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Marianne Rendón on Her Upcoming ‘Imposters’ Scene With Uma Thurman: “It’s Unlike Anything I’ve Done”

By Lea Palmieri @littleleap
Published May 3, 2018, 3:35 p.m. ET

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Marianne Rendón is having a season on Imposters, y’all. As Jules Langmore, she’s fully thriving while on the run in Mexico…that is, until her sister Poppy [Rachel Skarsten] turned up in last week’s episode. There’s a lot more in store for Jules this season, including a major revelation about her past, and a major interaction with Lenny Cohen herself, Uma Thurman. We met up with Rendón at the Bravo offices when she was in town for the Tribeca Film Festival and asked the questions that needed answers: how did she learn such flawless Spanish, what are The Bumblers carrying around in those duffel bags, and why a miracle dog in Mexico brought her closer to her castmates.

Did you already speak Spanish? Because it sounded pretty flawless.

Flawless, wow, thank you. My dad’s side of the family is Ecuadorian. I did not grow up speaking Spanish in the house but I always was really intrigued by that part of my ancestry. I studied Spanish classical music when I was a kid and then I was eventually a Flamenco dancer so I’ve been very influenced by that, which is specifically Spain, not Mexico. I know nothing about Ecuadorian culture at all, but I grew up in a very Spanish-speaking community in New Rochelle, New York. I was in kindergarten with people [that had] English as their second language so it was very much a part of my daily life. I think I have an ear for languages anyway. My Italian is actually better than Spanish. When I was in college I studied Mandarin Chinese and I wanted to pursue that, but when it came down to the time in my undergrad for what I wanted to study, I had to choose between Chinese and theater because they were that time-consuming and I couldn’t do both. So I ended up doing theater and I think that’s why I’m an actor now.

You have a moment with Uma in the trailer. When you first got the script and you found out you have that moment together, were you like “Whoa!”?

Well, [co-creator Paul Adelstein] and Adam had alluded at the end of last season that they wanted me to have something with Uma, and they thought this season was originally going to start with she and I. They ended up not going in that direction, but I was so excited because I was really jealous of Inbar [Lavi] last year and Dean [Imperial] for that matter, who was in the last scene with Lenny Cohen, and is one of our writers. It was the same idea, that Jules ends up getting really close with Lenny Cohen because she doesn’t know who she is initially, so she has this bizarre mentor/friendship dynamic. It’s not explicitly romantic but there’s something intimate about their exchange in that Jules talks to her in a way that she hasn’t spoken to anyone of The Bumblers or Maddie, for that matter. It’s unlike anything I’ve done on this show.

You’ve been fantastic this season. Jules looks great, seem to feel great, there’s just such a wonderful vibe about her in Mexico. I love that…but I’m also nervous now.

[That] it’s only temporary? It can go downhill from here? I think that was the idea which is why our writers are so good. Because I know that Adam was very excited about revealing Jules in the way that she just grows exponentially in Mexico, like we need to experience her. She’s now healed from the trauma of everything and she needs to fall in love with something that’s not a person. That happens to be a place and the things that inspire her. Ultimately, she has a lot more love and kindness for herself. Yeah, and it only goes downhill from there unfortunately.

We meet her sister Poppy, too. Was there any bonding you and Rachel [Skarsten] did to build that relationship?

Yeah, Rachel and I immediately got on. She has an incredible sense of humor, she’s wicked smart, and just a very generous soul. We have a deep love for animals and she and I rescued a dog while we were in Mexico. We were shooting in Xochimilco, for episode 4 [when] we’re running through the street trying to find the coyote for us to cross the border. That little town was very affected by the earthquake this year so there are a lot of dogs displaced. Either their owners lost their homes themselves or they got lost. But there was an astounding amount of dogs on the street and she was clearly starving and she was covered in flea bites and sores and things so we fed her and that was a mistake. Everyone looked at us like we were crazy. We were shooting two days later, five to ten miles away from the initial location, and she followed us. I opened the trailer door and she ran up to me and I thought, “There’s no way that this is the same dog.” I looked to see she had the same sore and just thought she was a miracle. They are truly remarkable creatures. Their sense of smell, she must have followed the trucks or something. So we brought her to a vet, they got her cleaned up, and they thought she might be pregnant. So that was going to be a challenge just for her to get adopted because who wants a litter initially, unless you want that? Then our costume designer ended up taking her back to Toronto. We were calling her Lucy for the longest time, and now she’s called Xochi for Xochimilco. So Rachel and I really bonded over that. Even though we are so different, [and] we look different, there is a similar vibe to the two of us.

