Where God Left His Shoes: The Cast

ABOUT THE CAST
John Leguizamo
Leonor Varela
David Castro
Samantha Rose
Dave Salerno
Jerry Ferrara
Adriane Lenox
Manny Perez

John Leguizamo

An acclaimed stage and screen star, John Leguizamo (Frank Diaz) received an Emmy Award for the Spike Lee-directed presentation of his Tony-nominated Broadway solo show Freak for HBO. His numerous other accolades include a Golden Globe nomination for his comic turn in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, and a SAG Award nomination for his work in Baz Luhrmann's Academy Award-nominated Moulin Rouge. Leguizamo's other credits include Carlito's Way for director Brian De Palma, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet, Frank Reyes' Empire, Spike Lee's Summer of Sam, Undefeated, which he also directed; and the animated hit Ice Age and its sequel. The actor was recently seen in a recurring role on the hit series ER, and just penned his autobiographical memoir Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends for Harper Collins. Currently, he has re-teamed with director Franc Reyes and is in production on the film The Ministers. The film follows the story of a NYPD detective (Florencia Lozano) who attempts to avenge the death of her father, but unwittingly becomes involved with one of his killers (Leguizamo). He will next be seen in Love in the Time of Cholera, the screen adaptation of celebrated writer Gabriel García Márquez' epic novel and the The Kill Pit, an eight-hour original scripted drama for Spike TV.

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Leonor Varela

International film star, Leonor Varela (Angela Diaz), first came to the attention of American audiences when she starred in ABC’s critically-acclaimed mini-series Cleopatra. The mini-series garnered the network’s highest movie-of-the-week rating that season. From her portrayal of Cleopatra, Daily Variety called Varela “a true find, inhabiting the role with a smoldering gusto borne of defiant confidence.”

Most recently, Leonor wrapped production on Ted Hope and Anthony Bregman’s independent feature Sleep Dealer opposite Jacob Vargas and Luis Fernando Pena, Vulcan Productions’ Where God Left His Shoes opposite John Leguizamo and on Milkshake Films’ Goal! 2 opposite Alessandro Nivola. Varela received critical acclaim on Think Films Innocent Voices. Directed by Luis Mandoki and produced by Lawrence Bender, the film was Mexico’s official “Best Foreign Language Film” entry for the 78th Annual Academy Awards (2005). The film allowed Mandoki to return to his Spanish language roots by powerfully depicting the true story of screenwriter Oscar Torres and his mother (portrayal by Varela) who braved the Salvadoran civil war. The film received rave reviews at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2004 AFI Film Festival.

Varela’s immense talent is evident by the diversity of the roles she has portrayed. She starred opposite Wesley Snipes in New Line’s Blade II, starred opposite Geoffrey Rush in Tailor of Panama, starred opposite Ashton Kutcher and Dylan McDermott in the feature film Texas Rangers, starred opposite Casper Van Dien in Hallmark Channel’s original movie The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb and appeared as a recurring guest lead in the Emmy-winning FOX series Arrested Development.

Varela reached international stardom for her performance opposite Jean Reno and Gerard Depardieu in the mega-hit French comedy Tais-Toi (aka SHUT UP) which remained number one at the French box office for many weeks, and for her portrayal of a free-spirited, liberal Spanish surgeon in the French film Pas Si Grave directed by Bernard Rapp.

Next for Leonor will be writer-director Jorge Olguin’s third fantasy-horror film, Caleuche, filmed in Chile in September 2006. Caleuche was mentioned in Daily Variety for being among the most expensive films to come out of Chile. The film is being Executive Produced by Guillermo Del Toro and Co-Produced by Leonor.

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David Castro

At the young age of ten, David Castro (Justin Diaz) has appeared in six feature films, among them Palindromes directed by Todd Solondz; Guide to Recognizing Your Saints starring Robert Downey Jr. and Chaz Palminteri; Little Fugitive (David’s first starring role), directed by Joanna Lipper; The Ministers directed by Frank Reyes; and Where God Left His Shoes a film directed by Sal Stabile, where David costars with John Leguizamo.

David comes from a theatrical family. His father Albee is a singer- songwriter and his mother Kathy is a screenwriter and songwriter. His sister Raquel is also a successful actress.

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Samantha Rose

Samantha Rose (Christina Diaz) was born on August 18th, 1998, on Long Island, NY. She was first introduced to the public through pageants. Her titles include Petite Miss Long Island Photogenic 2001, Little Miss Model, Petite Miss International Ambassador 2003, National Petite Miss Photogenic Winner 2003, 3rd Runner up Little Talent (Singing), and her most valued title is Petite Miss New York State 2002.

