Liza Colón-Zayas Signs with Liebman Entertainment for Management

Posted on November 1, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Liza Colón-Zayas has new management…

The 51-year-old Puerto Rican actress has signed with Liebman Entertainment for management.

Colón-Zayas can currently be seen as Tina in FX’s critically acclaimed comedy series, The Bear. The show received a 2023 SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and won a Television Critics Award for Outstanding New Program. The Bear has also received 13 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series.

Colón-Zayas’ additional television credits include HBO’s In Treatment, opposite Uzo Aduba, the Latino comedy series Get Some!, along with Law & Order, David Makes Man, Proven Innocent, Titans, Bull and Blue Bloods, among others.

Her film work includes Allswell in New York, Naked Singularity with Olivia Cooke and John Boyega, Cat Person alongside Emilia Jones and Nicholas Braun and The Purge 3.

She will next be seen in John Krasinski’s upcoming feature Imaginary Friends, set for release in 2024.

On the stage, Colón-Zayas most recently starred in the Broadway performance of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning dark comedy Between Riverside and Crazy, where she originated the role of Church Lady. Her off-Broadway credits include Between Riverside and Crazy (Lucille Lortel Award winner), Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven (Drama Desk and Obie Award winner, Lucille Lortel Award nominee, Outer Critics Award honoree), Mary Jane (Lucille Lortel Award nominee), and Living Out (Lucille Lortel Award nominee). She is also a member The LAByrinth Theater Company.

Colón-Zayas continues to be repped by Stewart Talent and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham.

Coral Peña to Star in Action Comedy “Thelma”

Posted on March 26, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Coral Peña is ready for some action (comedy)…

The 21-year-old Dominican actor will star in Thelma, an “action” comedy starring 93-year-old Academy Award nominee June Squibb, which has wrapped production.

The first feature from writer-director Josh Margolin centers on 90-year-old grandmother Thelma Post (Squibb), who gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson and sets out on a uniquely treacherous quest to reclaim what was taken from her.

Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg and Malcolm McDowell round out the cast.

Zoë Worth, a longtime collaborator of Margolin’s, and producing partner Chris Kaye started developing Thelma after reading an early draft in their writer’s group, Rock & Roll Universe. The film will be their first produced together.

Peña, best known for playing the role of NASA flight director Aleida Rosales on the Apple TV+ series For All Mankind, has also appeared on television in Blue Bloods and 24: Legacy.

Peña made their debut movie appearance in the 2017 film The Post.

Michael Cuesta to Direct Pilot Episode of Marvel Studios’ “Daredevil: Born Again”

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Michael Cuesta is born again…

The 59-year-old Latino director, who helmed the pilots for shows like Dexter and Homeland, will direct the first episode of Marvel Studios’ Daredevil: Born Again.

Production on the 18-episode Disney+ series begins this month in New York and marks the true integration of characters that began life on Netflix, when the streamer had a slate of Marvel series in the mid-2010s, into the popular and dominant Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Charlie Cox, who starred as Matt Murdoch, aka Daredevil, the man without fear, is reprising his role for the series after making brief and teasing cameos in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

Vincent D’Onofrio is back as Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime — his first appearance in the MCU was a cameo in Hawkeye — and Jon Bernthal is returning as the hard-edged vigilante known as the Punisher.

Other actors on the call sheet include Michael Gandolfini, Margarita Levieva and Sandrine Holt, the latter of whom is playing Vanessa Fisk, the wife of Fisk. Michael Gaston (Chicago P.D., Mayor of Kingstown) is also in the series.

Born Again takes its title from a landmark Daredevil storyline published in 1986, written by Frank Miller and drawn by David Mazzuchelli. The show is deviating from that plot, although by how much is unclear. The Punisher, for example, made no appearance in the comic story. Daredevil versus Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin, remains the focal point.

Writers and executive producers Matt Corman and Chris Ord are behind the show, which is expected to bow in the spring of 2024. Cuesta is only directing the opening episode, according to sources. Other directors are being lined up to helm blocks of episodes.

