Benicio del Toro to Star in Steven Soderbergh’s Crime Thriller “No Sudden Move”

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Benicio del Toro is making no sudden moves…

The 53-year-old Puerto Rican Oscar-winning actor has joined the cast of Steven Soderbergh’s latest film No Sudden Move (f.k.a Kill Switch).

The crime thriller, which is being produced under Soderbergh’s recently formed overall deal with HBO Max, has commenced production

In addition to del Toro, the All-Star ensemble cast includes Don Cheadle, David Harbour, Amy Seimetz, Jon Hamm, Ray Liotta, Kieran Culkin, Brendan Fraser, Noah Jupe, Bill Duke, Frankie Shaw and Julia Fox.

Written by Ed Solomon, the film is set in 1955 Detroit and centers on a group of small-time criminals who are hired to steal what they think is a simple document. When their plan goes horribly wrong, their search for who hired them – and for what ultimate purpose – weaves them through all echelons of the race-torn, rapidly changing city.

“The last time I shot a movie in Detroit with a great script and a great cast things worked out really well, so I’m very excited behind my mask right now,” said Soderbergh.

“It’s a pleasure to begin production on another project with Steven Soderbergh, Casey Silver and Ed Solomon,” remarked Casey Bloys, Chief Content Officer for HBO and HBO Max. “We have an incredible partner in Warner Bros. Pictures and an extraordinarily talented cast – we couldn’t be happier to bring No Sudden Move to HBO Max.”

Armisen to Return as Guest Star on Season 3 of Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

Posted on March 26, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Fred Armisen is still Unbreakable..

The 50-year-old half-Venezuelan actor and former Saturday Night Live star is set to return as a guest star on Season 3 of Netflix’s hit comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Armisen joins series stars Ellie Kemper, Tituss Burgess, Jane Krakowski and Carol Kane, and returning guest stars Anna Camp, Mike Carlsen, Josh Charles, David Cross, Tina Fey, Jon Hamm and Amy Sedaris for the third season which premieres Friday, May 19 on Netflix.

The third season premiere picks up with Kimmy finding herself in an unfamiliar position with the Reverend back in her life. Titus returns from his cruise and auditions for an exciting new role. Lillian has to break up with her boyfriend Robert Durst.

Netflix will premiere the Season 3 debut episode at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival, followed by a Q&A with cast members.

Additional guest stars include former Hamilton star Daveed Diggs, Laura Dern, Rachel, Dratch, Ray Liotta, Andrea Martin and Maya Rudolph.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a production of Universal Television, Little Stranger Inc., 3 Arts Entertainment and Bevel Gears for Netflix.

NBC Renews Lopez’s “Shades of Blue” for Third Season

Posted on March 18, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

There’s more Blue in Jennifer Lopez’s future…

NBC has renewed Shades of Blue, starring the 47-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer and Ray Liotta, for a third season.

The announcement comes only two weeks into the police corruption drama’s sophomore run.

Shades of Blue has done okay relocating from Thursday to Sunday, wining its new Sunday 10:00 pm slot. It averages a modest 5.0 million viewers and 1.0 among adults 18-49 in Live+same day, though, in today’s day and age, these are considered solid linear numbers for a serialized 10:00 pm broadcast drama series.

Shades of Blue is boosted by a strong delayed viewing. It adds substantial viewership from time-shifting and video on demand, with the show’s March 5 season premiere growing by 66% in L+3 to a 1.6 rating in adults 18-49, and in total viewers by 2.5 million persons to a total of 7.8 million, accounting for the biggest L+3 lifts of the night on the Big 4 networks.

“We’re so hugely appreciative of everything Jennifer and Ray do, and know it is due to their dedication, as well as the hard work of our incredible cast and producers, that ‘Shades of Blue’ has so clearly and compellingly earned a third-season renewal,” said NBC’s president of entertainment Salke said. “This show continues to mine powerful stories that always leave us hungry for more.”

Harlee Santos (Lopez) is a charismatic single mother and resourceful detective at the heart of a tight-knit crew of Brooklyn detectives, led by enigmatic Lt. Matt Wozniak (Liotta) who often leads the team to step outside the limitations of the law in order to effectively protect their precinct and their own.