You’re comedic timing is great this season. It feels really funny and punctuates the scenes. Was it something that you attribute to being more comfortable, the writers, or a combination?

I’m just so new to camera that I relaxed more, I think. I had been living in Jules for that much longer so I knew what the writers were looking for in some ways. But I also was just having more fun because I wasn’t like, “I need to get it right!” which is such a problem for me and so many actors.

It seems like the cast are the truest of friends, both on screen and off. Is that from being around each other and how did that deepen as much as it has?

I just think when you spend that sort of time with people, we’re so lucky because it could so go the other way, and you [still] have to spend all that time with them. There are things that we go through in our lives during that period and we share them with each other. I know Parker’s partner, Stephanie very well, like I was pushing for them to have a baby for so long and finally they’re pregnant. I was always saying “Season 2 baby?! Season 2 baby?!” So hopefully there’s a season 3 baby. And Rob met somebody and I had fallen in love when we were shooting the first season so we were all really there. Paul and I both play music so we really bonded in that way. And Inbar and I really loved having a lot of women around this year in terms of our directors, and she’s been so supportive of me being new to this and encouraging me and cheering me on for different projects. [Our dogs] Diego and Chile are best friends and I wouldn’t have my dog if it weren’t for Chile honestly.

Since The Bumblers are on the move this season, what was actually in the duffel bag you had to carry around? 

Oh my god, those stupid bags! We hate those bags! We want to burn them, mostly because we made some choice for continuity, we have to bring them everywhere and they’re huge. I often would keep my jacket in there because I would get cold in between takes. They did stuff them so they were accurately heavy. I ended up really hurting my shoulder because I had it on there one day and my whole muscle spasmed. I’m glad you noticed them in some way because we were like, “Do these do anything? Can we lose these things?” We’re going to burn though them at some point.

Season 3, burning bags. I could never fit my belongings in a bag like that so I admire the characters for being able to.

It was similar to the leather jacket, too. I wore that leather jacket so much that I was like, “Okay, I’m choosing that I’m not going to escape to Mexico with the leather jacket,” so that I can never wear it again. It was literally a discussion in the costume fittings, I was like, “I don’t want to wear this again.” But it was a relief getting to Langmore cabin because we got to change our wardrobe.

Have you seen your face on the subway posters and taken a picture with it?

No, I want to later today. So unreal. I have a compilation now of all my nearest and dearest taking selfies. It’s so dear to me because I’ve had friends be on posters and I’ve done that and I’ve been really excited. I’m just so pleased and grateful that we have that poster and it’s advertised as much as it is because it’s such an amazing show and we’re all really excited about it.

Paul was teasing what’s still to come for Jules and what we’re going to learn about her and her past. How was it laid out for you, did you get the news of where Jules was going?

I don’t think they knew that far in advance. The biggest point was Jules’ relationship to Mexico and with the language so that I could prepare, because I didn’t have a Spanish coach.

Did you do an app or something?

No, I just practiced and we were in Mexico City so I could ask anybody. When we were staying in a hotel I ordered in Spanish everyday and I spoke to the staff in Spanish, and now it’s all gone. So that was what Paul and Adam really told me and the stuff with Lenny I was aware of, I didn’t really know in what capacity. I think they alluded to different disguises as well. Very similarly to the audience watching it, we didn’t know what was coming next. We’d get a script two weeks or a week beforehand and be like, “What?! Did you get 7?!” We’d get really competitive with each other like, “Oh I got it, did you get it?” Sometimes the costume designer would get it before us.

You’re here for the Tribeca Film Festival, as you play Patti Smith in the film Mapplethorpe. Did playing a real person affect your performance in Imposters at all, since you have to slip into these con situations? 

I just played another real person, Susan Atkins in Charlie Says. She’s passed away and has a totally different trajectory in terms of her life story. It’s a much different process of preparation. With Jules, the easiest part of my job is that I show up and I’m having a good time with the people I’m working with. I created Jules with Adam and Paul so it doesn’t feel as much like work. I don’t think every role you play has to feel like work, but when you’re playing these real people you have such a responsibility. And you only have so much control as the actor to tell that story in the way you believe is true because you’re representing their voice. I think once I played Patti, I got back to Imposters and just tried to have a really good time, which I did.

Imposters airs Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT on Bravo. 

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