‘Jane The Novela’: Remy Hii To Star In the CW Spinoff; ‘Jane the Virgin’s Ivonne Coll, Benito Martinez, Holland Roden Also Cast
EXCLUSIVE: Remy Hii (Marco Polo) is set as the male co-lead alongside Hunter Parrish in Jane the Novela, the CW’s Jane the Virgin spinoff pilot headlined by Jacqueline Grace Lopez and narrated and executive produced by Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez. Also, providing continuity from the original series in front of the camera, Jane The Virgin co-star Ivonne Coll has been set as a series regular in the telenovela anthology offshoot, along with Benito Martinez (The Shield) and Holland Roden (Teen Wolf).
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Written/exec produced by Jane writer Valentina Garza, directed/exec produced by Jane EP Brad Silberling and exec produced by Jane creator/EP Jennie Snyder Urman, Jane the Novela is a soapy, telenovela-inspired anthology series in the tradition of Jane the Virgin, where each season is based on a different fictional novel “written by” Jane Villanueva and narrated by the author herself.
The first installment takes place at the intersection of Napa Valley wine country and the San Francisco art scene and pairs family secrets and sins of the past with twists, tropes and a bloody bottle of red. It centers on Estela (Lopez), an up-and-coming art curator who has spent years playing it safe and coloring within the lines. But a shocking secret changes everything and forces her to live a double life.
Being “in the tradition” of Jane the Virgin, Jane the Novela mirrors the setup of the original series. It too follows a driven, imaginative twentysomething Latina woman (Lopez) who is torn between her boyfriend, Luen (Hii), and Felix (Parrish), a handsome, rich guy. In this case, Luen is head of security while Felix is in the wine business vs. Jane Villanueva’s cop boyfriend Michael and love interest Rafael, a hotel heir.
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Hii’s Luen is Estela’s sweet, dependable, long-term boyfriend. When the life he’s planned for himself and Estela is threatened by Felix, Luen will stop at nothing to win back the woman he loves.
Coll will play Camila, Estela’s adoptive mother. Camila would do anything to protect her daughter and the life they have built, even lie to her. On Jane the Virgin, Coll plays Jane’s grandmother and Xo’s mother Alba.
Martinez portrays Raul, the winery’s enigmatic riddler. Nobody knows Napa’s terroir like he does – he specializes in collecting dirt on everyone.
Roden plays Sienna, Felix’s not-so-regular sister who is determined to save the world, one endangered animal at a time; hopefully using her family’s moolah.
Rodriguez, Urman and Silberling exec produce with Ben Silverman, Joanna Klein, Emily Gipson, Jorge Granier and Gary Pearl.
Australian actor Hii, who played a lead role on Netflix’s Marco Polo, recently completed the Sony/Marvel film Spider Man: Far From Home. He also appeared in Warner Bros. hit Crazy Rich Asians and is wrapping a series regular role on the Australian series Harrow.He’s repped by Innovative Artists, RGM Artists, and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
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Coll’s other TV credits include Switched at Birth, Teen Wolf, Glee, East Los High and Nip/Tuck. She is repped by Buchwald.
Martinez is known for his portrayal of Los Angeles politician David Aceveda for seven seasons on FX police drama The Shield. He had a starring role in John Ridley’s anthology series American Crime alongside Felicity Huffman and Regina King and can next be seen in the upcoming seasons of 13 Reasons Why, The Blacklist, Jack Ryan, and the feature film Queen & Slim. He’s repped by SDB Partners.
Roden is best known for her role as Lydia Martin on Teen Wolf, which aired for six seasons on MTV. She most recently starred in the lead role of SyFy’s anthology series Channel Zero, and appeared in Amazon’s anthology series Lore. She’s repped by Paradigm and Management 360.
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