Tag Archives: Tejana

Stephanie Beatriz Launches Fictional True Crime Podcast “Tejana,” Expanding Project for TV

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Stephanie Beatriz has found her range(r)

The 40-year-old Colombian-Bolivian Argentine actress has launched the fictional true-crime podcast Tejana in collaboration with Sonoro and Telemundo that will be adapted for television.

Stephanie Beatriz

The 6-episode first season is available now across all podcast formats.

The drama tells the story of Eileen Castillo, a Texas Ranger who is the only Latina on the force and at the center of a web of lies. She is sharp on the field but struggles with navigating office politics. She’s still haunted by the serial killer that stalked her town two decades earlier, so when a copycat killer emerges in Austin, Eileen must deal with the difficult memories she’s tried to suppress her entire life.

“In true crime fashion, Tejana is an incredibly dense and complicated mystery that centers the character of Eileen as she that mystery apart while trying to figure it out,” Beatriz tells Deadline exclusively. “Inside of that overarching story, there are also a bunch of different crimes that she and the other Rangers are trying to solve.”

She adds, “The Rangers have historically been this storied arm of the law. There are all these cultural touchstones like Walker, Texas Ranger, and the Lone Ranger. They’re these rarified, fantastical heroes in our media culture. And this puts a Latina as the lead and as this story’s hero. She’s a hero but she’s also very relatable because she’s flawed. She wants to be the best on the field and she’s a rising star who often has trouble navigating office politics. She has a heart of gold but she often puts her foot in her mouth at work.”

Series costars include Gabriela Torres, Jonah Platt, Marlaina Sims Powell, and Phil Lewis.

Beatriz reveals that the plan is to have her bring Eileen to life in the small screen version which is currently in its gathering stages— they’re assembling their writing and producing team. The executive producers are working with Sonoro to “bring it to streaming” where viewers can “watch this serialized thing take place over time.”

Beatriz said goodbye last month to Brooklyn Nine-Nine after the show concluded after 8 seasons and to her character, Detective Rosa Diaz. As she continues to portray members of law enforcement, Beatriz can’t help but reflect on what she learned from Rosa that she’s taken with her on her new journey with Eileen.

“I think these characters are very similar in that they’re extremely grounded, no-nonsense, and very direct,” the new mom said. “I think Eileen has much more a sense of humor about things; Rosa was often the straight guy character for other people to bounce things off of. Eileen understands that she often makes herself the butt of the joke to sort of lighten the mood. But I think it’s that groundedness that is just playing out in a totally different fashion because this isn’t a comedy, it’s a totally different genre.”

Beyond their plans for TV, Beatriz and her partners will continue to expand Tejana with future seasons of the podcast and are interested in taking the Texas Ranger to the big screen.

“We’re interested in creating audio content that will have a life past podcasts. The stories we’re interested in creating, Sonoro has an end goal for them to franchise it out with people like us as the leads so they continue and grow,” Beatriz said. “The story is so good! There are so many possibilities as to where this can go.”

JJ Soria to Star in Netflix’s 10-episode Half-Hour Latinx Dramedy “Gentefied”

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JJ Soria is getting gentefied…

The 32-year-old Mexican-American actor has been cast in the 10-episode half-hour Latinx dramedy Gentefied.

JJ Soria

Soria joins a main cast that includes Karrie Martin, Carlos Santos and Joaquín Cosio.

The project hails from Gente-fied: The Digital Series creators Marvin Lemusand Linda Yvette Chávez, showrunner Monica Macer, America Ferrera, Teri Weinbergand Macro.

Written by Lemus and Chávez, Gentefied is adapted from the web series which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. 

Described as a badass bilingual series about family, community, brown love, and the displacement that disrupts it all, Gentefiedis about three Mexican-American cousins (Martin, Soria, Santos) who struggle to chase the American Dream, even while that same dream threatens the things they hold most dear: their neighborhood, their immigrant grandfather (Cosio), and the family taco shop. Set in a rapidly changing Los Angeles, the Spanglish dramedy will navigate important themes like identity, class, and balancing insta-fame with translating memes for their parents. But most importantly,Gentefiedwill settle once and for all how to pronounce Latinx.

Martin will play Ana Morales, a sarcastic, woke, blunt, and endearing, queer artist. Ana is a Chicana who leads with her heart and fights for her art with untethered conviction. She loves her abuelo and her entire family almost to a fault.

Soria will portray Erik, a wisecracking, well-read, charismatic, but tough homie with a heart of gold. He’s a high school dropout, but there isn’t a book in the local library Erik hasn’t read. He’s a reluctant dreamer trying to find his way back to himself. But his loyalty to his grandfather who took him in keeps him from putting time into himself or Lidia, the love of his life.

Santos is Chris, the prodigal grandson, a fun-loving, know-it-all, chef-in-training. Chris is a homegrown Boyle Heights boy who moved to Idaho at a young age and was abruptly introduced to Weezer and cow-tipping. His cousins call him guero for acting and looking like a white boy, which always leaves him wondering if he’ll ever be Mexican enough for anyone.

Cosio is Pop, a hard-working, stoic, but warm, old-fashioned ranchero and the rock of the Morales family. Though gruff with his Tejanaand potty-mouth (“cabron” is his favorite word!), Pop has a huge heart, but that also means a lot of heartache trying to protect them.

“We are thrilled to have gathered a lead cast that captures the unique nuance of the chisme, chistes, and chingaderas that we grew up with in our multi-generational, bilingual, immigrant families,” said Lemus and Chavez. “Joaquin, JJ, Carlos, and Karrie are the abuelo, primos, y prima we shot the shit with as kids, the cousins we partied with, and the grandpa we cried with. They are the Morales family and we can’t wait for everyone to start sending them invites to the carne asada!”

Lemus directs the Netflix production.

A love letter to the Latinx and Boyle Heights communities, creators Lemus and Chavez hope Gentefiedwill let their little cousins rocking Adidas, hoops, and big dreams see themselves on the big screen in ways they only dreamed of growing up.

Martin has co-starred on shows like Pretty Little Liars, The Arrangement, The Purgeand will soon be appearing in David Ayer’s film The Tax Collector. 

Soria most recently appeared in the series regular role of Pete Ramos on Crackle series The Oath, and has recurred on TNT’s Animal Kingdom and Freeform’s The Fosters. On the film side, Soria can next be seen in the indie John Henry alongside Terry Crews. 

CBS Diversity Showcase alum Santos has appeared on CBS’ 2 Broke Girls, truTV’s Adam Ruins Everything and Seeso’s Bajillion Dollar Properties. He also was the lead in the 2013 Slamdance comedy horror feature Ghost Team One and guest-starred on Fox’s The Last Man on Earth. 

Cosio’s credits include the role of Angel de Plata on FX’s The Strain and Don Neto in Narcos: Mexico.He’s returning for Season 2 of Narcos: Mexicoand will be seen in a starring role in Amazon’s new series CDMX.On the film side, he’ll next be seen in Emilio Portes’ horror thriller Beelzebuth,as well as the sequel to Matando Cabos, where he’ll return to portray the title character.