FX has filled one of the key new roles for the upcoming second season of “The Strain,” casting a well-respected Mexican star of stage and screen to play a heroic former luchador.
HitFix can report exclusively that Joaquín Cosío will join the Season 2 cast playing Angel Guzman Hurtado.
As fans of Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan's books know, Hurtado is better known as Angel de la Plata, The Silver Angel. Angel de la Plata was a major masked wrestling star in Mexico, appearing both in the ring and in a series of movies in which his character battled all manner of foes including vampires, who he dispatched with an ultra-violent trademark move. A knee injury ended his career and his money and celebrity were soon gone. Now he's washing dishes at an Indian restaurant, beloved by the nostalgic, but seemingly forgotten to the world.
As you might imagine, the vampire apocalypse introduced in the first “Strain” season offers some eerie familiarity for Angel and when anti-bloodsucking crusader Gus recruits him to the cause, Angel is more than willing to pick up his mask and join the fight.
The Silver Angel is one of the characters del Toro has always been most enthusiastic about, even giving him a three-issue Dark Horse comics arc.
Joaquín Cosío is a three-time nominee at the Arieles, the Mexican Academy of Film Awards. He may recognize him as Hector from HBO's “Eastbound & Down” or from roles in films including “Quantum of Solace,” “A Better Life,” “Savages” and “The Lone Ranger.”
[And yes, looking at Cosío above, he's now my pick to play Guillermo del Toro in… “Guillermo del Toro: The Guillermo del Toro Story.]
“The Strain” is currently five episodes into production on Season 2, which will premiere this summer.