Interview with Matt Borlenghi of “Cobra Kai,” on Netflix, “All My Children,” on ABC, etc. by Suzanne 4/1/25
I really enjoyed speaking to Matt because I’ve been watching him on TV since 1990 when he joined “All My Children” as Brian Bodine. I usually act in a professional manner, but I’m afraid I geeked out quite a bit talking to him about various shows, especially soaps and “Cobra Kai.” He’s been a very busy actor for the past 35 years. He was super kind and let me do a very long interview. If you’re a fan of his, or the soaps, or his other series, you should enjoy this quite a lot. He told me many interesting things about working on AMC and Cobra Kai; how much he appreciated being included in the last season of Cobra Kai; why Kelly Ripa owes him đ; why Sheila on “Bold and Beautiful” didn’t kill him (despite the rumors); and why he never played Valentin Cassadine on “General Hospital” as expected.
The Finale Event launches February 13, 2025.
After a shocking result in the Sekai Taikai, Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai must reckon with their pasts while facing an uncertain future both on and off the mat. Almost 40 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, itâs all been leading to this.
Cobra Kai is written and executive produced by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg via their production company, Counterbalance Entertainment. Will Smith, James Lassiter and Caleeb Pinkett executive produce for Westbrook Entertainment along with Susan Ekins in association with Sony Pictures Television. Ralph Macchio and William Zabka also serve as executive producers.
Cast: Ralph Macchio (Daniel LaRusso), William Zabka (Johnny Lawrence), Martin Kove (John Kreese), Thomas Ian Griffith (Terry Silver), Xolo Maridueña (Miguel Diaz), Jacob Bertrand (Hawk), Mary Mouser (Samantha LaRusso), Tanner Buchanan (Robby Keene), Peyton List (Tory), Gianni Decenzo (Demetri), Courtney Henggeler (Amanda LaRusso), Vanessa Rubio (Carmen), Dallas Dupree Young (Kenny), Yuji Okumoto (Chozen), Alicia Hannah-Kim (Sensei Kim Dae-Un), Griffin Santopietro (Anthony), Oona O’Brien (Devon), Rayna Vallandingham (Zara), Patrick Luwis (Axel) and Lewis Tan (Sensei Wolf)
Matt Borlenghi first came to the attention of audiences on “All My Children”, starring opposite Kelly Ripa. While playing this role, he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy and won the Soap Opera Digest Award. Borlenghi then went on to star in several prime-time TV shows such as “The Jeff Foxworthy Show”, “Pig Sty”, “Party Girl”, “Police Academy: The Series”, and a pilot for a “Married with Children” spin-off titled “Enemies”, opposite Nicole Eggert. He has also been the recipient of five other awards, along with two nominations, for his various acting roles. Matt is also a multiple award-winning producer and has spent several years on the development of TV shows with and for production companies and networks. One of his shows, a crime investigation named “Postmortem in Vegas”, was co-produced by NorthSouth Productions and A&E Networks and aired as a one hour special on LMN. Further, Matt created, wrote and is prepping another proposed TV series entitled “ATF”. This drama is based on the life work of his good friend who spent twenty-five years working as an undercover ATF agent. Further details are at: Matt Borlenghi | ActorCV
All My Children (often shortened to AMC) is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and iTunes.
Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictional suburb of Philadelphia, which is modeled on the actual Philadelphia suburb of Penn Valley. The original series featured Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime television’s most popular characters. All My Children was the first new network daytime drama to debut in the 1970s. Originally owned by Creative Horizons, Inc., the company created by Nixon and her husband, Bob, the show was sold to ABC in January 1970.[3] The series started with half-hour episodes before expanding to a full hour on April 25, 1977. The show had experimented with the full-hour format for one week starting on June 30, 1975, after which Ryan’s Hope premiered. More
Interview with Bryon James of “The Young and The Restless” on CBS by Suzanne 5/21/24
It was so great to speak with Bryton! He’s nominated for another Daytime Emmy this year, so I hope he wins. He seems like a very nice guy, and we all know what a talent actor he is. Please enjoy the video!
TRANSCRIPT (not yet proofread)
Suzanne: So, did you just come back from New Orleans?
Bryton James: I did. I did. Just got back yesterday. We had a fantastic trip. We were, raising money for the cancer support community and for World War II veterans.
Suzanne: Oh, nice.
And, it was, it was awesome. It was, myself, Christian, LeBlanc, Eric Braden, Katherine Kelly Lang, and, Kimberlyn Brown.
Suzanne: Okay. And, did you get to go into New Orleans and do fun stuff at all?
Bryton James: Oh, yeah, I was, I was in Ardenville and, and then New Orleans the last day, but, I mean, I had fun throughout. We were, we were staying in this beautiful house out in the country, real close to the bayou. And, um, it was fantastic. It was the 2nd time I’ve been to Louisiana and, I, I have been wanting to go back since the 1st time just because of the food.
Suzanne: Right, right. And Christian’s from there, so he probably showed you some fun places, right?
Bryton James: He showed us all the fun places. He’s a walking encyclopedia when you’re there with him.
Suzanne: That’s great. That’s great. Um, so congratulations on being nominated again for an Emmy.
Bryton James: Thank you so much.
Suzanne: How does it feel?
Bryton James: Oh, gosh, it feels it’s it’s it’s an honor.
Bryton James: It’s it’s an honor. It feels like the very first time that never gets old. Um, and, like I always say that just any kind of nomination or recognition when it comes to awards and Emmys. It’s it just means that the people that I admire and respect so much in this medium who who understand what it takes to do what we do, um, think that I’m doing a decent job.
Bryton James: And it means the world to me.
Suzanne: That’s great. Now, I know a lot of the fans, love you, I was reading a lot of message boards, so even when they don’t like What Devon is doing or how he’s acting. They always say, Oh, he’s such a great actor. I love her so much. That’s
Bryton James: all I hope for. That’s all I hope for.
Bryton James: Whether they like me or hate me, as long as they believe what I’m doing. That’s all it matters. And
Suzanne: do you display your Emmys at home?
Bryton James: I have them. I, you know, they’re up in my, in my bedroom, just on my dresser for, for the first, I mean, for a long time, my, my first Emmy was with my mom. She had it for years and years.
Bryton James: And then, I ended up back with it when she was moving. Um, So, yeah, no, I don’t, I don’t put them out and about, but they’re upstairs for me to see.
Suzanne: Okay, well, if you get another one, you, you should get a display case or something.
Bryton James: I, I might, I just, you know, or I might, give this latest one, I’ll give this one back to my mom so she can, she can have it in her new place.
Bryton James: I’ve been telling, Christian and, and Peter Bergman, um, the ones who have three, that they got to get four so they can make a table.
Suzanne: That’s right. There you go. That’s right. An Emmy table. That would be funny. Let’s do an
Bryton James: Emmy copy table. Um,
Suzanne: so I’ve been watching the show a long time. In fact, I started watching it in 1986, the year you were born.
Suzanne: Oh, wow.
Bryton James: Wow.
Suzanne: I’m old.
Bryton James: I would never have guessed that you were back that far with us.
Suzanne: Yeah, I know. I was in my last year of college, and I had been watching all the ABC soaps, because, They didn’t have, you know, VCRs too much back then, and the student center had a little, all the colleges had a little student union or student center where there was a TV that was usually turned to the soaps during the day, and ours was always turned to ABC soaps.
Suzanne: But then my last year transferred, and they showed Young and the Restless before All My Children, so. It started on the hat. So
Bryton James: they got hooked on the good one. That’s great.
Suzanne: They get you hooked. I’m very easily hooked. So I remember when you came on the show, you’d always, you always were, that’s what I was saying earlier about watching the Eclipse.
Suzanne: You were always such a great actor, even when you were young. You could see it in your first episodes. You had such great dramatic material and you, you know, I can see why you’re still, why they still keep bringing you back. Who were your greatest, influences, would you say acting?
Bryton James: Oh, gosh. I mean, overall, you know, I, some of my favorite actors are like, I used to, I used to recite the scenes from like the shining, cause I was such a fan of Jack Nicholson and.
Bryton James: Guys like Robert Downey Jr. and, but I mean when I got, when I got on Young and the Restless was the first time I really, I consider that my first acting job because even though I had done Family Matters, it was, you know, it was only a couple of lines here and there and it was all about timing and stuff like that.
Bryton James: I didn’t really understand what it meant to get better. Um, and then when I got to Y and R, I mean, I was immediately surrounded by, you know, the, the masters in this medium. And in particular, yeah, my storylines was, you know, a foster care storyline, which has, you know, enormous weight and seriousness and, um.
Bryton James: So immediately, Victoria Rowell and Christophe St. John and even, you know, Crystal, even though she had only been on for a couple of years at the time, I saw no difference in the levels, you know, between her and August and, you know, I, I felt right away this, this need to get better fast when I got, um, when I got to YNR.
Bryton James: But, um, but mostly I’d say, you know, Victoria Rao in particular, just because, um, the majority of the storylines that Devon went through in the first couple of years were real, um, stories that happened to Victoria. Real things that she actually experienced in her life. Um,
Suzanne: Hopefully not the lion attacking her.
Bryton James: Not the lion, not the lion. No, that’s, that took a step into fantasy a bit, but yeah. No, no. But now she was there to, you know, she, she, she mentored me a lot about, about how Devon and, you know, would be feeling going through a lot of things that I went through. Um, and then, you know, to have Christophe also to, to admire and look at as, as, you know, the father, my other father figure there, um, they were my two biggest ones for sure.
Bryton James: That’s
Suzanne: great. No, I, I, I interviewed, Christophe over the phone in 2015 and he was the nicest. One of the nicest people I ever talked to, and he was out running errands and taking his dog to the vet, but he still had total concentration talking to me. Oh, yeah. He’s one of the few back then, you know, they were all phone for me back then, that gave me his number.
Suzanne: He, he’s called with his own cell and said, call me if you need any follow up. No one does that. They’re like,
Bryton James: they have
Suzanne: like, practically no one does it. You know, they do a publicist and, you know, I have to call into a number or something like that. So that was, that just blew me away.
Bryton James: Hey, I’ll give you my number so you can have any follow up.
Suzanne: It was just so amazing to me.
Bryton James: But he is, I mean, that sounds like him. He was, yeah, he was absolutely one of.
Suzanne: Yeah.
Bryton James: Sorry. We had to cut out for just a
Suzanne: second. Yeah, he was great. And, you know, I had watched him before Young and the Restless. On generations when he starred in that as a young guy, Adam. And so I love seeing him as an even better character on young.
Suzanne: The rest is because Adam was kind of boring. He was like always a nice kid and everything, but Neil had all these layers. And so,
Bryton James: Oh yeah. You know, it was really crazy too. When, when, They had Telma Hopkins who played my father on Family Matters come on and do a few episodes of YNR. She was telling me about how in that studio, and in particular, I believe it was on stage 33, which is right across from where we film, was the first soundstage she ever worked on, on a television show.
Bryton James: And they had this variety show that they did with Tony Lando and Don. Yeah, I
Suzanne: watched that. I was in, I watched that.
Bryton James: She showed me an episode and a scene that she did with Christoph when he was, I think, 11 or 12 years old.
Suzanne: That’s cool. That’s right. And,
Bryton James: yeah. So to get to see that, that they, it’s such a small world.
Bryton James: Yeah.
Suzanne: Well, especially in Hollywood, I guess.
Bryton James: Oh yeah.
Suzanne: and, actually, the, one of the things I really loved about when Drusilla came on, you know, she was like a real person, you know, she’d been a street kid and all that. And, I was a foster kid, so I really loved her story and yours and enjoyed it a lot.
Suzanne: And I’m always grateful for the charity work that you both do. For kids and foster kids. So thank you.
Bryton James: Absolutely. I thank you. I thank you for those kind of words. And I thank the show also for, for taking that, that, that leap into doing the storyline. Actually, it also learned that that, um, Victoria Rao had approached, Bill Bell about doing a foster care storyline in the mid nineties, and they weren’t quite ready for it yet, which I’m thankful they weren’t because I think there would probably be a different Devon.
Bryton James: So
Suzanne: that’s funny. Um, so, you’ve had a lot of stories over the years, which were your favorites. Do you have any favorites?
Bryton James: Um, and I apologize for the noise. I’m having construction done inside. Okay, good. Um, my favorite storyline over the years, I think would have to be my, losing my hearing, um, just because, you know, to, to have to portray losing a sense, you really, you know, Can’t understand what that’s like unless you go through it.
Bryton James: So you really just, you know, you do as much studying as you can and, and homework and, and try to do the best job that you can do, but, um, really just because the challenge of it. And then one of my best experiences with a fan was I was out having lunch one day. They came by and left a note on the table, they’d written on a napkin and didn’t say anything.
Bryton James: They just left it and walked away. And, it was someone who also was deaf. And they told me how they had lost their hearing very early on in life. And they’d always watched Young and the Restless. And just commended me on the job that I was doing and portraying that. And that was, it meant the world to me.
Bryton James: That’s great.
Suzanne: Yeah, I have a friend a few years back. I remember exactly how many years she, she got meningitis, from a cat scratch. She has a bunch of cats
Bryton James: and
Suzanne: she lost part of her hearing. She’s, she lives the whole, you know, all of it, but it’s like one year or something.
Bryton James: Did she ever get any kind of hearing aids or, or the, I don’t think she does
Suzanne: enough to really make a huge difference in her life, but she almost died.
Suzanne: So it was pretty serious at the time. Yeah. So that’s a lot more common than you think. Yeah. You know, the cat scratch fever, it’s a real thing. Apparently it’s a
Bryton James: real thing.
Suzanne: So, um, yeah, about the death story. Okay. You were, you were a singer. You’re a singer and a musician. You played guitar since you were young.
Suzanne: and I seem to recall that Devon was interested in doing that and then he got, he was deaf. That didn’t, disappoint you that you didn’t get to do singing and musical things on the show after that?
Bryton James: No, not at all because, actually the only reason that they started incorporating music into Devon’s story was because they found out that I did music in real life.
Bryton James: And, I never really wanted to do music. I never like to incorporate music into Devon. Um, I, I, I love the idea of him, you know, wanting to be a producer and being behind the scenes, but as far as me singing or anything like that, no, no, I didn’t mind at all. It could have been
Suzanne: the next Danny Romalotti.
Bryton James: Nah, nah, I’ll leave that to the professionals.
Suzanne: I saw some of, I saw your video. It was really good.
Bryton James: That was another lifetime ago. So if I kept up the practicing, I would, I’d be more confident. But
Suzanne: right. Yeah, it does. You do have to keep practicing. What can you tell us about what’s in store for Devon coming up? I, I saw yesterday’s episode where he didn’t like that Billy sent the flowers and he popped the balloon.
Suzanne: That was really good.
Bryton James: Yeah, there’s, I mean, there’s gonna definitely be some more, escalation to the tension between Devon and Billy and just the whole working dynamic between Chancellor Winters. Um, that I think is, is going to lead to a big shakeup in the company. Um, I, I honestly don’t even know where that storyline is going to go.
Bryton James: I know what I hope for in Devon’s future is to, is to let him kind of be settled for a good amount of time with his love life. And, and so I want to, you know, walk down the aisle with Abby and really, you know, take on, take on the challenges together, take on challenges together as a couple and be the kind of 1 couple in love that you can look at and say, oh, there’s, you know, they don’t do bad things to each other.
Bryton James: And they’re, you know. They stay together. I really, I said in that interview and fans got on me about comparing us to Michael and Lauren, but I was saying that I want to eventually be the Michael and Lauren. I want Abby and Devon to be them because for such a long time, you couldn’t break those two up.
Bryton James: They didn’t cheat on each other. They didn’t do any, you know, so I’d like that. I’d like to see Abby and Devon. So. The romantic life grow.
Suzanne: Yeah, I was, I don’t want to be touched on a touchy subject here. But, you know, when, when they paired a long time ago, they paired, Neil and Victoria and then I guess fans in the South or something got upset about it.
Suzanne: And so they dropped it just like changed it completely.
Bryton James: Is that what happened?
Suzanne: Yeah, that’s, well, that’s what I read. I remember at the time, it seemed like they just dropped it abruptly. So, it’s, it’s such a different world today. And of course, for the better. And I doubt you get any hate mail for Tiff on,
Bryton James: no, I mean, if, if I do, I haven’t seen it, but, you know, even if there is, you know, you can’t, you can’t cater to, to that kind of thinking, you know, you, you gotta tell stories that, that evolve us, especially
Suzanne: in today’s world when there’s so much, I guess.
Suzanne: There and things are so of course, and, if you can bring back any character to the show, who would you bring? You can say more than one, if you don’t want to upset anyone.
Bryton James: Oh, sure. I, I would, um, I mean, I I’ve always, wanted. Victoria Rau to come back. I’ve always, you know, to see the, what happened to Drew.
Bryton James: We never found her body. So there’s always, even if you have found the body, there’s always an opening in soap operas to come back. Um, but no, I’d love to share the stage with Victoria again. And, and also, Daniel Goddard. He’s just such a great friend to me. And, um, um, always had so much fun on set and I know the fans love them too.
Bryton James: I’d love to see. Those two characters one day.
Suzanne: That would be great. I agree. And the actress, I can’t remember her name, is it? starts with an L. She played your sister and sang on the show. Oh, Lauren. Yeah, absolutely.
Bryton James: Gosh, Lauren, Lauren Lott. I, I want her to have her own show. That’s what I want. That girl is so insanely talented.
Bryton James: Isn’t
Suzanne: she?
Bryton James: She’s so amazing.
Suzanne: I, I interviewed her once for a, a potential Star Trek show that never came about, but we talked a lot about Young and the Restless and some other things. She’s just amazing.
Bryton James: Isn’t she fantastic? She’s just one of the best people I’ve ever met.
Suzanne: That’s yeah, she’s really nice.
Suzanne: She’s got a beautiful voice. Oh my gosh. So, um, let’s see. Nowadays, Devon is mostly involved in the corporate world. Um, are you content with that? Would you like, if he did something completely different? Like I remember when Neil, you know, just quit and went and opened a club. He’s done a lot. He did a lot of things like that.
Suzanne: Have something like that.
Bryton James: I agree. I can, I agree completely. We can bring back Indigo. no, yeah, that, that’s, For me, I’m, I mean, I’m always content with it. If they’re giving me storyline, regardless of what it is, if I’m working, I’m content and I love to be working. but I think any actor, um, always wants to be challenged.
Bryton James: So I would love to do something that’s completely out of the box, something that, you know, fans wouldn’t expect. And, Yeah. Something that. Come
Suzanne: the next Victor Newman.
Bryton James: We all want that. There’s only one. There’s only one. We all, we all aspire to. He
Suzanne: could, or he could have an evil twin, you know,
Bryton James: no more twins, no more twins.
Suzanne: Yeah. That was a little weird with Hillary and
Bryton James: Amanda.
Suzanne: So who else would you like to work on the show that you haven’t worked with very much?
Bryton James: Man, just about everybody. I mean, I know Josh Morrow, Nick and Devon are, you know, they’re, they’re friends on canvas and, and they, we’ve shared a couple storylines together a few years ago, but it hasn’t been much lately.
Bryton James: I’d love to see, you know, more of their friendship. Um, You don’t really see Devon and his friends, you know, he works with and love life and that’s it. Um, I’ve always loved working with and want to work more with Amelia. They had, they gave us a couple of scenes years ago, um, in, in the office and business dynamic that, but that was it.
Bryton James: And, we always have such so much fun off camera. I know we would be a blast to work on camera. Same with Josh. So.
Suzanne: Right. I think it would be great, especially since, Let’s see, I’m trying to remember the relationship, Abby.
Bryton James: Oh, Abby, they’re sisters. That’s my future sister in law. Yeah,
Suzanne: so you think they would interact, the Winters and the Newmans would interact a little bit more.
Bryton James: They’re in the family now, Dominic is a Newman slash Winters slash every other family.
Suzanne: Right, so, One more question. tell me about your app. I assume it’s pronounced disco. Yeah.
Bryton James: Yeah. Yeah.
Suzanne: Okay.
Bryton James: Let’s go. Let’s go. yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s an app that allows people to discover information and commonalities about the people around them in real time and then and be able to engage without having to physically approach.
