[Editor's note: The following contains some spoilers for Finding Magic Mike.]

The delightfully fun and surprisingly emotional HBO Max unscripted competition series Finding Magic Mike, from executive producers Channing Tatum and Steven Soderbergh, follows ten regular guys who have “lost their magic,” which essentially means that they’re looking to regain a sense of confidence in who they are rather than who they think others expect them to be. While being put through a bootcamp to eventually narrow them down to the two finalists that will perform alongside the professionals in Magic Mike Live in Las Vegas, they also find themselves baring their souls to each other, Adam Rodriguez (mentor and one of the stars of the Magic Mike films), the creative team (made up of Magic Mike Live executive producer Vince Marini and film franchise and live show choreographers Alison Faulk and Luke Broadlick), and a variety of guest stars, on their way to winning the grand prize of $100,000.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, Rodriguez talked about how unexpected and surprising the series turned out to be, that he never could have imagined that the first Magic Mike film would turn into a franchise of projects, how challenging it was to narrow the contestants down to the ultimate winner, and seeing all of these guys push themselves past what they thought they were capable of. He also talked about the recently announced upcoming third movie Magic Mike’s Last Dance and how, even though the other guys aren’t currently in the script, that he’d definitely be game for an appearance, if that comes to be.

Collider: I had so much fun watching this and did not expect how invested I would get in the outcome of it all.

ADAM RODRIGUEZ: Cool. Yeah, I think people will tune in expecting it to be one thing, which is the obvious thing you would expect it to be, but then there’s this surprise that happens. I think people are just so delighted by it because it’s such a feel good surprise when you see how much heart these guys have and how much you get invested in the journey they’re on. I love it. I love that part of it.

And that’s really the unexpected part of it because you don’t know how those guys are going to be when you’re doing something that’s unscripted.

RODRIGUEZ: Totally. And they really went for it because to get the benefit of the journey, they needed to expose themselves, both literally and figuratively, in ways that I don’t think they had ever imagined when they signed on to do the show. They really got so much out of it. You see some of those stories that were shared and there’s really personal stuff that’s not easy to share with the world, especially in front of a camera. I think these guys felt so supported by each other. There was such a brotherhood and there was a confidence and a security that was built, as a result of that. I really think it empowered them to go for it. And I have to give them credit for realizing that there was a moment to be brave and really gain something from it, which wasn’t just all about advancing in the competition. It was really like, “Here’s a moment where I can grow and challenge myself in a way that seems scary, but then let’s see what’s on the other side of this.” I think they all came out better for it.

When you did the first Magic Mike movie, could you ever have imagined that it would evolve into a franchise that apparently will now be three movies, you’d have this live stage show, and then there would be this competition series?

RODRIGUEZ: I had no idea. The short answer to the question is no, when we did the first movie, I never imagined all of those things could be spawned from it. There was a moment, I would say, probably about two or three weeks into filming the first movie, where we all had a feeling that something special was happening. There was something very unique and something very palpable with this little movie The first movie was really made for quite a low budget. I don’t even know if it was a full $7 million to make the movie. It might have been less, but it was in that ball park. We all felt like, “Wait a minute, there’s something special happening.” The experience was unique. The performances were special. The topic we were covering and the way we were going about was different. And then, we had the guidance and the creative eyes of [Steven] Soderbergh. There were just so many factors going on. We were watching [Matthew] McConaughey’s performance happen. And just with the chemistry between all of the guys, we knew something was happening. But nobody could have imagined that it would turn out to be this. For a time, we talked about the fact that it would make a great show on Broadway. During the filming, we were like, “This movie could be a Broadway show,” but I don’t think anybody ever envisioned it becoming a live show and a reality show and being three pictures deep now. With everything that it’s become, nobody has that kind of a crystal ball. If they do, please give me their number.

With Finding Magic Mike, as the numbers narrowed down and you got closer to the two finalists, and then you picked your winner, what were you hoping for with the guys and what was the team looking for?

RODRIGUEZ: The hardest part of participating and the thing that I was least excited about having to do, to be honest, was to be a judge. What I wanted to do was exactly what we titled the job, which was to be a mentor and a guide for these guys, to help them maximize the experience based on the things that I learned from doing the two movies. Judging was, naturally, a part of it and I had to participate in that, but it was a really difficult thing to do. You get invested in everybody’s story. Everybody that was involved in the competition worked so hard. There really wasn’t one person involved that half-assed it. We were hoping, at times, that somebody would just be dogging it so we could be like, “Look, you didn’t wanna work hard, so you’re going home.” Nobody made it easy for us. Everybody gave it everything they had.

