Ariana DeBose to Appear on Season Four of HBO’s “Westworld”

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Ariana DeBose is heading West(world)…

The 31-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress, who won an Oscar for her performance in West Side Story, has joined the cast of HBO’s Westworld as a recurring guest star for the upcoming eight-episode fourth season, which premieres on June 26 and will be available to stream on HBO Max.

DeBose joins returning main cast members Evan Rachel Wood, Emmy winner Thandiwe Newton, Ed Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Luke Hemsworth, Aaron Paul and Angela Sarafyan.

Westworld, a dark odyssey about the fate of sentient life on Earth, was created for television by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy, who are executive producers with Alison Schapker, Denise Thé, J.J. Abrams, Athena Wickham, Richard J. Lewis and Ben Stephenson. Production companies: Kilter Films and Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television; based on the film written by Michael Crichton.

Here’s a first look at her character this season:

William Morris Endeavor (WME) Signs Gina Rodriguez & Her Production Company

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a new endeavor for Gina Rodriguez…

William Morris Endeavor (WME) has signed the 36-year-old Puerto Rican actress and her production company I Can and I Will Productions, run by Molly Breeskin, in all areas.

The Golden Globe-winning former Jane the Virgin star was previously at Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Rodriguez played the title role in the CW series Jane the Virgin for 100 episodes, winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Series Musical or Comedy in 2015.

Rodriguez recently starred in the Focus Features title Kajillionaire opposite Evan Rachel Wood and Richard Jenkins. The Miranda July directed feature made its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Rodriguez’s upcoming projects include the Netflix film Awake and the miniseries Lost Ollie for the streamer.

She has starred in Sony/Screen Gems’ Miss Bala and the Netflix feature Someone Great, a film in which she also served as a producer.

Her voice can be heard in the title role of Netflix’s Carmen Sandiego, and she also had starring voiceovers in Twentieth Century Fox/Blue Sky’s Ferdinand, Warner Brothers’ Smallfoot and Scoob, and Sony’s The Star.

In addition to her acting career, the native Chicagoan and NYU Tisch School alum is a driving force for inclusion and the empowerment of women in all ways, particularly in the entertainment industry. This passion led her to create her production company, I Can and I Will Productions, with a mission directly reflecting her commitment to create art and tell stories from those who are traditionally unseen and unheard.

The company has finished its second season of Diary of a Future President where Rodriguez directed, produced, and performed as the future president.

With her family, she established the We Will Foundation, which aims to uplift and champion underprivileged youth through arts, education, scholarship funding, and financial literacy.

Gina Rodriguez’s “Kajillionaire” to Now Open in Limited Theaters on September 25

Posted on August 30, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Rodriguez’s kajillion will have to wait…

Focus Features‘ Sundance Film Festival acquisition of Annapurna/Plan B’s Kajillionaire, starring the 36-year-old Golden Globe-winning actress and former Jane the Virgin star, will now open in select theaters on September 25, a week later than originally anticipated.

The Miranda July directed film will hit PVOD around October 16. Despite that, the film’s marketing will be driven toward its theatrical release, and the movie will continue to be available to cinemas while it’s on PVOD.

Written and directed by July, Kajillionaire follows con artists Theresa and Robert, who spent 26 years training their only daughter, Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood), to swindle, scam and steal at every opportunity. During a desperate, hastily conceived heist, they charm a kind stranger, Melanie (Rodriguez), into joining their next scheme, completely shaking up Old Dolio’s routine. Her unlikely connection with Melanie begins to challenge Old Dolio’s odd and stoic reality — and she finds herself suddenly caught between the only family she has ever known and the prospect of total freedom.

The film also stars two-time Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins and three-time nominee Debra Winger.

During the pandemic when the big circuits were closed, Focus Features played two titles on theatrical PVOD: Jon Stewart’s political comedy Irresistible and the Nisha Ganatra directed music drama The High Note.

Focus Features Releases Trailer for Gina Rodriguez’s Grifter Comedy “Kajillionaire”

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Rodriguez wants to be a kajillionaire…

Focus Features has released the first trailer for Kajillionaire, Miranda July’s Sundance comedy about a family of grifters starring the 36-year-old Puerto Rican actress and former Jane the Virgin star.

“Most people wanna be kajillionaires,” Dad says in the clip. “That’s the dream. That’s how they get you hooked — hooked on sugar, hooked on caffeine. Ha, ha, ha, cry, cry, cry. Me? I prefer to just skim.” His daughter looks up and says, “So do I.”

Here is your logline: Con artists Theresa (Debra Winger) and Robert (Richard Jenkins) have spent 26 years training their only daughter, Old Dollo (Evan Rachel Wood), to swindle, scam and steal at every opportunity.

“She learned to forge before she learned to write,” Pops boasts of Old Dollo. “Actually, that’s how she did learn to write.”

