Tag Archives: War

Velazquez Flying High in “Flight”

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Nadine Velazquez’s career is taking flight…

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican actress is starring in Flight, a film that not only had her sharing steamy screen time with Denzel Washington, but allowed her to fulfill one of her professional dreams.

Nadine Velazquez

In Flight, the story of a heroic pilot with a devastating secret, Velazquez portrays one of the flight attendants responsible for helping passengers during a plane crash.

“I always wanted to scream and cry and plead for my life in a movie, and this is my chance!” said the Chicago-born beauty.

Velazquez, best known for her role as Catalina Aruca on My Name is Earl, has appeared on The League and Hart of Dixie.

She, who discovered her love for acting as a little girl, began her professional career in a McDonald’s commercial playing a drive-thru lady.

From there her career took flight, with roles in films like War with Jason Statham, and the made-for-TV film Husband for Hire.

In Flight, Velazquez plays Katerina Marquez, the lover of Washington’s character, who works alongside Washington on a doomed flight after a night of sex, alcohol and very little sleep.

“The series My Name Is Earl made me known, but I think this movie will change the way the industry sees me,” said Velazquez, who hopes to use this opportunity to help Latinos break into the Hollywood limelight.

Hayek Executive-Producing “The Cisco Kid” Reboot for CBS

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Salma Hayek is looking to bring an iconic Latino character back to television…

CBS has put in development The Cisco Kid – a reimagining of the half-hour Western television series starring Duncan Renaldo in the title role – with the 46-year-old Mexican actress, director and producer and X-Men’s Lauren Shuler Donner executive producing the project.

Salma Hayek

The Cisco Kid, written by Diego Gutierrez, is being hailed as a modern day retelling of the classic story of a handsome outlaw and his faithful sidekick similar to Lethal Weapon. It follows Cisco as he returns to Los Angeles after serving several tours as a Marine in Afghanistan.

After witnessing the murder of his father, Cisco and his best friend/fellow Marine, Sam, team up to solve the case and subsequently find themselves doing what the authorities can’t — defending the city’s oppressed and disenfranchised.

The Cisco Kid

First introduced in O. Henry’s 1907 short story The Caballero’s Way, the Cisco Kid became a fixture of 20th century pop culture — a rare achievement for a Latino character. The character went on to headline more than a dozen movies, beginning with the 1914 silent film The Caballero’s Way and most recently a 1994 TV movie starring Jimmy Smits as Cisco and Cheech Marin as his sidekick Pancho. The role won an Academy Award for Warner Baxter, who played Cisco in several movies. The Cisco character also spawned radio shows, comic books as well as an oft-covered song by War. On television, The Cisco Kid syndicated series starring Renaldo ran from 1950-56.

In its quest to create Latino-themed projects, CBS – the network behind the drama series Cane and comedy Rob, decided to place its bets on this fourth high-profile reboot at the network this season. CBS also has reboots of Beverly Hills Cop from Shawn Ryan and Eddie Murphy, the Vince Vaughn-produced The Brady Bunch, and Have Gun, Will Travel from David Mamet.

Hayek’s production company Ventanarosa co-produced the ABC dramedy Ugly Betty as part of its goal to develop, produce and acquire mainstream projects that either draw on Latin themes or feature Latin talent, both in front of and behind the camera. In features, the company has produced films like Frida. In addition, she’s developing The Prophet, an animated adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s book, which has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.