Former SNL member Fred Armisen and Vida’s Vico Ortiz have been cast in HBO Max’s comedy series Our Flag Means Death.

The series is loosely based on the true adventures of Stede Bonnet, a pampered aristocrat from the 18th century who abandoned his life of privilege to become a pirate, according to a press statement from the streamer. Bonnet, who became known as “The Gentleman Pirate,” will be played by the New Zealand-born L.A.-based comedy actor Rhys Darby (Yes Man, How I Met Your Mother).

Ortiz’s character is named Bonifacia but Armisen’s role has yet to be announced.

Armisen, whose mother is Venezuelan, is among the few Latinos who have joined SNL in the long history of the Emmy Award-winning late-night comedy showcase. He was nominated for various Emmys for the variety sketch series Portlandia and Documentary Now! Portandia, which he starred, directed, wrote and produced, and won him a Peabody Award. His other credits include Los Espookys, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Easy A.

Ortiz is a Puerto Rico-born Latinx, non-binary and gender-fluid rising actor who gained notoriety as Cindy in the Amazon series Transparent. She has also been featured in the series The Fosters, Lucifer and Criminal Minds. More recently, the Boricua artist has had a guest-starring role in American Horror Story: 1984 and a recurring role in the GLAAD-nominated freeform comedy Everything’s Gonna Be Okay.

The SNL alumnus and the Vida actor are joining a cast that includes a couple of Academy Award winners, albeit in non-acting categories. Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) is cast as Blackbeard, history’s feared pirate–he won the Oscar for writing Jojo Rabbit. And Nat Faxon (HouseBroken), who won the Oscar for writing The Descendants, will also star in an as yet unspecified role.

The ensemble cast also includes Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), David Fane (The Tattooist), Nathan Foad (Listen to Bapou), Joel Fry (Game of Thrones), Leslie Jones (SNL), Samson Kayo (Famalam), Guz Khan (Four Weddings and a Funeral, series), Rory Kinnear (The Imitation Game), Matt Maher (Gone Baby Gone), Kristian Nairn (Game of Thrones) and Con O’Neill (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King).

Armisen is represented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners, WME and Morris Yorn Barnes Levine Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner & Gellman.

Vico Ortiz is represented by BBA Talent and DePaz Management.

Featured Photos: Fred Armisen (Courtesy: Warner Media); Vico Ortiz (Courtesy of artist)

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It is being reported that HBO has ordered a second season of Los Espookys, the half-hour primarily Spanish-language comedy series from Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen and Lorne Michaels‘ Broadway Video.

HBO President of Programming Casey Bloys stated to Deadline at TCA, “It’s a really fun, original, delightful show.”

Los Espookys was created and written by Armisen, Ana Fabrega and Julio Torres and is a series set in a strange and dreamy version of a present-day Latin American country. It follows a group of friends that turns their love for horror into a weirdo type of business.

Starring in this off-the-wall comedy are Armisen, Vargas, Cassandra Ciangherotti, and Bernardo Velasco.

The post HBO Renews “Los Espookys” For Season 2 first appeared on .

New Episodes of Los Espookys air Fridays on HBO

The first episode for HBO’s new 30-minute comedy Los Espookys debuted on June 14th is being described as the perfect mix of cool weirdo and horror, and Latino goths are going bonkers over it!

One TV critic calling Los Espookys, “A toast to the weirdos!”

Los Espookys star comedians Ana Fabrega, Julio Torres, Bernardo Velasco, Cassandra Ciangherotti, and Fred Armisen, portraying a team of misfits, and they have knocked this TV gem out of the field — a home run! Los Espookys funny cast brought this unexpected and extremely well-executed idea to HBO, and thank your spooky Gods they did!

According to EW.com, Armisen had the idea for a Spanish language show about a group of friends who love horror and brought Torres (a writer for SNL) and Fabrega (At Home With Amy Sedaris), who fleshed out the concept making the gang Scooby Doo-esque, a nod to Saturday morning cartoons, an eccentric group who just loves horror so much that they start arranging scares for horror thirsting clients.

“Los Espookys is just going to be equal opportunity weird,” Torres said. “This show will be as odd to English speakers as it is to Spanish speakers.”

Despite the unfortunate cancellation of One Day at a Time, Latinos have become a growing cultural and financial influence in the U.S. and box-office gold with their contributions to the entertainment business. And, now HBO’s venture into a Spanish-language show for the weirdly cool goth, means there is no end to the Latinx impact heights it will ultimately have. According to Hispanic data, more than 41 million people speak Spanish as a first language (about 13%) of the population. And, 12 million are bilingual (English/Spanish) speakers.

While Los Spookys, a mix of comedy and horror, is a completely engaging show, its format is also groundbreaking. Presented mostly in Spanish with English subtitles, portions that aren’t in Español utilize slang and English with Spanish subtitles to communicate to its audience.

It’s a big deal, folks, when a mega-cable giant like HBO broadcasts a Spanish language series and airs it in primetime! Think about it, the network that brought us the mega-hit Game of Thrones is now fully behind Los Espookys!

Los Espookys, HBO
Executive Producers: Fred Armisen, Lorne Michaels, Andrew Singer

On TV — Pacific Time — check your HBO grid in your part of the country”Fri., 6/21, 11 PM HBO (West) — New Episode
Fri., 6/28, 11 PM. HBO (West) — New Episode
Repeat of the first episode, which aired on June 14th:
Tues., 6/18, 7 PM HBO (West)
Thu., 6/20, 10 PM HBO2 (West)
Thu., 6/20, 10:30 PM. HBO Comedy (West)

The post “Los Espookys”: Perfect for the Latinx Horror Obsessed first appeared on .