John Gabriel Rodriguez Upped to Series Regular on Fox’s “Fantasy Island” Reboot

There’s more fantasy time in John Gabriel Rodriguez’s future…

The Latino actor, who recurred as Javier on Fantasy Island in season 1, has been promoted to series regular for the upcoming second season of Fox’s contemporary version of the classic drama series.

John Gabriel Rodriguez,Starring Roselyn Sanchez and Kiara BarnesFantasy Island takes place at a luxury resort, where literally any fantasy requested by guests is fulfilled, although they rarely turn out as expected. Delving into the “what if” questions — both big and small — that keep us awake at night, each episode will tell emotional, provocative stories about people who arrive with dreams and desires.

Rugged, handsome and charismatic, Javier (Rodriquez) is Fantasy Island’s head of transport – a pilot, mechanic and jack of all trades. While the island provides Javier refuge, as with everything else it offers, it may come at the price of a reckoning.

The series stars Sanchez as Elena Roarke, a descendant of the iconic Mr. Roarke, who set aside her own ambitions, and the love of her life, to uphold her family’s legacy.

Barnes plays Ruby Akuda, a young woman with an old soul who arrived on Fantasy Island with a terminal illness and was given a new lease on life as Roarke’s right hand.

Fantasy Island hails from Sony Pictures Television, Gemstone Studios and Fox Entertainment.

In addition to Fantasy Island, Rodriquez has done guest starring/recurring stints on NCIS, Young and Hungry, The Fosters and Rosewood and was a series regular in the NBC pilot Miranda’s Rights.

Endemol Shine North America Options Aaron Sanchez’s Memoir to Develop TV Scripted Projects

Art will soon imitate Aarón Sánchez’s life…

The story of the 45-year-old Mexican celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, cookbook author and philanthropist is headed for the small screen after Endemol Shine North America optioned his memoir.

Chef Aaron SanchezThe Banijay-backed production company is developing potential scripted projects with Sánchez, one of the judges of Fox’s MasterChef and MasterChef Junior, whose memoir Where I Come From: Life Lessons From a Latino Chef was released in 2019.

Endemol Shine North America Chief Content Officer, Sharon Levy is leading development efforts alongside Flavio Morales and Lisa Fahrenholt.

In his memoir, Sánchez shares his personal journey, as well as the story of his mother, Zarela Martinez, who took him and his twin brother from El Paso, Texas to New York City at a young age, while she chased her dream of owning a restaurant in the Big Apple.

After overcoming many obstacles, Martinez rose to success in the NYC restaurant scene and is now credited with bringing sophisticated Mexican cuisine to America. After losing his father at a young age, he was sent to work with renowned chef Paul Prudhomme in New Orleans at the age of 16. He is now the chef and owner of Johnny Sánchez in New Orleans.

He joined MasterChef, which is produced by Endemol Shine North America, in season 8, and also joined MasterChef Jr. as a judge in season 7.

He is also creative director of Latin lifestyle online platform Cocina and has starred in series such as Chopped and Taco Trip and written two cookbooks and launched the Cooking in Mexican from A to Z podcast with his mother and is also a partner in tattoo shop and museum Daredevil Tattoo in NYC.

“It’s more important than ever to tell genuine stories of what it’s like growing up bicultural in America. We want to share the nuances that are unique to Mexican-American culture and honor those roots, while also hoping audiences from different backgrounds connect to the similarities we share – the struggles, the celebrations, the food, the comedy, the survival instincts… the relentless pursuit of happiness,” said Sánchez. “I came up at a time when food was making its way into pop-culture and cooking in restaurants was our primary form of creative expression, so having this opportunity to develop in the scripted space is something I’m really looking forward to. And I couldn’t be more excited to do it with my Endemol Shine family.”

“America knows and loves Aarón from ‘MasterChef’ and his myriad culinary accomplishments, but most people don’t know the amazing journey and the obstacles that he and his mother overcame to become pioneers of Mexican-American cuisine in this country,” added Levy. “He has truly lived the American dream and we are excited to now be developing his unique story into a dramatic TV series and exploring additional opportunities with Aarón.”

Alanna Ubach to Appear on Season 2 of HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant”

Alanna Ubach is taking Flight

The 46-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American actress will appear on Season 2 of HBO Max’s critically acclaimed series The Flight Attendant as a recurring guest star.

