Valerie Cruz (The Following) has booked a series-regular role in The Resident, Fox’s medical drama pilot written by Amy Holden Jones, Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi, directed by Phillip Noyce and produced by Antoine Fuqua. 20th TV is the studio. The Resident centers on Devon Pravesh (Manish Dayal), an idealistic young doctor who begins his first day under the supervision of a tough, brilliant and cocky senior resident, Conrad Hawkins (Matt Czuchry), who pulls the curtain back on all of the good and evil in modern-day medicine. Lives might be saved or lost, but expectations always will be shattered. Cruz will play hospital CEO Renata Lopez. Cruz next will be seen in the upcoming feature Locating Silver Lake with Finn Wittrock. She’s repped by Domain, Pearl Hanan Management and attorney Neil Meyer.
Shalim Ortiz (Heroes) has signed on a series regular opposite Daniella Alonso in Las Reinas, ABC’s drama pilot from feature writer Dean Georgaris, ABC Studios and the Mark Gordon Co. Written by Georgaris and directed by Liz Friedlander, Las Reinas centers on Detective Alex De La Reina (Alonso), who is forced to confront her past when a case compels her to reconnect with her estranged family – the most powerful criminal outfit in Miami. Thrust back into the world she thought she had left behind, Alex must walk the murky line between the law and her family, and question her true destiny as a de la Reina. Ortiz will play Diego de la Reina, Alex’s brother. Diego has grown up under his grandmother’s supervision and enjoys the power and prestige of being a de la Reina. When he sees his sister again after years of estrangement, they clash over her re-appearance and his increasing role in the crime family. Ortiz played Alejandro Herrera on Heroes and recently recurred on Ballers. He’s repped by Rothman/Andres Entertainment.