Benito Martinez is facing an Enemy…
The 45-year-old Mexican American actor will star in Fox’s drama pilot Behind Enemy Lines, loosely based on the 2001 movie, in a recasting.
Written by Nikki Toscano and directed by McG, Behind Enemy Lines is described as a military soap thriller wherein a group of U.S. soldiers find themselves trapped behind enemy lines. It closely follows our soldiers on the ground and the officers and service men and women on a nearby aircraft carrier, along with intelligence officers in D.C. as they attempt to bring our heroes home safely and under the radar.
Martinez will play Mateo Rodriguez, a respected career Navy man and Executive Officer on the aircraft carrier USS Tyson. He replaces Nestor Carbonell, who originally was cast in the role. The decision was made after the Thursday table read, with the character getting slightly reconceived.
The pilot’s cast includes Marg Helgenberger, B.J. Britt, Gabriel Chavarria, Melia Kreiling, Colm Feore, Willa Fitzgerald and Dylan Bruno.
Martinez, an alum of The Shield, is doing a major arc on the current third season of ABC’s American Crime after co-starring in the first installment and guest starring in the second.
He’s finishing production on the Menendez Brothers movie for Lifetime. Martinez, who worked opposite Tom Cruise on the crime thriller American Made and had recurring roles on How to Get Away with Murder and The Blacklist.
Behind Enemy Lines hails from 20th Century Fox Television — whose feature sibling was behind the movie — studio-based Temple Hill and Davis Entertainment.
