The cast of Gina Rodriguez's feature directorial debut, The House of Guerrero, keeps growing. Seven more actors have joined the production, which is currently underway in Los Angeles and California's Imperial Valley.
The new additions are Lisa Vidal as Tia Lupe, Alex Guerrero's aunt; Aaron Dominguez as Perico, one of Alex's friends in El Centro; Jesse Garcia as Diego, Alex's therapist; Edwin Hodge as Malcolm, manager of Club Crave; Emilio Rivera as Tio Turi, Alex's uncle and husband of Tia Lupe; Adam Rodriguez as Ruben Chapa, a trainer at the local El Centro boxing gym; and Javon Walton as Alex in his earlier years.
They join a previously announced cast led by Carlos Sanson Jr. as Alex Guerrero, alongside Rosario Dawson as his mother Elsa, George Lopez as his ex-fighter father Alejandro, and Rodriguez herself as his sister Paloma. The original story by Rodriguez and Bernardo Cubria follows Alex, whose promising boxing career is cut short before he gets one last shot at stepping back into the ring.
Cast so far:
- Carlos Sanson Jr.: Alex Guerrero
- Rosario Dawson: Elsa, Alex's mother
- George Lopez: Alejandro, Alex's father
- Gina Rodriguez: Paloma, Alex's sister and trainer
- Lisa Vidal: Tia Lupe / Aaron Dominguez: Perico / Jesse Garcia: Diego / Edwin Hodge: Malcolm / Emilio Rivera: Tio Turi / Adam Rodriguez: Ruben Chapa / Javon Walton: young Alex
Why this matters: A first-time feature director stacking this much veteran talent is a statement. Vidal, Rivera, and Adam Rodriguez bring decades of screen credibility to a family boxing drama that lives or dies on authenticity, and Walton as the younger Alex is inspired casting. For actors watching from the sidelines, this is also a reminder: the best new directors are often the performers who got tired of waiting for the right roles and built them instead.