Bad Bunny to Serve as Presenter at This Year’s Academy Awards

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny has a date with Oscar…

The 29-year-old Puerto Rican Grammy-winning superstar has been added to the list of presenters for this year’s Academy Awards show.

But the “Monaco” singer is not the only Puerto Rican artist set to take the stage.

West Side Story star Rita Moreno, an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar & Tony Award) winner, will also serve as a presenter.

Bad Bunny and Moreno are among the list of recently added presenters for the March 10th Oscars telecast that includes Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Jennifer Lawrence, Kate McKinnon, John Mulaney, Catherine O’Hara, Octavia Spencer and Ramy Youssef.

Moreno won an Oscar in 1962 for West Side Story. In 1977, she became the first Latina (and just the third person overall) to complete the EGOT.

In 2022, Bad Bunny made history when Un Verano Sin Ti became the first Spanish-language album to top Billboard’s year-end chart and to receive a Grammy nod for album of the year. His acting credits include Bullet Train, Narcos: Mexico and Cassandro,

Earlier this week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced that another popular Latin star, Becky G, would perform the nominated “The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot on the telecast.

Previously announced Oscars presenters are Mahershala Ali, Nicolas Cage, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Fraser, Jessica Lange, Matthew McConaughey, Lupita Nyong’o, Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ke Huy Quan, Sam Rockwell, Michelle Yeoh and Zendaya.

The 96th Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast to outlets worldwide on Sunday, March 10, at the new, earlier time of 7:00 pm ET/4:00 pm PT.

Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the show for the fourth time. It will be held at its usual home, the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

Raj Kapoor is executive producer and showrunner for the 2024 Oscars. Molly McNearney and Katy Mullan are also executive producers. Hamish Hamilton is directing. Rickey Minor is music director.

Rita Moreno to Star in the Indie Horror Thriller “Theirs”

Posted on February 13, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Rita Moreno is preparing to scare up a new audience…

The 92-year-old Puerto Rican award-winning actress, dancer and singer has been cast in Theirs, an indie horror thriller going into production in Tulsa, Oklahoma this summer.

But she isn’t the only Latina artist joining the project.

Roselyn Sanchez, who most recently starred in the Fantasy Island reboot,

The 50-year-old Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, producer and writer and Moreno will star alongside Harvey Keitel and Udo Kier in the project.

Written by Juan Pablo Reinoso and to be directed by Sonja O’Hara, the film centers on a mother who, after a lifetime of grappling with abusive men and a bitter divorce, finds hope for herself and her teenage daughter in a new home, only to quickly find their newfound freedom tested by malicious secrets within its walls.

Keli Price will produce for his Price Productions, alongside Reinoso for LookBook, and David Bond for Dark Elegy Films. Tom Biolchini will serve as the film’s executive producer.

Recent credits for EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar & Tony Award) winner Moreno include dark comedy The Prank, out March 15, as well as Fast X, Netflix’s Family Switch, 80 for Brady and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, to name a few.

Most recently starring on the Fox series Fantasy Island, Sanchez has also been seen in prominent roles on shows like Grand Hotel, Devious Maids and Without a Trace.

Television Academy Names Rita Moreno to This Year’s Hall of Fame Class

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Rita Moreno is entering a special hall…

The Television Academy has announced its 26th Hall of Fame class, with the 90-year-old Puerto Rican entertainer among the honorees.

Moreno will be joined by choreographer and actress Debbie Allen, documentarian Ken Burns, BET founder Robert L. Johnson, CBS executive Bob Daly and cinematographer Donald A. Morgan.

Moreno, an EGOT winner (Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, Tony Awards), is a two-time Emmy winner for The Muppet Show and The Rockford Files.

She has starred in series including The Electric Company, Sesame Street, Nine to Five, Oz, Cane, Happily Divorced, Jane the Virgin, and the Latinx reimagining of Norman Lear’s One Day at a Time.

