Danny Trejo And Veronica Falcón Board Indie Sports Drama ‘American Underdog’

Matt Grobar
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

EXCLUSIVE: Danny Trejo (Machete) and Veronica Falcón (Ozark) have boarded American Underdog, an indie drama set in the world of MMA that is now in production in Chicago. The film, marking the feature directorial debut of Peruvian-American filmmaker Gustavo Martin, will also star Vishy Ayyar and Andrew Gray.

Pic’s protagonist is Jai (Ayyar), an ex-con on a soulful path wrestling with personal redemption when outside circumstances pit him in the ring against the fierce opponent, Marcus (Gray). Trejo portrays Dennis, who reluctantly comes out of retirement to train his former student, while Falcón steps into the role of Marcella, a local gym owner and community legend shepherding Jai in his return to fighting.

More from Deadline

A production of Peach Partners, in association with Mulberry Films, and MxW Ventures, American Underdog will also star Suleka Mathew (Your Honor), Taylor Treadwell (Big Little Lies), Omi Vaidya (3 Idiots), Ranjita Chakravarty (Never Have I Ever) and Jaspal Binning (The Newsroom). Martin and Matthew Mascia wrote the script, with Naveen A. Chathapuram (The Last Victim, Brown Nation), Rashaana Shah (IFC’s Bollywood Hero) and Cristy Coors Beasley (The Westsiders, LonelyGirl15) aboard to produce.

Exec producer Chaitra Vedullapalli brings to the film her vast network of Women-In-Cloud, in the organization’s initial foray into features via #MxW Ventures. Women-In-Cloud’s mission is to grant access to women and allies from the tech industry into entertainment to help shape meaningful narratives and ensure proper representation and visibility of otherwise marginalized groups. Additional EPs include Neil Khot, Dr. S Reddy and Neal Patel.

Trejo is best known for his work in such films as Machete, Grindhouse, Planet Terror, From Dusk Till Dawn, Heat, Good Mourning, The Ridiculous 6, Predators, Halloween, Smiley Face, The Devil’s Rejects, the Spy Kids franchise, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, xXx and Con Air, among many others. Notable TV credits include Better Things, American Gods, The Flash and Sons of Anarchy.

Falcón can currently be seen in the second season of HBO’s Perry Mason and has also appeared on shows like Ozark, Why Women Kill and Queen of the South, to name a few. Notable film credits for the actress include The Starling, Jungle Cruise, The Forever Purge and Voyagers. Up next for release for her is the Amazon Studios drama A Million Miles Away with Rosa Salazar, Garret Dillahunt and Michael Peña.

Trejo is represented by Amsel, Eisenstadt, Frazier & Hinojosa Talent; Falcón by APA.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.