'The Lincoln Lawyer' Star Shares What He Learned from Matthew McConaughey

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, 42, the From Dusk Till Dawn and A Man Called Otto star, returns for a second go-round as L.A.-based defense attorney Mickey Haller in Michael Connelly’s The Lincoln Lawyer (July 6 on Netflix). Mickey, who has vowed not to take on any murder cases because of the complications resulting from last season’s trial, has a change of heart when he gets involved with chef and community advocate Lisa Trammell (Lana Parrilla), who is charged with the murder of a well-known real estate developer.

Parade sat down with Garcia-Rulfo to discuss the new season:

Walter Scott: Shows sometimes struggle in their sophomore seasons. Do you see this season as more exciting than last? 

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo: I think it's that right away you get into the action. I told the showrunners the first time I read the scripts, from the get-go you feel like every episode is the end of the season, so it's just more exciting.

Describe the case for this season. Mickey is taking on another murder trial, which he said he wasn’t going to do. And which book is it based on? 

It’s based on the fourth book in The Lincoln Lawyer series, The Fifth Witness. We find Mickey at a very good place in his life because he won his last case and was a success. It was a huge case and [it] put him in the spotlight. He’s very cocky. He gets into this case because of Lisa. I think, honestly, there's something about Mickey that he's attracted to chaos, and I think that's where he performs the best.

Even though [his assistant] Lorna (Becki Newton) and everybody's like—What are you doing? You're blind—he takes [the case]. It’s a huge case and personal, too, because of the relationship with Lisa, who’s been accused of murdering one of the biggest developers in L.A. There's something about the kind of success that he's having that makes him lose his grounding and blinds him a little bit.

What kinds of conversations did you and Michael Connelly have about the character?

He's so respectful. I had to say, “Michael, I see Mickey as this and this.” “Yeah, that’s so interesting.” He's very respectful to the presence of the actor. He will tell you more specific things or technical things that he wrote in the book. I would come to him and say, “Michael, I think it would be cool if I seem like this…,” and he’s like, “I never thought about it.”

There's a quote that I love, and I wish I could have come up with it the first season. Matthew McConaughey [who starred in the 2011 film version] said to Michael about who he thought Mickey Hallar was. McConaughey said, “He's a man that dances in the rain without getting wet,” and for me that's very visual and it's very beautiful. Michael told me that, and I'm like, “That's perfect. That's what Mickey Hallar is.” Michael is the best. He’s such a gentleman, such a smart and cool guy.

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Mickey also loves his ex, Maggie (Neve Campbell). He wants to get back together with her, but that doesn’t stop him from doing things work-wise that make that impossible. How do you see that aspect of the character?

Being that kind of lawyer [a defense attorney], it’s very dark. You have to deal with very dark energies representing somebody that then years later you find out that he was guilty, he killed some people, and you defended him. There's something about that that you keep getting all that dark energy into you. There’s a void you have to fill, and he fills it with things, but again, it’s him loving chaotic situations, which is where he performs the best.

Talk to me about Mickey’s scenes with daughter, Hayley (Krista Warner). They seem so natural. 

She's so good. I think there's something about kids—she's not a kid anymore, she's a teenager—but there's something about how they just learn the lines, they know the situation, what's going on, and they get there, and they just perform. It's so easy. Sometimes we actors, we’re always studying, and we’re like, “this has to happen.” Kids are just there and they're in the moment, present, and things happen. I think that's her. She’s incredible, so it's very easy.

Do you see that you are on a similar path to Mickey? Last season his big case put him in the spotlight. Has this series opened more doors for you? 

Every project brings you more, especially these TV series. I think it gets you more parts or you can get pickier about things you want to do as an actor, but personally, it doesn't do anything honestly. I go to my ranch where everybody knows me from when I was a kid. Nobody knows that I’m an actor because there's no Netflix there. So, for me, I don't get into my head. It came when I was mature enough. I think if it would have come earlier in my life—you're younger and you're starting and all that—I think it would have got into my head. Now, I'm just grateful.

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Because Mickey’s office is his Lincoln automobile, you are on location so often. How does that work for you? 

Los Angeles is like another character in the series, and I love it. I've been living in L.A. for 15 years now, so it's my second home. I love driving around in the Lincoln and going to the places and shooting there. It just helps so much as an actor because you’re there. It helps you to be present. But it is also so beautiful. It just makes work so much more malleable when you’re driving around in your office. It's just so cool.

You just finished filming Pedro Páramo. Tell us about that. 

It's one of the most important Mexican pieces of literature. Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo and Rodrigo Prieto is the director. It's a Netflix Mexican film and it's going to be great. Rodrigo is an amazing director and cinematographer, so it’s going to be a cool movie.

What’s the story? 

You know Mexicans are obsessed with death so it's about this man that goes to this town to find his father. It’s a journey of this son to go and see his identity, where he comes from and to find his father. He ends up finding this town that is full of ghosts. He comes back to death and life. It’s a beautiful, beautiful novel. It's very complex. The author is the father of magic realism.

Is your plan to continue to switch between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking projects? 

I am so lucky. I love doing that even though there's something about acting in English that I find easier. I don't know why. I think because all the movies, everything that I watched, most of it is in English. Or maybe it's because sometimes words don't have as much meaning, you just say them, and in Spanish, the words mean so much. Like if you say amor, it is so heavy. I don’t know, but I love acting. I’m very lucky to be able to act in English and then Spanish. French is next.

You learned English at a young age when you moved to the States. 

Yes, I moved to Vermont, where I lived with a family. That’s how I learned.

You’re also in A Man Called Otto, and wow you look so different. How were you able to disappear into the character to be almost unrecognizable? 

That was so fun. I talked to the director, Marc Forster, and I was like, “I really want to do something different,” and he was like, “Bring it on. What do you think?” I brought what I wanted to do, and he was like, “I love it. Let's just do that.” I'm sometimes very against me getting prosthetics, instead of being the character, but in this one, it was so specific because he's an engineer, so I just went with it.

What's the long-term goal for your career? 

I want to keep doing what I'm doing, working with people that I admire, telling stories that inspire me, connecting with audiences. Like I said, I love acting in English in American films and in Mexico. I would love to do a French film or a Spanish film. To do characters that inspire me, that fire me up, that speak to me, and to have fun.

You mentioned going to your ranch. Where is it, and is it a working ranch with cattle? 

It's in Mexico. It’s a working ranch. We have cattle, very few cattle, and I started a lime farm, but just for fun. It’s mostly for us to consume. We have horses. I love staying in touch with nature and animals.

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