Moreno’s many accolades also include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Arts, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, the Kennedy Center Honors and the Peabody Award.

Moreno is among two of the honorees who’ve already received honorary awards from the Television Academy. She was awarded a “Televisionary Award” in 2008. Allen received a Governors Award last year.

The Hall of Fame event will take place on Wednesday, November 16, at the Television Academy’s Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, California.

In addition to the induction of the 2022 Hall of Fame recipients, the event will include the presentation of the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award to actor/director/activist Sean Penn and the unveiling of new busts of four previous inductees.

“These legendary performers, creators, craftspeople and television executives are luminaries in our industry,” Frank Scherma, chairman and CEO of the Television Academy, said in a statement. “Their work has influenced and immeasurably elevated the current television landscape and culture. We are proud to induct these trailblazers into the Hall of Fame and honored to celebrate their extraordinary contributions to our industry.”

“This year’s honorees have told the American story through television in ways that will forever shape our history and culture,” said Rick Rosen, Hall of Fame selection committee chair (who is also WME co-founder and head of television). “Whether they reshaped the industry itself through visionary leadership or created pieces of work that have had a lasting legacy, these individuals will forever be remembered for the impact they’ve had on the medium.”

The 2022 Hall of Fame honorees join more than 150 individuals previously inducted into the Hall of Fame since its inception in 1984. The honors were presented every year from 1984 to 1993, but the Academy has skipped 13 years since then for various reasons. This is the first induction class since 2019.

In addition to Rosen, this year’s Hall of Fame selection committee included Marcy Carsey, Emmy-winning producer; Pearlena Igbokwe, chairman of Universal Studio Group; Peter Roth, former chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group; Nina Tassler, co-chief executive officer of PatMa Productions; and Dana Walden, chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content.

Rita Moreno to Take Part in ABC’s Animated & Live-Action Blended Special “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration”

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Rita Moreno has landed a beauty of a project…

The 90-year-old Puerto Rican Oscar-winning actress, dancer and singer will be part of the cast of ABC’s animated and live-action blended special, Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration.

Moreno, an EGOT winner (Emmy–Grammy-Oscar-Tony Award winner), will serve as the night’s narrator.

Josh Groban is set as the co-lead opposite H.E.R. in the project.

Groban, who previously recorded a song for the 2017 Beauty and the Beast live-action movie, will play Beast alongside previously announced H.E.R. as Belle. Joshua Henry has been tapped to play antagonist Gaston.

Presented by The Wonderful World of Disney, the two-hour reimagining of the beloved story of Beauty and the Beast will be taped in front of a live audience at Disney Studios and will air December 15 on ABC and on Disney+ the next day.

Jon M. Chu is set to executive produce the special and Hamish Hamilton set to direct.

Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration is produced by Done+Dusted in association with Walt Disney Television Alternative and Electric Somewhere.

First Look Footage Released for Rita Moreno’s Dark Comedy “The Prank”

Posted on March 12, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Rita Moreno is pulling pranks…

The 90-year-old Puerto Rican Hollywood legend is heading back to high school in The Prank, a dark comedy from director Maureen Bharoocha.

In a role unlike anything the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar & Tony Award) winner has played throughout her lengthy career, she stars as the stern, mean, and cruel physics teacher, Mrs. Wheeler. She has been teaching at the high school for decades and has a reputation for being the hardest, coldest, strictest faculty member.

Mrs. Wheeler crosses paths with the film’s protagonist, Ben (Connor Kalopsis), a typical overachiever who is an organized, careful, goal-oriented, and extremely dedicated student who he ends up assigned to her class.

When Mrs. Wheeler discovers someone in her class is cheating, she threatens to fail Ben and his classmates unless the cheater reveals themselves.

But when no one does, Ben and his best friend Tanner (Ramona Young) hatch a plan to ruin her life and frame her for murder on social media.

Rounding up the cast are Keith David, Kate Flannery, Meredith Salenger, Jonathan Kimmel, Nathan Janak, Betsy Sodaro, and Romel De Silva.