The cast of the series, created by Adi Hasak, includes Drea de Matteo, Dayo Okeniyi, Vincent Laresca, Hampton Fluker, Sarah Jeffery and Gino Anthony Pesi.

Showrunner Jack Orman and Lopez serve as executive producers along with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Benny Medina, Ryan Seacrest and Nina Wass.

Shades of Blue is a production of Universal Television, Nuyorican Productions, EGTV, Ryan Seacrest Productions and Jack Orman Productions.

Lopez Shares New Trailer for Her Upcoming NBC Series “Shades of Blue”

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Jennifer Lopez is throwing a little shade(s) of blue…

The 46-year-old Puerto Rican actress, singer and American Idol judge took to Facebook to premiere the first full trailer for Shades of Blue, the star’s crime drama premiering on January 7 on NBC.

Lopez plays Harlee Santos, an FBI agent and single mom assigned to an anti-corruption task force.

The series, created by Adi Hasak, costars Ray Liotta.

The trailer opens with Lopez’s Santos appearing to shoot her partner, though obviously appearances are deceiving. The trailer does establish what likely will be the central conflict of the series: Santos’ torn feelings about spying on her coworkers and her emotional allegiance to Liotta’s hard-driving boss character.

“There’s a rat!,” he yells. “A Rat! An FBI informant on my team!”

As for the show’s title, the tag line explains it: “Between good cop and bad cop…there are shades of blue.”

Click here to see the full trailer on Facebook.

Lopez’s Police Drama “Shades of Blue” to Premiere in January on NBC

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Jennifer Lopez will be feeling blue in January…

NBC has announced the premiere date for Shades of Blue, starring the 46-year-old Puerto Rican singer, actress and American Idol judge.

The straight-to-series police drama, which also stars Ray Liotta, will debut on Thursday, January 14 at 9:00 pm with a two-hour premiere episode directed by Barry Levinson.

The show will then move to its regular 10:00 pm timeslot behind The Blacklist the following Thursday, January 21.

There, Shades Of Blue will succeed new fall drama The Player.

“From a marketing perspective, the January 14 date takes advantage of both solid Sunday Night Football games and strong holiday programming through the first week of January,” is how NBC’s head of scheduling Jeff Bader explains the rationale behind the premiere date choice. “Also, in one of the most-watched weekends of the year (January 9-10), we have the NFL Wild Card game and Golden Globes, both of which make for great promotional opportunities.”

Shades Of Blue centers on Harlee Santos (Lopez), a charismatic single mother and resourceful detective at the heart of a tight-knit crew of Brooklyn detectives, led by enigmatic Lt. Matt Wozniak (Liotta) who often leads the team to step outside the limitations of the law in order to effectively protect their precinct and their own. As a big illegal job looms on the horizon, the FBI catches Harlee in the act and pits her against her own unit. As a newly turned informant, Harlee struggles to safeguard her on-the-job family and avoid arrest in order to stay with her daughter.

The series co-stars Warren Kole, Drea de Matteo, Dayo Okeniyi, Vincent Laresca, Hampton Fluker and Sarah Jeffery.

It is executive produced by Jack Orman, Adi Hasak, Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Benny Medina, Ryan Seacrest and Nina Wass.

Laresca Cast in NBC’s Jennifer Lopez Drama Series “Shades of Blue”

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Vincent Laresca is feeling blue…

The 41-year-old half- Panamanian American actor has landed a co-starring role opposite Jennifer Lopez in NBC’s straight-to-series drama Shades of Blue.

Written by Adi Hasak and directed by Barry Levinson, Shades Of Blue follows a tight-knit crew of police officers who are effective at keeping the streets safe but also corrupt when it comes to lining their pockets and protecting their own. When one of the officers (Lopez) is forced to become a federal informant, she must decide between her own family’s welfare and that of her police family.

Laresca plays Tony Espada, alternately the bulldog and the moral compass for his team.

