Netflix Releases First-Look Clip at Season 5 of Polanco’s “Orange Is The New Black”

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Dascha Polanco is back in black… and orange…

Netflix has released a first-look clip from the premiere episode of the upcoming fifth season of Orange Is The New Black, starring the 35-year-old Dominican actress.

Dascha Polanco

The new season of OITNB takes place in real time and over the course of just three days.

The clip begins where Season 4 left off, with Litchfield in utter chaos – a riot sparked by Poussey’s untimely death combined with the rage and grief felt by the inmates. In the final moments, it all came to a head with a determined Daya (Polanco) holding a gun to the head of a prison security guard.

The critically acclaimed series has won three consecutive SAG Awards for outstanding ensemble in a comedy series, and Uzo Abuba — aka Crazy Eyes — got back-to-back wins in 2015 and 2016 for comedy supporting.

It also has been nominated for Best Comedy and Best Drama series at the Primetime Emmys.

Leyva’s “Orange Is The New Black” to Air on Sony Channel UK

Posted on March 25, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Selenis Leyva will be serving time across the pond…

Sony Pictures Television Networks has taken UK linear rights to Lionsgate’s Orange Is The New Black, starring the 44-year-old Cuban and Dominican actress.

The series, about engaged Brooklynite Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), whose decade-old relationship with drug-runner Alex (Laura Prepon) results in her arrest and year-long detention in a federal penitentiary, will have its broadcast premiere on Sony Channel UK.

Season one of the series will launch with a double bill in the territory every Wednesday from April 19.

“We recognize the demand for premium content that appeals to a broad audience, which is exactly what Orange Is The New Black offers,” said Kate Marsh, SPTN’s Exec VP, Western Europe, International Networks. “It is widely recognized as a must-see series that we’re pleased to make part of our offering on Sony Channel.”

In addition to Leyva, Schilling and Prepon, the series also stars Jackie Cruz, Laura Gómez, Diane Guerrero, Dascha Polanco and Elizabeth Rodriguez.

The cast of Orange Is the New Black has taken home the SAG Award for best ensemble in a comedy series award for the last three years.

Guerrero to Star in CBS’ Comedy Pilot “Distefano”

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Diane Guerrero is preparing for a culture clash…

The 30-year-old Colombian American actress has been cast as the female lead opposite Chris Distefano in Distefano, CBS’ comedy pilot from How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and Sony Television.

Inspired by the Distefano — an Italian American from Brooklyn and a new dad who married a Puerto Rican woman — Distefano centers on Izzy (Guerrero) and Chris (Distefano), two twentysomethings raising their newborn daughter and merging their meddling families – one Colombian American, one Italian.

The script was originally written with Izzy as Puerto Rican, but the character is now being reworked for Guerrero’s background, as representing her community is extremely mportant to her.

Guerrero’s Izzy is the love of Chris’ life and the mother of their 3-month-old baby. Annie Potts portrays Chris’ Irish Catholic mother Helen.

Bays and Thomas wrote the script based on a story they co-wrote with Distefano, with HIMYM director/executive producer Pam Fryman directing and executive producing.

Guerrero, best known for her role on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, was previously attached to star and executive produce a drama series project for CBS/CBS Television about undocumented immigrants based on her memoir In the Country We Love.

She’s also had a recurring role as best friend Lina on the CW/CBS Television Studios dramedy Jane the Virgin, teamed with Jane exec producers Jennie Snyder Urman, Ben Silverman and Paul Sciarrotta.

Guerrero and her OITNB castmates recently picked up their third straight Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

Cruz’s “Orange Is the New Black” Named Best Comedy Ensemble at the SAG Awards

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Life’s still a SAG (award) for Jackie Cruz…

The 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards recognized the best performances for the year in both television and film on Sunday night, with the 30-year-old Dominican-American actress, musician and former model’s Orange Is the New Black taking home the best ensemble in a comedy series award.

Orange Is the New Black won the comedy ensemble trophy for the third straight year.

The prison comedy-drama series topped The Big Bang Theory, Black-ish, Veep, and Modern Family, which won the award for four years before Orange Is the New Black started its streak.

In addition to Cruz, Latina actresses in the ensemble cast include Laura Gómez, Diane Guerrero, Selenis Leyva, Dascha Polanco and Elizabeth Rodriguez.

The awards were handed out at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles.

Ortiz to Guest Star on TBS’ “The Guest Book”

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

John Ortiz has signed in…

The 48-year-old Puerto Rican actor will guest star on TBS’ The Guest Book, the new 10-episode comedy series from My Name Is Earl’s Greg Garcia.

The Guest Book emerged from Garcia’s habit of writing fictitious stories in the guest books of various rental cabins in an effort to freak out the next renters. Now he is bringing some of those stories to life on screen centering on the vacation home Froggy Cottage and its visitors. While the house and cast of characters living in this small mountain town remain the same, each episode will feature a different set of vacationing guests.

The anthology-style show, written by Garcia and executive produced by him and Alix Jaffe, will premiere in August.

It will star Kellie Martin (Army Wives), Charlie Robinson (Hart of Dixie), Aloma Wright (Suits), Carly Jibson (Broadway’s Hairspray), Lou Wilson (Tween Fest), Garret Dillahunt (The Mindy Project), Laura Bell Bundy (Scream Queens) and Eddie Steeples (My Name Is Earl).

Martin will play Officer Kimberly Leahy, who serves on the police force in the small mountain town of Mount Trace. Robinson is Wilfrid, an easygoing, friendly gentleman who manages a group of mountain rental cottages with his wife, Emma, played by recurring guest star Wright. Jibson is Vivian, a tough, strong-willed woman who runs a bikini bar called Chubbys with her stepson Frank, played by Wilson.

