‘The Bridge’ Star Demian Bichir on His Character’s ‘Darker’ Season 2

When FX’s border drama “The Bridge” returns for its second season on Wednesday night, Demian Bichir‘s character, Mexican detective Marco Ruiz, finds himself in a very grim position — still grappling with the heartbreaking death of his son Gus, which occurred late in the first season.

TheWrap caught up with Bichir to discuss what’s in store for Ruiz this season, and working with his brother Bruno Bichir, who joins the show’s cast this season.

TheWrap: In the season premiere, Marco seems to be in a pretty dark place. What kind of changes will he be going through this season?
Demian Bichir: Basically, when we see him in Season 2, he had just been at the bottom. You cannot go any lower, any deeper into any hole, than where Marco went. When you lose a child, when you lose your own son, everything changes forever. And from that point on, he also gets separated from his wife and his two daughters. So that brings Marco into a deep, deep, deep depression. So this season is darker, and it goes deeper into the emotional and psychological journey of the character.

Also read: FX’s ‘The Bridge’ Adds Demian Bichir’s Brother to Cast

Have you wrapped up filming the season yet?
We’re on episode 9 now.

OK, so pretty far along then. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for him in any way by the end of the season?
I hope there is. We don’t know much. We find out about whatever’s going to happen next every week. But I always believe that, even when Marco is an anti-hero kind of character, I always believe there has to be some redemption, for any character. And that makes the whole thing even richer. So we’re hoping for that.

Also read: ‘The Bridge’ EP Meredith Stiehm Returning to ‘Homeland’

Your brother Bruno has joined the cast for the second season. What can you say about his role?
He’s going to play a key role on the show. His character’s name is Sebastian Cerisola. He’s a powerful businessman, but not everything is what it seems. He will be Marco’s nemesis in many ways.

Have you acted with him before?
We’ve worked together many times before — in theater, for example, we’ve done theater together ever since we were kids. We’ve done some films together also. But this is the first time that we’ve done American television together.

Is there a sibling rivalry between the two of you on a professional level?
Yeah, of course! We slap each other every morning! Not really. When a great actor lands a good role, we all celebrate, because that’s what this is about.

“The Bridge” Season 2 premiere airs Wednesday at 10 p.m. on FX.