Ivonne Coll to Star in The CW’s “Jane the Virgin” Spinoff, “Jane the Novela”

Posted on March 22, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

There’s more Jane in Ivonne Coll’s future…

The 71-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Jane the Virgin star has landed a series regular role in Jane the Novela, the CW’s Jane the Virgin spinoff pilot.

The project will be headlined by Jacqueline Grace Lopezand narrated and executive produced by Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez, with Coll providing a little continuity from the original series in front of the camera.

The telenovelaanthology offshoot will also star Remy Hii, Hunter Parrish, Benito Martinez and Holland Roden.

Written/executive-produced by Jane the Virgin writer Valentina Garza, directed/exec produced by Jane the Virgin EP Brad Silberling and executive-produced by Jane the Virgin creator/EP Jennie Snyder Urman, Jane the Novela is a soapy, telenovela-inspired anthology series in the tradition of Jane the Virgin, where each season is based on a different fictional novel “written by” Jane Villanueva and narrated by the author herself.

The first installment takes place at the intersection of Napa Valley wine country and the San Francisco art scene and pairs family secrets and sins of the past with twists, tropes and a bloody bottle of red. It centers on Estela (Lopez), an up-and-coming art curator who has spent years playing it safe and coloring within the lines. But a shocking secret changes everything and forces her to live a double life.

Being “in the tradition” of Jane the Virgin, Jane the Novela mirrors the setup of the original series. It too follows a driven, imaginative twentysomething Latina woman (Lopez) who is torn between her boyfriend, Luen (Hii), and Felix (Parrish), a handsome, rich guy. In this case, Luen is head of security while Felix is in the wine business vs. Jane Villanueva’s cop boyfriend Michael and love interest Rafael, a hotel heir.

Hii’s Luen is Estela’s sweet, dependable, long-term boyfriend. When the life he’s planned for himself and Estela is threatened by Felix, Luen will stop at nothing to win back the woman he loves.

Coll will play Camila, Estela’s adoptive mother. Camila would do anything to protect her daughter and the life they have built, even lie to her. On Jane the Virgin, Coll plays Jane’s grandmother and Xo’s mother Alba.

Martinez portrays Raul, the winery’s enigmatic riddler. Nobody knows Napa’s terrain like he does – he specializes in collecting dirt on everyone.

Coll’s other television credits include Switched at Birth, Teen Wolf, Glee, East Los High and Nip/Tuck.

Martinez is known for his portrayal of Los Angeles politician David Aceveda for seven seasons on FXpolice drama The Shield. He had a starring role in John Ridley’s anthology series American Crime Story alongsideFelicity Huffmanand Regina Kingand can next be seen in the upcoming seasons of 13 Reasons Why, The Blacklist, Jack Ryan, and the feature film Queen & Slim.

Jacqueline Grace Lopez to Star in the CW’s “Jane the Virgin” Spinoff, “Jane the Novela”

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Jacqueline Grace Lopezis ready to bring on the melodrama…

The Latina actress and former East Los High star has landed the lead role in Jane the Novela, the CW‘s Jane the Virgin spinoff pilot.

The telenovela anthology series project hails from Jane the Virgin creator/executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman, star Gina Rodriguez, exec producers Ben Silvermanand director Brad Silberling. as well as studio CBS Television Studios.

Written by Jane the Virgin scribe Valentina Garzaand directed by Silberling, Jane the Novela is envisioned as a soapy, telenovela-inspired anthology series in the tradition of Jane the Virgin, where each season is based on a different fictional novel “written by” Jane Villanueva and narrated by the author herself.

The first installment takes place at a Napa Valley Vineyard, where family secrets (and family members) don’t stay buried for long. It centers on Estela (Lopez), an up and coming art curator who has spent years playing it safe and coloring within the lines. But a shocking secret changes everything and forces her to live a double life.

Being “in the tradition of Jane the Virgin,” Jane the Novelamirrors the setup of the original series. It too follows a driven, imaginative twenty-something Latina woman (Lopez) who is torn between her boyfriend, Luen, and Felix, a handsome, rich guy. In this case, Luen is head of security while Felix co-owns a winery vs. Jane Villanueva’s (Rodriguez) cop boyfriend Michael and rich love interest Rafael, co-owner of the Marbella hotel.

Lopez has a handful of acting credits, most recently a guest spot on Hulu’s Light as a Feather. Her short film The Girl Without Cats, which she wrote and produced, made the festival circuit.

The CW Developing Potential “Jane the Virgin” Spinoff with Gina Rodriguez

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Rodriguez may be spinning tales soon…

The 34-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Jane the Virgin star is attached to serve as part of a potential spinoff of her The CW dramedy.

