Mariel Molino to Star in CBS‘ Young Gibbs Drama “NCIS: Origins”

Mariel Molino is celebrating her origins

The Mexican American actress will star as the female lead opposite Austin Stowell in CBSYoung Gibbs drama NCIS: Origins, a prequel to the venerable procedural, which has a straight-to-series order for the 2024-2025 broadcast season.

Mariel Molino Narrated by Harmon, the CBS Studios-produced show begins in 1991, years prior to the events of NCIS, and chronicles Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ younger years.

In the prequel, Gibbs (Stowell) starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.

Molino will play Special Agent Lala Dominguez, a former Marine who navigates her 1990s male-dominated field with a steely resolve and a dark sense of humor. When a tormented Leroy Jethro Gibbs joins her team, the ensuing story between these two enigmatic outsiders is filled with sparks and turns that will keep the audience guessing.

This is a new character to the NCIS universe who has not been featured on the mothership series. In the NCIS timeline, the prequel takes place in the aftermath of the murder of Gibbs’ first wife and their daughter.

Mark Harmon and his son Sean Harmon, who portrayed Gibbs in flashbacks on NCIS and was a driving force behind the prequel, executive produce alongside David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal who are co-writing the premiere episode and serving as co-showrunners.

Origins is one of two newly greenlighted extensions of CBS Studios’ ever-growing NCIS franchise, along with an Europe-set Tony & Ziva spinoff starring Michael Weatherly and Cote De Pablo for Paramount+. They join the mothership series, now in its 21st season, NCIS: Hawai’i, now in Season 3 and the franchise’s first international installment, NCIS: Sydney.

Molino, who was born in California, splits time between Los Angeles and Mexico City.

She started her career acting in Spanish-language projects, including the telenovela Papis Muy Padres, Amazon’s comedy series El Juego De Las Llaves and thriller drama series La Negociadora. She has also appeared on Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico and Luis Miguel: The Series.

Molino most recently starred in the Freeform thriller series The Watchful Eye and in the ABC family drama Promised Land. On the film side, Molino was be seen in upcoming features The Shade and Dead Man’s Switch.

Azul Guaita Signs with AFA Prime Talent Media

Azul Guaita has new representation…

The 21-year-old Mexican actress has signed with AFA Prime Talent Media, a division of Kenan Thompson’s Artists for Artists company, for representation in all areas.

Azul GuaitaGuaita can currently be seen in Netflix’s Rebelde in the role of teen star Jana Gandía Cohen. Season 2 of the series, a sequel to the 2004 Mexican telenovela of the same name, was released in July.

Additionally, she stars in La Mujer del Diablo, an original series from TelevisaUnivision’s new streaming service Vix+, as Daniela Beltrán.

Guaita has also starred in several projects produced by the biggest production companies and studios in Latin America including Soltero con Hijas from TelevisaLa Negociadora from Claro Video, and Subete a mi Moto, an Amazon prime original series about the Latin boy band Menudo.

The actress has expanded her social media footprint in the Latin-American market thanks to the success of Rebelde. She currently boasts 1.4 million followers across multiple social platforms, which helped her close her first endorsement deal with Dolce & Gabbana as an ambassador this year.

David “Leche” Ruiz Signs with Cavalry Media

David “Leche” Ruiz is joining the cavalry

Following the success of Netflix’s Who Killed Sara?which the streamer has reported as its most-watched foreign language series at 55-million subscribers, Cavalry Media has signed the Mexican director and screenwriter, the show’s director.

David “Leche” Ruiz

Ruiz, who is based in Mexico City, Mexico, began his career directing music videos, before quickly becoming one of the most prolific filmmakers in his field.

Ruiz directed six episodes of Who Killed Sara?, including the pilot and the finale.

The series stars Manolo Cardona as Alex Guzman, a man hell-bent on getting revenge on the Lazcano family and finding out who killed his sister Sara after spending 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. The series launched on March 24 and Netflix revealed viewership figures as part of its first quarter financial results on April 20.

Ruiz will be the showrunner, as well as direct multiple episodes of season 2, which hit Netflix on May 16. Other episodic directing credits include Claro Video’s La Negociadora and Televisa’s La Piloto