Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: Breathe, In The Heights, Melissa Barrera, netflix, tv series, Vida

Breathe: In The Heights' Melissa Barrera Leads Netflix Survival Drama

Published Sat, 05 Jun 2021 10:09:10 -0500

Melissa Barrera has been cast as the lead of Breathe, Netflix's new one-hour drama series from Blindspot creator Martin Gero and writer-executive producer Brendan Gall, and Warner Bros. Television. Gero and Ball will write the series together. Gero executive produces via his production company Quinn's House along with Gall. Warner Bros. TV is the studio behind the show.

In Breathe, Barrera will play Eve, a "razor-sharp" Manhattan attorney whose small plane crashes and she has to survive against the elements and odds to survive. In Hollywood movies and TV, every attorney heroine just has to be "razor-sharp", not a single one has ever been described as "butterknife-dull". That might at least make an interesting change. This sounds awfully similar to Survive, a movie that was acquired and sliced up into segments on the now-dead streaming service Quibi, which starred Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner, though she didn't play a lawyer in that one, just a suicidal teenager who needs a plane crash and a nice black potential boyfriend to die before she learns the value of life. Very little detail is available about Breathe at the moment. Is it just going to be Barrera all alone in the wilderness? Is this going to be another attempt at a Lost-alike since it's an entire TV show? Looks like Barrera will be playing a heroine who has to learn to Breathe! The title is a metaphor!

Barrera's star has been gradually rising over the last few years. She most recently starred as the co-lead Lyn in playwright Tanya Saracho's Vida, which aired for three seasons on Starz. The cult show was acclaimed for being a flagship for LGBTQ Latinx representation and its cancellation was met with disappointment by fans. She next stars in In the Heights, Jon M. Chu's movie adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony-winning musical. She also plays what's said to be a key role in the upcoming Scream 5. She recently completed work on Sony Pictures Classics' Carmen, a modern-day reimagining of the classic opera. Netflix will release more details about Breathe in due course.

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