Kate del Castillo to Star in the Off Broadway Production of Isaac Gomez’s “the way she spoke”

Posted on May 5, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Kate del Castillois ready to take the stage…

The 46-year-old Mexican actress, who starred in Telemundo’s wildly popular La Reina del Sur series, will return to the New York stage this summer in the Off Broadway production of Isaac Gomez’s the way she spoke, directed by Jo Bonney as the next Audible Theater production at the Minetta Lane Theatre.

Previews begin on Monday, July 8, with opening night set for Thursday, July 18. The Minetta Lane, in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, is home base for Audible’s live performances, with productions recorded and released by Audible as audio plays.

the way she spoke follows an actress who enters a theater, picks up a script, and begins to read a story that reveals “disturbing and haunting accounts of the murder of thousands of women in Juarez, Mexico and one playwright’s journey of discovery and responsibility.”

According to Audible’s description, “As lines blur between theatricality and reality, intense and provocative questions are raised and demand deeper examination. Based on a series of intimate interviews, this one-woman play demonstrates the power of speaking truth, even as it considers the implications of doing so.”

Kate Navin, Audible Artistic Producer, called Gomez’s play “deeply moving,” and that del Castillo’s “raw and inspiring performance is sure to captivate our live audiences in New York City and resonate with Audible members everywhere.”

The creative team includes Riccardo Hernandez (scenic design), Emilio Sosa (costume design), Lap Chi Chu(lighting design), Elisheba Ittoop(sound design), and Aaron Rhyne(projection design).

del Castillo, set to co-star with Will Smithand Martin Lawrencein 2020’s Bad Boys For Life, has been a popular star of Mexican television since her teens, but her performance on La Reina del Sur in 2011 became a cultural phenomenon. A second season launched last month. The series, produced by Telemundo and Spain’s Antena 3, is a primetime serial that chronicles del Castillo’s Teresa character, a Mexican woman who rises to great power through international drug trafficking (Alice Bragaplays the character in USA Networks’ American version Queen of the South).

del Castillo’s other credits include Jane The Virgin, Under the Same Moon, The 33, All About Nina, and the upcoming Bad Boys For Life.

Off-screen, del Castillo made international news when, after controversially tweeting about El Chapoin 2012, the actress was contacted by a lawyer for the Mexican drug lord to discuss a biopic about him (El Chapo, it turned out, was a del Castillo superfan, with a stockpile of La Reina del Sur DVDs found at the safe house raided by Mexican intelligence agencyCISEN.) Later, del Castillo helped arrange the meeting between El Chapo and actor Sean Penn.

Rosario Dawson to Star in “Zombieland 2”

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Rosario Dawson will seeing, and fighting, dead people…

The 39-year-old Puerto Rican and Cuban-American actress is set to join Zombieland 2, the next installment of the Sony Pictures post-apocalyptic zombie comedy that will feature original stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin.

Ruben Fleischer returns to direct the sequel fresh off of the blockbuster success of Venom.

Written by original Zombieland scribes Paul Wernickand Rhett Reese, the sequel centers on the comic mayhem that stretches from the White Houseand through the heartland. The zombie slayers must face off against the many new kinds of zombies that have evolved since the first movie, as well as some new human survivors. Most of all, they have to face the growing pains of their own snarky, makeshift family.

Dawson joins franchise newcomers Zoey Deutchand Avan Jogiawith filming slated to begin this week.

Zombieland 2 hits theaters on October 11.

Dawson can be seen as Claire Temple in five of the Netflix Marvel series: Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Daredevil, The Defenders and Iron Fist.

Up next, she toplines the USA Networkcrime anthology series Briarpatch.

Sarah Shahi Lands Recurring Role on Showtime’s Drama Series “City On a Hill”

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

The Hill(s) are alive for Sarah Shahi…

The 39-year-old half-Spanish American actressand former Person of Interest star has landed a key recurring role opposite Kevin Bacon and Aldis Hodge in City On A Hill, Showtime’s upcoming drama series executive produced by Ben Affleck, Matt Damonand Jennifer Todd.

Created, written and executive produced by Chuck MacLean and based on an original idea by Affleck, City on a Hill is set in the early 1990s Boston, rife with violent criminals emboldened by local law enforcement agencies in which corruption and racism was the norm.

The fictional account centers on assistant district attorney Decourcy Ward (Hodge) who arrives from Brooklyn and forms an unlikely alliance with a corrupt yet venerated FBI veteran, Jackie Rohr (Bacon). Together, they take on a family of armored car robbers from Charlestown in a case that grows to involve, and ultimately subvert, the entire criminal justice system of Boston.

