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This has been a big year for Julio “Scary” Sanchez on Major Crimes, as he has dealt with lingering anger management issues, coming to better terms with his wife’s death, and as we’ve seen the last few episodes, perhaps finding love again with a new member of the division. We visited with Raymond on the set of Major Crimes during the filming of the winter episode arc to find out some more of what we can expect this season and beyond from Julio, and what other projects Raymond is tackling during his hiatus.

MCTV: Julio has had the opportunity to work through his anger management and emotional trauma in previous seasons. In these final episodes, a lot of that has been coming full circle as he is faced once again with the memory of his late wife, and sharing that experience of having lost a spouse with Stephanie Dunn. How has this arc been for you to film?

Cruz: The subject matter is very difficult. It’s been a lot of hard work as an actor to deal with these storylines because you have this character who suffers from a traumatic incident in his life, then he carries his post traumatic stress syndrome throughout the rest of his life. You [Julio] never get over it. So that always has to be there for him, it haunts him. As the actor who portrays all of this, it begins to wear you out. It’s a very heavy weight to carry and after a while, it affects you. It exhausts you.

MCTV: As a result of Julio’s anger and outbursts, we saw him go head to head with Flynn earlier this season. Has that conflict with Flynn and Julio now been resolved?

Cruz: I actually think it’s still there somewhere underneath. If someone doesn’t trust you, that’s always an issue. You never know when that could happen again. But if you have a family, which this team of people are to each other, there is always conflict.
Is there any family that doesn’t have conflict? I doubt it, but that’s okay.

We’ve created a real family atmosphere with the characters on set, and they really relate to each other. The term of their experience together has been like 11 years, so they’ve really gotten to know each other. But also as in all families, if something comes up no one is afraid to say anything, they just tell you. So that can be a new source of conflict as well.

MajorCrimesTV: This season has held a lot for Julio so far, both personally and professionally. Any hints on what we can expect to see in these final two episodes of the winter season?

Raymond Cruz: You mean a little romance? I really can’t say much about that. But there is a lot on the horizon for Julio. I can say that I’m just taking it as it comes, the writers haven’t even shown us the last scripts from this arc yet, so I truly don’t know where it’s all going.

MCTV: We’ve seen a different side to Julio this season. Looking forward, do you think we’ll continue to see any changes for him?

Cruz: To be honest, I don’t think that my character has ever really changed. I think that rather, the viewers have been allowed more access to the characters because they’ve been granted that increased time with them in a way that they never were on The Closer. They get a more complete picture of the unit and how the police department works. With Major Crimes you get more of a sense of who they are and how they are bound to each other. You’ve seen them work together forever, they are bound together. If you spend a long time with someone, then you get to know them extremely well. The viewers have spent so long with the characters, and now they know them extremely well. They’ve gotten little bits in every episode. It’s like peeling an onion, you get new layers every episode.

MCTV: Like how viewers knew Julio’s wife had died in The Closer, but didn’t get the complete picture until years later on Major Crimes?

Cruz: Yes, exactly, and that detail canonically took place even before the events of The Closer. Julio always wore a wedding ring, so people always wondered if he was married. And then slowly over the years we’ve learned more about that, and how that has affected him.

MCTV: Do you have any projects that you will be working on during the hiatus?

Cruz: Yeah, I am working on another series called Full Circle for Direct TV. It’s a great project and the writing is really good. I started the day after our wrap for Major Crimes. No rest for the wicked!

The penultimate episode of Major Crimes winter season airs this Monday at 9pm/8c on TNT. You can next catch Raymond Cruz in season two of Full Circle, airing this March on DirecTV.