During a desperate, hastily conceived heist, they charm a stranger (Rodriguez) into joining their next scam, only to have their entire world turned upside down.

July wrote and directed Kajillionaire as her first feature since 2011’s The Future.

The trailer features “Mr. Lonely,” a song performed by Angel Olsen & Emile Mosseri, the latter being the film’s composer.

Produced by Plan B and Annapurna Pictures,Focus Features plans to release the film in theaters in September.

HBO to Premiere Season 3 of Rodrigo Santoro’s “Westworld” in March

Posted on January 12, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Rodrigo Santorois heading West(world) this March…

HBO has set Sunday, March 15 at 9:00 pm for the release of the eight-episode third season of its Emmy-winning drama series Westworld, starring the 44-year-old Brazilian actor.

In addition to Santoro, who portrays Hector Escaton, the returning cast includes

Evan Rachel Woodas Dolores, Thandie Newtonas Maeve, Ed Harris as the Man in Black, Jeffrey Wrightas Bernard, Tessa Thompsonas Charlotte, Luke Hemsworthas Stubbs and Simon Quartermanas Lee Sizemore.

New cast members this season include Aaron Paul, Vincent Cassel,Lena Waithe, Scott Mescudi, Marshawn Lynch, John Gallagher Jr., and Michael and Tommy Flanagan.

Created for television by Jonathan Nolanand Lisa Joy, and based on the film written by Michael Crichton, Westworld is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the birth of a new form of life on Earth.

The theme for the new season is “New World” and at Comic-Con in July, Nolan said one of the inspirations for the new season was Blade Runner, though he noted he wanted to do it differently.

Nolan said they went out in the world to find some beautiful places to shoot to capture the show’s future. “Dystopia can look pretty beautiful in the world. Just because the world is corrupt inside, doesn’t mean it can’t be smothered over and pretty. We wanted to find a version of dystopia that we hadn’t seen before,” Nolan said at Comic-Con.

The first two seasons of Westworld received a combined 42 Emmy nominations. The second season’s 20 noms resulted in three wins, including: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Newton, Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) and Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series.

Leto Named the New Face of Gucci Guilty Fragrance

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Jared Leto has found his guilty pleasure…

Gucci has announced that the 43-year-old part-Spanish American Oscar-winning actor and the lead singer of Thirty Seconds to Mars is the new face of its Guilty fragrance.

Leto was previously the face of Hugo Boss Red, and looked quite conservative in those spots.

As the face of Gucci Guilty, Leto will be starring in a new campaign, which the Italian luxury house announced will be shot in Venice, Italy, under the creative direction of Gucci’s Alessandro Michele.

The brand’s most recent ads for the fragrance starred Evan Rachel Wood and Chris Evans.

Collins to Star in HBO’s Sci-Fi Western Series “Westworld”

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Clifton Collins Jr. is heading West(world)…

The 45-year-old Mexican and Spanish American actor has joined the cast of HBO’s series Westworld, a television adaptation of the 1973 sci-fi western film that was set in a high-tech theme park that was staffed by robots who authentically replicated Roman, cowboy and medieval times.

After the park’s computer system breaks down, the robots ran amok and guests found themselves stalked by a gunslinging robot, played by Yul Brynner.

Collins will star opposite Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden and Thandie Newton in the reboot of the 1973 pic.

Collins, who starred in Pacific Rim, will play Lawrence, a sly criminal who really knows his way around Westworld.

Scheduled to air in 2016, Westworld hails from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, Jonathan Nolan, writer Lisa Joy plus Warner Bros. Televison and Jerry Weintraub Productions.

Rodrigo Lands a Villainous Role on HBO’s “Westworld”

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Rodrigo Santoro is heading west(world)…

The 38-year-old Brazilian actor has landed a villainous role on HBO’s Westworld.

Santoro joins the Anthony Hopkins– and Evan Rachel Wood-starrer, which is inspired by Michael Crichton‘s 1973 film of the same name.

The drama is billed as a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin. Hopkins stars as Dr. Robert Ford, the brilliant, taciturn and complicated creative director, chief programmer and chairman of the board of Westworld, who has an uncompromising creative vision for the park — and unorthodox methods of achieving it.

Wood portrays Dolores Abernathy, the quintessential farm girl of the frontier West — who is about to discover that her entire idyllic existence is an elaborately constructed lie.

Santoro will portray the terrifying and brutal with a dark sense of humor Harlan Bell, Westworld’s perennial “most wanted” bandit. He subscribes to the theory that the West is a wild place, and the only way to survive is to embrace the role of predator.

Joining Santoro, Hopkins and Wood are Jeffrey Wright, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Angela Sarafyan and Simon Quarterman.

Person of Interest‘s Jonathan Nolan, who co-wrote the pilot, will direct and executive produce alongside J.J. Abrams. Lisa Joy co-wrote the pilot and will exec produce.

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