When actor Josh Rivera was cast as Aaron Hernandez in the FX biopic series American Sports Story, he knew he was taking on a challenging role. Hernandez, the former NFL star, was convicted of murder and died by suicide in prison. Rivera, 29, had limited knowledge of Hernandez's fall from grace before accepting the role, but he didn't want to bother reaching out to his family or former teammates. "I didn't have that resource," he said. "I also felt like there are elements of that that might have made it just a little bit more complicated to proceed because when you have advisors and consultation for such a complicated story already, it's kind of like you have people with skin in the game that want it to be painted a certain way."

As Rivera delved deeper into the story, he realized that Hernandez was a complex figure with many layers. "The way that I see it is, I was given all of this information and I learned about this person, and my job is to just do the best that I can do at portraying this story," he explained. Rivera understood that Hernandez's life was a mix of highs and lows, and he wanted to capture that essence on screen.

The actor also drew parallels between his own life and that of Hernandez. "We both smile a lot," Rivera said, laughing. "Something I locked in on really early is that I use smiling as kind of a defense mechanism. That's about it." Rivera channeled a "real boyishness" in his portrayal of Hernandez, trying to get into the mindset of a man who was still young and reckless when he committed his crimes.

The Unseen Side of Aaron Hernandez: An Actor's Perspective

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