Tatyana Ali to Star in the USA Network’s Pilot “Olive Forever”

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Tatyana Ali is extending an Olive branch…

The 38-year-old part-Afro-Panamanian American actress and former The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star has been cast as a series regular opposite Emily Rudd in USA Network’s Olive Forever, a comedic crime drama pilot from writer Brian Duffield, AwesomenessTV and its former CEO Brian Robbins.

Written by Duffield and to be directed by Matt Shakman, Olive Forever follows the exploits of Olive (Rudd), a high school student, con artist, cat burglar and chameleon who’s mature beyond her years. She is a savvy survivor who knows she can “get away with anything.” A foster kid, Olive knows how to work the system, her tough exterior protecting a girl who’s just looking for a home.

Ali will play Alison, Olive’s foster mother, a quick-witted, tender community college professor who strives to guide Olive away from her criminal past.

Ali, best known for playing Ashley Banks on the iconic comedy series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, most recently guest-starred on American Koko and Zoe Ever After and previously appeared on The Young and the Restless and Glory Road.

Ortiz Lands Recurring Role on USA Network’s Drama Series “Shooter”

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Jaina Lee Ortiz has landed a new role…

The 30-year-old Latina actress has landed a recurring role opposite Ryan Phillippe on the second season of USA Network’s breakout drama series Shooter.

Based on the best-selling novels by Stephen Hunter and the 2007 Paramount Pictures film starring Mark Wahlberg, Season 2 follows the journey of Bob Lee Swagger (Phillippe), a highly decorated veteran who must confront a nemesis from his past in order to return to a life of normalcy.

Ortiz will play Angela Tio, a Marine and part of Bob Lee’s former unit. Tio holds her own with the guys and is one of the few people who knows Bob Lee well enough to keep him grounded.

Ortiz can currently be seen starring opposite Morris Chestnut in the second season of Rosewood. She previously played one of the lead roles in Amazon pilot The After and also starred in indie features Misfire and Laid Out.

Shooter Season 2 premieres July 18 on USA Network.

USA Network to Premiere Second Season of Braga’s “Queen of the South” in June

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Alice Braga is heading back South this summer…

USA Network is set to premiere the second season of Queen of the South, starring the 33-year-old Brazilian actress, on June 8.

Inspired by the global best-selling novel La Reina Del Sur by internationally acclaimed author Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Season 2 follows the journey of Teresa Mendoza (Braga) and the sacrifices she must make not only to survive, but to make it to the top of the drug world. Where will she draw the line when her moral code and her destiny are at odds?

In addition to Braga, Queen of the South also stars Justina Machado, Hemky Madera, Veronica Falcon, James Martinez, Joaquim de Almeida, Peter Gadiot, Carlos Gomez and Mark Consuelos.

The NBCUniversal-owned cable net will premiere Queen of the South on Thursday, June 8 at 10:00 pm ET.

Andino Lands Recurring Role on USA’s “Queen of the South”

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Paola Andino’s career is going South…

The 19-year-old Puerto Rican actress is set to recur on the second season of USA Network’s drama series Queen of the South.

Based on best-selling book La Reina Del Sur by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Queen of the South tells the powerful story of Teresa Mendoza (Alice Braga), a woman who is forced to run and seek refuge in America after her drug-dealing boyfriend is unexpectedly murdered in Mexico. In the process, she teams with an unlikely figure from her past to bring down the leader of the very drug trafficking ring that has her on the run.

Andino will play Olivia “Chaparra” Gutierrez, a party girl with a brash mouth and a taste for trouble who ushers her best friend Isabela Vargas (Sandy Valles) into the narco-brat lifestyle – much to the chagrin of Isabela’s parents, the drug empire power couple at odds with each other, Camila and Epifanio Vargas.

Andino most recently played a lead role in Every Witch Way. She also starred opposite Emily Van Camp in Beyond the Blackboard and had a guest-starring role on Grey’s Anatomy.

Cannavale to Star in Season 3 of USA’s “Mr. Robot”

Posted on March 12, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Bobby Cannavale is booting up for his next role.

The 46-year-old half-Cuban American actor will star in season 3 of USA’s Mr. Robot.

Bobby Cannavale

The Emmy-winning actor has been cast as a series regular on Sam Esmail’s award-winning show. There’s no word on his exact role.

Cannavale previously headlined Martin Scorsese/Mick Jagger/Terry Winter’s 1970s New York rock & roll HBO series Vinyl last year as a drug-addled record executive fingered for a mob murder.

On Boardwalk Empire, Cannavale was unforgettable for his fierce performance as torturous psycho kingpin Gyp Rosetti.

Torres Closes Deal to Star in Potential “Suits” Spinoff Series

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

It’s official… Gina Torres is suiting up for a spinoff…

The 47-year-old Cuban American actress has finalized a deal with the studio behind the hit USA legal drama series Suits, Universal Cable Productions, to headline and produce a potential spinoff series centered on her Suits character, uber attorney and office style icon Jessica Pearson.

The project will be shepherded by Suits creator/showrunner Aaron Korsh, whose deal is still being worked out.

The new series, in the very early stages of development, is based on an idea Torres brought to UCP, with Torres’ deal closing quickly as she was fielding offers for broadcast pilots.

“I’m beyond grateful for this opportunity and the level of confidence Bonnie Hammer, Jeff Wachtel and everyone at UCP have in me and the potential of this project,” Torres said in a statement to Deadline. “Can’t wait to get started.”

Korsh will serve as an executive producer and showrunner on the spinoff series, while maintaining his showrunner duties on Suits.

“Gina had the idea and went to the studio. She pitched an idea of what happens if we follow Jessica into the future a little bit,” Korsh told Deadline. “She has a specific take on it that we’re still mulling over right now. They were excited about it, I was excited about it, and we decided to move forward with thinking about what it is.”