Each week, we presented a topic, whether it was vulnerability, confidence, or communication. There were various things that we were trying to highlight in the episodes, so we had that benchmark to try to follow and see who really achieved that and who moved themselves forward, each week. That was our guideline. But everybody, every week, just surprised us by how far they were willing to push themselves, whether that meant being vulnerable, or being willing to reveal things about themselves and share things, in order to get some insight into them. As people, that’s the only way we grow. So many people feel like, “That’s my business. I don’t wanna share that with anybody.” But I think a lot of that feeling of not wanting to share the things that make us unsure about ourselves stunts our growth. It delays the process of us being able to dialogue about those things and get input from people that are invested in you and care for you, in some way, and get that feedback, so that we can figure it out for ourselves. It’s so important.

I really give these guys so much credit for having the courage to do that and I appreciate it because they gave us a chance to be helpful. There’s nothing that feels better than helping somebody else. It was hard. The guys did surprise us. I was surprised, every week. It made it really difficult for us to make those decisions. In the end, we had to find something in there, even if it was feeling like we had maxed out someone’s potential, not in terms of what they were capable of, bu in terms of what the show was capable of doing for them. Sometimes it was about saying, “You’ve got so much more than you even realized, but only you can take it further, but we don’t believe we have the ability here to carry you beyond where you’re at, at this point.” The stakes were high. There were really tough decisions. I hope all of the guys feel great about seeing themselves and being able to watch their growth on screen, which very few of us ever get to do in life, watching yourself change before your own eyes. I hope when the guys get to see the show that they feel really proud of themselves.

Part of really what makes the show so beautiful, in that sense, is that you really do leave it up to the guys. You’re not forcing them to change, but they’re wanting to and they’re finding that from within themselves, which makes it that much more valuable and rewarding for them.

RODRIGUEZ: That was the intention of the show. That’s where the competition was really healthy. Overall growth was the aim of the show. All of the producers and everyone involved in the show had the intention of helping these guys be more than they were when they showed up, and to be able to tap into that and take it with them for the rest of their lives. It was really about wanting to give these guys an experience that’s hard to find anywhere else. All of the guys, because of that support and because it was actually a competition as well – they were competing to win a hundred thousand dollars and just to win, period – did that. The competition was extra fuel and extra motivation to push themselves beyond, to take chances, to reveal things about themselves, and to go farther than they might have been able to push themselves, if there wasn’t the competition element to it. We wanted to see these guys grow and thrive and leave having found something in themselves that they didn’t have when they showed up. That’s not always the case with reality television, or with competition shows. There are very few of them that are really looking to enhance people, rather than to take advantage of watching them melt down. It was a great feeling, to be a part of that.

We’ve all see Channing Tatum’s announcement that there is going to be a third Magic Mike movie. While the rest of you guys aren’t expected to have major roles in that, will you at least make a cameo appearance?

RODRIGUEZ: The script is completed. These things morph, all the time. With creative projects, ideas come up and people have conversations about things and what something might need to fill a void that can’t be seen yet. All I know is that we’re not in the script that’s written, but the possibility that we might be able to enhance the story in some way is a real thing. If that decision gets made that we can come help out, speaking for myself, I know I’m always happy to do that. I love this group of people. I love what the movies have done, in terms of opening up a dialogue for us, socially and really on behalf of communication between men and women.

That’s one of the things we touch upon in Finding Magic Mike. The dances are not just about the guy putting on a show for himself or in his own mind. It’s a communication. You’re dancing for an audience and you wanna receive as much information from them as you can, so that when you’re giving that energy back, you’re giving the right kind of energy. You’re actually having the same conversation. You’re not having a conversations by yourself. You wanna read signs. You wanna pay attention to cues and signals. If somebody wants it rough and rugged, then okay, go ahead and deliver that, if you’re getting that signal. But if that’s not what they want, and they want something more soft and sultry or more intimate, then you need to be paying attention to that.

Those things all fall under the guise of communication, as a whole. If you can take those messages and carry that into your life, it will help improve every conversation you have and every piece of communication you have. I think the movies did a lot to open up that dialogue, and we’re carrying that forward with the reality show now, in a more literal way, actually being able to talk about those things and highlight them directly, so it makes it really hard for people to miss the message. I’m always happy to be a part of that.