The Prank was penned by Rebecca Flinn-White and Zak White. Michael Y. Chow and Glenn Rigberg executive produce and Steven J. Wolfe served as producer.

Penelope Cruz & Javier Bardem Make Oscar History with their Academy Award Nominations

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a joint celebration for Penelope Cruz & Javier Bardem…

The 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress and her 52-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actor husband have each earned an Academy Award nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the 94th Oscars.

In the process Cruz and Bardem have become the sixth married couple to be nominated in acting categories in the same year at the Oscars.

Bardem is nominated for best actor for his role as Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos, while Cruz earned a nomination for her role as Janis in Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers.

It’s Cruz’s second nomination for a Spanish-speaking role, and her second nod for her work in an Almodovar film. She previously earned a Best Actress nomination in 2007 for Volver.

She took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2009 for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Bardem previous won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2008 for No Country for Old Men.

Ariana DeBose has earned her first Oscar nomination…

The 31-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/singer and recent Golden Globe winner is the looming favorite in the Best Supporting Actress category after earning the nod for her scene-stealing work as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.

Guillermo del Toro has earned a nod in the Best Picture category for producing Nightmare Alley, a neo-noir psychological thriller that the Mexican Oscar-winning filmmaker also directed and co-wrote.

Carlos López Estrada has earned his first Oscar nomination.

The Mexican filmmaker is nominated in the Animated Feature Film category for co-directing Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon.

Germaine Franco will compete against Alberto Iglesias in the Music (Original Score) category.

The Latina film composer, the first woman to score a Disney animated feature film, is nominated for her work on Encanto; the 66-year-old Spanish composter is nominated for his work on Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is one step closer to an EGOT…

The Puerto Rican Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award-winner is nominated in the Music (Original Song) category for “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto.

Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz (Bestia) will face off against Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez (The Windshield Wiper) in the Animated Short Film category.

The Oscars will be awarded on Sunday, March 27 from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Best Picture

Belfast
Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas, Producers

CODA
Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, Producers

Don’t Look Up
Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers

Drive My Car
Teruhisa Yamamoto, Producer

Dune
Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter, Producers

King Richard
Tim White, Trevor White and Will Smith, Producers

Licorice Pizza
Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers

Nightmare Alley
Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, Producers

The Power of the Dog
Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, Producers

West Side Story
Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem
Being the Ricardos

Benedict Cumberbatch
The Power of the Dog

Andrew Garfield
tick, tick…Boom!

Will Smith
King Richard

Denzel Washington
The Tragedy of Macbeth

Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain
The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Olivia Colman
The Lost Daughter

Penélope Cruz
Parallel Mothers

Nicole Kidman
Being the Ricardos

Kristen Stewart
Spencer

Actor in a Supporting Role

Ciarán Hinds
Belfast

Troy Kotsur
CODA

Jesse Plemons
The Power of the Dog

J.K. Simmons
Being the Ricardos

Kodi Smit-McPhee
The Power of the Dog

Actress in a Supporting Role

Jessie Buckley
The Lost Daughter

Ariana DeBose
West Side Story

Judi Dench
Belfast

Kirsten Dunst
The Power of the Dog

Aunjanue Ellis
King Richard

Directing

Belfast
Kenneth Branagh

Drive My Car
Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Licorice Pizza
Paul Thomas Anderson

The Power of the Dog
Jane Campion

West Side Story
Steven Spielberg

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

CODA
Screenplay by Siân Heder

Drive My Car
Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe

Dune
Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth

The Lost Daughter
Written by Maggie Gyllenhaal

The Power of the Dog
Written by Jane Campion

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Belfast
Written by Kenneth Branagh

Don’t Look Up
Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota

King Richard
Written by Zach Baylin

Licorice Pizza
Written by Paul Thomas Anderson

The Worst Person in the World
Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