Bryton James: So, for instance, like, if you, you know, you, you walk into a party or you go to, you know, any social setting, I realized a long time ago, the only option that 2 people have that any stranger has to get to know someone else is to have to walk up to them and shake their hand and introduce themselves and start a conversation.
Bryton James: You know, if you don’t have the time to do that, the ability, the confidence, um, you know, I wanted to, to try to figure out how to use technology to create a new bridge between strangers and
Suzanne: you and Daniel got and came up with this idea.
Bryton James: Yeah, yeah, he’s, I, I, I, was the, the idea spawned from me. I went to Daniel and got him on board and he became my business partner and we’ve been, we’ve been developing it and, we’re in the process of, of, getting it built.
Bryton James: We’ve, we built our, we self funded the build of a beta version that we tested over the, over a few years and, uh. And, yeah, it’s, it’s something to hoping people can expect. So,
Suzanne: you don’t have social anxiety, though.
Bryton James: I, no, I, I don’t. I don’t. I didn’t think so. You’re
Suzanne: pretty outgoing.
Bryton James: But, you know, I, I, um.
Bryton James: It’s funny because I was taught from a very young age of, and kind of coached on how to, you know, interact with people who would come up to me when I was starting on family matters. I was 3. 5 years old and people come up to me, you know, introducing themselves, you know, asking for autographs and asking me questions.
Bryton James: And I didn’t know at first, even how they knew me or what that was about until I learned what I did.
Suzanne: Right?
Bryton James: Um, and so, And then I, and so, you know, I was lucky enough and not everybody is lucky enough to have that kind of early age, you know, training on how to not, you know, to be confident. Um, but also I, I kind of had this realization that the people, any, the people who come up to, to, to me, or when I see them come up to other cast mates, they have this confidence when they feel like they know you because they do.
Bryton James: Sure. You know, in a sense, like we’re in their living rooms every day. So they, they. You know, and when you have a bit of information about someone, you know, you share commonality with somebody, you know, it gives them that that extra spark and extra bit of confidence to make a connection. And, um, I just wanted to be able to create that, for anybody.
Bryton James: So
Suzanne: you say it’s safe. How is it safe when you’re basically you’re meeting strangers and getting their information? How do you know that the person is giving you honest information and that they’re not trying to, I don’t know, scam you or something?
Bryton James: Sure. Well, well, like any app, we’ll have a verification process.
Bryton James: We’ll have anti catfishing, you know, um, features within the app and, and run the gamut of, of, of safety, you know, elements and features to make sure that, you know, who you’re engaging with is who they say they are. And again, you still. It’s up to the, at the end of the day, it’s up to the individual to make sure that they’re being responsible.
Bryton James: And there’ll be an age requirement to use the app and. Um, but yeah, we’re gonna, we’re gonna, we’re gonna make sure that we incorporate everything possible to make sure that we keep people safe on it.
Suzanne: Okay. And you said that you have several universities that are, um, what, investing in it or what are they doing?
Bryton James: Yeah, they, we’ve have several who’ve committed to, to adopting the app. Once we have it built, um, the last one we got was actually University of Kentucky. Um, to just agree to adopt and and and use it on campus for, um, for students who and faculty who may suffer from any form of social anxiety. And and have, you know, any kind of difficulties with making.
Bryton James: In person connections, we can all remember our 1st day of school, especially in college. You know, you, you, you’re on this campus and you’re, you’re everyone’s new. Your goal is to make, you know, you find your tribe and connections and your friends and it can be very, um, intimidating. And, yes, we, the schools have come on board to to adopt us as a tool for.
Bryton James: Students to use.
Suzanne: Well, it sounds very useful. I wish it had been around when I was first. We didn’t have phones and apps,
Bryton James: right? Yeah,
Suzanne: well, thank you very much for talking to me. I really enjoyed it.
Bryton James: Of course, thank you for taking time.
Suzanne: I have I met Victoria, when we were in Alabama, she. Was she’d written a book, one of her books, book tour.
Suzanne: And so I watched her speak and got an autograph and everything.
Bryton James: That’s fantastic.
Suzanne: And I’ve interviewed her a few times after that, but so I was
Bryton James: right.
Suzanne: Oh, she’s just so much fun. She just like, she’s a total character, you know, but in a good way, like a person, you know, I
Bryton James: do all the personality in the world.
Bryton James: And, and that’s why, you know, fans gravitated to her character so much. Cause she brought that to the table. So definitely.
Suzanne: Oh, and when I did interview Christop, because he was, he did a series of movies with her for the Up Network where they
Bryton James: Oh, yes, yes, yes. Yeah.
Suzanne: And we had talked mostly about that as well as young, the rest.
Suzanne: So that was, that was a lot of fun seeing them together again. And I, and I agree with you. I wish they would bring her back, but I don’t know. Somebody said somewhere yesterday, they could say she had been living somewhere else with Amnesia. Of
Bryton James: course
Suzanne: they’ve done that Fun
Bryton James: time. We found, we found Malcolm, right?
Bryton James: Malcolm was supposed to be off in bed and. Yeah,
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, the #1 daytime drama for 32 consecutive years, is a continuing drama revolving around the loves, enmities, hopes and fears of the residents of the fictional Midwestern town of Genoa City.
The seriesâ 50th season premiered Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, on the CBS Television Network, and is available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+.
ON AIR: Weekdays (12:30-1:30 PM, ET; 11:30 AM-12:30 PM, PT)
ORIGINATION:Los Angeles
FORMAT:Daytime drama (HD)
ORIGINAL PREMIERE DATE:March 26, 1973
CAST (alphabetically):
Lauralee Bell
(Christine Blair Williams)
Peter Bergman
(Jack Abbott)
Eric Braeden
(Victor Newman)
Tracey Bregman
(Lauren Fenmore Baldwin)
Sharon Case
(Sharon Newman)
Doug Davidson
(Paul Williams)
Eileen Davidson
(Ashley Abbott)
Sean Dominic
(Dr. Nate Hastings)
Melissa Claire Egan
(Chelsea Lawson)
Cait Fairbanks
(Tessa Porter)
Conner Floyd
(Phillip âChanceâ Chancellor IV)
Rory Gibson
(Noah Newman)
Camryn Grimes
(Mariah Copeland)
Mark Grossman
(Adam Newman)
Amelia Heinle
(Victoria Newman)
Elizabeth Hendrickson
(Chloe Mitchell)
Courtney Hope
(Sally Spectra)
Bryton James
(Devon Hamilton)
Christel Khalil
(Lily Ashby)
Allison Lanier
(Summer Newman)
Christian J. Le Blanc
(Michael Baldwin)
Kate Linder
(Esther Valentine)
Beth Maitland
(Traci Abbott)
Michael Mealor
(Kyle Abbott)
Mishael Morgan
(Amanda Sinclair)
Joshua Morrow
(Nicholas Newman)
Melissa Ordway
(Abby Newman)
Greg Rikaart
(Kevin Fisher)
Brytni Sarpy
(Elena Dawson)
Melody Thomas Scott
(Nikki Newman)
Zuleyka Silver
(Audra Charles)
Michelle Stafford
(Phyllis Summers)
Trevor St. John
(Tucker McCall)
Jason Thompson
(Billy Abbott)
Jess Walton
(Jill Abbott)
Kelsey Wang
(Allie Nguyen)
PRODUCED BY:
Bell Dramatic Serial Company in association with Sony Pictures Television
CREATORS:
William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/
HEAD WRITER:
Josh Griffith
SUPERVISING PRODUCERS:
John Fisher
PRODUCERS:
Matthew J. Olsen, Jonathan Fishman, Vivian Gundaker, and Elizabeth LeBrun
Interview with actor/writer Don McLeod of “Fox and Hunter” and “Christmas Cab Ride” by Suzanne 2/21/24
This was kind of a funny interview because I had researched the wrong actor! There’s another actor with the same name, and I stupidly chose the wrong one. Fortunately, we had a good laugh about it. I hope you enjoy the interview! Besides being an actor and writer, he’s also a singer/songwriter and goes by the name Donny Mac.
When asked âwhere did you grow upâ Don McLeod usually answers âI havenât yet, but Iâve been getting older in Vancouver BCâ. Don admits that he fell into the film and TV industry simply by wanting to try it out. In 2010, for the winter Olympics in Vancouver, he was asked to put on a songwriting contest and the city brought in actor Graham Wardle (from CBCâs long running TV series Heartland). They became good friends and Don credits Graham for opening his mind and the door to acting as a career. Graham also introduced Don to fellow actor Jesse Hutch who would eventually become Donâs business partner.
Don soon signed with an agent and would go on to book notable roles on series such as CBCâs hit âHeartlandâ, The CWâs âTomorrow Peopleâ, âArrowâ and âFrequencyâ, Hallmark Channelâs âWhen Calls the Heartâ, and Netflixâs âTravelersâ. Most recently, Don has appeared in NBCâs âThe Irrationalâ and History Channelâs âProject Blue Bookâ.
Before becoming an actor Don had a prolific career as a recording artist, writer and record producer. As a producer and award-winning song-writer he has worked with many amazing writers and artists including; Jim Vallance, Jim Riley, Vincent DeGiorgio, Brian Howes, Sean Hosien, Dane DeViller, Dallas Smith, Danny Craig, Dale Russell, Shaun Verreault, Trevor Guthrie, and Chin Injeti, to name a few. Don has crossed over his song-writing abilities to other mediums such as commercials and Film and TV soundtracks for such popular seriesâ such as âHighlanderâ, âHeartlandâ and âSo You Think You Can Danceâ. He has shared his ability with up-and-coming artists through record production, mentoring, teaching song- writing, performance coaching & artist development.
In late 2023 he finished recording his album titled: Donny Mac âA Journey Through The Storyâ which was produced by Jim Riley (Rascal Flatts) and mixed by GRAMMY-winning engineer Sean Neff.
Since meeting in 2012, Don joined forces with Jesse Hutch to create Stone Rabbits Productions. Together they have written 24 film and TV scripts/concepts. Two notable projects include a feature film titled âChristmas Cab Rideâ which has been green lit for production and an episodic called âFox and Hunterâ, an undercover buddy cop action comedy starring Don McLeod as John Hunter and Jesse Hutch as Blake Fox. Both are slated to film in 2024.
Project
SERIES: FOX AND HUNTER
ABOUT THE SERIES: FOX AND HUNTER follows
the daily life of high energy BLAKE FOX (Jesse Hutch), and his veteran partner JOHN HUNTER (Don McLeod), along with a full undercover unit as they are repeatedly detoured from their work by discussions, explosions, foot races, car chases, personal issues and evidence.
CHARACTER: John Hunter
CHARACTER DESCRIPTION: John is a hard-edged, focussed, calculating, and efficient lone wolf. He has a mysterious and physical presence and keeps to himself. No one seems to know where he came from. He has a moral code, keeps his private life private and is definitely NOT interested in making friends. To say heâs pissed off and feels disrespected when the BOSS forces him to take a partner is a massive understatement.
When I was younger I was on multiple track and field teams, was captain of the wrestling team and wanted to be a professional athlete. I had no interest in acting or being a musician.
As much as I enjoy food and consider myself a foodie. Iâm an extremely picky eater. That said, garlic mashed potatoes can be devoured almost any day. And unprocessed, home style REAL chocolate peanut butter ice cream⊠YES PLEASE!
April 20th 1992 I was pronounced dead after a serious car accident, then a little over an hour later discovered alive.
I have a weekly video series called âPrayer Walksâ. Where I go to different locations to walk in nature, ask questions about faith, discus various challenges life has and of course pray. There are currently 72 episodes that occur in trails from Vancouver BC to Key West Florida and in-between.
To prepare for a role, I once locked myself in a warehouse and fasted for two days.
For other films and general self improvement. I trained weapons, tactics, survival and combat with military special forces operators for over 5 years.
Iâve trained in Krav Maga, Jeet Kun Do, Jujitsu, Kempo, Kali, sword fighting and knife fighting.
I went over 10 years without cooking a meal at home.
I almost never get sick. I get a sniffle for a week once every couple years.
Interview with Diego Tinoco of the film “Bad Hombres” by Suzanne 1/17/24
I enjoyed watching this movie, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t exceedingly violent nor gory, and it wasn’t depressing or sad. There was a lot of humor in it, as well. Diego is a remarkable young man, who plays Felix, the main protagonist of the film, even though he’s surrounded by much bigger stars (such as Luke Hemsworth) and other interesting characters. I think we’ll see even bigger things from Diego in the future. I hope you can enjoy this movie, which premieres today in theaters and On Demand, and is on VOD tomorrow.
BADÂ HOMBRESÂ | Crime Thriller Starring Tyrese Gibson, Luke Hemsworth, & Diego Tinoco | In Theaters and On Demand 1/26
BADÂ HOMBRES
Crime Thriller Starring Thomas Jane, Tyrese Gibson, Luke Hemsworth, & Diego Tinoco
In Theaters & On Demand January 26, 2024 Available on DVD March 12, 2024
*Grand Jury Award – Mammoth Film Festival 2023*
*Achievement in Screenwriting – Mammoth Film Festival 2023*
Directed by John Stahlberg Jr. (Crypto, Muzzle)
Written by Rex New, Nick Turner, Story by John Stahlberg Jr.
Produced by John Stahlberg Jr., David Frigerio, Scott Macfarland, Oliver Hudson and Wyatt Russell
Starring: Luke Hemsworth (âWestworldâ) Thomas Jane (The Punisher) Nick Cassavetes (Face/Off) Tyrese Gibson (The Fast and The Furious) Diego Tinoco (âOn My Blockâ) Hemky Madera (âQueen of the Southâ)
and Paul Johansson (âOne Tree Hillâ)
Two undocumented immigrants who take a job digging a hole then learn their employers are criminals. They become embroiled in a blood bath with one revealing a secret past that might save them.
Interview with Anjli Mohindra in “The Lazarus Project” on TNT by Suzanne 5/31/23
This is a really exciting new drama/scifi series! It was fun to chat with British actress Anjli, who has been in a lot of great shows, like “The Sarah Jane Adventures,” “Doctor Who” and “Vigil,” among many others. She’s been acting since she was 15, which is pretty amazing. I enjoyed picking her brain about time travel. Don’t miss the show, which premieres Sunday, June 4, at 9:00pm ET/PT on TNT!
TNT SETS SUNDAY, JUNE 4 PREMIERE DATE FOR SCRIPTED ORIGINAL SERIES, âTHE LAZARUS PROJECTâ
TNT will premiere the scripted action thriller, âThe Lazarus Project,â produced by Urban Myth Films in association with Sky Studios on Sunday, June 4, at 9:00pm ET/PT. “The Lazarus Project” is a high-impact drama intended to appeal to broad, thrill-seeking audiences and to complement the network’s big-ticket movies and more than 800 hours of sports. Â The series was acquired from NBCUniversal Global Distribution on behalf of Sky Studios.
âThe Lazarus Projectâ is a riveting eight-hour drama that follows George, the latest recruit to The Lazarus Project â a secret organization that has harnessed the ability to turn back time whenever the world is at the threat of extinction. George and his colleagues are the few people on Earth with the ability to remember the events that are undone when time goes back. But when a freak accident harms someone close to George, Lazarus wonât let him turn back time to undo it unless there is the threat of global extinction. Â Now George must choose to stay loyal or go rogue as he faces the question of: if you had the power to re-write your past, what would you sacrifice to do it? “The Lazarus Project” explores our desire to take charge of what is beyond our control and is a moving story of love and fate within a gripping action thriller that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
The series stars EmmyÂź Award and BAFTA-nominated Paapa Essiedu (âI May Destroy Youâ), Anjli Mohindra (âBodyguardâ), Tom Burke (âStrikeâ), Caroline Quentin (âBridgertonâ), Rudi Dharmalingam (âWakefieldâ), and Charly Clive (âPureâ).
âThe Lazarus Projectâ is produced by Urban Myth Films in association with Sky Studios. Executive Producers are Julian Murphy, Johnny Capps and Joe Barton. Paul Gilbert is Executive Producer for Sky Studios. Season two of âThe Lazarus Projectâ recently wrapped production.
About TNTÂ Â
TNT, a Warner Bros. Discovery brand, is Cableâs #1 entertainment network, known for big, lean-forward television that takes viewers on a thrill ride of electrifying stories, dynamic characters and premium events. TNT is home to some of television’s most popular sports franchises and unscripted and scripted originals including âAEW: Rampage,â âRich & Shameless,â and âThe Lazarus Projectâ. TNT also presents primetime specials and sports coverage, including the NHL, NBA and NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships. Website:âŻwww.tntdrama.com
About NBCUniversal Global Distribution
NBCUniversal Global Distribution is responsible for the licensing and distribution of NBCUniversal product to all forms of television and new media platforms in the U.S., Canada and in over 200 territories internationally. NBCUniversalâs content portfolio includes a vast and diverse library of more than 6,500 feature films and 170,000 television episodes, including current and classic titles, non-scripted programming, kids, sports, news, long-form and short-form programming from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Universal Television, UCP, Universal International Studios, Sky Studios, NBC Late Night properties, DreamWorks Animation, Telemundo, and more, as well as locally produced content from around the world. Global Distribution is a division of Comcast NBCUniversal.
About Sky Studios
Sky Studios is Skyâs original programming arm across Europe.
We develop, produce and commission original drama and scripted comedy for Skyâs 23m customers and beyond. Building on the success of critically acclaimed Sky Originals including Emmy-winning Gangs of London, BAFTA-nominated Landscapers, international hits Babylon Berlin and Das Boot, as well as upcoming series Day of the Jackal, M. Son of the Century, and Helgoland 513.
With commissioning talent and production capability across the UK, Germany, and Italy, we seek out the best untold stories from original voices while working in creative partnership with todayâs best writers, producers, and on-screen talent to bring viewers stories that they will love and remember.
Anjli Mohindra grew up in Nottingham and trained at The Television Workshop â an East Midlands-based training centre for young acting talent.
Her first major TV role was as Rani Chandra in CBBCâs The Sarah Jane Adventures â a part she played for four series between 2008-2011.
She has since had roles in many television dramas including Cucumber (Channel 4), written by Russell T Davies, Paranoid (Netflix), The Boy with The Topknot (BBC Two), Bancroft (ITV), Dark Heart (ITV), The Dead Room (BBC Four) opposite Simon Callow and Wild Bill alongside Hollywood star Rob Lowe.
She starred as Nadia in the BAFTA-winning BBC/Netflix thriller Bodyguard, a controversial role for which she received critical acclaim and in 2021 starred in Vigil – the BBCâs biggest new drama of the year – alongside Suranne Jones.
She recently featured in Netflix film Munich: The Edge of War with Jeremy Irons and George MacKay and starred in The Lazarus Project – a thriller for Sky alongside Paapa Essiedu as well as The Suspect for ITV with Aidan Turner.
Anjli recently secured a development deal with Urban Myth Films to create a TV series based on the life Princess Sophia Duleep Singh – the daughter of the last Maharajah of Punjab and a goddaughter of Queen Victoria.
Anjli lives in London.
âFull credit in particular to Anjli Mohindra, who played Nadia and who managed to say so much with her eyes throughout the series. From the terrified naivety she presented at the start, to the calculated zealotry she revealed at the end. â
â The Guardian
âAnjli Mohindra deserves special recognition for that amazing transformation, a reverse superhero, and for a fabulously evil future ahead of her in Bodyguard â cast against type, as the best villains sometimes areâ
Interview with Brian Gaskill of “A Bachelor’s Valentine” on Tubi and Amazon Prime by Suzanne 3/20/23
It was great to speak with Brian. I’ve been a fan of his since he appeared as Bobby on “All My Children” years ago. His best role on soaps, in my opinion, was playing Rafe the angel/vampire slayer on “Port Charles.” We all loved him back then because he was a great actor, and very handsome, and he had a nice smile. Now, years later, he still has all those things, but we’ve also learned that he’s a really nice guy because of what he says and how he talks to his fans on social media. He’s an even better actor, too. Please watch his movie on Tubi or Prime! It’s an enjoyable romantic film. One correction: the movie takes place in Middletown, Ohio. I said “Millstown” in the interview, for some reason.
