Lana Parrilla to Star on CBS All Access’ Anthology Series “Why Women Kill”

Lana Parrilla has landed a kill-er role…

The 43-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress has joined the cast for the second season of CBS All Access’ anthology series Why Women Kill.

Lana Parrilla

Parrilla, who won a Teen Choice Award for her role as The Evil Queen/Regina Mills on ABC’s Once Upon a Time, is part of a roster of new cast additions that includes Queen of the South’s Veronica Falcón, B.K. Cannon, Jordane Christie and Matthew Daddario.

They join previously announced cast members Allison Tolman and Nick Frost in the series that hails from Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry, Imagine Television Studios and CBS Studios.

This season of the dark comedy features a new ensemble cast and storylines set in 1949 that will explore what it means to be beautiful, the hidden truth behind the facades people present to the world, the effects of being ignored and overlooked by society, and finally, the lengths one woman will go in order to finally belong.

Parrilla will play Rita, the sardonic wife to the wealthy and evil Carlo Castillo. As she waits for her elderly husband to die, Rita runs the garden club with an iron fist and spends much of her time engaging in an affair with a younger lover.

Falcón will play Catherine, Carlo Castillo’s spinster daughter. Prim and proper, Catherine detests her father’s gorgeous wife, Rita, and returns to town after a mysterious accident, seeking a way to destroy her.

Parrilla can be seen in David Ayer’s indie thriller The Tax Collector. Her previous credits include Prior Boomtown, Windfall, Swingtown, Miami Medical, Spin City and 24.

Falcón’s credits include starring roles in Queen of the South, an episode of the anthology Room 104 and Perpetual Grace LTD. Most recently, she appeared in Perry Mason and can next be seen in Marvel’s Winter Falcon, as well as the upcoming films Jungle Cruise, the next installment of The Purge franchise, Ted Melfi’s The Starling and Neil Burger’s Voyagers.

Dania Ramirez to Star in Netflix’s DC Vertigo Comic-Based Series “Sweet Tooth”

Dania Ramirez has landed a Sweet role…

The 40-year-old Dominican actress and Devious Maids star will star in Sweet ToothNetflix’s new drama series based on the DC Vertigo comic.

Dania Ramirez

Ramirez will be part of the series’ core cast of series regulars, which includes Christian ConveryNonso Anozie and Adeel AkhtarWill Forte has a recurring role, while James Brolin serves as the series’ narrator.

The eight-episode Sweet Tooth follows the adventures of Gus (Convery) — part deer, part boy — who leaves his home in the forest to find the outside world ravaged by a cataclysmic event. He joins a ragtag family of humans and animal-children hybrids like himself in search of answers about this new world and the mystery behind his hybrid origins.

Ramirez will reportedly play Aimee, a pioneer in the middle of dystopic America, a lone scavenger in an abandoned city, rebuilding a sustainable habitat and giving orphaned hybrids a home.

The project hails from Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey’s Team DowneyJim MickleBeth Schwartz and Warner Bros. Television.

Along with fellow new Netflix series Cowboy Bebop, Sweet Tooth was among of a handful of Hollywood television series and movies to be granted border exemptions by the New Zealand government several weeks ago, a crucial step for any overseas production to be able to film in the country, which has largely eradicated COVID-19.

The tentative plan is for the cast to travel to New Zealand in August, where they’ll self-isolate for two weeks ahead of a potential September 7 start of production, according to Deadline.com. 

Ramirez can currently be seen as one of the leads in the first season of Kevin Williamson’s CBS All Access anthology drama series Tell Me a Story, airing on the CW

She previously starred on Marc Cherry’s Lifetime series Devious  Maids and had major roles on ABC’s Once Upon a Time and NBC’s Heroes

Netflix Renews Joanna Garcia Swisher’s “Sweet Magnolias” for Second Season

There’s more sweetmoments in Joanna Garcia Swisher’s future…

Netflix has renewed Sweet Magnolias, starring the 40-year-old half-Cuban American actress, for a second season.

JoAnna Garcia Swisher

Garcia Swisher, Brooke Elliott and Heather Headley will all return for the next installment.

Sweet Magnolias,based on Sherryl Woods’ popular series of novels published by Harlequin imprint MIRA books, follows lifelong best friends Maddie (Garcia Swisher), Dana Sue (Elliott), and Helen (Headley) as they juggle relationships, family, and careers in the charming small town of Serenity, SC.

Sweet Magnolias is part of Netflix’s push into the romance drama space, based on a bestselling novel with female protagonists. 

