Marcel Ruiz is bringing his Body to Netflix this fall.
Netflix has set the release date for The Body, an upcoming eight-episode series starring the 23-year-old Puerto Rican actor, for November 11.
Created by Quinn Shephard, the series follows a group of badly-behaved Catholic school girls, who begin having prophetic visions that set off mass hysteria in town after a dance-team initiation goes wrong.
Shephard directs the premiere and serves as showrunner for the gritty drama, starring Kristina Bogic, Sara Boustany, Geena Meszaros, Nnamdi Asomugha, Louisa Krause, Shirley Chen, Jackson Kelly, Sofia Wylie, with Gabby Windey, Kyra Pierce, Phallon Pierce, Orlando Norman, Ashley Madekwe, Motell Foster, Cale Ambrozic, Anna Tierney, Chloe Longname, Sarah Abbott, Emily Roman, Michela Luci, Bella Neuspiel, Julia Lowe and Christine Solomon.
Ruiz portrays Tyler Santos on the series. (See still of his character below.)
Shephard calls The Body “a love letter to all the ’90s and Y2K teen movies and erotic thrillers” she loved growing up. This includes movies like Carrie, Jennifer’s Body, Heavenly Creatures, and even Mean Girls. The Crucible and the Salem witch trials also have heavy influence. She also calls in her “most personal” project yet.
“I’ve always been interested in the idea of girlhood as a religious experience. This story is definitely my way of putting a playful spin on all the nightmares of my own teenage-dom,” Shephard says. “Tonally, I would describe the show as gritty camp. It’s a raunchy teen psychodrama with a dash of Catholic horror.
Executive producers include Peter Chernin, Amy Israel and Josh Stern for North Road, Riley Keough, Gina Gammell and Sacha Ben Harroche for Felix Culpa as well as Blair Breard.
Ruiz is best known for his breakout role as Alex Alvarez in the sitcom One Day at a Time and as John Smith in the feature film Breakthrough.
