By Romeo San Vicente • Photo Submitted
Niecy Nash makes ‘The Perfect Find’
Niecy Nash, star of “Claws,” “Reno 911” and “Mrs. America,” has signed on to a new romcom for Netflix. It’s called “The Perfect Find,” it’s based on the 2016 novel by Tia Williams, and it stars Gabrielle Union (also producing) as a beauty journalist who falls for a co-worker – played by Keith Powers (“Straight Outta Compton”) – who also happens to be the boss’s son. That boss? Nash. Now, from watching the perfect and hilarious Nash on “Claws” as well as the perfect and hilarious Union in 2003’s underrated “Deliver Us from Eva,” we know there’ll be sparks flying as these two powerhouses do battle, and this is already in our imaginary Netflix queue. Not sure when it’ll drop on the streaming service, but if you need a little Niecy before then, she’ll also be hosting the 32nd annual GLAAD Media Awards, streaming on both Hulu and YouTube April 8.
Alec Mapa, Alec Baldwin and Kelsey Grammer: The Odd Throuple?
Based on what the public has come to know about the sometimes difficult reputations of actors Alec Baldwin and Kelsey Grammer, it seems like a great time to cast them as roommates with combative egos. And that’s what’s coming this fall when “Modern Family” writers/producers Chris Lloyd and Vali Chandrasekaran’s new untitled sitcom arrives. Untitled for now, the veteran actors, alongside queer comic Alec Mapa, will play three friends who’ve known each other for decades, and whose past as bickering roommates collides with their present – as bickering roommates. No other details are known at this point, but reports are that Mapa’s character will be the empathy-driven gay peacemaker. Of course, we’ve seen enough of Mapa’s delightful comic work to know that at some point his peacekeeping will turn into gay truth-telling. In other words, we want to see him domestically dominate some straight men. That would be justice, we think. Keep an eye out for whatever it is they finally decide to call this one.
Annette Bening dives into Diana Nyad biopic
Four-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening (that’s right, she’s never won, because the world is chaotic and broken) invariably makes cool career choices, lending her recent projects an air of thoughtfulness that signals more than the usual Needed A Job vibe. So it’s wonderful news that she has signed on to star in a biopic based on lesbian long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad’s autobiography, “Find a Way.” Don’t know Nyad? She’s the woman who, at age 64, swam from Cuba to Florida without any protective barrier in a stretch of water known for sharks and deadly jellyfish. She’s basically AquaWoman and deserves all respect for a lifetime of long-distance swimming accomplishments. The script, from Ann Biderman (“Ray Donovan”) and Julia Cox, will adapt Nyad’s book, and the film will be directed by Oscar winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (the nail-biting mountain climbing documentary “Free Solo”), making their narrative feature debut. And if you’ve seen “Free Solo,” you know these filmmakers have an affinity for people putting their bodies on the line for the historical glory of it all, and the talent to create unbearable cinematic tension in the process. It’s a match made in extreme sports heaven.
‘Pose’ star Hailie Sahar to portray Sir Lady Java
Sir Lady Java is a queer history legend: an exotic dancer, singer and comic in the 1960s who also became a trans rights activist. Arriving in Los Angeles in her early 20s, she became known on the nightclub circuit and appeared on stage with well-known entertainers like Redd Foxx, Lena Horne, Sammy Davis Jr. and Richard Pryor. She also had to battle an L.A. city ordinance that banned cross-dressing, one that threatened to make her work life next to impossible, by staging rallies and protests, eventually winning the fight. Now Emmy-winning queer director Anthony Hemingway (“American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson”) has taken on Sir Lady Java’s biopic (working title is, appropriately, “Sir Lady Java”) and “Pose” star Hailie Sahar will move into the title role. We love a queer project about queer subjects created by queer people, and we especially love it that Sahar will get a shot at a new role (especially now that “Pose” is headed for its third and final season) — one that was designed for a trans actress to step into. It seems like the days of trans performers not being considered for trans roles are on the way out, and it’s about time. The project is in pre-production right now, with a start date expected sometime this year. We can’t wait!
Romeo San Vicente waits patiently to be crowned Miss Vaccine 2021.
