Laz Alonso to Star in the Psychological Thriller “Detained”

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Laz Alonso is currently detained…

The 47-year-old Cuban American actor will star opposite Abbie Cornish in the psychological thriller Detained.

The project will be helmed by director Felipe Mucci and counts Justin H. Min, John Patrick Amedori, Silas Weir Mitchell, Moon Bloodgood, Josefine Lindegaard and Breeda Wool amongst its supporting cast.

The film follows a woman (Cornish) who wakes up in a police interrogation room with no memory of the night prior. The accusations against her may have life-altering implications. However, in this isolated police station, something is not quite right.

Mucci wrote the script with Jeremy Palmer.

Alonso is an NAACP Image Award winner best known for his series regular role as the superhuman Mother’s Milk in Amazon’s acclaimed comic book series, The Boys.

The actor has also recurred in series including L.A.’s Finest and Southland, finding guest starring roles in Power Book II: Ghost, The Bobby Brown Story, Person of Interest and more.

His film credits include Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit, Fast & Furious and Fast & Furious 6, Straw Dogs, Jumping the Broom, Avatar, Miracle at St. Anna, Jarhead and Stomp the Yard.

Laz Alonso to Star in Amazon’s Drama Series “The Boys”

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Laz Alonso is just one of The Boys…

The 43-year-old Afro-Cuban American actor has landed a role in Amazon’s straight-to-series drama The Boys.

The project comes from from Supernatural creator and Timeless co-creator Eric Kripke, Preacher‘s Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen and Sony Pictures Television.

Written by Kripke based on the comic book by Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson and directed by Goldberg & Rogen, The Boys is set in a world where superheroes embrace the darker side of their massive celebrity and fame. It revolves around a group of vigilantes known informally as “the boys,” who set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.

Alonso will play Mother’s Milk. Second in command of the Boys, he’s a great detective, highly intelligent and observant and an intuitive investigator.

Alonso, whose television series credits include NBC’s The Mysteries of Laura IDeception, as well as A&E’s Breakout Kings, appeared in Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit and will next be seen opposite Paula Patton and Omar Epps in the Lionsgate feature Traffik.

Larrain Attached to Direct Annapurna Pictures’ “The True American”

Posted on April 5, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Things could be ringing True for Pablo Larraín…

The 40-year-old Chilean filmmaker, the Oscar-nominated director behind such titles as Jackie and Neruda, is attached to direct Tom Hardy in Annapurna Pictures’ The True American.

The project is based on Anand Giridharadas’ nonfiction book of the same name, which is set in Texas in the days following 9/11. It follows the story of Rais Bhuiyan, a Muslim immigrant and Bangladesh Air Force veteran who narrowly survived a killing spree that took the lives of two other immigrants. Employed at a Dallas-area convenience store as he established himself in America, Bhuiyan worked to have his attacker, self-styled “Arab-slayer” Mark Stroman, spared from execution.

This is a project that has been kicking around for a few years now, with Kathryn Bigelow attached to direct at one point, but now it’s moving forward with Bigelow taking a producer role on the film.

Larraín is fast becoming one of the most sought after international directors after his recent effort Jackie, starring Natalie Portman as the former First Lady in the days following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, was nominated for three Oscars.

His Spanish-language film Neruda, a twist on the biopic genre about the eponymous Nobel Prize-winning poet, was made in Chile and debuted at the Cannes Film Festival while his 2012 political satire No was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas was published in 2014 by W.W. Norton & Company.

Alonso Starring in Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit-Themed Crime Drama Project

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Laz Alonso has a Motor City state of mind…

The 42-year-old Afro-Cuban American actor is starring in Kathryn Bigelow’s crime drama Untitled Detroit Project.

The film is set against the backdrop of Detroit’s 1967 riots and explores systemic racism in urban Detroit.

In addition to Alonso, the film also stars Jeremy Strong, Chris Chalk, Austin Hébert, Ephraim Sykes, Nathan Davis Jr., Malcolm David Kelley, Peyton Alex Smith and Leon Thomas III.

The crime drama, now in production, was penned by Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty scribe Mark Boal.

Nolasco Starring in HBO’s Family Drama “Mogadishu, Minnesota”

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Elvis Nolasco is heading to Minnesota…

The Dominican actor has been cast in HBO’s drama pilot Mogadishu, Minnesota, written, directed and executive produced by rapper K’naan Warsame.

Executive produced by Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker‘s Kathryn Bigelow, the family drama grapples with what it means to be American – among the Somalis of Minneapolis.

Along with Nolasco, who starred on two seasons of ABC’s American Crime, the pilot will also star K.C. Collins, Rif Hutton, Ezana Alem, Hanad Abdirahman Abdi, Selam Tadese, Prince Abdi, Yusra Warsama and Liya Kebede. All will be regulars if the pilot is picked up to series.

