On “How to Get Away With Murder,” Connor and Oliver broke new ground for Shondaland.
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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Your first scene together was an intense hookup.
What was that like having to just jump into the deep end?
Conrad Ricamora and Jack Falahee on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.ABC/Mitch Haaseth
JACK FALAHEE:It was the day we met essentially.
We had mutual friends.
So, there was some connective tissue there.
Jack Falahee on ‘How To Get Away With Murder’.Hulu
But yeah, it was definitely jumping into the deep end, so to speak.
RICAMORA:Shooting something is one thing and then having it released is another thing.
Having it released out into the world was a scarier thing than actually shooting it.
Conrad Ricamora on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.Hulu
That’s been a learning experience.
You go on toeventually become a series regular.Were you surprised at that turn of events?
And Jack, was that something you were ever pushing for with the writers?
Jack Falahee on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.Hulu
RICAMORA:No, I wasn’t surprised because I know I’m good at what I do.
I know I’m a good actor.
I know that I’m good at telling stories and playing characters.
Conrad Ricamora on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.Hulu
So, I was happy, but I wasn’t super like surprised.
Conrad knocked it out of the park.
And I was like, “Yeah, absolutely.”
Jack Falahee and Conrad Ricamora on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.Hulu
It’s such an intense scene.
I’m not sure if you filmed it all at once or broken into pieces as we saw it.
But did it feel that intense on set?
Jack Falahee on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.Hulu
Was it also a sealing-the-bond moment for the two of you?
FALAHEE:It was very intense.
And she was right.
Conrad Ricamora on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.Hulu
Connor just went more and more off the rails.
Conrad, the show has been heralded for its representation of an HIV positive man.
RICAMORA:I’m a little bit older than Jack.
Jack Falahee and Conrad Ricamora on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.ABC
There used to be so many storylines about it, and then, it just lessened and lessened.
So, I was happy that it was coming back into the consciousness of media.
and of course, something like this is so devastating.
Conrad Ricamora on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.Hulu
That was something that definitely made me a better actor to have to go to those places.
I definitely credit Pete with writing that storyline.
He’s a gay married man with two kids living in Italy.
Jack Falahee and Conrad Ricamora on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.Hulu
Of course, I started crying when he was telling me this.
It’s something that you don’t expect.
I’ve come across this gratitude throughout living afterHow to Get Away With Murder.
Jack Falahee and Conrad Ricamora on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.Mitch Haaseth/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
What do you remember about filming that?
RICAMORA:I remember it being really sweet.
Wasn’t there like a tent that we had made?
Conrad Ricamora and Jack Falahee on ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.Richard Cartwright/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
God, there’s so much that I don’t remember specifically.
But I have vague memories of a tent and the twisty tie thing.
FALAHEE:Conrad knows this, but I have a really, really, really bad memory.
RICAMORA:Yeah, the whole time.
Knocking against other people in the world is a part of something that we all go through.
But that was part of the fantasy of the show.
That felt very real to me.
Grounding it in that reality was really helpful.
Connor gives this romantic speech and then Oliver comes clean about secrets he’s been keeping.
Conrad, were you annoyed that Oliver couldn’t just have his own romantic moment there?
RICAMORA:No, it made me happy every time that we came clean about something.
I was always like, “Thank God.”
Because I know that the build-up of secrets erodes some of the believability of relationships.
In real life and in fictional stories, there has got to be the coming-clean moment.
Otherwise, the secrets can bury the relationship or the believability of the relationship.
FALAHEE:Playing Connor is what made me start therapy and work on my own communication in relationships.
So, I was always happy when we had very honest and real [conversations].
Relationships are messy, and people lie to each other and hurt each other.
That’s what Pete did best with this relationship.
He didn’t make it a picture-perfect queer relationship.
ABC
On a similar note, your wedding ended up being the night X for another murder.
Were you guys excited about that?
Or were you like, “I kind of just wanted them to have a nice wedding”?
RICAMORA:I don’t know that anything purely nice ever happened on this show.
Everything was always tainted as part of the noir aspect of the show.
My personal nightmare is like standing in front of someone and having them sing to me.
FALAHEE:I mean, I’ve done it, so I’m guilty too.
But I was happy that the masses got to hear Conrad sing.
Conrad, did you choose your song?
RICAMORA:I did.
Well, it was one of the songs that I suggested.
Then, Pete was like, “Oh, Shonda knowsJohn Legend.She’s going to talk to him.”
I was like, “Of course she does.”
Oliver and Connor get one of the happier endings way down the line.
FALAHEE:Pete clarified this, and I think he’s right.
That rings true to me.
And then maybe they reconnected when he was released.
RICAMORA:There was probably a significant amount of time even after he got out.
Because of the whole giving the ring back.
I remember they called a wrap, and I just left.
RICAMORA:That was the last scene we ever shot on the show, yeah.
FALAHEE:I walked off set, I don’t even think I hugged you.
And then I probably hugged you later, I think.
RICAMORA:That tracks.
It was such a such a huge moment.
Becoming famous is traumatic.
And then, it all just being over after six years is bizarre.
Your body doesn’t really know what to do.
It makes sense that you walked out and just sat on the ground.'
FALAHEE:I remember you leaving the group chat.
We had this group chat between the cast for six years, and you needing that break.
RICAMORA:I had to leave because I needed to re-find who I was without the show.
Because the show rocked my being and my identity in such a huge way.
And now I got it back.
What do you hope the Coliver legacy is in terms of the bigger picture of Shondaland and this anniversary?
FALAHEE:In the words of Annalise Keating on the show, love is love.
To be a small part of that storytelling is really important to me.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