Cuesta is one of the top helmers in the pilot game. In addition to directing the pilots for Dexter and Homeland, both acclaimed gritty dramas and for which he earned an Emmy nomination on the latter, he also directed the pilots for police show Blue Blood and procedural Sherlock Holmes mystery show Elementary.

Directing a pilot is an important task as it normally sets the casting, tone, and look of a series and is seen as a test for a show’s promise as well as a chance to put its best foot forward. And while in the streaming age many shows tend to be given straight-up series orders, helming the first episode remains equally as important.

Other recent series work for Cuesta includes episodes of Dopesick and Billions, and he also directed the action thriller American Assassin, which starred Dylan O’Brien and Michael Keaton.

Annelise Cepero to Star in Christmas-Themed Romantic Drama “Holiday Harmony”

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Annelise Cepero is anticipating a harmonious holiday…

The Latina actress will star in the Christmas-themed romantic drama Holiday Harmony, directed by Shaun Paul Piccinino.

Hailing from producers Ali Afshar, Lauren Swickard and Daniel Aspromonte, the film follows singer-songwriter Gail, who lands an opportunity to compete for a once-in-a-lifetime shot at the big time, and heads cross country—only getting as far as Harmony Springs, Oklahoma when her ride, her budget and all her hopes are stalled. With just two weeks to get to the iHeartRadio Christmas Eve performance of her dreams, she takes the advice of local Jack-of-all-trades, Jeremy, and takes on a group of misfit kids hoping to perform in a Christmas Eve gala of their own. Gail and Jeremy grow close, but if she’s going to fulfill her lifelong dream, she may have to leave him and the town she’s grown to love behind.

In addition to Cepero, the cast also features Jeremy Sumpter, Carla Jimenez, Sisanie, Amy Brown, Michael Wiseman, Seth Colton, Sophia Reid-Gantzert, Jordyn Curet, Richard Perrie, Kayden Franco, Ryder Franco and Brooke Shields.

HBO Max will release Holiday Harmony on November 24.

Cepero’s previous credits include West Side Story and appearances on Blue Bloods, Pose, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Chicago P.D.

Marc Menchaca to Star in Apple TV+’s Limited Series “The Big Cigar”

Posted on July 6, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Marc Menchaca is going undercover…

The 46-year-old half-Mexican American actor has joined the cast of Apple TV+’s six-episode limited series The Big Cigar, which is centered on Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton.

Menchaca, who most recently starred on Netflix’s Ozark, will star alongside André Holland, Don Cheadle, Alessandro Nivola and Tiffany Boone in the project.

Based on the eponymous Playboy magazine article by Joshuah Bearman, the series tells the extraordinary, hilarious, almost-too-good-to-be-true story of how Newton relied on his best friend, Bert Schneider (Nivola), the Hollywood producer behind Easy Rider, to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI.

Menchaca will portray Agent Sydney Clark. A former lawyer and Vietnam vet from Oklahoma, Clark lives undercover as a dirty hippie while pursuing Newton, who is wanted on charges of killing a teenage prostitute.

NAACP Image Award winner Janine Sherman Barrois is serving as The Big Cigar‘s showrunner. Jim Hecht wrote the show’s first episode, with Cheadle directing and executive producing the first two.

The show hails from Warner Bros. Television, where Barrois and her Folding Chair Productions are under an overall deal. Barrois and Hecht are executive producing alongside Bearman, Joshua Davis and Arthur Spector through their production company Epic, a division of Vox Media Studios.

Menchaca is best known for his scene-stealing turns as Jack Hoskins on HBO’s hit series The Outsider, and as Russ Langmore on the Emmy-winning Netflix drama series Ozark.

He will next be seen in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, HBO’s miniseries The White House Plumbers, John Hyams’ thriller Sick and Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi pic True Love for New Regency.

