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Interview with Martha Millan

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Martha Millan - photo by Yanina May

Interview with Martha Millan of “The Cleaning Lady” on FOX by Thane 12/30/21

It was awesome to interview Martha about diversity and world travel. Both subjects have a place in my heart.

Thane: How do you think people will respond to the cleaning lady?

Martha: Wow, that’s such a great question. Nobody’s asked me that yet. I think in terms of just the show’s content, there’s so many groundbreaking elements to it with representation, diversity, dealing with topical issues. Then, of course, there’s all the action and the drama and everything. So, I think in terms of just being – I think they’re definitely going to be surprised with the content of the show, but at the same time, drawn in by the relationships that they see throughout the series. The show deals with a lot of family issues, and I think that’s where the relatability comes in with the show. So, I’m hoping that they’re going to be excited.

Thane: How does your character fit into the show?

Martha: I play Fiona De La Rosa. The lead character of the show is played by Elodie Yung, who is incredible in this show. She is known for her action as Electra, but you see so many vulnerable parts of her throughout the series that I think a lot of people are going to be just so beautifully connected to her. And she’s married to my brother. So, we play best friends on the show, and we deal with a lot of challenging issues. I myself am undocumented, and Thony De La Rosa, through her plight of trying to save her son from an immunodeficiency disorder, she gets involved with the underworld and becomes the cleaning lady for the mob. So, there’re so many things that can happen and go wrong, but it’s wonderful to see both characters really rise up against the challenges that they face.

Thane: Do you think that there’s a shortage of roles for Asian actors?

Martha: I think, for me, I think things are changing. Definitely prior to – for me, I grew up in Australia. I moved to America in terms of really finding better opportunities for my career, mainly because representation wasn’t available here. Now, I’m happy to say that coming home. I’m here in Australia right now Zooming. I see all the ads, and I see the shows, and it’s changed incredibly. There’s so much diversity through commercials and on the TV shows in Australia that it’s so wonderful to see that a lot of opportunities are opening opening up for everyone. I still think, yes, there definitely could be more done for nontraditional casting and just casting people for their talent rather than their heritage. Obviously, with certain plots there’s that necessity, but when it comes to certain storylines, if someone can play a lawyer without any specificity of culture, I think anyone should be able to go for that. And I think that is something that’s happening and we see these days, which is wonderful.

Thane: You’ve been a guest on many TV shows. Do you have a particular favorite show you’ve acted on?

Martha: Let me see. I have to say The OA. I think that was such a creative show, and the thing was, I didn’t even know what the story was about. I only got my scene. I shot my scene, and that was it. So, I just thought that I was playing a very complicated mother, but I think, to actually play Filipino in that show in terms of her character and complexities was really challenging and was a great way to kind of showcase just my emotional depth and just to really be a part of such an immensely creative plot line.

Thane: How do you feel about the current state of diversity in Hollywood?

Martha: Wonderful question. I think it’s changing, clearly with the example [of] this show. It’s groundbreaking on all elements – the whole the cast itself. I’m Filipino Australian. Elodie is Cambodian French. Aidan is Mexican. We have the Armenian culture being explored in Aiden’s world, and then you have an Argentine. I mean, there’re so many cultures that are represented on all fronts, even from the writers, on the writer side, and that’s why I think there’s so many changes. It’s a testament to FOX’s, I guess, support in really kind of spearheading the challenge for people to open up diversity and allowing for changes to happen, because if you think about it, the generation today, they’re exposed to so many cultures through social media. All the kids, they know that there’s a world out there, and that it should be represented and that to have a narrow point of view is archaic. And that’s where the appetite for new content that represents the whole world globally comes from. So, I think it’s wonderful that we’re a part of that. And, yeah, it’s kind of exciting, because, for me, it’s about opening up new roles for marginalized voices and representing them in not such a linear way and two dimensional but in a way that encompasses all their complexities as humans, because life’s messy. So, despite whatever culture you’re from, we’re all kind of going through those emotional roller coasters.

Thane: As a person with a disability, I find that writers can kind of be clueless on handling our characters. Do you feel that way about the way characters of diverse ethnic backgrounds are written?

Martha: Absolutely. I think, in the past, absolutely. Like I know, for me, representation of a Southeast Asian woman was depicted in Crocodile Dundee in a scene that was definitely something that I was just so ashamed of that it affected me so much, and it affected the way I thought people saw me or viewed me. I think these days now, with the openness and, again, the exposure to the world, culturally, people are changing their perceptions of not just in, again, a very narrow point of view, [but] they’re opening up just the humanity of people’s characters. And I think it’s a testament to the writers on the show. Miranda Kwok, who’s the creator [and] Melissa Carter, who is the showrunner, they really wanted to nurture that creativity amongst the writers to give authenticity to our characters, because the writers were also, you know, Filipino, Mexican, and just it was completely diverse so that there was a true authenticity to it. So, I do understand your point of view in terms of misrepresentation, because if they’re not in your shoes, or if they don’t understand the experiences you’ve gone through, how can someone write about it, if they haven’t felt it? So, yeah, I think that lends to the authenticity of this show.

Thane:
Would more diversity behind the scenes help, such as executive producers and writers?

Martha: I think it does. I mean, again, Miranda Kwok is an example of that. She is Asian Canadian living in America now. I think, just in terms of the fact that she really wanted to create a show that centered on the Southeast Asian culture, and then to put a Southeast Asian female lead at the forefront was groundbreaking. And for Marissa Carter, the showrunner, to really embrace that and create an environment to enhance the diversity among the the actors and the writers who are on the show, employing that diversity really says a lot about the changes that’s happening in the world. It’s indicative of what is necessary to kind of evolve. Otherwise, if we’re holding on to such old values, then there’s consequences to that, I think, with what we’re all seeing right now. But I am an optimist. So, being a part of the show is part of that movement.

Thane:
Are there any other structural changes that you’d like to see that could increase diversity?

Martha: Structural is a very good, you know, a topic to put out there. That’s something that I think most people forget, and I think, because now, a lot of diverse backgrounds are being put in the forefront in terms of how they shape their stories from their point of views is important. It’s their voice, and you can’t find authenticity unless it’s through experiences from your own background and from your own life. So, I think in order to create that expression through the media, you have to allow that ceiling to break and allow the the diverse voices and marginalized voices to express themselves authentically. And to be honest with you, I think it’s to the benefit of all media, and you see that in terms of what people are watching and the content that’s out there. There’s more appetite for things that are expressed creatively through representation, because everybody sees this representation all over social media. You’re connected immediately to that, and yeah, it’s a disadvantage if you if you don’t move forward with that evolution.

Thane: I see you have traveled quite a bit. Do you feel that your traveling experience and being exposed to different cultures has enriched your acting career at all, and how so?

Martha: Yeah, traveling is so important. I mean, as an Australian, I think we travel a lot, because we’re so far away from everything, but this was something that is a passion of mine, because whenever I travel, I really want to immerse myself in the society, in the culture in the society. I don’t normally stay at resorts or anything like that. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but I also would love to see just the reality of people’s lives in each in each country I visit, because I want to understand and immerse myself in their food, the way they respond to certain situations, how their lives are lived. And with that knowledge coming from visiting different countries, you’re able to understand people more in such a – I guess you empathize with people more, because you understand where they’re coming from, from different perspectives, all different perspectives. If you have more perspectives, culturally, I think, you’ll just be more open to experiencing different things and allowing for more changes that don’t really hinder you as a person.

Thane: What were your favorite places to visit?

Martha: There was this one place in Panama where I flew in; I was traveling with my ex boyfriend at that time on a plane, and I was traveling with chickens. And I remember there was a grandma and a grandson strapped in one seat belt at the front of the plane, and we were just going to this island in Panama, and we had to land in the middle of the jungle, because he had to check the propeller. Luckily – I mean, I don’t know how lucky we were, but he said, “I think it’s good enough.” Then, we landed in the middle of the jungle to to be greeted by these children who took us to this island, and at that time, there was no one there. It was an island the size of a football field, and we would deep sea dive and just kind of catch her at breakfast by just finding the fish in the water and sleeping on the sand. We had huts, separate huts and everything. So, that, for me, was adventurous. It was it was [unintelligible] though too.

Thane: Tell us about your online drama education program for children.

Martha: For me, it’s all about confidence, building confidence. Yes, there are definitely – I’m not looking to make child actors or whatever in that sense, but I will definitely help them to achieve their aspirations and dreams of becoming an actor, but it’s all about kind of just getting them out of their shell, connecting, really building their confidence. I think these days in terms of with a lot of the social media and they’re connected to their phones, yes, they’re able to express themselves through Tik Tok and everything in that, but I think to really build a connection between people is a great way with the classes that I’ve developed. And just to see how unfiltered they are, and fearless, it’s a great reminder for adults just to kind of tap into that as well. So, I learn more from them, actually, whenever I teach them, because I see how there’s just magic that happens whenever they do respond without any filtering. And as adults, we’re so programmed and conditioned to act and behave and live a certain lifestyle, and we forget the magic that we have too, as people. So, it’s kind of cool. So, it’s very reciprocal in terms of the education for me and for them.

Thane: Is there anything else that you want to share with the TVMEG.com audience?

Martha: I think the one thing that I want to share with the show is, just be who you are. I think a lot of the characters in the show struggle with so many limitations of labels, and you’ll find that their struggles to break through those labels, whether you’re undocumented, whether you’re a mobster, whether you’re, you know, what the other characters – I’m sorry; I’m kind of blanking out on the other characters, but just I think the plight of the underdog of just really empowering yourself is also a very strong message that comes through the show of The Cleaning Lady. And you’ll see through Elodie Yung’s performances – yes, everybody knows her is Electra, but her emotional vulnerability comes through so much that I think a lot of people will connect in terms of just going for what they want in life and really doing what you can for your family and how far do you go. So, I think that’s a great kind of question and challenge for all of us to to embark in our own lives.

Thane:
This is the end of the interview. Thank you, Martha.

Martha:
It was such a pleasure meeting you, Thane. I really appreciate your time and I hope you have an awesome awesome new year. Okay, it’s gonna be a great one.

Here is the Video!

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

MORE INFO:

Martha MillanMulti-faceted and talented Australian-Filipino actress Martha Millan (“The OA”) stars in the main cast as ‘Fiona Da La Rosa’ in FOX’s upcoming drama series “The Cleaning Lady.” From executive producers Miranda Kwok (“The 100”), Melissa Carter (“Queen Sugar”), Michael Offer (“Homeland,” “How to Get Away with Murder”), and Shay Mitchell (“You,” “Pretty Little Liars”) and based on the 2017 Argentinian show “La Chica Que Limpia,” “The Cleaning Lady” is a thrilling and emotional driven character drama about a whip-smart Cambodian doctor (Elodie Yung) who comes to the U.S. for a medical treatment to save her ailing son. However, when the system fails and pushes her into hiding, she refuses to be beaten down and marginalized. Instead, she becomes a cleaning lady for organized crime using her cunning and intelligence to forge her own path in the criminal world. The new FOX drama series is the first ever American TV show focusing on Filipinos.  “The Cleaning Lady” premiere on Monday, January 3rd at 9/8c on FOX.

