''Matador'' is an American television series co-created by

Roberto Orci Roberto Gaston Orcí (born July 20, 1973) is a Mexican-American film and television screenwriter and producer. He began his longtime collaboration with Alex Kurtzman while at school in California. Together they have been employed on television ...

, Andrew Orci, Dan Dworkin, and Jay Beattie. The series chronicled the rise of popular soccer star Tony "Matador" Bravo (

Gabriel Luna Gabriel Luna is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider on the ABC action superhero series '' Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Bravo on the El Rey Netwo ...

), known for his exploits both on and off the field. Unbeknownst to the public and his family, he is also a skilled covert operative performing missions for a branch of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

. The series premiered on July 15, 2014, on the newly launched channel

El Rey Network El Rey Network (Spanish for ''The King'') is a media brand founded by Robert Rodriguez on December 15, 2013, that is currently owned in a joint venture with FactoryMade Ventures. Until December 31, 2020, El Rey was a cable and satellite network ...

. Executive producers are showrunners Beattie and Dworkin, Roberto Orci,

Alex Kurtzman Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the ''Star Trek'' franchise since 2009, co-writing the scripts to ''Transformers (film), Transformers'' (2007), ''Transformers: Revenge ...

, and

Heather Kadin Heather Kadin (born August 7, 1972) is an American television producer and film producer. She co- executive produces '' Star Trek: Discovery''. Life and career Kadin was born on August 7, 1972, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Before being President o ...

K/O Paper Products K/O Paper Products (also known as Kurtzman/Orci Paper Products) was an American television and motion picture production company founded by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci c. 2004, after signing a deal with DreamWorks Pictures to rewrite the scr ...

, and

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...

along with FactoryMade Ventures and El Rey Network co-founders

John Fogelman John Michael Fogelman (born c. 1965) is an American entrepreneur. He is the CEO of FactoryMade Ventures, an entertainment and media incubator. Formerly Executive Vice President and Head of the Motion Picture Department and the Intellectual Pro ...

and Cristina Patwa. Beattie and Dworkin wrote the first episode, which was directed by Rodriguez. Despite originally being renewed for a second season prior to its premiere, El Rey canceled the show, citing a lack of international success.

Plot

In this scripted action series, Tony Bravo (Gabriel Luna) is a

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

agent recruited by the

to infiltrate the Los Angeles Riot, a professional soccer team. The CIA suspects the Riot's owner, Andrés Galan (Alfred Molina), of using his vast resources to fund illicit activities. During team tryouts, Bravo seriously injures one of the Riot players in a confrontation on the field, initially earning the ire of the owner and the team. When footage of the incident goes viral, earning Bravo the nickname "Matador", Galan sees marketing potential in his popular new star.

Cast and characters

Main

as Tony "Matador" Bravo, soccer player for the L.A. Riot and CIA mole *

Nicky Whelan Nicky Whelan (born 10 May 1981) is an Australian actress and model known for her role as Pepper Steiger in the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours''. Career Before ''Neighbours'', Whelan hosted a number of shows, including '' Coxy's Big Brea ...

as Annie Mason *

Neil Hopkins Neil Edward Hopkins (born May 13, 1977) is an American television and film actor. He is a trained actor and singer, best known for his portrayal of Charlie's heroin-addicted brother Liam on ''Lost''. Early life Hopkins was born in Trenton, New J ...

as Noah Peacott *

Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British-American actor known for his work on the stage and screen. He first rose to prominence in the West End, earning a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Pla ...

as Andrés Galan, owner of the L.A. Riot soccer franchise *

Tanc Sade Tanc Sade (born 28 July 1980) is an Australian actor, writer and director. Sade worked in several theater productions in Australia before landing a recurring role on ''Gilmore Girls'' in 2005. Early life Sade was born in Sydney, New South Wal ...

as Alec Holester, star striker for the L.A. Riot and former English National Player

Recurring

* Yvette Monreal as Senna Galan, a

celebutante ''Famous for being famous'' is a term for someone who attains celebrity status for no clearly identifiable reason (as opposed to fame based on achievement, skill, or talent) and appears to generate their own fame, or someone who achieves fame thr ...

and daughter of L.A. Riot team owner Andrés Galan *

Elizabeth Peña Elizabeth Maria Peña (September 23, 1959 – October 14, 2014) was an American actress, writer and musician. Her work in films included ''Nothing like the Holidays'', ''Batteries Not Included'', '' La Bamba'', '' Down and Out in Beverly ...

as Maritza Sandoval, mother to Tony, Ricky, and Cristina *

Julio Oscar Mechoso Julio Oscar Mechoso (May 31, 1955 – November 25, 2017) was an American actor who played detective Ruiz in '' Bad Boys'' and appeared in such films as ''Blue Streak'', ''Jurassic Park III'', ''The Legend of Zorro'', '' The Lost City'', ''Lit ...

as Javi Sandoval, Maritza's husband, stepfather to Tony, and father to Ricky, and Cristina *

Louis Ozawa Changchien Louis Ozawa Changchien (born October 11, 1975) is an American actor best known for his role in the films ''Predators'' ( 2010) and '' The Bourne Legacy'' (2012). Early life and education Changchien was born in Queens, New York and raised in New Y ...

as Samuel, Galan's dangerous chief enforcer and right hand man * Sammi Rotibi as Didi Akinyele, assistant head coach for the L.A. Riot *

Jonny Cruz Jonny Cruz (born Jonathan Willie Hernández; December 1, 1982) is an American actor, scriptwriter, producer, filmmaker and musician. He has been featured as an actor in movies like '' Walking Tall: Lone Justice'', '' Infiltrators'' and '' Ha ...

as Ricky Sandoval, son of Maritza and Javi, who was initially in prison *

Isabella Gomez Isabella Gomez (born February 9, 1998) is a Colombian-American actress, best known for starring in '' One Day at a Time''. Gomez has previously had minor roles in both ''Modern Family'' and ''Matador''. She was later cast in a starring role in ...

as Cristina Sandoval, teenage daughter of Maritza and Javi *

Peter Gadiot Peter Gadiot (; born 2 January 1986) is a British actor. He portrayed the role of James Valdez in the hit USA Network show '' Queen of the South''. He also played Cyrus in ABC's '' Once Upon a Time in Wonderland'' and Adam in Showtime’s ''Y ...

as Caesar, a former dancer * Christopher Cousins as CIA Deputy Director Llewyn Wayne Smith, who is in charge of the department recruiting Tony *

Eve Torres Eve Torres Gracie (born Eve Marie Torres on August 21, 1984) is an American actress, dancer, model, martial arts instructor, and former professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with WWE, where she was the first ever three-time WWE ...

as Reyna Flores, a sideline journalist reporting on Tony's career *

Margot Bingham Margot Bingham is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is best known for her role as jazz singer Daughter Maitland in the HBO period drama series, ''Boardwalk Empire''. In 2015, Bingham began starring as one of lead characters in the AB ...

as Abigail "Billie" Fisher, a CIA analyst

Production

Production for ''Matador'' began on April 3, 2014.

Reception

''Matador'' has received favorable reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the show holds a score of 62 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the show holds a rating of 67% based on 12 reviews, with the consensus reading: "Though choppy at times, ''Matador'' is fast-paced, silly fun that benefits from not taking itself too seriously".

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 3652662 2014 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings 2010s American drama television series American action television series English-language television shows Television series by Entertainment One Television series created by Roberto Orci