I love how the Magic Mike films changed the portrayal of male friendships on screen, and Finding Magic Mike really makes the real, withe the genuine friendship that forms between all of these guys.

RODRIGUEZ: I don’t wanna spoil it for anybody, but some people are gonna cry. Some people are gonna be turned on, some people are gonna be turned off, some people are gonna be titillated, some people will maybe even be repulsed in some moments, and they’re gonna be heavily invested in these guys. You just can’t help but become invested. These guys really put themselves out there, the way that any actor does when they give a great performance. These guys are real people, but they were fully committed to putting themselves on camera, and the audience is gonna connect and be moved. I think a lot of people are gonna be surprised by how moved they are by these guys.

What was it like to put together the group of 10 guys that you narrowed it down to?

RODRIGUEZ: They all had something really unique about them. It was tough, at the beginning, to select 10 guys out of the all the guys that we saw. As you can imagine, we saw plenty of characters, but it was about what type of characters made sense to us, as a group. That was the beauty of having such a great team, with Alison [Faulk], Luke [Broadlick] and Vince [Marini], who all really understand the brand. That team is so involved with the brand and really understood the message that we wanted to send and carry forward from the movies. Luke and Alison were involved with the movies, from the beginning, so we’ve known each other now for well over a decade. And Vince has been such an integral part of putting on the live show and has spent so much time with all of the people involved with brand that he fully understands the message as well.

And then, in terms of character, from my understanding and what I’ve been told, Steven vetted everybody. He basically did a little bit of homework on everybody to find out about character and what their work experience had been like with other people, to make sure that the group he was putting together – and from what I hear, he does this on all of his movies – was gonna be a cohesive one and that everybody was cut from a similar cloth. I will say that really set a tone that has been carried forward through every other aspect of the brand, whether it was during the second movie, or everybody that I’ve met who’s been involved with the live show, and now to making this reality show. Every time you step into one of these worlds, they all carry that same tone and same good feeling. Everybody is aligned, in terms of the mission to want to help people and advance the conversation that the message of the movie was putting forward, which was breaking down toxic masculinity and improving communication between men and women, and men and men, and what healthy relationships should look like.

We first spoke back when you did Roswell, which was 20 years ago now. I love that you can balance doing male strippers with a Christmas movie, and that your work is really just all over the map, from Criminal Minds to Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. How different do you feel, as an actor, since the early days of your career? How do you feel you’ve most grown in your craft, overall?

RODRIGUEZ: Oh, man, I feel like I’ve grown tremendously and part of that has been a commitment to working on my craft and loving it and wanting to improve at it. By improve, I really just mean understand it more because it’s hard to measure improvement. It’s more about being more comfortable and learning different techniques and practicing them over time, when I’ve had the opportunity to work on all of those things. I think more than anything, for any artist, regardless of what your medium is, I have always been committed to trying to grow as a person, to learn from my experiences and to share those experiences with people, in the hopes that I can positively affect them and also get feedback that would help me continue to grow, whether that’s from finding people that went through the same things, or went through other experiences and had things to share with me that helped further inform and shape my own perspective.

To do that, you have to be honest with yourself, you have to be self-aware, and you have to enjoy having real conversations with yourself. You have to find a way to be objective and honest with yourself, and have the right people around you. I’ve been very fortunate to have people around me that love me enough to be honest with me. Part of that is my own doing and part of that is love, but I think that when you are being honest with yourself, it becomes easier to make sure that the people around you are honest with you too.

That’s always been my quest, that curiosity. I always wanna learn, and learning about myself is on the top of that list. I love learning about really anything in life. I just have a curious mind and it’s what keeps me feeling young and interested in life and excited about things. It’s a great question. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone ask me that question. In terms of growing, as an artist, and having an interest in doing these various things, no matter what role I’m gonna get the opportunity to play or choose to play, it’s always about giving shape to the character. The best way to have a real comprehensive toolkit to be able to craft those things is to know myself the best way that I can. That’s always been the mission, to get to know myself the best way that I can.

Are you hoping to do another season of Finding Magic Mike?

RODRIGUEZ: We hope so. I feel optimistic. I think people are gonna enjoy the show, so hopefully we get a chance to do it again.

Finding Magic Mike is available to stream at HBO Max.