“The Cleaning Lady” Trailer

‘Fiona De La Rosa’ is the Filipina sister-in-law and fellow cleaning lady of ‘Thony’ (Yung) who is undocumented in the US while raising her children as a single parent. Fiona struggles dealing with the hardships of being undocumented while helping Thony in her journey to save her ailing son. Martha describes her character as “a fun, emotionally volatile and chaotic hot mess, but her journey throughout the series is one of empowerment and strength while helping Thony save her son’s life. Both women show true resilience as we follow them in their plight to give their children the best they can under extraordinary circumstances.”

Millan is best known for her work in “The OA,” “Succession,” “Entourage,” “Madam Secretary,” “Strong Medicine,” “The Third Watch,” all three primary shows of the “Law & Order” franchise, THE GREAT NEW WONDERFUL with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jim Parsons and Will Arnett and the recently released indie film THE DRUMMER in which she starred alongside Donald Glover. "The Cleaning Lady" poster

Born in the Philippines, Martha moved to Australia at 4 years old and grew up in Sydney, Australia. Martha discovered her love for acting when she decided to take acting as an elective and performed in her first play in high school as Gwendolen in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Martha attended the University of Sydney and studied English and History before she deferred a year and ended up in Los Angeles attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. While taking a trip to New York City, she auditioned on a whim and was accepted to the original Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York where she graduated. She has since been a true New Yorker at heart. While booking acting jobs, Martha had great success in modeling and have done endless national print and commercial work for Verizon, AT&T, Target, Clairol, Home Depot and more, in addition to editorial work.

In addition to acting, Martha is also an acting teacher for children. She previously taught acting for extracurricular and after school programs in Brooklyn public schools until COVID hit and she decided to create her own global online drama education program for children aged 10-16 years old based all over the world in Brazil, Portugal, Israel, US, and more. Martha is also a world traveler and have visited a plethora of countries like Spain, Greece, Aruba, Peru, Indonesia, Guatemala, Panama, Mexico, etc. As an active and athletic child, Martha continues to stay healthy and fit by running everyday and practicing high intensity training. Martha is an advocate for diversity and is proud to be starring on a series portraying Filipinos.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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Martha Millan - photo by Yanina May

Interview with Ajay Friese

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Ajay Friese

Interview with Ajay Friese of “Lost in Space” on Netflix by Thane 12/22/21

This was my first one-on-one interview with TVMEG.COM. I was thankful it went smoothly and enjoyed talking to Ajay.

Thane:  Were you happy at how Lost in Space ended?

Ajay:  You know, I was really really happy, I felt sad naturally about the show ending, but when I read the final scripts, and I saw all the storylines and the plot arcs concluding, I was actually really surprised I felt a ton of closure, and it just felt like the perfect ending. So, I was very, very happy with how it ended.

Thane:  You have been in a few TV shows. What has been your favorite role to play and why?

Ajay:  Probably my favorite role to play was honestly probably Lost in Space, just because that was such an important role to me. It was five years of my life that I was playing that role. And the characters on that show and the actors who played them kind of became really close friends. So, it just holds a really special place in my heart. Yeah, so I’d have to say, Vijay.

Thane:  I see that you are also releasing music, what inspires your music?

Ajay:  Music just comes out of me. Like growing up there were some kids in class who would always be doodling on like the edge of their homework. Me, I can’t draw. I can barely draw cube. But for me, I would always be humming and making up songs. Music just runs through me. it’s ran through me ever since I was a kid, ever since I was a baby, actually. It’s just the most natural thing to me. And I think even if I didn’t want to do it, I would still just be doing it. So, yeah. I forgot what the question was actually, but I love music so much. It’s really natural to me.

Thane:  What drove you to get into acting?

Ajay:  My sister was doing community theater, my older sister. She was doing community theater in our hometown of Victoria, Canada, and it looked like fun. So, I went along to the auditions when I was like 11 or 12, and I just kept on doing theater.  I did school theater but also did community theater, and I got to miss a whole bunch of school for rehearsals and stuff. It was just always something I did as a hobby. Then, eventually, I started making connections with the professional theatre companies in town and with the opera, and I started doing more and more productions. I probably did about 15 theater productions in my teen years. Yeah, more and more opportunities kind of just started naturally coming my way. So, it just kind of happened.

Thane:  What kind of star do you want to be in future? A movie star, a TV star, a musician, or all of the above?

Ajay:  You know, I don’t know if I can answer that question. As I get older, the more and more I realized that being like a star in something doesn’t really actually matter and that what matters is just being connected, I think with who you are, and being connected with the present moment and with doing art. So, I think as long as I just keep on pursuing art, I’m going to be getting fulfillment out of that.

Lost in Space Season 3 poster

Thane:  Have you made any strong friendships with any of your former cast members?

Ajay:  Yes, I have. Raza Jaffrey, who plays my dad on Lost in Space, has given me tons of great acting advice and great life advice. Mina Sundwall, who plays Penny on Lost in Space, [she] and I are really good friends, and she actually directed one of my music videos this past summer for my song “Blackberry.” And Max Jenkins from Lost in Space, he’s awesome. Charles from Lost in Space season three, plus, yeah, just just so many people from Lost in Space and other shows.

Thane:  If you could play any character who would you play?

Ajay:  I mean, it’d be cool to play Harry Potter even though I don’t really look look like him or something, but, yeah, it would be cool to play Harry Potter. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan.

Thane:  Is there an actor and or a director who you would love to work with?

Ajay:  I really like Bill Nighy. Not Bill Nye. I do like Bill Nye the Science Guy, but Bill Nighy, he is a British actor who’s really really good. Yeah, I really like him. I like Maggie Smith, who’s actually… Toby Stephens from Lost in Space, his mom is Maggie Smith. And Maggie Smith, for those who don’t know, plays Professor McGonagall on Harry Potter. And I don’t know; I just think they’re such talented actors.

Thane:  As a young male actor in the Instagram age, do you feel pressure to look good?

Ajay:  Yeah, sometimes I do. And sometimes I feel excited when I post something where I just look normal, or where I haven’t showered or something and I’m just living normal life, because I think it’s cool when I see other people post stuff like that. But yeah, there definitely is a pressure to look good, but, you know, maybe that’s something I can also combat with sometimes looking good and sometimes not looking the best.

Thane:  How do you feel when people call you a heartthrob?

Ajay:  I don’t really think about it very much. I mean, I guess it’s exciting or cool or whatever, but it’s not really something I take that much thought in.

Thane:  This is the end of the interview. Is there anything that you want to tell the TV make audience including plugs?

Ajay:  Well, Lost in Space three is out on Netflix, and it is super amazing, my favorite season we’ve ever filmed. And also I just released an album. You can find it on your streaming service, if you just search my name Ajay Friese, and I hope you enjoy it, and thank you so much, Thane.

Here is the Video!

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

MORE INFO:

AJay FrieseThe hottest and most talented rising Canadian/Indian star, Ajay Friese, stars in the finale season of Netflix’s hit TV series, LOST IN SPACE, which premiered December 1st, 2021. Friese plays Vijay Dhar, Victor’s (Raza Jaffrey) son and Penny’s (Mina Sundwall) love interest.

Season 3 Trailer

Friese’s leading role in LOST IN SPACE comes off the heels of his star turn in the indie film RIOT GIRLS, opposite Madison Iseman, which the Los Angeles Times called, “[a] splashy, bloody take on “Lord of the Flies” with a rock ‘n’ roll spirit.” Ajay also recurs on several TV shows including Max Landis’ BBC series DIRK GENTLY, the CW smash hit RIVERDALE and THE ORDER for Netflix. On the film side, Friese is already tapped to star in the 80’s homage Still from "Lost in Space"thriller COMING SOON..

A relative newcomer to Hollywood, Ajay (pronounced ah-jay) is primed to be a true breakout star with his starring roles on both TV and in film. In addition to acting, Ajay is an accomplished singer/songwriter who is gearing up for a Dec. 2021 release of an extended version of his EP “light a match…then run” on Friday, December 10th. In 2020, Ajay released his debut album with Bon Jovi producer Everett Bradley.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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Ajay Friese

Interview with Yael Stone, Rob Collins and Shantae Barnes-Cowan

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Firebite poster

Interview with Yael Stone, Rob Collins and Shantae Barnes-Cowan of “Firebite” on AMC+ by Thane 12/9/21

This was my second interview for TVMEG.COM and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a small panel of press asking questions; two of them are mine (they have my name on them).

Question: Can you start by talking about what it was that first attracted you to the show, why you wanted to do it?

Rob: I can take that first. Warwick Thorton, I’d always wanted to work with him. I got a small taste of it on an Australian series called Mystery Road, the second series. He’s kind of just one of our go-to amazing directors. So, there was that and vampire killer. So, those two things combined, I just had to do this project.

Shantae: I auditioned at the start of the year on another project, and I met with Warwick. That was my first time meeting him, and he sort of gave me a little [bit] inside of it, and it sounded really cool, so I was up for it. And I heard it was gonna be really big. [laughs] So, yeah, I got really excited. I still can’t believe I won the role of Shanika, because I heard hundreds auditioned for it, but I’m happy I did, because it turned out really fun and deadly. [laughs] So, yeah, and I’m happy.

Question: All right. What about you, Yael?

Yael: I guess I should say that we’re so lucky that Shantae won the role as well, because she’s incredible in the show. Also, Warwick [was] definitely a massive kind of draw card for this project. And the scripts that I was sent were just so fascinating. I just felt like we have not done this before. We’ve not addressed Indigenous Australian history and a kind of violent colonial Australian history in this way before, using a vampire metaphor before, and I think it’s extraordinarily creative. It’s a really clever way in telling that story, and it’s got heaps of joy and laughs and fun, and then, at it’s heart, it’s got this incredibly powerful and incredibly serious metaphor as well.

Question: So, the question is, since, just like you mentioned, that was rather ambitious and probably the first of its kind in it’s take… [of] colonial exploitation and native history and racism, and combining it with elements of fantasy, like vampires and monster hunters. So, I wanted to know, what are your thoughts on it?

Rob: Speaking of fantasy, I mean, growing up in Australia, you are told a particular version of our colonial past, and that was certainly true for me. And like anything, it’s only as an adult, that you get time to sort of reflect on things, and as an indigenous man in Australia, what that kind of really means. So, I’d have to say, for me, in particular, that sort of revelation came through sort of in my mid 20s, and now, being a 40-year-old man with kids of my own who are indigenous, I think it’s important to give them a true sense of their place in this country. And I think at the heart of it as well, that’s what Warwick, I think, is trying to tackle in this series. So, for me, it was vitally important. I mean, I made the quip earlier that it was working with Warwick, and it was vampire hunting and all that kind of stuff that drew me to the role, but I think this idea of rewriting history kind of, in a sense, I found really kind of cool, because when you talk about fantasy, there are a few fantasies that we as everyday Australians accept as fact. And in fact, it’s such a powder keg here in Australia that I think this series is really going to agitate in a good way, and like the best series do, get you to think about, “Well, what is your accepted version of this country and your place in it and your family’s place in it and your forebearer’s place in it?” I think it’s a really timely discussion to have, and as genre does in its best way, it’s kind of subversive in that way, because it’s killing and it’s vampires; it’s action, and it’s fun. It’s laughs; it’s explosions and amazing sets, but then we’re able to sort of snake that that key message in amidst all the chaos.