Documentary Feature

Ascension
Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell

Attica
Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry

Flee
Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie

Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein

Writing with Fire
Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

Animated Feature Film

Encanto
Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer

Flee
Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie

Luca
Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren

The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht

Raya and the Last Dragon
Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

International Feature Film

Drive My Car (Japan)
A C&I Entertainment/Culture Entertainment/Bitters End Production

Flee (Denmark)
A Final Cut for Real/Sun Creature/Vivement Lundi !/MostFilm/Mer Film/VICE/Left HandFilms Production

The Hand of God (Italy)
A The Apartment Production

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)
A Dangphu Dingphu: a 3 pigs Production

The Worst Person in the World (Norway)
An Oslo Pictures/MK Productions/Film iVäst/Snowglobe/B-Reel/Arte France Cinéma Production

Cinematography

Dune
Greig Fraser

Nightmare Alley
Dan Laustsen

The Power of the Dog
Ari Wegner

The Tragedy of Macbeth
Bruno Delbonnel

West Side Story
Janusz Kaminski

Film Editing

Don’t Look Up
Hank Corwin

Dune
Joe Walker

King Richard
Pamela Martin

The Power of the Dog
Peter Sciberras

Tick, Tick…Boom!
Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum

Live Action Short Film

Ala Kachuu – Take and Run
Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger

The Dress
Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki

The Long Goodbye
Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed

On My Mind
Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson

Please Hold
K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse

Animated Short Film

Affairs of the Art
Joanna Quinn and Les Mills

Bestia
Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz

Boxballet
Anton Dyakov

Robin Robin
Dan Ojari and Mikey Please

The Windshield Wiper
Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez

Documentary Short Subject

Audible
Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean

Lead Me Home
Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk

The Queen of Basketball
Ben Proudfoot

Three Songs for Benazir
Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei

When We Were Bullies
Jay Rosenblatt

Music (Original Score)

Don’t Look Up
Nicholas Britell

Dune
Hans Zimmer

Encanto
Germaine Franco

Parallel Mothers
Alberto Iglesias

The Power of the Dog
Jonny Greenwood

Music (Original Song)

“Be Alive” from King Richard
Music and Lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

“Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto
Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

“Down To Joy” from Belfast
Music and Lyric by Van Morrison

“No Time To Die” from No Time to Die
Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell

“Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

Production Design

Dune
Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos

Nightmare Alley
Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau

The Power of the Dog
Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards

The Tragedy of Macbeth
Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

West Side Story
Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo

Costume Design

Cruella
Jenny Beavan

Cyrano
Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran

Dune
Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan

Nightmare Alley
Luis Sequeira

West Side Story
Paul Tazewell

Makeup and Hairstyling

Coming 2 America
Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer

Cruella
Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon

Dune
Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr

The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh

House of Gucci
Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

Sound

Belfast
Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri

Dune
Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett

No Time to Die
Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor

The Power of the Dog
Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb

West Side Story
Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy

Visual Effects

Dune
Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer

Free Guy
Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick

No Time to Die
Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver

Spider-Man: No Way Home
Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick

Producers Guild to Honor Rita Moreno with Stanley Kramer Award

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Rita Moreno is earning yet another honor…

The Producers Guild will present the 90-year-old Puerto Rican actress, singer and dancer with the 2022 Stanley Kramer Award at the 33rd annual PGA Awards, set for March 19 at the Fairmont Century Plaza.

The honor goes to a production, producer or other individuals “whose achievement or contribution illuminates and raises public awareness of important social issues.”

Moreno, an EGOT winner, will join previous recipients including Jane Fonda as well as Get Out, Loving, Fruitvale Station, The Normal Heart, Bombshell, The Hunting Ground, An Inconvenient Truth and Hotel Rwanda.

