Archive for the ‘Interview’ Category

TV fans are checking into Grand Hotel, and Shalim Ortiz has stolen a few scenes on the ABC series as Mateo, the hotel manager who’s keeping a big secret.

He connected with Hidden Remote to discuss the personal connection that got him interested in the show, how he’s been able to have a successful career in both American and Spanish roles, and the guest star he was “starstruck” to work with.

Learn more about Shalim Ortiz in our interview below, then keep your eye out for him when the next Grand Hotel episode airs on ABC next Monday, July 8 at 10 p.m. The excitement is only just beginning! (more…)

‘Grand Hotel’ is making its big debut on June 17. HL talked EXCLUSIVELY with star Shalim Ortiz, who plays Mateo, about what to expect from his ‘delicious’ character. Plus, he teases ‘heavy secrets’ within the hotel.

Grand Hotel is about to be your new favorite summer show. The drama series, premiering June 17 at 10 p.m. on ABC, is set at the last family-owned hotel in Miami Beach. Santiago Mendoza owns the hotel, while his second wife, Gigi, and their adult children enjoy the spoils of success. The hotel’s loyal staff round out a fresh take on the upstairs/downstairs story. Within the walls of the hotel, explosive secrets run rampant. Shalim Ortiz plays Mateo, the hotel manager. Shalim told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that Mateo is “a delicious character. He’s full of layers and mystery. You could say he’s a mysterious character. There’s obviously more than meets the eye, and you don’t get to see this guy’s full agenda and intentions from the get-go. It’s pretty evident that there’s going to be some tension between him and the owner of the hotel, Santiago. So I think that relationship plays a key role in the storyline and he’s definitely going to deal with some very heavy secrets that are happening at the hotel.”

He also noted that there’s “no in-your-face good guy bad guy in this show. Nobody is free from sin. Everybody has something they need to keep from somebody else.” The dynamic between Mateo and Santiago is a professional relationship but Shalim teased that “they know things about each other that could be compromising. So, there’s always going to be this question of who’s got the upper hand? I don’t want to say it’s a conflict of power, but their positions can be compromising in the relationship because one manages the hotel and knows pretty much all of the hotel’s secrets and the other one owns it. There is a history between them, that’s for sure, and that history of how they started working together is going to play a role in the story.” (more…)

Grand Hotel kickstarted its first seasons with many twists and turns, securing its spot as this TV’s juiciest summer roller coaster ride.

The one-hour series premiere saw the mysterious disappearance of an employee during an eerie hurricane, a failed wedding ceremony after the bride had an affair with a pop star, the reveal that the Riviera Grand is a money pit with massive debts to dangerous people and an unexpected pregnancy reveal.

One of the most mysterious characters from the new ABC series, hotel manager Mateo (Shalim Ortiz) made short but memorable appearances during the first episode. (more…)

The temperature in Miami is rising, and it’s not because of the heat. With the highly-anticipated show Grand Hotel, from executive producer Eva Longoria, finally premiering Monday, June 17, South Beach will never be the same. Shalim Ortiz, who plays hotel manager Mateo, stopped by HOLA! USA to reveal what viewers can expect from the new ABC show. “Grand Hotel in three words –sexy, mysterious and unpredictable,” he says. And although there will be plenty of drama taking place inside the hotel, off screen the cast that also includes Roselyn Sanchez, JenCarlos Canela and Demián Bichir really bonded. “Everybody kind of does their job, and everybody is so generous,” he adds. “There’s no prima donnas; there’s no egos. It really is a dream cast.”

The dad-of-three, who knows just how quick time flies with his little ones, also gave such praise to Eva. “[She] is a force of nature. I think everybody who knows her says the same thing – she is a workaholic and wears so many hats at once,” he notes. “This is her baby, and to me it’s an honor to be a part of it. Just to take Eva’s words, it’s very important for us as Latino actors and spectators to support a show like this that has Latinos in different job positions, not your cliché and typical roles but just a role of power.”

Watch the video to learn more about Mateo, and why you won’t want to leave the Grand Hotel!

Source: HOLA! USA

“Great way to kick this off!” actor and musician Shalim Ortiz laughed when the first thing out of my mouth during our interview at the Decider offices last week was not a hard-hitting question, but rather a statement that there are simply so many hot people in his new show Grand Hotel, which premieres tonight on ABC. And it’s true. Watch for just a few minutes and you’ll realize the show about a fancy Miami hotel, its staff, and its guests is packed with nothing but total hotties, very much including Ortiz himself.

Then it was on to more important matters: discussing the news recently broken by Page Six, that executive producer Eva Longoria treated the cast to a yacht party the week they filmed the pilot in Miami. “It’s true!” Ortiz said. He and his co-stars couldn’t help but look around and think, “We’re in for a good adventure.”

A large part of that is due to Longoria as well. “The beautiful thing about it is no one has anything bad to say about Eva for a reason. She is an amazing boss. I’ve known her for years and she always makes sure you meet with her and you hang out with her at that level, a very intimate level, no matter who she works with.” Not only is she a producer on the series, but she’ll also have a recurring guest star role, and just in case that’s not enough, Ortiz said, “She directed Episode 3 which was an amazing experience. She was a great director, an actor’s director, as you can imagine. But at the same time very clear as to how she wants a scene, how she wants to tell the story.” (more…)

Eva Longoria’s much-awaited television show ‘Grand Hotel’ promises unsolved mysteries, dramatic twists in the plot and sexy secrets of a Latino family who are shown to have picture-perfect lives. The show is an adaptation of the telenovela series ‘Gran Hotel’ created by Ramón Campos and Gema R. Neira.

Shalim Ortiz, one of the main leads, is absolutely delighted to be a part of Longoria’s ‘Grand Hotel’. Ortiz plays Mateo in the series and in an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), the ‘CSI: Miami’ star shed more light on the show, his character and working alongside Longoria.

“It (‘Grand Hotel) is a re-imagining of the original,” Ortiz said. “This is a version based in the present time unlike the Spanish one and it has the Florida-Miami flair to it, so it’s a nice combination of the DNA between the actual and the adapted version.” Ortiz also added that the storyline was similar to the original tale and said it was a huge opportunity for him to be part of the series. (more…)

The much-anticipated summer television show “Grand Hotel” promises a lot of sexy secrets, unsolved mysteries and dramatic plot twists, all while portraying Latinos in positions of power in front and behind the camera.

“When you do a show like this, you are not only showcasing Latinos in a mainstream way, which is evident and it’s beautiful in itself, but you’re also showing the reality of the times we’re living in right now,” actor Shalim Ortiz, who plays Mateo, the hotel’s manager and one of the drama’s main characters, told NBC News of the ABC drama. “Especially in Miami Beach, Latinos are in positions of power.”

“Grand Hotel” is based on the successful Spanish television show “Gran Hotel” set in the 1900s. But executive producer Eva Longoria’s version centers around the last family-owned hotel in modern-day Miami. (more…)