Jearnest Corchado stars in “The Jaguar” episode of Apple TV+ Little AmericaAmerica is a nation of immigrants. The country was built, prospered, and invented by immigrants and the descendants of immigrants. Apple TV+’s Little America tells the true inspirational stories of individual immigrants in America.

Executive produced by Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, Little America used some of the true stories featured in Epic Magazine. The first season consisted of eight half-hour episodes with its unique story that can be funny, romantic, heartfelt, inspirational, and surprising.

Apple TV+ invited LRM Online to sit down with actress Jearnest Corchado. She stars in one of the episodes titled “The Jaguar,” which is about Marisol, an undocumented woman whose family immigrated from Mexico and later discovered the love of competitive squash.

The episode revolves around the true story of Reyna Pacheco, an American professional squash player, who was once ranked number seventy-seven in the world. She was an undocumented immigrant from Tijuana, Mexico, and discovered competitive squash in San Diego. Pacheco received her Permanent Resident Card before attending Columbia University on a Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium scholarship.

Corchado is a rising actress that made guest appearances in multiple television shows and starred in Cucuy: The Boogeyman. Some of her future projects include Raise Your Hand and Die Like A Man.

During the interview, Corchado spoke with LRM Online about training for competitive squash and working with Jamie Gore Pawlik (a real competitive squash player) and actor John Ortiz. She also discussed her online relationship with Reyna Pacheco, and hopefully someday they will play squash together.

All eight episodes of Little America is available now through Apple TV+ by visiting here.

Watch the exclusive interview below.

Here is the transcript of the interview. The transcript is edited for length and clarity.

Gig Patta: Hey, congratulations on this episode.

Jearnest Corchado: Thank you.

Gig Patta: What attracted you initially to do something for Little America?

Jearnest Corchado: The fact it was about immigrants. It was a comedy and meant to inspire. [It] tells the story in a beautiful, very different and unique way. I really loved that it was different from anything. It was so new and fresh—something that we haven’t seen. It’s an anthology series, so it focus on different cultures and different people. Even though every episode is so different from the other, it still has the same theme about uniting, showing that we’re all similar, and we’re human. I really love that.

Gig Patta: Did you have the opportunity to meet Reyna Pacheco in real life?

Jearnest Corchado: Not in person. She started following me, and I started following her. We kind of started DMing through Instagram. We have a mutual respect and admiration. I really love her. I think she’s a real live superhero. But, no, I haven’t met in her person.

We’re planning on it. It’s going to happen. Yeah.

Gig Patta: She’s going to be proud of this episode, right?

Jearnest Corchado: She’s really proud. She told me that’s she’s really proud. We’re trying to schedule a squash session. She’s going to definitely win. That’s a given. [Laughs] But, I’m excited for that. Hopefully, that’ll happen soon.

Gig Patta: Speaking of squash—how did you train for all of this?

Jearnest Corchado: So I trained for four days.

Gig Patta: Just four days?

Jearnest Corchado: Yes.

Gig Patta: Wow!

Jearnest Corchado: So they brought me in on Wednesday. I think I flew in on Wednesday. We started training that night. We worked for three days or four days more. Then I started shooting. It was four full days of training on learning the basics and learning the rules. I learned that I needed to go to the middle part, then go back and do lunges. Then I started shooting.

Gig Patta: How did you go toe-to-toe with Jamie [Gore Pawlik]? Isn’t she a real squash player?

Jearnest Corchado: Yes. She made me look good! We had to try multiple things. I’m not going to say much, [because] I’m not going to look as good. [Laughs] She was really good. She was actually always teaching me. She was my partner in all of this. She’s good. She’s a jaguar herself too. She has it down.

I don’t know if she had to at some point play with her left hand so that it wouldn’t look as good. I think they had to try that at some point because I was playing with real squash players. They were helping me throughout the whole process, which was really nice.

Gig Patta: In reality, you are pretty good.

Jearnest Corchado: I think I was pretty good—not going to lie. I was obsessed with it. It’s such a mind game. It’s all about really wanting to win. I’m very competitive. I would love to keep doing it in real life.

Gig Patta: For the last thought, one of the things I do admire was [with] John Ortiz was your coach. I would love to have John Ortiz as my squash coach. Could you talk about that?

Jearnest Corchado: He was really good, right? Did you like him?

Gig Patta: I did.

Jearnest Corchado: He brought something to the episode. It was so out there and so different. It was so beautiful to see him work. I was always different. Every take was so different. He was so playful. He was so free in the role. Having him as my partner was an adventure. It was beautiful. It was a dream come true.

Gig Patta: Excellent. Congratulations, and you look lovely today.

Jearnest Corchado: Thank you so much. Nice to meet you.

All eight episodes of Little America is available now through Apple TV+

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Source: LRM Online Exclusive