Fantasy Island ~ Première Tonight 

~"Smiles Everyone"~  

Nearly four decades after viewers took their last voyage to the original
 Fantasy Island, a descendant of Mr. Roarke is back to carry on his legacy — but she’s doing things a little differently

“I think it’s our time,” Roselyn Sanchez, who stars as Elena Roarke, says of the women running both the island and the show itself. “Eight out of our 10 directors were female, our showrunners [Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain] are female, and even several of the department heads are female. I think it’s needed.”

Diversity also plays an important role in Fox’s reboot. “Ricardo Montalban was Latino, but I don’t think it was ever mentioned where Roarke was from,” Sanchez says. “His character was very secretive. This time around, I open the show speaking Spanish, so clearly this woman is a proud Latina.”