Gloria Garayua to Star in the Psychological Thriller Drama Series “Reckoning”

Posted on July 11, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a day of Reckoning for Gloria Garayua…

The 39-year-old Puerto Rican actress has been in cast in the psychological thriller Reckoning, a 10-episode straight-to-series drama from David Hubbard, veteran showrunner David Eick and Sony Pictures Television Networks.

Garayua joins a cast that includes Aden Young, Sam Trammell, Simone Kessell, Laura Gordon, Mitzi Ruhlmann, Milly Alcock, Ed Oxenbould, Finn Little, Anthony Phelan and Diana Glenn.

Produced by Playmaker, Reckoning began production this week in Sydney for premiere next year on SPTN’s international channels, including AXN, in select territories in Europe and Latin America.

Set in California, the 10-episode series is being filmed and wholly produced and post-produced in Australia. Sony Pictures Television Distribution will handle worldwide sales.

Written by Hubbard, who serves as showrunner with Eick, Reckoning explores the darkest corners of the human psyche through the eyes of two fathers, one of whom is a serial killer. Mike (Young) and Leo (Trammell) try to do what’s best for the people they love and the families they protect. But as both struggle to suppress their inner demons, the murder of a local teenager sets them on a course of mutual destruction that will emanate through every facet of their quiet, suburban community.

“Aden and Sam and the fantastic ensemble cast are crushing it in rehearsals,” said Marie Jacobson, EVP Programming and Production at Sony Pictures Television Networks. “We’re thrilled that production has started in beautiful Sydney.”

Reckoning is part of Sony Pictures Television Networks’ ramped up efforts in the original production arena. It follows the success of SPTN’s Absentia, a dramatic thriller starring Stana Katic and Patrick Heusinger, which originally was commissioned for AXN in 2017 and now is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. and other territories.

Garayua’s previous credits include Six Feet Under, Weeds,The Shield,Grey’s Anatomy, Cougar Town and How to Get Away with Murder.

ABC Renews Karla Souza’s “How to Get Away With Murder” for a Fifth Season

Posted on May 12, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Karla Souza is still getting away with murder…

ABC has given a Season 5 pickup to its legal thriller drama How to Get Away With Murder, starring the 32-year-old actress.

The renewal of the Shondaland drama was fully expected.

HTGAWM is the second longest-running Shondaland series, and it’s well received, earning lead star Viola Davis top awards including an Emmy.

Additionally, while a modest Live+Same Day performer (average 0.94 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 3.70 million viewers in Season 4, down by 28% and by 20%, respectively, compared to Season 3), it continues to be a big DVR gainer. Its Live+7 tally for Season 4 was 6.4 million viewers and a 2.0 in 18-49, ranking as ABC’s third highest-rated drama in the demo behind Grey’s Anatomy and The Good Doctor.

Starring Davis, Souza, Billy Brown, Jack Falahee, Aja Naomi King, Matt McGorry, Conrad Ricamora, Charlie Weber and Liza Weil, How To Get Away With Murder revolves around the world of Middleton University Professor Annalise Keating (Davis). Murder, deception, fear and guilt bind her to her longtime associates and students. As the group struggles to move on following the death of one of their own, their past continues to haunt them.

How To Get Away With Murder is created and executive produced by Pete Nowalk, who also serves as showrunner.

Tessa Ferrer Lands Starring Role on AT&T Audience Network’s Series “Mr. Mercedes”

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Tessa Ferrer is going into overdrive…

The 31-year-old part-Puerto Rican actress and former Grey’s Anatomy star will star as a series regular opposite Jack Huston in Season 2 of AT&T Audience Network’s breakout series Mr. Mercedes.

The second season will be based on King’s best-selling Bill Hodges Trilogy, which includes Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers and End of Watch.

Season 1 followed a demented killer Brady Hartsfield (Harry Treadaway) who taunts a retired police detective Bill Hodges (Brendan Gleeson) with a series of lurid letters and emails, forcing the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he is able to strike again.