Kramer’s work included such iconic films as Inherit the Wind, On the Beach, The Defiant Ones and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

“With grace, intelligence, charisma, and kindness, Rita Moreno made her mark in history as a brilliant entertainer and leveraged that star power to shepherd stories that tap into the human experience and represent people and communities we rarely see celebrated in film and TV,” PGA presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher said Wednesday. “Beyond her on-screen contributions, she has used her unmistakable voice to hold a mirror to the prejudices and inequities that she so often experienced throughout her career. Her activism, strength, and artistic contributions set the precedent for how to be a changemaker in Hollywood, and it is our great honor to present Rita with the Stanley Kramer Award this year.”

Moreno most recently appeared and executive produced Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story after winning an Oscar for the original film, the latest in a seven-decade career that began with her Broadway debut at 13. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films and countless TV series including most recently Norman Lear’s remake of One Day at a Time. Her documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It had its world debut at Sundance Film Festival last year.

Moreno previously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama, the SAG Life Achievement Award, the Peabody Career Achievement Award and a Kennedy Center Honor.

“The last thing I ever dreamed of in my young life was being honored in any circumstance,” Moreno said. “That the Producers Guild of America has chosen to honor me not only for my work but for the principles I have tried to uphold and live by throughout my life is so gratifying. I am thrilled.”

Critics Choice Association to Honor Rita Moreno at Inaugural “Celebration of Latino Cinema”

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a special celebration for the legendary Rita Moreno…

The 89-year-old Puerto Rican actress, dancer and singer will be honored alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda and Demián Bichir at the Critics Choice Association’s inaugural Celebration of Latino Cinema.

Moreno, Miranda and Bichor will be honored alog with a group of additional honorees, many associated with upcoming 2021 films, still to be announced.

The Celebration of Latino Cinema, to be presented virtually, will take place on Thursday, December 9, 2021 and aims to put a spotlight on the contributions of great Oscar-winning and -nominated artists like Moreno, Miranda and Bichir, but also Latino filmmaking in general, a facet of the motion picture industry that doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves during awards season.

Among other things, the CCA’s Celebration of Latino Cinema aims to change that.

“We are thrilled to be launching the first annual Celebration of Latino Cinema which recognizes the talented performers and skilled professionals who create the acclaimed films we are so proud to honor,” said Claudia Puig, a CCA member and co-programmer of the event.

“Films by our honorees represent the diverse and multi-faceted Latino community, and reflect our increasingly inclusive industry” said CCA board member and event co-programmer Clayton Davis.

The Celebration of Latino Cinema will be produced by Madelyn Hammond and Javier Infante of Madelyn Hammond & Associates. Stagedge will be responsible for transforming the show into an immersive virtual experience.

A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to LA Collab, whose mission is to accelerate Latino access, visibility and representation in the entertainment industry.

Moreno has won all four of the most prestigious awards in show business: an Oscar, a Tony, two Emmys, and a Grammy. She recently co-starred in the Latinx reimagining of Norman Lear’s classic sitcom One Day at a Time, and her documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It had its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival before being released in theaters; it will be broadcast on PBS’ American Masters in October. Moreno also co-stars in and executive produces Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story.

She is a recipient of the Peabody Career Achievement Award, a Kennedy Center Honor, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Arts.

Miranda is a Pulitzer-, Grammy-, Emmy– and Tony Award-winning songwriter, actor and director, and creator and original star of Broadway’s Hamilton and In the Heights. A recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Award, a Kennedy Center Honor and the Portrait of a Nation Prize, he received an Emmy with Tom Kitt for their song “Bigger” from the 67th Tony Awards. Upcoming projects include Disney’s Encanto and his directorial film debut, tick, tick… BOOM!

Bichir received a Best Actor Oscar nomination in 2012 for his role in Chris Weitz’s A Better Life, becoming the first Mexican-born actor to be nominated in that category by the Academy since Anthony Quinn in 1957. He more recently received rave reviews for his performance in the film Land, directed by Robin Wright. His film credits include Steven Soderbergh’s Che, Oliver Stone’s Savages, Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills, Paul Feig’s The Heat, Richard Shepard’s Dom Hemingway, Ridley Scott’s Alien, George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky, and Adam Wingard’s Godzilla Vs. Kong.