In addition to Ortiz, other guest stars include Danny Pudi (Community), Jenna Fischer (The Office), Tommy Dewey (The Mindy Project), Lauren Lapkus (Orange Is the new Black), Michaela Watkins (Casual), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24), Michael Rapaport (Sully), Kate Micucci (Raising Hope), Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl), Stockard Channing (The Good Wife), Andrew J. West (The Walking Dead), David Zayas (Gotham), Shannon Woodward (Westworld), Margo Martindale (The Good Wife) and Stephnie Weir (The Comedians).

Guerrero to Star in CBS’ Immigration Drama “In the Country We Love”

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Diane Guerrero has gone Country…

The 30-year-old Colombian American actress, a recurring guest star on Jane the Virgin, has partnered with executive producer/showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman, executive producer Ben Silverman and co-executive producer Paul Sciarrotta for In the Country We Love, a potential drama project for CBS.

Guerrero is attached to star in the drama, which is based on her memoir. Jane the Virgin producer CBS Television Studios is the studio.

Written by Sciarrotta, In the Country We Love centers on a successful corporate attorney who starts taking pro bono cases for undocumented immigrants after her past as the child of deported parents is revealed by a family emergency.

Guerrero’s memoir In the Country We Love: My Family Divided, co-written with best-selling author Michelle Burford, chronicles Guerrero’s harrowing experience as a teenager.

She was 14 when her parents were taken from their Boston home by immigration agents and deported to their native Colombia while she was at school. From then on, Guerrero, who was born in the U.S., had to rely on the kindness of family friends.

Guerrero was named a White House Ambassador for Citizenship and Naturalization in 2015 and is an outspoken advocate for common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform, having worked with Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Mi Familia Vota, a nonpartisan Latino civic engagement organization to promote citizenship and voter registration.

This is the second broadcast drama project in development for next season that touches on the hot-button issue of immigration, along with The CW’s Casa, from Warner Bros Television and Berlanti Prods.

Guerrero is best known for her role as Maritza Ramos on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black. She plays Jane’s (Gina Rodriguez) best friend Lina on Jane the Virgin.

Justice Strips Down to Her Skivvies for Her “Rocky Horror Picture Show” Song

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Victoria Justice is stripping down and camping it up for the cameras…

The 23-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/singer gets down to her underwear in a new sneak peek at her interpretation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show tune “Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me” from Fox‘s reboot of the gender-bending musical.

Wearing only a bra and slip, Justice belts out the campy tune while Dr. Frank-N-Furter‘s dopey monster, Rocky (Staz Nair), paws at her.

Justice takes on the role of the virginal Janet opposite vanilla fiancé Brad (Ryan McCartan) in the prime-time musical that will also star Orange is the New Black‘s Laverne Cox as Frank, as well as Adam Lambert, Christina Milian, Reeve Carney, Annaleigh Ashford and original Frank, Tim Curry, in a cameo.

Fox’s remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be broadcast on October 20.

Zovatto to Star in Fullscreen Media’s Original Drama “The Deleted”

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Daniel Zovatto is set to delete his resume…

The 25-year-old Costa Rican actor has joined the cast of Fullscreen Media’s original drama The Deleted.

Written and directed by Bret Easton Ellis, The Deleted follows members of a cult in Northern Washington who escaped to Los Angeles and go off the grid. When escapees begin disappearing, they’re driven to find one another for protection as nefarious cult leaders hunt them down.

Zovatto, who was recently cast on AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, will portray Logan.

Other cast members include Orange Is the New Black’s Madeline Brewer, The Hunger Games’ Ian Nelson, Nash Grier (The Outfield), Will Peltz (Unfriended), Spencer Neville (Amerigeddon) and Todd Maurer (Scream Queens).

The Deleted, slated to premiere later this year, will be available exclusively on the Fullscreen SVOD platform, and via iPhone, iPad, select Android phones and Chromecast for $4.99 per month.

Zovatto’s credits include Hulu’s Dimension 404, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Revenge.

Polanco to Star in the Indie Dark Comedy “iCreep”

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Dascha Polanco is ready to lead…

The 33-year-old Dominican actress, a regular on the Netflix dramedy Orange Is the New Black, has landed her first starring film role.

Polanco is set as the female lead in iCreep, an indie dark comedy from writer-director Adrian Martinez, who also stars in and will produce the film.

iCreep follows the life of a loner, Gilbert (Martinez), and the love of his life, Jana (Polanco).

Polanco plays Dayanara Diaz on Orange Is the New Black, sharing a pair of SAG Awards for the ensemble cast, and also appeared in the features Joy and The Perfect Match.

Her other credits include The Cobbler and Gimme Shelter.

Leyva and Her “Orange Is the New Black” Castmates Take Home Second Consecutive SAG Award

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Life’s still a SAG for Selenis Leyva…

This weekend, the 43-year-old Cuban and Dominican actress and her fellow Orange Is the New Black castmates took home the award for Best Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The Netflix series was nominated alongside CBS‘ The Big Bang Theory, Comedy Central‘s Key & Peele, ABC‘s Modern Family, Amazon‘s Transparent and HBO‘s Veep.

In addition to Leyva, other Latinas who form part of the ensemble cast include Jackie Cruz, Dianne Guerrero, Dascha Polanco and Elizabeth Rodriguez.

J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette presented the award to the OITNB cast, who won in the comedy ensemble category for the second consecutive year.

The 22nd Annual SAG Awards, honoring achievements in film and television, took place at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles.

Here’s a complete look at this year’s winners.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Orange Is the New Black

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Queen Latifah, Bessie

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Idris Elba, Luther

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Spotlight

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Leonardo DiCaprio, The

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Brie Larson, Room

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Downton Abbey

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Mad Max: Fury Road

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
Game of Thrones

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

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