Martinez to Star in Fox’s Drama Pilot “Behind Enemy Lines”

Benito Martinez is facing an Enemy

The 45-year-old Mexican American actor will star in Fox’s drama pilot Behind Enemy Lines, loosely based on the 2001 movie, in a recasting.

Benito Martinez

Written by Nikki Toscano and directed by McG, Behind Enemy Lines is described as a military soap thriller wherein a group of U.S. soldiers find themselves trapped behind enemy lines. It closely follows our soldiers on the ground and the officers and service men and women on a nearby aircraft carrier, along with intelligence officers in D.C. as they attempt to bring our heroes home safely and under the radar.

Martinez will play Mateo Rodriguez, a respected career Navy man and Executive Officer on the aircraft carrier USS Tyson. He replaces Nestor Carbonell, who originally was cast in the role. The decision was made after the Thursday table read, with the character getting slightly reconceived.

The pilot’s cast includes Marg HelgenbergerB.J. Britt, Gabriel Chavarria, Melia Kreiling, Colm Feore, Willa Fitzgerald and Dylan Bruno.

Martinez, an alum of The Shield, is doing a major arc on the current third season of ABC’s American Crime after co-starring in the first installment and guest starring in the second.

He’s finishing production on the Menendez Brothers movie for Lifetime. Martinez, who worked opposite Tom Cruise on the crime thriller American Made and had recurring roles on How to Get Away with Murder and The Blacklist.

Behind Enemy Lines hails from 20th Century Fox Television — whose feature sibling was behind the movie — studio-based Temple Hill and Davis Entertainment.

Gonzalez to Star in ABC’s Medical Drama Pilot “The Good Doctor”

Nicholas Gonzalez is scrubbing in…

The 41-year-old Mexican American actor has been cast in The Good Doctor, ABC’s medical drama pilot from House creator David Shore and Hawaii Five-0 co-star Daniel Dae Kim.

Nicholas Gonzalez

Written by Shore based on a South Korean format and directed by Seth Gordon, The Good Doctor centers on Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore), a young surgeon with Savant syndrome who is recruited into the pediatric surgical unit of a prestigious hospital.

Gonzalez, who was introduced in the final minutes of ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder season finale as a key character to the drama’s mystery, will play Dr. Neil Melendez, the boss of the surgical residents at the hospital.

Gonzalez is expected to return to HTGAWM next season as a recurring guest star, reprising his role as Dominick.

He previously recurred on another Shondaland drama series for ABC, Off the Map. Gonzalez will also appear in season 3 of Narcos on Netflix.

Ortiz to Star in ABC’s Comedy Pilot “Charlie Foxtrot”

Ana Ortiz is all about that base

The 46-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress has been cast as the female lead in ABC’s comedy pilot Charlie Foxtrot.

Ana Ortiz

Hailing from writer Sam Sklaver, Kapital Entertainment and ABC Studios, the project is set at Fort Bragg, an Army base in North Carolina.

It centers on Angelina Torres (Ortiz) and her two children, who live on the base. But, when Angelina loses her fiancé, Joe Taylor, killed in action in Iraq, it looks as though she’ll have to move. But Joe’s brother, Charlie Taylor (Jason Biggs), a dentist at the base, and usually a pushover, isn’t about to let that happen.

Torres’ Angelina is a well-meaning, fierce single mother-lion who believes in putting her kids first, even if that means crossing a few lines.

The casting of Ortiz, who starred in Devious Maids and Ugly Betty, stems from a talent deal ABC and ABC Studios signed with Ortiz immediately after Ortiz’s previous series, ABC Studios’ dramedy Devious Maids, ended its four-season run on Lifetime last summer. She decided on Charlie Foxtrot after being presented with several scripts.

This is Ortiz’s third consecutive pilot for ABC and ABC Studios, following the hourlong Ugly Betty and Devious Maids, both of which went to series, with the latter moving from ABC to Lifetime. Ortiz earned an ALMA Award and Imagen Award for her performance as Hilda on Ugly Betty.

Her television credits include appearances on How to Get Away with Murder, Revenge and Black-ish.

