The creators of the original 1990 drama “Party Of Five” found a new opportunity to bring back the iconic show in a timely, reinvented manner with a star-studded Latino cast.
In the original show, written by Amy Lippman and Christopher Keyser, centered on a white family of five siblings who raise each other after their parents are killed by a drunk driver. The reboot centers on the emotional roller coaster the Acosta siblings face after their parents are suddenly deported to Mexico.
The new show, premiered Wednesday at 9 p.m. on Freeform, starts off with a dramatic turn of events as Javier Acosta and Gloria Acosta end up in a detention center after being arrested by immigration authorities while working at the family restaurant. Emilio (Brandon Larracuente), the oldest Acosta sibling, has to suddenly put his dreams of becoming a musician on hold to navigate the stressful and complex immigration system to help his parents.
Even after Emilio does everything in his power to release his parents from detention, they both end up being deported, leaving him and his siblings Lucia, Beto, Valentina and baby Rafa behind as they grapple with the realities of raising each other. Larracuente, whose character is a 24-year-old DACA recipient, told NBC News he spent a lot of time reading articles and researching DACA to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of people
“I learned something about the DACA status, I did not know that just because you are a DACA student that does not guarantee you citizenship,” Larracuente said. “That’s something that I learned through educating myself.” During the Tribeca Film Festival, Lippman said they plan on developing Larracuente’s character based on the Supreme Court’s decision to either end or keep DACA.
The Acostas mirror some of the experiences that more than 16 million people living in mixed immigration status families grapple with nationwide.
Recent Comments