His additional television credits include Black Mirror, Homeland, MacGyver, Blue Bloods, Chicago P.D., Sleepy Hollow, The Blacklist, Law & Order: SVU, CSI and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Victor Rasuk to Appear in Disney’s Onyx Collective Series “Reasonable Doubt”

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Victor Rasuk’s latest project is in (Reasonable) Doubt…

The 38-year-old Dominican American actor, who previously starred in The Baker and the Beauty, has landed a recurring role in Disney’s Onyx Collective series Reasonable Doubt to stream on Hulu.

Rasuk will be joined by fellow cast newcomers Christopher Cassarino, Brooke Lyons and Eugene Byrd.

Emayatzy Corinealdi stars in the legal drama, which hails from writer/executive producer Raamla Mohamed; executive producer Kerry Washington, who will direct the first episode; and ABC Signature.

In Reasonable Doubt, you’ll judge Jax Stewart (Corinealdi) for her questionable ethics and wild interpretations of the law… until you’re the one in trouble. Then you’ll see her for what she is: the most brilliant and fearless defense attorney in Los Angeles who bucks the justice system at every chance she gets.

Rasuk plays Mike Llanas, an overzealous D.A., a man who lives and dies for his work. He and Jax went to law school together and have a history as rivals.

Cassarino will play Rich, an attorney at the same firm where Jax works, dealing mostly with contracts and litigation. He clashes with Jax during a huge case during the season.

Rasuk played the series lead in ABC’s The Baker and the Beauty, which is currently streaming on Netflix. He’s also known for his work as the lead on HBO’s How to Make it in America and has appeared on series including ER, Stalker, Colony, Blue Bloods and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.

Danny Bolero to Star in Broadway Revival of Neil Simon’s Marital Comedy “Plaza Suite”

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Danny Bolero is celebrating the suite life…

The Latino actor will star in the upcoming Broadway revival of Neil Simon’s marital comedy Plaza Suite.

Bolero, who was born Daniel David Zaldivar, will star opposite Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker in the revival.

will be joined in Broadway’s upcoming revival of Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite by Danny Bolero (In The Heights), Molly Ranson (Prayer for the French Republic) and, in his Broadway debut, Eric Wiegand, producers announced today.

Rounding out the cast will be Molly Ranson and Eric Wiegand, as well as Michael McGrath and Erin Dilly as standbys for Broderick and Parker.

Bolero will play The Waiter, Ranson will play Jean McCormack/ Mimsey Hubley, and Wiegand is cast as The Bellhop/Borden Eisler.

The revival begins previews at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre on Friday, February 25, with the official opening night set for Monday, March 28. A new block of tickets for the limited engagement have gone on sale for tickets through June 26.

The production, directed by John Benjamin Hickey, played a sold-out pre-Broadway engagement at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre in February 2020; the Broadway run originally was set to begin in March 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

Bolero’s previous credits include In The Heights, Blue Bloods and Alma’s Way.

Marc Menchaca to Star in Gareth Edwards’ New Film “True Love”

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Marc Menchaca has found true love…

The 46-year-old Mexican American actor has joined the cast of Gareth Edwards’ New Regency film True Love, which has entered production in Thailand.

Menchaca, who has starred in Ozark and The Outsider, will star alongside John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, Benedict Wong and Sturgill Simpson in the film.

The latest film written and directed by Edwards is billed as an original sci-fi story set in the near future. Specifics as to its plot are currently undisclosed.

Edwards is producing the film with his Rogue One collaborator Kiri Hart and New Regency, which has provided the film’s financing.

Menchaca is perhaps best known for his scene-stealing turns as Jack Hoskins in HBO’s hit series The Outsider, and as Russ Langmore in the Emmy-winning Netflix drama series Ozark.

The actor most recently wrapped production on the Netflix feature No One Gets Out Alive, and the action-thriller Gypsy Moon alongside Lena Headey and Sam Worthington.

