Starz Announces Cast for Half-Hour Drama Series Vida from Latinx Showrunner Tanya Saracho

Mishel Prada Cast in Lead Role Opposite Melissa Barrera with Karen
Ser Anzoategui, Chelsea Rendon, Carlos Miranda and Maria Elena Laas
Added as Cast Regulars

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Starz announced today that Mishel Prada (“Fear the Walking Dead:
Passage,” Tell Me How I Die), Karen Ser Anzoategui (“East Los
High,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “The Fosters”), Chelsea Rendon (A
Better Life, McFarland, USA, “The Fosters”), Carlos Miranda (The
Bling Ring, Grandma, “Chicago PD”) and Maria Elena Laas
(“Suffering Man’s Charity,” The Hot Chick) have been cast as
series regulars alongside Melissa Barrera (“Club de Cuervos,” “La Mujer
de Judas”) in the new STARZ Original series “Vida” from Showrunner Tanya
Saracho (“How to Get Away With Murder,” “Looking,” “Girls”).

Alonso Ruizpalacios (Gueros, Verde) directs the series
premiere episode. Big Beach TV will produce the Latinx series with Robin
Schwartz, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub, serving as executive
producers. Stephanie Langhoff (“Togetherness,” “The Bronze,” “The
Skeleton Twins”) is also executive producing with Emmy^®
award-winning Chrisann Verges (“Girlboss,” “Getting On,” “Warm Springs”)
producing. Series casting by Emmy^®-winning Casting Director
Carmen Cuba (“Stranger Things,” STARZ Original limited series “The
Girlfriend Experience,” The Martian).

“Vida” is a half-hour drama series focusing on two Mexican-American
sisters, Emma and Lyn, from the Eastside of Los Angeles who couldn’t be
more different or distanced from each other. Circumstances force them to
return to their old neighborhood, where they are confronted by the past
and shocking truth about their mother’s identity.

Mishel Prada will portray “Emma” who, estranged from both her sister and
her mother, reluctantly returns for her mother’s funeral and to deal
with the family business. Previously cast, Melissa Barrera will play her
sister, “Lyn,” a care-free party girl who has figured out how to live a
pretty worry-free life in the Bay Area.

Karen Ser Anzoategui will portray “Eddy,” a sensitive soul who is
trustworthy, generous and passionate but also intimidating looking upon
first glance. Chelsea Rendon will play “Marisol” who is the expression
of east side youth culture: woke, politicized, and deep in the
resistance. Carlos Miranda will play “Johnny,” a stand-up guy who runs
his ailing dad’s auto shop and is engaged to his pregnant girlfriend but
has a history with Lyn. Maria Elena Laas will portray “Cruz,” an
enigmatic lesbian who has a checkered history with Emma.

Newcomer Mishel Prada starred in the acclaimed Emmy^®-nominated
digital series “Fear The Walking Dead: Passage” and has appeared in
several indie films.

Karen Ser Anzoategui (Ser) is a non-binary Latinx/Chicanx
actor/playwright/artivist. Originally from Huntington Park, Calif., they
grew up in various East Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley communities.
Upon graduating with a BA in Communication and Fine Arts as a theatre
major in 2005, Ser wrote their first solo show at Casa 0101 in Boyle
Heights. Ser’s second solo which centers on queer and trans issues,
“Catholic School Daze,” sold out in theatres throughout Los Angeles.
Ser’s highly successful theatre recognition led to being cast in a
recurring guest star role on Hulu’s Emmy^®-nominated “East Los
High” as openly queer character “Daysi Cantu.” Following “East Los
High,” Ser landed additional roles on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “The
Fosters,” “Shameless,” and other projects. They appeared as themself, a
comic on LATV’s “Latino 101.” Ser was a selected playwright for the 2017
Maria Irene Fornes Playwrighting workshop at Notre Dame in Chicago.

Chelsea Rendon started acting at the young age of six, jumping in head
first and booking the lead of a feature film less than a year later. She
won multiple awards for her role as Cristina in No Turning Back. As
a child she worked on shows such as “E.R.,” “The Shield” and “Judging
Amy.” More recently she’s worked on the Oscar^®-nominated film
A Better Life and Disney’s McFarland, USA. On
television she was featured on “The Bridge,” “Major Crimes” and “Code
Black.” This year she worked on Netflix’s “Bright” directed by David
Ayer and she is currently recurring on “The Fosters” on Freeform.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Carlos Miranda got his first taste of
acting at the age of 13 where he booked a short film. He continued
acting in his high school’s theatre productions before moving to LA at
the age of 23 to pursue his dream. Miranda appeared in feature films Warrior
directed by Gavin O’Conner; The Bling Ring, directed by Sofia
Coppola and opposite Emma Watson; and recently Grandma opposite
Lily Tomlin. His television credits include “Chicago PD,” “How to Get
Away with Murder” and “Dallas.”

Maria Elena Laas was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Saudi Arabia and
Japan. She later moved with her family to Los Angeles where she began
her career and garnered several film credits including Alan Cumming’s
“Suffering Man’s Charity,” the blockbuster The Hot Chick
starring Rob Schneider and Anna Faris, and has starred in indie
favorites Kill The Habit, Lunatics, Lovers, and Poets, Sold and Pastor
Shepherd opposite Danny Trejo.

Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B) will retain all domestic and
international multiplatform rights, including broadcast, home
entertainment and digital for the series.

Senior Vice President of Original Programming Marta Fernandez and
Manager of Original Programming Kathleen Clifford are the Starz
executives in charge of “Vida.”

About Starz

Starz (www.starz.com)
a Lionsgate company (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B), is a leading global media and
entertainment company that provides premium subscription video
programming on domestic U.S. pay television networks and produces and
distributes content for worldwide audiences, including its investment in
the STARZ PLAY Arabia OTT service. Starz is home to the flagship STARZ^®
brand and STARZ ENCORE channels and provides high-quality, entertaining
premium subscription video programming with 17 premium pay TV channels
and associated on-demand and online services, including the STARZ app.
Sold through U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable
operators, satellite television providers, telecommunications companies,
and other online and digital platforms, Starz offers subscribers more
than 5,000 distinct premium television episodes and feature films every
year and up to 1,500 every month, including STARZ Original series,
first-run movies and other popular movie and television programming.

Contacts

Starz
Yani Chang, 424-204-4073
yani.chang@starz.com
or
Jamie
French, 424-204?4176
jamie.french@starz.com