Daniela Nieves has joined the cast of Peacock’s Vampire Academy, a reboot of the 2014 fantasy drama series based on bestselling author Richelle Mead’s young adult, romance novel series of the same title that was also made into a movie.

Just like the original series, Vampire Academy is about two young women whose friendship transcends their strikingly different worlds as they prepare to complete their education and enter royal vampire society. 

Nieves (Sex Appeal) will play Lissa Dragomir, the Royal Moroi vampire that is one of the series’s two central characters.

In Vampire Academy, Rose Hathaway, a half-human/half-vampire hybrid known as Dhampir, makes her life mission to protect mortal vampires known as Moroi, particularly her life-long best friend Lissa. After dropping out of a special high school for both moroi and dhampirs, the pair was on the run for more than a year. But the two friends are dragged back into the treacherous adolescent world of high school. However, Rose is not too worried about St. Vladimir’s Academy’s drama queens and bad boys but unknown and powerful forces that threaten Lissa.

Nieves is best known for playing Andrea Futura Doctora Cruz “Andi” on the Nickelodeon series Every Witch Way and WITS Academy. Other credits include the Facebook Watch series, Five Points, CBS’s legal drama All Rise as well as Spanish-language projects like the Telemundo telenovelas Una Maid en Manhattan and El Rostro de Analía as well as the Colombian telenovela La Viuda de Blanco, which also aired on Telemundo.

The Vampire Academy cast also features Sisi Stringer (Mortal Kombat), Kieron Moore (Masters of the Air, Sex Education), André Dae Kim (Degrassi, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds), J. August Richards (Angel, Generation), Anita-joy Uwajeh (West End’s Cyrano de Bergerac and King Lear), Mia Mckenna-bruce (West End’s Billy Elliot The Musical, The Dumping Ground), Rhian Blundell (Torchwood: Believe, Doctor Who: The Dread of Night), Jonetta Kaiser (Tales, Breakwater) and Andrew Liner (Grown-ish).

Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Legacies) and longtime collaborator Marguerite MacIntyre are adapting the series and also serve as showrunners, writers and exec producers. Plec is set to serve as a director in the first season, too. Also directing is Spanish-born filmmaker Luis Prieto (White Lines). 

Featured Photo: Daniela Nieves (Credit: Courtesy of artist)

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Corchado (Sneakerheads, Little America) and Ponce (Julie and the Phantoms, Spy) are joining Brandt (Soulmates, Breaking Bad) and Richards (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) in the fictional town of North Pole, Vermont, according to a press release from the streamer, for the production of the Christmas drama. The movie is to be released later this year. 

The movie follows the two women known as the Christmas Queens of the North Pole who compete annually in a yuletide contest. Trish (Richards) and Diana (Brandt), have won the city’s Best Holiday House decorating contest every year for the past nine years. But days before Christmas, a friendship-ending argument sparks a town-wide feud and draws the attention of a national magazine writer hoping to make a name for herself with her scintillating expose titled “Real Housewives of the North Pole.”

While the movie title may seem to suggest a connection to the series Bravo’s Real Housewives media franchise, the film is separate from the cable channel’s so-called reality TV series. Coincidentally, the series’ spinoff The Real Housewives of New Jersey currently streams on Peacock, too. 

In The Real Housewives of the North Pole, Corchado will play Skye, Trish’s daughter, who is home for the holiday break. Her need to be perfect for her mom has made tensions extra high this Christmas. Ponce will play Paul, Trish’s husband. He feels guilty about leaving his family for a Christmas work trip but he’s the breadwinner paying for the family’s palace.

Corchado starred in an episode of the television 2020 Apple TV series Little America, inspired by the true stories featured on Epic Magazine. Her role as Marisol Rosado earned her an Imagen Foundation Award for Best Actress-Television. More recently she appeared in the Netflix comedy/drama series Sneakerheads, about the booming trade of the popular shoes, and the indie TV series LA 143, about three young women experiencing life, love and hookups in the City of Angels. Other credits include Cucuy: the Boogeyman and The Blacklist. The actress also aspires to have a career in music. Earlier this year, Corchado released “Magia bendita,” her debut single that she co-wrore in Spanish, along with a video in which she also stars.

