Devious Maids’ Nathan Owens Talks Marisol and Jesse and Tingling Spider Senses 

Warning: Mild Devious Maids spoilers

Actor Nathan Owens has been a welcome presence during the third season of Lifetime’s massive hit series, Devious Maids. As Jesse Morgan, Owens added some serious sizzle into the life of one Marisol Suarez (Ana Ortiz). First, he opened her eyes to the magnificent merits of having a male maid. Then he opened up her heart as the two started a steamy relationship. Unfortunately, the steaminess recently dissipated after she couldn’t overcome her trust issues.

I recently chatted with Owens to find out what he thinks about Marisol and Jesse. He also talks about his character’s new job working for Olivia; three of the other Devious Maids characters he’d like to share scenes with; plus the infamous — and red-hot — story he was a part of when he co-starred on the daytime series, Days of our Lives.

TV Goodness: For a while there we didn’t know what was going on with Jesse. They kept it really mysterious and a little bit dangerous — what kind of feedback were you getting early on about your character? Were fans guessing different things?

Nathan Owens: You know what? Immediately, everybody was a bit suspicious. At least that’s what I was getting. I was getting standard comments like, you know, oh, he’s hot. (laughter) That’s pretty much predominantly what I was getting. Other than that I would say people were suspicious. And as soon as Blanca (Naya Rivera) turned up missing, that’s when people started pointing the finger at me more often. At least judging from Twitter and whatnot. That’s when people started thinking that maybe this nice guy wasn’t so nice and there was a darker side…right around when Blanca went missing.

TV Goodness: Well is the whole mystery with Jesse over or is there still something we don’t know about him?

Nathan: You know what? I guess you’ll have to wait and find out. I’d say with the advent of Olivia, you’ll never know what will happen with that character around.

TV Goodness: Talk about Jesse and Marisol — she accused him of killing Louie Becker the tennis pro — is that something Jesse and Marisol can come back from? Can you tease what’s coming up ahead for these two?

Nathan: I would say that they have a strong connection, stronger than that mishap was, I’d say. I would think so. I believe that the two of them have good chemistry and how they get along together — it’s a lot deeper than that mishap because I think that Jesse understands, ultimately, a lot about Marisol and the baggage that she carries around and her constant worries and needs to uncover and find out, get to the bottom of such and such — he understands that about her. It’s possible for those to recover from that, I would hope.

TV Goodness: Is that why they’re a couple to root for?

Nathan: I think they are. I’m for sure rooting for them. I think they are. I think…speaking objectively (laughter) they have a lot of potential. Those two have a lot of power potential for sure.

TV Goodness: Can you talk about working with Ana Ortiz?

Nathan: It’s been great. It’s been a blessing. She knows her stuff and she only helps facilitate that for others that she works with, I’d say. And she went above and beyond with me and brought me in and I think that helped our relationship blossom and it showed throughout our chemistry on screen. She’s a wonderful lady inside and out on screen and off screen.

TV Goodness: What have you enjoyed about playing your character — I do enjoy the fact that he has the military background to play off of…

Nathan: I do too. I like that. I like that. You know what? A side of me wishes they could play even more into that. But if I have to say I enjoy one thing about the character, I do like the depth of the military background that he holds that close to him. And also, I’ve spoken about it briefly, but his ties to his family and how he cares about them as well, too. So I appreciate both of those things a lot — as a person as myself, too. So I do like that it’s involved with the character of Jesse as well.

TV Goodness: What have you enjoyed most about this whole Devious Maids experience?

Nathan: What I enjoyed most about the Devious Maids experience…I enjoyed how warm and welcoming the cast and crew were and how professional at the same time they were. It was like a family, to be honest. And I’m not even saying that to toot any horns or be that guy but it felt familial in that sense. We’d have our table reads and everyone was polite and helpful and I feel like I enjoyed that the most because I’ve heard that they’re situations that have been the complete opposite. I didn’t feel that. Not even one bit. It was like a small family. Or like a big family, actually.

TV Goodness: Is there someone in the cast you’d want to share scenes with or more scenes with?