Alanna UbachUbach will appear in the new season—which is currently in production—alongside returning series regulars Kaley Cuoco, Zosia Mamet, Griffin Matthews, Deniz Akdeniz and Rosie Perez; new series regulars Mo McRae, Callie Hernandez and JJ Soria; returning recurring guest stars T.R. Knight, Yasha Jackson and Audrey Grace Marshall; and new recurring guest stars Cheryl Hines, Jessie Ennis, Mae Martin, Margaret Cho, Santiago Cabrera and Shohreh Aghdashloo.

The Max Original, based on Chris Bohjalian’s 2018 novel of the same name, centers on Cassie Bowden (Cuoco), a reckless flight attendant with an alcohol problem who in Season 1, wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man—and no idea what happened.

Season 2 finds Cassie living her best sober life in Los Angeles while moonlighting as a CIA asset in her spare time. But when an overseas assignment leads her to inadvertently witness a murder, she becomes entangled in another international brouhaha.

Ubach will play Carol Atkinson, also known as Black Market Carol, a perfectly groomed, icy flight attendant who is not a fan of Cassie.

Ubach is best known for her work in the Legally Blonde films, along with her turn as Mamá Imelda in Disney/Pixar’s Coco, and as Jo Hernandez-Frumpkis in the Bravo series Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce.

She recurs opposite Kate Beckinsale on the Paramount+ series Guilty Party, and will return for the sophomore seasons of Disney+’s Monsters at Work, HBO’s Euphoria, and Hulu’s Crossing Swords.

The actress has also appeared in Netflix’s Maya and the Three, Fox’s Filthy Rich, FX’s Snowfall, AMC’s Dietland, Amazon’s Hand of God, Showtime’s Californication and HBO’s Hung, among others.

Additional film credits include BombshellGloria Bell, To the Bone, Bad TeacherRango, Waiting and its sequel Still Waiting and Clockwatchers.

Fox Renews Roselyn Sanchez’s “Fantasy Island” Reboot for Second Season

Roselyn Sanchez’s fantasy continues…

Fox has ordered a second season of its popular summer drama series Fantasy Island, starring the 48-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer.

Roselyn Sanchez

The renewal follows strong ratings for the contemporary version of the classic 1977-84 series, from writer-producers Liz Craft and Sarah Fain.

This past summer, the reboot starring Sanchez and Kiara Barnes ranked as the No. 1 new scripted program among adults 18-49 and was Fox’s most streamed new drama series since 9-1-1: Lone Star in January 2020.

Fantasy Island takes place at a luxury resort, where literally any fantasy requested by guests is fulfilled, although they rarely turn out as expected. Delving into the “what if” questions — both big and small — that keep us awake at night, each episode will tell emotional, provocative stories about people who arrive with dreams and desires.

The series stars Sanchez as Elena Roarke, a descendant of the iconic Mr. Roarke, who set aside her own ambitions, and the love of her life, to uphold her family’s legacy. Barnes plays Ruby Akuda, a young woman with an old soul who arrived on Fantasy Island with a terminal illness and was given a new lease on life as Roarke’s right hand.

Fans won’t have to wait until next summer for more Fantasy Island, however. Fox has ordered a special two-hour holiday episode, “Welcome to the Snow Globe,” which will air at 8:00 pm on Tuesday, December 21. Lindsay Craft, Eddie Cahill and Mackenzie Astin will guest star. In the episode, a businesswoman’s (Craft) fantasy of a perfect Christmas and meeting “Mr. Right” (Cahill) tests Roarke in unexpected ways. Meanwhile, Mr. Jones (Astin) faces his past, while a new Secret Santa tradition has Ruby and Javier (John Gabriel Rodriguez) looking to the future.


Fantasy Island 
hails from Sony Pictures Television, Gemstone Studios and Fox Entertainment.

“We’re really high on it, and it’s been exciting for us to cross-pollinate some of the stars that we have in other series and do other exciting turns on Fantasy Island,” said Thorn. “We definitely see a potential second season and it’s something that we’re talking about now. We’re very pleased with the show and Liz and Sarah did a very good job,” said Fox executives.

Juan Carlos Coto Developing First-Responders Drama Series for CBS, “Rescue: MIA”

Juan Carlos Coto is coming to the rescue

The Latino producer, writer, and veteran film and television showrunner is developing Rescue: MIA, a first-responders series for CBS.

Juan Carlos Coto

Coto, executive producer on 9-1-1 who also served as consulting producer on 9-1-1: Lone Star, wrote the pilot from a story co-written by NCIS: Los Angeles director James Hanlon who also has directed episodes of Station 19 and Chicago Fire.

The drama is executive produced by a star of one of CBS’ hit procedurals, NCIS: Los Angeles’ Eric Christian Olsen, via his Cloud Nine Productions.

