Hernandez to Compete on Season 23 of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Laurie Hernandez is heading from the beam to the ballroom…

The 16-year-old Puerto Rican gymnast, who helped lead Team USA’s Women’s Gymnastics team to gold at the 2016 Rio Games, has joined ABC’s Dancing with the Stars for Season 23.

Hernandez, who won an individual silver medal for her balance beam routine at the 2016 Summer Olympics, will be paired with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy.

But Hernandez isn’t the only Hispanic celebrity hitting the dance floor this season…

Controversial Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, will compete this season. The 32-year-old half-Cuban American swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist, who said he made a “very big mistake” when he claimed to have been held up at gunpoint during the Rio Games, will be paired with professional dancer Cheryl Burke.

Meanwhile, former The Fosters star Jake T. Austin will also make a bid for the Mirror Ball trophy. The 21-year-old part-Puerto Rican, Argentine and Spanish actor will be paired with professional dancer Jenna Johnson.

Other celebrity competitors set to foxtrot their way onto the show include Former Texas governor and GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry, Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson, Indy race car driver James Hinchcliffe, Brady Bunch’s Maureen McCormick, actress Marilu Henner, Amber Rose, rapper/reality star Vanilla Ice, R&B singer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Little Women: LA’s Terra Jole, and country music singer/actress Jana Kramer.

Season 23 will see the return of pros Derek and Julianne Hough, who last appeared in 2015. Derek, a six-time Dancing champ, will be back as a dancer, while Julianne will serve as a judge.

Also returning is pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy, He last appeared in 2014 when he and Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis won the mirror ball trophy in Season 18. And Burke is back, after leaving the show in 2014.

Julianne Hough, a former pro dancer on the show, is expected to be joined at the judge’s table by Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman, who judged with Hough the past two iterations of the ballroom dance competition series.

Here are the new season’s dance pairings:

Cheryl Burke with Ryan Lochte
Maksim Chmerkovskiy with Amber Rose
Valentin Chmerkovskiy with Laurie Hernandez
Emma Slater with Rick Perry
Derek Hough with Marilu Henner
Artem Chigvintsev with Maureen McCormick
Sasha Farber with Terra Jole
Witney Carson with Vanilla Ice
Lindsay Arnold with Calvin Johnson
Jenna Johnson with Jake T. Austin
Allison Holker with Babyface
Sharna Burgess with James Hinchcliffe
Gleb Savchenko with Jana Kramer

The new season of Dancing With The Stars premieres on Monday, September 12.

Ramirez to Star in Lifetime’s Television Movie “Drink, Slay, Love”

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Cierra Ramirez is taking a bite out of a new project…

The 21-year-old Latina actress and The Fosters star will star in Drink, Slay, Love, a television movie based on Sarah Beth Durst’s novel of the same name.

Directed by Vanessa Parise, the film follows Pearl, portrayed by Ramirez, a typical 16-year-old vampire — fond of blood, allergic to the sun, and generally pretty evil. After a mysterious attack leaves her able to survive in the daylight, Pearl’s powerful family quickly takes advantage of this new ability, sending her to high school to gather fresh young blood for an upcoming feast in honor of the Vampire King. The only problem is that Pearl is starting to grow a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends to be slaughtered? Then again, she’s definitely dead if she lets her family down.

Gregg Sulkin, Zach Peladeau, McKaley Miller, Angelique Rivera, Sarah Desjardins and Jasmine Sky Sarin will co-star.

The pic was adapted by Eirene Donohue, with Sheri Singer of Just Singer Entertainment serving as executive producer along with Bella Thorne.

Shooting has already started and the film is set to air on Lifetime in early 2017.

Ramirez Releases Video for New Single “Faded”

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Cierra Ramirez is stepping into the music world…

The 21-year-old Latina actress/singer, best known for her role as Mariana Adams-Foster in the ABC Family/Freeform series The Fosters, has released the official music video for new single “Faded.”

Signed to Tribeca Music Group, Ramirez — nicknamed “Miss Thang” — is growing out of her beloved television persona on FThe Fosters and into her music career with a pop and R&B sound.

Ramirez released her first EP, Discreet, on Monday, with six pop/R&B tracks, including “Faded.”

The “Faded” clip is the first video to come from Ramirez’s new EP.

“A lot of artists and projects get presented to me, but Cierra has that something special that I knew my listeners would react to,” DJ Carisma of L.A.’s Real 92.3 tells Billboard in a statement. “We cut some great records, and Cierra slayed on the vocals and shines in the video. Young California welcomes a new #YoungQueen.”