Shantae: Yeah. Sort of what Rob was saying, the history of our culture and our land, you know, getting invaded, and from the white men, I think it’s important to tell, because as blackfellows, we’re strong about that. It’s our past; it’s our history, and it’s our culture, and we, as a culture, are proud. To tell it and show it to the world, I think is pretty cool, to show in this way, as well as the vampires. For me, it’s like the vampires feeding on blackfellow blood is sort of like, that is invasion for our culture. That’s how I see it, and it’s just cool to tell in that way. I think the world is gonna love it and our culture and our story.

Yael: I don’t know if I could answer the question any better than that. So, maybe I’ll take a different angle and say, it’s also fascinating; think about it, landing in an American audience first, and then across the world, potentially. I lived in the States for seven years, and I always felt there was this strange absence of a discussion in the kind of mainstream media about the Indigenous stories of the states. And I wonder, Rob said, maybe it’ll be a bit of a “powder keg for Australia moment;” maybe it sparks discussions elsewhere as as well, because these fantastical histories exist everywhere, and the more we face them, the more we can can address some of the healing that needs to happen. So yeah, maybe we’re putting a little match to the powder keg.

Thane: Thane here from TVMEG.com. Question to everyone: What training did you have for the fight scenes?

Rob: Training for the fight scenes? Well, actually the first week, Shantae, wasn’t it? We got in –

Shantae: Yeah.

Rob: They made us do awful things like push ups and sit ups and jumping around. We had an intense week of personal training in rehearsals, yeah.

Shantae: Yeah, we had like the personal training first and then went straight to rehearsals like reading. Yeah, it was crazy.

Rob: We had a really crack team of stunt people, wonderful people, but super across what we needed to do, and we were in the lucky position of getting in really early when we had a fight sequence coming up. So, in the early days, at least, we had lots of preparation to be able to knock those things down. So, it was a sort of coordinated approach of getting generally fit and working through choreography for the big fight sequences.

Question: Can you maybe talk about just overall having worked on this project, is there anything that you learned about yourself, either as a person, or an actor, just in general, something that you can think of that you didn’t know, maybe, before you started?

Rob: Oh, good question.

Yael: When when you do sign on for a project, sometimes you don’t know what you’re in for, because the story has sort of yet to fully unfold in terms of scripts. And in a way, coming back to Thane’s question, that physical element of embodying things and embodying kind of like those violent situations, it can be quite confronting. I’ve never done a lot of that kind of stuff before, so embodying some of that more physical element was a bit of a surprise for me, and a surprise in terms of that you don’t know what you’re signing on for. Then, in the actual moment, when you find yourself in all kinds of wild situations – like we were down in this crazy opal mine, these actual opal mines, and you catch yourself, and you think, “Oh, my Lord, I would never do this in my real life,” but suddenly, you’re there, and getting the shot is the most important thing, and you wouldn’t be anywhere else but down at the bottom of that opal mine.

Rob: Yeah, just building on that idea of uncertainty that Yael said, I think that’s probably the biggest thing as an actor and a person I’ve learned through this experience. We moved at such a rapid pace, and I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy in my life. I’ve spent most days on set. So, being able to sort of trust in what preparation you’ve done, trust in other people’s vision, [and] hand over a bit of the control to these wonderful creatives was a big learning curve, for me. I’m someone who’s really cerebral. I mean, I like to think about things a lot when it comes to performance and character. I wasn’t afforded that kind of opportunity on this, in a good way. So, embracing the chaos and accepting that the work is there and relinquishing some of that control to these fabulous creatives was a big learning curve for me, and one that I’d love to take into every project, because while it was terrifying, it was also very freeing and very liberating.

Shantae: For me, I feel like every day was learning, because I just haven’t had as much experience. It was just so good being around Rob and Yael and all the other, you know, older, experienced actors and actresses –

Rob: [clears throat] Not that much older.

Question: I was going to say, you called them old there! [laughs]

Shantae: [laughs] More experienced, [and] to learn from them is really cool, and I’m still learning to this day, still gonna keep learning, but yeah, I haven’t had a job this long as well. So, it was challenging as well, being away from family and learning about being, not alone, but, you know, by yourself, learning as a teenager and just keeping in that positive mental state. [It] was learning for me, and yeah, just meeting everyone on set, and the big crew and cast. I feel like that was one of my best learning things, I guess. But yeah, I learned a lot on this job.

Yael: It’s worth saying as well that Shantae also graduated high school while she was doing this job.

Question: Yeah, that’s got to be hard.

Yael: It was no mean feat. It was amazing to watch her juggle everything and learning everything and doing all that independence work of living away from your family, plus school, plus this huge job. She did an incredible job.

Rob: Yeah, I second that. She had her homework in the makeup trailer most mornings. It was incredible.

Question: So, based on the initial concept or the initial sketch or outline, what attracted you most or impressed you more most about your characters?

Rob: I guess I’ll take that first. I’ve done mainly TV in Australia, and my characters are very straight, steady, contained; they have it together in some certain degree. Tyson was, I think I can say this, the most fun I’ve had with a character, because he’s anything but that. So, strangely, it feels like in terms of my film persona, it’s really different, but my children, especially my oldest girl, has seen some of the show, just rough scenes, and says it’s oddly how I am at home. So, Tyson, there are elements of him that are closer to how I am in my private life, not necessarily my public face. So, it kind of drew that out of me, which is a kind of a fun thing. And I think, looking at the character off the page, it’s that stuff that I connected to: he’s fun; he’s silly. He has a very silly relationship – well, silly and serious with Shanika, which reminded me a lot of my own relationship with my daughters here. So, yeah, he’s chaos, but he’s a lot of heart as well. So, it felt really familiar to me.

Shantae: I felt like, my character found herself more at the end of the story…I was still quite strong, and I was smart and tech savvy and all that, but I wasn’t really powerful. I feel I was more powerful in the end. I had to go through a journey to really find that in myself. But I love my character. I feel I’m just underrated. I don’t know; there’s just something about Shanika that not many people would expect from a teenager, and, obviously, Tyson taught her growing up how to fight vampires; that’s pretty cool. So, she uses that in the classroom against classmates. She actually fights a lot at the school. [laughs] So, yeah, she definitely has some skills in life, and she’s strong, and she’s smart. She is smart, I would say.

Yael: I think it’s taken me a while, but I can say it out loud, “I think I’m a character actor.” [laughs] And Ellie, for me, is a real kind of character role. It’s probably not there in those first three episodes, so it’s kind of hard to talk about, given you guys have seen so little of her journey, I guess, and I don’t want to give anything away. So, let me give a silly answer. She has an accent, and I like accents. So, that’s why.

Thane: Shantae, was that you on the motorcycle, or a stunt double? And if it was you, how did you prepare?

Shantae: No, that was my stunt double, Tess. She’s my perfect stunt double. She’s like, you know, same skin type, a little bit shorter. So, it looks exactly like me, but it wasn’t. What they did is they would put her on the motorbike, and then they’d quickly get me at the end, just getting off the motorbike. So, yeah, they cut it really well. I really wish I’d learned how to ride motorbikes, because it’s really cool.

Yael: I mean, it sounds like you’re pretty into stunts. We had an amazing team, and I’m just not gonna say that [my stunt double] did any of my stunts. I’m just gonna be like, “Yeah, I did all of that.” [laughs] Everything you see, it’s all me, but actually, Rob, you maybe did everything, didn’t you, like did pretty much everything yourself?

Rob: I did everything but anything that looked a bit “hurty.” So, Cory, my stunt double, did that and all the driving as well. There are over 2500 manholes in Coober Pedy, so they didn’t trust me to drive a car at speed, weaving through those poles. And I have to say, Cory did an amazing job there. In fact, this is a good point to shout out to our amazing stunt team, led by Nathan [Lawson], that were not only great people, really supportive, but the fight sequences in this show are something else. They’re certainly the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of pretending to be in.

Yael: They also played a lot of the vampires. They got dressed up a lot, and they got killed a lot.

Rob: Yeah.

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

MORE INFO:

Trailer

Scene from "Firebite"AMC STUDIOS GREENLIGHTS FIREBITE, A CO-PRODUCTION WITH SEE-SAW FILMS TO PREMIERE ON AMC+ LATER THIS YEAR

June 08, 2021

High-Octane Fantasy Follows Two Indigenous Australians on Quest to Battle Last Colony of Vampires in South Australia 

NEW YORK, NY, June 8, 2021 – AMC Studios today announced that it has greenlit a new original series called Firebite. A co-production with See-Saw Films, the series will be filmed in Australia this summer and is expected to appear on AMC+ later this year.

Firebite is a high-octane, highly original spin on the Vampire genre and fantasy series that follows two Indigenous Australian hunters, Tyson and Shanika, on their quest to battle the last colony of vampires in the middle of the South Australian desert.

Created, written and to be directed by Australia’s most celebrated Indigenous auteur voice, Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah, Sweet Country) together with Brendan Fletcher (Mad Bastards), the series is set in a remote desert mining town, a hive for the last vampire stronghold shipped from Britain to Australia in 1788 by the colonial superpower to eradicate the Indigenous populations.

Sheltering from the sun in the underground mines and tunnels that surround the town until the present day, the colony’s numbers and hunger is growing. War is coming. Tyson and Shanika stand vanguard to the war. But what hope does an expertly reckless man full of bravado and a 17-year-old orphan possibly have to defeat these vicious blood-thirsty parasites, when legions of warriors before them have failed?

Executive Producers for See-Saw Films are Rachel Gardner, Emile Sherman and Iain Canning, alongside Thornton and Fletcher. See-Saw’s Simon Gillis serves as Co-Executive Producer.

Paul Ranford (Stateless, True History of the Kelly Gang) will produce the series alongside Indigenous filmmaker Dena Curtis (Elements, Grace Beside Me), who is co-producing. The writing team include Kodie Bedford and newcomers Devi Telfer and Josh Sambono.

The season will be comprised of eight, one-hour episodes and will be filmed on the traditional Country of the Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara people of the Western Desert and Kaurna People of the Adelaide Plains in and around Adelaide, the regional town of Coober Pedy and at the Adelaide Studios in South Australia.

The deal was negotiated by Rebecca Hardman for See-Saw Films and Scott Stein for AMC. The series has received major funding from the South Australian Film Corporation. The production is providing employment opportunities for First Nations practitioners.

“This is an original and highly entertaining series we can’t wait to bring to AMC+, and one that expands our already fruitful creative partnership with See-Saw Films after very successful collaborations on the wildly original State of the Union and the rare gem that was Top of the Lake,” said Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks and co-head of AMC Studios. “We are excited to tell this story authentically, in Australia with Indigenous storytellers, cast and crew and on Indigenous lands.”

Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher said, “We are really proud of the worthy and important stories we’ve brought to the screen over the last twenty years. Now it’s time for some rock and roll.”

