Danny Trejo is mixed-ing things up…
The 78-year-old Mexican American actor and Machete star has landed a role in American Underdog, an indie drama set in the world of MMA.
Veronica Falcón will also star in the film, which is now in production in Chicago.
The film, marking the feature directorial debut of Peruvian-American filmmaker Gustavo Martin, will also star Vishy Ayyar and Andrew Gray.
The film’s protagonist is Jai (Ayyar), an ex-con on a soulful path wrestling with personal redemption when outside circumstances pit him in the ring against the fierce opponent, Marcus (Gray).
Trejo portrays Dennis, who reluctantly comes out of retirement to train his former student, while Falcón steps into the role of Marcella, a local gym owner and community legend shepherding Jai in his return to fighting.
A production of Peach Partners, in association with Mulberry Films and MxW Ventures, American Underdog will also star Suleka Mathew (Your Honor), Taylor Treadwell (Big Little Lies), Omi Vaidya (3 Idiots), Ranjita Chakravarty (Never Have I Ever) and Jaspal Binning (The Newsroom).
Martin and Matthew Mascia wrote the script, with Naveen A. Chathapuram (The Last Victim, Brown Nation), Rashaana Shah (IFC’s Bollywood Hero) and Cristy Coors Beasley (The Westsiders, LonelyGirl15) aboard to produce.
Trejo is best known for his work in such films as Machete, Grindhouse, Planet Terror, From Dusk Till Dawn, Heat, Good Mourning, The Ridiculous 6, Predators, Halloween, Smiley Face, The Devil’s Rejects, the Spy Kids franchise, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, xXx and Con Air, among many others.
His notable television credits include Better Things, American Gods, The Flash and Sons of Anarchy.
Falcón can currently be seen in the second season of HBO’s Perry Mason and has also appeared on shows like Ozark, Why Women Kill and Queen of the South, to name a few.
Her notable film credits for the actress include The Starling, Jungle Cruise, The Forever Purge and Voyagers. Up next for release for her is the Amazon Studios drama A Million Miles Away with Rosa Salazar, Garret Dillahunt and Michael Peña.