Somewhat in the vein of CBS’ juggernaut Blue Bloods, Rescue: MIA revolves around a legendary family of first responders that works together to rescue the citizens of Miami from emergencies and disasters, even as long-buried secrets threaten to tear apart their familial bonds.

Hanton was a NYC firefighter on the ground during and in the aftermath of 9/11, and his documentary film 9/11 won a Peabody Award as well as two Emmys.

Coto, Hanlon and Olsen executive produce Rescue: MIA. CBS Studios where Cloud Nine has a deal, is the studio.

Coto is writing and serves as executive producer/showrunner on The Ledgeran action drama at Will Packer Media headlined by Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña.

Known for his work as showrunner on Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, Coto also previously co-executive produced the CW’s Nikita and worked on NBC’s Heroes and Fox’s 24.

Michael Peña to Star on Season 4 of Amazon Prime Video’s Series “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”

Michael Peña is getting Jack’ed…

The 45-year-old Mexican American has joined the cast of Amazon Prime Video’s series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, starring John Krasinski, for the fourth season.

Michael PeñaThe series was renewed for a fourth season, ahead of the series’ Season 3 premiere.

No word yet on Peña’s role.

Production recently wrapped on Season 3, and a premiere date will be announced later.

Season 3 finds Jack Ryan (Krasinski) on the run and in a race against time. Jack is wrongly implicated in a larger conspiracy and suddenly finds himself a fugitive out in the cold. Now, wanted by both the CIA and an international rogue faction that he has uncovered, Jack is forced underground, crisscrossing Europe, trying to stay alive and prevent a massive global conflict.

In addition to Krasinski, returning for the third season of the dramatic series are Wendell Pierce as James Greer and Michael Kelly as Mike November.

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is a co-production of Amazon Studios, Paramount Television Studios and Skydance Television.

Peña was most recently seen in Warner Bros’ live-action hybrid Tom & Jerry and can be seen next in the Roland Emmerich film Moonfall for Lionsgate and in the Paramount family/action pic Secret Headquarters.

On television, Peña also starred in the Netflix series Narcos; Mexico and in Fox’s Gracepoint.

Melissa De Sousa to Appear on Fox’s Drama Series “Our Kind of People”

Melissa De Sousa has found her people

The 54-year-old Panamanian American actress has landed a recurring role opposite Morris Chestnut and Yaya DaCosta in the Fox drama series Our Kind of Peoplefrom writer/executive producer Karin Gist and executive producer Lee Daniels.

Melissa De Sousa

The role reunites De Sousa with Chestnut, with whom she stars in The Best Man franchise. Joe Morton also stars in the series.

Inspired by Lawrence Otis Graham’s book Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class, the series written by Gist takes place in the aspirational world of Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, a historical stronghold where the rich and powerful Black elite have come to play for more than 50 years.

Our Kind of People follows strong-willed single mom Angela Vaughn (DaCosta) as she sets out to reclaim her family’s name and make an impact with her revolutionary haircare line that highlights the innate, natural beauty of Black women. But she soon discovers a dark secret about her mother’s past that will turn her world upside-down and shake up this community forever.

De Sousa will play Alex Rivera. Attractive and savvy, Alex Rivera is an accomplished financial reporter and Raymond’s (Chestnut’s) ex-wife.

A co-production between 20th Century Fox Television and Fox EntertainmentOur Kind of People is executive produced by Gist and Claire Brown via The Gist of It Productions; Daniels and Marc Velez via Lee Daniels Entertainment; Pam Williams; Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens and Rodney Ferrell via Propagate; and Montrel McKay.

De Sousa, best known for her performance as the infamous Shelby in the Universal franchise The Best Man and The Best Man Holiday, will next star opposite Chestnut in the Peacock limited series The Best Man: The Final Chapter.

She most recently recurred as Chief Ana Lopez on the CW’s Black Lightning and as the pill-popping journalist Mirta Herrera on Showtime’s On Becoming A God In Central Florida opposite Kirsten Dunst.

Xolo Maridueña to Star in & Executive Produce the Action Drama Series “The Ledger”

Xolo Maridueña is livin’ on the ledge(r)

The 20-year-old Mexican, Cuban and Ecuadorian American actor and Cobra Kai star has been cast in and will executive produce the action drama series The Ledger, which hails from veteran showrunner and producer Juan Carlos Coto and Will Packer Media.

Xolo Maridueña

Coto, who has worked on 9-1-1 and From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, will write and serve as showrunner. Will Packer will produce and Alvie Hurtado, Director of Development, WPP will oversee the project. Brandon Guzmán will executive produce.