Shahi will portray Rachel Behnam, a street-smart investigator for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

Produced by Showtime, City On A Hill also stars Jonathan Tucker, Mark O’Brien, Jill Hennessy, Lauren E. Banks, Amanda Clayton, Kevin Chapman and Tony nominee Jere Shea, with Kevin Dunnrecurring.

Production on the new 10-episode series will begin next month in New York and Boston, and will premiere later this year.

Shahi, who previously headlined USA Network’s drama Fairly Legal, co-starred as Sameen Shaw on CBS’ Person of Interest, played Carmen on The L Word, recurred on Chicago Fire, Pitch and most recently starred on Reverie.

USA Network Orders Second Season of Gabriel Chavarria’s “The Purge” Series

Posted on November 7, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Gabriel Chavarria is still purging…

USA Network has picked up its series The Purge, starring the 29-year-old Latino actor, for a second season.

The news came ahead of the show’s Season 1 finale.

Based on the popular movie franchise, the series is a co-production with Blumhouse Television and Universal Cable Productions. It is currently the network’s No. 1 drama, averaging 2.3 million viewers in Live+7 ratings and 1.2 million in the key 18-49 demo.

“USA Network is so proud to be the television home for the iconic franchise The Purge,” said Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, in a release announcing the news. “The partnership and creative trust of Jason Blum and everyone at Blumhouse Television and Universal Pictures ensured The Purge’s successful transition from film to TV – and, along with Universal Cable Productions, we look forward to digging even deeper into the mythology in Season 2.”

The series revolves around a 12-hour period when all crime, including murder, is legal. Set in an altered America ruled by a totalitarian political party, Season 1 follows several seemingly unrelated characters living in a small city. As the clock winds down, they are forced to reckon with their past as they discover how far they will go to survive the night.

Film franchise creator James DeMonaco is executive producer of the series.

In addition to Chavarria, who portrays Miguel Guerrero, the series also stars Jessica Garza.

Josh Segarra to Star in Netflix’s Comedy Series “AJ and the Queen” with RuPaul

Posted on September 23, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Josh Segarra has landed a royalproject…

The 32-year-old Puerto Rican actor has joined the cast of AJ and the Queen, Netflix’s upcoming comedy series starring RuPaul Charles.

Written by Sex and the City creator Michael Patrick King and RuPaul, the series stars RuPaul as Ruby Red, a bigger-than-life but down-on-her-luck drag queen who travels across America from club to club in a rundown 1990s R/V with her unlikely sidekick AJ, a recently orphaned, tough-talking, scrappy 11-year-old stowaway. As these two misfits, one tall, one small, travel from city to city, Ruby’s message of love and acceptance winds up touching people and changing their lives for the better. And RuPaul performs a killer musical number in every drag club.

Segarra will play Hector in the series.

He can be seen as Jason in the feature remake of Overboard for MGM, as Adrian Chase/Prometheus on the CW’s Arrow and ‘C.O’ Stefanovic on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black.

His other recent credits include Judd Apatow’s feature film Trainwreck and USA comedy series Sirens.

Isabel Arraiza to Star in USA Network’s “Suits” Spinoff Series with Gina Torres

Posted on September 22, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Isabel Arraiza is Suits-ing up…

The Latina actress has joined the cast of USANetwork and Universal Cable Prods.’s upcoming Suits spinoff series starring Gina Torres.

Arraiza joins a cast that includes Bethany Joy Lenz, Chantel Riley, Eli Goree, Simon Kassianides and Morgan Spector.

Centered on powerhouse lawyer Jessica Pearson (Torres) as she adjusts to the dirty world of Chicago politics, the spinoff hails from UCPand is executive produced by Suitscreator and executive producer Aaron Korsh alongside executive producer and showrunner Daniel Arkin.

The project was introduced in the Season 7 finale of Suits, which served as a backdoor pilot for the spinoff. It featured four main characters at the center of the offshoot, played by Torres, Kassianides, Spector and Rebecca Rittenhouse.

The role played by Rittenhouse in the backdoor pilot is being recast with Lenz. Riley will reprise a character that she played as a guest star in the backdoor pilot, while Arraiza and Goree play new characters.

Arraiza will portray Yoli Castillo, Jessica’s passionate assistant who will learn from the best how to most effectively channel her intensity.

The series is starting production in Los Angeles.

Arraiza’s previous credits include television appearances on The Oath, Elementary and American Dreamer.

Justina Machado Signs with United Talent Agency (UTA)

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Justina Machado has new representation…

The 46-year-old Puerto Rican actress, who stars on Netflix’s rebooted Norman Lear series One Day at a Time, has signed with United Talent Agency (UTA).