Martinez to Return for Season 3 of ABC’s Anthology Series “American Crime”

Benito Martinez is back to a life of Crime

The 45-year-old Latino actor is set to return for another installment of ABC’s anthology series American Crime.

Benito Martinez

Martinez, who co-starred in the first season of the series from John Ridley and guest starred in Season 2, will return for season 3.

He joins fellow retuning players Timothy Hutton, Felicity Huffman, Regina King, Lili Taylor, Richard Cabral and Connor Jessup in the acclaimed series, executive produced by Ridley and Michael McDonald.

His character provides a further glimpse into Season 3, which explores labor issues, economic divides and individual rights in North Carolina.

“Ever since Benito brought the role of Alonzo Gutierrez to life in season one, John and I have been looking for a character that would be as memorable and worthy of Benito’s talent. He will be tackling the role of a man searching for his missing son,” said McDonald.

Martinez, an alum of The Shield, recently worked opposite Tom Cruise on the crime thriller American Made. He had recurring roles on How To Get Away with Murder and The Blacklist.

Souza to Star in “Jacob’s Ladder” Remake

Karla Souza is climbing the ladder in Hollywood

The 30-year-old Mexican actress has landed a role in Jacob’s Ladder, director David M. Rosenthal’s re-imagining of the 1990 thriller.

Karla Souza

She’ll play Annie/Angel, a trauma nurse who works with Jacob’s medical crew in Afghanistan.

The LD Entertainment film was scripted by Jeff Buhler and Sarah Thorp.

Souza currently serves as a regular on ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder, which returns for Season 3 in the fall, and her latest film ¿Qué Culpa Tiene el Niño? opened at No. 1 in her native Mexico in May.

Starz Names Saracho Showrunner on Latin-Themed Project “Pour Vida”

Tanya Saracho has a new vida in Hollywood

Starz has named the Mexican-born playwright and television writer the showrunner for Pour Vida, a series in development.

Tanya Saracho

Inspired by a short story by Richard Villegas Jr., Pour Vida follows twin sisters, Brook and Lyn Hernandez, who inherit an East LA building from their recently deceased mother. They open Pour Vida, a new wine and tapas bar, in a building in Boyle Heights which houses a failing lesbian bar below and a village-like collection of Eastside denizens in three units above. Pour Vida is the sisters’ attempt to put the “gente” in the “gentefication” of the historic barrio.

Saracho has penned episodes of How to Get Away with Murder, Looking and Devious Maids and has also served as c0-producer on HTGWM and Looking.

Saracho has had plays produced at New York City’s Primary Stages (upcoming) and 2nd Stage, as well as the Denver Theatre Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and The Goodman Theater, among others.

She is currently in development with South Coast Repertory Theatre and Two Rivers Theatre.

Nolasco’s “American Crime” to Premiere on January 6 on ABC

Elvis Nolasco is ringing in the New Year with a little Crime

ABC has slated John Ridley’s American Crime, starring the Dominican actor, to premiere on January 6.

Elvis Nolasco

The second season of the critically acclaimed series will return for a second season on a new night, Wednesday, where it will air in Nashville’s 10:00 pm time slot while the country music drama is on winter hiatus. 

American Crime‘s second season is set in the U.S. Midwest at two high schools, one public and one private.

The first season of the show, which followed a racially charged murder and the subsequent trial, aired in the Thursday 10 PM slot, succeeding How To Get Away With Murder, which has shorter (18-episode) seasons per star Viola Davis’ contract.

This season, the plan is to keep the Shondaland branding on the night intact with the latest Shonda Rhimes-produced drama, The Catch, following HTGAWM in the 10:00 pm hour.

In Season 2, issues of sexual orientation and socioeconomic disparity come to a boil when lurid photos of a high school boy are posted on social media following a school party. Circumstances become more complicated when the boy accuses two players on an elite private high school’s championship basketball team of drugging, assaulting and then posting the pictures of him online.

Many of the Season 1 cast members are back, including stars Felicity Huffman and Timothy Hutton, as well as co-stars Regina King — who won an Emmy for her role — Lili Taylor and Nolasco, who are joined by Trevor Jackson, Connor Jessup, Joey Pollari and Angelique Rivera.

