Mayans M.C. may be concluding with its upcoming fifth season, but star Danny Pino won’t be off of your screen for too long—the actor has signed on to play the lead in an upcoming eight-episode series from MGM+ (formerly known as EPIX), Hotel Cocaine according to a report from Deadline.
The crime thriller comes from Chris Brancato, the creator of Narcos, Narcos: Mexico, and The Godfather of Harlem. Pino will play Roman Compte, described by the official plot synopsis as a “Cuban exile, CIA operative, and general manager of The Mutiny Hotel, the glamorous epicenter of the Miami cocaine scene of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.” Pitched as “Casablanca on cocaine,” Hotel Cocaine will follow Compte as he navigates a treacherous intersection of “Florida businessmen and politicians, international narcos, CIA and FBI agents, models, sports stars, and musicians…doing his best to keep it all going and fulfill his own American Dream. ” Having been born in Miami to Cuban expatriates, Pino is ideally suited to the role.
Where Have You Seen Pino Before?
Hotel Cocaine will continue the actor’s excellent run of leading roles on top-notch crime series: In addition to portraying cartel boss Miguel Galindo on the Sons of Anarchy spinoff Mayans M.C., Pino played homicide detective Scotty Valens on CBS’ Cold Case for seven years, and then appeared as Detective Nick Amaro on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for a decade. (He was also in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, which was its own kind of crime story.) Speaking to Collider last summer, Pino discussed the joy of playing these kinds of characters: “It’s the complexity of human nature. It’s the inconsistencies that we all have… We want that complexity. We want that inconsistency. We want that duality.”
‘Mayans M.C.’ Season 4: Danny Pino on Miguel Galindo’s Evolving Endgame
Pino also recently wrote, directed, produced, and starred in a short film, Union de Reyes (Union of Kings). Although the short has no release details at this time, the final season of Mayans M.C. is scheduled to air later this year.
Brancato will serve as the showrunner on Hotel Cocaine. Oscar-winning cinematographer-turned-director Guillermo Navarro (The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, Luke Cage; director of photography on every Guillermo Del Toro film up to and including 2013’s Pacific Rim) will helm the pilot. The series will be executive produced by Brancato, Navarro, Alfredo Barrios Jr. (Burn Notice, Magnum P.I.), and Michael Panes (Godfather of Harlem). Produced by EPIX Studios in partnership with MGM Television, it’s slated to begin filming this May in the Dominican Republic, with the series tentatively scheduled to air sometime in early 2024.
