Carlos Santos to Star in Amazon’s Freevee Project From Shea Serrano, Formerly Titled “Primo”

Posted on May 13, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Santos has landed a primo role…

The 36-year-old Puerto Rican actor and comedian has joined the cast of Amazon’s Freevee project from Shea Serrano, formerly titled Primo.

Santos is among a list of new series regulars that includes Ignacio Diaz-Silverio, Martin Martinez, Johnny Rey Diaz, Henri Esteve, Jonathan Medina, Nigel Siwabessy, Christina Vidal, Efrain Villa and Stakiah Washington.

The single-camera series hails from Serrano and The Good Place creator Mike Schur.

Inspired by Serrano’s life growing up in San Antonio, the project follows a teenager balancing college aspirations, societal expectations, and a hectic home life, anchored by his single mom and five uncles.

Diaz-Silverio will portray Rafa, a 16-year-old high school junior who must balance his mom and five uncles’ opinions after finding out that he has the chance to be the first person in his family to ever attend college.

Rey Diaz will portray Rollie, one of Rafa’s uncles and the middle child of his brothers. He’s the wildman of the family. He is regularly in minor trouble with the law. Though he’s feared as a brawler in the neighborhood, he’s also the most sentimental of the group.

Esteve will portray Mike, the second youngest of Rafa’s uncles. He is a fit, disciplined, military man who acts extremely alpha male-y all the time, though nobody in the family buys it.

Martinez will portray Miguel, one of Rafa’s closest friends who is a bit of a smart aleck.

Medina will portray Jay, the eldest of Rafa’s uncles. He has worked at a full-time, labor-intensive job since he was 17. He moves through life in the most straightforward way possible. He is the ultimate pragmatist.

Santos will portray Ryan, the youngest of all Rafa’s uncles. He works as a mid-level bank teller, but he tells everyone he works in finance.

Siwabessy will portray Harris, another one of Rafa’s closest friends, who has plenty of swagger and no use for college, as he intends to inherit his parents’ corner store.

Vidal will portray Drea, Rafa’s mom and the third eldest among her and her brothers. She’s the beating heart of the family. She’s insightful, clever, and resourceful.

Villa will portray Mondo, the second oldest of Rafa’s uncles and a cosmic wanderer. His advice usually has a bizarrely comforting philosophical hue to it that rarely translates to practical application.

Washington will portray Mya, Rafa’s friend who also happens to be his secret crush. She comes from a well-educated family for whom attending college is not an accomplishment but an expectation.

Production for the series will begin later this month in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Peter Murrieta serves as an executive producer. The series is produced by Amazon Studios and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Carlos Santos to Star Opposite Eugenio Derbez in English-Remake of “The Valet”

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Santos is preparing for Valet service…

The 35-year-old Puerto Rican actor and comedian will star in Lionsgate’s The Valet, the English-language remake of Francis Veber’s French film.

Santos joins a roster of new cast additions that includes Noemi Gonzalez (Selena: The Series, East Los High), Tiana Okoye (Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens, The Good Place), Diany Rodriguez (Law & Order: Organized Crime, New Amsterdam), Armando Hernandez (El César series on Prime Video, Disney+ series El Repatriado.

They join stars Eugenio Derbez and Samara Weaving in the film, which is being directed by Richard Wong.

The film, written by Rob Greenberg and Bob Fisher, follows Olivia (Weaving), a movie star who enlists Antonio (Derbez) – a parking valet – to pose as her lover to cover for a relationship with a married man. As a valet, the hard-working Antonio usually flies under the radar but his ruse with Olivia thrusts him into the spotlight and brings him to see himself more clearly than ever before.

Santos and Hernandez will play the valets who work with Antonio at a tony Beverly Hills restaurant.

Gonzalez will play Clara, Antonio’s sister and the wife of Benny, Antonio’s boss.

Okoye is Amanda, Olivia’s dedicated but jaded assistant.

Rodriguez will play Natalie, who works at Antonio’s neighborhood bike shop.

Derbez and Ben Odell are producing through their 3Pas Studios banner, while Meredith Wieck and Aaron Edmonds are overseeing the project for Lionsgate.

Jorge Diaz to Star in Pilot for HBO Max’s “Head of the Class” Sitcom Reboot

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Jorge Diaz is moving to the head of the class…

The 37-year-old Mexican American actor has joined the cast of HBO Max’s multi-camera comedy pilot Head of the Class, a reboot of the popular 1980s ABC sitcom.

Diaz joins a roster of new additions to the cast that includes Dior Goodjohn, Brandon Severs, Adrian Matthew Escalona and Christa Miller.

They join previously announced Isabella Gomez, Gavin Lewis and Jolie Hoang-Rappaport in the reboot which hails from American Vandal writers Amy Pocha and Seth Cohen, Bill Lawrence and his Doozer Productions; and Warner Bros. Television, which produced the original series.

Written by Pocha and Cohen, based on the original series created by Rich Eustis and Michael Elias, the reimagined Head of the Class revolves around a group of overachieving high school students who meet their greatest challenge — a teacher Alicia Adams (Gomez), who wants them to focus less on grades and more on experiencing life.

Diaz plays Elliot Olsen, a goofy English teacher who loves his job and is genuine to a fault. Goodjohn is Robyn Rook. Stem queen turned Twitch streamer, Robyn’s the defacto leader of the class – though she’d never admit it. Severs will portray Terrell Smith, is a year-round athlete, who is uber-positive and all about team mentality. Escalona is Miles Mendelson, the shy, introverted, overthinking coder, who’d rather spend time with computers than people. Miller recurs as Principal Maris, an intimidating, tough love boss that always puts the students first.

Diaz has appeared on a number of hit comedies including the CW’s Jane The Virgin, NBC’s The Good Place and Netflix’s Arrested Development. He also starred as SPC Israel Garza in Nat Geo’s Critics Choice-nominated Iraq war drama, The Long Road Home. On the film side, Diaz portrayed Hector Estrella in Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, earning a nomination for an Imagen Foundation Award for his performance.

Escalona was first discovered in 2018, when a video of him singing “She Used To Be Mine” from the Broadway musical Waitress went viral with almost 4 million views and counting. He went on to be invited by Waitress writer and composer Sara Bareilles to make a guest appearance during her tour stop in Pittsburgh, near his home town. Head of the Class is Escalona’s first major TV role.

FX Renews Harvey Guillén’s “What We Do In The Shadows” for a Third Season

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Harvey Guillén will be seeing his shadow(s) for longer…

FX has ordered a third season of What We Do In The Shadows, starringthe 30-year-old Latino actor, producer and writer.

The cable network ordered a third run of the show ahead of the June 10 finale of its second season. FX said that the second season, which is averaging 3.2M total viewers across linear and digital platforms, including FX on Hulu, through its first six episodes, was up 25% on season one.

In addition to Guillen, the mockumentary series, which is based on Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s 2014 feature film, stars Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak, Natasia Demetriou and Mark Proksch.

It follows the lives of four vampires who’ve “lived” together for hundreds of years in the New York borough of Staten Island.

This group includes Nandor The Relentless (Novak), a great warrior and conqueror from the Ottoman Empire, British vampire Laszlo (Berry), a bit of a rogue and a dandy and a fop and Nadja (Demetriou), his lover, a wise seductress. Then there’s Guillermo (Guillén), Nandor’s familiar, who wants nothing more than to be made a real vampire just like his master, Colin Robinson (Proksch), an energy vampire and day-walker of sorts – he feasts on humans, but not on their blood.

The second season also featured a guest spot from Star Wars’ Mark Hamill as a vampire searching for Laszlo, who owed him money.

“We’re incredibly happy that critics and audiences are all in on Shadows,”Nick Grad, President, Original Programming, FX Entertainment said. “Week in and week out, the producers, writers and our amazing cast continue to make one of the funniest and best comedy series on TV.”

Guillen previously appeared on television in Huge, Eye Candy, The Magicians and The Good Place.

