- Gentefied, a bilingual comedy that hit Netflix on February 21, stars Joseph Julian “J.J.” Soria as Erik Morales, one of three cousins chasing the American dream in a rapidly gentrifying East Los Angeles neighborhood.
- The show also stars Julissa Calderon (Revenge), Joaquín Cosio (Narcos: Mexico), Carlos Santos, and Karrie Martin (Pretty Little Liars). America Ferrera (Superstore) is an executive producer.
- You might recognize Soria from the Crackle original series The Oath, Camp X-Ray, and the final season of Army Wives.
Netflix is known to release buzzy TV shows and movies that dominate the zeitgeist overnight (you'll want to watch Cheer, then learn more about). Most importantly, however, it's carved out a nook for eclectic and culturally diverse series that fit a global audience. There’s a wealth of iconic Black films; supreme foreign-language series like Élite (Spain), Dark (Germany), The Rain (Denmark), and The House of Flowers (Mexico); as well as bilingual gems like Narcos, Narcos: Mexico, and now, Gentefied.
A Spanglish comedy from executive producer America Ferrera and creators Marvin Lemus and Linda Yvette Chávez, Gentefied started airing on February 21. When chatting with Deadline about getting involved with the project born as a short-form web series, Ferrera said, “To read something that felt so authentically all of the things that I am was really new. I’d never seen anything like it.”
We can’t help but think that part of what spoke to her was the authentic performance of Joseph Julian “J.J.” Soria. One of three cousins chasing the American dream in the series, he plays Erik Morales, or as he describes him, “a tough homie with a heart of gold.”
When speaking to Entertainment Tonight, he elaborated, “He’s trying to find a balance of being there for his baby mama and former girlfriend. Their situation is one where there’s no title on it, but he loves her. And then also being there for his grandfather and his family. It’s a beautiful project created by beautiful people and the production is a beautiful production team.”
Watch the trailer below, then come with us as we get the know the third-generation Mexican-American actor a little bit better.
Soria always knew he was going to be an actor.
For Soria, the whole “What do you want to be when you grow up?” question was never a question. In an interview with the Associated Press, The Oath star dished about how his grandma used to tell him stories when he was little to help him go to sleep, only to stay up and ask for more. An acting class in college and a little bit of luck later, and poof: He’s an actor. “There was no second-guessing. I was just going to apply my work ethic, and luck—luck has gotten me here,” he said.
Army Wives made him a household name.
Though he’d landed roles in several films and series before his 2013 run on the final season of Army Wives—including Hamlet 2 (2008), Fast & Furious (2009), and Crank: High Voltage (2009)—plus episodes of The Closer, Sons of Anarchy, and Dexter—one of Soria's big breaks was as Private First Class Hector Cruz on the Lifetime drama.
He stars on Crackle’s original series The Oath.
Crackle’s original series The Oath (executive-produced by 50 Cent) managed to find a cult following in just two short seasons. Soria plays Pete Ramos, a man whose internal conflict is waging war on his loyalties to those at work and those at home. Rolling Stone even touted the crime drama’s intensity as feeling like “Michael Mann, but for the small screen.” So fans of the show are sitting on pins and needles awaiting any word about fate of the series. Will there or won’t there be a season 3? We just don’t know. But the outlook doesn’t fare positive.
He’s one of the guys in that State Farm commercial with the rowdy buffalo.
When the actor does get the opportunity to flex his funny bone, he does the genre some good. In the following silly State Farm commercial, Soria and a buddy summon their magical State Farm agent to save them from of a herd of wild buffalo going ham on their car. Reacquaint yourself below.
He's a huge fan of Gina Rodriguez.
Filly Brown, a hip-hop drama starring Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez, co-stars Soria as the antagonist trying to keep the spotlight all to himself. But in real life, the two are super-close friends.
“We became friends two years before and just really hit it off, and this project came about and she goes, ‘J.J. you need to read for this character [MC Wyatt] in Filly Brown, you’d kill it,’” he said to Latina at the time. “And honestly, this guy is an a**hole. And I go, ‘Is this what you think of me?’ (laughs) She goes, ‘No, no, I just know you’d do a great job.’”
And he must have. Though the indie wasn’t necessarily a critical success when it trickled into select theaters, it was nominated for the top Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and managed to climb to a respectable 72 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
![Filly Brown [Blu-ray]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1581466832-518yXN-5oPL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Filly Brown [Blu-ray]")
And in this corner, we have J.J. Soria, the ultimate warrior.
When he’s not acting, he’s kicking butt in the ring. “Little by little I feel and see the improvement,” he wrote in part in an Instagram post about his journey to becoming an “ultimate warrior.” Kickboxing, jiu jitsu, and other styles of ring and mat work seem to keep the actor busy, as pictorial evidence is peppered throughout his Instagram feed.
He’s all about good vibes only.
Not only are his social media accounts fully stocked with positivity and snaps of appreciating the simple things, but he makes it a point to spread good vibes beyond just his online presence. During the 2020 Oscars, he shared feelings of gratitude, while years ago in 2013, he was tweeting about good vibes on the set of the independent military drama Camp X-Ray with star Kristen Stewart and director Peter Sattler.
“#CampXRay rehearsal with Peter & Kristen was so great! Really good vibes!” he wrote, following it up with, “Don’t let others determine YOUR WORTH.”
Keep the good vibes flowing and stream Gentefied now.
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DeAnna Janes is a freelance writer and editor for a number of sites, including Harper’s BAZAAR, Tasting Table, Fast Company and Brit + Co, and is a passionate supporter of animal causes, copy savant, movie dork and reckless connoisseur of all holidays. A native Texan living in NYC since 2005, Janes has a degree in journalism from Texas A&M and got her start in media at US Weekly before moving on to O Magazine, and eventually becoming the entertainment editor of the once-loved, now-shuttered DailyCandy. She’s based on the Upper West Side.