Lopez’s Revenge Drama “Lila & Eve” to Debut at the Sundance Film Festival

Jennifer Lopez apparently agrees with the saying, “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

The 45-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer and American Idol judge will be making an appearance at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Jennifer Lopez

Lopez’s latest film Lila & Eve, co-starring How To Get Away With Murder’s Viola Davis, will make its out of competition debut next month at the Utah-based festival.

The dramatic film centers on two distraught mothers, whose children were gunned down in a drive-by, as they team up to avenge their deaths after local authorities fail to take action.

Other films with Latino talent to be shown at next month’s Sundance Film Festival include Colombian director Rodrigo Garcia’s Last Days in the Desert and Colombian actor John Leguizamo’s Experimenter.

Here’s a closer look at the new additions to the Sundance Film Festival lineup featuring Latino talent:

PREMIERES

A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated narrative films of the coming year.

Experimenter / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Almereyda) — Experimenter is based on the true story of famed social psychologist Stanley Milgram, who in 1961 conducted a series of radical behavior experiments that tested ordinary humans’ willingness to obey authority by using electric shock. We follow Milgram from meeting his wife through his controversial experiments that sparked public outcry. Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Winona Ryder, Jim Gaffigan, Kellan Lutz, Taryn Manning, John Leguizamo.

Last Days in the Desert / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Rodrigo Garcia) — Ewan McGregor is Jesus — and the Devil — in an imagined chapter from his 40 days of fasting and praying in the desert. On his way out of the wilderness, Jesus struggles with the Devil over the fate of a family in crisis, setting himself up for a dramatic test. Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ciarán Hinds, Ayelet Zurer, Tye Sheridan.

Lila & Eve / U.S.A. (Director: Charles Stone III, Screenwriter: Patrick Gilfillan) — Lila, a grief-stricken mother reeling from her son’s murder, attends a support group where she meets Eve, who urges her to take matters into her own hands to track down her son’s killers. They soon embark on a journey of revenge, but also recovery. Cast: Viola Davis, Jennifer Lopez, Shea Whigham, Julius Tennon, Ron Caldwell, Aml Ameen.

Rodriguez’s “Jane the Virgin” Named to the American Film Institute’s List of Best TV Shows of 2014

The kudos keep coming in for Gina Rodriguez’s latest project…

The 30-year-old Puerto Rican actress’ critically acclaimed CW series Jane the Virgin has been named to the American Film Institute’s list of the best television shows of the year, which it calls “culturally and artistically representative of the year’s most significant achievements in the art of the moving image.”

Gina Rodriguez in Jane the Virgin

Rodriguez’s Jane the Virgin is among five freshman series named to the AFI’s 10 choices, along with ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder, Cinemax’s The Knick, HBO’s Silicon Valley and Amazon’s Transparent.

Also making the list are FX’s The Americans and Fargo, HBO’s Game Of Thrones, Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black and AMC’s Mad Men.

“We celebrate these… television programs as more than just milestones in a year of excellence.” AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale said. “They are a part of our American cultural heritage – collectively, a new chapter in the story of the art form and of our nation.”

In October, Jane the Virgin received a full-season order after garnering overwhelming support from critics and viewers alike. Additionally, it turned Rodriguez into one of these season’s breakout stars.

Jane The Virgin, based on a Venezuelan telenovela, is produced by CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television, in association with Electus.

ABC to Premiere “American Crime,” Featuring Nolasco, in March

Elvis Nolasco is bringing a dose of crime to Thursdays…

ABC has announced the premiere date for drama American Crime, starring the Dominican actor.

Elvis Nolasco

Written, directed and executive-produced by John Ridley, the series chronicles the aftermath of a brutal attack on a young couple.

American Crime debuts on Thursday, March 5 at 10:00 pm, one week after How to Get Away with Murder ends its freshman season with a two-hour finale on February 26.

In addition to Nolasco, the series also stars Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton,W. Earl Brown, Richard Cabral, Caitlin Gerard, Benito Martinez, Penelope Ann Miller and Johnny Ortiz.