When Claire Knapp moves to Paul Bachelor’s small Ohio town, they reluctantly team up and work together on a project that will benefit the entire community. Claire’s vindictive ex-husband will do anything he can to keep that from happening.
Interview with Mark Labella of “S.W.A.T.” on CBS by Thane 10/13/22
This was quite an interesting interview as you can tell from the video below! I enjoyed speaking with Mark.
MORE INFO:
MARK LABELLA Emerges on Season Six of CBS Police Drama âS.W.A.T.â Premiering October 4, 2022
LOS ANGELES â Actor Mark Labella gets entangled in an elaborate heroin operation in Thailand when he recurs as a guest star on the six season of the hit CBS police drama series, S.W.A.T., premiering on October 4th.
In the season opening episode âThai Hard,â Hondo surfaces in Bangkok training alongside Thailandâs premiere S.W.A.T. team. When Hondo and his former military buddy stumble upon a wide-ranging heroin operation with ties to Los Angeles, they find themselves on the run from a powerful drug kingpin. Labella emerges as Lek, who proves vital when the danger heats up.
Labella was excited to be part of this special storyline, sharing âS.W.A.T. was the best set Iâve ever been on. I have never felt as safe with my choices, as appreciated for my work, and as welcomed on the first day.”
Born in the Philippines and raised in America, Labella is a U.S. Navy Veteran turned Medical Doctor, who has been building a solid reputation for his talents since setting his sights on the entertainment industry. His notable on-camera credits include a role in the upcoming Gerard Butler action thriller feature film for Lionsgate, previously titled The Plane, as well as appearances in the fan favorite TV shows Magnum P.I. and NCIS: Los Angeles.
Behind the camera, Labella has been discovering success as a screenwriter and producer. His background in medicine has become the basis for many of his original projects, including the television drama series, MisDiagnosed, which won the Boston Screenplay Awards and gained enough attention to land him further opportunities as a screenwriter and producer.
Labella has received awards and accolades for a several of his projects: Breathe – ISA Screenplay Contest Top 10, HollyShorts Semi-Finalist and currently on third round of Launchpad Writing Competition; Soul & Spice â PAGE Intâl Awards Competition Top 25 Comedy, Austin Film Festival 2nd Round, WeScreenPlay TV Pilot Competition Finalist; To The Last Girl I Ever Loved â Blastoff Screenplay Competition Winner, Queen Palm Intâl Film Festival Gold Winner, Best Script Award (London) Finalist, Independent shorts Awards Winner, and many others.
Currently, Labella is producing the U.S. leg of the Filipino feature film project, Labyu with an Accent, starring Filipino superstars Coco Martin and Jodi Sta. Maria. In addition, he is the writer for the upcoming comedy series, Soul & Spice, starring the Philippinesâ âComedy Queenâ Ai-Ai delas Alas, Tony Winters, and Johari Johnson; and his latest psychological thriller feature film script, Catholic School, has just been optioned and will head into production soon.
When he is not on-set, Labella spends much of his spare time participating in medical missions and supporting medical and veteran charities. He also volunteers his time writing PSAâs to spread the word to his fellow Filipino-Americans to vote. Labella believes, âMy main goal as a creative artist is to tell the stories that Iâve witnessed during my experiences around the world.â Because of his commitment to telling these untold stories, Labella accepted the nomination as the incoming Executive Director of the 13-year-old non-profit organization, Fil-Am Creative. He is excited to honor his performance to coincide with Octoberâs Filipino-American History month in the United States.
Mark Labella is represented by Walter Tabayoyong at Altamero Management and Rachel Tolliver at Firestarter Agency.
Interview with Alan Thompson of “Reacher” on Amazon Prime by Suzanne 2/2/22
This was such an interesting and fun chat with the actor who plays Sergeant Baker on the new show “Reacher.” I hope you enjoy the interview (and the series) as much as I did.
Suzanne: So, tell us about your audition for the role of Sergeant Baker on Reacher.
Hugh: You know, it came to me through my agency, and as soon as I read it, I thought âOh, wow.â Actually, I read for a different role, initially. So, I looked at it, and immediately ran out and got the novel. I got the first novel I could get my hands on, because I really wasn’t that familiar with the series as a book. You see the movies and etc. So, I wanted to go back to the source material, and I picked up a novel called Blue Moon, and as soon as I started reading, I was like, âOh, that’s what it’s about.â I finished the novel in like a day, because it’s such a great piece, such a great character, and such a great way of looking at the world. So, I read through it, and then, you know, with these things, sometimes you go, âOh, I did my best, and it’s too bad.â I got a call, and the sides for Baker come in, the audition for Baker comes in, and I thought. âOkay, cool.â So, I went, and I read that, and there’s a bit more of an extensive scene, and so I thought, âWow, this is going to be fun. This is going to be fun, because the the writing is so strong.â There were all kinds of things to play in it, where a lot of times you’ll get scripts, and it’s fairly murky as to what you’re actually doing, or what you’re going to do. This is just so clear and so crisp right off the start. So, I went and laid it down, and, yeah, all the stars aligned, and I was on a jet to Toronto for five months in the middle of COVID lockdown.
Suzanne: That must have been fun.
Hugh: Woohoo! Yeah, I got [unintelligible] work; I got sprung from my apartment. I was like, âOh my God, I get to go and get to see people. Amazing!â
Suzanne: So, where was it filmed? And did it take all eight months to film it?
Hugh: They filmed over five months. I got to Toronto. So, what we did was we flew in to Toronto, I guess in April, in the beginning of April, and then that was all the lockdown stuff [where] you have to clear COVID restrictions, [etc]. We started filming, and we wrapped just in the beginning of August. So, a five months stretch, and they did eight episodes in about four months. So, it was a tight schedule, but we were actually filming in a converted onion field north of Toronto. [laughs] They built this amazing set up there. It’s just crazy. The carpenters and all this production. When I went there the first day, it was like, âThis is nicer than my hometown. Bigger than my hometown.â
Suzanne: So, they built the whole town in that field?
Hugh: Yeah, it was crazy.
Suzanne: Wow.
Hugh: It was crazy, like there was a gas station, a cafe, the police station, and we filmed inside these things. I was like, âOh.â I was talking to a friend of mine who’s on the show and became a friend of mine on the show, Jonathan, and I said, âJonathan, youâve got to go out and see this set before we get up there, because if you don’t, all you’re gonna be doing is being like, âOh, this is awesome!â So, we went up and took a tour, and they paved streets and the whole thing, so it was really fun, really fun to play on something that was, I think, at that time, it was the biggest operating backlot in North America. It was just this massive production. So, yeah, it was fun. It was really fun to be a part of it.
Suzanne: And had you worked with any of the cast or crew before?
Hugh: I hadn’t. You know people by reputation; you know people by their work. I kind of make it a point not to IMDb people like crazy before I work like, âI saw you in that, and that’s not what you were doing before.â But as soon as you get there, you realize the level of the game is high. The people that were involved from the top down, obviously Alan is – and right from the beginning, you realize you’re there with someone who’s just got everything in hand, and he’s perfectly cast. I thought he was [great]. And obviously, people get into that physical thing, but the big thing about him is he is just such a good actor. He’s such a smart guy, and his timing, his sense of humor, his ability to capture that – it’s deadpan, but it’s also you understand there’s something going on behind that thought process Reacher has, in the books, because he’s an intelligent guy. He’s always figuring stuff out. He’s always looking. He sees a lot more than you think he sees. So, you know, it was really interesting watching the way that he works. And just you look at Willa and Malcolm and John, and I don’t IMDb people, but Bruce McGill plays the mayor.
Suzanne: Oh, love him. He’s awesome.
Hugh: He is an animal. He’s just so great to just to watch the way he goes through his day, having that much experience and just being such a good positive force on the set. I remember – the TV series, the original MacGyver, he was in that series. He played a character named Jack Dalton. I was in the Salvation Army one day, and I saw a DVD set of MacGyver, so I haul these things home and force my son to watch this. So, Jack Dalton was his favorite character, right? So, we’re sitting there, and I remember watching the show and going, âOh, you see that guy, that guy that plays Jack Dalton? That guy knows what he’s doing. He’s a great actor.â Because it’s tough stuff. You know, as Bruce says, I’m an expert at exposition. So, much more than that. So, anyway, we finished watching the series, and then I looked at the cast list, and I checked out this thing in Deadline, and there’s my picture next to Jack Dalton. So, it was great. It was a great thing. So yeah, it’s always fun. We had fun, but everyone I worked with there was just, as a unit, they’ve been such a good team.
Suzanne: Yeah, Bruce had a great role on Rizzoli & Isles. He was awesome on that.
Hugh: He can do anything; he can do anything…Just to watch that level, the amount of experience and just how to get a day done, how to go through your day. I mean, I’m obviously an old fossil myself, but you’re constantly learning from good people like that, and he was really generous and really fun.
Suzanne: Yeah, as far as Reacher, you were saying he watches a lot. He reminds me of, heâs like one part Batman, one part Sherlock Holmes. Thereâre probably other parts in there. I watched all eight episodes, just so you know.
Hugh: Yeah, someone was talking – he’s like Clint Eastwood and Cary Grant, kind of like that. He’s got that physical assurance, because he doesn’t have to try to be a tough guy, doesn’t have to try to be anything. I don’t get that kind of energy from Alan as a person or [Reacher] as a character. I mean, if you do something that’s out of line, he’s going to adjust your dials and then just walks away and [doesnât] look back. Yeah, it’s not a big deal for him, but that intelligence is something that you can’t fake it, right? He’s that guy.
Suzanne: Did the cast have anyone there to help them with the southern accents?
Hugh: Yeah, we did. We did have a dialect coach. And it’s always a tough thing I know – because…if you’re in that area, there’s a million different variations of what you hear and it’s just to try to put something together that doesn’t pull people out of the story as much as you possibly can, and it’s always a balance, a trade off. If you go for strict authenticity, it just becomes a little bit much.
Suzanne: If you can hear how people really talk here, no one would want characters to talk that way. They probably couldn’t understand them for one thing, and then they’d be going, âWhat?â
Hugh: It’s the same here. Like I did a show here years ago called Black Harbor, and it was an episodic, and I went down to the south shore of Nova Scotia, and I came back with the way that these people talked, and I came back to the producers with it, and they said, âNo, no, that’s not gonna happen. Don’t start.â I was down there. I mean, I’m from here, and I could not understand what these guys were talking about. It’s completely different. And, you know, people say, âOkay, what’s the Nova Scotia [accent], what’s a Canadian accent? âAnd Iâm like, âWhich one? Which one of the forty do you want?â
Suzanne: Yeah, that’s an American conceit, like, there’s one Canadian accent. We have a thousand different accents and Canada has one.
Hugh: [speaks in an accent] Itâs not the same. So, it’s pretty funny. It’s pretty funny. But, yeah, hopefully it comes out that there’s a sort of – but there is a variation between someone who’s raised in an urban environment and your age and your income level, all that kind of stuff really plays into it. So, yeah, I got to lean into it a little bit more, and, you know, hopefully, it all smooths out and looks like we’re all around from the –
Suzanne: General era, yeah. I found here that the older the person is, the less I can understand them. The lower in income or class or whatever, the less I can understand those, so it actually makes a big difference, but I actually thought your accent of all the people on the show, I thought yours was the best.
Hugh: Oh, thatâs very kind of you.
Suzanne: I actually expected you to have a southern accent, when I got on the phone with you, because the others came and went, or they were too soft or whatever, but yours –
Hugh: It’s tough, because I actually used a model of a guy on YouTube where this guy – it’s just so hilarious. He’s fixing power saws or chainsaws…and it was so funny. And we had our dialect coaches going, âNo, you can’t do that. [Itâs] just way too much.â I mean, the people would go crazy. So, you do pedal it down. I mean, again, if you try to do what this guy was doing on on screen, it would be like, âNo, no, it can’t happen,â because heâs just unintelligible at certain points. But yeah, the way that he presented things, the way that he latched on to things, was really interesting. The way he grouped words, and the way that his thought process worked was interesting. For Baker, I see him as someone who grew up there, and maybe didn’t have the best education, maybe didn’t have a lot of other options in life than to do what he was doing. So, you know, I really wanted to to try to bring that into the voice as much as possible.
Suzanne: Yeah, and I’ve lived in Georgia before too, but I’m not an expert on accents, even though I’ve lived all over the south. I can’t tell them all apart; it’s just when I hear it here I go, âOh, yeah, that’s a little different than Alabama or whatever.
Hugh: Yeah, me too. Itâs like…sometimes If you’re dealing with someone who actually lives in that community – like here, there’s urban Cape Breton. There are people there who if you’re talking to them, they could tell you what street you lived on. They know exactly. So, I have hopefully a decent ear, but I’m not like that; those people are like [unintelligible]. Itâs pretty amazing.
Suzanne: Like the Professor Higgins on My Fair Lady, they can tell exactly what part of London you were from.
Hugh: Yeah, yeah.
Suzanne: So was there anyone there that you hung out with during the shooting or that was that impossible because of COVID?
Hugh: It was pretty tough. Again, Bruce was generous enough one day we just we got out – because you just didn’t want to be the guy thatâs holed up with a case of COVID-19 and just deep six [a whole] two weeks of shooting, but we did get to get out at one point later on when things kind of in Toronto started to back off a little bit, and we did get to go out for an outdoor sort of meal. I got to hang out with Bruce for a night, which was really fun to talk to him, but that was a tough part of it too. The camaraderie that you usually get going, âOh, let’s go out; let’s do something,â that just wasn’t happening. Or maybe it was happening and they just didn’t invite me. [laughs]
Suzanne: Right now I’ve been hearing that same thing when Iâve been talking to a lot of different actors for movies and TV shows, that they miss that camaraderie and getting together with the other people, especially you’re holed up together for months.
Hugh: Yeah, that’s it, like you would get out to set, and everybody would be bursting to tell you their stories, because we had nothing else going on, but it was really fun. I mean, being on set with that life was really kind of interesting, because I think people did get to open up a little bit more than a lot of times they do, because there was that sense that we’re kind of in a little spaceship and we’re all trying to get to August 1st or August 3rd or whatever the final day of shoot was, because it’s precarious to be in that environment where you needed to just be aware of it. You have a responsibility to kind of make sure that things stayed medically âokay.â
Suzanne: When they were making that town, they should have made the town bar a functioning bar and put outdoor seating for you guys, then you would have a place to hang out.
Hugh: I donât know if youâve seen [this, but] the little cafe where [Reacher]âs trying to eat [his pie] [unintelligible]. Itâs way nicer than a lot of cafes I’ve had meals in, for sure.
Suzanne: Yeah, I really wanted a pie by the end of watching that!
Hugh: Me too.
Suzanne: I read that the booksâ creator, Lee Child, the author, he’s also an executive producer. Was he on set at all? Did you get to meet him?
Hugh: Again, with COVID, it was really tough, because he was only able to get there…and even Nick Santora, the showrunner, he was kind of remote from LA a lot of times. So, a lot of the questions would go back and forth between at that time, because it was tough to travel. It’s tough. It’s tough to go there. And again, people were really, really conscious of anybody who would be going back and forth…Although all the vaccinations and all that kind of stuff were still underway at that point, but I think they just tried to keep it to a minimum. You can do this kind of stuff now where you can have a conversation with someone and not have to be in the same room, but it was disappointing too. You don’t get to meet [everyone]. It’s always nice to meet those people.
Suzanne: And what are you working on right now? Are you up there or are you at home?
Hugh: Yeah. Yeah, we were just about to begin a feature here called Dancing on the Elephant, and it’s based on a play that was produced here, and it’s about a guy – well, again, this is this the actor saying, âIt’s about a guy who drops his mother off at an assisted living facility,â but it’s really not about a guy – [laughs] I [play] the guy who drops her off, but it’s not about me. That’s one of the things that itâs basically about; she she gets into this assisted care facility, and she doesn’t like it, so high jinks ensue.
Suzanne: So, itâs comedy?
Hugh: Yeah, and we were just about to go, and unfortunately, things got kind of wacky here with restrictions and COVID.
Suzanne: Omicron, yeah.
Hugh: Yeah, theyâre going to push ahead with that now until the spring, but it may be October by the time we get going, so, you never know; you never know. I think, now, things are going to hopefully loosen up, and we just have to find a way to work and do that, but with a production, youâve got to make sure that you can complete [it]. Itâs tight.
Suzanne: Do you have any other things in the works?
Hugh: There’re a couple of things coming here to – I work on stage a lot, too. I work as a theater actor, so I’ve got a project coming up in October that I can’t really say too much about, because I haven’t really agreed to it yet, but I just came off stage, I try to do that. I try to stay acting on stage, because I just feel like it’s a really good grounding – Lee Child, he said, âThere’re three rules in performance, and it’s the audience is always right, the audience is always right, and the audience is always right.â So, itâs just that I love doing that, because there’s no net, and you just stand up there, and it’s you and the writing and your fellow actors and your light. So, I am looking forward to that. And there’re a couple of big projects coming here in the summer. So, I’m back and forth to Toronto, basically, via Zoom and all the rest of it. So, something will turn up. Something will turn up.
Suzanne: Okay, good, good. Your characterâs kind of interesting, because I was watching it, knowing that I was going to be interviewing you. So, I was watching for you, and your characterâs always there somewhere. It’s like, you don’t really notice him big time until the end of the [season], but he’s always there, and they refer to him several times. So, it’s funny, because he’s kind of there, but…heâs just one of the guys until later.
Hugh: It’s interesting, because you look at the series as a whole, and that’s what the books do. I mean, in some ways there’ll be a certain thing that you should have noticed, or you should have sort of…there’s clues to what actually unfolds, and it’s interesting trying to play that too, because we’re all part of a unit. Everyone’s trying to tell a story, and itâs just there’re so many elements going on at that one time. You just have to make sure that you’re in your own lane, kind of making sure that you’re fulfilling what’s asked of you. Yeah, I don’t want to – I’ll get my Amazon subscription canceled if I go too far.
Suzanne: No spoilers, no spoilers, no, but yeah, there’re a lot of characters too. So, it’s hard to keep track and kind of figure out whoâs who.
Hugh: Right. It’s just a massive show. There’re just so many things going on. I was sitting there going, âThat’s wild.â like that. And I love – I mean, when you look at the first couple episodes, just I think they did a great job of just trying to – you know, youâve got this cliffhanger, this cliffhanger; there’s a way that you can jump forward and go through them. So, hopefully the audience agrees.
Suzanne: Yeah, I think they will. I mean, especially anyone – I mean, I haven’t read the books, but from what I can tell, they stick pretty close to the book, so I think anyone who’s found the books will like them at the very least, but I think other people who like those type of shows, you know, action, that kind of thing and mysteries, I guess itâs kind of a mystery, but it’s, I think, a bit more of an action show than a mystery show or a cop show.
Hugh: Yeah, there’re a lot of people who like these books. Yeah, it’s crazy. Like I was out mowing the lawn just before I left…and my neighbor stops over, and I’m going, âWell, I’m just going to go up to do this…â She asked me what I was doing. I said, âI’m gonna go up to do this,â and she starts jumping up and down. Sheâs screaming; she’s pounding on my back going, âThatâs awesome!â I thought, âOkay.â So, it was interesting, and then when you read the books, you understand that there’s that sense of a person who just has his own sort of code and sticks to the code, no matter what. It’s an appealing way to look at the world…It’s not always that simple in real life, and so I think there’s a real way that you can attach to that kind of narrative, but, again, it comes back to your real life. It does make you think about what you would defend and what you would do if you see something wrong. And Reacher, when he sees something wrong, [laughs] it doesnât go well for the wrongdoers.
Suzanne: The rest of us might go, âWell, maybe I should call the police, or maybe I shouldn’t get involved.â He acts. Heâs like Batman. I mean, that’s what Batman would do, right? Or any hero. That’s what he is. He’s a hero.
Hugh: Yeah. Alan, that’s the thing about it, he just carries that with him…as a person, heâs just, âOkay, if youâre gonna do that, then I’m going to do this, and I’m not going to get attached to it too much. I’m just going to actually get it done and sort of walk away, because that’s what has to happen here.â So, I think that’s a fun part of it.
