Angel Bismark Curiel On His Family Connection to Papi’s Happy Ending for ‘Pose’

There need to be more men like Angel Bismark Curiel’s Papi.

In FX’s Pose, Papi had one of the biggest arcs going from drug dealer to businessman as the owner of a modeling agency that catered to trans women. In one of the most romantic gestures on any television show, Papi created an entire business to ensure the protection of his girlfriend, Angel, and any other trans woman of color who had aspirations of making it on the cover of a glossy fashion magazine. Season three gives him another curveball when he discovers he is a father to a young boy named Beto.

If FX promotes episode six as one of the entries in the Drama Series race, Curiel could very well find him in contention for the most talked about wedding of the year. Papi leans towards kindness and uses his big heart when other men are too wrapped up in masculinity or how they look to their friends. Curiel’s evolution is a subtle one, but his performance at the wedding is his biggest risk of all. He was nervous to sing in front of his fellow cast members, but it was a moment that showed how much Papi loved his bride. You have to show up for the ones you love, and Curiel showed up for Papi and Angel every step of their journey together.

Awards Daily: Papi is such a good guy. Sometimes when a character is inherently good, that’s all the actor plays, and you don’t do that. Is that you’re constantly conscious of or do you just need to play the moment of the scene?

Angel Bismark Curel: It’s a little bit of both, I think. I have to make sure I feel grounded before any scene because it will throw me off. When meeting this character, yes, he’s a genuine guy, and he’s blueprint for a lot of men, it’s equally important to make him human. That authenticity is so important to show what we are capable of enduring.

AD: What do you think Papi’s favorite part of his job is?

ABC: There is a lot of joy of being his own boss. We don’t see this much but Papi loves the aspect of negotiations and he likes to make sure his talent is taken care of. At the end of the day, Papi has always been a businessman. He was his own boss when he was dealing drugs in season one, but there is a lot of love in taking care of his talent. The mission of him opening up his agency is to protect trans women–and Black trans women in particular–because of what Angel endured when she first started. She was alone and the industry has a way of causing harm.

AD: I imagine Papi always imagined being a father. Seeing you take on Papi’s reception of that is a very beautiful thing this season. What do you think Papi’s expectations of having a family were versus how it happened?

ABC: He always came from a broken home. The person who took care of him was Tito, another drug dealer, from season one. He was from a broken home. Papi didn’t have a father to fall back on after his mother passed on and he didn’t have uncles or grandparents. I experienced something very similarly since I only had my mother. If I didn’t have her, I’d be utterly lost. From the moment his mother passed, Papi has been looking for family. It’s beautiful how he was introduced in the beginning of the series as a man chasing after the members of the House of Evangelista. He wasn’t enamored with the performance but he was more with how they look unbreakable. Towards the very end, he finds his happy ending in baby boy and his wife.

AD: Any time Blanca says something about the importance of family, Papi never hesitates to lend a hand.

ABC: Yeah.

AD: Papi tells Beto, “A real man ain’t afraid of being hurt or loved or forgiven.” That echoes why we love Papi so much. Do you think it took Papi a long time to realize that mantra himself? 

ABC: He is human and he is always caught between loving Angel and he is hurt by her. He has to trust that when he forgives her and creates space that she won’t hurt him again. That whole transition where Angel leaves Papi and is sort of in a space of not being able to handle Papi having a child. There is a scene where Papi tells Angel, ‘We aren’t married, but it’s always for better or worse.’ It’s not fair when he showed up for her when she was on drugs and she dips out on him. He has to learn how to forgive because what she did was very hurtful.

AD: That wedding…my god. Tell me about what it was like to film that episode. 

ABC: That was the hardest day of my life, Joey.

AD: Yeah?

ABC: I never sing outside of my shower or in my car. I’ve never been asked to do it in front of my cast members or the crew and then when it airs, people will see this thing I’ve never done before. I knew I needed classes–I needed help.

AD: You sound great. 

ABC: Aww, thank you, brother. It was so scary for me. I got to get into the studio before singing it on the day which kind of mustered some confidence so I could sing it with no one else around. On the day, I was really fucking nervous and I need to give a special shoutout to Mj [Rodriguez], Indya [Moore] and Janet Mock. Janet ran that set so efficiently that I felt so taken care of. I could show up to fail because someone was looking out for me. Mj helped me and she clocked that I was nerous.

AD: Yeah. 

ABC: She looked at me and told me that she was there for me or that if I was scared I could look at her. Knowing I had that much emotional support made me feel sturdy. Indya was there and so sturdy. If I could focus all my energy on Indya, they would be there to catch me. I did it and got through that day–it might have been our longest day–but it was the most present I’ve ever been as an actor. It became a new standard of what I wanted to bring into every other scene moving forward. I felt so naked, but it felt perfect.

AD: That’s really great. 

ABC: Yeah, it really was. I don’t like watching myself and I am very hard on myself. It becomes too heavy. The series deserves the attention but I get too in my head. I didn’t get to know my grandparents. I didn’t grow up with them and I didn’t get a chance to meet them. They were artists in the Dominican Republic–my grandmother was a dancer and a singer and my grandfather was an opera singer. After I got reacquainted with my father in the Dominican Republic and when I saw myself on screen during the wedding, I just so emotional. I felt so proud of my work because I looked at that screen and I saw my grandfather reflected back. I just felt so loved and I felt like it was the most beautiful way to end Papi’s story.

Pose is streaming now on Hulu.