Blair Lamora on Ziigwan's Journey in 'SHORESY' Season 3

[00:00:00] Blair, thank you for joining me again on Pop Culture Unplugged. Thank you so much for having me Elias. How are you? Great, great. You know, exciting times for you. You know, we just had Jersey season three premiere in Canada and now we're about a

[00:00:22] week, week and a half before the States. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, we're coming close. Right. How has this ride been for you? Three seasons now? Yeah, it's been so fun. It's just been a whirlwind of great times, literally from the start to now.

[00:00:37] There's not been a moment that I just haven't enjoyed every second of it. Like from cast to crew, it's been a pleasure. The work itself is super fun. And yeah, hanging out in Sudbury with everybody is always a blast.

[00:00:47] So one of the questions I wrote down for you, I want to know is like, you know, like the show has got a big fan base in Canada and now like by word of mouth, like it's hitting the States and people are enjoying this in the States also.

[00:00:58] What's your thoughts on this? I love it. I feel like hockey brings everybody together naturally. So it only makes sense that it was slowly starting to creep over there. And I mean, honestly, everybody involved in the Shorzy family is epic. We I yeah, I love it.

[00:01:13] I love it. The reach has been great. See? So you know, we see you on the show as Zeke Wan too. Like how much do you love playing this character? I adore it. I adore it. Zeke is super different than any other character that I've played before.

[00:01:28] He's just super feisty and out there. And it's always fun to kind of really rev that up because I don't typically in my everyday life. So it's really cool to tap into that with Zeke for sure.

[00:01:38] So we have, you know, three seasons in two also, like how would you like describe like the journey of this character from season one now at the season three? I feel like in the first and a little bit of that second season, you very much see

[00:01:51] her as kind of like the hard ass of the trio. She's very much chirping everybody very aggressive, always yelling. And I feel like now, especially with this third season coming up, I think people are

[00:02:01] going to be pleasantly surprised because she kind of changes a bit and you maybe see her heart soften a little more. And maybe there's more care, which I think is really cool to see her expand. So definitely more hearts.

[00:02:13] Are you trying to say you're not mean to those hockey boys? Oh, don't get it twisted. Don't get it twisted. I am still putting everybody in their place and no one is safe.

[00:02:22] But there might be an instance where you see maybe kindness shine through once in a while. What's great about this show, too, is I like the fire, like one liners between each character's everything, especially you. Your character, too, is like tell us a little bit about that.

[00:02:36] Yeah, like she is so spit fire crazy with her one liners. It's really fun with Zeke because I feel like she's one of the few characters that actually gets to shore Z and because they have like that hard hitting banter, it's very explosive

[00:02:49] and it's very fun as well also to act it out on my end with Jared, like just the back and forth is really great. So it's been a while there. I remember I thought I spoke to you during the first season and I should have wrote

[00:03:01] this down about your favorite one liner. But now do you have it like a new favorite one liner now between season one and season three? Is there like a quote that sticks out the most? I mean, sure. He calls me a goat face.

[00:03:14] I feel like that kills me every time. So like, you know, like shut the fuck up, you goat face. Yeah, he is little one liners that job like that. I'd say those guys for sure. The goat face.

[00:03:26] So in three seasons, is there anything you would change about this character or anything you would add about them? Oh, honestly, no, no, I wouldn't because I think if there was something for me to change, it might maybe is happening in the third season.

[00:03:42] People might be seeing it already. So I'm like very steady and very grateful with Zeke and where she's at right now. Would you consider Zeke being like, you know, like a key figure in the organization for like

[00:03:52] Shorzy to like the way like she interacts with like she has got like professional responsibilities. But at the same time, you know, you see her like she faces some challenges also throughout the season. Yeah, I feel like she is a key figure. It's like it's in any family.

[00:04:05] There's everybody fulfills different needs and there's reasons why those people are there, you know, and I feel like she definitely balances out the discipline in them, especially with Nat.

[00:04:14] I feel like she gets her a bit of a backbone to to kind of be a little bit more stern with the boys. So she definitely plays a significant role. And I think it's quite interesting how she messes with the team.

[00:04:24] What's amazing too is like throughout the series to, you know, Kehlani, his sister Amig. Tell us a little about that. Tell us a little about that relationship because you guys are like, you're both kind of way

[00:04:34] in being to the hockey players, you know, certain things, but also like you guys bash heads a little bit too throughout the season. I mean, it's like, I feel like the relationship that Zeke has with the team.

[00:04:45] It's like a sibling thing too, you know, with your siblings, you always obviously are loyal, you know, your, your companionship is there. But you also you have your moments where you you bicker with people, you're human, you're

[00:04:55] allowed to have difference of opinions and like, Kehlani's character Amig is such like, she's a little bit more lighthearted and more positive. Like they're very much like kind of opposites of each other, which sometimes can clash but

[00:05:07] very much balance each other out and is like, can't be one without the other. So they have a great relationship for sure. Yeah. How do you find that chemistry on set working with Kehlani? Great. It's so fun. Yeah, like we're always when we have our scenes together.

