navigate their world in this little apartment. And I mean, they’re able to go out. We’re not able to do that right now. But they navigate and they learn how to live with each other. And appreciate each other’s craziness or anything like that. So I think that it just kind of teaches you right now family programming that being together is good. And just putting out warm feelings and love and all that stuff that we need right now.
Fox News: How does it feel to know that “One Day at a Time” was picked up for a fourth season because fans demanded it?
Machado: It felt amazing. It was very shocking. I was not one of the people that thought it was going to happen. A lot of my cast did, all of my executive producers did. I thought it’s just, it’s not going to happen. So the fact that our fans continued rallying and they continued tweeting and continued asking about it and really got us noticed is incredible. Something that I didn’t think was going to happen. So it made it even more special for me.
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Fox News: Take us back to that first day on set when everyone was reunited for the first time since this all happened. What was that like?
Machado: It’s so funny, everybody had a different experience. It was like we had never left… Even though I did kind of feel a little rocky, it did feel immediate, like almost as if we didn’t have that long hiatus, almost as if we had just come back a couple of months later. It felt that together with me.
Fox News: Ray Romano is a guest star in the first episode of the season. And what was it like working him?
Machado: Oh, he’s so funny. He’s just so quick. He came up with so many alternative jokes and I think one of the ones that we actually ended up using was a joke that he came up with. He’s just very easygoing, very nice. A team player, really funny. And we were all so geeked out having him there. We were all starstruck. We love Ray Romano. So it was a lot of fun.
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Fox News: Is there less pressure for the cast to be on Pop TV as opposed to Netflix?
Machado: Well, it’s interesting because there’s always pressure. Because even though we’re at Pop right now and Pop wants us there and we want to be there, we still need people to watch the show in order for Pop to say, “We’re going to give you another season.” So there’s always a little bit of pressure. Even though there’s less pressure I understand what you’re saying. Because they wanted us there, Pop, it still kind of we got to get the numbers and we have to get people to watch the show so that we can stay at Pop.
“One Day at a Time” airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. EST on Pop TV.
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