Cristela Alonzo Joins Lin-Manuel Miranda for HBO’s ‘His Dark Materials’
Comedian Cristela Alonzo is known for her witty sense of humor and her activism, but now she’s taking a more dramatic turn in her career as she joins the HBO series His Dark Materials
Photo: Instagram/cristela9
Comedian Cristela Alonzo is known for her witty sense of humor and her activism, but now she’s taking a more dramatic turn in her career as she joins the HBO series His Dark Materials. The show, based on Phillip Pullman’s trilogy: Northern Lights (also known as The Golden Compass), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, follows two children, Lyra, and Will, as they travel through parallel universes.
Alonzo will play Lee Scoresby’s (played by Lin-Manuel Miranda) faithful hare, Hester, who is Scoresby’s daemon (a creature that represents the individual’s inner being).
Mexican-American Alonzo, 40, made history when she became the first Latina woman to create, produce, write, and star in her own prime time comedy, Cristela, released in 2013. Since then, she’s also landed a Netflix comedy special, Lower Classy.
“Okay. This is cool news! I’m doing the voice of Hester in [His Dark Materials] … VERY cool project. I’m so lucky to be part of such an amazing project,” she tweeted.
Earlier this year it was also announced that Lin-Manuel Miranda would take on the role of Lee Scoresby, a cowboyish balloonist who helps the young Lyra in her quest. “I come into this thing singing a duet with my daemon in a big-ass hot air balloon which was a pretty fun way to enter the world,” he said during the premiere of the trailer at Comic-Con, Variety reports.
*hugs his Latina daemon Hester*
🇲🇽🇵🇷🏴 #HisDarkMaterials https://t.co/Dt3QYY5iuG— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) September 3, 2019
After Alonzo’s announcement, Miranda shared his excitement as well on Twitter. Miranda retweeted her tweet and wrote, “*hugs his Latina daemon Hester*” adding the Puerto Rican and Mexican flag emojis.
In the meantime, Alonzo is also promoting her upcoming book, Music to My Years: A Mixtape-Memoir of Growing Up and Standing Up. She’s also previously discussed how she’s been typecast in the past so this role is not only a huge win for her but for all Latinas as representation in Hollywood remains low. Miranda is juggling several projects including the film adaptation of his musical, In the Heights coming out Summer 2020.
“You know what it feels like to be a Mexican-American that gets to do FANTASY? When I first started auditioning, I’d get maids. I stopped because I was tired of it. It’s crazy to think how big of a deal it is to be in this show when you realize you just want the chance others get,” she tweeted.
The eight-episode series is in production in Wales and will air this fall on HBO and BBC and it’s reportedly the BBC’s most expensive drama series to date.
We can’t wait to see what Miranda and Alonzo have in store!