Ferrer will play Cora Babineau, wife of Dr. Felix Babineau (Huston) and head of marketing at a major pharmaceutical corporation, who’s even more ambitious than she is beautiful. If her husband has a genius for manipulating people from the inside out as he reaches into their brains and rewires them, Cora has a genius for influencing people from the outside in. Her beauty, brains and force of will, judiciously softened with poise and extreme charm, make her a formidable saleswoman, of whatever she’s peddling.

Ferrer is onscreen in Blumhouse’s Insidious 4: The Last Key. On television, she played the series regular role of Leah Murphy on Grey’s Anatomy and recurred on CBS’ Extant and FXX’s You’re the Worst.

Production begins next month in Charleston, SC, on the Sonar Entertainment-produced Stephen King adaptation.

Season 2 of Mr. Mercedes will air this summer on AT&T Audience Network.

Hector Elizondo to Star in NBC’s Comedy Pilot “Guess Who Died”

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Hector Elizondo is preparing for Senior living…

The 81-year-old Puerto Rican actor has been cast as one of the leads in NBC’s single-camera comedy pilot Guess Who Died.

Elizondo will star opposite Holland Taylor in the project, which hails from Norman Lear and Peter Tolan.

NBC has given the project has a pilot production commitment.

From Sony Pictures Television, Guess Who Died is based on Lear’s personal experiences. It’s described as a humorous and inspiring look at the shared joys and challenges we all experience at any stage of life.

The comedy is set in the Las Esperanzado Senior Community in Palm Springs. It centers on Murray (Elizondo), a retired music executive who is positive and upbeat with sparkling eyes and a keen, sharp and wonderful sense of humor. After the death of his beloved wife, he realizes he’s fallen in love with his sister-in-law, Patricia, a former American Airlines flight attendant, who can be a little too proper at times, but she’s sharp as a tack with a great sense of humor.

Elizondo, the voice of Fiero on Disney’s Elena of Avalor, most recently starred on ABC’s popular comedy series Last Man Standing, which had a successful six-season run on the network. His other credits include Grey’s Anatomy, Cane and Chicago Hope.

Sara Ramirez Lands Series Regular Role on CBS’ “Madam Secretary”

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Sara Ramirez is headed to the White House…

The 42-year-old Mexican actress and former Grey’s Anatomy star has joined the cast of CBS’ Madam Secretary as a new series regular.

Ramirez will play Kat Sandoval, a brilliant political strategist, legendary in D.C. for her talent and for abruptly dropping out of politics until Elizabeth (Téa Leoni) manages to coax her back into the State Department.

CBS says Ramirez’s character will be introduced the November 19 episode.

“We’re very excited that Sara is joining the cast,” said Barbara Hall, executive producer and series creator. “She brings a fresh perspective and a fun, energetic quality to the State Department staff.”

“We are thrilled to have Sara join the Madam Secretary State Department team,” said Lori McCreary, executive producer. “From the moment she walked on set with her talent, intellect and spirit, she became part of the family!”

This is Ramirez’s first series regular televisoin role since her departure last year from ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, where she appeared for over a decade as Dr. Callie Torres.

She’s currently the voice of Queen Miranda on Disney Jr.’s hit animated series Sofia the First and the voice of Mamá Calaca in Vampirina.

Ramirez previously won a Tony Award for her performance in Monty Python’s Spamalot.

Madam Secretary airs Sundays at 10 PM on CBS.

Jeanine Mason to Star on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” This Season

Posted on October 10, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Jeanine Mason is officially on call…

The 26-year-old Cuban American actress/dancer has landed a role on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.

Mason, the winner of the 5th season of the Fox television show So You Think You Can Dance, will portray Sam, one of the six new interns at Grey Sloan Memorial hospital this season.

Mason previously starred as Merav in ABC’s short-lived biblical drama Of Kings and Prophets last year, and she also starred in Valerie Weiss’ SXSW feature The Archer.

Wilson Cruz to Star in CBS’ “Star Trek” Prequel “Star Trek: Discovery”

Posted on July 22, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a new discovery for Wilson Cruz…

The 43-year-old Puerto Rican actor will star on the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery.