Samantha’s favorite school subject is writing, she loves to write poems, greeting cards, songs, feel-good quotes, miniature books and short stories, and would love to be published one day. She loves to sing and dance and considers herself a fashionista, and a trend setter, always ahead of the curve with her style and dress. Her teachers say she is intelligent, funny, caring and an exemplary role model.

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Dave Salerno
Dave Salerno (Aldo) is best known for his portrayal of the character "Frankie Coffeecake" in the movie A Bronx Tale. Salerno also had feature roles in Analyze This and Analyze That. He has also appeared in Sleepers and Mickey Blue Eyes.

In addition, Salerno had a principal role in the initial season of the Sopranos. He also co-stared in the TNT documentary: Family Values, The Mob and The Movies, which included several members from the cast of the Sopranos. Salerno grew up in the Fordham section of the Bronx, better known as "Little Italy." His life long childhood friend is Academy Award nominee, Chazz Palminteri, who wrote and co-starred in A Bronx Tale.

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Jerry Ferrara
Jerry Ferrara (Vinny) is best known for his role as “Turtle” on HBO’s hit comedy Entourage. He recently wrapped production on the feature film Garden of Eden with Lukas Haas. He also has a lead role in Brooklyn Rules, starring with Freddie Prinze Jr., Scott Caan, Alec Baldwin and Mena Suvari.

Ferrara began studying theater in college, where he was inspired by a teacher to pursue a career in acting. An agent he met at a talent showcase encouraged him to move to Los Angeles, where he quickly landed his first role on King of Queens. Other television parts soon followed. He was then cast in the independent feature Cross Bronx which premiered at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Ferrara currently resides in Los Angeles.

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Adriane Lenox
Adriane Lenox (Carita) is the winner of a 2005 Tony, a Drama Desk, and a Lucille Lortel Award, for her performance in the play, Doubt. She made her Broadway debut in Ain't Misbehavin', and then was cast in Dreamgirls, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Fascinating Rhythm, and Kiss Me Kate. Her off-Broadway shows includes an Obie Award in the 1999 off-Broadway show Dinah Was, she also played Miss Evers in Miss Evers’ Boys, with other credits for Merrily We Roll Along, Beehive, and Caroline or Change. She has solos on the recordings of Kiss Me Kate, Beehive, and the York Theatre production of Merrily We Roll Along. In 2004, she portrayed Shug Avery in a new musical version of The Color Purple that ran at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.

In addition to the theatre, Adriane was seen in several motion pictures in 2006 including Paramount Pictures’ Black Snake Moan, (starring Samuel L. Jackson); Griffin and Phoenix (starring Dermot Mulroney and Amanda Peet) from Gold Circle Films; and Preaching to the Choir, (featuring Eartha Kitt) from Freestyle Releasing. She has appeared on television episodes of Law and Order, and Law and Order: SVU, Third Watch, Whoopi, On the One, and MOW Double Platinum, in addition to various other shows.

With her husband, music arranger and past Tony Award nominee Zane Mark (whose recent work includes All Shook Up, featuring music from the Elvis Presley catalog) they make their home in Brooklyn. They have a daughter, Crystal, who is in college.

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Manny Perez
Manny Perez (Luis) is one of the hardest working young actors on both coasts, having recently completed ten films in the last 12 months and some television shows. His film roles includes Jennifer Lopez’s El Cantante, Colin Farrell’s Pride & Glory, John Singleton’s Illegal Tender, Toronto International Film Festival’s People Choice Award Winning film Bella; where Roger Friedman from Fox News declared, “Manny Perez, is terrific.” Other recent films include Yellow with Roselyn Sanchez, and The Crook Brothers’ Rockaway. Perez is currently filming Coming Soon and Amexicano.

Manny came to the attention of the film community in 2002, after he produced, starred and co-wrote Washington Heights, an independent movie set in his own neighborhood, (Best Actor-Milan International Film Festival, TriBeca Film Festival). His award winning performance garnered praise from many critics. Stephen Holden of The New York Times stated “Mr. Perez has charisma to burn,”

Manny is also well known in the small screen. He starred in Sidney Lumet’s Critical Acclaimed series 100 Centre Street with Alan Arkin. More recently Manny had a recurring role in John Well’s Third Watch as Officer Manny Santiago for NBC and had a recurring role in Dennis Leary’s Rescue Me for FX, among many appearances in episodes television.

Manny has a solid background in the theater as well, with a list of plays originating from the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence. Other theatre includes, INTAR, American Place Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, among others. He is a member of the LAByrinth Theatre Company, in New York City.

Manny is fluent in Spanish and lives between Washington Heights, NYC and Los Angeles.

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