BEVERLY HILLS, California 鈥� Two and a half years ago, actor Jay Hernandez was about to quit. He鈥檇 been acting since he was 18 and while he could always wangle some sort of acting job, he wasn鈥檛 excited by the work.
鈥淚 was ready to walk away from it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 had a lot of moments like that because Hollywood is not a meritocracy. You can鈥檛 earn your place anywhere. You can get to a place, but you have to constantly fight for that. You鈥檙e constantly treading water. And I don鈥檛 love jumping through the hoops,鈥� he said, seated on a frieze couch in a Beverly Hills coffee bar.
Hernandez had other interests such as writing, producing and business. 鈥淚t was one of those slow periods and there was a moment where I felt I just don鈥檛 want to deal with this stuff right now. I was very close to stepping away,鈥� he said.
But a juicy role in Suicide Squad landed in his lap, then a part in Bad Moms, and a seven-episode run in Scandal kept him on the books.
It鈥檚 a good thing he kept plugging, because two years later Hernandez landed the role of a lifetime: re-creating the part of Thomas Magnum in CBS鈥檚 new version of Magnum P.I., premi猫ring next Monday.
Slipping into Tom Selleck鈥檚 Hawaiian shirts was no easy trick, admits Hernandez, who grew up in Rosemead, California, with two older brothers and a younger sister.
鈥淚t was probably a month before this happened, I was just watching TV, flipping through it, and saw Magnum, P.I. and thought: 鈥楳an, I remember watching this when I was a kid.鈥�
鈥淚t was Tom on the surf ski riding in a bay somewhere outside of Oahu. And two months later I was doing that exact same thing on the set as Thomas Magnum. So it was one of those very surreal moments,鈥� Hernandez said.
He was fearful about taking on such an iconic role, he admits. 鈥淚 wanted to make sure it was going to feel distinct from Tom Selleck in a way because you can鈥檛 replace Tom, you can鈥檛 do that,鈥� he says.
He wanted the character to be distinctive yet maintain what he calls 鈥渢hat sort of enigmatic charming thing that Tom had.鈥�
鈥淚 knew whoever was coming in there would be a lot of criticism, I think 鈥� So I was leery of that. I wanted to make sure the creative people knew that they had to do something a little different.鈥�
Ever since he started acting, Hernandez has tried to do something different. He experienced a fairy-tale beginning when he was discovered in an elevator by show business manager Howard Tyner.
Tyner told him he had the right 鈥渓ook鈥� for Hollywood and gave Hernandez his card. 鈥淎 couple weeks later my mom asked if I鈥檇 called him. I hadn鈥檛, so she kind of pushed me to that, and said: 鈥楲et鈥檚 have a meeting with this guy.鈥� 鈥�
While his mechanic father objected, Hernandez persevered. 鈥淭hat was the beginning of my career really. He put me in acting classes, got me headshots, started schooling me in the business of Hollywood, and all that. My first experience ever acting was in a class he put me in when I was 18 or 19.鈥�
Unlike many unscrupulous talent agents who ask for a fee, Tyner paid for it all. 鈥淗e said he would front the money for everything, and when I started making money, then I could pay him back.
鈥淎nd once I started working, which was like three or four years later, I finally started to pay him back all the debt I had accrued over those three years,鈥� he grinned.
Tyner had been a heroin addict, says Hernandez, 40. 鈥淲hen I met him he鈥檇 been a couple of years sober. When you鈥檙e a drug addict you screw over people, but I was his first project or thing in his life that was unsoiled by that. So I gave him this positive relationship, and he gave me this career path. And I was able to go off and have this business in film and television,鈥� he pauses.
鈥淚 was in New York doing press for Crazy/Beautiful which was my first big movie, and got a knock on the door at 12 or 1 o鈥檆lock in the morning. And he had passed away.鈥�
Looking back, Hernandez thinks he was influenced by his older brothers when he was a kid.
鈥淢y early teen years were a little tumultuous because of family stuff,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 had two older brothers who were crazy. I got into a little bit of trouble. I saw what was happening to other people around me and I thought: 鈥楢ll right, I don鈥檛 want to do that.鈥� So I went on a different path that in some ways, pursuing acting kept me on the good path,鈥� he says.
His older brother just retired from the Navy after 22 years. 鈥淚 realized, looking back on it, that him signing up for the military and taking off was about the same time that I really started getting serious about trying to pursue this,鈥� he says.
鈥淢y one brother was gone, and my older brother had just gone off to the Navy and what was I doing? I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life. I think him making that decision and being serious about his path and his life, I think probably looking back on it, that definitely had some sort of impact in terms of what I wanted to do with my life.鈥�
