Univision Network Casts Marco de la O as Star of New Boundary-Breaking Original Series "El Chapo"

Univision Network Casts Marco de la O as Star of New Boundary-Breaking Original Series "El Chapo"
The new ripped-from-the-headlines drama explores the life story of one of the world's most notorious criminals over a span of three decades - from 1985, when he was a low level member of the Guadalajara Cartel, his rise to power and his ultimate downfall.

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[via press release from Univision]

    

UNIVISION NETWORK CASTS MARCO DE LA O AS STAR OF NEW BOUNDARY-BREAKING ORIGINAL SERIES "EL CHAPO"
Univision and Story House Entertainment Announce Cast for 'El Chapo' and Sets Premiere for Sunday, April 23 at 8PM ET on Univision Network

NEW YORK - MARCH 24, 2017 - Univision and Story House Entertainment today announced that stage and screen actor Marco de la O (Tanto Amor) has been cast in the role of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzmán for the network's upcoming boundary-breaking series 'El Chapo.' The new ripped-from-the-headlines drama explores the life story of one of the world's most notorious criminals over a span of three decades - from 1985, when he was a low level member of the Guadalajara Cartel, his rise to power and his ultimate downfall. 'El Chapo' will premiere on Sunday, April 23, with back-to-back episodes beginning 8 PM ET/PT on the Univision Network.

Additionally, Univision will air a new extended preview of the series during the network's broadcast of the Mexico vs. Costa Rica soccer game on Friday; Univision and Story House Entertainment also unveiled key art for the series see here; and has been teasing the reveal this week in promos watch here.

'El Chapo,' which is currently in production, will air in three separate cycles. The series also marks the first co-production between Story House Entertainment and Netflix. Follow @ElChapoLaSerie on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (#ElChapoTV).

"We are thrilled to have Marco take on the role of 'El Chapo' as we begin to unfold the real story of the most notorious drug lord of our times, revealing the man behind the myth," said Christian Gabela, General Manager of Story House Entertainment. "We think viewers will be truly captivated by both Marco's performance and this story of power, ambition, corruption, secrecy, and deception."
"The truly inspired casting of Marco de la O puts the last piece into place for bringing this innovative production to life," said Lourdes Diaz, president of Entertainment, UCI. "By combining the world-class reporting and insights from Univision News' investigative team with an outstanding team of talented storytellers and producers, Marco will dramatically help us pull back the curtain on the life of one of the most well-known criminals in modern history."

Additional casting announced today includes Humberto Busto (Amores Perros) as Attorney Conrado Sol, aka "Don Sol" (an important political party figure); Juan Carlos Olivas (180°) as El Güero (Joaquín's main partner); Alejandro Aguilar ("Rosario Tijeras") as Toño (Joaquín's main assassin); Tete Espinoza ("Wenses y Lala") as Chío (Joaquín's lover); Rodrigo Abed (Reevolución) as Amado (Mexican capo); Luis Rábago (Principio y Fin) as General Blanco (National Security Advisor); Cristina Michaus (El Tigre de Santa Julia) as Doña Esperanza (Joaquín's mother); Valentina Acosta ("Señora Acero") as Alejandra (Joaquín's first wife); and Juliette Pardau ("De Todas Maneras Rosa") as Graciela (Joaquín's second wife). 'El Chapo' is created by Silvana Aguirre Zegarra and produced by Daniel Posada; the first season is directed by Jose Manuel Cravioto and Ernesto Contreras.
Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzmán, who has been accused by law enforcement of running the "largest drug trafficking organization in the world," has long evaded authorities. After being captured by Mexican authorities in February 2014, Guzman escaped from a maximum security Mexican prison in July 2015 by crawling through an opening in the shower of his cell block that led to a mile-long tunnel to freedom. He was recaptured nearly six months later and extradited to the U.S. earlier this year. His next scheduled court appearance is on May 5, 2017.

ABOUT STORY HOUSE ENTERTAINMENT
Story House Entertainment is a content development and production unit within Fusion Media Group (FMG). Launched by Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) in 2016 Story House Entertainment builds on Univision's award-winning storytelling abilities by bringing to life stories and characters that are revealing, authentic and reflect the cultural diversity of America. The content development and production unit produces premium scripted and non-scripted programming in English and Spanish for UCI's portfolio of owned networks as well as third party networks and platforms. Story House Entertainment utilizes its access to the news archives and award-winning journalists of Univision News to create programming that both informs and entertains. In its first year Story House has produced a series of documentaries including "Hate Rising" and "Residente" as well as the docu-series "Outpost," which premiered during a limited-run on HBO and will see an expanded first season premiere in English on FUSION TV and in Spanish on UniMas. The unit's first scripted series "El Chapo," a co-production with Netflix will premiere in April 2017.

ABOUT UNIVISION COMMUNICATIONS INC.
Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) is the leading media company serving Hispanic America. The Company, a leading content creator in the U.S., includes Univision Network, one of the leading networks in the U.S. regardless of language and the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the country available in approximately 92% of U.S. Hispanic television households; UniMás, a leading Spanish-language broadcast television network available in approximately 86% of U.S. Hispanic television households; Univision Cable Networks, including Galavisión, the most-watched U.S. Spanish-language entertainment cable network, as well as UDN (Univision Deportes Network), the most-watched U.S. Spanish-language sports cable network, Univision tlnovelas, a 24-hour Spanish-language cable network dedicated to telenovelas, ForoTV, a 24-hour Spanish-language cable network dedicated to international news, and an additional suite of cable offerings - De Película, De Película Clásico, Bandamax, Ritmoson and Telehit; Univision Local Media, which owns and/or operates 59 television stations and 67 radio stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; and Univision Now, a direct-to-consumer, on demand and live streaming subscription service. The Company also includes the Fusion Media Group (FMG), a division that serves young, diverse audiences. FMG includes two cable networks: news and lifestyle English-language network FUSION TV and UCI's interest in El Rey Network, a general entertainment English-language cable network; Univision.com, the most-visited Spanish-language website among U.S. Hispanics; Uforia, a music application featuring multimedia music content; as well as a collection of leading digital brands that span a range of categories: technology (Gizmodo), sports (Deadspin), music (TrackRecord), lifestyle (Lifehacker), modern women's interests (Jezebel), news and social justice (FUSION.net), African American news and culture (The Root), gaming (Kotaku), and car culture (Jalopnik). FMG also includes the Company's interest in comedy and news satire brands The Onion, Clickhole and The A.V. Club. Headquartered in New York City, UCI has content creation facilities and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information, please visit corporate.univision.com.