Leiomy Maldonado to Serve as a Judge on HBO Max’s Voguing Competition Series “Legendary”

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Leiomy Maldonado is legendary…

The 32-year-old transgender Afro-Puerto Rican dancer, instructor, model, activist, and ballroom dancer, known as the “Wonder Woman of Vogue,” will serve as a judge on HBO Max’s upcoming voguing competition series Legendary.

The Good Place’sJameela Jamilwill serve as the host and a judge alongside Maldonado, Megan Thee Stallion and Law Roach. They’ll be joined by a weekly rotating guest judge, with commentary by DJ MikeQand Dashaun Wesley, who’ll emcee with Jamil.

In the 10-episode Legendary, from Scout Productions, divas will battle on voguing teams called “houses,” with the chance to win a cash prize in ballsy fashion and dance challenges to ultimately achieve “Legendary” status.

Voguing is a competitive style of modern dance featuring over-the-top fashion and choreography based on poses struck by models on a catwalk.

Legendary will feature 10 voguing “houses,” each comprised of five performers and a leader – the house “parent.” The teams rotate in a round-robin format, and each episode documents a themed ball from start to finish.

The competition show isset to launch on WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service, which debuts in spring 2020.

Maldonado was a member of the dance troupe “Vogue Evolution,” which was featured on America’s Best Dance Crew. She has worked with artists like Willow Smith, Icona Pop, and CocoRosie. She’s also a choreographer for the ballroom scenes in FX’s Pose.

Nicolas Cantu to Star in AMC’s New “The Walking Dead” Series

Posted on August 6, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Nicolas Cantu is a Dead man walking…

The 15-year-old Latino actor has been cast in the upcoming third series in The Walking Dead franchise on ABC.

Cantu, who will portray Elton, will star opposite Nico Tortorella, Annet Mahendru(Huck) and Aliyah Royale(Iris) Alexa Mansour(Hope) and Hal Cumpston(Silas) in the series.

The untitled third series will focus on the first generation to come of age in the apocalypse as we know it. Some will become heroes. Some will become villains. In the end, all of them will be changed forever.

Produced and distributed by AMC Studios, the series will premiere on AMC in spring 2020. Jordan Vogt-Roberts will direct the series co-created by Scott Gimple and The Walking Dead veteran writer and producer Matt Negrete, who will serve as the series’ showrunner.Cantu’s previous credits include voice work on The Amazing World of Gumball and Sofia the First,as well as appearances onRaven’s Home, The Good Place and Bizaardvark.

Diana Maria Riva to Star in NBC’s Comedy Pilot “Sunnyside”

Posted on March 10, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Diana Maria Riva is looking at the sunnyside of life…

The 49-year-old Dominican American actress has been cast opposite Kal Penn in NBC’s comedy pilot Sunnyside (formerly Untitled Kal Penn/Matt Murray).

Riva joins a cast that includes Kiran Deol, Moses Storm, Samba Schutte, Poppy Liu, Joel Kim Booster and Tudor Petrut.

Co-written by Penn and Matt Murray, Sunnyside is named after the neighborhood in the historically diverse Queens borough of New York where the show is set. It centers on former New York City Councilman Garrett Shah (Penn), who finds his calling when faced with seven recent immigrants — five of them played by immigrant actors — in need of his help and in search of the American Dream.

The single-camera comedy is being executive produced by Penn, writer-producer Murray, The Good Place creator/executive producer Michael Schur and Universal Television.

The seven recent immigrants are Jin Hao, played by South Korea-born Booster; Mallory, played by UK-born Deol; Mei Lin, played by China-born Liu; Drzen, played by Romania-born Petrut; Hakim, played by Africa-born Schutte; Griselda, played by Riva, a first generation Dominican; and Brady, played by Storm.

Directing the pilot is another immigrant, Oz Rodriguez. The ensemble was put together by casting director Allison Jones who also has worked with Schur on his other shows, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Good Place.

Riva was last seen in the CBS sitcom Man with a Plan and NBC’s Telenovela. She’ll next appear in the Netflix series Dead to Me and the Appledrama series Morning Show.

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