Lindsay Mendez Starring in Ryan Murphy’s FX Anthology Series “American Sports Story”

Posted on November 4, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Lindsay Mendez is getting in the game…

The 40-year-old Mexican American Broadway singer/actress has been cast as a series regular alongside Josh Andrés Rivera and Patrick Schwarzenegger in Ryan Murphy’s FX anthology American Sports Story.

American Sports Story, a new extension of Murphy’s “American Story” franchise, is a scripted anthological limited series focusing on a prominent event involving a sports figure and re-examines it through the prism of today’s world, telling that story from multiple perspectives.

The first installment, written by Stu Zicherman, is based on the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc. from the Boston Globe and Wondery.

It charts the rise and fall of NFL superstar Aaron Hernandez, played by Rivera, and explores the connections of the disparate strands of his identity, his family, his career, his suicide, and their legacy in sports and American culture. Schwarzenegger portrays Hernandez’s friend, former college teammate and fellow former NFL star Tim Tebow.

Mendez plays Tanya Singleton, Aaron’s cousin and favorite relative who becomes his de-facto mother.

Mendez, a Tony Award winner for Carousel, is currently back on Broadway top-lining the praised revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll along opposite Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff.

She most recently was a series regular on the Warner Bros. series All Rise for CBS and then OWN.

Josh Andrés Rivera to Star as the Late Aaron Hernandez in FX’s “American Sports Story” Anthology Series

Posted on November 3, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Josh Andrés Rivera is hitting the football field…

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican actor will star in the first installment of Ryan Murphy’s American Sports Story anthology series for FX.

Rivera will portray the late former NFL star Aaron Hernandez in the season that’s based on the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc. from the Boston Globe and Wondery.

Rivera’s co-star will be Patrick Schwarzenegger as fellow former NFL star Tim Tebow.

The first installment charts the rise and fall of NFL superstar Hernandez and explores the connections of the disparate strands of his identity, his family, his career, his suicide, and their legacy in sports and American culture.

Tebow and Hernandez were longtime friends going back before their time in the National Football League. They were onetime teammates at the University of Florida, where they won the 2008 SEC Championship and went on to beat Oklahoma for the BCS Championship title. Tebow was known for looking out for Hernandez while on the team, including protecting Hernandez from being kicked off over marijuana use and helping to diffuse a situation in a bar when Hernandez got into an altercation with the bar manager. The two first met when Tebow hosted Hernandez on a recruiting trip to UF before he graduated high school.

Both castings were completed in early 2023, prior to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, but were never confirmed by FX.

“We have a fairly complete set of scripts for American Sports Story by Stu Zicherman,” FX chairman John Landgraf said back on January 12, noting at the time that the series is “heading toward production.”

That was delayed by the WGA strike, which started in May, and the SAG-AFTRA strike, which has been going on since July.

American Sports Story, one of two new offshoots in Murphy’s “American Story” franchise alongside American Love Story, is a scripted anthological limited series focusing on a prominent event involving a sports figure and re-examines it through the prism of today’s world, telling that story from multiple perspectives.

Rivera next stars in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. He recently played Chino in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story. He notably performed in the original company on the first national tour of Hamilton.

Bella Thorne to Star in the Indie Revenge Thriller “Leave Not One Alive”

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Bella Thorne is coming Alive…

The 20-year-old half-Cuban American singer/actresswill star opposite Academy Award winner Melissa Leo in Leave Not One Alive, an independent revenge thriller written and directed by Jordan Galland.

The film, currently filming in New York, hails from Ace Pictures Entertainmentand DeerJen. Jake Weary, Michael Potts, Benedict Samuel, Kevin Corrigan and I Feel Pretty’s Adrian Martinez co-star.

The plot follows a theater actress, Lillian Cooper (Leo) whose son (Weary) dies mysteriously. When the investigating officer (Potts) rules the cause of death an accidental overdose, Lillian conducts her own investigation which leads her to an unlikely alliance with her son’s former drug dealer (Thorne). On her quest for answers, Lillian hallucinates some of the iconic characters she’s played on stage which serve as her inner voice, urging her to avenge her son’s death.