Nolasco will portray Liban, the uncle of one of the characters and the proud owner of Liban’s Classy Hookah. He’s an upright citizen who prizes the family’s reputation above all else. He is not pleased when his brother, Bisbaas, returns to town.

Shooting begins this October in Minneapolis.

Varela to Star in the Upcoming “Point Break” Remake

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Matias Varela is getting his big Hollywood break…

The 33-year-old Spanish actor, who was born and raised in Sweden, has signed on to appear in Alcon Entertainment’s Point Break remake.

The film is an update of the Kathryn Bigelow-helmed 1991 original to center on an ex-extreme sports athlete turned FBI trainee assigned to go undercover to investigate a string of robberies by a band of fellow adrenaline junkies.

The original starred Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey.

Varela will portray Grommet, an extreme sports athlete and member of Bodhi’s gang of outlaws.

In his native Sweden, Varela earned a Swedish Oscar nod for his turn in the final Snabba Cash film, Livet Deluxe.

His other credits include starring in several episodes of Showtime‘s The Borgias, as Ferdinand II of Naples.

Ramírez to Star as Roberto Durán in “Hands of Stone”

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

He’s played the god of war and a legendary Latino political leader… And, now Édgar Ramírez is set to portray a boxing champ.

The 36-year-old Venezuelan actor has signed on to star opposite Robert De Niro in Hands of Stone.

The drama, written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, centers on the life of Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, who was nicknamed “Manos de Piedra” during his career.

Ramírez will portray Durán, while De Niro will play his trainer Ray Arcel in a drama that focuses on how each man changed the life of the other.

The film is set during boxing’s Golden Era, when Durán was among top notch fighters like Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Hector Camacho and Vinny Pazienza.

The film’s focus will be on Durán’s incredible bouts with Leonard, culminating in an inexplicable ending of the famous fight where Durán quit in the ring and cried “No mas,” on a night when Leonard was having his way.

Hands of Stone will begin production in Panama this September.

“The story of Roberto Durán and Ray Arcel is not only a homage to the golden days of boxing; it is most importantly the story of a fatherless man who teaches every single one of us the true meaning of never giving up,” said the film’s producers.

Ramírez recently appeared in Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty and next stars in Libertador.

NY Film Critics Circle Names Ramírez’s “Zero Dark Thirty” Best Film

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Édgar Ramírez’s latest film is already proving to be an awards darling, even though it hasn’t been released in theaters yet…

The New York Film Critics Circle has named Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, which stars the 35-year-old Venezuelan actor as a military member, its film of the year.

The group also named Bigelow its best director for the war drama, which centers on the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Zero Dark Thirty came under criticism from various groups recently, claiming that Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal were granted access to classified documents by the Obama administration while making the film, which chronicles the manhunt that led to the eventual killing of bin Laden in a Navy SEA raid.

Bigelow and Boal went on Nightline last week to deny they had received classified information. “I certainly did a lot of homework, but I never asked for classified materials; to my knowledge, I never received any,” Boal told Martha Raddatz.

Zero Dark Thirty, which also stars Jessica Chastain, Chris Pratt and Joel Edgerton, will be released in U.S. theaters on December 19.

Ramirez Appears in Latest Trailer for “Zero Dark Thirty”

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

I spy Édgar Ramírez’s next big hit…

The 35-year-old Venezuelan actor, who will soon be starring as Simón Bolívar on the big screen, appears in the latest trailer for Zero Dark Thirty.

The film, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, chronicles the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden by the United States and CIA operatives, ending with the May 2, 2011 raid by Navy Seal Team 6 and the bin Laden’s death.

In addition to Ramírez, the Sony picture stars Jessica Chastain, Chris Pratt and Joel Edgerton.

Zero Dark Thirty is scheduled for release December 19.

First Look: Ramírez as Simón Bolívar

Posted on August 25, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Édgar Ramírez’s transformation into one of the one of the most influential politicians in Latin American history is complete…

The the 35-year-old Venezuelan actor has completed his work as the star of the sweeping historical epic Libertador, which tells the story of Venezuelan military and political leader Simón Bolívar.

Directed by Alberto Arvelo, Libertador follows the life of Bolivar, who was instrumental in Latin America’s struggle for independence from the Spanish empire.

Along with portraying Bolívar, Ramírez will serve as an executive producer on the project, which is considered the largest independent South American production to date.

Libertador, now in post-production.

Meanwhile, L.A. Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel—who helped kick off the London 2012 Festival with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra—is scoring the Spanish, French and English-language pic in his feature film debut.

Ramirez, who earned critical acclaim for his performance in Carlos, will next appear on the big screen in U.S. theaters in Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, which opens in December.

In France, he’s currently in theaters in An Open Heart, starring opposite Juliette Binoche

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