Rita Moreno to Star in the Feature Film “The Prank”

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Rita Moreno is pranking around…

The 89-year-old Puerto Rican actress, singer and dancer, an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar & Tony Award winner) has landed a starring role in the feature film The Prank, which will be directed by Maureen Bharoocha.

Moreno will star opposite Connor Kalopsis and Ramona Young.

The Prank follows two high school students who play a prank on their physics teacher, Mrs. Wheeler, played by Moreno. When she fails them on a test; they teach the imperious, demanding, insulting instructor a lesson by falsely accusing her of the murder of a missing student.

Other cast in The Prank includes Keith David, Meredith Salenger, Jonathan Kimmel, Nathan Janak and Kate Flannery.

Filming begins this month in and around Los Angeles.

The dark comedy is written by Rebecca Flinn-White & Zak White.

“Rita Moreno is a force of nature and an icon who continues to redefine herself,” said Bharoocha. “Her brilliant comedic mind lends itself to the perfect ‘Mrs. Wheeler’, a character we have never seen her play, and one that will no doubt surprise audiences.”

Moreno has won an Oscar (West Side Story), a Tony (The Ritz), two Emmys (for her turns respectively in 1977 and 1978 on The Muppet Show and Rockford Files), and a Grammy (Best Children’s Album for The Electric Company).

Moreno has starred on Broadway and London’s West End, appeared in more than 40 feature films and has performed in numerous regional theaters, including her one-woman show, Life Without Makeup, at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. She recently co-starred in the critically acclaimed Latinx reimagining of Norman Lear’s classic sitcom One Day At A Time.

Her documentary, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, produced by Lear, Lin Manuel Miranda and Brent Miller had its world debut at the Sundance Film Festival this year. The film, which was met with acclaim from critics and audiences alike, will have its television debut on PBS’ American Masters nationwide on October 5.

Moreno also co-stars and is an executive producer of the Steven Spielberg remake of West Side Story, set to open on December 10.

The recipient of the Peabody Career Achievement Award and the Kennedy Center Honor for her lifetime contributions to American culture, she was also honored by her peers as the 50th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

Moreno’s all-Spanish-language album, Una Vez Más, was produced by her good friend Emilio Estefan, and she is a New York Times bestselling author with her first book, Rita Moreno: A Memoir. Moreno has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush and the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama.

Rita Moreno Among the “Cast” for This Year’s Academy Awards Show

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Rita Moreno has a special date with Oscar…

The producers of this year’s 93rd annual Academy Awards have cast an ensemble of 15 stars to handle all the presenting duties, including the 89-year-old Puerto Rican actress, singer and dancer.

Moreno, one of the few artists to have won all four major annual American entertainment awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award, is part of a “cast” that includes last year’s Oscar winners Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, Brad Pitt and Laura Dern.

It’s part of the producers’ pledge to do the entire broadcast as if it were a movie itself.

Last year’s Best Director winner, Bong Joon Ho, who made four trips to the stage for Parasite, is also part of this ensemble, presumably to present Best Director.

Other names announced — in alphabetical order — are Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Harrison Ford, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Reese Witherspoon and Zendaya.

“In keeping with our awards-show-as-a-movie approach, we’ve assembled a truly stellar cast of stars,” said producers Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher and Steven Soderbergh. “There’s so much wattage here, sunglasses may be required.”

This idea of having a set group of presenters rotating in and out of the show is not new. When producer Gower Champion reimagined the 1969 Oscar show, he created what they called “Friends of Oscar,” with 10 stars exclusively serving as presenters (and no host). The format was then repeated successfully the next year, and has been tweaked occasionally over the decades — including for the innovative 2009 show produced by Bill Condon and Laurence Mark, which used combinations of five past winners each to present the acting awards.

Additional talent joining the April 25 live broadcast on ABC will be announced later.

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