The network has put in development the untitled project, from the original series’ creator/executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman, Rodriguez, executive producer Ben Silverman, executive producer/director Brad Silberling and CBS Television Studios.

Details of the spinoff, written by Jane the Virgin scribe Valentina Garza and directed by Brad Silberling, haven’t been revealed. But the spinoff is envisioned as a soapy, telenovela-inspired anthology series in the tradition of Jane the Virgin, where each season is based on a different fictional novel “written by” Jane Villanueva and narrated by the author herself.

The first installment, referred to as Tar & Roses, takes place at the intersection of Napa Valley wine country and the San Francisco art scene.

This isn’t considered a character spinoff, although there had been chatter in the past about a potential Rogelio de le Vega spinoff starring Rodriguez’s TV dad Jaime Camil.

Garza and Silberling will executive produce alongside Rodriguez, Urman, Silverman, Joanna Klein and Emily Gipson.

CBS Television Studios is producing with Urman’s Sutton Street Prods., Rodriguez’s I Can and I Will Prods. and Silverman and Howard T. Owners’ Propagate.

Jane the Virgin will kick off its fifth and final season on The CW in early 2019.

Gina Rodriguez to Direct an Episode of The CW’s “Charmed” Reboot

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Rodriguez is heading behind the lens…

The 34-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Jane the Virgin star will direct the 11th episode of the CW’s Charmed reboot, according to Variety.

“I’m very excited about that opportunity and obviously very excited that I get to do it with three Latinas,” Rodriguez said. “It’s really f—ing awesome. It’s going to be really exciting to see what that journey is.”

Rodriguez made her directorial debut on her CW series last season, with the 10th episode of its fourth season. At the time, she told Variety that some of her influences in stepping behind the camera were past Jane the Virgindirectors Brad Silberling and Melanie Mayron.

“Brad Silberling is very poetic with the camera — the way he sets up blocking and the way he tells a story is very poetic, where it’s a reflection of the script and it’s telling a story inside of the story. Melanie Mayron sets up really stunning shots — whether it’s a really big wide where you have somebody running through the scene or it’s inserts of a hand moving a chair, or it’s a cut between a look and a look,” she said.

Charmed, which comes from Jane the Virginshowrunner Jennie Snyder Urman, marks the first project Rodriguez will direct that she is not also starring in.

The new version of Charmed isbased on a story by Urman, with Jane the Virginwriters Jessica O’Toole and Amy Rardin writing and executive producing. Silberling, Ben Silverman and Carter Covington also executive produce. CBS Television Studios produce in association with Propagate Content.

The show stars Melonie Diaz, Madeleine Mantock and Sarah Jeffery as the sisters who discover they are witches in the pilot episode.

Rodriguez will also be back in the director’s seat on “Jane” for the fifth and final season premiere episode. She is also developing a few projects with the network.

de la Fuente to Star in the CW’s “Dynasty” Reboot Pilot

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael de la Fuente is founding a new empire of sorts…

The 30-year-old Venezuelan actor has been cast as a series regular on the CW’s Dynasty pilot, a reboot of the iconic 1980s primetime soap.

Co-written by Gossip Girl creators Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage and Sallie Patrick and directed by Brad Silberling, the new Dynasty follows two of America’s wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children.

de la Fuente will play Sam, a cute schemer who has a one night stand with Steven, the rebel son of Blake Carrington (Grant Show).

de La Fuente was recently seen in the praised ABC miniseries When We Rise and recurs on Fox’s Empire as Michael Sanchez.

Camil to Star Opposite Gina Rodriguez in the CW’s “Jane the Virgin” Pilot

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Jaime Camil has a date with la virgen…

The 40-year-old Mexican actor/singer, who most recently starred in a gender-bending role on the telenovela Por Ella Soy Eva, is making his U.S. pilot debut with a starring role opposite Gina Rodriguez in the CW’s drama project Jane the Virgin.

Based on the popular Venezuelan telenovela Juana la Virgen, Jane The Virgin centers on Jane (Rodriguez), a hardworking religious girl who, due to a series of outrageous events, is accidentally artificially inseminated.

Camil will play the series regular role of Rubio, who happens to be a world-famous telenovela star with a surprising connection to Jane.

Camil is currently starring on Univision’s new rom-com novela, Qué pobres tan ricos.

He made a successful feature debut in the U.S. as the star of the bilingual Patelion/Lionsgate indie hit rom-com Pulling Strings, which ranked as the third highest-grossing foreign language film of 2013.

Additionally, a recent guest appearance by Camil on Devious Maids delivered strong ratings for the Lifetime series, which also has Latin roots.

Jane the Virgin, from CBS Television Studios, is written by Jennie Snyder Urman and directed by Brad Silberling.

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