Rachel Gardner, See-Saw Films’ Head of Drama Australia and Executive Producer said, “It’s incredibly exciting to be bringing Warwick and Brendan’s unique vision to the screen with a high-octane explosive story that draws on the complex themes of colonisation and racial prejudice, driven by Indigenous storytellers.”

See-Saw’s Managing Directors, and Executive Producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning said, “We are thrilled to be working with Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher, who are such formidable storytellers, on this hugely original, action packed new show, headlined by so many wonderfully talented Indigenous voices. It’s fantastic to be collaborating once again with our friends at AMC who champion such original programming, and continually back great talent.”

Warwick Thornton is one of Australia’s most notable directors and Indigenous voices. Thornton (Samson and Deliah, Sweet Country) and Brendan Fletcher (Mad Bastards) are both known for their powerful and gritty feature films. Samson and Delilah won the Camera D’Or at Cannes and Sweet Country won the Special Jury Prize at Venice Film Festival as well as the Platform Prize at the Toronto Film Festival. Mad Bastards was nominated for the Special Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival. Together Brendan and Warwick were commissioned by the Australian Government to co-direct the first ever International TV campaign to promote Aboriginal Tourism. The campaign was seen by over 30 million people worldwide. They collaborated again on the Award-Winning documentary We Don’t Need A Map, which opened the 2017 Sydney Film Festival. Firebite is their first television series as Creators – their goal was to create something they want to watch – fast paced, highly imagined and entertaining.

Warwick and Brendan are repped by UTA and by attorney Darren Tratter.

About See-Saw Films

See-Saw Films is a world leading film and television production house, founded in 2008 by Academy Award®, BAFTA and Emmy winning producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, with offices in London and Sydney.

See-Saw’s first television series was the multi-award winning first season of Jane Campion’s ‘Top of the Lake’. Campion returned with ‘Top of The Lake: China Girl’ starring Elisabeth Moss, Nicole Kidman and Gwendoline Christie which premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Globe.  ‘State of the Union’, written by Nick Hornby, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Rosamund Pike and Chris O’Dowd had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2019 and won three Emmy Awards. Recent projects include Samantha Strauss’ ‘The End’ for Foxtel, Sky Atlantic and Showtime, starring Harriet Walter and Frances O’Connor. Upcoming projects include ‘The North Water’ for BBC Two written and directed by Andrew Haigh, starring Colin Farrell, Jack O’Connell and Stephen Graham; ‘Slow Horses’ for Apple TV+, starring Gary Oldman; a second season of ‘State of the Union’ written by Nick Hornby, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Brendan Gleeson, Patricia Clarkson and Esco Jouléy; ‘The Essex Serpent’ for Apple TV+ to be directed by Clio Barnard, starring Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston; and ‘Heartstopper’ for Netflix, to be directed by Euros Lyn.

See-Saw produced the six-time Academy Award® nominated Lion, starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara, as well as The King’s Speech, which was nominated for twelve and won four Academy Awards® in 2011 including Best Motion Picture. Recent projects include Widows directed by Steve McQueen and starring Viola Davis and Ammonite, written and directed by Francis Lee, starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. Upcoming film projects include Operation Mincemeat, directed by John Madden and starring Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen and Kelly Macdonald; The Unknown Man starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris; and The Power Of The Dog, written and directed by Jane Campion, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons;

About AMC Networks Inc. 

AMC Networks is a global entertainment company known for its popular and critically-acclaimed content. Its portfolio of brands includes AMC, BBC AMERICA (operated through a joint venture with BBC Studios), IFC, SundanceTV, WE tv, IFC Films, and a number of fast-growing streaming services, including the AMC+ premium streaming bundle, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now and ALLBLK. AMC Studios, the Company’s in-house studio, production and distribution operation, is behind award-winning owned series and franchises, including The Walking Dead, the highest-rated series in cable history. The Company also operates AMC Networks International, its international programming business, and 25/7 Media, its production services business.

AMC+ ORIGINAL SERIES FIREBITE BEGINS PRODUCTION IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA WITH YAEL STONE, ROB COLLINS, CALLAN MULVEY & SHANTAE BARNES-COWAN IN LEADING ROLES

August 23, 2021

TONY KRAVITZ JOINS WARWICK THORNTON & BRENDAN FLETCHER AS DIRECTOR

AN AMC STUDIOS CO-PRODUCTION WITH SEE-SAW FILMS, FIREBITE DEBUTS ON AMC+ THIS WINTER

NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 23, 2021 – AMC+ announced today the start of production on the Original Series Firebite in South Australia this week, with Yael Stone (Orange is the New Black), Rob Collins (Cleverman, Extraction) and Callan Mulvey (Avengers: End Game) in leading roles. The series will also introduce Indigenous Australian star Shantae Barnes-Cowan. A co-production between AMC Studios and  See-Saw Films, Firebite is a high-octane, highly original spin on the Vampire genre and fantasy series that follows two Indigenous Australian hunters, Tyson (Collins) and Shanika (Barnes-Cowan), on their quest to battle the last colony of vampires in the middle of the South Australian desert. The series is comprised of eight, one-hour episodes set to debut on AMC+ this winter.

Created and written by Australia’s most celebrated Indigenous auteur voice, Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah, Sweet Country), who also directs along with Brendan Fletcher (Mad Bastards) and Tony Krawitz (The Tall Man, Dead Europe), Firebite is set in a remote desert mining town, a hive for the last vampire stronghold shipped from Britain to Australia in 1788 by the colonial superpower to eradicate the Indigenous populations. Sheltering from the sun in the underground mines and tunnels that surround the town until the present day, the colony’s numbers and hunger is growing. War is coming. Tyson and Shanika stand vanguard to the war. But what hope does an expertly reckless man full of bravado and a 17-year-old orphan possibly have to defeat these vicious blood-thirsty parasites, when legions of warriors before them have failed?

Thornton and Fletcher said, “Our only rule was to find great people, no matter where they came from. We have actors who’ve worked on big Hollywood blockbusters, and others that are flying in from remote Aboriginal communities who light up the screen with natural presence. To us, they are all movie stars.”

Executive Producer Rachel Gardner said: “We love our cast. They bring these characters to life with authenticity, power and a solid dose of naughty. It feels like this is going to be something special.”

Kristin Jones, Executive Vice President, International Programming and Program Innovation, AMC Networks said: “We are committed to creating compelling programming with diverse voices and representation for our viewers, and Firebite delivers on this goal. We’re thrilled to bring this unique original series to life authentically with a stellar cast and crew on Indigenous lands with Indigenous storytelling.”

See-Saw’s Managing Directors and Executive Producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning said: “As we start principal photography, we’re delighted to announce our exceptional cast and the addition of our friend Tony Krawitz to the directing team. Led by visionary director Warwick Thornton, we’re going to be in for an exciting ride”

Kristin Jones is overseeing the series for AMC Networks. Executive Producers for See-Saw Films are Emile Sherman and Iain Canning, alongside Rachel Gardner, Thornton and Fletcher. See-Saw’s Simon Gillis serves as co-executive producer, with Libby Sharpe as co-producer and Billy Bowring as associate producer. Paul Ranford (Stateless, True History of the Kelly Gang) will produce the series alongside Indigenous filmmaker Dena Curtis (Elements, Grace Beside Me), who is co-producing. The writing team include Kodie Bedford and newcomers Devi Telfer and Josh Sambono.

Yael Stone is represented by Lisa Mann and Elly Speer, Lisa Mann Creative Management (Australia) and, in the US, by Jason Gutman, The Gersh Agency, and Andy Corren, Andy Corren Management. Rob Collins and Callan Mulvey are represented by Sarah Nathan, Shanahan Management (Australia). Rob Collins’ US representative is Matt Shaffer, Innovative Artists. Callan Mulvey’s US representatives are Kim Hodgert, Anonymous Content, and Jim Dempsey, Paradigm. Shantae Barnes-Cowan is represented by Peter Gunn and Ali Roberts, Actors Management International.

The series has received major funding from the South Australian Film Corporation. The production is providing employment opportunities for First Nations practitioners.

AMC+ RELEASES FIRST-LOOK IMAGES FROM NEW ORIGINAL VAMPIRE FANTASY SERIES FIREBITE, PREMIERING DECEMBER 16

November 04, 2021

An AMC Studios Original Production with See-Saw Films, the Eight-Episode Series Stars Yael Stone, Rob Collins, Callan Mulvey and Shantae Barnes-Cowan


NEW YORK – November 4, 2021 – AMC+ released today first-look images from its highly original vampire fantasy series Firebite, which is set to premiere Thursday, December 16 on the premium streaming bundle. The eight-episode series, rolling out with new episodes every Thursday, stars Yael Stone (Orange is the New Black), Rob Collins (Cleverman, Extraction), Callan Mulvey (Avengers: End Game) and Indigenous Australian star Shantae Barnes-Cowan. An AMC Studios original production with See-Saw Films, Firebite takes a new spin on the vampire genre, following two Indigenous Australian hunters, Tyson (Collins) and Shanika (Barnes-Cowan), on their quest to battle the last colony of vampires in the middle of the South Australian desert.

Created, directed and written by Australia’s most celebrated Indigenous auteur voice, Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah, Sweet Country) alongside Brendan Fletcher (Mad Bastards), with Tony Krawitz (The Tall Man, Dead Europe) joining as director, Firebite is set in a remote desert mining town, a hive for the last vampire stronghold shipped from Britain to Australia in 1788 by the colonial superpower to eradicate the Indigenous populations. Sheltering from the sun in the underground mines and tunnels that surround the town until the present day, the colony’s numbers and hunger is growing. War is coming. Tyson and Shanika stand vanguard to the war. But what hope does an expertly reckless man full of bravado and a 17-year-old orphan possibly have to defeat these vicious blood-thirsty parasites, when legions of warriors before them have failed?

Kristin Jones is overseeing the series for AMC Networks. Executive producers for See-Saw Films are Emile Sherman and Iain Canning, alongside Rachel Gardner, Thornton and Fletcher. See-Saw’s Simon Gillis and Kodie Bedford serve as co-executive producers with Kodie Bedford as script producer, Libby Sharpe as co-producer and Billy Bowring as associate producer. Paul Ranford (Stateless, True History of the Kelly Gang) produces the series alongside Indigenous filmmaker Dena Curtis (Elements, Grace Beside Me), who is co-producing.

AMC Studios Content Distribution is managing worldwide sales.

AMC+ RELEASES TRAILER AND KEY ART FOR FIREBITE

December 09, 2021

AMC+ released today the trailer and key art for the original vampire fantasy series Firebite, premiering Thursday, December 16 on the premium streaming bundle with new episodes to follow every Thursday. The eight-episode series takes a new spin on the vampire genre, following two Indigenous Australian hunters, Tyson (Rob Collins, Cleverman, Extraction) and Shanika (Indigenous Australian star Shantae Barnes-Cowan), on their quest to battle the last colony of vampires in the middle of the South Australian desert. The series also stars Yael Stone (Orange is the New Black) and Callan Mulvey (Avengers: End Game), amongst others.