[00:05:21] We're always dancing. We're always kind of like riffing off of one another. Yeah, you might see some more screen time between the sisters this season and have that more of that duo together. So it's always a pleasure working with her. What do we expect for season three?

[00:05:35] What can you tease us about? I know, like you said, it's already been aired in Canada. We're a little bit away from from the States premiering this. What can you tease about this season?

[00:05:44] The team, I think really figures out who they are as people and what it means to them. I think, you know, they go until they cannot go no more. We know that they try to bring the lumber. They have a lot of like drive and ambition.

[00:05:54] And I think it's really put to the test this season. And it's really cool to see how everybody kind of evolves from that. How many episodes are we expecting for season three? How many are there? Just like the other season six. Six? Yeah.

[00:06:09] Is there a specific episode that you can't wait for the US fans to watch or anything about your character that we'll see? I feel like episodes four and five are going to be really fun. They're a little bit of a ride.

[00:06:22] I don't want to give away too much, but I really think that's when you start to see the pivot of a lot of characters and why things are playing out the way they are. So four and five are going to be really interesting for sure. Amazing.

[00:06:32] Now, I mentioned earlier to a huge fan base. Do you ever get stopped in the streets talking about your character and everything? I do once in a while. It's interesting. I think people don't recognize me if I'm not wearing really dark makeup and things like

[00:06:45] that unless they're really looking at me. But yeah, I bump into people in the streets all the time and it's mostly men that come up to me and they ask me to chirp them.

[00:06:53] They want me to chirp them like Shorzy and kind of get in on the action. So it's really fun. It's really always lighthearted when I see everybody. Now, did I hear anything? I don't know if this is true. Correct me if I'm wrong. Because you're in Canada, right?

[00:07:06] Yes. Did you go to any minor league games and do an autograph show or anything like that? You've been invited to those? Did I hear something about that? We went to the Sudbury Wolves game.

[00:07:18] There was a Shorzy night that happened, I think it was in November last year. We went to that and we were with all the fans because it was Shorzy night so everybody was there just supporting the show and basking in all the Sudbury awesomeness.

[00:07:32] It was nice to meet all the fans. And we did sign some stuff there but it wasn't an official sign. Do you ever get excited when you see a Shorzy shirt or jersey when you're walking in the streets? Yeah, I think it's actually so awesome.

[00:07:45] It was funny, I was walking in Toronto one time and I saw these three guys all wearing Sudbury Bulldog hoodies and I was like, that's so sick! But yeah, it kind of just makes me smile. We're all part of the big team, it feels like.

[00:08:02] How is it working now with Jared for three seasons for Shorzy? Great. Literally great. He is such a superstar on and off screen. He just has this creative ability to make everybody feel like work isn't just work.

[00:08:16] Of course, we're all there to do a purpose but it's really fun and it's an environment where everybody's encouraged to kind of play and enjoy the time. And actually people know each other. Everybody knows everybody's names, we're very familiar with each other so it's really great.

[00:08:29] He set up a great environment and I love working with him. I have nothing but amazing things to say. Does he give you freedom with the character, how you want to play or does he want you to play a certain way?

[00:08:41] He has an idea of it and then we kind of build a little bit on it together. When it comes to the script, we stick pretty true but there are some times where there

[00:08:51] are some lines that maybe hit a little bit better if I say it or somebody else says it and there's these minor tweaks. But we stay pretty well close to what he writes. He also is part of Letter Ken. He did so many seasons there.

[00:09:06] Has he talked about how many seasons he wants to try to do with Shorzy? Oh no, I have no idea in that mind. Anything goes. So I know he's just enjoying it right now. It's a huge passion project.

[00:09:17] Everybody involved is really grateful and loving it so who's to say? Who knows? Has he mentioned anything about a season 4 yet to you or to the cast? No. No, no idea yet. I guess we'll see how everybody loves it. This new season will go from there.

[00:09:32] New season, what kind of theme or message do you hope the viewers get out of this season? That's a good question. I would probably say just stick with your dreams. Do things that make you happy and follow your heart. I think that's a big one.

[00:09:50] A big one for sure without giving too much away. Right, right, right. Blair, this is awesome. What's next for you? Any other projects you'd like to tell us about that you got coming up or working on? Or just sticking with Shorzy?

[00:10:01] Right now all I could say is Shorzy but feel free to keep up with me and maybe you guys will hear more very soon. Amazing. Blair, how can the listeners, the viewers and the Shorzy fans find you on social media? Yeah, give me a follow on Instagram.

[00:10:16] That's where I post all my current stuff. Amazing. Blair, this was great. Hopefully we see season 4. I can't wait for everybody to get a chance to watch season 3. Good luck and like I said, I mentioned, hopefully we get a season 4 out of you. Keep going with the story.

[00:10:27] Fingers crossed we get to meet again and talk it all out.