The series takes place 10 years before Captain Kirk’s Star Trek, and the two series will connect aesthetically, according to the show’s executive producer Alex Kurtzman.

Cruz will play Dr. Hugh Culber, the better half of Anthony Rapp’s Lt. Stamets, the first openly gay Star Trek character on television.

“I’m very proud of that and that he’s a scientist,” said Rapp.” I can announce that Wilson Cruz will play my love interest and my partner in the series.”

The 15-episode Star Trek: Discovery will premiere Sunday, September 24, with a special broadcast premiere on CBS.

The first and second episodes will be available on CBS All Access immediately after the broadcast premiere, with subsequent new episodes released Sundays on All Access.

Cruz, best known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life, previously appeared on Ally McBeal, Sister, Sister, Grey’s Anatomy and Mistresses.

Andino Lands Recurring Role on USA’s “Queen of the South”

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Paola Andino’s career is going South…

The 19-year-old Puerto Rican actress is set to recur on the second season of USA Network’s drama series Queen of the South.

Based on best-selling book La Reina Del Sur by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Queen of the South tells the powerful story of Teresa Mendoza (Alice Braga), a woman who is forced to run and seek refuge in America after her drug-dealing boyfriend is unexpectedly murdered in Mexico. In the process, she teams with an unlikely figure from her past to bring down the leader of the very drug trafficking ring that has her on the run.

Andino will play Olivia “Chaparra” Gutierrez, a party girl with a brash mouth and a taste for trouble who ushers her best friend Isabela Vargas (Sandy Valles) into the narco-brat lifestyle – much to the chagrin of Isabela’s parents, the drug empire power couple at odds with each other, Camila and Epifanio Vargas.

Andino most recently played a lead role in Every Witch Way. She also starred opposite Emily Van Camp in Beyond the Blackboard and had a guest-starring role on Grey’s Anatomy.

Ferrer to Star in Shonda Rhimes’ ABC Comedy Pilot “Toast”

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Tessa Ferrer is the toast of the town…

The 29-year-old part-Puerto Rican actress and Grey’s Anatomy alumna, the granddaughter of José Ferrer, has been cast in Toast, ABC’s hybrid comedy pilot from Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers’ Shondaland, Scott Foley and Greg Grunberg.

Written by Foley and Grunberg and directed by Gail Mancuso, the project revolves around engaged couple Max Leeds (Jono Kenyon) and Paige (not yet cast), who, over their wedding rehearsal dinner, have their eclectic family and friends give toasts recalling anecdotes about the couple — but flashbacks reveal that the toasts don’t always get it right, as we watch the true story of their complicated, funny and relatable road to marriage.

Kenyon’s Max is awkwardly handsome, charming and unassuming, and worried about what his bride-to-be’s family thinks about him. After all, they couldn’t be more different: Paige is a sorority girl from a close-knit wealthy Austin family, and he’s a college dropout with a questionable credit history and a father in prison.

Ferrer is Jules, an up-for-anything Texas tomboy who is Max’s closest friend, his biggest champion and business partner. Fiercely loyal and protective, she knows Max better than he knows himself, and worries that he is too focused on the wrong things when it comes to meeting the right woman.

Ferrer played Dr. Leah Murphy on Grey’s Anatomy on Seasons 9 and 10, and she recurred on CBS’ Extant and on Stephen Falk’s FX comedy You’re The Worst.

Garayua to Star Opposite Gabriel Iglesias in ABC’s Comedy Pilot “The Fluffy Shop”

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Gloria Garayua is fluffing up her resume…

The 37-year-old Puerto Rican actress will star opposite Gabriel Iglesias in the ABC comedy pilot The Fluffy Shop, co-written by and starring Iglesias.

The comedian plays a stepfather and boss to his family and friends, while he navigates his home life during the few days he spends off the road each week.

Garayua will play Carmen, Gabe’s girlfriend, the strict mother of 13-year-old Frankie.

Garayua’s recent credits include guest appearances on Criminal Minds, NCIS: Los Angeles, Anger Management and a recurring on Grey’s Anatomy.

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