He made a recent appearance on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and will soon be featured in its upcoming series The White House Plumbers, as well as an upcoming episode of Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan. His additional television credits include Black Mirror, Homeland, MacGyver, Blue Bloods, Chicago P.D., Sleepy Hollow, The Blacklist, Law & Order: SVU, CSI and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Anthony Ordonez to Appear on HBO Max’s Upcoming “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” Series

Posted on November 4, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Anthony Ordonez is Pretty busy these days…

The Latino actor has been cast in a recurring role on HBO Max’s upcoming Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin reboot.

Ordonez is part of a list of new cast additions that includes Cristala Carter, Derek Klena, Kate Jennings Grant, Robert Stanton, Jennifer Ferrin, Lilla Crawford, Brian Altemus and Jeffrey Bean.

The present-day iteration of the popular 2010-17 series hails from Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Lindsay Calhoon Bring, Alloy Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.

Written by Aguirre-Sacasa and Calhoon Bring, the reboot based on the bestselling books by Sara Shepard will feature a new story and new characters. Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart. Now, in the present day, a group of disparate teen girls — a brand-new set of Little Liars — find themselves tormented by an unknown Assailant and made to pay for the secret sin their parents committed two decades ago…as well as their own. In the dark, coming-of-age, horror-tinged drama Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, we find ourselves miles away from Rosewood, but within the existing Pretty Little Liars universe — in a brand-new town, with a new generation of Little Liars.

The nine recurring join previously announced series regulars Chandler Kinney, Bailee Madison, Maia Reficco, Malia Pyles, Zaria, Mallory Bechtel, Sharon Leal, Elena Goode, Lea Salonga, Alex Aiono and Eric Johnson.

Ordonez will portray Mr. Gardner, the Computer Science Teacher at Millwood High. Known as Mr. Gee, Mr. Gardner is a mentor and friend to Minnie (Pyles).

Aguirre-Sacasa executive produces via his Muckle Man Productions, with Alloy’s Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo, as well as Michael Grassi and Caroline Baron.

Lisa Soper will direct the first two episodes.

Ordonez’s previous credits include appearances on Manifest and Blue Bloods.

Natalie Mendoza to Star as Satine in Broadway’s “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”

Posted on August 5, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Natalie Mendoza is seeing rouge…

The 42-year-old part-Spanish Australian actress/singer has been cast as the lead role of Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical, filling the vacancy left when the Tony Award-nominated Karen Olivo resigned in April.

With the casting of Mendoza, the full Moulin Rouge! cast is in place for the resumption of performances on Friday, September 24, at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

The musical originally opened on July 25, 2019, but performances were suspended in March 2020 when Broadway went dark due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

Mendoza joins a principal cast that also includes Aaron Tveit, Danny Burstein, Sahr Ngaujah, Tam Mutu, Ricky Rojas and Robyn Hurder.

The casting is a bit of a homecoming for Mendoza, who portrayed a can-can dancer named China Doll in Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film Moulin Rouge!

“From the moment Natalie was cast as China Doll in Moulin Rouge! the film, we knew we had discovered a major young talent,” Luhrmann said in a statement. “That young talent has now blossomed into the lead in our Broadway production. I could not be more thrilled that Natalie will be lowered in that glorious swing as Broadway’s Sparkling Diamond.”

Said Mendoza, “Having been involved with the film from its early conception, the role of Satine has always been close to my heart. This rare jewel of an opportunity to play a character like her on Broadway feels like a full circle moment. With this stunning group of bohemian artists and this uniquely conscious creative team I couldn’t be in better care.”

Mendoza, raised in Australia, previously worked with the Broadway musical’s director Alex Timbers when she appeared as Imelda Marcos in Here Lies Love at London’s Royal National Theatre.

He starred on the BBC One drama series Hotel Babylon and The Descent horror film franchise.

On the film side, she’ll next be seen in the buzzy Cannes Film Festival film Annette, directed by Leos Carax and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard.

Mendoza’s other credits include Michael Winterbottom’s futuristic thriller Code 46, Miramax’s The Great Raid and, on television, ABC’s production of South Pacific, ITV’s McDonald & Dodds, CBS’ Blue Bloods and in upcoming episodes of Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan.

On stage, additional credits include Miss Saigon, Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark and Ghost.

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