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The writers were in tears as they polished the script.
At the table read, where the cast goes through the script aloud, there were audible gasps.
The studio audience yelled, No!
and sniffled as the actors did their thing on the Sony stage during filming.
I remember at one point saying to myself, Uh-oh, no, you cant cry.
Youre supposed to be unconscious, she told Vulture.
And I remember one tear started to happen.
I reprimanded the tear.
I said, Dont you dare go over onto my cheek, Ill kill you.
Not Yet covers a scary period in the lives of the Alvarez family.
Its hard to get Moreno to lay there, Calderon Kellett recalled.
That woman moves more than anyone I know.
But that was not at all what happened.
I really felt that if I slept I would miss something, she said.
It was difficult, but I was absolutely filled with everything everybody was saying.
And it was very moving the way everybody did their stuff in very different ways.
Its a 25-minute-long monologue and it was so good, Calderon Kellett said.
The trick was to connect the monologues, to have moments of levity as well as the emotion.
Its the truest to theater of any episode we did this season.
As they wait for Lydia to awaken, each member of the family describes how they feel about her.
Finally, Machado delivers a tear-jerker.
Dont we really seem like a real mother and daughter?
Justina and I have this absolutely superb chemistry.
Some of it is hilarious and some of it is just heartbreaking.
Despite Morenos threats to her own tears, a few still managed to escape.
She had to really sit there with that, but she was unbelievable and she didnt move.
It is a scene that could have easily played out in Calderon Kelletts own Cuban-American family.
Certainly with myabuelitaand myabuelito, everyone goes in and says their last things to them.
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But wasadiosever a real possibility?
No, no, no, no, no.
No, wed never kill Lydia!
Calderon Kellet says, laughing.
People were flipping out!
The crew even passed out tissues to the audience.
I went, Oh my God!
I gasped, she says.
I thought I was going to die.
I thought, Jesus!
Maybe this is their way of telling me good-bye!
I love playing with Tony, Moreno says.
Tony is such a lovely actor.
And Lydias love for her dead husband is always very, very moving.
Her love for him is profound.
I was so glad they brought him back but it really scared the audience.
As the scene evolves, all signs point to Abuelitas imminent death.
My work here is done, Lydia says.
But then Berto asks a direct question: So,mi amor, is it time?
Lydia smiles and says sweetly, Not yet,mi vida.
Its a real lump in the throat, isnt it?
These writers are murderous, Moreno says about the line.
The studio audience celebrated so much that Fryman had to ask them to settle down for another take.
A scene like this is cheesy, Calderon Kellett says.
That dreamlike Heaven scene is hard to pull off!
With Berto coming in from the white light, that could be cheesy in somebody elses hands.
But we have the benefit of the gravitas of these actors.
But I understand why.
Youre taking something out of her soul.
I personally feel its unfair to ask someone to give up their ties to their native country.
Its horrible, frankly.
But thats why I love this show.
I love what it stands for.
It is so far beyond the original show.