The series will be shopped to streaming networks and premium cable.

Maridueña stars as Miguel Diaz on Netflix’s Cobra Kai, which is heading into its fourth season.

He is also set to star as Blue Beetle for Warner Bros. and DC. Maridueña is represented by UTA, Valor Entertainment and John Meigs

Best known for his work as showrunner on Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, Coto currently is executive producer on Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear’s hit Fox drama series 9-1-1. He also served as consulting producer on 9-1-1: Lone Star. Coto previously co-executive produced the CW’s spy thriller Nikita and has written and produced critically acclaimed series including NBC’s Heroes and Fox’s 24.

Maximiliano Hernandez to Star in Fox’s Sci-Fi Mystery Pilot “The Last Police”

Maximiliano Hernandez is joining the force…

The 48-year-old Honduran American actor will star in the Fox pilot The Last Policean adaptation of Ben Winters’ sci-fi mystery novel The Last Policeman.

Maximiliano Hernandez

Hernandez will serve as a series regular alongside Dawnn Lewis, Derek Phillips, Courtney Dietz and Troy Kotsur, as well as series leads Blu Hunt and Reno Wilson.

In The Last Police, as an asteroid races toward an apocalyptic collision with Earth, a small-town police detective (Hunt) believes she’s been chosen to save humanity, while her cynical partner (Wilson) can’t decide what he’ll enjoy more: her delusional failure, or the end of the world itself.

Hunt plays Detective MacKenzie Ward. She’s a sharp young police detective who as our story begins has decided to end her life on her own terms rather than wait for the Earth’s annihilation in its impending collision with an asteroid. When her suicide attempt fails, she attributes her survival to being chosen for a special purpose, and going forward she’s a relentless ambassador for optimism and hope in a world with an ever-shorter supply of both.

Wilson portrays Detective David Duran. He’s a drinking, smoking, unshaven wreck with a badge who, following a devastating personal tragedy unrelated to the asteroid, views the rest of his days alive as a penance and openly embraces the prospect of the world’s end. When they’re partnered in the pilot, he’s amused by what he considers Mackenzie’s delusions of grandeur, and her positivity only stokes his cynical fatalism.

Hernandez will portray Detective Alvaro Diaz. A former minor-league ballplayer from Cuba who segued to law enforcement when he first became a father, Diaz was a contented family man before news of the asteroid hit. Since that revelation he’s become a mess, openly weeping at his desk and distracted by savoring every moment he has left with the wife and children he loves more than anything.

Fox Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television will produce.

Hernandez’s television credits include TNT’s The Last Ship, FX’s The Americans, Audience Network’s Mr. Mercedes and Amazon’s Hand of God and features such as Sicario, Avengers: Endgame and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

He will soon be seen recurring in CBS SEAL Team.

Dailyn Rodriguez Adapting “Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub” for Television

Dailyn Rodriguez is preparing for some hot Havana nights…

The Cuban American television writer and producer and Queen of the South showrunner is teaming up with Keshet Studios, to adapt Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub by Rosa Lowinger and Ofelia Fox.

Dailyn Rodriguez

Tropicana Nights, which is in the vein of Moulin Rouge, Cabaret and Casino, tells the story of the notorious Cuban nightclub in the 1950s, when the club provided a fun, vibrant, wildly entertaining safe haven for those looking to escape the political unrest and persecution on the streets of Havana.

It centers on the love story and partnership between the club’s owners Martin and Ofelia Fox, who tirelessly fought to preserve their paradise under the stars against various threats, including rival club owners, the mafia and Cuban revolutionaries.

The El Tropicano night club, which opened in 1939 and is still open today, played host to greats such as Nat King Cole and party goers included Marlon Brando, Ernest Hemingway, Rita Hayworth and J.F.K.

Keshet Studios’ president Peter Traugott tells Deadline that the project came out of a general meeting with Rodriguez, who has also written on series including Fox’s Fantasy Island reboot and ABC’s Ugly Betty.

“It’s a spectacularly beautiful space that still exists today. But when you peel it back a bit, [the Tropicana] was this kind of safe-haven for people who didn’t fit in, people from all over the world –people of different colours, sexualities, genders and whatever was going in beyond the walls was left behind,” he said. “It’s a really crazy love story at the centre with this backdrop and at it centre its exploring lots of issues that are still relevant.

Rodriguez added, “I’ve wanted to write about the Tropicana for years. My mother used to tell me amazing stories about the shows she and my father saw there, so this dynamic, special world is close to my heart.”

Keshet Studios is now taking it out to market.