By Ana Perez

Otmara Marrero, best known for her breakthrough role as Izzy Morales in Crackle’s series StartUp, has a new home on NBC. 

Marrero is starring as Annie in NBC’s new comedy series Connecting… The ensemble comedy series, created by Martin Gero (Blindspot) and Brendan Gall (The Lovebirds), follows a group of friends trying to stay connected during the pandemic. The series was shot remotely from the actors’ homes in order to ensure safety amongst the cast and crew amid COVID-19. The series takes place 10 days after California’s stay-at-home order in March was announced and will take the audience through the events of 2020 up until the election. 

Although the cast had never met prior to filming the first few episodes of the show, the chemistry among them is undeniable.  “I’m still a bit flabbergasted that we were able to shoot eight episodes of a network TV show from our homes and had never met nobody from the crew and the cast,” Marrero said. “That’s pretty insane.” 

“It’s a testament to how great Martin and Brendan, the creators, are and the casting director who put us all together and there’s just so much chemistry,” Marrero said. “The show is just basically a group of friends relying on each other to get through the pandemic, to get through hard times and it’s kind of just like the everflow of their relationships. You know how everyday is sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down.” 

Although Connecting… is a comedy, Marrero’s first, it still touches on the harsh realities that people are facing all across the United States and even other parts of the world. And those real fears behind the pandemic are expanded by actress Cassie Beck (High Maintenance, Chicago Med) who plays Jazmin, a doctor on the frontlines. Beck’s character unleashes all of her emotions and frustrations about the lack of supplies and making the choice between who gets a ventilator and who doesn’t to her friends in a powerful and gut-wrenching scene. 

“When we were shooting that scene, I was crying real tears every time she did the monologue and boy she did that,” Marrero said. “Every time she did it we were all in real tears, I’ve never experienced something like that.” 

“At the beginning of the pandemic that’s what really got me, how these people were putting their lives at risk and they couldn’t just go home to their families,” Marrero said. “They had to bunk out in separate rooms and just all the risks they were taking for us, the people, it’s insane and the government couldn’t even give the proper amount of supplies.” 

Marrero is no stranger to expressing raw emotion. The Cuban-American actress recently starred in Clementine, a barrier breaking film written and directed by Lara Gallagher. “Clementine was just one of those scripts that I got and I read in one sitting and I knew that I had to do it,” Marrero said. “As soon as I read it I was like ‘Yeah, that’s me I’m Karen’ I have to tell that story.” 

The romantic drama follows Karen, Marrero’s character, as she mourns the end of her relationship at her ex-girlfriend’s lake house only to find herself in a new complex relationship with another woman named Lana, portrayed by Sydney Sweeney (The Handmaid’s Tale, Euphoria).

The film, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019, does a beautiful job of focusing on the chemistry between the characters and letting the romance and heartbreak speak for itself. 

“I’m an empath and I feel very deeply, and I think that I’ve been through some really bad relationships and I’ve had my heart broken quite a few times and I’ve experience really deep love,” Marrero said. “I think that’s what I loved most about the role, just really bearing it all and putting my heart on the table.”  Initially, Marrero was passed over for the role of Karen because the character was supposed to be white, so the role went to someone else. 

“They came back around and gave it to me and that to me is real representation,” Marrero said. “When we can have Latinos, black and brown kids and adults, leading movies and shows and not having to explain ourselves or not having to speak Spanish necessarily or not having to just say why we’re there.” 

Although Marrero’s parents immigrated to the United States from Cuba, she wants roles that aren’t a stereotypical Latino story. 

“My dad is an entrepreneur, he has his own A/C and refrigeration company, he has a very successful company. We were middle class,” Marrero said. “So me going into an audition room and doing a role that’s like talking about ICE, that’s not real to how I grew up or to me or to a bunch of other Latinos that I know and grew up with in Miami.”

Marrero commented that there are many European and Australian actors that are cast to play Americans, however not many Latinos are given the same treatment.  “They’re not asking them to speak their native language, they’re not asking them to say lines in German. They’re just speaking english and they’re just playing an American,” Marrero said. “So why is it that a first-generation Latina can’t play an American as well? Marrero’s hope is to “transcend race” and land roles that are more than just a “stereotypical trope.” 

“I think representation is allowing us to be the romantic lead, to be the girl next door, and to be the doctor, to be the head of the company, to be the woman in charge, to be the bad guy, to be the villain, and not constantly have to explain ourselves,” Marrero said. “Just allow us to live in these worlds. That’s the revolution I want to see for Latinos.”

Marrero’s desires are echoed in Hollywood today, especially seeing how many talented Latinos are overlooked for roles and award nominations. 

“I don’t think it takes away from my latinidad, because I can speak Spanish on a dime if it’s required,” Marrero said. “But, I don’t want to speak Spanish like I’m doing you a trick like I’m a dog.” 

“We just have to get comfortable with seeing humans for just being humans, for just being a woman, a man, non-binary, just whatever someones goes by,” Marrero said. “Just seeing this person exist, because that’s what the world looks like today.” 

Tune in to NBC’s Connecting… on Thursdays at 8 p.m. and on Hulu the following day, to have Marrero and her incredible cast mates bring you some much needed humor. 

(Featured photo by Lili Peper.)

The post Otmara Marrero on Her Role in NBC’s “Connecting…” And Being Latina in Hollywood first appeared on .