The sexy pop video features Ramirez alongside hip-hop artist Casey Veggies and Canadian artist Honey C.

Centineo Replacing Jake T. Austin on ABC Family’s Drama Series “The Fosters”

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Noah Centineo is headed into Fosters care…

The 19-year-old Latino actor has joined the cast of ABC Family’s award-winning drama The Fosters as a series regular in a recasting.

He’ll play Jesus Adams Foster, originally played by Jake T. Austin, who left the series at the end of Season 2.

Austin tweeted in March that he had decided to exit the series and when Jesus had gotten into a traumatic accident at the end of the season, it was believed his character had been killed off. But it was revealed in the Season 3 opener that Jesus survived and had gone off to boarding school.

Centineo, best known for playing the role of Dallas in Austin & Ally and Jaden in How to Build a Better Boy, will join the series in the second half of Season 3, premiering in 2016.

He also appeared in the Disney Channel’s Shake It Up, Jessie and Growin Up and Down.

Santos to Star Opposite Bella Thorne in CBS Films’ Teen Comedy “The DUFF”

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Bianca Santos is heading back to high school…

The Cuban- and Brazilian-American actress has joined the cast of CBS Films’ upcoming teen comedy The DUFF, which will also star Bella Thorne.

Directed by Ari Sandel, the film is an adaptation of the Kody Keplinger’s young adult novel The DUFF: (Designated Ugly Fat Friend).

Mae Whitman stars in the comedy about contented high schooler named Bianca, whose world is shattered when she discovers the student body knows her as ‘The Duff’ (Designated Ugly Fat Friend). She reinvents herself, setting out to overthrow the school’s reigning queen bee.

Santos,who starred on the first season ofABC Family’s The Fosters, will portray one of Bianca’s more popular friends.

Thorne will star as Bianca’s ruthless rival Madison.

Ken Jeong is set to play her favorite teacher, with Nick Eversman playing Bianca’s crush and Robbie Amell as a slick and charming jock she enlists for her grand scheme.

Josh Cagan adapted the script from Keplinger’s novel.

Lopez’s “The Fosters” to be Recognized at the Television Academy Honors

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Jennifer Lopez is earning praise from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences…

The Television Academy has announced this year’s honorees for the Seventh Annual Television Academy Honors, with the 44-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer/television producer’s The Fosters making the grade.

The ABC Family drama series, executive-produced by Lopez, is being heralded for carving its own niche within the ever-evolving landscape of modern television.

The show centers on a multi-ethnic family of foster and biological kids being raised by a lesbian couple (Teri Polo and Sherri Saum). They have built a close-knit, loving family when their lives are disrupted in unexpected ways by the addition of a hardened teen girl who has spent her life in the foster care system.

The series stars Jake T. Austin and Cierra Ramirez as two of the couple’s adopted children.

The other programs being recognized are The Big C: Hereafter, Comedy Warriors: Healing Through Humor, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House Of God, Mom, Screw You Cancer and Vice.

The Television Academy Honors recipients are being honored for using the power of television to bring awareness to important social issues.

For the first time this year, beginning the week of May 25, the recipients will be celebrated with special daily content on the Television Academy’s digital platforms and on Yahoo TV.

Dana Delany will host the awards ceremony set for June 1 at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Machado Starring in Lifetime Film’s “The Last of Robin Hood”

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Justina Machado hasn’t heard the last of Robin Hood…

The 41-year-old Puerto Rican actress has a role in Lifetime Film’s The Last of Robin Hood, which was recently acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films for U.S. distribution.

The Kevin Kline-starrer was co-written and co-directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland.

The biopic focuses on the final years of Errol Flynn’s life (Kline), as well as his May-December romance with starlet Beverly Aadland (Dakota Fanning), and the role of Aadland’s mother (Susan Sarandon) had in encouraging the relationship.

“The Last Of Robin Hood captures a very unique aspect of Hollywood and celebrity,” Samuel Goldwyn Films SVP Peter Goldwyn said in announcing the pickup.

“The film takes place in 1959, but it might as well be 2014. You have an aging superstar struggling to maintain his fame, a starlet chasing her big break, a manipulative ‘stage’ mother, and the public’s timeless curiosity, almost obsession with, ‘celebrity.’ The non-stop, sensational tabloid coverage of Errol Flynn’s life and relationship mirrors exactly the kind of coverage this story would receive in Hollywood 55 years later.”

The Last of Robin Hood also stars Bryan Batt, Max Casella, Jason Davis, Matt Kane, Patrick St. Esprit and Ric Reitz.

Samuel Goldwyn Films is planning a fall theatrical release for the biopic.

Lifetime network-affiliated Lifetime Films was launched as a division of A+E Studios in June 2013 and develops, produces and acquires female-focused indie movies. Robin Hood was its first project. It since has partnered with Viola Davis, Julius Tennon’s JuVee Prods. and Sara Risher’s ChickFlicks to produce Lila And Eve, starring Davis and Jennifer Lopez.

Machado’s previous credts include Welcome to the Family, The Fosters, Private Practice, Switched at Birth and Desperate Housewives.

Lopez to Receive Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a Vanguard moment for Jennifer Lopez…

The 44-year-old Puerto Rican singer-actress and American Idol judge will be feted at the GLAAD Media Awards next month, the LGBT advocacy organization announced Monday.

Lopez, an executive producer on ABC Family’s The Fosters, will be recognized with the Vanguard Award at the ceremony, which will take place at the Beverly Hilton on April 12.

The Vanguard Award is presented to artists and media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Along with her strong support of LGBT issues in the media, Lopez is being recognized for her work on The Fosters, a GLAAD Media Award-nominated drama series about a lesbian couple raising a family of biological, adopted and foster children. Lopez’s inspiration for producing The Fosters came from her late aunt, who faced prejudice because of her sexual orientation and was unable to have her own family.

“Through her work to bring The Fosters to life and by consistently speaking out as a powerful ally, Jennifer Lopez has not only sent a message of acceptance to LGBT adults and young people, but inspired new support for our community among her many fans around the globe,” said GLAAD CEO and president Sarah Kate Ellis. “Family is about love, and that’s a message Jennifer has shared with millions through her groundbreaking work on The Fosters.”

Previous Vanguard honorees include Antonio Banderas, Drew Barrymore, Kristin Chenoweth, Whoopi Goldberg, Josh Hutcherson, Janet Jackson, Eric McCormack, Liza Minnelli, Sharon Stone and Elizabeth Taylor.

Lopez to Topline NBC’s Detective Drama “Shades of Blue”

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Jennifer Lopez is joining the force…

The 44-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer and American Idol judge will star in an NBC detective drama Shades of Blue, which has received a 13-episode straight-to-series order from the network.

Produced by Lopez and Ryan Seacrest and written by Adi Hasak, the complex police series centers on Harlee McCord (portrayed by Lopez), a single mother and detective recruited to work undercover for the FBI’s anti-corruption task force.

Part of a close-knit unit known for its conviction record, Harlee has become compromised by her colleagues — all of whom also pitch in to help her raise her daughter — and finds herself faced with the moral dilemma of working against her cop brothers in order to redeem herself.

The project will begin working on scripts in June with an eye toward a 2015 production start date, all for the 2015-16 season.

“Whether its producing, acting, singing or any of her other many entrepreneurial activities, Jennifer is an extraordinary talent and life force, and we’re delighted to be in business with her and Adi Hasak on this sophisticated show,” said NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke. “We’re especially excited that Jennifer is returning to her acting roots from such great movies as Out of Sight, and we know that she will create this complicated character in a vivid way that will breathe new life into the cop show genre. Ryan Seacrest is part of the NBCU family and doing his first scripted drama series with us makes perfect sense.”

After a couple of brief television series gigs in the early 1990s, Lopez transitioned into features with her breakout starring roles in 1997′s Selena and 1998′s Out of Sight.

For the past two decades, she has largely stayed away from scripted series sans a couple of guest starring stints, including Will & Grace and How I Met Your Mother, while becoming a reality star as a judge on American Idol.

As a producer, she has a hit with ABC Family’s drama series The Fosters.

Santos to Star in the Suspense Thriller “Ouija”

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

It’s summons time for Bianco Santos…

The Cuban and Brazilian American actress has joined the cast of the suspense thriller Ouija, based on the famous board game, which will begin filming in Los Angeles this week.

But Santos, who most recently starred in ABC Family‘s The Fosters, isn’t the only Latina who will be summoning the spirits in the film…

Newcomer Ana Coto and Paranormal Activity 2 actress Vivis Colombetti have also been cast in the film, which is being directed by Stiles White.

The story centers around a group of friends who use the Ouija board to try to make contact with a recently deceased friend, but end up awakening a dark presence.

Juliet Snowden and White (Knowing) wrote the script.

As previously reported, Olivia Cooke and Douglas Smith will star in the film which will be distributed by Universal Pictures.

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