George Lopez and Daughter Mayan Were Estranged for Years Before Reconciliation: ‘We Weren’t Speaking’

After drifting apart, Hollywood funnyman George Lopez and his daughter, Mayan Lopez, worked hard to patch up their relationship. The pair didn’t speak for “years” until reconciling at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, they costar in Lopez vs. Lopez, a sitcom that parallels some of the challenges they faced in their own lives.

“I think we have a deep respect for each other,” Mayan, 27, told People in an October 9 interview. “I think when we go past those doors, we are, yes, father and daughter between scenes. He’ll give me a hug, he’ll give me a kiss. We’re always connected, but we can put our hats on and be creative and critical of each other in ways that it’s just two performers talking to each other and to feel safe, which is something that I haven’t always felt with him.”

Lopez vs. Lopez has since been renewed for a second season, something Mayan is incredibly grateful for.

“We’re still at a very good place,” she continued. “I think it’s going to be interesting how last season it was so new for us. I’m very curious to see how second season things are going to be changing and I think it’ll be changing in our relationship. And I love my dad and I am so grateful for this experience because we are truly stronger than we’ve been, and so I’m just excited to see where we can go.”

This wasn’t the first time that Mayan opened up about her past rift with George, 62, and overcoming obstacles. It was in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic that the father-daughter duo began communicating regularly, checking in on each other and making TikTok videos together.

“We really became a family again,” she previously told the outlet in August. “It’s so crazy to think that really two years ago, we weren’t really speaking regularly, if at all.”

Mayan has been acting since she was a little girl, but working alongside her dad this time around is a reflection of how far their bond has come.

“With the show, I’m having similar conversations, hard conversations that I’ve had with him or struggled to have with him — and now we’re doing it on TV for millions of people to see,” the Mr. Troop Mom actress explained. “But what’s so wonderful is that both of us have been through a lot of pain, but the love has always brought us together.”