On the quirky HBO series "Six Feet Under," couples hook up and unravel at record speeds. One of the most reliable relationships has always been that of Federico, the patient partner at Fisher and Diaz, and his sweet wife, Vanessa. High school sweethearts now married with children, the two were often the quiet at the center of the show's multiple stormy relationships.

That all changed this year when Federico embarked on an affair with a stripper, and his months of lies finally caught up with him.

This is bad news for the Diaz family but great for the actors who play the roles. Freddy Rodriguez and Justina Machado have been with the show since its beginning, but the last year has given them some of their best work yet. Watching Rodriguez squirm and scheme as his wife grew more and more suspicious was at times both amusing and painful. And Machado, while having to deal with emotionally gut- wrenching scenes, also got to cut loose with amazing moments -- particularly a hilarious scene in which Vanessa and her sister attack the mistress' car with a baseball bat.

Their careers outside the morgue are also blossoming. Machado recently shot a role opposite Peter Dinklage ("The Station Agent") in the film "Little Fugitive," and Rodriguez will soon be seen in "Havoc" opposite Anne Hathaway and will be playing a jockey in "Dreamer" with Kurt Russell and Laura Linney.

"Six Feet Under" concludes its fourth season at 8 p.m. Sunday. In November Machado and Rodriguez will head back to work on season five, where no doubt endless angst awaits their characters.

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Q. You both grew up in Chicago. Did you know each other before coming out here?

Justina Machado: We met each other in Chicago at an audition once. It was a voiceover audition, and you were, like, a rapper. We did know of each other because we had the same agent, and we're both of the same ethnicity; they thought we would know each other. You know how people do that?

Freddy Rodriguez: Right. It was, like, "You've got to meet the other Puerto Rican."

Q. How did you land your roles on "Six Feet Under?" Freddy, I've heard that you were pre-cast in your role?

Rodriguez: I wasn't necessarily pre-cast; I had to audition. Alan Ball and I had worked together on another project [the sitcom "Oh Grow Up!"], and once it was canceled, "American Beauty" came out and he won the Oscar for it, and then he was writing "Six Feet Under" and remembered me from before. He had me in mind when he was writing Federico. But I had to come in and audition and do it like everyone else, but I had the advantage that we knew each other beforehand.

Machado: I just auditioned. I went in and auditioned and they brought me back to read with Freddy. I didn't have to go through as big a process as Freddy had to go through, because my character was just a guest star [back then].

Q. How was it possible for you two to create such a realistic on- screen marriage?

Rodriguez: Again, I think it's because of our similar backgrounds. The energy was instantaneous, and there was a certain shorthand, not only in the acting but in the development in the relationship as well.

Machado: You know each other without having to know each other.

Rodriguez: For example I could say something in slang, and she would get it right away. Whereas if I was from Chicago, and she was from Texas, it would probably take a while for us to get used to each other and develop that.

Q. How much are the two of you like your characters?

Rodriguez: I don't think I'm anything like him. Federico's uptight, and I'm the complete opposite. I think our only similarity is our attachment to our work and our family.

Machado: I don't think I'm anything like her, either. I like her very much, but I don't see any similarities. Family is a very big thing for me, too. I don't have any children, but family is something I'm passionate about.

Rodriguez: You don't dress like her.

Machado: No. And that's changing this season. I really feel because of everything that's happened in the show this year, she's changing into a different person. And that's a good thing.

Q. You go back to shoot season five in November. Do you know anything that's in store for your characters?

Machado: Even if I knew, I could never reveal. But you know what? I never, ever know what's going to happen. I could be killed tomorrow. And it's because I'd rather not know, honestly. We get the scripts ahead of time enough that they can be open about listening to our input. Usually if I want to find something out, I just ask Freddy.

Rodriguez: I like to know. Before every season, I sit down with Alan. It's sort of tradition. We sit down, and we talk about the season and what's happening, but in very vague terms, just what the arc is going to be. I like to prepare myself for those things. Sometimes you have to dig deep into a certain emotion you may not normally experience. So if I know that's going to happen, I'll take time to prepare myself for that. That's just my process. Everyone's process is different. I think Peter [Krause, who stars as Nate Fisher] might do the same thing. He likes to know what's going to happen. But some people don't. I don't think that Frannie [Conroy, who plays matriarch Ruth Fisher] does. I remember her telling me she doesn't like to read the next episode's script until that episode is done. So it's all process, it's all how you work.