This is Us Reunites Pearson Family for 5th Season with 2-Hour Premiere

Making Fall Debuts: All Three Chicago Series of Law & Order: SVU and The Blacklist

Thursdays has Comedy with with Martin Gero’s Connecting …

Cloud 9 Opens Its Doors with a Season of Superstore

New Episodes Available on Peacock

Universal City, CA, – NBC is celebrating a November to remember as America’s most-loved dramas make their highly anticipated season debuts the week of Nov. 9-13, including a two-hour premiere of This Is Us (Nov. 10) and all three Chicago series (Nov. 11). The three Dick Wolf series include Chicago Med / Season 5, starring Nick Gehfuss, Yaya DaCosta, and Torrey DeVitto; Chicago Fire / Season 8, starring Jesse Spencer, and Taylor Kinney. As a result of COVID-19 productions were

In addition, Law & Order: SVU (Nov. 12) will return for its record-extending 22^nd season that same week, along with the eighth season of The Blacklist (Nov. 13), starring James Spader and Megan Boone. 

Executive producer Martin Gero (Blindspot) will debut his new scripted comedy Connecting. It stars Otmara Marrero, Parvesh Cheena, Ely Henry, and premieres on Thursday, Oct. 1. The series is about a group of friends trying to stay close (and sane) through video chats as they share the highs and lows of these extraordinary times.

Justin Spitzer’s Superstore, where Cloud 9’s unique family of employees work together and share nearly everything about their personal lives as well, returns for its sixth season on Thursday, Oct. 22 minus America Ferrera who left on her own accord at the end of last season.

The four-time Emmy Award-winning musical competition series The Voice, with coaches Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, as well as host Carson Daly, will be back in its swiveling red chairs on Monday, Oct. 19 and return for the second night of its season debut Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Host Jane Lynch will kick off the first episode of the worldwide global phenom Weakest Link when the show debuts Monday, Sept. 28. The new version will deliver the fast-paced and quick-witted pillars of the original British format distributed by BBC Studios with a few modern twists. The hybrid game show sees contestants answer general knowledge questions to bank prize money across multiple rounds. At the end of each round, the contestants vote out who they perceive to be the Weakest Link remaining. 

Ellen’s Game of Games, one of the most fun shows on all of television, returns Tuesday, Oct. 6 for a two-hour premiere from 8-10 p.m. before shifting the following week on Oct. 13 to its normal 9-10 p.m. timeslot. A bonafide hit, Ellen’s Game of Games reached more than 47 million viewers through the September through May 2019-20 season.

Primetime’s #1 program, NBC Sunday Night Football, will kick off the season on Thursday, Sept. 10 when the Houston Texans visit the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Three days later on Sunday, Sept. 13, the action continues when the Dallas Cowboys visit the Los Angeles Rams to mark the grand opening of SoFi Stadium.

Dateline NBC, the network’s signature newsmagazine and its longest-running primetime program, will return for a new season on Friday, Sept. 25 at 10 p.m. before moving to a two-hour telecast beginning at 9 p.m. later in the fall.

Previous airdates for NBC series already announced include hit Canadian import drama Transplant (Sept. 1) and the return of celebrated athletic competition series American Ninja Warrior (Sept. 7).

Returning series set to debut after Jan. 1 include Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Good Girls, Making It, Manifest, New Amsterdam and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine stars stellar cast remains intact with the wonderful talents of Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz, Melissa Fumero, Terry Crews, Joe Lo Truglio, Chelsea Peretti, Andre Baugher, Dirk Blocker, and Joel McKinnon Miller.

New series set to launch in 2021 include Kenan, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Mr. Mayor, That’s My Jam, Small Fortune, True Story, Who Do You Think You Are? and Young Rock. 

The premiere dates and times for the remainder of 2020 are below. All shows, with the exception of NBC Sunday Night Football and The Voice, will be available on Peacock after its broadcast air date.

SEPTEMBER
Transplant (Tuesday, 9/1, 10-11 p.m.)
American Ninja Warrior (Monday, 9/7, 8-10 p.m.)
NBC Sunday Night Football (Thursday, 9/10 and Sunday, 9/13, 5:20 p.m.)
Weakest Link (Monday, 9/28, 10-11 p.m.)
Dateline NBC (Friday, 9/25, 10-11 p.m.)

OCTOBER
Connecting … (Thursday, 10/1, 8:30-9 p.m.)
Ellen’s Game of Games (Tuesday, 10/6, 9-10 p.m.)
The Voice (Monday, 10/19, 8-10 p.m., Tuesday, 10/20, 8-10 p.m. then switches to 8-9 p.m. on 10/27)
Superstore (Thursday, 10/22, 8-8:30 p.m.)

NOVEMBER
This Is Us (Tuesday, 11/10, 9-11 p.m.; returns to 9-10 p.m. on 11/17)
Chicago Med (Wednesday, 11/11, 8-9 p.m.)
Chicago Fire (Wednesday, 11/11, 9-10 p.m.)
Chicago P.D. (Wednesday, 11/11, 10-11 p.m.)
Law & Order: SVU (Thursday, 11/12, 9-10 p.m.)
The Blacklist (Friday, 11/13, 8-9 p.m.)

The post NBC Kickstarts Season With Lots of Fave Series And A Few Newbees first appeared on .