‘The Umbrella Academy’: Is David Castañeda Dating His Co-Star?
Diego Hargreeves might have lost Patch (Ashley Madekwe) in season 1, but he found another woman to turn his attention toward. Because of his on-screen romance, many fans of The Umbrella Academy believe David Castañeda could be dating one of his castmates from season 2.
Here’s what we know.
[Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for The Umbrella Academy Season 2 ahead.]
Diego steps up in season 2
Throughout season 1, Diego spent most of his time trying to prove his worth to his siblings — a common theme amongst the Hargreeves. Only when he came to terms with the fact that none of them are better than the other did he realize they had a chance at saving the world.
In season 2, Diego adopted more of a hero complex. Instead of focusing on besting his “Number One” brother Luther (Tom Hopper), Diego puts all of his efforts into saving the United States and preventing John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
Along the way, Diego falls in love with a fellow psych patient who, as it turns out, is operating as a double agent. As the adopted daughter of The Handler (Kate Walsh), Lila is a highly-trained assassin acting on behalf of the Commission.
Diego and Lila fall in love in ‘The Umbrella Academy’
When Diego landed in Dallas in 1963, he immediately started making moves against the president’s future assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. In doing so, he gets committed to a mental facility, where he meets Lila Pitts.
In the series, the two fall into a whirlwind romance that ends once Diego discovers Lila crossed him. According to Arya, Lila fell in love by accident.
“[Diego] becomes this person that she gets feelings for accidentally,” she explained to Entertainment Weekly. “It’s so much easier to lie from what you know, and [Lila] accidentally connects with him.”
Many fans of The Umbrella Academy loved the duo on-screen and began hoping their fictional romance would turn into something real.
Now, it seems like it might have.
Are David Castañeda and Ritu Arya a couple?
Fans of The Umbrella Academy have started to believe Castañeda and Arya are dating in real life.
The duo rang in 2020 together surrounded by friends and family, according to a Castañeda fan account.
While this photo doesn’t confirm the two are a couple, how they’ve been speaking to and about each other since season 2 premiered continues to push fans to think they’re together.
In an August 10 interview with Vulture, Arya talked about the pleasure she had working with Castañeda. “He brings so much to the table when we’re working together,” she said.
To accurately play their roles, Arya explained how she and Castañeda spent time getting to know one another. “We also spent time together [not in character] — just to kind of become friends before being on set together,” she added. “We were always playing. It felt so special.”
Could this mean what fans think it means?
Neither Arya nor Castañeda have publicly confirmed their relationship status. But, based on the the photos of Castañeda and Arya with their families and various communications with each other on social media, The Umbrella Academy fans are hopeful that some day soon, the two will announce they are a couple — officially.
