The 57-year-old Latino film and television director has been tapped to direct and executive produce ABC’s drama pilot Promised Land..
Written by Matt Lopez, Promised Land is an epic, generation-spanning drama about two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley.
The cast includes John Ortiz as Joe Sandoval, patriarch of the Sandoval family, Cecilia Suárez as Lettie Sandoval, matriarch of the Sandoval family, Augusto Aguilera as Mateo Sandoval, the hardworking, highly capable general manager of the Heritage Vineyard and stepson to patriarch Joe Sandoval, Mariel Molino as Camila Sandoval, the youngest daughter of the Sandoval family, Christina Ochoa as Veronica Sandoval, the eldest daughter of the Sandovals, as well as Andres Velez as Carlos Rincón, a young immigrant who comes to the Heritage Vineyard in search of a better life.
Lopez executive produces with Cuesta and Adam Kolbrenner of Lit Entertainment Group. ABC Signature is the studio.
Cuesta also is one of the directors, working with Barry Levinson, onDopesick,Hulu’s upcoming eight-episode limited series written by Danny Strong, based on Beth Macy’s bestselling book, from The Handmaid’s Taleexecutive producer Warren Littlefield and Touchstone Television.
He most recently served as executive producer and director, including on the pilot episode, of Homeland, which recently wrapped its eighth and final season on Showtime.
In addition to Homeland, Cuesta directed the pilots for Dexter, Blue Bloodsand City on a Hill. His episodic directing credits include Elementary, True BloodandBillions, among others.
The 56-year-old Puerto Rican actor has been cast in the series Titans.
He’ll portray Deathstroke, the fan-favorite assassin and archenemy of Teen Titans leader Dick Grayson.
The Titans, the first original programming franchise for the DC Universesubscription steaming site, launched in September and finished its first season in December. The weekly show follows the superhero squad that’s led by Batman’s former sidekick, Robin, aka Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites), and includes the hot-tempered alien princess Starfire (Anna Diop), the mysterious empath Raven (Teagan Croft), and the green-skinned shape-shifter Beast Boy (Ryan Potter).
That Titans line-up of characters was introduced with much fanfare in the pages of DC Comicsback in 1980. The team, created by Marv Wolfmanand George Perez, didn’t have to wait long to find their signature antagonist: Deathstroke the Terminatorwas introduced in issue No. 2 of The New Teen Titansin December 1980.
The character bio from the show’s producers: “Slade Wilson is known for being DC’s deadliest assassin. While serving his country, Slade became an elite soldier before government testing enhanced his physiology to near superhuman levels, putting him on a path of darkness and revenge. To his family, Slade is a father and husband, but to the rest of the world, he is feared by many as the infamous Deathstroke; selling his services to the highest bidder as the ruthless assassin that never gives up and never misses.”
The character is well known to fans of the popular Teen Titans animated series from Cartoon Network as well as the show’s 2018 tie-in feature film Teen Titans Go! to the Movies. Deathstrokehas also been portrayed by Manu Bennett in 36 episodes of The CWseries Arrow while Joe Manganiello (True Blood) appeared as the assassin in the 2017 feature film Justice League but only with an uncredited cameo.
The DC Comics character represents an interesting footnote in Marvel Comicshistory. The character Deadpool, portrayed by Ryan Reynoldsin the popular R-rated Foxfilm franchise, was created by Fabian Niciezaand Rob Liefeldin 1990 as a thinly disguised version of the DC villain. Not only do the characters share similar costumes, Deadpool’s alias is Wade Wilson, which in fact rhymes with Slade Wilson.
Adding a bit more confusion, both Deadpool and Deathstroke have similar attributes to Deadshot, a DC Comics villain introduced in the 1970s and portrayed by Will Smithon the big screen in Suicide Squad in 2016.
Morales, rose to acclaim in his feature film breakthrough role as Bob Morales in Taylor Hackford’s La Bamba, the landmark 1985 biopic about Ritchie Valens.
Morales’ feature film credits include Bad Boys, Mi Familia, Fast Food Nation, The Line, The Disappearance of Garcia Lorcaand Gun Hill Road, a film he executive produced and starred in. Gun Hill Road was a grand Jury Nominee at the Sundance Film Festivalin 2011. Most recently he starred in Sony’s Superflyand the indie film The Wall of Mexico.
Morales’ recent television credits include Ozark(Netflix), Mozart In The Jungle (Amazon Prime), Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO), and Chicago PD (NBC). Morales also had notable credits over the years on shows such as NYPD Blue (ABC), Miami Vice (NBC),Fame (NBC) Law and Order: SVU (NBC), Caprica(Syfy), and Criminal Minds (CBS).
The supernatural series, based on the book series from True Blood author Charlaine Harris, will now premiere on Monday, July 24, instead of Tuesday, July 25, in the same 10:00 pm ET time slot.
The move to Mondays allows the show to make its full run in the same time slot throughout the summer. Monday 10:00 pm also is historically a strong time slot for summer – CBS launched Under the Dome in that slot and the series ran for three seasons.
Additionally, the series premiere for Jennifer Lopez’s World of Dancehas moved to 10:00 pm ET on Tuesday, May 30 from its original May 8 slot, now piggybacking with the return of America’s Got Talent.
The move also allows the show to remain on Tuesdays throughout its run. It initially was scheduled to switch to Tuesdays after three weeks.
Hollywood Game Nighthas moved to June 22, from its original date of August 7. With that, The Walltime slot has shifted to 9:00 pm ET, and The Night Shift to 10:00 pm ET.
Here’s the revamped schedule:
TUESDAY, MAY 30 8 PM AMERICA’S GOT TALENT Premiere (previously announced)
10 PM WORLD OF DANCE Premiere (new date)
THURSDAY, JUNE 22 8 PM HOLLYWOOD GAME NIGHT Premiere (new date)
9 PM THE WALL Premiere (new time)
10 PM THE NIGHT SHIFT Premiere (new time)
MONDAY, JULY 24 10 PM MIDNIGHT, TEXAS Premiere (new date)
Yul Vazquez is preparing for a rendezvous at the witching hour…
NBC will premiere Midnight, Texas, starring the 52-year-old Cuban American actor, on Tuesday, July 25 at 10:00 pm ET.
One of the network’s new shows for the 2016-2017 season, the thriller is based on the book series from True Blood author Charlaine Harris.
In addition to Vazquez, who portrays Rev. Emilio Sheehan on the supernatural series, the cast also includes François Arnaud, Dylan Bruce, Parisa Fitz-Henley, Arielle Kebbel, Jason Lewis, Peter Mensah and Sarah Ramos.
Vazquez’s previous television credits include appearances on HBO’s Divorce, The Lottery, Person of Interest, The Good Wife and Magic City.
The 51-year-old Cuban actor and musician has been cast as a series regular in NBC’s supernatural drama pilotMidnight, Texas, based on the best-selling trilogy by Charlaine Harris.
Written by Monica Owusu-Breen and directed by Niels Arden Oplev, the project is described as “Twin Peaks meets True Blood” in Midnight, Texas, a remote town where your neighbor could be a vampire, a witch, a werewolf, or even an angel.
Vazquez will portray the Reverand, a grizzled Mexican cowboy who always wears his Stetson boots. He presides over the wedding chapel and cemetery.
Vazquez played the series regular role of President Westwood on The Lottery. His other credits include television appearances on Person of Interest, Magic Cityand The Good Wife.
The 39-year-old Mexican American actor has been cast as a series regular on Fox’s comic book midseason drama Lucifer.
Alejandro, who appeared on True Blood and Arrow, replaces Nicholas Gonzalez who played the role in the pilot, written by Tom Kapinos and directed by Len Wiseman.
Based on the characters from the DC Entertainment’s Vertigo, the series, from Warner Bros. Television and Jerry Bruckheimer Television, centers on Lucifer (Tom Ellis) who, bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for the gorgeous, shimmering insanity of Los Angeles, where he gets his kicks helping the LAPD punish criminals.
Alejandro will play Dan, a gruff LAPD homicide detective who is wary of Lucifer’s involvement with his wife and daughter.
Alejandro just recently became available, coming off the A&E drama The Returned. He previously was a regular onSouthland and Golden Boy.
Kevin Alejandro’s latest project has found safe passage to U.S. theaters…
ARC Entertainment has acquired the North American distribution rights to Safelight, starring the 39-year-0ld Mexican American actor and True Blood alum.
From writer/director Tony Aloupis, the film also stars Evan Peters and Juno Temple.
Safelight tells the story of three desperate individuals whose paths perilously cross in a dusty desert town. Charles (Peters) is a high school senior with physical challenges; Vicki (Temple) is a troubled runaway turning tricks at a truck stop; and Skid (Alejandro) is her dangerously psychotic pimp, who has a huge chip on his shoulder. Their lives take a menacing turn when the Charles and Vicki embark on a road trip without Skid up the California coast to photograph lighthouses. The three characters eventually face each other in a violent showdown that will change their lives forever.”
The film will be released in theaters and on VOD on July 17.
The 28-year-old part-Spanish actress/singer has landed a role in Scream Queens, the follow-up Fox series from Gleecreators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan.
The first installment in the new anthology series revolves around a college campus, which is rocked by a series of murders. Fifteen one-hour episodes have been ordered.
Production is scheduled to begin in the spring, with the series premiering in fall 2015 on Fox.
Also joining the cast are Joe Manganiello (True Blood), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) and Keke Palmer (Akeela and the Bee). Additionally, Ariana Grande will have a recurring role.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Emma Roberts were previously cast in starring roles.
The 42-year-old Colombian actress and Modern Family star and her current boyfriend, actor Joe Manganiello, are reportedly engaged to be married, according to several U.S. media outlets.
While neither of the artists’ reps have confirmed the news, showbiz publications like US Weekly say the actor asked for Vergara’s hand in marriage on Christmas Day during the couple’s vacation trip to Hawaii.
According to US Weekly, which cites sources close to the couple, the True Blood star asked Vergara to marry him in the presence of family, after they had been dating for almost six months.
Vergara has not confirmed the news on social networks, but used her Twitter account on Dec. 28 to congratulate Manganiello on his 38th birthday.
Last May, the Colombian announced that her engagement to businessman Nick Loeb was over and done with, after they had been in a relationship since 2010 and engaged since July 2012, when on a trip to Mexico’s Riviera Maya he proposed tying the knot.
It would be the first marriage for Manganiello, while it will be the second for Vergara. She has a 22-year-old son named Manolo from her marriage to high school sweetheart Jose Luis Gonzalez.
Nicolas Gonzalez is ready to flash television audiences…
The 38-year-old Mexican American actor has landed a role on the CW’s superhero series The Flash, based on the fictional comic book superhero from the DC Comics universe.
Gonzalez, who appeared in a recurring role on Fox’s Sleepy Hollow, will portray Cisco Ramon’s (Carlos Valdes) older charming and savvy brother, Dante, according to TVLine. Dante is the family favorite child, but always secretly resented Cisco’s success.
Gonzalez will make his debut on The Flash in episode 16, which is entitled “Rogue Time.”
Gonzalez recently guest starred on CW’s Jane The Virgin. He also had a recurring role on the network’s 2009 Melrose Place remake, as well as appeared on Ugly Betty, Modern Family, Off The Map, True Blood and CSI: Miami.
