Taylor Ortega to Star in Prime Video‘s Paul Feig-Directed Action Comedy “Grand Death Lotto”

Taylor Ortega is playing the lotto

The Latina writer, comedian and actor has joined the cast of Prime Video‘s Paul Feig-helmed action comedy Grand Death Lotto.

Taylor OrtegaIn addition to Ortega, who starred in HBO’s Succession, other new cast additions include Michael HitchcockBecky Ann Baker, Sam Asghari, Leslie David BakerMurray Hill and Adam Ray.

The actors join an ensemble led by John Cena, Awkwafina and Simu Liu, which also includes Ayden Mayeri, Seann William Scott, Dolly de Leon and Donald Elise Watkins.

Written by Rob Yescombe, the film currently in production is set in a very near future, in which a Grand Lottery has been established in economically challenged California. The only catch? You’ll need to kill the winner before sundown in order to legally claim their prize. New L.A. transplant Katie (Awkwafina) accidentally finds herself with the winning ticket and must join forces with amateur jackpot protector Noel (Cena) to make it to sundown in order to claim her multi-billion-dollar prize, all while dealing with Noel’s protection rival Louis Lewis (Liu), who also wants to get her to sundown in order to claim his rich protection commission.

Ortega is a series regular on Fox’s mockumentary series Welcome to Flatch, directed and executive produced by Feig, and has also been seen in Starz’s continuation of Party Down, as well as the HBO Max anthology Love Life and HBO’s Succession. She’ll next be seen leading the indie comedy Wine Club from directors Eric D. Cohen and Matthew Hirschhorn.

Desmin Borges to Star in the Military Thriller “Valiant One”

Desmin Borges is a valiant one

The 38-year-old half-Puerto Rican actor will star opposite Lana Condor, Callan Mulvey and Chase Stokes in Monarch Media’s thriller Valiant One, which goes into production in Vancouver this month.

Desmin BorgesThe first feature directed by Monarch’s Steve Barnett watches as a U.S. helicopter crashes on the North Korean side of the DMZ. With tensions between the North and South already on the verge of war, the surviving U.S. Army non-combat tech soldiers must work together to protect a civilian tech specialist and find their way across the DMZ, without the possibility of U.S. military support.

Condor will play Selby, a hard-as-nails and highly capable but very inexperienced Medic Specialist who joined the U.S. military after becoming a citizen to give back to her new homeland.

Borges is set for the role of Josh Weaver, a civilian defense contractor who’s cocky, with enough smarts to back it up, and obnoxious until the weight of the danger settles in on him and he becomes part of the team.

Mulvey will portray Chris Lebold the square-jawed Delta Operative and poster child for American heroic iconography, who’s in a heap of trouble and pain when the team crashes but remains a leader throughout.

Eric Tipton wrote the script, which is based on an original idea by Barnett.

Borges is best known for turns on such series as The Time Traveler’s WifeWelcome to FlatchUtopia and You’re the Worst, having received an Imagen Award nomination for his work on the latter.

He’s also appeared in films including Private LifeNever HereCarrie Pilby, Gabriel, All Is Bright and Compliance.

Also coming up for the actor is Lionsgate’s action rom-com Shotgun Wedding, in which he stars alongside Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel, D’Arcy Carden, Jennifer Coolidge and others.