EXCLUSIVE: Marc Menchaca (Ozark) has signed on to star alongside André Holland, Don Cheadle, Alessandro Nivola and Tiffany Boone in the six-episode limited series The Big Cigar, centered on Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton (Holland), for Apple TV+.
The series based on the eponymous PlayboyJoshuah Bearman Magazine Article (Argo) tells the extraordinary, hilarious, almost-too-good-to-be-true story of how Newton relied on his best friend, Bert Schneider (Nivola), the Hollywood producer behind Easy RiderTo escape a nationwide manhunt, and to flee to Cuba while being pursued by the FBI into exile.
Menchaca has been cast as Agent Sydney Clark, a regular role in the series. Clark, a former Oklahoma lawyer and Vietnam vet, lives undercover as an illegal hippie while pursuing Newton. Newton is being investigated for the murder of a teenage prostitute.
NAACP Image Award winner Janine Sherman Barrois (Claws, The Kings of Napa) is serving as The Big Cigar‘s showrunner. Jim Hecht (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) wrote the show’Cheadle directed and produced the first episode. The show comes from Warner Bros. Television where Barrois’ Folding Chair Productions is under an overall deal. Bearman is exec producing the show alongside Barrois and Hecht.Joshua Davis and Arthur SpectorLittle America) through their production company Epic, a division of Vox Media Studios.
Menchaca is best known for his scene-stealing turns as Jack Hoskins on HBO’s hit series The OutsiderRuss Langmore, Emmy-winning Netflix drama series Ozark. Next, the actor will be seen in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, HBO’s miniseries The White House Plumbers, John Hyams’ thriller Sick and Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi pic True LoveNew Regency Additional TV credits include Black Mirror, Homeland, MacGyver, Blue Bloods, Chicago P.D., Sleepy Hollow, The Blacklist, Law & Order: SVU, CSI Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Menchaca is represented APA, TMT Entertainment Group.