Interview: Ivan Hernandez on Bonding Over Theatre With Sarah Jessica Parker In AND JUST LIKE THAT

And Just Like That... Ivan Hernandez has the best of both worlds!

The multi-talented actor is back on stage in The Light in the Piazza, which opened last night at City Center, and on screen in the second season of the popular Sex & the City reboot, which premieres today on Max.

In The Light in the Piazza, which runs through June 25, Hernandez plays Signor Naccarelli, alongside Ruthie Ann Miles, Shereen Ahmed, Andréa Burns, Anna Zavelson, and more.

And after a surprise elevator kiss ended season one of And Just Like That on a cliffhanger, Hernandez returns as Franklyn, Carrie Bradshaw's podcast producer and new beau.

BroadwayWorld caught up with Hernandez to discuss the "insane" rehearsal process for The Light in the Piazza, what to expect from the new season of And Just Like That, bonding with Sarah Jessica Parker about their theatre experiences, and more.

---

It's such an exciting week for you. First off, Light In the Piazza is opening at City Center! How are you feeling?

I'm excited. We had our invited dress and it was wonderful to have people come and to get an audience response to do live theater, it's always exciting for me to be able to come back and do it.

You have such a limited rehearsal period for these productions at Encore. So what is it like putting the show together that fast?

It's a little insane. Especially with this piece. Musically, it's so dense and complicated. Even lyrically, there's so much to play. But on the other hand, it's all there and it's a beautiful piece and everyone that I'm working with, the show is so talented and Che, our director, led us along the way and I think we're in good hands and I think we're ready.

It has such an amazing cast joining you, starring Ruth Ann Miles. What can audiences expect, who maybe are fans from the original production on Broadway from this new production?

I think just, they're probably just be reminded of how beautiful and heart-wrenching and also how funny it is, too. It's been a long time since the original production was here in New York. Obviously, it doesn't get done very much. I'm realizing why now. It's just musically so, so intense and complicated. You need incredible singers. Ruthie is doing an incredible job. We have our young actress making her New York debut, Anna Zavelson is just an incredible find. So I think people will be reminded of what an incredible piece it was. It's just beautiful.

We're also seeing the story being told through the lens of an Asian American family, which wasn't something that we saw in the original. What can audiences expect from that standpoint?

Yeah, I think it's just sort of an important realization that people of color are part of America and have been always. That sort of is something that has been not portrayed historically. So I think it's also very moving for people to see themselves up on stage telling these classic American stories. So I think it's important and I'm glad people are going to be able to see that.

Shifting gears a little bit, And Just Like That... is also returning. You had a pretty big cliffhanger at the end of last season. So what can audiences expect when when things pick up for season two?

Yes. Well, when we pick up, it's a couple weeks later. Franklin and Carrie [Bradsaw] are kind of dating and I'm excited for people to see where that story, that relationship is going.

Were you a fan of the original? What was it like stepping into this new reboot?

Oh yeah, absolutely. It was a surreal experience at first to walk in there and see these familiar faces that you've watched over the years. That was crazy and a joy too. Sarah Jessica Parker, especially, is such an icon and just a great actress, too. We just had so much fun playing these scenes together. So yeah, it was great.

I mean, playing a character who is in a relationship with Carrie Bradshaw is a pretty coveted position, I think. What was that like for you? Was there any pressure? The fans are all over this series.

Well, I think not so much pressure. I mean, you always have a little pressure. You want the scenes to go well. You want the show to be good. But it's also exciting that there is this huge fan base that really cares deeply and passionately. So it's exciting to create something for them, for people that are going to want to see it. So that's always fun.

It's also so great that you and Sarah Jessica Parker both come from the theater. Did you bond over that during filming?

Yeah, definitely. I mean, we definitely swapped some, some old horror stories. I mean, the fact that she has been working in theater since she was 13 years old, I think. You know, it was basically last year that we were still shooting. It was still all the COVID protocols. She had just finished her play and I had just finished Dear Evan Hansen and we were talking about coming back from the pandemic and how fortunate we felt to be able to come back and have live audiences again and how special that was.

But also what a surreal experience it was, of course, with testing every day and masks and coming down with COVID and all that. So yeah, it was something that was fun to talk about and fun to be on the show with everyone on that series who comes from New York and has theater backgrounds. For me being a theater kid, it was very exciting.

That's right. There's so many great theater actors in the series, I know there are a few others this season. It's great to see them have storylines like you or just to have them pop up as guest stars.

Exactly. I know all these incredibly talented people that I've seen on stage or have worked with s that's like a little extra added bonus.

It's so exciting how you can pop back and forth from stage to screen. What do you enjoy the most about being able to work in the two mediums?

That's a good question. It's nice to be able to do both, to come back to New York. There's nothing like being in front of a live audience. Being able to sing beautiful scores like Adam Guettel's score and then just to feel the response in the moment from the audience is what we do it for. And that said, it's incredibly physically taxing. It's something that I love to do, but it's also nice to go back and do my day job, which is TV and film, which has its own challenges. Not quite as intense as doing a live show, but hopefully you get to do interesting stories. I get to tell these kind of intimate stories that are for the screen. 

---

Watch the trailer for And Just Like That... season two here: