Eddie Cibrian in Take Two (Photo: ABC)
By Julio Martinez
Growing up as a kid, actor Eddie Cibrian used to watch whodunit shows with his grandmother, who could spot the culprits quite fast. This spring he gets to be in the middle of a Lifetime Television thriller that could puzzle his abuelita.
The Cuban American thespian co-stars in The Fallen Angels Murder Club. The members of this club must have two things in common – a love of books and a criminal record. It stars Toni Braxton, portraying Hollis Morgan, who was caught in an insurance fraud scheme concocted by her ex-husband. Hollis served her time and now hopes the court will pardon her conviction so she can return to law school and fulfill her dream of becoming a lawyer.
Cibrian plays the boss of Braxton’s Morgan. He is a man with a kind heart. “My character, Avery Mitchell, an attorney, gives Hollis a second chance,” says the actor. “Mitchell provides Hollis with a job, knowing she’s a convicted felon. He sees something in her and really champions her throughout the movie.”
Cibrian certainly believes in second chances. An only child, born in Burbank, California, both of Cibrian’s parents, independently, immigrated from Cuba to the United States after Castro came to power in 1959 and met about three years later in California.
Growing up in the heart of the entertainment industry, Cibrian got his chance to act at age 20, playing a janitor in one episode of the 1993 NBC sitcom Saved by the Bell: The College Years. Athletically handsome and 6’2” tall, he quickly established himself as a sought-after leading man playing Cole Deschanel on the television series Sunset Beach, as well as filling such roles as firefighter Jimmy Doherty on NBC’s Third Watch, Russell Varon in ABC’s Invasion, Detective Jesse Cardoza on CSI: Miami and private investigator Eddie Valetik on ABC’s Take Two. He most recently played Katherine McPhee’s potential love interest in Netflix’s country music sitcom Country Comfort last year.
There is a special connection between Cibrian’s Avery and Braxton’s Hollis in The Fallen Angeles Murder Club. “Avery and Hollis have this interesting, flirtatious relationship, but it is complicated,” reveals the Cuban American actor. Things get dicey when a member of her book club is murdered, mirroring a scene taken directly from a novel the group has been reading. Hollis once again becomes the subject of police scrutiny. Refusing to get stuck with another bad rap, Hollis sets out to investigate her fellow club members.
The television movie, which will be delivered in two installments, is written, directed and executive produced by Rhonda Baraka, who also helmed another Lifetime Television film, Pride & Prejudice: Atlanta.
“Following along as Hollis tries to unravel the mystery is a big part of the fun,” says Cibrian. “Rhonda’s script really hooked me the first time I read the story, so kudos to her for putting together elements and characters, creating an intriguing mystery.
Thrillers were a favorite genre of Cibrian’s abuela. “I was raised by my grandmother who used to watch all those whodunit shows and she was so good at guessing. And she would know early on, like within 15 minutes, she’d be like, ‘Oh, it’s her. I know it’s her.’ I’d be, ‘Really? You know it’s her?’ Adds the grandson, “Perhaps now Eddie Cibrian will finally be able to stump his grandma.”