Throne starred alongside Patrick Schwarzenegger in Midnight Sun. She’ll next appear in Sam Levinson’s Assassination Nation and Xavier Dolan’s The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.

Open Road Films Acquires Thorne’s Romantic Drama “Midnight Sun”

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Bella Thorne is hitting the Open Road with her new film next July…

Open Road Films has acquired the U.S. rights to Midnight Sun, the Scott Speer-directed romantic drama starring the 19-year-old half-Cuban American actress, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Rob Riggle and Quinn Shepard.

Open Road committed a seven-figure minimum guarantee and a P&A commitment for a wide release. The distributor has set a wide release for July 14, 2017.

The romantic drama follows 17-year-old Katie Price (Thorne), sheltered since childhood with a life-threatening sensitivity to sunlight. Katie’s world opens up after dark when she ventures out to play her guitar for travelers. One night, she meets Charlie (Schwarzenegger), whom she has secretly admired for years. She hides her condition from him, and the two embark on a uniquely powerful romance that takes place over the summer.

The picture is based on the Japanese film Taiyo No Uta, and Eric Kirsten wrote the script.

Open Road confirmed the deal. “We were swept off our feet by this romantic film,” Open Road CEO Tom Ortenberg said. “The movie had men and women – young and old – in tears, and we could tell immediately how strongly this story, and the fantastic performances by leads Bella and Patrick, would resonate with audiences of all ages.”

Alba to Serve as Adviser on NBC’s “The New Celebrity Apprentice”

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Jessica Alba is ready to advise…

The 35-year-old half-Mexican American actress, author and entrepreneur will serve as an adviser on NBC’s The New Celebrity Apprentice.

The series, set in Los Angeles with new host Arnold Schwarzenegger reigning over the boardroom, will premiere at 8:00 pm on Monday, January 2.

In addition to Alba, the founder and chief creative officer of the Honest Company and Honest Beauty, the new season’s advisers include investment guru Warren Buffett, Los Angeles Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer; supermodel and actress Tyra Banks, CEO of the Tyra Banks Company and cosmetics brand Tyra Beauty; and entertainment attorney Patrick Schwarzenegger, Arnold’s nephew.

Thorne Signs with Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Bella Thorne is getting Creative…

The 18-year-old half Cuban American actress/singer and former Disney Channel star has signed with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

The move comes as Thorne, who has been branching out fast into feature films as both an actress and producer, just finished filming Midnight Sun opposite Patrick Schwarzenegger, Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween and The Babysitter with Robbie Amell and directed by McG.

On the TV side, her Freeform pilot Famous in Love, adapted by Marlene King, has landed a series order.

Her recent credits include the SXSW pic Shovel Buddies, which she also produced, and Thorne now is in production on a second Awesomeness Films movie, You Get Me, in which she will also star and produce. She is voicing a role in Focus Features’ animated Ratchet and Clank and over the summer will begin production on Xavier Dolan’s The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.

She had been repped by WME.

Thorne has 11.3 million Instagram followers, 9.9 million Facebook fans and 6.3 million Twitter followers. She also has a novel, Autumn Falls, and another, Autumn’s Kiss, coming in the fall.

Thorne to Star Opposite Patrick Schwarzenegger in the YA Film “Midnight Sun”

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Bella Thorne is ready to ride off into the Sun(set)…

The 17-year-old half-Cuban American actress-singer will star opposite Patrick Schwarzenegger in Midnight Sun, a Young Adult (YA) love story.

Based on a 2006 Japanese film, Midnight Sun centers on Katie (Thorne), a 17-year-old sheltered since childhood and confined to her house during the day by a rare disease that makes even the smallest amount of sunlight deadly. Fate intervenes when she meets Charlie (Schwarzenegger) and they embark on a summer romance.

Scott Speer (Step Up: Revolution) is set to direct the film from a script by Eric Kirsten, with a September shooting start planned.

Thorne, a former Disney Channel star, recently signed on to the AwesomenessTV movie Shovel Buddies and is attached to the ABC Family drama project Famous In Love from Pretty Little Liars exec producer/showrunner I. Marlene King.

She’ll next appear on television on MTV’s new series Scream.

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