"On My Block" Star Jason Genao on the Responsibility of Portraying a Gun Violence Survivor and "Showing a Wider View of America" With Ruby

On last year’s shocking season 1 finale of On My Block, 14-year-old Ruby Martinez (Jason Genao) was shot by a gang member at his friend Olivia’s (Ronni Hawk) quinceañera. It was a cliffhanger that left fans with many questions, craving answers so desperately that they constantly approached Jason on the street to ask if Ruby was going to make it out alright. “There hasn’t been a day since that episode came out that someone hasn’t asked me, ‘Is Ruby alive?’ People were so worried,” the actor tells Teen Vogue just before the premiere of season 2. As fans now know, Ruby survived. But unfortunately, Olivia was fatally wounded. It's a tragedy that Ruby struggles to cope with throughout the new season of the Netflix series.

Ruby is gripped with fear every time fireworks go off or when a bottle is corked open, essentially whenever anything sounds like gunshots—making the season’s opening New Year’s Eve party particularly difficult for him. He’s also racked with guilt each time he hears the song that he and Olivia danced to at her party, especially because he was the one who encouraged her to have a quinceañera. Gun violence is a heartbreaking reality for many teens, so Jason felt a responsibility to portray Ruby’s trauma as authentically as possible, delving online to learn more about real-life stories and even tapping into his personal experiences growing up in a neighborhood similar to Freeridge.

“I researched the effect of gun violence on the Internet and learned that some people can’t leave the house,” he shares. “Others move far away. But I talked to my cousin who’s been shot twice now, and he just keeps pushing and does whatever he wants. Everyone responds differently to gun violence, so I had to think about how Ruby would have been affected as an innocent 14-year-old who’s growing up in the life but never thought he’d be a victim.”

The usually optimistic teen even begins to question his faith, at one point asking his mother (Paula Garcés), “What kind of God would allow this to happen?” It’s a conflict to which Jason can relate. “That was a question I also had growing up because of certain things that I went through, so I understood why Ruby asks that,” Jason says. “When things happen to people you’d least expect, it makes you wonder what’s really going on.”

But Ruby finds solace through an unexpected friendship with Jasmine (Jessica Marie Garcia), his hilarious schoolmate who used to bug him and his friends, Monse (Sierra Capri) and Jamal (Brett Gray), whenever she would butt into their conversations. She confides in him about how she takes care of her war veteran dad who has been in a catatonic state since coming back from Afghanistan, and how she has navigated her own grief. The usual joke-cracking classmate offers a shoulder for him to lean on when he needs it the most, which Jason appreciates because it’s a bond that Ruby can’t necessarily find with his other friends.

“When we find out about Jasmine, who used to be this really annoying person, it gives him someone to talk to,” Jason says. “If it wasn’t for her, he’d be dealing with Jamal’s money problems or Monse’s relationship with Cesar [Diego Tinoco] or her mother [Lisa Marcos], and that’s not anything he can relate to. He needs his own form of therapy.”

Sometimes that comes from Ruby engaging in a little harmless fun, like puffing on his abuela’s (Peggy Blow) medical marijuana, busting rhymes on the mic at a backyard bash, or playing a little tequila-infused tonsil hockey with a beautiful girl. He even says at one point, “I don’t want to live my life in fear and regret.”

Still, Jason is grateful that he gets to challenge perceptions of masculinity through Ruby’s storyline, which allows the character to be vulnerable in a neighborhood where any hint of weakness or femininity in a young man can be considered a flaw. “Growing up Hispanic, people would say, ‘Guys don’t cry. Crying is for girls,’” the actor says. “I think it’s important to show a different perspective on screen and let kids who are watching know that It’s fine to be whoever they are.”

It also matters that Ruby is an ally for others. He supports young women like Monse, who’s struggling to decide whether she wants to stay with her dad (Reggie Austin) in Freeridge or live with her mom in the mostly white neighborhood of Brentwood. At the same time, he's someone that can't deny being flirted with even if it's from girls who have taken a new interest in him following his tragedy. “I think everyone should be a feminist, so I hope I make Ruby a feminist,” Jason says. “Ruby absolutely believes that there is no difference between what men and women can attain. He may be a little sexist, but I think that comes out of a lack of knowledge. Once you educate Ruby, he comes full circle.”

It’s proof that sometimes it simply takes enlightening people about others’ experiences and truths, something Jason celebrates about On My Block because it offers a narrative that’s been sorely lacking on screen. “I could never relate to other shows that present a certain American family where there is a mom and dad who live in a house where everyone has a job and their own bedroom,” he says. “The way these kids on On My Block are growing up is the same way I grew up. It’s showing a wider view of America.”

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