We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, probably a couple of thousand times: cable TV is a major gateway for Latinos in Hollywood, in front and behind the camera. And cable TV, especially programming for kids and tweens, has been a big part of that all along.
Handsome young actor Josh Segarra is a perfect example. At 26 years old, Josh started in local theater in his home town of Orlando, and he was barely out of his teens when he was picked up by PBS to join The Electric Company as “Hector Ruiz.” Josh, whose family comes from Puerto Rico, speaks fluent Spanish, so joining the multicultural cast was no problem at all; at the same time he kept up an active and far more serious indie career, with work in The Narrows with Vincent D’Onofrio and the tragically under-distributed The Ministers, with John Leguizamo. And he got even more attention when he appeared in the pilot of the critically acclaimed Showtime series Homeland.
And now cable is coming to call: FX has just announced that Josh is part of Dean Lorey’s new comedy pilot Bronx Warrants, where he’ll be part of an ensemble cast that includes Robert Kelly (NYC 22), stand-up comedian Godfrey (Louie), and Shirley Rumierk (White Collar). Lorey is no lightweight; this is the guy behind cult favorite Arrested Development and long-running hit My Wife and Kids. The comedy revolved around “a group of errant warrant detectives assigned to arrest individuals with outstanding warrants. With bonuses paid out for each ‘body’ they bring in, the detectives are out to get rich rather than dole out justice.” Greed over Justice: the new America!
A pilot is just a pilot, we know, and not a season-long commitment, but it’s good to see Josh Segarra’s upward trajectory continuing…and a good reminder of just how important both kids’ programming and cable continue to be to Latinos.
