Day Break star Ramón Rodriguez is set to star opposite Parks and Recreation’s Aubrey Plaza in Hulu’s Olga Dies Dreaming, the drama pilot based on the highly-anticipated novel by Xóchitl Gonzalez.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Olga Dies Dreaming is about a Nuyorican brother and sister who live in the gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park. They reckon with their absent, politically radical mother and their glittering careers among New York City’s elite in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands in 2017.
Set to publish in January by Flatiron Books, Gonzalez will write the script, while Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Hunters) will direct.
Aubrey Plaza will star in the film as the titular character, Olga, a renowned wedding planner whose surface successes mask a darker interior. “For Olga, the pursuit of perfection has become a compulsive survival mechanism as she tries to climb as far from her past as she can. Still, she can’t shake the feeling that the important people she knows don’t see her as their equals and this nagging sense that her success is an illusion always leaves her wanting more.”
Rodriguez is set to portray Prieto, Olga’s older brother who is a popular Congressman wearinng his Puerto Rican pride like a badge of honor. “He grew up playing a part: the cheerful, overachieving, involuntary patriarch of a broken home. Even though he is lonely and tired, he wakes up every morning wholly prepared to be the fixer, continuing to present this facade to his constituents and his opponents alike.”
Both stars will also serve as producers on the film.
Gonzalez posted about Plaza and Rodriguez joining the project this week, gushing over just how excited she is to work with both actors.
“So excited to share that the one and only, brilliantly talented, @plazadeaubrey will be bringing Olga Acevedo to life‼️,” she wrote on Instagram. “This character is hilarious and awkward but also sophisticated and tormented and (torturously) tries to fit in to so many different worlds… I can’t wait to see her rock Olga’s Air Force 1’s. (And, fun fact, her dad’s family and my Pop are both from Arecibo 🇵🇷).”
She went on to speak about Rodriguez’s involvement, writing, “From the very first time we spoke, Ramon’s passion for this project and thoughtfulness as an actor just shined so clearly. I know how much heart and soul he’s going to bring to this character who is completely fictional, but who holds such a big space in my heart. (Plus, how cute are him and Aubrey as siblings?)”
