Sometimes even work feels like home for \u201cLandman\u201d star Paulina Ch\u00e1vez.<\/p>\n
Take a tender scene in the hit Paramount+ series in which her character, Ariana Medina \u2014 a recently widowed young mother with an infant son \u2014 reminisces about her late husband with her new love, oil field worker Cooper Norris (Jacob Lofland).<\/p>\n
As Cooper flips through a photo album in\u00a0Ariana’s home, he comes across her wedding pictures. When he asks her where she got married, Ch\u00e1vez all but breaks the fourth wall when\u00a0Ariana says San Antonio, \u201cI think maybe the most magical city in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Call it acting naturally. After all, the longtime San\u00a0Antonian considers herself a proud River City homebody.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all homebodies, which is nice,\u201d\u00a0Ch\u00e1vez said of herself and her family, who moved to San Antonio from El Paso when she was 6 years old.<\/p>\n
Soon, Fort Worth will be\u00a0home for Ch\u00e1vez as she starts shooting Season 3 of the Taylor Sheridan drama about the West Texas oil boom.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a long way and a long drive from Sky Harbor Elementary, where\u00a0Ch\u00e1vez first fell in love with acting at age 7. Those South Side school productions soon led to television and film auditions. After minor roles that included playing a young Kim\u00a0Kardashian, Ch\u00e1vez landed her big break as the title star of the Netflix comedy series \u201cThe Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia,\u201d later titled \u201cAshley Garcia: Genius in Love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e1vez has since starred in family films such as 2020’s “Feliz NaviDAD” with Mario Lopez and 2025’s \u201cAlexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip\u201d with Eva Longoria, as well as the 2023 sports drama “The Long Game.” These projects showcase her acting range and Mexican American heritage while allowing her to embrace the responsibility of being a Latina role model.<\/p>\n
Which all comes back to where she feels most at home: in San Antonio con familia. Here\u2019s her\u00a0perfect day in that magical city.<\/p>\n
“I am not a morning person so I would probably get out of bed around 10 a.m. on a good day,” Ch\u00e1vez said. “And I would probably end up getting ready to go for brunch. I’m a big brunch person.”<\/p>\n
Mike Sutter\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
Right now, Ch\u00e1vez’s favorite place is Box St. All Day<\/a>, the all-day brunch restaurant and coffee bar that rolled out from a food truck and catering company to three San Antonio locations. Ch\u00e1vez would roll with the\u00a0flagship spot at 623\u00a0Hemisfair Blvd, Suite 108.<\/p>\n Did\u00a0Ch\u00e1vez mention she loves Pearl<\/a>?<\/p>\n \u201cI think the Pearl is one of the best parts of San Antonio,” she said. “I like walking around the Pearl. It’s such a great location.”<\/p>\n Ch\u00e1vez’s perfect Pearl stroll would include a\u00a0macha latte at Local Coffee<\/a>, drinking in the reads at the nearby Twig Book Shop<\/a>, then a scoop of whatever is seasonal at\u00a0Lick Honest Ice Creams<\/a>, such as Back Porch Iced Tea. Sweet, of course.<\/p>\n “From (Pearl) I would end up going to one of my friend’s\u00a0Pilates classes in Alamo Heights called Pilates Platinum<\/a> (5310 Broadway) and make sure she kicks my butt,”\u00a0Ch\u00e1vez said. Then it’s some kettlebell flow with her boyfriend, Wesley Beans<\/a>, a personal trainer.<\/p>\n “It’s a mixture of strength training, yoga and mobility,”\u00a0Ch\u00e1vez said. “It also works out the brain. It’s kind of\u00a0like a dance almost.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n All that exercise works up an appetite, specifically for raw fish marinated in citrus juice. Cue a quick ceviche run to\u00a0El\u00a0Cevichero Restaurant y Cantina<\/a> at 1023 Cupples Road near Brooks City Base.<\/p>\n “I normally pick that up to go and I eat it at home,” Ch\u00e1vez said.<\/p>\n Ch\u00e1vez combines her favorite food with her favorite company watching one of her favorite television shows. Right now it’s “Lioness,” the Sheridan spy thriller starring\u00a0Zoe Salda\u00f1a that just kicked off its third season. Or maybe it’s a rewatch of ABC’s “Scandal” starring Kerry Washington. Then everyone chips in to do the dishes.<\/p>\n Ch\u00e1vez then turns her screen time to the Nintendo Switch for some “Boomerang Fu,” a video game where players control food and fruit characters armed with boomerangs.<\/p>\n It gets a little intense. OK, a lot intense.<\/p>\n “Even playing with my mom and my partner we’re very competitive,” Ch\u00e1vez said. “We had to retire from playing against each other to just play in teams against the bots. Because we were just yelling at each other. Now we’re just yelling at the bots and it’s a little bit more healthier.”<\/p>\n After a quick shower,\u00a0Ch\u00e1vez shifts game night to the tabletop with a classic dominoes game of Mexican Train with music. Then it’s off to her new favorite pastime.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Ch\u00e1vez takes her glow-up of Act II Butter Lovers microwave popcorn even more seriously than she does her digital boomerang fights with her loved ones.<\/p>\n “It’s a very special recipe that I make,” Ch\u00e1vez\u00a0said with a laugh. “I basically top my popcorn with lots of butter, parsley, cayenne pepper and fresh Parmesan cheese, then chop it with\u00a0Cholula. And that’s my little night snack.”<\/p>\n Her extra ingredients are so special they even got her a shoutout on social media. She recalled recently getting a message from a “Landman” fan who was behind her in line at an Orlando airport when security scanned her carry-on and gave her back her cherished extra butter.<\/p>\n “My excuse is I’m deficient in a lot of vitamins and butter is really good for that,” Ch\u00e1vez said. “And I was like, oh yeah, now I’m just known for being the butter girl.”<\/p>\n “I’m a night owl,” Ch\u00e1vez said, “so I would probably end up watching TV till very, very late and go to bed around midnight.”<\/p>\n “That’s the perfect day for me,” she added. “That’s basically every day for me, honestly. Every day is a perfect day I guess.”<\/p>\n Catch up quickly on San Antonio\u2019s most important stories. <\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reporting by Ren\u00e9 Guzman. Production by Lillian Vest. Editing by Jan Waddy. Powered by the Hearst DevHub<\/a>.<\/p>\n Aug 28, 2026|Updated Aug 28, 2026 9:58 a.m.<\/p>\n Ren\u00e9\u00a0Guzman writes about all things San Antonio, from past and present to pop culture and\u00a0puro cultura. He can be reached at rguzman@express-news.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before joining the Express-News in 1998, the San Antonio native co-owned a college humor magazine called Bitter, for\u00a0which he wrote, designed and edited, as well as distributed at various campuses and businesses citywide. His features writing has appeared in the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle,\u00a0Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Times-Union.<\/p>\nMike Sutter\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
Paul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
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