Manny Montana started on "Graceland" as the happy-go-lucky FBI agent Johnny Tuturro, but a season and a half of undercover work inside the Solano cartel has taken his character down a dark and dangerous path. He killed the not-so-innocent Sid in cold blood and has nearly sacrificed his secret identity (and his life) to save his girlfriend Lucia, but at what costs remains to be seen.

"I think Johnny is doing things out of love that are stupid, which people do in real life, so I think that's why people will relate to it," Montana told Headlines & Global News in an exclusive interview. "It's all going to come to a head in episode five and not in the way that I think people are going to expect it to end."

He sat down with "Graceland" creator Jeff Eastin before the start of season two and the two talked rabout the direction of Johnny's storyline. Montana only had one request that he and his character be "challenged."

He certainly got his wish. Eastin cooked up a crazy love triangle story between the lovely Lucia (Jamie Gray Hyder) and her closeted gay brother Carlito Solano (Erik Valdez), who is desperate for his father's respect. A passionate kiss between Johnny and Carlito was one of the most talked about scenes from last season.

"It was a challenge. I never did anything like that [before]," Montana said.

As the pressure mounts outside, Johnny has found a surprising ally inside the Graceland house with his roommate Jakes (Brandon Jay McLaren). The two government agents spent much of last season butting heads as Jakes dealt with his own personal problems.

"It's like that brother relationship," said Montana, who has three brothers of his own. "Jakes has been at the house longer than I have, so he sees me making stupid mistakes that he probably made when he was young and it bugs him to see me go through it because, I think, he really loves me. He just has a weird way of showing it and I don't make it easy on him."

The whole house will really come to Johnny's aid as the season progresses, an encouraging sign after they spent most of last year pursuing their own separate missions. Johnny will also return to his normal, fun-loving self until the final two episodes, which Montana described as the "best episodes we've shot."

Any other frustrations Johnny needs to work out by this season's end will be done with a punching bag rather than a gun. His storyline takes him into the ring "to do some cool boxing stuff" in episode 10, which was directed by actress Lucy Liu.

"When an actor/director comes in you always have to have your guard up, but she's awesome. She deserves any new job that she gets," Montana said about Liu's direction.

Once "Graceland" finishes filming this week, Montana will return to his native Long Beach, Calif. where he helps coach football at his alma mater, David Starr Jordan High School. The actor doesn't like to refer to his coaching gig as "giving back to the community," but sees volunteering as more of a responsibility everyone should take on in their own lives.

"You should be [giving back]. If you have the time to do it, you should be doing it in whatever way you can," he said.

The majority of students at Jordan High School are minorities and Montana, who has a mixed heritage of Mexican, Irish, Indian and Spanish, wants to show them they can dream big. He doesn't flaunt his Hollywood status when he goes back home, staying at his father's place in the same neighborhood where his players live and driving his non-descript car to practice and games.

"My kids know me as a normal dude. I don't floss on them. I don't have some f-king Mercedes Benz," he said. "I just show them that I'm a normal dude living out a dream and that they can do it too because they're coming up from exactly where I came from."

Growing up where they came from, Montana heard the same grievances against law enforcement that still persist today, but playing a cop on TV has given him a greater perspective on the job of protecting the public. He also has two best friends who grew up to be police officers.

"I've worked with a lot of officers and I think every civilian should go on a ride along with a cop. It will completely change your point of view on what cops are and what they do," he said. "I'm always stuck in the middle with activist friends that are always saying, 'Down with the police,' and 'They're racists.' There are bad seeds but there are bad people among us too."

Montana added, "I got friends who are going to jail and trust me, it's their fault. I'm still on the fence about it, but I have the utmost respect for the cops - the good ones."

When asked about another hot button issue, Donald Trump's recent comments about Mexican immigrants, Montana just laughed it off.

"[It's like] when your grandpa says a stupid thing and you just think, 'Oh, you old idiot,'" he said. "I can't even get mad at him. It's so idiotic that for us to get mad, it's like arguing with a fool. You end up looking like a fool."

What really gets his blood boiling is when high-profile figures of minority enforce the negative stereotypes that many in their communities are trying to shed. Nothing disappointed him more than the conviction of New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez, who received a life sentence for first-degree murder this past spring.

"When I see them doing dumb s-t it pisses me off to the core because it gives the general public a reason to be like, 'See? They can't have anything,'" Montana said. "It's a little unfair but I think we should hold ourselves to a high standard."

"Graceland" airs on Thursdays at 10 p.m. on USA Network.