Created, directed and written by Australia’s most celebrated Indigenous auteur voice, Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah, Sweet Country) alongside Brendan Fletcher (Mad Bastards), with Tony Krawitz (The Tall Man, Dead Europe) joining as director, Firebite is an AMC Studios original production with See-Saw Films.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Back to the Primetime Articles and Interviews Page

Press panel for "Firebite"

Interview with Ryan McPartlin, Jana Kramer and Maria Menounos

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Ryan McPartlin, Jana Kramer and Maria Menounos in Lifetime's "The Holiday Fixup"

Interview with Ryan McPartlin, Jana Kramer and Maria Menounos of “The Holiday Fixup” on Lifetime by Suzanne 11/8/21

This is a fun movie, particularly if you like DIY projects, and the press panel for the movie was highly entertaining. These are some very attractive people, for one thing. Ryan was on “Passions” years ago, and he still looks great! Of course, it goes without saying that everyone’s acting is top of the line, too. I’ve enjoyed all of the Lifetime holiday movies this year. I hope you do, too.

MODERATOR:

Hi, everyone. Our next panel is “The Holiday Fixup.” Please welcome EP and stars, Jana Kramer, and Ryan McPartlin, and star Maria Menounos.

JANA KRAMER:

Hi. Hi, guys. Hi, Ryan. Hi, Maria.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Hi, guys.

JANA KRAMER:

Hi.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Hi. Can you guys hear me?

JANA KRAMER:

The team’s all back.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

I know.

MODERATOR:

Before we get into the questions, today we have a pre-submitted question. What was it like filming a holiday movie all together in the dead of summer in Connecticut?

JANA KRAMER:

(Laughs.).

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

(Laugh.) I love your laugh.

JANA KRAMER:

Exactly that. Exactly that.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

It’s perfect. That’s it.

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

It was hot. It was so fun though. I love these guys so much. Jana and Ryan are gems, and we just have the best time.

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah. I will say that, I feel like we got pretty lucky guys. Like it could have been —

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Yeah.

JANA KRAMER:

I mean, we had a few (hot) days, but the days that we were outside I felt like we were blessed with not like, you know (not too hot)– And I think there was only one day, I was like “I think I might pass out.” But, Ryan, it doesn’t matter if it was sunny or not, Ryan was going to always have a fan —

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Oh, yeah.

JANA KRAMER:

Whether it was sunny, not sunny. I mean, that man sweats so much, like, thank God it wasn’t hotter —

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

It didn’t help that I was taking a supplement that I found out afterwards —

JANA KRAMER:

Yep.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

— causes excessive sweating.

JANA KRAMER:

Uh huh.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

And then we’re in sweaters in the dead of summer, and I’ve done this multiple times, as Jana has as well, — so I’m always preparing the crew and production saying, hey, we need some ice packs. We need fans standing by. I need dryers to dry the hair. I didn’t want to hold up production…and somehow it’s always like the afterthought, right? And then when the sweat starts coming and you’re holding up production everybody’s like send as many people to the store as possible. We need to get fans. We need dryers. We need everything.

JANA KRAMER:

I needed Gatorade. That was my ask. I was like I need a Gatorade. I’m feeling lightheaded…but it was so fun —

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

I was a little upset that when I was pouring sweat, I’d look at you guys and you’re like, no, not a drop.

JANA KRAMER:

We glisten. Ryan sweats. Maria and I didn’t —

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Yeah. That’s right. That’s right.

MODERATOR:

Suzanne. Please let us know your question.

QUESTION:

Oh, hi, guys. I enjoyed the movie. I’m not really into DIY, but what about you? Ryan, do you do DIY in real life? (Laughter.)

JANA KRAMER:

Wait, can I answer that, please?

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Go ahead. Go ahead.

JANA KRAMER:

Because the first time that I ever met Ryan — Suzanne, thank you for watching the movie — but the first time that Ryan and I actually Facetime’d he was trying to hang blinds, I think it was, and doing a terrible job. So, Ryan,  —

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

And that was the last time I’ve done anything around the house. Well, no, no, no…I had to fix a doorknob last night. I went to Home Depot and then Loew’s – had three different people explain to me how to do it, and I was like, I’m just going to hire somebody. It’s not my jam.

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah.

QUESTION:

Okay. Well, and the snowball fight was the most fun of all the movie, I thought. Was that as fun for you to shoot as it was for us to watch?

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

It was super fun, and that was the hottest day, too, you guys. That was the only day that was excruciating —

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

It was the hottest day.

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah. That was the hottest day, and then I feel like, Maria, you and I became a little competitive. Like we were legit pushing each other at the start of doing that. We’re like “it’s going down” —

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Yeah.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

That was Brian Herzlinger, our director – he wanted to have his “Saving Private Ryan” moment where he was going to get all this camera action and get the really artistic movement as — Well, you see it in the trailer as Maria and Jana are just unloading on each other and getting very competitive with each other.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

It was so fun

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah.

QUESTION:

Oh, thank you.

JANA KRAMER:

It was kind of funny, too, Brian wanted a “Saving Private Ryan” moment. Like you do know this is a Christmas movie, right? But it was so much fun —

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Oh, and actually these guys championed my husband having a cameo in the movie, and that was the scene he made the snow. He’s Nick the Snowman.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Nick the Snowman.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Um hm.

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah.

QUESTION:

Oh. Great. Thank you so much.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Thank you.

MODERATOR:

Thank you. That’s awesome. Damina, your question next?

JANA KRAMER:

Oh, you’re muted, sweetie. Can we unmute her?

MODERATOR:

We can come back. We’ll come back – – Oh, there you are. Damina? Okay, we’ll come back. Steven, you’re up next. Steven.

JANA KRAMER:

How’s the photo, Ryan? Do you need your ID?

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

I got you. I got you. You always get me every time and I never know it until later.

QUESTION:

Did you guys call me?

MODERATOR:

Yes.

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah, it’s your turn, buddy.

QUESTION:

Thank you. Here we go. All right. So, yes, talk to us about this amazing film. Ryan, I see that you’re doing your thing. You’ve still out here ever since the “Passions” days.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Thank you for that.

QUESTION:

Oh, yeah. You look amazing. All of you look great.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Thank you.

QUESTION:

Happy holidays.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Yeah. Happy Holidays to you. Go ahead, Jana.

QUESTION:

So, talk to us about the film, and how is it? Is it challenging coming up with the chemistry between cast members? How long does that normally take?

JANA KRAMER:

Ryan, you kick it off.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Well, we got to Zoom…Jana and I, fortunately, had all these Zoom’ing sessions with our writer who is amazing, Jessica Etting. And so there was a couple times that Jana and I were on the same page — but not some of the other voices, because there’s a whole lot of voices — and you just look at the camera in one of these Zoom meetings and you’d kind of look at each other and try and stifle a little of laughter…it was like being in class and just locking eyes with somebody who was in on the joke. And so Jana and I felt like we were in on the same joke that everybody wasn’t in on, and that kind of kicked off our friendship.

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah. No, we had…I mean, pretty much instant chemistry. The same with Maria and I. Every time I’ve been with Maria, we had that and I’m like, oh, that’s going to be easy to play best friends with her, because every time I see her I feel like she’s such a close friend. And then with Ryan it’s like we had that kind of, you know — that brotherly/sister, fun banter, fun – it’s that good energy. So that part was really easy, to have the chemistry. And then we were all teammates together. We all helped each other out, and when I got super tired, Ryan was there to pump me up.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

There was no pumping you up when were that tired. When you’re that tired nobody can do anything about it. But I will say, back to the chemistry with Maria, too — Maria and I started talking about trying to do something in the Christmas space together at least two years ago, right? Sometime around two years ago…

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

And when I saw her at a Christmas party, I was like, oh, my God, I got to talk to Maria about being in this space…and Maria and I have known each other for years. I threw a touchdown pass, or was it you to me? No, it was me to you, right?

MARIA MENOUNOS:

You to me, yeah. (I throw it back @ 00:28:34) —

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Yeah. It was, yeah, we have the footage. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

I’m such a giver.

Ryan McPartlin and Jana Kramer in "The Holiday Fixup" on Lifetime 11/8RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Yeah. Well, you did throw an extra point then. You were playing quarterback and played like — did a two-point conversion. It was amazing. I got the footage.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Oh, you’re right.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Yep. But, no, Maria — when I saw her at this party that we were at, I was like, Maria, you have to be in this Christmas space and then…you go, Maria, I don’t want to monopolize this conversation.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Not at all. Yeah, I’ve said this, I think it was just super cool. Ryan saw a little doc that I did on my experience with my parents getting COVID at the same time, and I did this little like 19-minute piece, and he saw it and sent me this beautiful email about how much it moved him, and how he was going to really kind of cherish those moments with his family even more, and it was just a beautiful letter…and one thing led to another and all of a sudden, I was getting on a plane to Connecticut to make this movie with them. And it was very much needed for me at the time. I just lost my mom, and I got to go back to Connecticut, and stay in my bed, and be with my dad, and get to have fun with these guys every day. And I do think that it’s super rare to have just such instant chemistry with everybody, and we all just clicked so fast and so easily. I was doing Jana’s makeup at one point. Jana’s fanning Ryan. Like everybody was helping each other, and it was really special. So, I told them, I’m like, I just want to be able to do this every summer with you guys, because I love them so much, and we have just such a great team all around.

MODERATOR:

That’s really beautiful. Thank you. Thank you so much. And, Jana, wow. Ryan really coming for you about being tired on set. We have your back.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Thank you.

MODERATOR:

And, Jamie, the next question is from you. Jamie Ruby, sorry. We have another Jamie.

QUESTION:

I was going to say which Jamie.

MODERATOR:

Sorry, Jamie Ruby.

QUESTION:

It’s okay. And, Maria, I think you sort of just answered this partially but maybe you can add more to it, but for all of you, what was it originally though that made you want to do this film?

JANA KRAMER:

I’ll start — because I had had a meeting about a different movie a few days prior to talking to Ryan and the producers of this film, and it was something about… Well, one of the reasons I really wanted to do it, because I’ve always wanted to work with Ryan and it was cool because there wasn’t a script, so I was able to kind of put my two cents into it. This is Ryan’s idea that he’s had for a long time, so it was cool to be able to actually collaborate and help bring the story to life as opposed to showing up on the page. Because usually we just get the script and we read it, we like it, or we don’t. But to be able to kind of have a say was really cool and one of the main draws of doing this film. I was like, okay, cool, I can actually have a little bit of a say in it, and Ryan was open to all of that. So that was neat.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

She had a lot of say in it, not just a little bit of say, because when — It’s not that you’re that over opinionated, Jana –It’s like I really respected her opinions and she had very good input, ideas, story points. She’s done this, you know, she’s done as many of these as probably I have, I’d say. And you don’t want the redundancy of doing the same story over-and-over-again. So, you look for ways to say how can it be different? How is it different than the other stuff out there, and that’s what I’m really proud of — especially how we would talk out some of these things, if it was a real relationship and a real life and we were playing real exes. And the way that I saw the story ending is not necessarily the way that Jana saw it from her perspective. So, when our writer, Jessica Koosed Etting, heard her response if I said one thing and then Jana said, well, I would say this — it just turned everything. So, you got to kind of play like you would in, you know, onstage in a theater, in a class together. And you go, oh, that’s interesting…if that’s how you would really react let’s work that into the story and still tie it up nicely to deliver to the audience what they expect, but in a different way than that expect it.

