Actor Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rogue!) might be the main draw in the upcoming Netflix limited series Halston, but two Latino actors are also performing a pair of major roles in the biopic on the talented albeit troubled American fashion designer.
In Halston, Krysta Rodriguez (TV’s Daybreak) portrays actress, dancer and singer Liza Minnelli (Cabaret), one of Halston’s close friends who he would party with at Studio 54 in the 1970s. Rodriguez, who is half Mexican on her father’s side, made her Broadway debut in the 2005 musical Good Vibrations. Since then, she has performed in stage productions like In the Heights and The Addams Family.
In the trailer, Rodriguez is seen on the red carpet at Studio 54 holding a cigarette in one hand and Halston’s hand in the other and looking stylish as Liza. “I know you,” she says. “The one thing you don’t know how to do is stop.”
“Krysta Rodriguez…really sings and dances all of these numbers with incredible skill and passion and gives 110%–just like Liza,” director and executive producer Daniel Minahan told The Hollywood Reporter. “The reactions of the audience were real. She brought everyone to their feet.”
Also in the cast is Venezuelan newcomer Gian Franco Rodriguez, who portrays Venezuelan artist and Halston’s lover Victor Hugo. In the trailer, he can be seen strutting his stuff in some tighty-whities.
“Gian Franco met the challenge of this larger-than-life character who was a Dada artist, hustler, sexual outlaw and general disruptor,” Minahan says. “He made us laugh every day.”
Halston premieres on Netflix May 14.