Actor/singer Ponce has been acting in Spanish and English for more than three decades. He has been a heartthrob of Mexican and American telenovelas as well as a host of TV singing competitions and other shows in Puerto Rico and the U.S. The Santurce-born is currently featured in the Telemundo soap operas La Suerte de Loli and La Doña. He also appears in the popular Netflix comedy/musical/drama series Julie and the Phantoms, winner of three Daytime Emmys this year. The actor also co-starred in the ABC series Cristela, winning him a nomination to the Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actor-Television in 2015.  

The two Boricua stars are among the several new members recently added to the cast of The Real Housewives of the North Pole. The others are Broadway actress Kyle Selig (Mean Girls, The Book of Mormon), Tetona Jackson (Boomerang), Alec Mapa (Ugly Betty), Damon Dayoub (Stitchers). Also featured are Melanie Haynes (Doug Unplugs) and newcomer Jason “LJ” Littlejohn.

Corchado is repped by Amsel, Eisenstadt, Frazier & Hinojosa, Inc. and managed by Candu Management. 

Ponce is repped by SDB Partners and Mills Kaplan Ent.

The Real Housewives of the North Pole will be produced by Motion Picture Corporation of America, MPCA. Daytime Emmy winner Ron Oliver (Scout’s Safari) will direct and Tippi Dobrofsky, Neal Dobrofsky and Spyder Dobrofsky will write and executive produce. Brad Krevoy executive produces on behalf of MPCA, alongside Amanda Phillips and Eric Jarboe. Jake Relic, David Wulf and Chris Bongirne also produce.

Featured Photos: Carlos Ponce and Jearnest Corchado (Jonathan Fieweger/NBCUniversal)

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After playing a vigilante for several seasons in a superhero series, actor Rick Gonzalez will don a police uniform in the upcoming Peacock drama series Dan Brown’s Langdon, based on a novel by the author of the bestselling book The Da Vinci Code.

Gonzalez (Arrow) is among the first-billed cast members of the series that follows the early adventures of famed Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, who must solve a series of deadly puzzles to save a kidnapped mentor and thwart a chilling global conspiracy. The cast includes Ashley Zukerman (Succession) in the lead role, Valorie Curry (Blair Witch), Sumalee Montano (10 Cloverfield Lane), Eddie Izzard (Ocean’s Thirteen) and Beau Knapp (Seven Seconds).

Dan Brown’s Langdon is based on Dan Brown’s third novel The Lost Symbol, also a bestseller and which came after the author’s two popular books Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code. These two books were adapted to films starring Tom Hanks.

Gonzalez will play the recurring role of Capitol policeman Nunez. “About to go on an adventure. Wanna join?” posted the actor on Instagram, adding he was excited to be part of the team bringing Brown’s book to life.

The New York-born-and-raised actor of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent landed the new role after appearing in the CW’s Arrow series for five years ending in 2020. In the superhero series, he portrayed the superhero vigilante character Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog, which he also played briefly last year in the limited series DC’s Legends of Tomorrow on the same network. His film credits include the sports drama Coach Carter, where he plays a rebellious high school basketball player, and the crime thriller Illegal Terder that won him an Imagen Foundation Award nomination for best actor.

Dan Brown’s Langdon will be produced by CBS Studios and executive directed by Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie, who will also serve as writers. The two collaborated in previous projects like the series The Outer Banks and Matador. Joining the pair in executive directing will be the novel’s author himself, Brown, as well as Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, who together produced the multiple-Oscar-winning film A Beautiful Mind.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be working with Ron and Brian again on another Langdon project,” said Brown. “We’ve all wanted to make The Lost Symbol for some time now, and I’m grateful to CBS Studios, Imagine Television Studios, Universal Television and Peacock for joining forces to make this project a reality.”

Originally, the series was developed by NBC, which ordered a pilot last year but turned over to Peacock, the NBCUniversal streaming service. “The team was blown away by this pilot and its enormous potential to become a big, binge-worthy hit, and our new structure enables us to move it to Peacock and give it every opportunity to make that happen,” said Susan Rovner, chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “Our ability to pick up a great show is no longer limited by the confines of a network schedule, giving us the freedom to say ‘yes’ to shows we love and then find them the perfect home across our portfolio.”  

Featured Top Photo: Sumalee Montano, Ashley Zukerman and Rick Gonzalez in Dan Brown’s Langdon. (Photo: Peacock)

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