images via Instagram
Following the confirmation earlier this week that Malik Yoba had signed on for the highly anticipated ‘New York Undercover‘ reboot that is being prepped by ABC, now its confirmed that Luna Lauren Velez will also return to the series.
The original 90’s series was aired on FOX under the helm of Dick Wolf, who know will head the new series over at ABC. Velez will reprise her role as Nina Moreno according to fresh reports on Wednesday via Deadline.
Velez is joining another New York Undercover alum, star Malik Yoba, who will again play J.C. Williams like in the original series. In the follow-up, Williams is overseeing the NYC’s Fourth Precinct and the next generation of detectives. As for Moreno, she has retired as a detective but still has ties to the unit.
Yoba and Velez’s return mirrors a similar move by another 2019 ABC pilot that reboots a 1990s New York cop drama in present day, NYPD Blue, which recruited original cast members Kim Delaney and Bill Brochtrup.
The original series, which aired for four seasons, starred Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo as undercover detectives, marking the first police drama on U.S. television to feature two people of color in starring roles. Velez joined in Season 2 and remained on the show until its end.
The reboot picks up 20 years after and will follow detectives Nat Gilmore and Melissa Ortiz as they investigate the city’s most dangerous criminals from Harlem to Battery Park.
Wolf, Watkins and Hemingway executive produce with Wolf Films’ Arthur Forney and Peter Jankowski. The project is produced by Wolf Films, Universal TV — where the company is based — and ABC Studios. The pilot will begin filming in early March in New York.
