Eva Longoria and Zoe Saldana Are Teaming Up to Produce ‘The Gordita Chronicles’ for HBO Max
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Looking for a show to fill the “Jane the Virgin”-shaped hole in your heart? Well, we may have some good news! Eva Longoria and Zoe Saldana teamed up on a new series called “The Gordita Chronicles” for HBO Max.
According to Deadline, “The Gordita Chronicles” will a follow a “willful, chubby, 12-year-old Dominican” named Carlota ‘Cucu’ Castelli. Cucu “struggles to fit into hedonistic 1980s Miami as her family pursues the American dream.”
Zoe Saldana has long been a producer on “The Gordita Chronicles”, while Eva Longoria was recently tapped to direct the pilot episode and executive produce the series.
But these two powerful Latinas aren’t the only ones with their hands on this project. Dominican-American producer and writer, Claudia Forestieri is the brains behind this series.
Forestieri is a former Telemundo reporter who changed tracks and began a career in TV-writing. She has previously written for Latino-centric shows like “Selena: The Series” and “Good Trouble”. Forestieri is a self-described “bilingual & biracial TV writer of Dominican-Italian descent who was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Miami.”
Eva Longoria took to Instagram to express her elation over being involved in such a trailblazing project.
“The Gordita Chronicles” is the perfect-storm of Hollywood Latino talent that have been working to have a project like this greenlit for a long time.
“I’m BEYOND excited & honored to announce my part within this brilliant team of women coming together to create ‘The Gordita Chronicles’,” she wrote. “I’ll be directing the pilot, while working alongside the amazing and talented @claudiforest, @brigliebs, @zoesaldana, and so many more!!”
She ended the statement with a comment and the sad state of Latino representation in Hollywood. “The lack of representation and diversity in Hollywood continues to be a major focus, rightfully so, and I’m so honored to be a part of the change!”
To make things more exciting, they have already found their lead. After an intensive search, producers cast an up-and-coming Afro-Latina child actress named Olivia Goncalves.
Per Deadline: “The Gordita Chronicles centers Carlota ‘Cucu’ Castelli (Goncalves), a willful 12-year-old Dominican immigrant with a heart of gold. Cucu leaves her home and her parochial school in Santo Domingo to live in Miami and pursue the American Dream during the hedonistic 1980s after her father, a marketing executive with a large airline, gets transferred there.”
The show will focus on Cucu as she “meets head-on the challenges of being an immigrant in a strange new world with humor, bravado and some really bad choices.”
If the synopsis is any indication of the show’s promise, please count us in! This sounds like a heartwarming, unique story that Hollywood doesn’t spotlight often enough. We can’t wait to watch!
