Hightown: Atkins Estimond talks about Osito’s character journey and more

Show Snob: Frankie is a great character, too, but I found myself more compelled by Osito’s character. He’s really the one on the frontlines that’s doing everything. If he sticks around for Hightown Season 2 is there any direction you’d like to see his character go in?

AE: If he is going to continue on to Season 2, I would like to see — I think you already begin to see the rift growing between Frankie and Osito — I think that, for me, looking at the story, it feels logical that he would try to take out on his own and set up his own operation. Because he’s not just a lackey, like you talked about in your piece, he’s definitely strong enough of a character to be his own boss.

A lot of times with the characters that Osito is, we find them just as a supporting character that is just supposed to be Frankie’s righthand man. But I think Osito is smart and cunning enough to be the head of his own operation. I’d like to see that happen.

Show Snob: So far we haven’t seen a lot of moments where he wasn’t in control. Even when the cops arrested him he was a few steps ahead of them, so it’d be interesting to see what challenges he faces if he branches out on his own.

AE: I think we’ve already seen him having to deal with difficult situations and really — as you said — being ahead of it, from all angles, like dealing with the cops, but then also having to navigate things with Frankie, and kind of playing that relationship and making sure that, for the time being, he’s staying on Frankie’s good side. I think it would be interesting to see that play out a little bit further next season.

Show Snob: I was bummed Junior died because I was hoping to see Osito and him working together in another season and it seemed like you guys had a lot of fun together behind-the-scenes.

AE: Yeah, I didn’t find out about Junior’s death until right before we were about to start shooting those episodes. We shot in blocks, two episodes at a time, I didn’t get my script until right before we were about to start working on that block.

When we were finishing up Episodes 5 & 6 that’s when we got the scripts for Episodes 7 & 8. I think Shane knew from the beginning but he never said anything. It was tough, man, because I’m also a fan of the show and I love the character.

“He doesn’t have many people he really considers to be a friend and I feel like Junior became that.”

Like you said, me and Shane, I worked with him the most on the show and I just had a blast hanging out with him. We’ve actually become really close friends outside of the show.

So, knowing that in the future this is potentially the end of me working with him, it was kind of sad. It was sad in real life and sad in the show as well.

Show Snob: I was wondering, too, and I’m not sure if you can even answer this, but how did you read Junior’s death. Did you see it as Osito ended up killing him or Junior killing himself?

AE: I read it as him killing himself. I’ve seen a lot of fan theories out there about me giving him a hotshot or something like that.

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In that last moment before [Junior] leaves, I think Osito — at least in the way that I read it and the way I portrayed it — wanted to give him a chance and give him an out. I pushed him to that place and I knew he wasn’t built for it.

But I was trying to make something out of him that he wasn’t and now I see what the result is and I think there is some guilt there, you know, because his whole life gets turned upside down and he has to flee and leave and I’m trying to give him a start.

But I know, deep down inside, that this is really of my doing. In that last moment, I think a lot of people are seeing that guilt and reading it as guilt for his death because I caused it.

I felt that it was guilt for bringing him to that point because he’s really kind of a wreck right now after the Krista thing and there’s so much that I pushed him to that brought him to this place where he relapsed, and now his whole life is a mess.

In a way, Junior, through the season, he and Osito have this friendship and to me, I feel like Osito sees Junior as his only friend, he’s not friends with Frankie, at all,  and he definitely isn’t friends with Kizzle. For him, he doesn’t have many people he really considers to be a friend and I feel like Junior became that.