The opening sequence of Netflix’s new Gen-Z dramedy, On My Block, begins typically enough, with a tracking shot moving through a high-school graduation party. We meet a trio of best friends anxiously waiting for the fourth member of their squad to return with pilfered party beer; soon after he does, shots ring out.
“That was a .38,” declares Monse (Sierra Capri), a bossy, motherless tomboy. “No, it was a .45,” counters Jamal (Brett Gray), an overly dramatic would-be football player. “Sounded like a .44,” offers Ruby (Jason Genao), a smart and smart-alecky computer and math whiz. “Wrong,” answers Cesar (Diego Tinoco), whose gang-leader brother has just been released from prison. “.357,” they all yell in unison when more bullets whiz by.
From the jump, it’s clear that this South Central, L.A.-set series—from Awkward creator Lauren Iungerich and All Eyez On Me writers Eddie Gonzalez and Jeremy Haft—can mine anything for laughs. While much of the sharp dialogue springs from the classic stuff of teen angst—friendship, love, parental expectations, insecurities—it also arises out of the unique circumstances that face inner-city kids: violence, money woes, and gang culture.
It’s a striking mix—and nobody on the show has a bigger impact than Capri, who’s appealingly natural as tough but ultimately vulnerable Monse, the de facto squad leader. Remarkably, this starring role is the first for the twenty-something newcomer. (She’s loath to reveal her exact age.) Capri’s only other acting experience was as an extra, playing one of the NASA “computers” working under Octavia Spencer’s Dorothy Vaughan in Hidden Figures.
Capri has never had an acting lesson; she learned about the Netflix series from an online casting site. “I saw the description for someone who could play much younger than they are, who is bi-racial, who could fit the tomboy mold. And I felt like that was a perfect fit for me,” she says. At the time, she was living in Atlanta (where Hidden Figures was filmed), having just completed her junior year as biology major at Armstrong State University in Savannah.
From that point, Capri’s casting was a whirlwind: self-taped scenes led to a FaceTime meeting with Iungerich and, ultimately, an invitation to L.A. for “chemistry tests” with other finalists. A little over a month later, she got word the part was hers—which meant moving to L.A., and telling her mother about her new job. Capri had promised the woman who had raised her solo, since she was 12 years old, that she’d get her degree before pursuing acting full time. Nevertheless, Capri says her mom was excited for her—and adds that she plans to return to school to get her diploma eventually.
While the Georgia peach did a bit of research to play a girl parented by her truck-driver father in South Central, Capri says that spending the first years of her own childhood in inner-city Baltimore gave her experiences to draw upon. She could also relate to Monse’s independent spirit: “I was never one to follow the crowd. I never felt like I had to have everyone like me, or have a bunch of friends. I was just myself, and whoever gravitated toward me, that’s who I kept in my life.”
There was no question about the camaraderie between Capri and her On My Block castmates, whose bond, she says, mirrored those in the series. “Nothing was make-believe, especially relationship-wise,” she says. “We all get along exactly how it looks on the show. They’re all my brothers.”
What about having her first-ever kissing scenes—and more—with Diego Tinoco? “It was a job,” she says, matter-of-factly. “We both knew what we wanted to convey, so I’m pretty sure we made it believable. I’m hoping everyone enjoys their relationship—I know I did.”
It was a bit tougher for her to keep a straight face in scenes with cut-ups Gray and Jessica Marie Garcia, who plays the quartet’s classmate Jasmin, an asthma-inhaler-using loudmouth with questionable fashion taste. “I can’t tell you how many times we had to try so hard to keep ourselves together,” Capri says. “There were certain scenes that I would have to look in another direction, because if I looked at them, I knew I would start bursting out laughing.” The Halloween episode in particular—in which the group goes trick-or-treating in tony Brentwood—is one where you might catch her struggling to maintain a stony expression.
Capri had almost as much trouble convincing the group to go surfing with her on her birthday, which she celebrated while filming. “Even though a couple of them didn’t even like water like that, they came for me. And they actually enjoyed it a lot more than I think they thought they would,” she says. “Jason was like, ‘Sierra, when are we going back again?’ ” Take-charge Monse would be proud—especially if Capri can convince her castmates to go snowboarding next.