Torres’ deal comes as Jessica Pearson made a surprise return to Suits in the final minutes of Suits’ Season 6 finale. It was Torres’ first time back on the show since exiting as a series regular in the Season 6 summer finale in September.

History Renews Raba’s Navy SEAL Drama Series “Six” for Second Season

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Juan Pablo Raba has six reasons to celebrate…

History has ordered a 10-episode second season of its breakout Navy SEAL drama series Six, starring the 40-year-old Colombian actor, up from its current eight-episode first season.

From A+E Studios and Weinstein Television, and created by father/son duo William and David Broyles, Six has been a strong ratings performer for History, averaging 2.9 million total viewers in Live+3 over the first four weeks. The January 18 premiere drew 3 million total viewers in Live+7, including 1.4 million in adults 25-54 and 1.2 million in adults 18-49.

Six follows members of Navy SEAL Team Six, modern American warriors, whose covert mission to eliminate a Taliban leader in Afghanistan goes awry when they uncover a U.S. citizen working with terrorists. In the first season, former SEAL Team Six troop leader, Richard ‘Rip’ Taggart (Walton Goggins), is captured by Boko Haram and it’s up to his former SEAL Team Six brothers – led by Joe Graves (Barry Sloane), Alex Caulder (Kyle Schmid) and Ricky “Buddha” Ortiz (Raba) – to put their differences aside to locate and rescue their former troop leader.

Edwin Hodge, Dominic Adams, Brianne Davis, Nadine Velazquez, Jaylen Moore, Donny Boaz, and Nondumiso Tembe also star.

“Six is a captivating drama series that embraces our recent history, while being immensely relevant in the climate of today’s culture,” said Jana Bennett, President & General Manager of History. “It has struck a genuine chord with our audience and we’re proud to continue to tell the courageous stories, both on and off the battlefield, of the complex lives of this elite military group.”

Six is part of the post-election shift in television toward more patriotic fare spotlighting America’s heroes in the military. Six followed the breakout success of new USA Network drama Shooter, about a heroic former Marine, which also was renewed for a second season. The broadcast networks have followed suit with four military drama pilots this season: NBC’s For God and Country, Fox’s Behind Enemy Lines, CBS’ SEAL project and the CW’s Valor.

Six, which airs Wednesdays at 10 PM, may have put an end to a lengthy search by History over the last several years for a second strong scripted series to join flagship Vikings.

The renewal announcement comes ahead of the show’s March 8 Season 1 finale.

Production is set to begin this summer.

Torres In Talks with USA Network to Headline Potential “Suits” Spinoff

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Torres may be suiting up for a spinoff…

The 47-year-old Cuban American actress is in early talks to headline a new series for USA Network based on her former Suits character.

While a Jessica Pearson (Torres) spinoff had been talked about on- and off- for more than a year as USA’s interest in an offshoot has grown, conversations have reportedly heated up recently as Torres has been fielding broadcast pilot offers for a second straight year.

Last year, she was cast as the lead in the ABC drama pilot The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez, which didn’t move forward, but the threat of potentially losing Torres for years, if the pilot she chooses this time around becomes a successful series, is likely motivating USA and Suits producer Universal Cable Productions to act now.

Deadline reports that negotiations are in preliminary stages, with no deals in place, and no fully formed concept yet. But the new series would center on Torres’ intrepid and stylish attorney character, Jessica Pearson.

Torres’ Jessica Pearson was one of Suits’ most popular characters. Torres left the show midway through the current sixth season after approaching Korsh earlier with the request because it was getting difficult for her to be away from her family, who are based in Los Angeles, since Suits films in Toronto.

She has been selective in her post-Suits choices, currently doing a season-long arc on ABC drama The Catch, which films in Los Angeles.

Montana to Appear on Fox’s Drama Series “Rosewood”

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Everything’s coming up rose(wood) for Manny Montana…

The 33-year-old Latino actor has landed a recurring role on Fox’s drama series Rosewood.

The Miami-set medical procedural follows top private pathologist Dr. Beaumont Rosewood Jr. (Morris Chestnut) and tough-as-nails Detective Annalise Villa (Jaina Lee Ortiz) as they investigate the East Miami Police Department’s most challenging cases.

Montana, best known for his work on USA Network‘s Graceland, will play Marcos Villa, brother of Detective Annalise Villa, who just finished his third tour in the Army. He’s recently returned to Miami but we have yet to find out exactly why he’s there.

Montana, who’s currently a series regular on ABC’s legal drama Conviction, has also appeared on Lucifer, The Following, Power and Grimm.

Torres Lands Recurring Role on ABC’s “The Catch”

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Torres has landed The Catch of the day…

The 47-year-old Cuban American actress has landed a recurring role on the second season of the ABC drama series The Catch, from Shonda Rhimes’ ShondaLand and ABC Studios.

As usual with ShondaLand shows, no details about Torres’ character have been revealed.

Executive produced by Rhimes, The Catch centers on Alice Vaughan (Mireille Enos), a private investigator for high-end clients. Torres joins T.R. Knight, who also was recently cast in a recurring role.

Torres just wrapped her starring role as Jessica Pearson on USA Network’s Suits in this week’s Season 6 summer finale, having been with the legal drama series since its launch.

At ABC and ABC Studios, Torres toplined the drama pilot The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez this past season and previously recurred on Revenge.

Her other notable television roles include the shotgun-toting mercenary Zoe Washburne on Joss Whedon’s Firefly, (she also played the character in Whedon’s feature Serenity), the soul-eating Jasmine on Whedon’s Angel and a recurring gig on NBC’s Hannibal.

Torres film work includes The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions and I Think I Love My Wife opposite Chris Rock.

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