JANA KRAMER:

Sure, yep.

MODERATOR:

Our next question is from Jamie Steinberg.

QUESTION:

Hi, thank you guys so much for your time. Jana and Ryan if you could talk about how you stepped in as executive producers. Was this something of a passion project that came across your desk, or did they offer you a role of EP after you singed on to the film?

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

No, this was something where if you are involved creatively as an actor, from the get-go, like we both were you know — this started with Jessica Koosed Etting and I flushing out a different story, but then we adapted it towards Christmas a little bit, and then quite honestly the whole thing changed when Jana came onboard. We just started talking about the movies we loved. Jana, if you want to talk about that and some of the romantic comedies, some of the Christmas movies we loved…and we started saying, okay, what are those themes that we want to play with.

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah, and that’s something, too, because Ryan and I have done so many of these Christmas movies it was something that I had a conversation with Lifetime about and was like, I really want to be able to bring my ideas to the table. So, I would like to moving forward be able to executive produce, just so that way I, you know — because making Christmas movies are so much fun. They’re easy. They’re light. They’re fun — but I also want to bring a little bit of complications to things, or a little bit of my own touch to things and to have that voice, and that way. I don’t know, Ryan, if it felt the same way for you, but I felt really, really, really, proud of this one, because I felt like I had so much more to…I offered so much more in this film than I have in the other ones. And, yeah, I loved all the other ones, but this one…I was like, man, this is — It’s the first thing I’ve ever executive produced! So that was kind of cool to just be like — I was proud of myself and I was proud of you. It was fun.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Yeah. And I feel like, you know, Maria, hopefully, you felt your voice was the heard the same as, any producer or actor would be — come on in if they had ideas and wanted to play. It was nice because it was like a safe artists’ space, you know. That’s what we wanted to create.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

A hundred percent. I will say they were amazing executive producers. Not only did they feed the crew, got coffee trucks — they did all the things that really great producers do to keep everybody happy, keep everybody going. They always say it starts at the top and literally it was a perfect experience all the way through for everybody. We all loved it. We all had the best time. Everybody was excited, and everybody was onboard with making the best movie we could while having fun. So that is why I’m committed to how do we do this every summer together? How do we add in some time where we always can make a movie together, keep the same crew, keep the same thing…

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Yeah. I’d love that. And we also got to give credit to Stephanie and Margaret, our other executive producers —

JANA KRAMER:

Absolutely.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

— they really gave us that freedom to jump in and produce alongside them. They did a lot of the hard, dirty work, I’d say, as producers dealing with the budgets and the overtime and the schedules and all that stuff since we really want to stay in the creative space, and that’s what we were able to do, thank God.

JANA KRAMER:

Although, I think that part’s fun, but I’ll do that later.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Yeah.

MODERATOR:

Thank you. Our next question is from Jay Bobbin.

QUESTION:

Hello, everyone. Maria, have you ever interviewed Jana? Is that where this friendship started, and if that is where it started, how do you remember the interview going?

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Well, I will say that I have zero memory. This is where I throw my brain tumor card down. I can’t remember anything. My husband’s my USB drive…but, yes, I know I’ve interviewed Jana — but we were also friendly just in the business and with Ryan the same thing. So, I can’t say I remember the first moment I laid eyes on this beautiful woman.

JANA KRAMER:

I remember you helped me out with “Dancing with the Stars” because I remember you were there at “Dancing with the Stars” and Val was your partner, right? He was like you —

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Yeah. No, Val, he was like the fake doctor on the set.

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah. He’s like you need to talk to Maria, because she also hurt her ribs or something like that. So, I just remember you being so nice and just so willing to… I mean, we talked for a while and then it just, again, it just felt like — man, we’re talking like we’re real friends. It was such a friendly conversation —

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Yeah.

JANA KRAMER:

I just remember hanging up on that and being like, wow, she’s special, a special person.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Thanks. Thanks, friend. Yeah, I never remember how I meet anybody, to be honest, because I am just I’m so excited to see everybody and meet people when I meet them that it just floats away.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Except for when someone throws you a touchdown pass.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Yes. But you just had to remind me that I threw you a two-point conversion. I don’t remember —

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Yeah. That’s right.

QUESTION:

Thank you.

MODERATOR:

Thank you.

JANA KRAMER:

Thanks, (Jay @ 00:38:09).

MODERATOR:

We have time for one last question. Samantha.

QUESTION:

Hi. Jana, I’m really curious about with the social media aspect of this role, I loved how you all really leaned into the positive aspects of it just with the world complaining so much about the problems, and I’m just curious about the intention behind making that such a large part of your character’s job in the film.

JANA KRAMER:

Yeah. It was fun. I mean, especially because I’m like “I don’t know how to do this.” Meanwhile, my whole entire life is social media, so that was kind of fun to do that. But also, I think what I learned…actually, yes, we showed how it can bring people together. But, for me, personally, what I took away from the movie the most is actually about putting the phone down. It’s what we always talked about, the one character, Rita’s character — where it’s back in the day when we didn’t have the cell phones and we were able to just disconnect and be in a room together and not be glued to Instagram or the phone. And that’s what I took away from it the most – it is just having that distraction away to really just be present with the people in front of me. So that’s something that I would like to lean more into.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

I think that social media caught us all by storm, you know, and there were no rules. There was no teaching moment. We didn’t come up in school with teachers saying you should compartmentalize this. And then the job of these apps and the social media companies is to see how many hours they can get out of your day spent on these apps. So, there is a lot of benefit to it and there’s a lot of, you know, businesses that thrive from it. Our small business that we have came about because of social media and there’s a lot of charities that do very well — but it is a danger, and it’s going to be. It’s interesting that the back-and-forth that our characters had about compartmentalizing and what to use it for, and how to use it, and I think that’s a real conversation that should be had in every household right now.

JANA KRAMER:

Um hm.

MODERATOR:

Thank you so much. Thank you to the cast and Eps of “The Holiday Fixup.” Please make sure to tune in on December 11.

JANA KRAMER:

Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Thank you very much —

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Thank you.

JANA KRAMER:

Thank you very much.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Bye.

JANA KRAMER:

Do we hang up now? Okay. Bye, guys.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

Bye, guys.

MARIA MENOUNOS:

Okay, bye.

RYAN MCPARTLIN:

We’ll talk to you all later.

JANA KRAMER:

Okay.

MORE INFO:

Preview

Lifetime Reveals Full Holiday Movie Slate for Annual IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFETIME Programming Event Beginning November 12th, Including 30 New Premieres In 30 Days Kicking Off After Thanksgiving to Count Down to Christmas

– 09/28/2021 –

Lifetime Reveals Full Holiday Movie Slate for Annual

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFETIME

Programming Event Beginning November 12th, 

Including 30 New Premieres In 30 Days

Kicking Off After Thanksgiving to Count Down to Christmas

Talent Around the Tree This Year Includes

Kelly Rowland, Reba McEntire, Melissa Joan Hart, Mario Lopez, Tia Mowry, Smokey Robinson, Jana Kramer, Marie Osmond, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Tatyana Ali, Roselyn Sánchez, Jacky Lai, Mýa, Ryan McPartlin, Thomas Cadrot, Bresha Webb, Candice King, Emeraude Tobia, Aimee Garcia, Haylie Duff, Ricki Lake, Kirk Franklin, John Schneider, Maria Menounos, Chad Michael Murray, AnnaLynne McCord, and Many Others

Los Angeles, CA – September 28, 2021 – Get ready for the most cheerful holiday season yet! Lifetime announces its largest holiday movie slate ever for the network’s annual It’s a Wonderful Lifetime programming event, kicking off November 12th with five new movies Fridays and Saturdays, and a premiere on Sunday, November 21st.  Then, once the Thanksgiving feast is over and for the first time ever, Lifetime will premiere 30 new movies, in 30 days, with a new movie EVERY DAY from November 26 through December 25. As the #1 holiday movie destination, Lifetime’s 2021 It’s a Wonderful Lifetime slate will feature 35 new movies and over 1000 hours of holiday programming.

In case that’s not enough excitement for you – get ready for It’s a Wonderful Lifetime Holiday Movie Preview hosted by Tia Mowry (star of this year’s Miracle in Motor City)! This special will preview Lifetime’s upcoming 2021 Christmas Movies and will be available on VOD beginning October 24 and will premiere on Lifetime November 7 at 10am ET/PT. In addition to sneak peeks and cast interviews, Tia will share a special holiday treat or cocktail recipe to go with each movie previewed!

At Lifetime it’s never too early to get in the spirit! Beginning October 15, Lifetime VOD will have 10 of your favorite holiday titles available to screen. And if you just can’t get enough – starting November 12, LMC will have 50 of Lifetime’s best holiday movies available to stream!

The Holiday Fix Up

Starring Jana Kramer, Ryan McPartlin & Maria Menounos

12/11 at 8pm / 7c

When Sam (Jana Kramer), the designer behind a popular home renovation show, returns to her hometown during the holidays to help renovate the Bell Harbor Inn, she gets paired with Coop (Ryan McPartlin) as her lead contractor. The only problem – he’s the guy who broke her heart and she’s the one who got away.  Sparks fly as they work closely to get the renovations done in time for the inn’s annual Christmas Eve Harborfest. Will they be able to fix the mistakes of their past to build a future together? Maria Menounos also stars.

The Holiday Fix Up is produced by Off Camera Entertainment with Stephanie Slack, Margret H. Huddleston, Jana Kramer and Ryan McPartlin as Executive Producers. Written by Jessica Koosed Etting and directed by Brian Herzlinger.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Back to the Primetime Articles and Interviews Page

poster for "The Holiday Fixup"

Interview with Alexa Mansour, Nicolas Cantu, Hal Cumpston and Julia Ormond

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Alexa Mansour, Nicolas Cantu, Hal Cumpston and Julia Ormond

Interview with Alexa Mansour, Nicolas Cantu, Hal Cumpston and Julia Ormond of “The Walking Dead: World Beyong” on AMC by Thane 12/3/21

This was my first interview for the site. We had some technical problems, but it worked out well in the end. It was great to listen to the actors talk about the final episode of the show.

Question:   Congratulations on a great season of the show. Now, the show was, as far as I know, entirely filmed in Richmond, Virginia, or if not, mostly filmed there. I was wondering if each of you could give me a recommendation for a great restaurant or spot to do or to go to the next time I’m in Richmond?

Alexa:  The Jefferson Hotel. Go to the Jefferson hotel; get a dirty martini. It’s great.

Hal:  Yeah, the Jefferson hotel is awesome. They’ve got an alligator out at the front, because apparently they used to have alligators walking around the hotel there in the 30s or something. What else is there? Where did we all go for that dinner by the river? That was awesome.

Alexa:  What was it called?

Nick:   The Lilly Pad? I’m pretty sure it’s the Lilly Pad.

Alexa:  It was the Lilly Pad. It was the Lilly Pad.

Hal:  The Lilly Pad. Hell yeah.