Suzanne: Oh, and I was so glad that – let’s put it in a spoiler free way – no animals were killed. It looked like that was going to happen, but it didnât, because I get so mad when they do that on shows, and Iâm, âIâm never watching the show again.â Itâs kept me from watching some good shows.
Hugh: Yeah, that whole thing – yeah, it’s funny, because there’re certain things – I was in a series called Chapelwaite. Itâs Stephen King. It is still on Epix. So, you go into that, and I’m the worst. Like, I go into the stuff, the vampire stuff, all that scary stuff. I can’t stand [it] [laughs] I can’t watch this.
Suzanne: The scary stuff, or like, the more romantic stuff like Vampire Diaries?
Hugh: It’s pretty scary vampire stuff. So, I was in the series, and I took my son to set, and we were sitting there, and even though we’re shooting this thing, I’m sitting there going, âThis is creepy.â Itâs like there’s all these dead people all over the place. So, I really have a hard time watching stuff thatâs like that, but it’s fun to play it.
Suzanne: Iâm that way about zombies. I can’t take all the zombie shows. They creep me out.
Hugh: Yeah, and thatâs like every second show.
Suzanne: I know. Believe me, I know.
Hugh: Yeah. Chapelwaite may not be for you then, because it’s kind of one of those. It’s a little bit on the line, but again, that’s another thing where, you know, Adrian Brody was the lead in that. And this guy, heâs one of the leaders, same thing. Theyâre workers; they’re actors. They’re there to do the work, and it’s not like – so it really was fun to work with him, and Alanâs the same way. It’s the same sort of – they’re just about getting the best of the scene.
Suzanne: In your experience, are most actors that way?
Hugh: To be honest, it varies. I mean, the great thing about Alan was that you went through, and you know there were days he had to be just dead tired, just the scheduling in that thing was crazy. And I think [laughs] everyone starts out that way, but you get tired, and it was remarkable to watch it just on set and off set. He was just a leader, always ready with a go forward attitude, and that’s tough to maintain over close to five months of shooting, where heâs [in almost all the shots].
Suzanne: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that’s good. You don’t want to hear about people who are the opposite and full of themselves, who can’t take the work.
Hugh: I guess everyone has their days…but it just makes fun to do. I think, as I get older, it’s like I just want to do things that are fun, and because you just do better work. You just do better work. There’s no question about it. I mean, when it’s fun, you can be involved in something that’s pretty heavy duty, and then, when they call âcut,â and someone tells a joke, and it’s like, okay, coolâŠAnd the set was loose; it was really fun, and we kept it loose. Itâ’s a fun thing to watch.
Suzanne: Yeah, thereâs a lot of humor in it.
Hugh: Yeah. [laughs] I mean, just some of the stuff, youâre sitting around and talking about stuff, he’s a funny guy. He’s a funny guy. So, that that really helps.
Suzanne: Okay, well, I think I’ve taken up enough of your morning, and I appreciate your meeting up here with me and giving me a little perspective into the world of Reacher and into your world.
Hugh: Yeah, absolutely. No problem. It’s a pleasure.
Canadian muti-faceted actor, Hugh Thompson (Chapelwaite) is making his return to the small screen alongside Alan Ritchson in the upcoming Amazon original series, REACHER, premiering Friday February 4th. The 8-episode series is based on Jack Reacher, the main character from Lee Childâs international bestselling books. Hugh was most recently seen as George Dennison on the Epix 10-part limited series CHAPELWAITE, adapted from Stephen King’s short story, ‘Jerusalem’s Lot’ alongside Adrien Brody and Emily Hampshire (Schittâs Creek).Â
Ritchson stars as the title character in the series, produced by Amazon, Skydance Television and Paramount Television Studios. The first season, written, exec produced and showrun by Nick Santora, is based on the first Jack Reacher novel, The Killing Floor, which is set in Georgia. Thompson will play Baker, the head cop of Margrave, described as a man that enjoys his position of power but hates Detective Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin).
In addition to his work in film and television, Hugh has appeared in just about every major theatre in Canada including Toronto`s Royal Alex, Montrealâs Centaur Theatre, The Citadel Theatre, The Grand Theatre, and Festival Antigonish. He won a Gemini Award for his work in the TV movie Blessed Stranger and a 2013 Merritt Award for his performance in Whale Riding Weather, from playwright Bryden MacDonald directed by Thom Fitzgerald. Heâs also had heavy recurring roles on Canadian productions, Diggstown and Pure.
John Lithgow (ex-Arthur) Â has many films coming out and is one of the stars of the “Perry Mason” series on HBO and in “The Old Man” on HULU. He has a new off-Broadway solo show, âEverythingâs Fine.â The autobiographical one-man play will open on Oct. 13 at the DR2 Theatre for a limited run. He appears Tuesday, October 11 on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS.
Courtney Ford (Christine) appears in “The Rookie: Feds” on ABC Tuesdays.
Raphael Sbarge (ex-Jim) appears in the upcoming Starz series “Gaslit.”
Jimmy Smits stars in the new show “East New York” Sundays on CBS. He appears on “The Talk” and on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” Thursday, 10/6. both on CBS.
Liza Lapira (ex-Yuki) has a recurring role on “The Equalizer” Sundays on CBS.
Desmond Harrington (Quinn) is working on a new movie, “Butterly in the Typerwriter.”
Yvonne Strahovski (Hannah) stars in “The Handmaid’s Tale” on HULU and in the movie “The Tomorrow War” on Amazon Prime.
Aimee Garcia (Jamie) has several movies coming out and appeared in “Lucifer” on Netflix and “Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.” on Disney+.
Margo Martindale (Camill) stars in “American Crime Story” on FX and in “The Good Fight” on Paramount+. She also has some new movies coming out.
David Zayas (Angel) has some films coming out and guest-stars on a re-run of “FBI” Tuesday, 5/3 on CBS.
James Remar appears in the podcast series “The Lamb” and in an upcoming movie, “The Noel Diary.” He’s also joined the cast of “The Rookie” on ABC. More Info
C.S. Lee (Vince) appears in “For All Mankin” on Apple+ and has a few movies coming out.
John Lithgow (ex-Arthur) has many films coming out, is one of the stars of the “Perry Mason” series on HBO. He appears Wednesday, Sept. 21 on âGMA3: What You Need to Knowâ to discuss his new off-Broadway solo show, âEverythingâs Fine.â The autobiographical one-man play will open on Oct. 13 at the DR2 Theatre for a limited run.
Sean Patrick Flanery (Elway) plays Gunpowder in “The Boys” when it returns in July on Amazon Prime. He also has several movies coming out. He appears at the Fanboy Expo in Las Vegas, NV April 22-24. More Info
Julie Benz (Rita) appears in Lifetime movies and in the Netflix series “Love, Victor.” She has a recurring role on “9-1-1: Lone Star” Mondays on FOX.
Dana L. Wilson (Angie) appears in “Rutherford Falls” on Peacock.
David Ramsey (Anton) plays John Diggle in the Arrowverse on the CW. He occasionally appears on superhero shows there, even though “Arrow” was canceled. He also directs the episodes.
Keith Carradine (Frank) has a few movies coming out and appears on “Fear the Walking Dead” on AMC.
Colin Hanks (Travis) appears Monday, October 3 on “The Today Show” on NBC to talk about his new series on Peacock, “A Friend of The Family,” which begins 10/6. He also appears Monday, 10/3 on “Live with Kelly and Ryan”.
Courtney Ford (Christine) plays Nora in the Arrowverse.
Interview with Kelley Kali and Deon Cole of the movie “I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) by Suzanne 7/27/21
This was a fun interview! These two are so talented and amiable. We had a great time chatting. I look forward to Kelley’s next film, too. She’s a DGA winner, and he stars in two ABC shows, along with being a hard-working standup comic.
Suzanne:Â Â I watched it last night. I enjoyed it. I liked how you made us really feel what she was going through, how she was hot, tired, and having a bad day and worried, and all that made me anxious to watch it. I was like, âSell the ring! Sell the ring!â
Kelley:Â Â I know, right?
Suzanne:Â Â âDonât do that!â But that I’m glad the way it turned out.
Kelley:Â Â Thank you so much for saying that.
Suzanne:Â Â I don’t– I don’t watch a lot of independent movies, because so many of them are sad and depressing and boring, but I liked yours so much.
Kelley:Â Â Good. Thank you. We tried to have a balance of that indie sad, depressing, but this is why Deonâs here, because he brought the funny to it.
Then, even the characters, like Brooklynn’s character, [sheâs also] one of Deonâs closest friends, so, you know, he brought her along, and so he definitely was the light in the storytelling of serious social matters.
Suzanne:Â Â Yeah. No, it was nice and positive. I like that. I’m more of a popcorn movie person. Marvel, Star Wars, Harry Potter.
Kelley:Â Â Good choices.
Suzanne:  But I enjoyed it. I loved the dream sequence and what you did with that, because I’m watching going, âThere’re really big holes of water thereâŠ?â and you had me. You got me.
Kelley:Â Â The greatest parts to wake people up, and it’s a great metaphor to show that she’s drowning in so much trouble that she’s trying to get through and just to protect her daughter’s innocence.
Suzanne:Â Â Right, and it really does grab you in the, âOh my gosh, what’s gonna happen next, if she loses her money and the ring and all that stuff? Is she gonna drown?â So, I like that. And it really showed LA really well, too. I love that. It was almost like LA was another character in the movie.
Kelley: Â Â It was, yeah; that city is where I grew up. It’s a suburb of LA, in San Fernando Valley, Pacoima, and so it was also just paying homage to a town that helped raise me.
And even Danny Trejo, the actor, is from that town. So, that’s why we named the character Danny. We even are featuring his mural, because he’s just one of the one of the many artists have come from that city that represent that town very well.
Suzanne:Â Â Right. Yeah, I noticed his face on the mural. So that explains why you set it in Pacoima. I’m from San Diego, but I didn’t know. I had heard of Pacoima, but that was about it. I actually thought it was in Washington State. Iâm like, âWait, thatâs LA.â
Kelley:Â Â It was also our resource, because we were shooting during a pandemic and had to find places we could film safely, and so, I just used my hometown. My dad was a pastor there. So, I was really connected to the community. In fact, where Deon pulls up [and] his character talks to me, that’s the steps of my church, the church that I was raised in where my dad was a pastor. So, when he says, âAre you are you a pastor?â I love it. Itâs one of my favorite scenes.
Suzanne:Â Â So, how did you come up with the idea for this film?
Kelley:Â Â So, just, it was in the middle of the pandemic, the middle of 2020, I woke up, and was like, âIâve got to do something,â because we weren’t allowed to do anything. And one of the things that I have been noticing is that there were a lot more women on the streets here in Los Angeles. You know, we already have a large homeless population, but this increase was due to houselessnes, which was a new term that I was learning. So, it just really showed how paycheck to paycheck we are as a society, [during] this pandemic. So, a lot more people ended up in their cars or sleeping on a friend’s couch or family memberâs couch, or heaven forbid, in a tent, temporarily, while they were just getting back on their feet, because maybe they do have a job and maybe the job shut down or whatever it may be.
So, I went to my writing partner, Deon Cole, and went to my girls from USC, Angelique Molina, who’s my co-director; Roma Kong is producer, and then also our other producer, Capella [Fahoome], and we came up with this concept to reflect what we were going through during 2020 and what is even more prevalent now. There’re still so many people who are houseless currently.
Suzanne:Â Â Yeah, I can’t even imagine what it must be like there. I grew up in poverty in San Diego, and I still have plenty of relatives who are in poverty. I had actually one who, before the pandemic, was camping with her husband – no children, thankfully, but she and her husband were camping all through LA and Bakersfield where they had lived in a car, basically. So, I know how that is. So, the film did remind me of those things and make me really feel it.
So, was Danny based on a particular person that you know or just…?
Kelley:Â Â No, no, Danny was a reflection of the women I’ve seen on the street. So, there is one story, itâs not based on her, but one thing that really triggered me was I was actually driving to get a COVID test, and I got off on the 110 [accidentally]. It’s like you exit along the side of the overpass, and I saw this beautiful black woman who just looked like she came out of a business meeting, look perfectly put together, but had her suitcase and everything. And she was dragging this chain link fence, this old fence that was kind of laying around under the freeway, and boxing herself in, because it looked like she was about to stay there for the night. And I just couldn’t believe [it]. Like she didn’t look – you know how people are like, âWell, you donât look homeless.â A lot of people don’t look [homeless], and that’s one of the things we talk about. We want the movie to reflect it or to evoke empathy for people, to let them see it, because you don’t know people’s stories. People have this concept of others on the street being lazy or like they put themselves there, and that’s not the case of the majority of the stories.
Suzanne:Â Â And I assume you had a certain vision for the movie before you made it. Did the finished product live up to that ideal?
Kelley:Â Â It was better, and that just comes from a team effort. This not just from my head. It just was a team. It was Deon watching it and giving notes and catching things that I didn’t see.
And then weâd go back to the editors. We had two editors, Angelica [Lopez] and Katie [McClellan], and just the input that they gave, because, you know, when Angelique, my co-director, and I are in the grind, you’re too much in it, and you need other eyes around you, other creative eyes, to help. And I just think, as a team, it became better than I could have even imagined.
Suzanne:Â Â That’s great. And Deon, can you tell us how your role came about? Was it just like she said; she came to you and said, âI want to put a movie together?â And you said, âSure,â ?
Deon:Â Â Yeah, it was just another obstacle added as far as to heighten her decision making on what she needs to do for the character and just bringing lightness to a heavy situation. Yeah, basically, that was it.
Suzanne:Â Â And can we assume that after Danny got her apartment that she went to her friend Brooklynn and told her all about running into Chad, I hope?
Kelley:Â Â I donât know. Does Danny kill Brooklynn’s joy? Does she just let it ride? I’m gonna leave it up to you to decide.
Suzanne:Â Â Honesty, I would like to see a sequel all about Brooklynn and Chad.
Kelley:Â Â Wouldnât that be fun?
Suzanne:Â Â Maybe a TV series. Get your own sitcom based on that. I would like that. That was so funny, that part.
And what was the most fun thing for either or both of you about doing the movie? I know it was a lot of work, but what was fun about it?
Kelley:Â Â For me, it was the roller skating, because I’m obsessed with roller skating. So, although I was on skates for like, ten or more hours a day, every day, I just was having a blast. And my favorite part was, I had to bomb this hill. It’s in the opening credits. You can’t even really see the grade of the incline that it is, but it is extremely steep and dangerous. And we decided just to get the drone shot and bomb it, and it scared the crap out of my co-director, Angelique, and my producers. It was just fun seeing them freak out as I’m going this hill. They talk about to this day how traumatized they were, but thank God, I made it. No little pebbles or twigs got in the way.
Suzanne:Â Â That’s right, because you weren’t wearing a helmet? Were you wearing protection?
Kelley:Â Â I was in a half top and biker shorts, which wasn’t going to protect a thing. So, that’s why they call that hill Devil’s Hill, because it’s one of the hardest hills to go down.
Suzanne:Â Â Iâm surprised you got the insurance to sign off on that.
Kelley:Â Â You know, sometimes you ask for forgiveness.
Suzanne:Â Â What about you, Deon? What was fun for you?
Deon:Â Â Like, waiting around, and us just laughing in between takes and just laughing in that situation and coming up with different ideas. And there was a lot of funny stuff that we didn’t use.
Kelley:Â Â Oh, yeah.
Deon:Â Â So, it was just fun creating all these different scenarios. You know, it was great.
Kelley:Â Â Deonâs improv, it was so hard for me to keep a straight face [with] the stuff that he was saying to me on the steps. We could just cut a whole series of all of the stuff that he shouted out of that car, because we couldn’t put it all in there, but he was hilarious.
Suzanne:Â Â That was all improv, that whole part?
Deon:Â Â Yeah.
Suzanne:Â Â Okay, and I was told the movie will be on BET, will it be in theaters as well, or just on BET?
Kelley:Â Â It’s going to be in theaters at Film Festival. So, we’re going to Gina Davis’s Film Festival next week, and we’re going to be screening there in the theater on August 5th and virtually as well. So, if you want to check it out at the Bentonville Film Festival, but other than that, yeah, we’re going to be premiering on BET Her on August 7th.
Suzanne:Â Â Okay, good. And do you have any other films that you’re working on, besides this one? Like are you’re thinking of one, or are you working on one already?
Kelley:Â Â Well, we have one that we wrote together. Itâs what we actually started with as writing partners, and then this one kind of just wiggled its way in again, but we have a script that we finished. It’s a pure comedy. It’s hilarious; itâs so hilarious. And it’s now with Macro, the producers of Judas and the Black Messiah, Sorry to Bother You, Mudbound, and all of that stuff. So, we’re working on getting that out, but Deon has a lot of other great things [coming] in.
Suzanne:Â Â Yes, and that was my next question. You’re still on Black-ish and Grown-ish, right?
Deon:Â Â Yes.
Suzanne:Â Â And you have you have some other movies coming out. Have you started shooting Black-ish season eight yet?
Deon:Â Â We start next week. We had a second table read yesterday, I think. And yeah, we start next week.
Suzanne:Â Â Oh, cool. And you have some other movies coming out? Is there anything particular that you wanted to tell us about?
Deon:Â Â Yeah, a movie on Netflix called The Harder They Fall. It’s coming out soon, probably in the fall. Yeah, that’s just about it right now.
Suzanne:Â Â I watched some of your Netflix comedy special last night, that was funny.
Deon:Â Â Thank you so much Yeah, Iâm working on a new one now.
Suzanne:Â Â Oh cool. And who would you say your comedy influences are?
Deon:Â Â So many, from Eddie Murphy to Richard Pryor to [unintelligible] to Ellen DeGeneres to Steven Wright to George Carlin.
Suzanne:Â Â Cool. That’s great. That’s probably why I thought it was funny. I grew up listening and watching all those people.
Here’s your chance to get in on one of the few critically lauded, award-winning feature films at the upcoming gems premiering on BET HER in a couple weeks, Saturday, August 7th at 7pm ET/PT, 6pm CT. Filmmakers KELLEY KALI and DEON COLE (Black-ish star) talk about their critically lauded film, I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking). The 2018 Oscar, DGA winning young director, Kelley Kali, also stars in this Pandemic-era indie along with Deon and we have them available together next Tuesday morning, July 27th (Pacific).
The important movie, which incorporates humor into the most important issue of our recent times, is as refreshing of a film seen you’ll see emphasizing a reason this early 30 year-old filmmaker has been kept an eye on by the biggest names in Hollywood over the past year. Add to the attraction the riveting Deon Cole, a truly authentic cast and a gifted crew to a compelling story which addresses issues within often marginalized communities by using the art of filmmaking to create dialogue and action towards positive change.
Filmmaker Kelley Kali, one of the breakout talents in Hollywood, won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Film for her narrative short, Lalo’s House, and brought in a number of talented filmmakers including co-director Angelique Molina, fellow USC Cinema School graduate Roma Kong as well as award-winning producer Capella Fahoome. Kelley developed the plot line of “I’m Fine (Thanks For Asking)” looking around Los Angeles as the Covid crisis started to shutter businesses, diminish earnings and jeopardize so many single parents ability to pay rent and feed their families late last spring. The storyline centers on a recently widowed mother who becomes homeless and convinces her 8-year-old daughter that they are only camping for fun while she works to get them off the streets.
As the whole crew with this gem of a film rise to the apex of both Hollywood and the What To Watch at 2021 film festivals, we are certain coverage in wide-reaching outlets is a win-win. To see how brilliant some of the press has been, scroll belowto read a couple rave reviews or click on this recent interview with Kelley and Deon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGpn7KPsUcs
Interview with RJ Mitte of film “Triumph” by Suzanne 4/27/21
RJ has a great energy that not only comes through in his acting, but in this interview. He’s a nice young man with much intensity and positivity. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did. Make sure you catch his movie, which comes out tomorrow in theaters. It will be available on VOD June 15th! It’s a very entertaining and inspiring film. I’m sorry I said “Cool” so many times….
