Steven Strait OF ‘THE EXPANSE’ ON AMAZON

“City Island” has been making the rounds on pay cable lately. How was it as a young actor working with pros like Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies?

You know, it was such an instrumental moment in my career. Andy is still a very, very close friend and he’s been a real mentor to me since that film. And I’ve learned a lot from him, not just as an actor but as a man, and I’m grateful for that movie and for the relationship I have with him. But it was the first thing I ever shot at home, and to be able to work with those incredible actors – obviously

Andy but Julianna, Emily

Mortimer, Ezra Miller, Alan Arkin

– I mean, I would just show up on set and just watch these incredible artists do their thing. I learned so much on that movie, it almost felt like grad school (laughs). I started so young in the business and I was doing commercials as a teenager and stuff and then I worked as a teenager in films. And “City Island” felt like a deeply informative learning experience and when I came out of that I felt secure as an actor in a way that I hadn’t before and I kind of felt like I’d matured through that movie. I was probably 22 or 23 at that point.

And it was a positive portrayal of The Bronx, which you don’t see a lot of in film.

(Laughs) Right . ... We had a blast. Being able to shoot on location and being there, it’s just such a love letter to New York. It’s such a love letter to The Bronx. Yeah, a very special movie to me.