Nick:   My shouts out for Richmond are this hot chicken sandwich place called Hot Chick.

Hal:  Yeah, I was about to say “Hot Chick.”

Nick:   Hot Chick sandwich place, and I would go to the skate park a lot called Treasure Island. It’s a DIY; that place is sick. Those are my two shout outs for the city of Richmond. And the river is just beautiful, like just finding little stuff to do along the river. That’s great, too.

Question:   Did ever of you go to GWARbar ever, or that was off limits?

Nick:   What’s GWARbar?

Hal:  I walked past it once.

Question:   The heavy metal band GWAR has a bar/restaurant in Richmond.

Nick:   Wait, what? Do they? My friends just went to a GWAR show. I didn’t know they had a bar in Richmond.

Hal:  [unitelligible] skating now.

Nick:   I didn’t know they had a bar. Man, I missed that. Thank you.

Hal:  You could have taken photos at it and pretended you were cool.

Question:   Congratulations on this amazing season and wrapping up the show. It’s just been fantastic. My question to you, and this is open to anyone, looking back, your character started the series with a very distinct view of how the world worked, and most importantly, how it should work and what those rules should be and how you should function. I’m wondering how your character’s vision changed by the end of the series. Who wants to go?

Nick:   I’ll go. I’ll go. I think Elton has changed was very much from kind of spectating to being a part of everything now, but, also, he saw the gray area of the world more in season two. Season one you see him just kind of being this, I guess, more of a pacifist, but in season two as he accepts the world for what it is, he starts participating in the more gray aspects of apocalypse life.

Hal:  Yeah, that was a real same this season…I also thought growing up was it a theme of the show.

Alexa:  Yeah, I agree with that. I think growing up for sure. I’m just realizing what’s important and what’s worth actually stressing yourself out over, you know, like, I feel like in the first season, at least for Hope, she was really very bitter towards everybody. She just was so ready to destroy anybody that she thought was bad. Second season, she became a little bit more methodical about the way that she approached things, like realizing like sometimes you do have to kind of – not sleep with the enemy, but sleep with the enemy, to get what you want and to get ahead. Nick’s looking at me like –

Nick:   What do you mean by that? Sleep with the enemy?

Alexa:  Like the CRM was the enemy, and she went undercover in that area, which I feel like first season she would have been like, “Screw this; I’m not doing this.”

Nick:   True.

Hal:  I’ve never slept with anyone let alone the enemy.

Alexa:  I’ve never slept with anyone either.

Julia:  I’ve [unintelligible] slept with people, but, I don’t know, I sort of feel with Elizabeth, the pragmatism of being committed to an agenda that was really tough and seemed really clear just became much more complicated for her and clearly hadn’t worked [unintelligible] defeated by that.

Question:   This is what it’s for Alexa, how was it manag[ing] to get the F bomb in on the last episode?

Alexa:  I didn’t even know I had an F bomb in the last episode.

Hal:  Yeah, what the hell? You fully got a fuck in there.

Question:   No, that was the previous episode, sorry.

Alexa:  I didn’t know that that was as big deal. I didn’t know that was like an actual thing that you couldn’t do. I figured because it’s television and whatnot, but people actually think it’s a really big deal, and I say that word all the time.

Hal:  Alexa is awesome like that. She’s such a swear bear.

Alexa:  [laughs]

Hal:   She doesn’t sleep with anyone, but she sure as hell swears a lot.

Alexa:  Yeah. No, I’m actually pretty excited that I got that F bomb in there, because Hal didn’t get it.

Hal:  Yeah, I didn’t even get as much as like a “crap” or a “shit.”

Alexa:  Because Silas doesn’t talk. You have to talk more.

Hal:  It is so weird with the ruling. I think, because there’s so much violence, they’re not really allowed to like swear and have violence, but it’s like is killing someone not a little bit more offensive than swearing?

Alexa:  Not if what you’re killing was a rotting piece of flesh.

Nick:   We kill people in this show.

Hal:  There’re people being killed.

Nick:   Yeah. We don’t shy away from human death.

Hal:  I’ve killed nearly as many people as I’ve killed zombies.

Alexa:  You’ve killed people on the show?

Nick:   People die in the show.

Hal:  I kill two people, I think. Yeah, I do…My two father figures.

Nick:   That’s a shame.

Hal:  That is a shame.

Thane:  Nicholas, tell us how they did the special effects and such at the end, where you lost part of your arm.

Nick:   So, for that last shot, we were kind of coming over the hill in Portland, and they gave me like a blue like sleeve to put my arm through. They just kind of said, “Don’t move it.” So, I just kind of stood with my arm just still. Then, I guess they blue screened it out. But then for one scene where I had my arm chopped off and I’m sitting in that hospital bed, my arm is just a pool noodle. I always thought that was funny that they just put a pool noodle and wrapped and bandaged, like, “That’s his arm,” and my actual arm was under some covers. So, that’s how they achieved the effect of me not having an arm.

Hal:  They toyed with the idea of actually doing that.

Nick:   They were thinking about actually chopping it off. It was not them thing; it was a me thing for the character, where I wanted to go all the way. But my doctor said “no.” So, we had to do blue screen and pool noodles.

Alexa Mansour, Nicolas Cantu, Hal Cumpston and Julia Ormond

Hal:  His therapist said “yes.”

Nick:   Therapist said “yes;” Doctor said “no.”

Alexa:  Did you tell the doctor how much they were gonna pay you for the arm?

Nick:   Ah, it’s a weird thing with me and my doctor. So, I feel like they would raise my prices if I did something like that. So, I just kept it chill.

Hal:  Nick’s sleeping with his doctor.

Nick:   I kept it chill. So, it was able to be figured out basically with special effects and movie magic

Thane:  When you read in your script that you were bitten and then cured, were you disappointed that you didn’t get to be a walker and/or die on screen?

Nick:   A little bit, actually, because ever since I signed on to The Walking Dead thing, I was like, “Okay, the whole experience would be, get in the show, kill some things, and then get killed,” because that’s like the cycle of The Walking Dead universe. So, I was wanting to be a part of it, but, hey, maybe my day will come someday. I got my arm chopped off. That’s part of it. I’m getting like drip fed little apocalyptic checkmarks on a bucket list. So, maybe one day I’ll get to die. It’s a start, but you know, zombies. [laughs]

Question:   Pollyanna came from the main show, The Walking Dead, as Jadis, but now she’s on World Beyond. She’s a completely different character. So, what was it like working with her? Because compared to the main show and this one, she’s a force to be reckoned with.

Alexa:  I didn’t know. I mean, I knew she was on the original one; I didn’t know that she was playing a completely different character. I thought that it was like, maybe just a different side of her of the character. Like maybe the character went through some shit and came out. You know, when you go through a hard time [and] when you come out you’re like a completely different person, but that’s kind of interesting to know. She’s awesome to work with. She’s like, insanely talented. So, regardless of like, different character or not, she was great to work with.

Hal:  Yeah, Pollyanna. Very fun to work with. Yeah.

Alexa:  And it was sick, knowing that someone from the original show was crossing over. Because I was like, “Oh, there’s there’s hope.” Not no pun intended.

Hal:  I like getting to work with my British brothers and sisters. They’re a little bit less American, so it’s fun.

Question:   Julia, the moment at the end of the series finale, it was just so beautiful, and watching Elizabeth, the realization come across Elizabeth, as she kind of gets a sense of what’s going on. I’m curious, do you think she knew that Huck was torn as much as she was between this life she’d been living undercover and her duty to the CRM?

Julia:  I have to confess, I haven’t actually seen how they ended up cutting it together, but I do feel the Elizabeth buried any fears that she had about Jennifer and her relationship. And I know that is something that kind of is in pretty much every scene that they have together, is this question of how much Elizabeth cares or connects and the things that Jennifer’s gone through. But I don’t think Elizabeth, by the time that she’s arrested and put into [a cell], I don’t think she has completely been able to – I think she’s emotionally distracted. I don’t think she’s been completely able to quite admit the degree to which she’s made some – she’s made some legitimate sort of mistakes, as a leader, in terms of the vulnerability. So, it’s understandable to me that Jadis does comes at her with the things that she does, and I think Elizabeth just hasn’t really realized how much of a distraction it’s been, the emotional stuff. So, I think it’s gut wrenching for her that Jennifer’s not connecting with her as a mom as a result of choices that Elizabeth has made and found family in other people to be worthy of being loyal to, and I think that destroys her.

Hal:  Things are so bleak for Elizabeth at the end there.

Alexa:  I mean, she kind of deserves it, no offense.

Hal:  Everyone is throwing hate.

Alexa:  She destroyed our home.

Julia:  Well, she does have to make some tough decisions, but yeah, I guess so.

Question:   For all of you, did any of you get to take home any kind of either weapons, or items from the set?

Hal:  Hell yeah, they sorted us out.

Alexa:  Yeah.

Hal:  I’ve got my wrench. I’m moving to a new house and I’m going to get it in a glass box.

Alexa:  I took my S-pole

Nick:   I don’t know if you can see it. I’m gonna get the pocket fisherman. I’m going to bring that out.

Hal:  Gotta get the pocket fisherman Nick. Do your mother fucking thing.

Alexa:  I have the S-pole.

Question:   Oh, it’s somewhere in the other room?

Alexa:  Yeah, mine’s in the other [room].

Nick:   The pocket fisherman; rock it up with the pocket fisherman. It’s got all the action. It’s just sitting here. I got to keep the suit. I got to keep this. They gave me like the little archeology bag; they gave me the whole thing.

Hal:  Nick uses that fisherman as like a pickup line.

Nick:   Yeah, when I’m bored.

Hal:  Nick, demonstrate. What do you do? Go on; demonstrate.

Nick:   I say, “Hey, baby. I’m trying to do this interview. So let’s move on.”

Hal:  He always says baby.

Nick:   Always with the baby.

Question:   How about you Julia?

Julia:  [laughs] No, I got a great mug as a takeaway that had a Walking Dead design on it from one of the crew members that was super fun, but no. I don’t want to take home weapons. I take home my memories.

Hal:  Did Elizabeth really have weapons? I feel like other people did her dirty work sort of.

Julia:  Excuse me! No, she had like the stiletto pen thing.

Hal:  Oh, true. I remember that from the show.

Julia:  But I mean, also, kind of like the way that we had set about it in terms of Elizabeth’s stuff is that she could kind of…turn anything into a weapon instead of sort of – yeah, she had a stiletto that was sort of kept [in] the jacket somewhere, but the idea is that she could take any weapon and use it sort of as somebody who’s got a military background and training to do that stuff, but you don’t really get to see that in the series.

Hal:  There wasn’t enough time for anything.

Thane:  [Hal], all of the characters went through so much; yours seemed to go through the most changes all throughout the series. Which part did you enjoy the most, and, in your opinion, does Silas stay loyal to his friends, or does he [go over to] the dark side or the CRM?