Machado, who scored a SAG Award in 2004 as part of the ensemble cast of HBO’s Six Feet Under, has appeared on Season 4 of CW’s Jane the Virgin and USA Network’s Queen of the South, and she voices Carmen on Disney Junior’s Elena of Avalor.

Her big-screen credits include The Purge: Anarchy and The Accidental Husband. On the stage, she made her Broadwaydebut in In the Heights and also appeared in A Free Man of Color.

On One Day at a Time, which follows three generations of a Cuban-American family, Machado stars as Penelope Alvarez, a single mom and military veteran raising two strong-willed, mega-millennial children, all the while enlisting the “help” of her old-school mother and her building manager-turned-confidante. Rita Moreno, Todd Grinnell, Stephen Toblowsky, Isabella Gomezand Marcel Ruiz co-star.

The series from Lear and Sony Television is underway on shooting its third season, which will air in 2019.

She had been with APA and continues to be repped by D2 Management.

Rosario Dawson to Star in USA Network’s Pilot “Briarpatch”

Posted on July 11, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Rosario Dawson has a new (briar)patch of work…

The 39-year-old Puerto Rican and Cuban American actress is set as the lead of USA Network’s hourlong pilot Briarpatch, fromUniversal Cable Productions, Paramount Television, Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail’s Esmail Corp and Anonymous Content.

Written by Andy Greenwald and based on the Ross Thomas novel, Briarpatch centers on Allegra “Pick” Dill (Dawson), a tenacious and highly-skilled investigator working in Washington, DC for a young, ambitious senator. When her ten-years-younger sister, a homicide detective, is killed by a car bomb, Allegra returns to her corrupt Texas hometown. What begins as a search for the murderer becomes a fraught and dangerous excavation of the past Allegra has long sought to bury.

Dawson will also serve as producer on the project, described as celebrating the book’s blend of crime, thriller, mystery, and pulp fiction while updating Thomas’ sense of fun, danger and place for a new generation.

Dawson was recently seen in the film Krystal. On television, she has played Claire Temple on Netflix’s Marvel series Daredevil, Luke Cage Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and The Defenders and also has been recurring on the CW’s Jane the Virgin.

USA Titles Gina Torres’ Suits Spinoff “Second City”

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Torres is officially a City gal…

The USA Network’s upcoming Suits spinoff, starring the 49-year-old Cuban American actress, now has a title — Second City.

The offshoot of the long-running legal drama centers on Torres’ popular character, powerhouse lawyer Jessica Pearson, as she enters the dirty world of Chicago politics.

Torres announced the title of the show at NBCU’s upfront in Manhattan, while introducing footage from the recent Suits season finale, which served as a pilot for the new series.

Suits and Second City will co-exist as the mothership series recently was renewed for an eighth season without two of its original stars, Patrick J. Adams and future British royal Meghan Markle. Returning cast members Gabriel Macht, Rick Hoffman and Sarah Rafferty will be joined by Dulé Hill, who is being promoted to a series regular after recurring this season, and new addition Katherine Heigl.

The backdoor pilot was written by Suits creator and executive producer Aaron Korsh and executive producer Daniel Arkin, and was directed by Suits alum Anton Cropper.

The new series, which hails from Universal Cable Prods., is executive produced by Korsh, showrunner Arkin, Torres and Suits executive producers Doug Liman, David Bartis and Gene Klein of Hypnotic.

Bobby Cannavale to Star in Amazon’s Drama Series “Homecoming”

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Bobby Cannavale is coming home…

The 47-year-old half-Cuban American actor will co-star opposite Julia Roberts and Stephan James in Homecoming, the half-hour drama from Universal Cable Productions, Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail and Anonymous Content.

The project has a two-season straight-to-series order at Amazon.

Homecoming, based on Gimlet Media’s breakout fictional podcast, is written by the podcast’s creators Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg and directed by Esmail.

It’s described a psychological thriller that centers on Heidi (Roberts), a caseworker at a secret government facility, and a soldier (James) eager to rejoin civilian life.

Cannavale plays Colin Belfast, the ambitious off-site supervisor of the Homecoming Initiative.

Presented in a collage of telephone calls, therapy sessions and overheard conversations, the Homecoming podcast had a cast led by Catherine Keener that also included Oscar Isaac, David Schwimmer, Amy Sedaris and David Cross. Keener voiced the caseworker, Isaac the soldier and Schwimmer the supervisor.

Filming is slated to begin in Los Angeles in April 2018. Amazon Studios will have global rights to Homecoming, which will premiere globally exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

Cannavale, who starred on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, appears on USA Network’s drama series Mr. Robot. He will next be seen in I, Tonya and Jumanji as well as Going Places, The Wasp and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.

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