William Levy is slowly becoming a household name in Hollywood as he has been tapped to star in Universal Pictures' "Term Life."
Universal Pictures just announced in a press release that the Cuban actor would star alongside Jordi Molla, Vince Vaughn, and Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld.
The film marks the first studio production for the actor. Levy has quickly been rising up the ranks over the past few years after his success in "Dancing with the Stars" in 2012. The actor retired from soap operas after "The Tempest," which failed to grab Spanish language audiences. However, he quickly found work in Hollywood. He was first seen in the "Single Ladies" TV series where he appeared in four episodes and later garnered Tyler Perry's attention. Perry cast him in his upcoming movie "The Single Moms Club."
Levy quickly moved to another project after Perry's movie and he will also be featured in the new movie "Addicted." Before being cast for the Universal picture Levy worked on two independent film, "A Change of Heart" and "The Veil." Both films have no release date.
Levy isn't the first Latin actor to find Hollywood fame after beginning his career in soap operas. Back in 1989 Salma Hayek broke out in the Spanish soap opera "Teresa." The young actress soon got hired for a number of TV shows and small films and eventually started getting hired for lead roles. "Desperado" was one of the first films that put the Mexican actress on the map.
Levy still has a long way to go before being considered an A-List actor but his casting in "Term Life" could be a major breakout.
The film will be directed by Peter Billingsley ("Couples Retreat") from a screenplay by A.J. Lieberman who wrote the original graphic novel that he created with Nick Thornborrow. It is important to note that Billinsley's last film "Couples Retreat" was a major box office hit and with Levy playing a supporting role, he could get noticed.
The film will be produced by Vaughn, Micah Mason and Victoria Vaughn for Wild West Picture Show Productions; Frakes will also produce alongside executive producer Raj Brinder Singh.
Additionally the movie will be fully financed by Frakes' PalmStar Media Capital and its partner Merced Media.
"Term Life" will tell the story of Nick Barrow who plans and sells heists to the highest bidder, but when his latest job goes horribly wrong he finds himself hunted by everyone he knows—mob bosses, contract killers and dirty cops. With no way out, Nick does the only thing he can think of to help his estranged daughter Cate—he takes out a life insurance policy on himself with her as the beneficiary. It's a great plan until he finds out the policy doesn't take effect for 21 days. Now Nick is forced to take Cate on the run and keep them both alive while trying to be a father for the very first time.
Universal has yet to announced a release date but news will come soon.