🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐
Florida Man is the kind of genre-bender that has a little something for everyone. The new limited series centers on ex-cop Mike Valentine (Edgar Ramírez) and his search for a mob boss’ runaway girlfriend, Delly West (Abbey Lee). It features an action-packed treasure hunt/heist, an unsolved murder, family drama, fake deaths, double crosses and more.
At the heart of all that pulpy noir goodness, however, is a true romance — and several memorably sexy moments — that hinge on the chemistry between Ramírez and Lee. Though they’d never met before, Venezuela-born Ramírez and Australian actor and model Lee say they felt an instant connection that eased their challenging shooting schedule. “I had the most beautiful experience working with her,” says Ramírez. “We were really blessed to have that connection,” adds Lee.
The two stars recently chatted with Tudum about the fun they had with their characters and the series’ many twists and turns, including that wild finale. They also discuss their joy in experiencing the American South for the first time and the secret ingredient involved in that steamy shower scene.
What were your first impressions of each other?
Edgar Ramírez: It was a very easy, very direct, organic connection. It almost felt like we’d met years before, and we were just re-encountering again for the show. And then we stayed four months filming…
Abbey Lee: I think we were shooting for longer than that, Edgar. I feel like we were [shooting] for like six months.
Ramírez: Oh, that long?
Well, if you don’t remember it being six months and you thought it was four, that’s a good sign, right?
Ramírez: It’s a great sign, because we had a lot of fun. Of course, I’ve told this to Abbey privately, but I can tell it to everybody: I had the most beautiful experience working with her. I mean, she’s my champion. What an amazing actress and what a great, great partner in crime. No pun intended.
Lee: We were really blessed to have that connection because of the stuff that we had to do, and dealing with COVID at the time and all the different directors — there’s a lot going on when you’re shooting a TV show. And to have someone that you could feel like you can lean on, it’s really important.
Ramírez: I feel the same. Abbey was always there for me because it was hard work. The experience was great, but it was insane. There’s no dull moment in this show. Everything is very intense. Even the scenes that seem quiet and moody are very layered, and I think that’s one of the things that I love the most about the piece; it’s the tone. It’s comedy, but not ha-ha. It’s a family drama and it’s a heist and it’s noir. It’s like the genre bending of the show and the tone was very specific and everyone needed to be on their toes, so it was a real blessing to have someone like Abbey for me. She helped me a lot in moments where you would get stuck and blocked and, “OK, what am I doing here?” And our chemistry clearly is so palpable.
When you say the word “noir,” there’s sort of a sensuality to it and there’s a magnetism between these two characters. Can you talk a little bit about that and how you navigated filming the more intimate scenes?
Ramírez: I feel like I speak on behalf of both of us because we’ve spoken about this at length. We have a committed and very sensitive group of directors and collaborators that helped us feel very safe so that we could also go to beautiful places in the moment. Things were choreographed, but we were also very present because we had already established a beautiful trust. It’s so beautiful to feel safe.
Lee: I think what’s also important about the intimacy and feeling comfortable is that we had a really good sense of humor about all of it… It adds to the energy of the scene as well because it just adds sort of an extra [layer] of connection that we have.
Can you talk a little bit about your characters’ steamy shower scene?
Ramírez: It was slippery and it was messy — as is intimacy itself. I hope that everyone has had the chance to experience beautiful intimacy in their lives. And yeah, Abbey’s completely right — there was a lot of sense of humor that went into it, and we had a great time. I think that you got cold at some point. Remember, Abbey? I think it was the moment that the hot water didn’t work… we were laughing like kids behind the curtain while they were setting up the shot again. And we also wanted it to feel as real as life itself — that is, messy and unpredictable and unexpected.
Lee: Also, it’s important to note, the great thing about the changes that have happened in Hollywood is that you have the intimacy coordinator, who’s a buffer and a middleman, and if you have any discomfort, or if you need anything, there’s somebody there with a literal backpack full of all sorts of things. Like if you’ve got to kiss, they’ve got mints. You don’t have to have any awkward conversations. You can just pull somebody aside and say, “I don’t like this,” or, “This is not good.” And there was also an element of me and Edgar just feeling so comfortable and wanting to have fun with it to where we were sort of asking for a bit of freedom from the intimacy coordinator, being like, “We’re good with this. We’re good with that. This modesty patch is falling off in the soapy water. I’m happy to take it off.”
Abbey, you have another memorable scene that involves a lot of fake blood. Can you have fun with that or is it extra messy?
Lee: Honestly, fake blood is an absolute nightmare to work with. It sticks to everything, including all the little hairs on your body, so it feels like it’s giving you a free wax. It gets cold really quickly, and they have to keep reapplying it. Obviously, it takes a thousand hours to shoot because resetting blood is very difficult, so you’re sticky and cold for a really long time.
Does it come off with regular water or do you have to use something like coconut oil?
Lee: The thing is, the coloring in the blood stains your skin, and the easiest way to get it off is men’s shaving cream. So you sort of smell like a man for a long time, too.
What did you enjoy most about filming by the ocean?
Lee: Even if it was super early, before work I’d jump in the sea. And any time that we were shooting by the sea, the crew were very aware that once we wrapped, I was going to be in the ocean. So they had to add that time to my turnaround.
Ramírez: I’ve never been to the South in the United States, and it was a very educating, beautiful experience for me. I love to be in a small community, to see the seasons change. I mean, each state in this country, it’s a country of its own. And you can’t really define the American experience by only being in LA or only being in New York or only being in Chicago, only being in Miami. I think that it gave me a better understanding of my new country, the country where I live.
Let’s talk about that big finale moment on the boat. How do you feel about the ending? What do we think happens next? Did they steal the gold? Did Mike’s dad give it to him?
Ramírez: One of the things that I love the most about the show is that even until the end, you’re still guessing, as you are right now. Was there a moment where they agreed to meet somewhere, or did she steal the gold for him?
Lee: I mean, Delly’s always looking for the best way out into the next best situation. She just wants better than what she’s got, and she wanted that “better” to be with Mike. Mike wasn’t there for it, so she decides to go out and get whatever she needs on her own. But she also chose to use a boat that she knows that he can track. I think there’s a lot of subconscious choices happening. I think there’s also kind of this hope that he might just chase after her and he might just find her, but I don’t know how honest she’d be with herself about that.
Ramírez: I think that the gold is a metaphor of their love. I mean, in the end, finding the gold is finally saying, “OK, we’re on the same page. Now let’s get crazy and live out adventures together. No more hidden cards.” What I love is that there’s not a real conclusion.
The gold is always a metaphor for that thing that means the most to you, that thing that you’re looking for in life, that thing that would make you happy or full or complete. When you see the gold and the gold shines so beautiful, it’s like Abbey’s hair. It was the same color. I remember watching the boat turn around and I see a golden angel looking at me. “Finally, I’m here. I’m in heaven. I’m loved. I found the gold.” For me, Delly is Mike’s gold.
Florida Man is now streaming on Netflix.
