Alana de la Garza
NBC has three new scripted series premiering in the next few weeks as part of its mid-season reshift, and two of those series have Latinos in the mix. Laz Alonso is part of Deception, the Revenge/Scandal hybrid, which has already begun its run, and on Thursday, January 31, Do No Harm premieres at 10P. Alana de la Garza, best known for Law & Order (and, briefly, Law & Order: Los Angeles) co-stars, and Lin-Manuel Miranda is part of the stellar supporting cast that also includes Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show) and Samm Levine (Inglorious Basterds).
The concept is both familiar and odd at the same time: Steven Pasquale plays a successful neurosurgeon who “struggles to keep his alter ego under control. Every night at the same hour, something inside Jason changes, turning him into a seductive, devious, borderline sociopathic.” So basically: the good Dr. Jekyll from 8:25 a.m. to 8:25 pm, the bad (but sexy!) Mr. Hyde from 8:25 pm to 8:25 am.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
De la Garza has been attached to the project since the beginning, but Miranda’s involvement is a little surprising. A composer, rapper, lyricist, and actor, this proud Puerto Rican/New Yorker is best know for writing and starring in the hit Broadway musical In the Heights. He even won the Tony as a composer and lyricist. If he was going to be a regular on any NBC series, you’d expect to see him waiting in the wings–literally–on their Broadway soap Smash, back for a second round this month. Instead, he’s playing Pasquale’s colleague and friend, a show that’s already being described as “a cross between Dexter and House.”
Executive producer David Schulner has a lot of faith in the show’s “split personality” concept, even though recent attempts like My Own Worst Enemy haven’t gained much traction. “I think that ultimately you can only write the show you want to watch,” he told reporters, “and this was a show that I just wanted to see on TV. I wanted it to be fun. I wanted it to be thrilling. I wanted it to be a roller coaster ride. And I wanted it to have stakes. So it wasn’t enough just to be fun. I wanted the love story between Steven’s character and Alana’s character to be the center of this. I wanted it to be dangerous and sexy. So hopefully those ingredients will make it different than what’s come before.”
The “sexy” part can’t be denied. Take a look at this hot scene between de la Garza and the “bad” version of Pasquale:
We’ll get a chance to see both de la Garza and Miranda at work beginning Thursday, January 31 at 10P on NBC. You can see a few more scenes at NBC.com, here.