Meanwhile, Ray Liotta plays Lieutenant Bill Wozniak, the enigmatic and resourceful patriarch of the tight knit unit of corrupt cops, who steps outside the limitations of the law to protect his precinct. His all-consuming hunt for the informant drives him to dire extremes. The Sopranos alumna Drea de Matteo plays Shirley Nazario, a tough, outspoken female cop who holds her own with the men in her crew, and yet her brashness covers her insecurities.

Laresca’s previous television credits include appearances on 24, CSI: Miami and Weeds.

Martinez Signs with Paradigm Talent Agency

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Olivier Martinez has new representation…

The 49-year-old half-Spanish actor has signed on as a client with Paradigm Talent Agency.

Martinez, who has a César Award under his belt for 1993’s Un, deux, trois, soleil, most recently appeared last season on ABC’s Revenge as French billionaire media mogul Pascal LeMarchal.

He’ll next appear in History Channel’s upcoming miniseries Texas Rising playing Antonio López de Santa Anna, the 19th century Mexican general known as the Napoleon of the West, in a cast that includes Bill Paxton, Ray Liotta, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Brendan Fraser and Chad Michael Murray.

Martinez rose to acclaim in the United States after starring in Unfaithful with Diane Lane and Richard Gere. His other credits include Before Night Falls opposite Javier Bardem, S.W.A.T. with Samuel L. Jackson, D.J. Caruso’s Taking Lives, and Dark Tide with wife Halle Berry.

Rodriguez to Star Opposite Ray Liotta in the Indie Film “Sticky Notes”

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Rodriguez has found herself in a sticky situation…

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican actress has joined the cast of the indie film Sticky Notes, the directorial debut of screenwriter Amanda Harlib.

The film, currently shooting in New Orleans, centers on a backup dancer (portrayed by Game of Thrones actress Rose Leslie) who returns home to Florida to help care for her estranged father, Jack (Ray Liotta), after he’s diagnosed with cancer.

Harlib most recently adapted the novel Sorta Like a Rockstar by Silver Linings Playbookwriter Matthew Quick for Gotham Group. She’s also the creator of the Web series Haute and Bothered, which ran on Teen.com for two years.

Rodriguez rose to acclaim in the 2012 Sundance hit Filly Brown, which earned her an Imagen Award, as well ason The Bold and the Beautful. She’ll nextstar in the upcoming TV series Jane the Virgin.

Trailer Released for the Cuesta-Directed “Kill the Messenger,” Starring Jeremy Renner

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Michael Cuesta is ready to kill the messenger…

The first trailer for Jeremy Renner‘s Kill the Messenger, helmed by the 50-year-old television and film director, borrows the visual style, tone and ripped-from-the-headlines subject material of American Hustle.

Kill the Messenger is a dramatization of journalist Gary Webb‘s investigation into a CIA conspiracy in Nicaragua that led to a series of articles titled Dark Alliance for The San Jose Mercury News that caused a firestorm of controversy.

“Despite warnings from drug kingpins and CIA operatives to stop his investigation, Webb keeps digging to uncover a conspiracy with explosive implications,” the film’s synopsis reads.

The cast also features Paz Vega, Rosemarie DeWitt and Ray Liotta

The Focus Features biopic was written by Parkland scribe Peter Landesman based on Nick Schou‘s book Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb.

The film is set for U.S. release in October.

Martinez to Star in History’s “Texas Rising” Miniseries

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Olivier Martinez’s stock is rising with a new project…

The 48-year-old half-Spanish actor has joined the cast of History’s miniseries Texas Rising (working title) from A+E Studios and ITV Studios America.

Executive produced by History’s Leslie Greif (Hatfields & McCoys), the project will detail the Texas Revolution against Mexico and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers.

The miniseries, consisting of eight hour-long episodes, will be directed by Roland Joffé.

Martinez will portray Mexican general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

Other members of the all-star cast include Christopher McDonald, Trevor Donovan, Bill Paxton, Brendan Fraser, Ray Liotta, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Thomas Jane, Chad Michael Murray, Michael Rapaport and Max Thieriot.

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