Normally I don’t interview actors solely about their movies, but most of the actors in this movie are those I’m familiar with via their TV series. RJ Mitte played Walter White, Jr. in “Breaking Bad.” Terrence Howard starred in “Empire” and “Wayward Pines.” Colton Haynes was a regular on both “Teen Wolf” and “Arrow.” Johnathon Schaech played Jonah Hex in “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” among many other roles. Grace Victoria Cox has been in many series, such as “The Society.”
Suzanne:Â Â Â I watched your movie last night, and it was really good. I enjoyed it.
R.J.  Thank you. Thank you so much.
Suzanne:Â Â It’s very inspiring, and I hope a lot of people get to see it.
R.J.  I hope so too.
Suzanne:Â Â So, how much did you do to prepare for your role?
R.J.  I did a lot of training in the midst of the role. We had a couple months before doing a lot of physical training and getting ready for the moves and a lot of choreographed wrestling, so we made sure that it was right, because this is first and foremost a wrestling movie, so it’s very physical. People, when they hear wrestling, they don’t think of of Greco-Roman style wrestling. They think of like WWE and all those types of [wrestling] and [unintelligible] and different types of that style, and they don’t realize how intense Roman style, Greco style wrestling is. It’s very physically draining and mentally draining, and it’s really, to me, one of the pinnacle strengths in sports when it comes to sheer willpower and youâre wrestling someone of equal strength to you that you’re [unintelligible]. It’s really a power struggle. It’s an immovable force meets an immovable object type of mentality. Yeah, it was a lot, but I like physical stuff, so it was a great opportunity for me.
Suzanne:Â Â Yeah, you you went from, at the beginning the movie, you were this kind of skinny guy, and at the end youâre this sort of big hulking mass. Did you have to change your diet? Bulk up? What did you have to do?
R.J.  A little bit both. I mean, really, I just worked out. I’m fairly lazy right now, so my working out hasn’t been so much, but with that project, I just really kind of worked out. I was focused on what I was eating and then just kind of how I held myself, really, when it came to the project. It was really about distribution of weight and the way that I walked. The way that my character held himself and held his arm and the type of foot placement and gating made a very big difference. And this is loosely based on a real person, Michael Coffey, and he was a part of the set. He was a writer and then part of on the set. So, I really used his mannerisms and his body movement to try to utilize and match it on par with Mike the character.
Suzanne:Â Â Okay, that must have been helpful.
R.J.  I mean, it came in handy. If he didn’t like something, it came in handy. You definitely knew.
Suzanne:Â Â That’s good. Yeah, that’s a rare opportunity probably for most biopics or things that are based on real people.
R.J.  Yeah, well, usually those people are deceased, right? They’re not there, or they’re not really a part of the project. So, it was quite nice to have a biopic with the artist there that itâs about.
Suzanne:Â Â Yeah, I bet. And had you met any of the cast and crew before you were on set, before you started this thing?
R.J.  Yes, I did. I met a lot of the producers; I knew some of the producers beforehand, because I worked on them with other projects, and I carried one of them with me to this project as well. Then, I met some of the others in passing, but really got to know everyone during the production.
Suzanne:Â Â Oh, cool And had you ever done any wrestling before?
R.J.  I hadnât; this was my first time. I had done martial arts, like karate, jujitsu, and some other stuff of that nature, but [this was] very different, very different techniques, very different forms. Even the rules and type of skills are night and day from other martial arts and other sports like that.
Suzanne:Â Â Oh, cool. So, I guess you answered my next question. It was whether you played any other sports, but you did martial arts.
R.J.  Martial Arts and soccer and quite a few other things. I’m a big believer in the sports. I think everyone should have played a sport at least once in their life, a team sport, because it really, definitely builds camaraderie and mental mental stability and strength in numbers, and it’s a great opportunity. I’m a firm believer of that.
Suzanne:Â Â Cool. And where was the film shot?
R.J.  So, we shot the majority of it and now outside Nashville, Tennessee, where it was kind of based. Then, we shot the teaser and some pickup scenes in Los Angeles.
Suzanne:Â Â Okay, and how long did it take to shoot?
R.J.  So, the first more than half of it, we shot pretty much everything except for like a handful of scenes with Terrence [Howard]. We tried [to shoot] everything but Terrenceâs stuff in three months, and then four years later, we shot the rest of it.
Suzanne:Â Â Wow.
R.J.  So, we had a massive hiatus.
Suzanne:Â Â Was that because he was busy, or…?
R.J.  Well, actually, it was originally cast with a different character. Originally, we had a different entity, and Terrence wasnât involved, and [we had] some other stuff with the production. We had to halt production and were able to utilize the project and come back to it. And this project almost didn’t get made, to be honest.
Suzanne:Â Â Okay, what happened?
R.J.  Many different things. Producer, error, and [we] no longer have those producers [as] part of this project. And just timing. We couldn’t find the right coach. We couldn’t really – just logistics, a lot of logistics, a lot of bureaucracies and different aspects of industry life initially halted the project. Then, when you halt a project, it takes takes time and money to start back up. Then, we had to go and get investors and new funding and restructure the film. You know, it’s one of those things where it’s like, âIs it gonna come back?â You do a project, and you’re like, âAll right, well, we still have, like, more than a quarter of the film to shoot.â Youâre like, âOkay, well, yes, yes, yes, we’re going to film it; we’re going to film it; we’re going to film it,â but then you hear that for like 20 years. And luckily, we were able to come back and finish the film, and now we have this great project.
Suzanne:Â Â
Cool. So, how is it working with the Terrence?
R.J.  Great, you know… Terrence was great. Johnathon Schaech and Grace Victoria Cox and Colton [Haynes], you know, we had such an interesting lineup of actors. And everyone who was a part of it was just so behind this film and believed in this film so much to make it happen. It really was a unique and humbling experience to be able to create this film and have the support that we did behind this film.
Suzanne:Â Â Great, and what do you hope the film achieves?
R.J.  I hope the film achieves entertainment. I really think that’s the overall goal. I hope people are entertained when they watch this film, that they can take something away from this film, be it great or small, but really, first and foremost, enjoy it.
Suzanne:Â Â Yeah, good. It’s enjoyable. And was it mostly filmed before the pandemic?
R.J.  Oh, yeah, we shot two years ago.
Suzanne:Â Â That’s when you finished it?
R.J.  Two a half years ago. That’s when we finished it. And then five years before that.
Suzanne:Â Â That’s a long time. Youâre like an old man now.
R.J.  Yeah, I was 21, 22 when I started it; I’m 28 now. I’ll be I’ll be 30 soon. So, I very happy that we have this film out before I turned 30.
Suzanne:Â Â Yeah. So, you said you’ve been traveling during the pandemic. So, there was never a time when you were just like stuck at home bored or wondering what was going on? That’s great.
R.J.  No, I mean, most of my work, when it comes to philanthropic and community outreach and development, when a pandemic or something like this happens is usually when I get the busiest. This is a time where people need moral support; they need they need industry meters; they need helping hands. My job right now, through the foundation, is an everyday job where it’s online, yes, but then it’s also a lot of in person information and kind of guiding through it, because it’s a community development project. So, it’s construction and all kinds of other things.
Suzanne:Â Â Oh, tell us about the foundation.
R.J.  So, it’s called the Roy Frank and Joann Cole Mitte foundation. We focus on elder care, education, disability services, youth development and aging in higher ed as well. We have a scholarship and grant program. Right now, we only have around 12 applicants on scholarship at the moment that we’re reviewing, but at any time we have 12 to 30 students, but right now, we restructured the grant program to focus on this community development build in Brownsville, Texas. So, that’s been the focus of the grants for the past four years. So, we’ve given money in donations to many charitable organizations, primarily focusing in Central and rural Texas. So, being in philanthropy and philanthropic endeavors are something that are a very big part of my life, and I was very happy to be able to link this movie to a charity, which is actually called United Cerebral Palsy nationally based out of Central Florida, and we actually gave points of this film to that organization. So, they’ll get money in perpetuity.
Suzanne:  Thatâs great. So, do you have any other acting projects coming out that you can tell us about?
R.J.  I do. I have another one called The Oak Room. It’s on VOD right now in the US; we just got released in the UK. It’s a Canadian film, but we haven’t released in Canada yet. So, we’ll be releasing Canada soon. And thatâs a story, in a story, in a story, in a story narrated by a story, and it’s a very unique film, and Iâm very excited to be a part of that. [Iâm] really focusing on getting Triumph out there. I’m just supporting that wholeheartedly. I have another film that I’m in the middle of production on – we got halted by the pandemic – called Issac. We’re gonna be coming back to that, possibly next month, but, really, we’ll see how that goes. You just never know. And then Iâm just looking for new projects, looking for other things. I work with the Film Commission in South Texas and am doing some stuff there. So, I’m doing a lot of community outreach and leadership.
Suzanne:Â Â You sound busy.
R.J.  I work every day.
Suzanne:Â Â Thatâs great. And who would be your role models in life?
R.J.  My grandparents were very big role models to me. One was a marine oil worker guy and the other one was a coach, businessman type mogul and was in a wheel chair, was fully paralyzed on this left side from a stroke in the early 90s and could only say, âShit, damn, and 123,â but very big role models, both of them to me, and my grandmothers as well. They taught me a lot, and I definitely still look up to them today.
Suzanne:Â Â What about your acting role models?
R.J.  I didn’t really have any acting role models. It wasn’t really something that I was pursuing when I started [in] this industry. There’re a lot of actors I respect very much, but I’m kind of one of those people that most of my role models are deceased, so they can’t let me down.
Suzanne:Â Â That’s true. That’s true. So, two of your co stars have played superheroes on The CW and your character mentioned superpowers in the movie. What is your favorite superhero?
R.J.  Oh, I’m a Batman guy. I’m a Batman-Joker guy. Yeah, I always thought he was a great character. Yeah, so, Batman, Green Lantern, the whole Justice League vibe, I enjoy that. Spawn. I donât know if you know Spawn.
Suzanne:Â Â Yeah, I’ve heard of it.
R.J.  Cool.
Suzanne:Â Â Yeah, I grew up with comics, but I don’t remember if Spawn might have been after my time, but I stopped reading in the early 80s.
R.J.  Late 90s. Yeah.
Suzanne:Â Â I heard of [it]. I think there was a movie, wasn’t there?
R.J.  Yes, there was a movie. It’s like, he’s kind of like a devil, but he’s like a good devil. But, yeah, I like super [heroes]. I’m a big fan of the the superhero franchises. So, yeah, I like comics. I used to read a bunch of comics.
Suzanne:Â Â Cool. And do you watch the ones on The CW? Were you familiar with your costarsâ work on those shows?
R.J.  I am. I am familiar with Arrow and some of the other CW stuff. I actually auditioned for a couple of superhero shows. Didn’t get the parts, but definitely was an honor to be able to audition for them. And yeah, I enjoy them.
Suzanne:Â Â And Johnathon played…Jonah Hex.
R.J.  Jonah Hex. Yeah, I really liked him as Jonah Hex.
Suzanne:Â Â And that comic I definitely read. I remember that. Heâs great in it.
R.J.  I’m a big western guy. I’m a big western guy. So, I loved Jonah Hex, and then, I thought he was great on The CW. Yeah, he’s such a character. Johnathon is such a wealth of knowledge and talent, and out of all the actors I worked with on Triumph, he was the one that I’m the closest to.
Suzanne: Â Â Cool. Well, he played your dad; that makes sense.
R.J.  Yeah, he was definitely a great father figure in them and was a tremendous individual to have on set. He definitely raised the vibration high.
Suzanne:Â Â Cool. Is there anything else that you’d like tell us about the movie or your role in it?
R.J.  Yeah, [Iâm] just very excited that it’s out; this was a labor of love. It’s based on real events. And, you know, people, the whole team, really cares about this project and believes in this project and in really pushing forward for it. So, we’re very excited to be able to share it with everyone, and I hope everyone enjoys [it].
Best known for his portrayal of Walter âFlynnâ White Jr. for five riveting seasons of AMCâs Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning dramatic thriller âBreaking Bad,â RJ Mitte is an actor, advocate and philanthropist who has carved out his niche in Hollywood by breaking down stereotypes and changing peopleâs mindsets with his easy going demeanor and positive outlook. As Walt Jr., referred to by fans as âThe Breakfast King,â Mitte acted as the cerebral palsy afflicted son of Walter (Bryan Cranston) and Skyler White (Anna Gunn). As Walter continues his descent into drug manufacturing and trade, Walt Jr. finds himself torn between his fatherâs deceit, his motherâs protectiveness, and his own developing sense of independence as a disabled teenager. Walter Jr.âs cerebral palsy on the show was embellished, as he had to learn how to walk on crutches and slur his speech to create a more dramatic version of his own disability.
At the age of three, Louisiana native Mitte was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, but that has never deterred his drive to succeed in television and film. A chance encounter with a casting director led to his move to Los Angeles and Mitte quickly landed roles on various shows such as âWeeds,â NBCâs âVegas,â âEverybody Hates Chrisâ and co-starred on ABC Familyâs primetime hit show âSwitched at Birth,â until being cast in his life-changing role on âBreaking Bad.â Mitte has since made his way to the big screen, starring in multiple indie films in the past few years, including DIXIELAND, starring in his first non-handicapped leading role and TIME SHARE, winner of Sundance Film Festivalâs World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting in 2018.
Never one to shy away from an opportunity to take his talents to new avenues, RJ was thrust into the global spotlight as the celebrity face and model of GAP Internationalâs âLived in Springâ campaign; with his image appearing on mediums such as billboards, buses, and life-sized posters in cities across the world from Tokyo to the US,. He has since cemented himself as a face to know in the fashion world after walking in Menâs Fashion Week in Milan, Berlin and New York City for Vivienne Westwood, soPopular and Ovadia & Sons. Heâs also a member of Kenneth Coleâs âCourageous Class;â for talent recognized for using their platform for advocacy and creating social change.
Throughout the years, Mitte has been an inspiration to his peers around the world by championing his cerebral palsy in hopes of removing the stigma associated with disabilities. In order to bring awareness to his own issues with bullying and prejudice, Mitte has engaged in public speaking and serves as the official Ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and partners with Shriners Hospitals for Children to spearhead their #CutTheBull campaign to advocate on anti-bullying measures. Heâs also involved with SAG-AFTRA as a committee member of the union’s IAPWD (I Am a Performer With Disabilities).
Inspired By Screenwriter Michael D. Coffeyâs True Story
Inspired by a true story, a bright and determined high school senior strives to be a wrestler despite having cerebral palsy. Going to extreme lengths, he crushes obstacles and inspires others along his journey to prove his abilities.
Interview with Wrenn Schmidt & Krys Marshall of “For All Mankind” on Apple+ by Suzanne 3/3/21
It was nice to chat with 4 of the actresses from the show. There are two here and then two others in a separate interview for 10 minutes each and It was so much fun. It’s a huge cast in this good scifi show. They were very gracious.
Suzanne: Could you tell us what’s new for both of your characters this season? Whatever you’re allowed to say?
Wrenn: Well, Margo is the boss. In season one, Margo made a prediction that she would be running NASA in ten years, and the only thing she got wrong was the timeline. She got there sooner than ten years. So, that’s something that’s new. Margo, because of that, she’s got a massive office. So, instead of being stuck in a closet, where she’s got like – I mean, it almost looks like just all camping gear and engineered fixes, you know, she’s got a closet full of clothes and little hiding places for books that she reads when everyone else has left and a massive desk. She’s been been around for a while. So, that’s all different, and now, Margot has people come to her for things instead of her needing to go to them. So, yeah, it’s a very different world from season one.
Suzanne: Krys?
Krys: For Danielle, I think, at the end of season one, we see that she’s really dedicated herself to her work. She’s made this enormous sacrifice to protect Gordo (Michael Dorman) and his reputation. We also see that her marriage to Clayton (Edwin Hodge) is really hanging on by a thread, because he’s in such disarray after returning home from Vietnam. So, we kind of leave Danielle in peril; we don’t know where we’ll find her.
At the top of season two, we see what the end result is of what happens when you just give and give and give of yourself, and eventually you have nothing left to give. Emotionally, she’s in a pretty kind of low place. I think she’s pretty exhausted. We see that Clayton is no longer with us, and so having had all these losses has created a revival in Danielle. She realizes, you know, âI want to go back to Jamestown. I want to not just be an astronaut in name only, but I want to suit up. I want to put my helmet on. I want to see the sunrise over the Earth’s crest, and I want to get back at it again.â So, we start to see the little inklings of a renewed and reborn Danielle.
Suzanne: So, I noticed something. I interviewed Jodi (Balfour) and Sonya (Walger) a little while earlier. Did they try to make a concerted effort to make all of you look a little plain? Because you’re all much prettier in real life than on the show.
Krys: That’s very sweet. Suzanne, thank you.
Suzanne: It’s true, though.
Wrenn: I think, though, what’s interesting about that observation, is that it takes all of us, I think, one to two hours to get ready to bring us in that direction…
Krys: To look that plain.
Wrenn: …And like one two hours to look like this…It goes both directions.
Krys: Well, I was just gonna say too that, you know, Wrenn mentioned this in an earlier conversation, but especially with Margo and Danielle, these are people who are putting their intellect and that foot first. So, often, and as an actor, you’re judged on the way that you look and the appearance that you present, whereas these women are scientists and engineers. So, I love that, yes, Dani is a bit plain and Margo is a bit plain, but that’s because it’s not a fashion show. These women are looking to be taken seriously, and, ultimately, women are judged by the way that they look even in a bureaucratic environment. If Dani were to show up to the office, and – because we thought about that, like, this is 1983, and I came here with ideas of Whitney Houston, âI Want to Dance with Somebodyâ hair. I was like, âLet’s do it,â and they’re like, âHold on, hold on, hold on. This is a woman who has an incredible acumen for science and technology. Let’s just take it a beat and also remind ourselves that this is in Houston. This is not in New York City or in Paris or some enormous fashion capital.â So, our costume designer, Jill Ohanneson, used the Sears Roebuck catalog as the baseline for Dani’s looks, because that’s where Dani can afford to shop, and she wants to look nice. She wants to look presentable. So, yeah, thank you for saying we look nice.
Suzanne: There are some interviews and videos where it seems like they just wear sweat pants and [unintelligible], males, especially.
What was the most fun thing – this is for either or both of you – that you’ve done on the show?
Wrenn: It’s too hard to choose. That’s like a nightmare of a question, because there are so many things…
Suzanne: Sorry.
Wrenn: âŠNo, no, I mean, Iâm just gonna start like reeling off things, and Krys, I’m going to leave it to you to stop me and be like, âCut. Scene.â
I really loved working with Colm Feore in the first season. The whole relationship between Margo and von Braun was so much fun. I mean, it’s a true gift. When you pick up a script – like that was in our sixth episode that season, where it was almost like filming a play in some ways, which is when Margot goes to von Braun’s house.
I also really, really loved trying to figure out how to fake play the piano. So, it was really rewarding after spending so much time doing that to actually do it, and to have Sonya, who I just met, be like, âYouâre pretending?â and me just being like, âOh my God, [itâs] working.â
I also really loved filming scenes with Sonya as well; she was just incredible, especially [in] that one little scene between Molly and Margo, when they’re doing the training stuff.
Then, I just really love working with our writers and our whole crew. I mean, that’s something that’s a big bummer about COVID. It’s not just that we as a cast have to keep our distance, it’s that the crew, we’re actually all separated into different pods. I’m so used to like, jabbering with the crew on the side. I’m so used to being like, âHey, how are you?â and to just feel like, it’s like, âHey…â That’s a little sad.
Then, as far as Season Two goes, I just I love getting to play with who Margo is when she’s not at work being watched by other people. I just find that to be the most fun, fascinating, like creative ocean to dive into. Yeah, I maybe get a little carried away with that, but it’s so much fun. I’m gonna cut myself [off].
