LOS ANGELES -- The new ABC drama Grand Hotel has all the elements that make fun summer television viewing: sun, sex and scandals. All of this unfolds in the last family-owned hotel in the multicultural world of Miami.
There's definitely a prime-time soap opera feel to the show, but executive producer Eva Longoria stresses there's a lot more to the production than what you see on the surface. It's a series that features one of the most diverse casts of any television offering -- nine of the 11 main cast members are people of color -- and hired a majority of female directors for the initial episode order.
Grand Hotel
9 p.m. Mondays
ABC
"Seven out of 12 directors are women. So that was definitely the lens in which we wanted to produce the show. And it's still not common enough to have women behind the camera. Then once we hired Alison [Kelly] as our DP, she said, 'I want women in the camera department.' Then it trickles down, and it trickles down, and it trickles down," Longoria says. "So we're really proud of the look of the show. We think it's unique. We think it's perfect for summer."
The show is loosely based on a Spanish series. The difference is the original series was a period piece that resembled Upstairs, Downstairs. Here, the story is modernized and the family running the lavish hotel is Spanish.
Santiago Mendoza (Demian Bichir) is the owner of a hotel that is facing serious problems. His glamorous second wife, Gigi (Roselyn Sanchez), and their adult children aren't concerned, preferring to enjoy the endless spoils of success. There's not a single member of the family or staff who isn't hiding some major secret, with the biggest being a murder mystery where everyone is a suspect.
Bichir was drawn to the project both because of the story and for the chance to work with Longoria again. The added bonus was being part of a project that features so many Latin American artists, a situation he had not seen in previous jobs in America. He can't recall how many times he's been offered the same type of role where only the character name was different.
He found with Grand Hotel a show that gives him a fresh and complicated character to play as he goes from troubled businessman to caring father.
"There are a lot of people responsible for now having this beautiful time that we're having, and Eva is one of them, without a doubt. She opened up a full, new opportunity for many Latin American actors," he says. "She's not only a great actor and a great producer, but she was becoming a mother at the same time she was giving birth to this series.
"She is one of them that is opening these opportunities to many of us. Without a doubt, this is a good time for us. And this is a great time for this story, because this is a story of success of an immigrant family coming into the U.S., living this wonderful life."
The 56-year-old Mexico City native has put together a long list of acting credits since getting his start when he was only 3. His past work includes Dark City, Weeds, The Bridge and A Better Life, with the last film earning Bichir an Oscar nomination in 2012 as best performance by an actor in a leading role.
Bichir always was Longoria's first choice to play Santiago Mendoza, though in the original series the central figure was the family matriarch. She was familiar with his work and the pair have a history as Bichir directed Longoria in the 2016 film Un Cuento de Circo & A Love Song, a movie Bichir also wrote.
"We did have to pivot off the original to really service the gravitas that Demian brings to the screen that he brings to every role," says Longoria. "We knew his talent, but how he really dives into Santiago is brilliant to witness and to watch. Every time one of our actors has a scene, they'll come to me and they go, 'We have a scene with Demian today,' because he's just so amazing."
The series also stars Denyse Tontz, Bryan Craig, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Shalim Ortiz, Anne Winters, Chris Warren, Feliz Ramirez and Justina Adorno.
Style on 06/25/2019