‘A Man on the Inside’ Star Lilah Richcreek Estrada Says She’s So Ready to Explore a Relationship Between Julie and Didi in Future Seasons: “I Think Julie Ending Up With Someone Who Can Check Her, That’s Who She Needs”

Sorry, A Man on the Inside fans, Lilah Richcreek Estrada has not seen the Julie and Didi (Stephanie Beatriz) fan edits… but she wants to. 

After Season 2 of the Ted Danson and Mike Schur comedy show released on Netflix and confirmed that Julie — the private investigator who hired Charles (Danson) in Season 1 — is queer, the actress behind the character spoke with DECIDER about being one of the last to find out that she may get to portray an onscreen relationship with Beatriz.

“When I found out that they were going to get together, I was like, ‘Oh my God,’” the actress told DECIDER in a recent interview. “I hadn’t picked up on that myself in Season 1. But I think, you know, the writing spoke for itself. So the fact that fans were picking up on it and then it came true, I just thought it was so cool.”

For those behind on the show or waiting to watch with their family over the holiday weekend (spoiler alert!) the Season 2 finale sees Didi — the director of the Pacific View Retirement Community where Season 1’s investigation took place — asking Julie out on a date. Julie, who had been oddly alarmed by Didi’s intentions in hiring her to run background checks and generally trying to sniff her out, jokes that she completely misread the situation. In fact, Julie is so suspicious and obtuse when it comes to Didi that it takes Megan (Kerry O’Malley), Julie’s assistant, to push them together. 

For Richcreek Estrada, the opportunity to explore more of Julie’s personal life is just one more thing to love about the series, especially if it results in additional fan edits on TikTok of her character and Beatriz’s falling madly and deeply in love.

“I have not seen these, but I want everybody who reads this to send them to me because I want to see them,” she shared of the Julie and Didi “fan cams” from Season 1 and Season 2. “I’m excited to see where it goes if we get more seasons.”

For DECIDER’s full interview with the actress for Season 2 of A Man on the Inside, read on. 

DECIDER: Lilah, I want to start with a sillier question. There’s a moment in Episode 4 where Julie clocks someone about to glitterbomb her and advises them not to. To me, it felt like Leo energy. I need to know what zodiac sign you think Julie is.

LILAH RICHCREEK ESTRADA: I love this question. I worship this question. First of all, I, Lilah, am a Leo so the fact that you read the Leo energy is incredible. I see Julie as a Scorpio, she’s a little dark, she’s a little moody. And in her rising, she does not have air, so I feel like she needs to have fire and earth. I feel like she’s maybe a Taurus moon and her rising has to be fire like maybe maybe a Sag. I don’t know, sometimes sag’s are a little unpredictable but Julie is also messy. She’s a little chaotic as well. Wait, I’m sorry, Julie is not a Sag, she’s an Aries rising, let’s get real. She’s super fiery and she’s not as chaotic as Sag. There’s my answer.

I love how much you know the nooks and crannies of Julie, it’s so telling. Before we go any further, I do have to ask you if you’ve seen the Julie and Didi fan cams on TikTok. If not, talk to me about your reaction to finding out these two might get together.

Well, first of all, I have not seen these, but I want everybody who reads this to send them to me because I want to see them. I was hearing that people were picking up on a vibe between Julie and Didi, which I loved. And then when I found out that they were going to get together, I was like, “Oh my God, because I hadn’t picked up on that myself in Season 1. But I think, you know, the writing spoke for itself. So the fact that fans were picking up on it and then and then it came true, I just thought it was so cool. I think Julie ending up with someone who can check her and go toe to toe with her and was not scared of her, that’s who she needs. So I’m excited to see where it goes if we get more seasons.

I was going to ask you how you feel about exploring this kind of dynamic with Stephanie Beatriz who is just the coolest, sweetest, funniest person. Are you excited about that possibility?

I’m so excited! I mean, I love Stephanie as just a person; I think she’s really great. Like you just said, she’s cool and content and she’s an easy person to be around and to act with because she’s so talented. And I so I think getting to getting to to act with her in that dynamic will be so fun for me as a person. Didi is a really good match for Julie; I love to see someone who isn’t afraid of her because so many people are.

Working with Stephanie, working with Ted, I have to imagine that so much of this show feels like a dream for you. What has been the most unreal part of this journey?

I feel like it’s all unreal. Before I got this job, I had a vision for myself of what I wanted my next job to be. And it, to a tee, is this job. I wanted to be on a single-camera comedy that had great writing talent, shot in LA — because not enough stuff shoots in LA — And I wanted the set to feel like a family, and that is everything that this show is. So for me, I mean, yes, the fact that I get to work with Ted and Mary [Steenburgen] and Max Greenfield and, you know, Jason Mantzoukas is my neighbor, that was pretty cool to work with him. All of that stuff is so cool. But the fact that I feel like it feels like a family, and it feels very non-intimidating, it just feels like we’re all here to have a lot of fun and do great acting and make a great show.

You mentioned the family environment. Congratulations on welcoming a baby of your own! I think he was born just a few weeks before filming, right?

Yeah, five and a half weeks. My first day was five and a half weeks after giving birth, which was wild. I don’t know how I did that.

Me neither. How, if at all, did this family on set work with you and try to make the transition back to work easier so soon after?

They pushed production as much as they could and block shot me so I could have a couple extra weeks. So I shot the first four episodes, my part in the first four episodes, the first two weeks. And, a lot of the time, if we have a hiatus week or a character is off for several days in a row, they’ll return trailers to save money, and they made sure my trailer was never touched, so I could keep all of the baby stuff in there and I wouldn’t have to lug it back and forth. They always had a room or a trailer close by so my baby could come visit whenever. So if we were like on location, far away from my personal trailer, there was always a place that I could go or my husband could be in there with my son and I could go see them in between takes or hang out with them there. They made sure my husband had a drive-on pass. It was just always seamless.

Last question: I saw a tweet that said Julie and Charles should go to The White Lotus next and solve a crime. Where do you want to go next?

That’s so funny that they said to go to a White Lotus because I have been saying [to production], “Listen, if our next case takes us to like Lake Como, Italy, I will go. I am okay with that. If you want to take me to, you know, Fiji, I will show up, you know?” I don’t know, I hope just someplace fun, someplace cool. And let’s explore the area itself.

The first two seasons of A Man on the Inside are now streaming on Netflix.

Netflix offers three subscription plans to fit your streaming needs. The plans start at $7.99/month for standard with ads and go up to $24.99/month for unlimited ad-free streaming in up to 4K UHD quality.