Krys: Yeah, I mean, all of it is really fun. I will say, learning The Bob Newhart Show by heart was really fun. Michael and Joel [Kinnaman] – I mean, I kind of feel like I should have shot those scenes wearing an astronaut diaper, because I laughed so hard that I had a little bit of pee in my pants. I mean, they’re just so much fun to be around. So, Meera Menon, our director for the âHi, Bobâ episode, really just let us open it up, let us play, let us improvise, let us just have fun together. So, I think what translates on screen is a connection with Gordo, Dani and Ed, and in real life, there was just a true connection between myself, Joel, and Michael, and just being able to horse around. There are so many aspects of this job that I love, but I think getting to reunite with those guys, is always really, really delicious fun stuff to do.
Suzanne: When they do the scenes that are on the moon, and like at the beginning of the second season, they’re bouncing around trying to get back when they have the solar flares, how is that done? Is that done completely CGI? How do they do that?
Krys: Suzanne! I can’t tell you how the magic is made. Are you kidding me? Come on.
Suzanne: A little bit, a little bit.
Krys: …So, here’s the rub about wearing the spacesuit. The spacesuit is about 65 pounds with the helmet and the boots and the full – it’s extraordinarily heavy. The joy of it is that if you were in space, you’d be weightless. So, it’d be [nice] for you, but we’re not; we’re here on Earth. It’s about half my body weight, so it’s it’s pretty taxing. So, some of the work is done on wires. Some of the work is actually just us moving in kind of an undulating way thatâs slowed down a little bit to make it seem like we’re moving [in] space. But yeah, the suits are incredibly hot to wear, so they have to constantly lift the visor to blot you, because you’re just pouring sweat as you play those bits. But yeah, our visual effects team is incredible at making – Like there’s a bit in the âHi, Bobâ episode where I drop the ant farm. I mean, that’s all on liars, and it looks like it’s just me dropping an ant farm, and in actuality, I’m hitched to wires as I slowly slow speed fall over to grab this falling ant farm. So, all movie magic.
Suzanne: I can see why you wouldn’t count this. The parts of the spacesuit as being the most fun though.
âFor All Mankindâ explores what would have happened if the global space race had
never ended. The series presents an aspirational world where NASA astronauts, engineers and their families find themselves in the center of extraordinary events seen through the prism of an alternate history timeline â a world in which the USSR beats the US to the moon.
Season two of the space drama picks up a decade later in 1983. Itâs the height of the Cold War and tensions between the United States and the USSR are at their peak. Ronald Reagan is President and the greater ambitions of science and space exploration are at threat of being squandered as the US and Soviets go head to head to control sites rich in resources on the moon. The Department of Defense has moved into Mission Control, and the militarization of NASA becomes central to several characters’ stories: some fight it, some use it as an opportunity to advance their own interests, and some find themselves at the height of a conflict that may lead to nuclear war. New stars set to join Joel Kinnaman, Michael Dorman, Sarah Jones, Shantel VanSanten, Wrenn Schmidt, Jodi Balfour, Krys Marshall and Sonya Walger in the second season include Cynthy Wu, Coral Peña and Casey W. Johnson.
âFor All Mankindâ is created by Golden Globe-nominee and Emmy Award-winner Ronald D. Moore, and Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominees Ben Nedivi & Matt Wolpert. Moore, Nedivi and Wolpert executive produce alongside Golden Globe Award nominee Maril Davis of Tall Ship Productions and Nichole Beattie, David Weddle and Bradley Thompson. âFor All Mankindâ is produced by Sony Pictures Television.
The ten episode second season will debut globally on Friday, February 19, 2021, followed by one new episode weekly, every Friday, exclusively on Apple TV+.
Interview with Rico Torres of “Ballers” on HBO and “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” on Showtime by Suzanne 8/3/20
This was a fun interview. Rico has a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and we got along very well. I think he’ll have big success in the future. If he doesn’t, it sure won’t be for lack of trying.
Suzanne: I’m sorry to hear that you were bullied in high school. I was bullied in elementary and junior high, so I know how you feel.
Rico: Yeah, it was junior high; it was middle school and high school. I mean, that is the toughest time for any kid. You think the world is going to end. You think itâs literally – like, yeah, it’s insane. Because now after, you know, you graduated, none of that matters. None of that matters, right? I went through this entire journey and I never, never told anybody. You know, I never told my parents; I never told my brothers. I remember coming home one day actually, I think this was like in eighth or ninth grade, my black eye, my face was just tore up. And I told my parents, you know, I ran into a door. I remember that so vividly. And I actually got beat up. And yeah, I mean, you know, my middle and high school, I was bullied, because I had asthma, because I had anorexia. And what made matters worse, was, I guess, I was born – I hate saying this, because I hate being cocky and stuff, but I’m not I’m not ugly. You know?
So, I guess a lot of girls were attracted to me, and that just made matters worse, because a lot of guys would get mad, so mad, because I had all these different things. You already know. One thing led to another, and it was just so awful. And for so many years, I fell into such a like depressive, anxious – it was for years years, and I kind of I guess I played video games to get my mind off of things. And I tell the story all the time. I remember only eating like one or two (meal tickets?) a day. And I guess I wasn’t even aware that I even had anorexia, because I was getting bullied. You know what I mean? (Unintelligible), my dad was never home, this and that, this thing will kill somebody. Itâs going to make somebody commit suicide.
But it wasn’t until, you know, one day I remember, I literally just stared at myself in the mirror for like an hour. And I literally said – because after, you know, countless meetings with the doctor and I was like, âYo, problem, man,â and I never took any of the medications, and then my mom would try to feed me more, but I said âno,â and I just simply wasn’t aware of it. When Iâd stare at myself in the mirror, and I said, âYo, problem,â that’s when everything changed. I’m like, Iâve been bullied, I keep denying the help from my parents, the doctors. That was the solution to everything, admitting to myself that I have a problem. And after that, I mean, then I reached out for help. Iâm was like, âMom, please send me anything,â whatever. And then my brother I get from the time I was working out, I’m like, âPlease show me anything. I can’t I can’t keep this up.â And then one thing led to another, and then I gained confidence from working out, from eating, and the rest is history. I broke out of that. I broke out of that.
Suzanne: Yeah, that’s tough. And I think boys can be bullied a lot worse than girls. I mean, girls can be bullied for sure, and girls are mean and catty and all that, but the physical stuff i think is more of a boys thing. You know, it’s much worse.
Rico: Agreed. Itâs horrible.
Suzanne: Yeah, I lucked out, because I went from sort of a ghetto school in middle school, or junior high, they called it back there, to a nice – I was in a foster home, so I got into a nice foster home in a really nice area where the kids didn’t do stuff like that. So, I was lucky. I was still a total geek, and they probably talked about me behind my back, but nobody punched me or beat me up or anything, but I know how you feel, up to a certain extent, obviously. But you turned your life around. That’s good that you were able to do that. It was good that you were able to turn your life around like that.
Rico: Oh, yeah. Oh, man, to be honest with you, as weâre talking about all this, and as I, you know, sit here and think about everything that’s happened in my life, I don’t regret anything. I sit here and I’m smiling; Iâm telling you Iâm not even lying, because all that really shaped me to who I am today. I mean, I don’t know if you read it, but I went to school, I went to college for pre med. I was following this doctor route kind of like for years and years and years. And I crossed off all these items off the checklist, you know, like (unintelligible), medical missions trips, shadowing doctors, this and that, and I mean, next thing you know, I don’t know, like senior year of college, I just know I broke out again, just continuously breaking out of like this paradigm that we’re all raised to believe in. And because, for years, I followed that, and then I guess I got into modeling, because Iâm like, I can make money off of this; everybody always told me.
I got into that, you know, and one thing led to another. A modeling agent, I guess, who was also part talent agent, got me an audition. I’m like, âWhat is that?â And I went to it, and I did awful. But then I guess I got a callback and I’m like, âWhat is that?â Iâm like, Iâve got take this seriously. They gave me the numbers. They’re like, âIf you get this, this is a lead role for a feature film. If you get this, you know, you get $900 a day for 15 days,â and I’m like, âThatâs $15,000 in two weeks? That’s crazy.â Yeah.
So, then I actually tried really hard. I got into the room with two producers. And, I mean, long story short, I didn’t get it, but, I mean, for the Cruises (?) to literally say, âI love your style,â that’s crazy. And they kind of opened my eyes to the whole new world. And I’m like, medicine, I donât even like it. I was going with traditional medicine, and Iâm into holistics. I hate the whole traditional medicine, because the pharmaceutical industry is killing the entire world. I mean, the US, because that’s the most profitable industry in the US. So, I mean, I was just following, I don’t know, itâs crazy. I don’t know how to explain it.
Suzanne: No, it makes sense. It totally makes sense now, how you went from being wanting to be a doctor to be an actor. At first, I thought, how did that happen? But no, the way you explained it makes perfect sense. You didn’t really have your heart in the doctor thing, and then you started the modeling, and then that led to the acting, and now that makes a lot of sense.
Rico: And then the app thing led to just like, entrepreneurial ventures. And then next thing, you know, my book is being published September 1st, because I actually love writing. Who would have thought? Like if I’d never broke out of that, you know, pre med just doctor doctor doctor doctor, Iâd have never found out what I actually truly like to do and what I’m actually truly talented talented in. Oh, that’s crazy.
Suzanne: Well, I didn’t know that you can write. What was the book that you wrote?
Rico: Oh yeah, it’s about “Know your norms.” So, basically, I mean, it just talks about social norms. It talks about it from from the moment you’re born, to the moment you kind of die. So, itâs like all that in between, and it starts from the very beginning. I incorporate some of my personal life experiences in there, because I believe that storytelling changes the world. So, I incorporate some of my own stories, you know, the anorexia – I was I was born into the color blue, because I’m a boy. Like, girls are born to the color pink. Girls are given toys; boys are given guns and cars. You know what I mean? Since are born, we are being tricked. And it’s that paradigm that I’m talking about. We’re being tricked into just following these rules made by society. And that’s why like 1% of the world are quote, unquote, aware of all of this and like 99% aren’t, and they simply just follow that entire, you know, playbook that’s given them for their entire life, and they don’t realize or find out about, you know, anything else in the world. So, I mean, I’m so excited about this book that I made. It truly came from the heart. I love it. I was like, this is crazy. Hopefully, it opens up so many other people’s eyes and minds like it did to me. I mean, I just try to make people aware.
Suzanne: Can we buy that on Amazon? Is it on there?
Rico: Absolutely. We publish a lot of places. Because this is my first book. I’m so publishing everywhere. Hopefully, you know, my second or third book, which I’m actually already working on my second book, hopefully, you know, when my second or third book, I actually, you know, get a literary agent and the traditional publishing and etc, etc. I’m used to the whole game. So, I was looking at it like, oh –
Suzanne: Well, it sounds it sounds really good. You know, I agree with what you’re saying, because, obviously, we all know, to a certain extent, that the whole thing about school is not just there to inform you, it’s there to mold you to be a good citizen. And your parents try to do the same thing. But one thing I’ve always thought is that people don’t plan their lives they do like you said, whatever their parents tell them, the schools tell them, and we’re all told, you must get a good job. You must go to college, you must get married, you must have kids, all that stuff, and few people question it. And then, if something terrible happens, like a divorce, they’re completely thrown, because they never considered it. And we put all this thought and money into the wedding, but nobody really talks about the marriage or whether you should have kids and all that stuff. So yeah, I totally see what you’re saying. I’ve always thought that.
Rico: And then like exactly what you’re saying, then if you go even more in depth, it’s literally just years and years and years of your life just wasted, just trying to follow your parentsâ expectations or society’s expectations. And then youâre trapped, and then you become unhappy and it’s like no, do what you love, and thatâs it.
Suzanne: And it causes things like anorexia, with society always telling us we have to be skinny to be beautiful.
Rico: Oh, yeah. There’s so many. Oh, and I feel so strongly about mental health, especially because of social media. I hate it. Oh, man. Oh, man, living here in LA. I’ve only lived here like, a little under two years. I’ve already been exposed to all of the type of people that are just crazy about their image. And Iâm like, âWhat are you doing.â And then what they do when they post all this other stuff on Instagram and whatnot, they’re just, you know, the average person or the average Joe, the normal person who really doesn’t get exposed to all this you know, in LA or Hollywood, Atlanta (?) or whatnot. They see that and then they believe that to be true; they believe that that’s what you need to be successful. They believe that you need to look a certain way. And they just use square[screw?] everybodys lined up, man.
Suzanne: Right. That’s true. Yeah, my sister-in-law and her husband are from LA and they lived there a while, and it was all about you have to you have to put up – and she wasn’t even an actress for very long. But you have to put on this show for people you have to always look perfect, and you have to be seen, and I was like, âWhat?â I thought it was crazy. So, I know what you’re saying. And then everybody there is just pressured to do that, and, you know, it’s crazy.
Rico: Yeah, and while Iâm still, you know, honestly, why I’m still here and why I’m still, you know, striving to do all these things in TV and film, and I guess, in the realm of Hollywood is because well, first of all, I needed a break. Somebody in your family has to break out. Somebody has to break out of that, you know, generational norm because, you know, you need to build that generational wealth and my entire family’s core, and core as in financially and core, you know, inside…I was going to say, itâs kind of like how Tupacâs dead – you know who Tupac is, right? Tupac Shakur. Yeah, I don’t know, I just love his message. I love everything that he’s ever – aside from that whole gang stuff, gang related stuff, I don’t approve of that. But like, I love hearing people’s misfortunes, but to have Tupac, and how he broke out of that, and how he’s so intellectual and he just wanted to inspire and spark someone’s brain to kind of do exactly, not exactly the same, but, you get what I’m saying right? I canât explain it right.
Suzanne: Yeah. No, itâs all right; I understand. So, were you in drama at all in high school or you didn’t do anything like that?
Rico: Absolutely not. Thatâs why I love it, there is no there are no rules. I’m not big. I’m not an A-List or anything like that, but in under two years, I’ve already been, you know, featured in some of these big productions. I may not have had a leading role or anything like that, but I still landed something in these huge productions. And I’m still getting massive auditions, getting all this recognition and stuff. I’ve never taken an acting class in my life. So, like people go through all this schooling and stuff, and all I mean, there are no rules. You set your own rules.
Suzanne: Well, I wasnât thinking so much training. It’s just it’s a lot of fun in high school. I did drama in high school.
Rico: Yeah, I’ve heard I’ve heard Yeah, yeah, I missed out on that. Iâve heard itâs a lot of fun.
Suzanne: It is a lot of fun.
Rico: Like the improv side of stuff, yeah, I would have loved to do all that.
Suzanne: So, you’ve never done any stage plays or anything like that, just TV and movies?
Rico: Yep.
Suzanne: Oh, cool. Well, you might one day, right? You might do a play or something.
Rico: Anything is possible; I might do everything. Absolutely. I’m actually taking vocal classes. So, Iâm bilingual; Iâm Colombian, and I really like Latin music. So, I’m trying to get into that.
Suzanne: Cool.
Rico: Not into the industry; I hate the industry. Well, like you said, for fun.
Suzanne: For fun, yeah, right. And, you know, since you’re smart and you like to write, you might, who knows, you might write a play one day or a screenplay.
Rico: Oh, I already wrote one.
Suzanne: Oh, good. I figured, right?
Rico: Â I wrote a screenplay for a trilogy. I don’t know how to get that to distribution. I don’t know how to get that to the right eyes. I donât know anything. I’m kind of like learning as I go. But yeah, it was amazing. I would love to see that actually come to fruition. Kind of like âRocky,â kind of like Sylvester Stallone, how he wrote âRocky,â that’s kind of like what I’m trying to do with my screenplay.
Suzanne: Cool. So what would you say is your biggest role so far?
Rico: I would say the one from âBallers,â but I just –
Suzanne:Â Sorry, is that a tough question?
Rico: Yeah, it is, because it was such a small role. So it’s like, ah, it sucks.
Suzanne: Thatâs all right. That’s okay. That’s fine. That’s an honest answer.
Rico: I mean, Iâve only been at this for a year and a half. I want a lot more than just, you know, two or three scenes.
Suzanne: Yeah, well, you just gotta give it time. You’ll you’ll get there. It’s good that you’re proud of what you’ve done so far. That’s good. I think a lot of people fail because of lack of confidence, so that’s good.
Rico: Yeah, exactly. I’m not afraid to take on you know, under five roles. I’m not even afraid to be an extra. I did that, you know, all first coming out here. I did extra, extra, extra, extra extra. A lot of people don’t care about that, but like, no, I mean, Tiffani Haddish was an extra. I mean, Sylvester Stallone was an extra. I mean, they did a lot of extra stuff.
Suzanne: Yeah, that’s how they get started.
The IMDb says that you’re in a film called âLA Rush.â Do you know when when that’ll come out?
Rico: Who knows. I did that in the very beginning. Itâs already been like a year and a half, two years. I don’t know why that’s still in production.
Suzanne: Well, maybe the pandemic affected it.
Rico: This Covid, man, it takes me so many of my projects that Iâm hopefully going to be in.
Suzanne: Yeah, we’re all in the same boat on that, I think, especially people who have projects going in Hollywood.
Do you have anything else that you were working on before the pandemic hit, like shows or auditions or whatever?
Rico:Â Oh, a bunch of them. I had like, three or four and then like a bunch of auditions and stuff, but everything is just being delayed. I mean, series, pilots, like this and that. I don’t know if they don’t even want me anymore. It’s crazy. I don’t know. I don’t know anything. I understand; I understand.
Suzanne: Ask your agent about the soap operas, because they’re all going back in production now. They’re they started before any of the other shows.
Rico: Soap Operas?
Suzanne: Yeah, daytime soaps.
Rico: My agent sucks. I donât ever go out for anything in Spanish. Iâm kidding. Iâm learning; Iâm going. I’ve been through, in a matter of a year and a half, I’ve been through like three managers, three agents, this and that. And it’s like, and it’s not because of me. It’s not because of me because, you know, I’m just trying to get work. I’m like, âHey, you know, anything that you need, let me know. I’ll go on five auditions every single day. Let’s go.â You know what I mean?
Some of them don’t get back to me. And I’m like, come on. Like, really? I’m just trying to work. I’m trying to make you money.
Suzanne: Yeah. I don’t know how some people get their jobs.
Rico: So, I mean, yeah, I’m just taking it slow. You know, something will come up. I mean, with that, with commercials, with modeling, I have so many things, so many routes, so many seeds planted. It’s like, one of them’s going to blow up, you know?
Suzanne: So, what have you been working on for the past four months besides writing? Anything else? I’m sure you must.
Rico: Yeah, I love to write. I have a couple businesses. I’m developing an app, but that’s going to take some time.
Iâm in the process of creating actually a men’s cosmetics line. Again, that’s going to take several months so, what else? Yeah, Iâd have to look at all my stuff, but a lot of stuff. I mean, everything is especially like, pending, like how can I even talk about it.
Suzanne: What we’ve been doing just to relax or have fun?
Rico: I just work every day. No, I go to the gym every day, take my mind off of things. I meditate, you know, 30 minutes before I go to sleep and 30 minutes after I wake up, to keep my mind sane from all this stuff, especially because I came out here alone. I left everybody and everything over there in Florida. So, I’ve been at this alone, and sometimes it gets to me, and then especially when you’re single. I just feel like everybody here has the worst intentions possible, and it kind of messes with you mentally. I keep myself sane by working out, and – oOh sorry go ahead.
Suzanne: I was just going to say, you got therapy before to help you with the depression, anxiety and anorexia, did they also teach you how to eat right and all that kind of thing?
Rico: I did not follow. I’ve always had a problem of following directions in order. I don’t know why, I mean, I don’t want to some stubborn, but I just learned things on my own. I mean, asked for help, but on my own terms. I don’t know. It’s so weird. Itâs so weird, do I sound bad saying all this?
Suzanne: No, no, no. You have your opinions and you have confidence. That’s good.
Rico: Yeah. So, I mean, for example, like, you know, like doctors were telling me this. I mean, it’s because I’ve been diagnosed incorrectly. And then I hear stories of other people being diagnosed incorrectly and given wrong medications, and this, this, and that, and how corrupt everything and everyone is. And it’s like, oh my God, so, I do my own research. But the doctor tells me I have this, this, and that, and then I started doing my own research. I started looking at peer reviewed articles, I start looking at studies, I [would] actually go get the exams, expensive exams, to make sure if what they’re saying is true, and more than likely, it’s not. I mean, I’ve been through – I was (unintelligible) accident, you know, in 2015, and I had to have jaw surgery. Yeah, my whole mouth split open. He was just, I mean, I don’t even know how my life today. But yeah, I actually had jaw surgery. And my surgeon, I mean, he did a great job. You know, he put it back together, but he put it back together incorrectly. What else can go wrong? Right?
