Carlos Valdes to Appear in Starz’s Watergate Drama “Gaslit”

Carlos Valdes’ latest project is (gas)lit!

The 32-year-old Colombian actor and singer is set to appear opposite Julia Roberts and Sean Penn in Starz’s Watergate drama Gaslit.

Carlos Valdes

Valdes will appear in a heavily recurring role alongside Patton OswaltNat Faxon, Erinn HayesPatrick Walker and Raphael Sbarge.

Also joining in recurring roles are Anne Dudek,  Chris ConnerBrian Geraghty, Nelson FranklinReed Diamond, Johnny BerchtoldAdam Ray and Billy Smith.

Based on the first season of the Slate podcast Slow Burn, Gaslit is a modern take on Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal – from Richard Nixon’s bumbling, opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.

The story will center on Martha Mitchell (Roberts). A big personality with an even bigger mouth, Martha is a celebrity Arkansan socialite and wife to Nixon’s loyal Attorney General, John Mitchell (Penn). Despite her party affiliation, she’s the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon’s involvement in Watergate, causing both the presidency and her personal life to unravel. As attorney general, Mitchell is Nixon’s most trusted adviser and best friend. Temperamental, foulmouthed and ruthless – yet hopelessly in love with his famously outspoken wife – he’ll be forced to choose between Martha and the president.

Valdes will portray Paul Magallanes, one of the FBI Agents assigned to the Watergate case. He and his partner, Angelo Lano (Chris Messina), come up against the full force of the White House as they investigate the events of June 1972.

The series is created and executive produced by Robbie Pickering. Matt Ross will direct and executive produce.

Valdez best known for his role as Cisco Ramon / Vibe on The CW television series The Flash and other Arrowverse-related projects.

Bobby Cannavale to Star in the Play “The Lifespan of a Fact” on Broadway

Bobby Cannavale is heading to The Great White Way…

The 48-year-old half-Cuban American actor will return to Broadway next fall to star in the world premiere play The Lifespan of a Fact alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Cherry Jones.

Bobby Cannavale

Based on the critically acclaimed, bestselling 2012 non-fiction book about fact, fiction and blurred lines, Lifespan will be directed by Leigh Silverman, a 2014 Tony Award nominee for her direction of Violet.

The Lifespan of a Fact will begin performances at the Studio 54 on Thursday, September 20, with an opening night of Thursday, October 18. The limited engagement will run for 16 weeks.

Written by Jeremy Kareken & David Murrell and Gordon Farrell, the play is based on the book by John D’Agata and Jim Fingal that detailed their own real-life journalistic investigation into the suicide of a Las Vegas teen.

As described by the production, Lifespan “is based on the stirring true story of John D’Agata’s essay, ‘What Happens There,’ about the Las Vegas suicide of teenager Levi Presley. Jim Fingal, assigned to fact check the piece, ignited a seven-year debate on the blurred lines of what passes for truth in literary nonfiction.”

Some background: In 2003, D’Agata submitted his essay What Happens There” to Harper’s Magazine, where recent Harvard grad Fingal was assigned to fact-check the piece. Harper’s later pulled the article from publication after Fingal’s research turned up factual errors and inaccuracies.

After seven years of discussion and correspondence between D’Agata and Fingal, the author re-submitted the piece toThe Believer magazine. D’Agata and Fingal co-wrote the 2012 book The Lifespan of a Fact about the experience, a book that includes “What Happens There” in full, complete with Fingal’s red-line comments and correspondence with D’Agata.

The book was named Best Book of the Year by the Huffington Post, a Top 10 Most Crucial Book of the year by Slateand an Editor’s Choice by The New York Times Book Review.

In the new play, Radcliffe will play Fingal, Cannavale will play D’Agata and Jones will play Fingal’s boss. As the production describes, Fingal “has a huge problem: John made up some of his article. Well, a lot of his article. OK, actually, maybe the majority of it? What starts professional quickly becomes profane as one question rises to the surface: Can Jim Fingal ever just shut the fact up?”

The production’s creative team – sets, costumes, lighting, sound and projections – has yet to be announced.

Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire, Vinyl) has extensive stage credits, including Tony-nominated turns in 2007’s Mauritius and 2011’s The Motherf*cker with the Hat.

Tickets for The Lifespan of a Fact go on sale to the general public June 22, with earlier dates for American Express Card Members and Audience Rewards members.