Why Nori From Sneakerheads Looks So Familiar

Even as a pandemic rages, and uncertainty surrounds both film and television productions across the globe, streaming giant Netflix continues to drop fresh original productions on their platform with staggering regularity.

One of the streamer's freshest originals yet has just arrived, a comedic take on the increasingly lucrative, pseudo-fetishistic specialty sneaker racket. That series is called Sneakerheads, and features a stay-at-home-dad with a past penchant for flashy sneaks (Allen Maldonado) on the wrong end of an old friend's (Andrew Bachelor) shaky money-making scheme. The duo teams up with a few helpers in a desperate attempt to replenish their withered nest egg by scoring a fabled pair of super-rare high tops.

Needless to say, things don't exactly go their way, and as Sneakerheads unravels, so too do their hopes of pulling off a truly epic sneaker score. Dramatic highs and lows aside, that journey is frequently hilarious, and at times surprisingly heartfelt. It's also dotted with loads of famous faces — from professional athletes like former NBA star Baron Davis to memorable sitcom actors like Kevin from The Office. 

Even the less famous faces in Sneakerheads should be familiar to viewers. One of them belongs to the street-smart sales lady who joins the buddies on their journey through the fancy sneaker underworld. In the movie, she goes by Nori. In the real world, her name is Jearnest Corchado, and she's an actor very much on the rise. Here's why Nori from Sneakerheads looks so familiar.

While the Netflixes and Amazon Primes of the world have carried much of the pandemic entertainment load, the recently launched AppleTV+ has offered up a few notable projects as well. Chief among them is the Kumail Nanjiani-, Emily V. Gordon-, and Lee Eisenberg-created anthology series Little America.

Unfolding in several cities throughout the U.S., and inspired by true stories featured in Epic Magazine, Little America explores the dramatic, romantic, comedic, and unabashedly human experiences of immigrants in America. The eight-episode inaugural season of Little America debuted in the pre-pandemic days of 2020, and most would agree it remains one of the best AppleTV+ originals to date.

And yes, Jearnest Corchado was front and center for one of Little America's best episodes. Said episode is entitled "The Jaguar," and features Corchado portraying an undocumented high schooler whose life is forever changed by the hard work of her Mother and the intervention of her high school Squash coach (played by veteran character actor John Ortiz). The story is part heartfelt sports drama, part searing indictment of class disparity, with Jearnest Corchado milking every moment of screen time for maximum impact.

Since making its small-screen debut in 2013, the James Spader-fronted NBC crime series known as The Blacklist has proven a steady ratings-grabber for the network. Featuring a rarely better Spader in a scene-devouring role as an infamous criminal who shockingly turns himself in and begins helping a young FBI profiler bring down some of the world's biggest baddies whom he's kindly compiled into the titular list. The series is now headed into its eighth season, and those who've been following since episode 1 can tell you it's never been short of pulse-pounding thrills, high drama, and head-spinning narrative twists.

It's also featured a steady array of famous faces, with stars like Alan Alda, Martha Plimpton, Nathan Lane, and Leslie Jones all leaving lasting marks on The Blacklist's narrative landscape. Jearnest Corchado joined the illustrious list of The Blacklist short-timers with a startling one-off appearance in the show's fifth season. She did so as Anna-Gracia Duerte, "Number 25" on the infamous list.  

If you're wondering why Anna-Gracia made her way onto that list, it's because she was a wily killer-for-hire who'd proven particularly difficult to corner. Rest assured, Anna-Gracia had very good reasons for her actions — like the sort of reasons that eventually lead series regular Samar (Mozhan Marnò) to advocate for giving the young assassin a pass for her dastardly deeds. Fear not: This will remain a spoiler free zone for those who haven't caught up on The Blacklist yet. Just know that when you get to Corchado's season 5 episode, you should be prepared for a scene-stealing turn from the young actor that will leave you shaken to the core.

Speaking of soul-shaking experiences, have you seen Jearnest Corchado's 2018 creeper Cuycuy: The Boogeyman? No? Well you should track down a copy or hit it up in the streaming realm ASAP, because it's a bone-chilling B-horror movie of the first order, and it's well worth queuing up for any fright fest you might be planning during your quarantined spooky season.

Directed by Fatal Affair helmer Peter Sullivan, and featuring supporting turns from Riverdale alum Marisol Nichols and cult-movie legend Brian Krause (Sleepwalkers), Cuycuy: The Boogeyman features Corchado portraying Sofia, a rebellious teen who, after landing herself on house arrest, starts to notice that children in her town are disappearing with alarming regularity. As she explores the origins of those disappearances, Sofia begins to unravel a supernatural mystery which points to the fact that the Mexican boogeyman (Cuycuy) is not only real, but responsible — and she may be the only person who can stop the vile being.

The film aims to elicit a sort of B-movie bliss in viewers. In that effort, Jearnest Corchado is more than pulling her weight, offering a surprisingly down-to-Earth performance that serves beautifully in juxtaposition with the insanity unfolding around her. Cuycuy may not be Corchado's most prestigious project, but it certainly demonstrates her range — something likely to be on ready display in Hollywood for years to come.