I mean, I just find this out what, three, four years later, and I have not stopped looking at myself in the mirror, you know, every single day, every single morning I look at myself and I see the bottom jaw is just all crooked. And I mean, yeah, I’m a confident human being, but it’s like, I look at that every day, you know, and then I have problems with my nose, and itâs because of that. So, I mean, I have to go to a doctor, like many, many, many doctors, and try to figure out what the heck is wrong with me. You know, if it’s neurological or if there’s a nerve damage. And what about my jaw? You know, because it’s diameters off, and how do I correct that with all surgery, because surgery will just ruin you even more. Sorry, I’m ranting.
Suzanne: No, no, it’s fine.
Rico: I don’t even know what the point of me saying that was.
Suzanne: Well, you know, you made me forget now what I asked you, but that’s okay.
Do you have any advice for kids who are bullied or for kids who want to become actors?
Rico: So for the bully ones, you got to ask for help. I mean, if you’re being bullied, my advice would be to actually just sit down. I feel like people, kids, get away from your parents for a little bit, or your friends or whatever, just be alone for a little bit and actually just think about stuff, just think about what you’re doing, who you are, what’s happening around you, the bullying and all that. Because people are always with somebody, always with parents, so there’s always an opinion. There’s always a âI’m so scared to tell them I’m being bullied or whatnot.â But when you go by yourself – I’ve been by myself a lot. Thatâs how I’m aware of so many things. When you’re by yourself you think; you get into your thoughts a lot. The problem with that is you can’t be by yourself for too long, because thatâs when you go crazy, right? That’s when somebody who’s not, you know, strong willed, strong minded, they’ll fall into a very bad, very bad state of mind. But take a week or two weeks or whatever, and actually just be by yourself. Go to the library by yourself and just think about what’s going on, and then and then admit it. You know, a lot of people don’t admit it. That’s the problem with America. You know, a lot of parents. They say to their kids, âYou’re not fat; you’re big boned.â No, you’re fat. I’m sorry. I like the tough love. No, it’s true. Because that kid, their entire childhood is going to just go through their life thinking they’re just big boned. Right? And if they admit to themselves that they’re fat or overweight, that they’re obese, then you can do something about it, the first step in anything and any solution is admitting. Become aware that there’s a problem. Make or work towards finding a solution. But, yeah, to that I say, take some time to be alone, away from everybody and everything in all of societyâs pressures and restrictions, and this, this, and that.
And then for the acting thing, I would never recommend a child to do this. It’s crazy. And I say that, because at least my children arenât going to do it. I mean, at least until they’re 18, then they can do whatever they want. You know what I mean? Because, I mean, there’s a bunch of child actors that become – yeah. And the reason for that, I believe at least, is because they don’t go through, you know, a normal life. So, at like 12 or 14 or whatever, when they instantly become famous, when they instantly get access to all this money, they can get whatever they want. When they instantly get all this fame, you’re in the public eye. You canât do anything, you know what I mean? You canât do anything, and then like you’re out; you’re just trying to play basketball, right? And you know, you have all these pop rocks in here, whatnot. And youâre like, I can’t even have fun. So, you don’t even get the opportunity to live your life.
Suzanne: Yeah, I think it really depends on the parents they have, how normal they are, and also, the kid itself, you know, how they view what they’re doing? Yeah. Because I know some actors, they started age five, and then they go on to have a successful career, and they’re normal, but they probably had normal parents. I mean, by normal, you know, the parents supported them and let them make the decision about whether they wanted to do it and that kind of stuff. But the ones who have stage moms or whatever, itâs not so good.
Rico: Yeah, and that’s the thing though. If you’re a successful actor, celebrity, whatever, you have kids.
I mean, honestly, it all falls on the parents, because if you think we’re all right, and it’s kind of like what we were saying earlier, teach them. Teach them that a lot of the things in Hollywood are just fake. Teach them that a lot of that stuff does not matter. It’s meaningless. It’s just, a way of creating art, but then a lot of the things that follow that are just a lot of fakeness and this, this and that. And then, you know, if you teach them a certain way, and the reality, then you kind of teach them the normality and the enjoyment of life, of the little things. And teach them it’s about nature and trees and this isn’t that. I mean, I know that’s kind of like weird I even just – like, what are you talking about? But it will all make sense for the kid.
Suzanne: Yeah, they have to have a normal childhood, whether they’re acting or not.
Rico: Exactly. But, I mean, yeah, if somebody wanted to follow the acting route or whatever at whatever age, my advice is to not listen to anybody. Because I’ve only been at this a year and a half, or two years, and before my career even started – you know how I told you I was with like three managers, or three agents or whatever, how many times each and every single one of them have told me, âI’m going to end your career before it even starts. You donât know how small the town is. You’re never going to get a job ever again.â Iâm like, âOkay, wow, thanks for being so nice. I hope you have a better day.â I mean, no wonder. If you have a weak mind, you’re going to get destroyed in this industry. You’re going to get eaten alive. Itâs crazy how all these people threaten you.
Suzanne: That’s sad. Well, I’m glad you were able to get past that and rise above those people.
Rico: Yeah, Iâm still getting through it. Thereâre still millions of rejections and millions of people trying to threaten me. Whatever.
Suzanne: Yeah, no I understand. well I hope I hope that you can get into some – the I know a lot of the auditions now are through self tapes. So, hopefully you can do some of that. That would be good, instead of having to wait for the pandemic to be over.
Rico: Yeah, yep.
Suzanne: Yeah, well, I think the whole industry is waiting to see – whether they know it or not, they’re waiting to see what happens with the daytime soaps, because they’re the first ones to start back, and they’re utilizing all these different ways, between camera tricks, ways to be safe, and all those different things. So, if they can do it, then the rest of, you know, TV and movies can follow, hopefully.
Rico: Yeah. Iâm so excited to get back to work. Itâs so much fun creating art.
Suzanne: Well, I really appreciate you talking to me.
Rico: Oh, absolutely. I appreciate you talking to me.
Suzanne: And thanks for checking out my website. And we’re moving our site to TVMEG.COM, and we’ve already moved a lot over there. So, check it out. That’s where your interview will be.
Young Hollywood’s newest Latin-American heartthrob Rico Torres, recognized for his latest roles on Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” and HBO’s “Ballers,” in addition to countless international fashion campaigns. From a shy teen diagnosed with anorexia to becoming a hotly-tipped face to watch in Hollywood, Rico hopes to share his remarkable story to inspire other young people to reach for their dreams.
The Columbian actor was born in Florida after his parents immigrated to America while his mother was still pregnant with him. He graduated pre-med from Columbia University, but instead of attending medical school he sacrificed and risked everything to follow his dreams and moved to Los Angeles from Tampa with only $500 in his pocket to pursue Hollywood greatness. After only a year and a half of putting in sweat and tears in L.A., Rico is available to share his remarkable story of chasing and fulfilling his American dream.
When Rico isn’t in front of the camera, he enjoys staying fit and eating healthy. However, at a young age Rico suffered from anorexia. This caused him to be severely bullied as a teenager which led to anxiety and depression. Rico’s parents also divorced while he was in high school, and he lived with his mother who was working two full-time entry jobs to make ends meet. Rico then took on the of working and taking care of his family. All his past experiences (good or bad) have caused him to have a very special outlook on life and he takes nothing for granted. Rico sees them as beautiful and inspiring moments in his life that have shaped him into who he is today.
With over 100k followers on Instagram along with soon to be announced acting projects on the horizon, we would love to arrange an interview with you and Rico to discuss his meteoric Hollywood rise, fitness & nutrition tips, and inspiring story to teens and young people everywhere.
Interview with Aidan Pierce Brennan of “NOS4A2” on AMC by Suzanne 7/30/20
This was a fun interview. He seems like a very nice, normal young man. He’s got an excellent start to his career. He does an amazing job on NOS4A2. Don’t miss his episode this week, Sunday, 8/2 on AMC where he’ll play a young Charlie Manx! Adult Charlie is played by Zachary Quinto, who’s the villain of the show. We finally see his backstory.
Here is the audio version of the interview. The transcript below is edited quite a lot for clarity.
Aidan: Hi, how are you?
Suzanne: Okay, how are you, Aidan?
Aidan: I’m good. I’m good.
Suzanne: Good. So, before you were doing TV and movies, did you do any acting?
Aidan: As in theater?
Suzanne: Yes.
Aidan: I actually… I’ve never done theater, and I think that’s because I never.. I never really had that type of.. I think it really takes a lot of pure confidence to get up on that stage and project, and I don’t.. I don’t.. I never really.. I never really could do that, and I really could..no. I am not super theatrical. Which is not to say that it’s something I’ll never do because it’s something I’m definitely interested in, but I don’t think, I don’t think I have ever had that, the confidence to go up there and do that.
Suzanne: Oh. Well, I hope you’ll do it sometime because it sure is a lot of fun.
Aidan: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I love.. I love growing.
Suzanne: Yeah.
Aidan: I live right outside of the city. So, hopefully when social distancing ends, and, you know…
Suzanne: Right.
Aidan: …Out of quarantine, I’ll get to see some more plays ’cause I really like some of them.
Suzanne: Sure. And what did your parents think about your wanting to be an actor?
Aidan: Well, my mom, when she was growing up, I think she did some commercials. I think some modeling. And the movie that actually inspired me to start acting was “Stand By Me.” It’s one of my favorite movies, and River Phoenix’ performance in that, I think, really just… I mean, I watched that with my dad and, and my mom, my entire family… we watched it together and I was really blown away. I kept saying to the natural roots I.. his performance in that, how someone could create a character like this, and I just– I was raving about his performance. I was really impressed by how someone could do this, and I was telling them, I got to do this. I have to try to get into acting. I have to pursue this, and we went to this place and I said..
Suzanne: Oh, cool. So they’ve been pretty supportive the whole time.
Aidan: Absolutely. Oh, absolutely… especially my mom.
Suzanne: Great! What was the audition process like for “NOS4A2”?
Aidan:, I believe it was.. I feel like.. it was a while ago.. It was over a year ago. No, a little less than a year ago, I would say. So, I think it was just one audition, and it was in the city, I think. Yeah, and then I heard a few days later. They put me on hold for a minute and then a couple days later I found out that I got the role. It was pretty exciting because the same day, the same call with my manager, he said that I also booked another role at the very same time.
Suzanne: Oh, great.
Aidan: So, that was.. that was pretty fun. And yeah [laughs].
Suzanne: And had you watched “NOS4A2” before that or.. or uh.. anything?
Aidan: No, but I’d heard of that. I’d heard about the book, and then I heard people start talking about the show a lot — recently, before my audition.
Suzanne: Cool.
Aidan: So when I.. when I saw that I was auditioning for “NOS4A2″… I’d heard.. I’d heard it before.
Suzanne: All right, and was it fun to film that?
Aidan: Definitely. Definitely. Charlie Manx is such a fun character to play, especially since I had a lot of freedom because I was supposed to be playing this character that really wasn’t that Charlie Manx everyone knows… I mean, this character has a lot more innocence to him and a lot more.. and I guess a lot less.. uh, menacing and grim.I had a lot of freedom in the sense that like this character is nothing like Charlie Manx and filming that was a lot of fun. The entire environment was very, much like the show, in the best way possible, but we filmed this wooded area. It was right on the water, and it was really foggy, so it had this spooky atmosphere. And yeah, it was it was a great time filming, and I.. I really enjoyed playing this character.
Suzanne: And there are a lot of kids on that show. Did you hang out with them? Or were your scenes shot separately?
Aidan: My scenes were shot separately, unfortunately. But our family friend’s daughter is actually on that show.
Suzanne: Oh! [laughs]
Aidan: So yeah, she plays Millie.
Suzanne: Cool. Oh, Millie. Yeah. That’s a great character.
Aidan: Yeah. Yeah [laughs].
Suzanne: So, what do you find most fun about acting?
Aidan: Trying to become a whole new character. I think that’s the part that really excites me the most. Just losing yourself in these characters, whether it’s just auditioning or… I have such a passion for just transforming into someone who’s completely not like you at all and doing your best…that’s really exciting to me. I think it takes a lot of understanding the characters and listening. It takes a lot of basing it off of yourself and real life experiences… to me that’s really exciting.
Suzanne: Okay. A lot of the shows you’ve been in are pretty violent. Are you allowed to watch them? [laughs]
Aidan: [laughs] For the most part, no. I mean, I watched most of them, and some with the scenes I was in..
Suzanne: Right.
Aidan: But for the most part, my parents don’t really let me watch that much violent stuff.
Suzanne: Right? It’s probably a good idea. [laughs]
Aidan: Right?
Suzanne: I mean, I can’t I can’t even watch The Punisher. I’m just like.. no. [laughs]
Aidan: Yeah.. yeah that is pretty scary. My.. my dad really loves that.
Suzanne: Oh, I’m sure. [laughs]
Aidan: And you know.. I watched a lot of the episodes, but not with all the violent stuff.
Suzanne: Right.
Aidan: My parents say, don’t watch that.
Suzanne: Yeah. I loved “Daredevil.” I grew up reading the comics…
Aidan: Right, right.
Suzanne: But it was a bit too violent for me.
Aidan: Right. [laughs]
Suzanne: But “The Punisher” is way worse. [laughs] I couldn’t watch that… So, you’ve been doing some movies, too. How have those been different from working in TV?
Aidan: Well, I really haven’t had a bad experience on any set. I mean, I’m really enjoying myself, and.. TV, movies, anything.. But I think the main difference is the characters I play. So far, with TV shows, I’ve gotten to play characters… Charlie Manx, Ray Donovan, Frank Castle Jr…. I think the main difference is these characters because both sides were… With a TV job, I get to play darker characters that challenge me a little more. For a movie like “The Secret: Dare to Dream,” I played someone pretty close to home… just a normal kid. That’s the main difference so far. I’ve had fun with either one of them, but I think the main difference so far is the characters that I got to play.
Suzanne: Okay. Yeah. I was looking over the things you’ve been in, and you often play the younger version of some guy.
Aidan: Yeah.. [laughs] Yeah.
Suzanne: That’s cool. You’ve been doing some things based on comic books. Do you read comic books for fun?
Aidan: Yes, I was raised into that because my uncle is very into Marvel Comics, and he would show me older comics, like the Incredible Hulk, or just mainly superhero comics. But yeah, that’s always been something that’s interesting to me.
Suzanne: Oh, I’m sure and…Oh, you got to work with Katie Holmes in the “The Secret: Dare to Dream.”  You know that she was in one of the Batman movies right?
Aidan: Yeah, yeah.
Suzanne: That must really cool-
Aidan: She’s Rachel. Yeah, I do.
Suzanne: That’s got.. yeah, do you think..
Aidan: That was.. that was cool.
Suzanne: Do you think that you’ll probably.. after the pandemic and everything… go to Comic-Con or something like that?
Aidan: I would love to..
Suzanne: Yeah.
Aidan: Since we were little, my brother and I, we obviously love everything about that. We really like to see movies, and we really like comics.. We always have. And I’d like to go.. if my mom would take me.
Suzanne: Yeah, that’s great. are you based in LA, or New York or..?
Aidan: I’m based a little outside of New York.
Suzanne: Okay. Well, they have the New York Comic-Con there. So that would be good. [laughs]
Aidan: Right? Yeah.
Suzanne: Cool. If you don’t mind my asking, how old are you now?
Aidan: I’m fourteen.
Suzanne: Okay, that’s good. So you’re just starting high school?
Aidan: l’m going to start high school, hopefully. I guess in a month or so.
Suzanne: Oh great, great. Are you excited?
Aidan: Oh, yeah yeah. Excited and scared.
Suzanne: Yeah. [laughs] Oh, you’ll be fine. So for “Extra Innings,” did you have to train much for all the baseball scenes?
Aidan: I did because you know previous to that…I only really played basketball and lacrosse. I really never got around to playing baseball very much, except for little league in kindergarten. I didn’t really know the first thing about baseball. But I got it together with a trainer and… and even with my director.. we’ve been training in baseball a little bit. But that was hard, too, because I had to base my playing style and baseball stance off of someone else – who’s already very good at baseball – the guy who played the older version of me in the movie.
Suzanne: Right.
Aidan: So, yeah, but that was really fun, and I’m glad I got to play baseball because I really liked it.
Suzanne: Cool. Do you think you might play baseball in school? Now that you’ve done it more?
Aidan: Maybe,but baseball season is the same time as lacrosse season. They’re both in the spring. So I don’t think I’d be able to play in school, but I still watch baseball at home, and I still play baseball with my friends every once in a while.
Suzanne: Right. Well, it’s the only sport on TV right now. So.. [laughs]
Aidan: Yeah, right.
Suzanne: Yeah. My husband’s a big huge baseball fan so.. [laughs]
Aidan: Right.
Suzanne: Now, your movie “The Secret: Dare to Dream” looks good. What can you tell us about working on that movie?
Aidan: Iit was really one of the best experiences of my life — it was all really exciting because I’ve really never had to leave school or leave home in that extended amount of time for a role, previous to that… That was, I think, two months, or maybe a month and three weeks, in New Orleans, Louisiana. And that was beyond exciting. Of course my mom was with me, but I had to say goodbye to my brother, my dad, my dogs. And that was a little scary, but you know, when I got there, I got to work with a lot of people I respect a lot. I just had a really great time in that set, working with my family in the movie and that was.. that was really — big time — one of the best experiences of my life.
Suzanne: Cool! Abd New Orleans is a really cool place, too.. very different from New York.
Aidan: Yeah. Yeah, I loved it there.
Suzanne: Yeah, it’s.. its beautiful there. So what have you been doing? What have you been up to during the past four months of staying at home?
Aidan: Well…. you know… still going on auditions, but I can’t really go to the city anymore, so all of them are self tapes from home.
Suzanne: Right.
Aidan: Still watching a lot of movies almost every day. Tryin’ to play sports, tryin’ to stay active. I’m trying to convince my parents to let me hang out with my friends a little bit more, but like I’m still practicing social distancing, so I can’t really see much of them. But yeah, I mean, I’m trying to stay busy the last couple weeks.
Suzanne: Okay, cool. Well, thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time for this call.
Aidan: It’s my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.
Aidan booked his first role at the age of eight on the web series “Sitters.” From there, heâs continued to hone his craft on bigger and more ambitious projects including the award-winning film “Extra Innings” (Winner: Best Film, Manhattan Film Festival 2019), as well as a recurring role on the Marvel/Netflix series “The Punisher.” Making his network television debut on the cult-favorite ABC series “Forever,” he has been gaining momentum and acclaim ever since. Recently, Brennan was seen portraying a young Ray Donavon on Showtime’s series of the same name, and upcoming he’ll be seen starring opposite Katie Holmes, Jerry O’Connell and Josh Lucas in “The Secret” (Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv7Dt5_WDGE).
Season two of AMCâs NOS4A2 continues on Sunday, July 12th at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, with the full season set to also simulcast on BBC America. In Sundayâs all-new episode, entitled âThe Lake House,â Charlie Manx is on the hunt, Vic and her family go into hiding with Maggie and Wayne suffers mysterious nightmares while Tabitha chases a lead on Bing.
In NOS4A2âs second season, Vic McQueen (Ashleigh Cummings) remains more determined than ever to destroy Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto). Charlie, having faced his own mortality, emerges desperate for revenge against Vic. This time, he sets his sights on the person who means most to Vic â her eight-year-old son Wayne. The race for Wayneâs soul sends Vic and Charlie on a high-speed collision course, forcing both to confront the mistakes of their pasts in order to secure a hold on Wayneâs future. The seriesâ second season stars EmmyÂź-nominated actor and producer Zachary Quinto and rising star Ashleigh Cummings, along with Jahkara Smith, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Virginia Kull, Jonathan Langdon, Ashley Romans, Jason David and Mattea Conforti.
