New York Times best-selling author Shea Serrano’s untitled comedy TV series is coming together nicely. Formerly called Primo, the show has recently announced a large portion of its cast, which includes Carlos Santos (Gentefied), Johnny Rey Diaz (Grey’s Anatomy), and Martin Martinez (Never Have I Ever).
Newcomer Ignacio Diaz-Silverio will play Rafa, a character inspired by Serrano as a teenager growing up in San Antonio, Texas. According to Deadline, the series will follow Rafa as he attempts to balance “college aspirations, societal expectations, and a hectic home life, anchored by his single mom and five uncles.”
Created by Serrano and Mike Schur (The Good Place), the project, which will air on Amazon Freevee (formerly IMDb TV), is something the Texas-based writer looks forward to sharing with audiences, despite feeling a bit nervous going into production. According to Deadline, production on the series will start in Albuquerque, New Mexico, later this month.
“Making a TV show with Mike Schur and a bunch of other smarter-than-me people where my mom and dad and uncles are the inspiration for characters and where Larami (Serrano’s wife) is the inspiration for the main character’s love interest — the universe is wild,” Serrano wrote on Instagram earlier this month. “Beyond thankful and grateful and also horrified and terrified lol.”
Other cast members who have been announced are Henri Esteve, Jonathan Medina, Nigel Siwabessy, Christina Vidal, Efrain Villa, and Stakiah Washington.
“I’m so excited and grateful to be a part of this show,” Esteve wrote on Instagram. “Thank you to ALL the people (there were a lot) who were part of making this happen.”
Like Serrano, Santos, who played one of the grandsons on Gentefied, is excited to get the production up and running soon.
“So ur telling me I get to work with Shea Serrano, Mike Schur AND a STACKED cast of talented and amazing peoples?” Carlos Santos wrote on Instagram. “Ok…No notes. Let’s get this summer started.”
Serrano wrote the best-selling books The Rap Year Book, Basketball (and Other Things), Movies (and Other Things) and Hip-Hop (and Other Things). In 2017, former U.S. President Barack Obama put Basketball (and Other Things) on his list of recommended books to read for the year.