Mayan Lopez's co-star in her new NBC sitcom 鈥� 鈥� happens to be her real-life dad, George Lopez.
The two play a father and daughter who are repairing their relationship after years of not getting along. As is the Lopez way, art imitates life: George's previous TV roles in 鈥淭he George Lopez Show鈥� and 鈥淟opez鈥� were also based on his real life.
After her parents divorced in 2012, Mayan Lopez says she felt resentment toward her dad and the two didn't have much contact until they reconnected during the pandemic.
鈥淭wo years ago my dad and I weren't really talking, but family became something that was really important when the whole world was up in flames," she said. 鈥淎s you grow older, you start to see your parents as people.鈥�
Mayan Lopez recognizes her dad's communication style was influenced by being abandoned by his own parents and raised by his maternal grandmother, whom he did not get along with.
"He didn't always know how to relate to me. I get to kind of have that (perspective) now," she said.
The genesis of 鈥淟opez vs. Lopez鈥� came about when TV producer Debby Wolfe stumbled upon Mayan's account.
鈥淪omeone was talking about my dad, the past things that have happened, you know that my dad was unfaithful, about my parents' divorce, and it was getting a lot of likes. And I was like, 'You know what? I want to say something about it because some of the facts aren鈥檛 right,'" she said. "And I thought, 鈥榃hat will get people鈥檚 attention?' And I thought, 鈥極h, let me just twerk upside down (against) a wall. Why not? I鈥檓 a comedian. I鈥檒l go for the joke.鈥�"
Wolfe saw that, plus Mayan's other content, including videos with her dad and even posts of both her parents together, bickering like they were still married, and thought: 鈥淭his is a show.鈥�
The opportunity was a dream come true for Mayan Lopez who studied sketch comedy and improv and also trained at Second City. She's also respectful of her dad's talent and showbiz experience.
鈥淚 have a world-class comedian to be able to learn from," she said. "I take his advice and his knowledge and I have my own things that I bring to the table. He even says we make each other better because he鈥檚 like, 鈥極h, there鈥檚 another one of me.鈥� We bounce off of each other and collaborate on set. We'll write things and even improvise as we鈥檙e performing. It's been great to work with him in that way.鈥�
Her mom, Ann, is also 鈥渟o proud鈥� and there in the live audience every week, Mayan Lopez said.
"It's kind of the Lopez way of doing things, making our life art so that people can enjoy and also be able to be a representation of the Latin community," she added.
Alicia Rancilio, The Associated Press
