Mayans MC Star Disappointed by His Character's Death

This past week, Mayans MC claimed the first major club casualty of the series in a twist that fans didn't see coming. An attack on the Mayans by a rival club put one of the charter's members, Michael "Riz" Ariza, lying in the hospital in a coma. Doctors predicted that he would eventually survive the attack, but for reasons still unknown, Mayans Vice President Taza blocked Riz' oxygen and killed him as he slept. This was a major surprise to viewers of the series, especially since the murder came at the hands of a brother, and it appears as though it was also a pretty substantial blindside to the actor behind the role.

Antonio Jaramillo has played Riz since the first episode of Mayans MC last year and he's clearly enjoyed being part of the show. So much so that he wasn't too excited about his character being killed off. After his on-screen death earlier in the week, Jaramillo stopped to talk with AfterBuzz TV about his departure.

"I wish I was still part of it [the show] because then I can contribute to that, cause I felt like I was kept on the bench too much," Jaramillo admitted. "I felt like a first string quarterback on the bench. You know I don't know why [creator] Kurt [Sutter] did that, you know. I mean it was his show, so he made the decisions. I know we had a couple conversations and, I mean, maybe disagree on a few things but he's the boss. But yeah I felt like it was frustrating, for me as an actor it was frustrating because you gotta let me move, you gotta let me dance, you gotta let me fly, you know I'm good at what I do and people like what I do and, and, you know, people that know my work and they've seen me in other shows, you know, they're wondering 'dude, why are you sittin on the bench?' I'm like well, it ain't up to me. But now we're here and uh, who knows?"

Riz never really had a ton to do throughout the first two seasons of Mayans MC, and Jaramillo was one of the more established TV actors of the bunch coming into the series, so it is a bit surprising to see him exit so soon. But the Elgin James and the rest of the creative team clearly have something up their sleeve heading into the potential third season and next week's finale could reveal exactly what purpose the death of Riz served for the show.

Are you looking forward to the Mayans MC Season 2 finale? Let us know in the comments!