Based on Joe Hillâs best-selling novel of the same name, NOS4A2 is executive produced by showrunner Jami OâBrien (Fear the Walking Dead, Hell on Wheels) and Hill. The series is produced by AMC Studios in association with Tornante Television.
Interview with Chelsea Caldwell and Jake Norton of “Happily Ever Avatar” on HBOMax by Suzanne 7/14/20
I had never seen this show before, but I enjoyed watching it. I’m not a big fan of reality shows, but they do this one well. It’s HBO, so of course they do. I watched most of the episodes to prepare for this interview. I would say that Jake and Chelsea are the most stable of the three couples and are more likely to stay together. The guys in the first couple have way too many jealousies and hangups. The second couple is long-distance and already having problems with it. Jake and Chelsea live together and seem to be doing fine.
I’m also not a gamer, but I have a brother, a sister-in-law, and a brother-in-law who are all into gaming. They’re older people, but nowadays most young people do play video games of one sort or another. I was taking classes part-time until recently, and most of my fellow students were gamers. They even have a Game and Animation Design major. Watching these gamers on this show, I can tell you that there are many people like this who spend most of their free time gaming.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the interview. They seem like nice people.
1. So how did this show come about for you?
Jake – Chelsea actually found it and wanted to try it. And here we are now.
Chelsea – I think I had tagged us in at a Comic Con on Instagram, and I got a random message from someone with the casting call so I asked Jake if it was something we should apply for. I genuinely didnât think we would be chosen for it.
2. Have you watched the episodes?
Jake – I have not.
Chelsea – I did, yes.
3. Do you feel like the final “cut” is accurate and they treated you fairly?
Jake – N/A
Chelsea – Yeah, I feel like itâs pretty genuine, but it was definitely weird seeing our faces on HBO Max.
4. Did you meet the other couples in the show?
Jake – We did not.
Chelsea – Nope, we know as much as you all know from watching the show.
5. Have you gotten good or bad feedback from gamers about the show?
Jake – Iâve gotten a lot of positive feedback in regards to the show.
Chelsea – I havenât had any feedback from gaming friends, just from family, and they think its cute.
6. What are your “real life” jobs?
Jake – I am your average IT guy.
Chelsea – I manage a beauty supply store.
7. Are you both still living in Kansas?
Jake – Yes we are. Just moved but still in Kansas
Chelsea – Yep! Different area from where we were at time of filming, but still Kansas.
8. How long have you been together now?
Jake – 9 years.
Chelsea – 9 years.
9. Any plans to do more TV or online streaming shows?
Jake – I actually stream on Twitch under the name Hxcsasquatch, but as far as doing another show? I donât plan on it.
Chelsea – I wouldnât say I have plans. Jake keeps trying to get me to stream on Twitch and has helped me get it set up to be able to, but itâs not something Iâve done yet. And as far as more TV, who knows. It’s not something that has presented itself yet, but itâs not something I would completely write off doing.
10. Jake, please tell us about your podcast.
Jake – I am part of a podcast called The Boss Battle Show with my two friends Adam and Gordy. Itâs a show where we talk about video games and news related to them. Currently we are on a break as we reorganize some stuff and figure out some formatting, but we should be back to it soon enough.
11. Have you heard anything yet about a possible season 2?
Jake – I have not, no. Chelsea has shared that she may be interested in a season 2.
Chelsea – We havenât heard anything about there being a 2nd season yet, but Iâm not opposed to doing one if the opportunity arises.
12. Do you guys ever play D&D or Magic?
Jake – I play D&D, at certain points in the year, 4 times a week. I play Magic Arena a lot now. At one point I was trying to go pro in physical Magic but the cards werenât in my favor. No pun intended.
Chelsea – D&D is not something I have gotten into like Jake has. Iâm not big on the roleplaying aspect of it, to be completely honest. But we do have a campaign that weâre playing with one of my best friends in Australia that started out as a one shot for her husband’s birthday that weâve decided to continue. And as far as Magic goes, I played a few games with Jake a while back and never really played again.
13. Chelsea, what do you miss most about California?
Chelsea – Number one would 100% be my family and friends. Itâs been a few years since the move, but itâs still really hard being away from them. I also miss Disneyland, as silly as that is. I had an annual pass and went a ton. And something I didnât think Iâd miss but I actually do is the beach. I didnât go a whole lot, but thereâs been days where I wish I could go, and now that I canât, I miss it.
14. Have you experienced Winter in Kansas yet?
Jake – Several times over.
Chelsea – Yep! I think thatâs one of my favorite things living here is having the different seasons. I always get super excited when we get snow!
15. How has the virus affected your lives?
Jake – Itâs been a big change. I personally had some plans this year for us. Experience new things. But the virus had other plans. For now. We stay in as much as we can.
Chelsea – Itâs been a really weird time, thatâs for sure. A few trips back home have had to be cancelled for now, so thatâs fairly upsetting, but it is what it is. Weâre just still trying to do what we can to quarantine as much as possible.
16. What do you hope that viewers take away from watching your show?
Jake – Love can be found in all kinds of places.
Chelsea – That you can start out a relationship online and have it turn out to be something amazing.
âHAPPILY EVER AVATARâ – PRODUCED BY STAGE 13/MAGICAL ELVES – PREMIERES ON HBO MAX
Gamers-in-Love Docu-Series follows Three Couples from Virtual to IRL (In Real Life); 12 episode series produced by Stage 13, Magical Elves Shows the Love that comes from Behind the Avatar
The series was created by Stage 13 and Magical Elves to show couples going from finding their match virtually to real life. With the enormous popularity of multiplayer games, people around the world are linking online like never before. Games like World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and Elders Scrolls are connecting people online, and some are even falling in loveâŠbehind their avatars. Follow three young couples that meet online through their avatars. From long-distance lovers meeting IRL (in real life) for the first time to happy couples who are faced with the next stage of their relationship, viewers will see how they all play the game called love. As in gaming, some move to the next level of their relationship and see if these n00bs’ (newbies) love connection can survive the virtual and real world.
Executive Producers:
Dan Cutforth
Jane Lipsitz
Casey Kriley
Allison Schermerhorn
Co-Executive Producer:
Melissa Purner
For Stage 13:
Shari Scorca, VP, Unscripted
Marcel Fuentes, Director, Unscripted
Jenny McNicholas, VP, Production
The Cast:
Amadeus Balmaceda and Karoline Rodriguez
Amadeus and Karoline met playing Elder Scrolls Online. They immediately bonded over their Latin heritage and began a virtual relationship. Amadeus considers leveling up on their relationship and traveling from Texas to Connecticut to finally meet Karoline in person. Even if making that trip confirms their feelings, the couple must face the challenge of a long-distance relationship. Will Amadeus move to Connecticut for Karoline, or will their love buckle under the many miles that separate them?
Chelsea Caldwell and Jake Norton
Jake and Chelsea met playing World of Warcraft. After an initial dislike of each other, they bonded during an all-night raid that left the two of them talking constantly. After months of constant communication, they officially became a coupleâŠbefore ever meeting in person. Then after living together in California for two years, Jake’s job takes him to Kansas, and Chelsea decides to join him. Faced with adjusting in Kansas, Jake finds himself content with his virtual friends while Chelsea is homesick and wants to make friends IRL. Despite their social life, both know they want to be together forever, but is Chelsea more ready for marriage than Jake?
Nick Theurer and Tony (Anthony) Bernardo
Nick and Tony met at a League of Legends gaming tournament. For Nick, it was love at first sight. He forced their teams to play against one another and ultimately won a date with a reluctant Tony, who thought Nick was straight! Nick wants to ask Tony to move in with him, but Tony is still hesitant about trusting Nick. Will Tonyâs insecurities push Nick away, or will he be able to commit and truly fall in love?
âHappily Ever Avatarâ was produced by Stage 13 with Magical Elves for HBO Max.
QUOTES FROM PRODUCTION:
“We wanted to show the union of gaming and love, and the notion that we live in and with technology and people find each other in different ways. One is through the world of gaming by using avatars to showcase their personality. It’s a different way of showing love,” said Shari Scorca, VP, Unscripted, Stage 13.
âWhen we were making âHappily Ever Avatar,â you could tell this was something special,â said Casey Kriley and Jo Sharon, co-CEOs of Magical Elves. âThe experiences of real-world couples who developed true relationships through the world of gaming resonated with us in a meaningful way. We are so happy we are able to showcase these unique people with diverse backgrounds and their love stories.â
“Watching a couple meet for the first time in person really cannot be topped and we see that in this series,” said Allison Schermerhorn, Executive Producer and Showrunner. “We tried to show all levels of relationships, including the relationship of an LGBTQ gamer couple. Anyone who’s met online knows there’s a big difference between talking with someone in-game, over email and text, and seeing and talking to them in person. We show what itâs like from that first meeting through being connected in real life, not just through an avatar in a game.â
B&B has disbanded its official fan club. “The Official The Bold and The Beautiful Fan Page” is now on Facebook, and all the latest news can be found on Twitter. Also, at www.boldandbeautiful.com fans can find live streaming of special events and info. that will keep you informed daily of what’s going on behind the scenes, sneak peeks at things to come, locations and dates of public appearances as well as how to independently network with your favorite actors from B&B.
Fan Clubs for Courtney Hope (Sally) and Patrika Darbo (Shirley) can be found here!
Lt. Bradley Baker has been seen on the show since 1997. Whenever one of the Forresters, Logans or Spencers commits a crime, or is the victim of a crime, he’s there, sniffing around. He’s always very suspicious of these crazy rich folk (and with good reason).
Not much is known about him, except that he has a fondness of hot dogs, he doesn’t smile much, and he has a son named Charlie that worked with him for awhile. When Bill was shot, he also worked with a detective named Alex Sanchez.
Ridge Forrester played by Thorsten Kaye (formerly Ronn Moss)
Ridge grew up in a rich family, with lots of love from his parents, who doted on him (especially his mother, Stephanie). When played by Ronn Moss, Ridge was a very quiet but romantic guy. He was always torn between two women (one of them usually Brooke). He seemed to let his mother dictate his life. Eventually, he stood up to his mother, but it was clearly difficult for him.
Brooke is the love of Ridge’s life and always has been. He was also married to Taylor and the younger Caroline, and engaged to Katie, and the older Caroline, but Brooke is always where his heart has been. They’ve been married eight times. This last time seems to be the final marriage for both, but we’ll see.
Ridge sired twin daughters, Steffy and Phoebe, and son Thomas, with Taylor. Phoebe died in 2008 in a car accident. He and Brooke have R.J., who’s younger than the others. Ridge, Taylor and Brooke are all grandparents now.
Ridge is a designer in his parents’ fashion firm, Forrester Creations. Although he grew up in a rich family, he has a big, kind heart. In 2014, Ridge (now played by Thorsten Kaye) fell out of a helicopter and almost died. He temporarily lost his memory and his design skills. Caroline helped him get these back. His personality changed since then. He seems to get irritated more and speaks out more. He’s more ascerbic and has trouble controlling his temper. After some struggling with his new personality, he and Brooke married for “the last time.” They both seem to have grown up some and work out their problems rather than splitting up.
Ridge and his daughter Steffy are co-CEO of the family company.
In 2019, Thomas came back to town and started causing trouble for Brooke and Ridge. Thomas became obsessed with Hope, and Brooke was an obstacle to that. Ridge and Brooke almost divorced because he couldn’t believe that Thomas was up to no good, and Brooke wouldn’t allow Thomas in their house. They were separated. Ridge moved back to the Forrester mansion. Quinn’s friend, Shauna, was living in their guest house, so she and Ridge grew close. They even kissed a few times. Once Thomas’ was shown up to be the psycho that Brooke kept saying he was, then Ridge begged forgiveness and moved back home.
Unfortunately, Bill and Brooke had been making out the night before Thomas’ wedding (where he was exposed), and Shauna got a video of it. Quinn sent the video to Brooke’s digital picture frame (which was a gift from Ridge), so everyone saw it. Ridge was heartbroken by Brooke’s betrayal, especially with Bill. He ran off and spent a wild drunken night with Shauna. Brooke came to find him, and it looks like they may be on the road to reuniting, but it’s unclear.
Tisha Campbell-Martin (ex-Dr. Martin) has a new series coming out, “Be Someone” and has another new show, âUncoupledâ. It premieres July 29 on Netflix. She appears Tuesday, Aug. 2 on “The Talk” on CBS and appears Tuesday, Aug. 2 on “Watch What Happens Live” on Bravo.
Katrina Bowden (Flo) has some upcoming movies this year.
Jim O’Heir has a recurring role on “Bless This Mess” Tuesdays on ABC. He also appears on one episodes of the YouTube series “Liza on Demand” this year and has many movies coming out. He guest-stars on a re-run of “United States of Al” Monday, July 19 on CBS.
Denise Richards (Shauna) stars in a new series, “Paper Empire” and has a few new movies coming out. She also still appears on “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” on Bravo and stars in “Killer Cheer Mom” Saturday, August 28, 8:00PM on Lifetime.
Jacob Young (ex-Rick) has 4 new movies coming out and is joining the 11th and final season of “The Walking Dead” on AMC, which premieres August 22. He hosts “Daytime After Dark” on YouTube. He appears in “My Daughter’s Double Life” Friday, October 1, 8:00PM on the Lifetime Movie Network.
Reign Edwards  (ex-Nicole) stars in “The Wilds” on Amazon.
Kayla Ewell (ex-Caitlin) has 2 other movies coming out.
Rome Flynn (ex-Zende) appears in the next installment of Tyler Perry’s “Madea” franchise as well as another movie. He has a recurring role on Greyâs Anatomy Thursdays on ABC. He will star in a football comedy about a girl (Marsai Martin) who finds out she can control her football dad through a Madden NFL video game. Kelly Rowland and Omari Hardwick also star.
Hallmark Channel has renewed “When Calls the Heart,” starring Jack Wagner (ex-Nick), which airs on Sundays.
Debbi Morgan (ex-Jennifer) appears in the drama “Power” in the recurring role of Estelle on STARZ.
Tracy Melchior (ex-Kristen) has a new movie coming out and also a recurring role in the new BET drama “Games People Play,” out later this year.
Veteran actor Dan Martin (Lt. Baker) works regularly in movies and primetime TV.
Gina Rodriguez (ex-Beverly) has many new movies coming out this year.
Michael Swan (ex-Brad) appears in the movie “Revenge Best Serve Chilled” Saturday, May 14, 10:00 pm on Lifetime.
Mario LĂłpez (ex-Christian) is co-host of the syndicated TV show Extra and does the voice of Cruz in “Elena of Avalor” on Disney Network. He will make a splash in the new HGTV series Supersize My Pool. He stars in the “Saved by the Bell” reunion TV series on PeacockTV (for free). He is guest host Tuesday, Nov. 22 on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” and stars in the movie “Steppin’ into the Holiday” 11/25 on Lifetime.
Kate Orsini (ex-Dr. March) has two movies coming out and stars in the series “Marisa Romanov” on Amazon Prime this Fall.
Linda Gray (ex-Priscilla) stars in the new upcoming movie “Prescience.”
Wayne Brady (ex-Reese) hosts “Let’s Make a Deal” daily in syndication and is working on a new movie “WRZ: White Racist Zombies.” He hosts the new FOX game show “Game of Talents” Wednesdays and does a voice in this series: Netflix The Cuphead Show!- Friday, 11/18 Season 3 premiere. Follow the misadventures of the impulsive Cuphead and his easily swayed brother Mugman in this animated series based on the hit video game.
Usher Raymond (ex-Raymond) is a successful musician and tours often. He appears in “Global Citizen Festival: Take Action Now Sunday, 9/25 (7:00PM ET) on ABC.
Matt Borlenghi (ex-Ziggy) finished a film and is working on a TV movie.
Lorenzo Lamas (ex-Hector) has a few movies coming out this year.
Texas Battle (ex-Marcus) has a few new movies coming out. He guest-stars on “Magnum P.I.” Friday, April 8 on CBS. Robert Pine (ex-Stephen) also guest-stars.
Joe Lando (ex-Craig) has a film and a TV movie out this year.
Chris McKenna  (ex-Dr. Hayden) has a new movie out in 2019, “Dragged into Sunlight.”
Sean Kanan (ex-Deacon) has 3 new movies coming out.
Alley Mills (Pam) has a new film coming out, “The Fiddling Horse.”
Daniel McVicar (ex-Clarke) has a new movie, “Creators: The Past.”
Dylan Neal (ex-Dylan) has 3 new movies coming out.
Ian Buchanan (ex-James) has a few new movies coming out.
Ashley Tesoro  (ex-Kimberly) and husband, Anthony, have created a Christian lifestyle and ministry web series, “Life is for Living TV” formatted for the Internet and for people to view the clips on their phone or computer to be inspired and learn about the Bible. Check it out at www.lifeisforliving.tv or through YouTube.
Ashleigh Brewer (ex-Ivy) has a new movie coming out “On the Edge of Night.”
Maeve Quinlan (ex-Maeve) has a few movies coming out this year.
Bobbie Eakes (ex-Macy), Hillary B. Smith (ex-Stacey) and many other soap stars appeared in âABC Daytime: Back on Broadwayâ which was streamed Thursday, Feb. 11. You can see it now on YouTube.
Many soap actors star in the digital series “The Bay“. More casting news, updates, and previous episodes can be found at www.thebaytheseries.com.
Bobbie Eakes (ex-Macy) appears in a new movie, “The Bellmen,” out in 2019. You can see her and other soap stars in the web series “Tainted Dreams.” Watch Here!
The legendary Paul Williams (ex-Bailey) still acts and writes songs, even though he turns 80 next year. More Info
Jeff Trachta (ex-Thorne) mostly does live singing and impersonations on stage.
Zack Conroy (ex-Oliver) is now an investment banker.
Samantha’s Friends Fundraiser: Casino Royale | Bradenton, FL | Lakewood Country Club Ranch
Featuring Patrika Darbo (ex-Shirley), Kyle Lowder (ex-Rick), and Brandon Beemer (ex-Owen) and other soap stars!
May 14-15, 2022 Buy Tickets
Diamond White (Paris) will show off her vocal skills this week, performing with her band at El Cid on Thursday, August 25 at 8:50 p.m. The address for the event is 4212 Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA. The actress will perform both new and old songs. To get tickets, which are $10, click here.
MORE INFO: Cobra Kai Official Site  Season 6 Part 3 Promo All My Children on Wikipedia
development of TV shows with and for production companies and networks. One of his shows, a crime investigation named “Postmortem in Vegas”, was co-produced by NorthSouth Productions and A&E Networks and aired as a one hour special on LMN. Further, Matt created, wrote and is prepping another proposed TV series entitled “ATF”. This drama is based on the life work of his good friend who spent twenty-five years working as an undercover ATF agent. Further details are at: Matt Borlenghi | ActorCV
All My Children (often shortened to AMC) is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and iTunes.
Biography
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Trailers:
Here’s your chance to get in on one of the few critically lauded, award-winning feature films at the upcoming gems premiering on BET HER in a couple weeks, Saturday, August 7th at 7pm ET/PT, 6pm CT. Filmmakers KELLEY KALI and DEON COLE (Black-ish star) talk about their critically lauded film, 
27th (Pacific).
Filmmaker Kelley Kali, one of the breakout talents in Hollywood, won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Film for her narrative short, Lalo’s House, and brought in a number of talented filmmakers including co-director Angelique Molina, fellow USC Cinema School graduate Roma Kong as well as award-winning producer Capella Fahoome. Kelley developed the plot line of “I’m Fine (Thanks For Asking)” looking around Los Angeles as the Covid crisis started to shutter businesses, diminish earnings and jeopardize so many single parents ability to pay rent and feed their families late last spring. The storyline centers on a recently widowed mother who becomes homeless and convinces her 8-year-old daughter that they are only camping for fun while she works to get them off the streets.
Young Hollywood’s newest Latin-American heartthrob Rico Torres, recognized for his latest roles on 
Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” and HBO’s “Ballers,” in addition to countless international fashion campaigns. From a shy teen diagnosed with anorexia to becoming a hotly-tipped face to watch in Hollywood, Rico hopes to share his remarkable story to inspire other young people to reach for their dreams.
