Why ‘Florida Man’ Had Anthony LaPaglia Scuba Diving With Edgar Ramírez

Meet Mike Valentine (Edgar Ramírez), a resourceful guy embroiled in one twisty Elmore Leonard-esque mystery after another. An ex-cop with a gambling addiction, Mike reluctantly agrees to pay off a debt to petulant Philly mobster Moss Yankov (Emory Cohen) by heading to Central Florida to find fiery Delly West (Abbey Lee), Moss’ runaway girlfriend. That task kicks off a set of comedic turns in Florida Man, a seven-episode series peppered with mighty shady characters.

One of many complications Mike comes up against in the Sunshine State, where he doesn’t like to admit he’s from, is his father, retired police chief Sonny Valentine (Anthony LaPaglia).

“My character’s untrustworthy,” explains LaPaglia. That’s an understatement. “He has been out of Mike’s life for quite a while, but they have a healthy distrust of each other.”

Though Sonny tries mending fences, life for the pair is complicated.

“Something Mike doesn’t like about himself a lot is that he’s way closer to his dad in terms of what he’s willing to do,” says LaPaglia. They embark on a caper involving a considerable payday that, at one point, had the 64-year-old star venturing underwater, which thrilled him.

“I spent three weeks learning [to scuba dive],” he says, adding, “Edgar didn’t like it so much!” Given the parts they play, that’s no surprise.

Florida Man debuts April 13 on Netflix. The limited series hails from This Is Us creator Donald Todd with executive producers Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan. It’s the latest team-up from the two, whose multi-year production deal with the streamer is what brought Ozark to the small screen.

Additional stars include Otmara Marrero, Lex Scott Davis, Clark Gregg, Isaiah Johnson, Paul Schneider, and Lauren Buglioli. Tune in to see why Mike’s seedy home state just keeps reeling him back in.

Florida Man, Limited Series Premiere, Thursday, April 13, Netflix