Allen Maldonado Riffs on Tracy Morgan, Whether Bobby’s a Ghost

During his audition with Tracy Morgan, Allen Maldonado, who plays Bobby on The Last O.G., had an inkling he was going to get the part.

“Before I could even walk through the door, he screamed out, ‘Cousin Bobby!’” says Maldonado. “We started improving for 15 minutes straight, and that was my screen test with Tracy. It was organic from the first introduction.”

Chemistry is essential for this relationship to work, both on and off screen, since Tray (Morgan) returns to Brooklyn after being in prison for 15 years and picks up with Bobby like there haven’t been 15 American Idol winners since the last time he saw him.

“It’s so special. Our chemistry is so natural and one of those things that you can’t even really describe. It’s been a dream come true working with Tracy.”

Morgan and Maldonado’s rapport is so effortless that sometimes they go off script.

“We mostly stick to the script, but of course we add our own nuances to everything, our own jokes here and there. We build off of the script. We may improv the beginning and ending of some scenes.”

Brooklyn’s Mayor of Mischief

Bobby may not have visited Tray in prison, but now he doesn’t seem to leave his side, which speaks to what Tray represents to him.

“He had no leadership, being that Tray was locked up and his brother was murdered. He’s finally found that leader he’s been looking for, and that’s why a lot of his scenes he’s trailing Tray in some fashion.”

Even though Bobby is Tray’s shadow, Maldonado still manages to steal every scene he’s in, even if it’s something small.

“That’s something I’ve learned from Tracy as far as being able to stay in the moment and find those gems inside of a scene. I may only have one line. In the episode ‘Repass,’ where the funeral is happening, and Tray says Shay’s mom was a crackhead, my obnoxious laugh that comes out after he says that was improvised. You find those moments in the scene, you add humor, you find these different things about the character to inject his POV into the scene and it works magic.”

Not only does Tray serve as a mentor for Bobby, but he also serves as a warning, since Bobby, too, deals drugs. But Maldonado says Bobby offers a child-like charisma that keeps him from landing behind bars.

“He’s so loveable. Even though he’s involved with these quick schemes, it comes from a child-like place. He’s able to talk his way out of situations because of that. He’s not threatening at all, even though he’s doing a lot of stuff that would be threatening to other individuals, but because of his demeanor and disposition, he comes from a place of love where he’d do anything for his family. That keeps him out of trouble. Out of serious trouble, rather. He’s always in trouble.”

The series sheds light on some very serious topics, including reentering society after being in prison, but it does so in a very realistic but comical way.

“My favorite part about playing Bobby is being able to have these big energetic scenes. Bobby being able to have these really quirky situations, from running over the old man with the car to being knocked out in the park by Shay [Tiffany Haddish] to even doing the crazy stuff with Pooh Cat [guest star Chrissy Metz], being the look-out, he gets to have a lot of fun.”

So much fun, that one wonders, is he a ghost or Tray’s Guardian Angel? Since really, only Tray seems to be the one who directly responds or interacts with Bobby.

“That would be a helluva twist!” Maldonado laughs. “I love how people are curious. What does Bobby do? What does Bobby not do? I love the questions people are asking.”

Just as Bobby appears everywhere, so does Maldonado, who in addition to acting, writes for Starz’s TV series Survivor’s Remorse and also developed the industry’s first digital app for short films Everybody Digital, which launched in October 2017.

“Acting is the sun and everything revolves around that. Acting powers my writing, my music company, the stuff I do with foster kids, my T-shirt company, my production company, to my short film app. All of these things are powered by my acting. As far as what’s easier or harder, they all have their own challenges within them, but I love every aspect of what I do. It all depends on the mood. It’s like food. Today, I want to eat hamburgers. Tomorrow I want Italian. I’m just blessed to be able to have the opportunities to choose what I feel like doing.”

The Last O.G. episodes are available at TBS.com.