Swisher Garcia’s previous television credits include Privileged, Better with YouAnimal PracticeOnce Upon a Time and The Astronaut Wives Club

Dania Ramirez to Star in Sony’s “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” Sequel

Dania Ramirez is headed for the jungle…

The 39-year-old Dominican actress and former Devious Maidsstar has landed a role in Sony’s sequel to Jumanji: Welcome to the Junglewhich is being directed and co-written by Jake Kasdan.

Dania Ramirez

Ramirez joins a cast that includes members Dwayne JohnsonJack BlackKevin HartKaren Gillanand Nick Jonas, as well as new additions AwkwafinaDanny DeVitoand Danny Glover

Plot details are being kept under wraps. 

In addition to her lead role on Lifetime’sDevious Maids, Ramirez previously starred on television in ABC’s Once Upon a Timeand NBC’s Heroes.

Her film credits include X-Men: The Last Stand and Premium Rush.

JoAnna Garcia Swisher to Star in ABC’s Comedy Pilot “Happy Accident”

JoAnna Garcia Swisher has found her Happy place…

The 39-year-old half-Cuban American actress has landed a leading role opposite Matt Walshin Happy AccidentABC’s single-camera family comedy pilot from Modern Family writers Abraham Higginbotham and Jon Pollack20th Century Fox Television.

joanna-garcia

Written and executive produced by Higginbotham and Pollack, Happy Accident revolves around two Pittsburgh families — a father, Bud (Walsh), with three adult daughters, and a hotel lounge singer with her med student son — who are forced together after a decades-old secret is revealed.

Swisher will play Eleanor Bennett, a professor at Pitt who is also Bud’s (Walsh) oldest daughter.

Swisher most recently starred as Amy Cabrera in Kevin (Probably) Saves the World)which aired for one season on ABC. She previously recurred as Arielon ABC’s Once Upon A Time and played a lead on the network’s limited series The Astronaut Wives Club

On the film side, Swisher most recently appeared in Warner Brothers’ comedy Fist Fight.

CBS All Access Releases Trailer for Dania Ramirez Thriller Series “Tell Me A Story”

It’s Story time for Dania Ramirez

The official trailer for CBS All Access’ original thriller Tell Me A Story, starring the 38-year-old Dominican actress, has been released.

 Dania Ramirez

Tell Me A Story takes the world’s most beloved fairy tales and reimagines them as a dark and twisted psychological thriller.

Set in modern-day New York City, the first season of this serialized drama interweaves The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel andGretel into an epic and subversive tale of love, loss, greed, revenge and murder.

In addition to Ramirez, who starred in the final season of ABC’s fairy tale series Once Upon a Time, the cast also includes James Wolk, Billy Magnussen,Danielle Campbell, Dorian Missick, Michael Raymond-James, Davi Santos, Sam Jaeger, Zabryna Guevara with Paul Wesley and Kim Cattrall.

Produced by Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment, the series is written and executive produced by Kevin Williamson alongside Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor and Liz Friedlander, who directs and executive produces the first two episodes.

Joanna Garcia Returning for Series Finale of ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” 

Joanna Garcia is swimming back to ABC

ABC has announced on the Once Upon a Time Facebook page that several actors are returning for the series’ penultimate episode 721 and the series finale, including the 38-year-old Cuban American actress.

Joanna Garcia as Ariel

Garcia will return to portray The Little Mermaid’s Ariel. She first appeared as the iconic Disney Princess in Season 3, and she last appeared in Season 6.

Other cast members scheduled to return include Tony Amendola (Marco), Lee Arenberg (Leroy), Robbie Kay (Peter Pan), Sean Maguire (Robin Hood), Victoria Smurfit (Cruella De Vil) and Keegan Tracy (Mother Superior).

It was already been announced that Bev Elliott (Granny Lucas) and Jared Gilmore (Henry Mills) are returning.

At a recent screening of their midseason premiere, co-creator Edward Kitsis promised that in the series finale “We’ll see many familiar faces to the end.”

At the time Kitsis and Adam Horowitz weren’t ready to confirm the rumor that’s been out there about Jennifer Morrison coming back one last time, or departing Once Upon a Time company players Gennifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, and Emilie de Ravin.

No hints on the series finale yet, though Kitsis said it’s  “less about tying everything up in a bow, rather hearing the song one more time.”

Lana Parrilla to Direct an Episode of Her ABC Series “Once Upon a Time”

Lana Parrilla is pulling double duty…

The 40-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress and Once Upon a Time star will assume another role on the forthcoming season of the ABC series.

Lana Parrilla

Parrilla, who stars as The Evil Queen/Regina Mills, will step behind the camera and make her directorial debut.

