Now that Peacock’s crime drama M.I.A. has officially premiered, audiences are finally stepping into the dangerous world surrounding Etta Tiger Jonze and the aftermath of her parents’ murder. Marta Milans and Maurice Compte play two siblings, Caroline and Mateo, in the series. Their characters navigate family loyalty, ambition, and survival inside a brutal criminal empire. 

Speaking about the series, Marta Milans and Maurice Compte reflected on the deep collaborative work that shaped their performances in M.I.A., the emotional history built behind the scenes, and the complicated morality driving characters willing to do whatever it takes to protect their family legacy.

So how did you two approach humanizing these characters who exist within a very violent system? 

Marta Milans: You go ahead, brother.

Maurice Compte: Well, I think the first thing that we did was get to know each other as actors and as people, so we had a good basis for starting. And by the way, Demet, thank you for having us and thank you for these questions that you’re asking us. 

I think the next thing that we did was figure out what our boundaries were so we could keep each other safe. Then we dove right into the work. We started talking about the characters, about relatability points, about things we would see eye to eye on and things we wouldn’t, so that when we took it far, we knew that we were safe in each other’s hands. 

I think it was going to be such an epic ride, and even though filming sometimes seems like it takes a very long time, the time when you’re actually in front of a camera is very limited, so we had to be very prepared. I think we all got together and made sure that our dynamic was something the audience was not just seeing, but feeling as well. It was really important for us to make sure we had the dynamic that you see on the screen.

And Marta?

Marta Milans: I don’t think I can say anything better than what my brother already said, but it’s been a joy to work with actors that are committed to the work and the crafting of a character before you are on camera, like he’s saying. I think a lot of rehearsal time, a lot of discussion time, and just talking about who these people are, what they are to us, and what they are to each other informed what you end up seeing on the screen, and I think that is there. 

We are a big cast. There are a lot of storylines, and there’s limited time to connect with each little snippet of character throughout the season, but I think it’s all there. I think people pick up on those dynamics in a way that makes this show special, and I’m just excited to share it with the world.

Yeah, I had a question about that. Did you build any shared backstory that isn’t written, but informs your scenes together?

Marta Milans: Oh, for sure! We did a lot of that. We also have a wonderful showrunner, Karen Campbell, who worked with each one of us in coming up with our backstory and the relationships between each character, and what it meant for our personal character on the show. So in my case, I had an entire biography figured out of who she was, where she came from, where she went to university, what she studied, who she was married to before, what her goals were, and what her relationship with her brothers was before. So when you are on set, in those limited times that Maurice says you have in front of the camera, all that is there, and it’s vibrant, and it tells a story even without it being on the script.

Your characters do some very bad things—very questionable things. How do you think they justify their decisions to themselves? 

Maurice Compte: Well, I think when you’re looking at it from a character’s perspective, what you have are people involved in the world of business, and it’s a very dog-eat-dog kind of world that they live in. So much of us, whether in business or just in life, are a product of our environment as much as we are a product of our parents. If you got to meet our parents for a very short minute, played by the incredible Edward James Olmos, what you got to see was a man who was very meticulous—not just in the way that he did business, but in the way that he went about solving his problems. That was passed on to both of us. And even though we were standing on two very different sides of the razor’s edge, the mandate was always the same for us: kill or be killed. Don’t let anybody stand in your way. Do what you have to do to get to the top.

And Martha?

Marta Milans: Reiterating what Maurice was saying, the only difference at the beginning is that Maurice’s character and Geraldo’s character have to do the dirty work. They have to get what needs to be done above all costs. 

In the case of Caroline, she is the golden child. She’s the one her father has tried to protect from that dark world and keep legitimate, polished, and clean. Even though she launders the family’s drug money, I don’t know how clean that is — slightly less criminal and just also illegal, but maybe disputable. 

I think there’s that difference between them two, obviously, and as the season progresses, the lines start to blur, so we are actually not that different anymore. But I think, per what Maurice was saying, we follow what our father told us to do closely, and we are our father’s children.

How much of their push toward legitimacy and success is about honoring their father versus protecting their own future and interests? Do you think it’s more about the father?

Marta Milans: I think for sure in Caroline’s case, she has an altar of her parents in her office, and she is all about making her father proud and making sure that he would raise his head and say, “I’m proud of you, kid.” But also, that is very intertwined with protecting her family and the interests of her family. Those two things are very closely knit together for Caroline.

And Maurice, what’s your take on this for Matteo?

Maurice Compte: For Matteo as well, I think security—not just for your family, but for yourself—and survival are very much entwined once you get involved in a world like that. To not succeed is to die, so surviving is the only thing that you can do, and that is directly correlated with succeeding. You’re either moving up or you’re moving down. There’s no in-between for that kind of family and that road when you’re at those levels of stakes. But I think more than anything, when it comes to what our father began to build, it’s about creating a legacy. It’s about creating something for future generations to build on further, just the way we were given opportunities. Everyone in this world, being Latin in America, is at some level an immigrant and has migrated here due to unforeseen circumstances. Leaving a mark on this world, as much as contributing to the country that has taken us in, is equally important to us and what we strive to do.

Thank you so much for taking your time and giving so much insight into your characters. Hopefully we get to see you in season two.

Marta Milans: Yes, hopefully!

Maurice Compte: May 7th begins the party.