Nathan: Technically, there are three but two of them count as one. I’d say the Powells as a whole — Adrian and Evelyn Powell — Tom and Rebecca [Irwin and Wisocky]. I wish I would have been able to share more scenes with them because I love their characters and how they dedicate themselves to these roles and I’ve spoken with them off camera and behind the scenes and whatnot and they’re lovely people. Maybe it’d be nice to get more time on screen as well and take it all in. I’m very…I’m much more new to the game and these guys are definitely people I can learn a lot from.

TV Goodness: I love the relationship with the kid that they’re adopting.

Nathan: Right? I know! It’s hilarious. I like how they’ve cultivated that. It’s coming out nice. It’s funny. And I’d say Carmen (laughter)…Roselyn Sanchez…I really want to work with her. She’s a shining star and I want to be a part of it.

TV Goodness: What can you tease about Jesse’s time with Olivia?

Nathan: Judging from her past I’d say she’s a little bit…unpredictable? Might be one way to say it. So there’s that. I think she can keep him on his toes and certain red flags might just go off. His Spider senses might tingle a lot around her for some reason. I don’t know. I just want to put that out there. Tingling Spider senses…write that in there.

TV Goodness: I want to talk about Jesse’s gun. Did he really just buy the gun because he was afraid after the whole severed hand thing or is there another reason?

Nathan: I would put it like this…if I were an ex-military man or any ex-military man that I’ve known and I’ve spoke to, first of all, they already have guns. But aside from that, if I showed up in a neighborhood and found a severed hand and there was a killer at large…if I wasn’t the killer and/or if I was, I’d still have a gun. You like how there’s no definitive answer? (laughter) Yeah, I’d have a gun if I was the killer and if I wasn’t the killer.

TV Goodness: You’ve worked in daytime on Days of our Lives and Devious Maids is a primetime soap. Is there a difference between working on a daytime versus a primetime soap?

Nathan: Yeah, there is. A huge difference. I would say…preparation time is huge. There’s a lot more preparation time with a primetime soap. There’s just an elevated…everything is elevated as far as production goes as far as time needed to perfect a scene and so on and so forth. With daytime it’s pretty demanding when it comes to memorizing scripts. But other than that, everything’s elevated as far as production. That’s the best way to put it.

TV Goodness: Okay I have to ask this, but the other day I saw this tweeted in my timeline, but it was that famous strip club scene from Days of our Lives that your character, Dr. Cameron Davis, was involved in.

Nathan: Oh, snap! Oh…everybody’s got a past, you know? (laughter)

TV Goodness: What was that experience like and do you still hear people talking about it?

Nathan: Oh yeah, for sure, we’re talking about it right now! You know what? It was actually pretty cool because I liked how they tied it in…storyline-wise, I liked how they…well, one, it was obviously around the time Magic Mike was happening. Two, it was a way to bring my character on the show closer to the other storylines and characters involved on the show as well. They included a couple of the other guys as a way of them helping me save my job and so it brought  a lot of people together so we could act together. That was awesome. We all got to share scenes together. Also, of course, I loved my little golden baby shorts so — that was my favorite takeaway — golden baby shorts and boxing gloves, I think it was.

TV Goodness: Days of our Lives is celebrating its 50th anniversary — what does the show mean to you and your career?

Nathan: A lot of people passed through those hallways and a lot have gone on to do great things. And, to me, it’s a blessing to be able to say that I’m a part of it. And hope to continue to torch on through primetime, film, whatever it is, from here on out. Yeah, it’s great to be a part of something that’s been a part of so many generations. My grandmother used to make me watch as a child so it’s like…a big deal.

Devious Maids airs Monday nights at 9/8c on Lifetime.

Tonight’s episode is called “Terms of Endearment.”

The synopsis

• Rosie makes a big decision after Spence starts asking questions about Ernesto’s behavior.  Zoila learns a disturbing truth about Dr. Neff and tries to warn Genevieve.  Jesse clashes with Marisol over her suspicions about Olivia.  Evelyn puts Carmen in charge of disciplining her foster son.