Once Upon a Time co-creator Adam Horowitz took to Twitter to share the news, teasing fans with an image of a script page from season seven’s 17th episode titled “Chosen.”

Under the title it says “Written by Paul Karp & Brian Ridings” and below that it says “Directed by Lana Parrilla.”

Usually seen in front of the camera, this will mark Parrilla’s first time as a director. Horowitz calls the episode a “#titlespoiler.”

ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said last week that although ratings have dropped, she is  “cautiously optimistic.” She added, “It’s always hard at this point in January to know because some of it’s also dependent on your new development and how you feel about some of those things, so that’s part of why it’s really hard at the top of the year to really know what’s going to happen.”

Once Upon a Time is currently on a hiatus and is set to return to resume season seven on March 2.

Dania Ramirez to Star on ABC’s “Once Upon A Time”

Dania Ramirez’s life is a fairy tale…

The 37-year-old Dominican actress and Devious Maids alum has been cast as a series regular on ABC’s Once Upon A Time for the upcoming seventh season.

Dania Ramirez

Ramirez’s character details are being kept under wraps at the moment.

The addition of Ramirez follows the exodus of original cast members Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Emilie de Ravin, Jared S. Gilmore, Jennifer Morrison and Rebecca Mader at the end of Season 6, and set the stage for the planned “reset” of Season 7.

The new season will focus on returning cast members Lana Parrilla, Robert Carlyle and Colin O’Donoghue, along with The Walking Dead‘s Andrew J. West, who was introduced in the Season 6 finale.

Once is set in the fictional seaside town of Storybrooke, Maine, whose residents are characters from various fairy tales transported to the “real world” town and robbed of their original memories by a powerful curse. It premiered in 2011 to 12.8 million total viewers and a 4.0 demo rating, making it the highest-rated drama series premiere that season, but ratings in the past few seasons have declined. Its Season 6 ender (0.9/3) set a finale low for the series.

Ramirez’s previous television credits include Entourage, Heroes and The Sopranos.

Gilberto Santa Rosa to Serve as NYC Puerto Rican Day Parade Grand Marshall

Gilberto Santa Rosa is set to have a grand old time at this year’s NYC Puerto Rican Day Parade.

The 54-year-old Puerto Rican singer and bandleader, known as “El Caballero de la Salsa,” will serve as the grand marshall of the annual parade on June 11.

Gilberto Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa is a Grammy and Latin Grammy winner, who has been active in the music industry for approximately forty years.

But Santa Rosa isn’t the only superstar participating in this year’s parade.

Iris Chacón, the 67-year-old showgirl who came to fame in the 1970s as “the Puerto Rican bombshell” has been named godmother of the parade.

Ozuna will appear as the parade’s Rising Star, salsa singer Ismael Rivera has been named a Puerto Rican Day ambassador, and Latin alternative duo BuscaBulla will also join the parade.

This year’s Puerto Rican Day Parade marks the 60th time that “la parada” fills Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue with tropical music and Puerto Rican pride. Previous grand marshalls include Marc Anthony and Ricky MartinCalle 13’s Rene Perez was crowned king of the parade in 2014.

Olympic gold medal gymnast Laurie Hernández, actress Lana Parrilla (Once Upon a Time) and 14-time MLB All-Star Iván Rodríguez will also participate in this year’s parade.

The event will also reference recent politics: it will honor former political prisoner Oscar López Rivera, who was pardoned by President Barack Obama in January after 35 years in federal prison, as National Freedom Hero. And this year’s parade coincides with 100 years since all Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship by a law enacted by President Woodrow Wilson.

“In this monumental year, we are showcasing our collective achievement and the legacy we have built by working in solidarity,” Puerto Rican Day Parade Board Chair Board Chair Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez said at a press conference. “And we will discuss key challenges that Puerto Rico is facing to help inform and engage our community. We also honor legendary figures and the next generation of stars that are already accomplished in their own right.”

Two music festivals preceding the parade will turn June 9-11 into a full throttle Puerto Rican party weekend.

The 2017 Soulfrito festival will feature a line-up of  “club bangers and Latin trap” that includes urban stars Farruko, Zion y Lennox , Bad Bunny, Cosculluela and Ivy Queen starts the party in Brooklyn on Friday, June 9, at the Barclays Center.

Willie Colon, Eddie Palmieri and Tito Nieves lead the incredible line-up of the 33rd New York Salsa Festival, which takes place Saturday, June 10, also at the Barclay Center. Jerry Rivera, Grupo Niche, Fruko y Sus Tesos, Tito Rojas and DLG are also among the artists scheduled to perform.