The highly acclaimed FX series “Mayans M.C.” comes to a climactic season finale this Tuesday November 5th (10PM ET). As we prepare to delve into the dramatic moments the series offers, we bring you an exclusive interview with Danny Pino, who embodies the central role of Miguel Galindo.

For those unfamiliar with the television drama, “Mayans M.C.” was co-created by Kurt Sutter and Elgin James, and is the next chapter in Sutter’s award-winning “Sons of Anarchy” saga.
 Set in a post-Jax Teller world, Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes (JD Pardo) is a prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter on the Cali/Mexi border. Once the golden boy with the American Dream in his grasp, EZ is trying to reconcile with his brother Angel (Clayton Cardenas) while searching for the truth behind their mother’s death. Meanwhile, their father, Felipe, (Edward James Olmos) is struggling to lead his sons down a righteous path. Along with Pino, the series also stars Sarah Bolger, Michael Irby, Carla Baratta, Antonio Jaramillo, Raoul Max Trujillo, Richard Cabral, and Emilio Rivera.

Danny Pino as Scotty Valens in “Cold Case”

A versatile actor, Pino has enjoyed success in film, theater and television. He previously starred in Robert and Michelle King’s critically acclaimed CBS series, “Braindead.” Prior to this hit summer series, he wrapped his final season of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” playing Detective Nick Amaro 
for multiple seasons. He is also known for his seven seasons starring as Detective Scotty Valens on the Warner Bros. series “Cold Case.”

Pino as Det. Nick Amaro “Law & Order: SVU”

Pino’s feature film credits include the thriller “Across the Line: The Exodus of Charlie Wright,” “Across the Hall” for Universal, and Guillermo Arriaga’s directorial debut “The Burning Plain.”

Recurring and guest appearances include Shonda Rhimes’ “Scandal” for ABC, the Netflix series “One Day at a Time,” as sociopath Armadillo Quintero on “The Shield,” and on USA Network’s long running series, “Burn Notice.” He has portrayed a wide range of characters, including a Wyoming horse-wrangler in the feature “lm Flicka,” and the iconic Desi Arnaz in “Lucy,” a biopic focusing on the tumultuous lives of Lucille Ball and Arnaz. Pino has worked on London’s West End in the Wyndham’s Theater production of “Up for Grabs,” and in the Public Theater’s New York Shakespeare Festival productions of “The Winter’s Tale” and “Measure for Measure.”

Pino as Miguel Galindo /FX

HOMBRE: What can you tell us about your character, Miguel Galindo?
Danny Pino: Miguel Galindo is a very complex character. His duality is a challenging combination. The fact that he is the head of the Galindo Cartel which calls for him to use violence and torture makes him a very dark character. But at the other end of the polarity he is a family man, loved by his wife. He’s a loving father, and son. Finding that equilibrium in the character is always fun to try and discover it.

H: What’s his background?
DP: He’s seen as a transitional character. He was born in Mexico but raised in the United states. He went to boarding school and ultimately graduated from an Ivy League school, Cornell. He’s incredibly academic, an intellectual, someone who’s approaching the family business from a completely different perspective. His father came from the street and started that dark life of creating the cartel out of desperation and necessity. That’s not Miguel. All he’s known is being able to do whatever he wants given the fact that there was a seemingly infinite amount of resources. Miguel has promised his wife that he is transitioning his family from the criminality and illicit business. And that is dangerous, leaving that life.

H: How do you approach the character’s duality?
DP: You just try to play him as realistically and three dimensional as you can. When you hear what he does, that he is the head of a cartel, you immediately put these perceptions on the character. I know I do. When I first heard who the character of Miguel Galindo was, I said I’m not interested. I don’t want to play a stereotype. That’s just bad writing, it’s not interesting and it’s insulting. But knowing that Kurt Sutter and Elgin James were writing this character I knew that they were going for nuance. They wanted to show who is that missing link between the criminal world and the legitimate world. In much the same way that Kennedys early on were bootleggers before they were in the White House. What does that look like right now? Miguel is that transitional figure. It wasn’t stereotypical, it wasn’t  a cliche. It’s really in the writing how Miguel’s duality is approached.

H: How do you come to Mayans M.C.? 
DP: I worked with Kurt Sutter on “The Shield,” so I knew the work that he was going to write. Knowing his work in “Sons of Anarchy,” and knowing that “Mayans M.C.” was the next step in that mythology I knew that Kurt was going to write something vivid and complex. I wanted to see what that would be like. And having played a police officer for 11 years I thought it was the kind of challenge I wanted. So I went and auditioned for Miguel a couple of times. That helped me understand the character more, and feel that it was a character I wanted to play and could play. Thankfully they agreed. The other thing I thought was that this series was going to have a predominantly Latino cast and I thought it was important to be a part of that.

Danny Pino as Det. Nick Amaro, Kelli Giddish as Det. Amanda Rollins in “Law & Order: SVU” /NBC

H: What can you tell us about your experience in playing two classic, long-running characters in “Cold Case,” and “Law & Order: SVU”?
DP: Amazing experiences. I wouldn’t change them for anything. The similarities between “Mayans M.C.” Miguel Galindo, “Cold Case” with Scottie Valens, and “SVU” with Nick Amaro are fantastic writers. All the characters are complex. Just because they’re wearing a badge doesn’t mean that they were always good. And just because Miguel Galindo is the head of the cartel doesn’t mean he’s always bad. I never saw Scotty or Nick as being the good guys. I didn’t play them as good guys, I played them as human beings. They had inconsistencies and huge faults.
And Miguel is no different. I don’t see him as the antagonist, I see him as someone who does the things he needs to do to protect his family and protect his business.

H: Would you say that the role of Miguel Galindo glamorizes drug dealers
DP: We’re not trying to glamorize violence. When we see violence it’s followed by the consequences of that violence with the terror and the horror that violence brings. It makes you want to avoid that violence.

H: With such an impressive career, what advice can you offer artists coming into the industry?
DP: I would encourage them to jump in. I would encourage them to develop their story, to write their story, produce it, act in it. I think now is the time to engage in telling stories from different perspectives. I would tell them to study, if you want to be an actor approach it the same way you would approach becoming a doctor or lawyer or any other profession.

H: What would you say is the key to your success?
DP: Education. Without question. Without the professors and teachers I’ve had in my life I wouldn’t have the foundation to do what I do now. I think about those teachers every day; right before I do a scene I remember a lesson I had in class, or a different approach I could use in a scene. I really do feel that education is the key. I started studying acting in sixth grade all the way to middle school. I studied in high school, I did several plays and then I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater from Florida International University. Then I earned my Masters from NYU at Tish School of the Arts.
Just from what I’ve done you can tell how important education is to me. Not only for the mere fact that acting professionally proves to be elusive, so you can always teach what you love.
I’m very grateful and feel very fortunate that in my case I’m able to explore characters, and work with other actors, directors, writers. I’m able to do that largely because of the education I received. And the range of expression I have is because of that education.