Nina Paw & Mario Cimarro Join Cast Of Cathay Film Company's Scripted Drama Series COOLIE

It was REVEALED TODAY that Cuban star Mario Cimarro ("Romeo + Juliet, "Pasión de gavilanes") and veteran Hong Kong actress Nina Paw Hee-Ching ("The Way We Are," "Lost in Time") have joined the cast of "Coolie" - a limited series inspired by the little-known history of enslaved Chinese 'coolies' in Cuba in the 1860s, amidst the backdrop of the impending Cuban War of Independence.

The eight-episode English and Chinese language drama series is a global production from Meileen Choo's Singapore-based Cathay Film Company and features a multinational ensemble cast from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Cuba and Colombia.

Cimarro and Paw join Louise Wong ("A Guilty Conscience," "Anita"), who is one of Hong Kong's biggest rising stars and a top model; Taiwanese actor Joseph Chang ("Eternal Summer," "Girlfriend Boyfriend," "Soul"); Colombian actor and TV personality Mauricio Henao ("La Herencia," "Panama," "Fake Profile"); and Cuban actors Camila Arteche ("El acompanante," "Sergio & Serguei," "Juego de Mentiras") and Sian Chiong ("La Mexicana y el Guero," "Menudo," "Fidel's Daughter").

In the mid-1800's, as the African slave trade was outlawed throughout the Americas, plantation owners in Cuba began trafficking indentured servants, "coolies" from China, and they were treated as slaves. 'Coolies' eventually integrated into Cuban society, fought for independence from Spain side by side with Cubans, and merged with the workers coming out of indentured servitude, providing a workforce for sugar cane and tobacco plantations, restaurants, laundries, shops and setting up the Chinatown in Havana.

The series "Coolie" follows a young Chinese girl, Chulin (Wong) who sets off from southern China to marry a political exile working on a sugarcane plantation in Cuba. There, she finds the sympathetic, non-slave owning plantation owner plotting for independence from Imperial Spain, aided by Chinese indentured servants and African slaves seeking freedom. The plantation owner's spurned wife and her old lover conspire against them all to thwart their plans, igniting an escalating series of scheming and retaliation with the heart of Cuba hanging in the balance.

Cimarro will play Captain Salvador Santiago, a multi-lingual sailor, whose ship transports coolies to Cuba. Amongst those he brings is Chulin, the Chinese girl while Paw will play Chulin's grandmother, a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who arranges for her granddaughter to marry an indentured Chinese worker in Cuba, to pay off a family debt.

Series creator Meileen Choo said, "We're beyond excited to have Mario and Nina join the cast of 'Coolie' and fully embrace the on-screen diversity and authenticity we've architected with purpose to tell this story."

Mario Cimarro made his big screen debut in Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo & Juliet" starring alongside Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes, and has starred in several iconic Latin-American series such as "Pasión de gavilanes," "El Cuerpo del Deseo," and "Vuelve Temprano," along with a recurring role as the chef Augusto on USA Network's "Necessary Roughness."

Nina Paw is a renowned Hong Kong actress celebrated for her versatile performances throughout her illustrious career. Paw's film credits include acclaimed titles like "Caught in Time," "Fearless," "Lost in Time," and "The Way We Are" which earned her both Hong Kong Film and Hong Kong Film Critics Society awards.

Distinguished film industry veteran Meileen Choo is the series' creator and showrunner. Choo is known for running the prominent Cathay Organisation, a heavyweight name in Singapore's film industry. "Coolie" is the debut series from Choo and her new Cathay Film Company banner.

"Coolie" will be directed by Taiwanese-American director Arvin Chen, who most recently directed episodes of Apple's hit series "Pachinko" as well as films "Au revoir Taipei," "Mama Boy," and "Love in Taipei."

In-Ah Lee ("Land of Plenty," "Don't Come Knockin'" "The Way I Spent the End of the World") is the series executive producer. Ed Buhr ("Unhung Hero") is producing.

The series will shoot in the Dominican Republic and Panama. Principal photography will commence in December 2023.

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