Hal:  Well, yeah, he does really change, because at the start he’s scared to say anything or look anyone in the eye. Then, at the end of it, he’s almost like a pretty normal, normal-ish person, which maybe just is my acting not making sense that I came back and decided it was a new character, or it’s really good emotional range, or like range to go from that, from the start to the end, but who knows? That’s for the people to decide as to whether he’s loyal or going to the CRM. Again, I’d like to think that he thinks for himself, and that’s an option for him that he doesn’t know. Maybe he is half seeing what’s going on with the CRM and checking it out and then seeing if he really wants to take it down. But I do get the sense that now that these little young rebel rebel kids have got a taste for taking down the establishment, I feel like that’s gonna happen again. They’re not able to sit still and just deal with living in the post apocalyptic world. They have to be like fighting something constantly. They’re all going to Portland and stuff. I mean, they could just chill out. That’s what I like to do, just chilll.

Thane:  Were you a fan of The Walking Dead before you auditioned for the show?

Hal:  I’d never seen any of it…I hadn’t seen it before, but, obviously, because I hadn’t lived under a rock, I knew what The Walking Dead was. It’s like a humongous thing, but then I got to watch, and it was actually pleasant. I was sort of surprised. I thought it would be this particular thing, but I watched the first two seasons as I was getting the callbacks. You get to another point, they’re like, “Oh, I think they’re gonna make an offer, blah blah blah,” and it was my first American audition. So, it was all very surreal for me. Then I’m able to watch the show, and I’m like, “I actually like this show. This is crazy. It’s a pretty cool [show].” The first season, it’s almost a bit like it has an independent movie feel, but with a budget, and the acting is pretty awesome and fresh and interesting.

Alexa:  Yeah, I only watched the first couple seasons. I think I stopped at season three, but I really liked it. I just tend to fall out with TV shows and just forget to keep watching them, and I lose my spot.

Nick:   Yeah, I watched the first two seasons as well, I think, when they put them on Netflix, and then I tapped out, because I was like ten or something, and it was just a lot of blood and guts. But my older brother kept watching it, and it was always in the household. Then, he was like, “Hey, come check this out,” when Glenn died, and he just showed me his brains getting splattered on TV. I was like, “Oh, great, dude. Awesome.” So, it was always in my house, but I only kept up with seasons one and two.

Question:   All of you, for the final episode, were there any scenes that were very hard to pull off when it came to either the dialogue or during the stunts?

Alexa:  Yeah, there was, I think it was in season two, either episode one or two, but when Hope has a fight with Candice, before she gets pushed against the wall and eaten alive or whatever, that scene took all day, because we had to keep switching between me and the stunt double. So, that was probably one of the longest, hardest scenes that I had to do. Yeah, I’m very happy that I made it through it in one piece.

Nick:   Yeah, by the end of season two, we were there, I think, from January to June, so once it got it started getting closer to summer, the days were getting hotter, and the season was ending, so we had to do all of our stunts. We shot every season in Richmond; it was really nice, but once we got to the summer, it got hotter, and [there were] just bigger set pieces. There was the whole battle at the the community village where the CRM comes in and Elton’s about to get executed, that whole like battle piece where the building blows up and everything, that was multiple days. That was a lot of prep, but it turned out awesome. That was probably the hardest.

Hal:  They blew up the barn. That was nuts.

Nick:   That was crazy. Did you see that?

Hal:  Remember there was a fire; the whole fire department was just sitting there having to watch it burn.

Nick:   Yeah, because it was a controlled burn or something. They’re just sitting on the sidelines.

Hal:  Yeah, the fire people couldn’t handle it.

Nick:   Yeah, but it was sick.

Hal:  It was like Pavlov’s dogs.

Question:   How about you Julia?

Julia:  I think, honestly, as an actor, the the first episode scene, just from a technical point of view, I had so much. [laughs] I had this six page speech for Elizabeth. I don’t think [unintelligible] all of it, but I was absolutely terrified, because I think the way that it shot, it’s kind of like you don’t have – I think when you see it come together, it looks as if it could have been chopped up. [laughs] It was just kind of –

Alexa:  You killed it, though.

Julia:  Oh, my God. Thanks, I appreciate that. Yeah, it was just really challenging, because it was also, how do I make this interesting instead of kind of having people go, “Oh, my God, when is she going to shut up?” But yeah, I think just that I sort of ended up with something that was a bit kind of technical, but that was probably my most challenging…I think, as an actor, the scenes that I love are the scenes where you don’t have any tech, so being given something [laughs], it was sort of like, “Oh, no!”

Hal:  What was the question?…Sorry, my phone ran out of charge; now I’m on my computer.

Question:   I was asking, were there any scenes of stunt work or dialogue that was very challenging during this whole season?

Hal:  I don’t know; everyone else has answered. I don’t know, the scenes where I don’t – like a lot of the time, Silas doesn’t have many lines, and that’s a little bit like odd sometimes, like sort of the opposite. You know what I mean? I wouldn’t mind a few extra lines, so I don’t have to do all this, like, “I’m not saying anything, but I’m acting.” Sometimes it’s fun just to be able to go to set and say some shit. We’re there for so long, like six months. So, honestly, I feel like the challenging part probably was there was so much time in between, because all the storylines were so caught up. So, actually, we weren’t really  working that much. Well, I wasn’t. I love being on set. I love being on set.

Julia:  I think one of the really hard things was actually doing it under COVID circumstances, because when you’re rehearsing, you’ve got all this stuff around your face. You can’t really kind of see the reactions of people; you’re not interacting. I felt like I [wasn’t] able to interact with crew in the same way. So, there’s this kind of block from having this human experience. That is the sort of joy of of putting together a story and a collaborative process. The COVID restrictions has had a huge impact, I think, on the experience, just in general, of being an actor.

Hal:  Yeah, I’m so glad hopefully it’s [over]. I mean, I don’t even know. Is it coming to an end? But, yeah, it gets a bit depressing a little bit when everyone’s wearing masks. Also, yeah, taking direction from a director, and you can’t really see what their emotions are or how they’re feeling, because they’re wearing a big mask and a face shield.

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

MORE INFO:

Scene from the end of the last episodeThe Walking Dead: World Beyond – Series finale airs December 5th at 10pm ET/9c on AMC and will be available one week early on AMC+

Season two of The Walking Dead: World Beyond concludes the epic story of Iris (Aliyah Royale), Hope (Alexa Mansour), Elton (Nicolas Cantu), and Silas (Hal Cumpston) — four friends who journeyed across the country on a mission that transformed everything they knew about themselves and the world.  As they face off against the mysterious Civic Republic Military and fight for control of their own destiny, goals will shift, bonds will form and crumble, and innocence will be both lost and found.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond is executive produced by co-creator Scott M. Gimple, co-creator and showrunner Matt Negrete, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert and Brian Bockrath, and is produced and distributed by AMC Studios. In addition to Royale, Mansour, Cantu and Cumpston, the series stars Nico Tortorella, Annet Mahendru, Julia Ormond, Joe Holt, Jelani Alladin, Natalie Gold and Ted Sutherland.

Episode 210: The Last Light

The remaining members of the group fight back enemies, both living and dead, on their quest to save the future.

Written by: Matthew Negrete, Maya Goldsmith, Carson Moore

Directed by: Loren Yaconelli

SciFiVision article and interview with the same actors

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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"The Walking Dead: World Beyond" Season 2 poster

Interview with Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Interview with Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman of "Christmas Dance Reunion" 12/3 on Lifetime

Interview with Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman of “Christmas Dance Reunion” on Lifetime by Suzanne 11/8/21

This was part of a Lifetime Christmas press panel. I really enjoyed seeing the movies and speaking everyone. What made this movie so special is all of the great dancing. It was nice to chat with these two. Corbin used to be on “One Life to Live,” so I was thrilled to speak with him.

MODERATOR:  Hi, everyone, and welcome to our third panel for today.  I would like to introduce Monique Coleman and Corbin Bleu of this year’s “A Christmas Dance Reunion”.  We’re gonna go ahead and get the questions started.  Noah has the first question.  Noah?

QUESTION:  Hello.  It is so great to be here with you guys.  By the way, you look fabulous and happy holidays to both of you.  My first question is to you, Corbin.  We see two high school dance partners get back together for the holidays.  So many fans from “High School Musical”, including myself, will watch this and think this is the perfect holiday storyline for the two of you, as you both have worked together on the Disney Network in “High School Musical”.  But how does this holiday story throw us back to some of the “High School Musical” memories?  Because I did see a photo when I screened of you and Monique, and it was back during — I think in the gym of “High School Musical”.  I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is fantastic.”

CORBIN BLEU:  Honestly, getting to work on this project settled so many dreams coming true.  At this time, I mean, it was October of 2020 when we went out to go shoot, so coming on the tail end of a quarantine and not working for a period of time.  It was also election time.  There was a lot of — just a lot of chaos at the time and in our minds.  And all of a sudden, we go on this journey to go to Canada, get out of the U.S. for a minute.  And we get to reunite in this film that we haven’t been on screen together in 13 years.  And when I tell you every single moment on set was just comfort.  And there are a lot of moments in the film that when I watched it looking at just how easy the romance comes and how easy the connection came, and that was real.  I mean, it just — it’s…it truly is such a beautiful, wonderful thing to be able to work with a person that you love from the bottom of your heart.  I mean, Mo, I love you.  You’re, like, you’re —

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  I know.

CORBIN BLEU:  You’re my sis.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  I’m like, oh my God.

CORBIN BLEU:  There was just so — honestly, I could go on and on so much because then on top of it, my wife, Sasha Clements, is also another lead part in the film.  So there was all of this just love, just this lovefest on camera and on set.

QUESTION:  Now, Monique, just speaking of “High School Musical”, there was a lot of dance that would go on in the show.  Because it was a musical, there was a lot of dance routines that would happen.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.

QUESTION:  I really think dance brings us together and I think that definitely shows in this holiday movie.  So lastly, how was the process of nailing down a dance routine with Corbin Bleu when you guys got to reprise and really just do this again, just be able to dance together?

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.  I think Corbin really said it well.  The thing is that we were safe, you know?  We felt like we were safe, we were comfortable.  And that is such an important part of telling any story is making sure that you have that connection.  But another thing that I think is really interesting is Corbin started dancing when he was two or three years old.  I started dancing when I was in fourth grade.  And something that’s really interesting is that our lives didn’t begin with “High School Musical”.  Obviously, that is an amazing part of our journey, and it’s a peak, and we’re so — we will always be so proud of it and excited to talk about it and share.  But what I thought was really interesting was that this story to me brought the two of us back further than where we were when “High School Musical” started.  It brought us back to the roots of who we are and it reminded me that I danced as a kid.  And this moment didn’t make it in the movie, but there are photos in the hallway of my fictional house that are pictures of me when I was 10, 12, 15, 17 years old with these big dreams in my mind.  And to see that and then to actually see photos of us from when we were on tour — one of the photos is actually from the Macy’s Day Parade.  And I remember that so distinctly.  And I remember how I felt in that moment.  And then to fast forward to today and to be able to bring all of who we are together and for that to be on screen, I think it absolutely captures the magic that you all felt when you saw “High School Musical”.  But I also think that this movie is going to do something really special and allow you to get to know Corbin and I in a way that you probably honestly haven’t seen prior to now which is really, like, who we’ve always been.

QUESTION:  Thank you guys for your time.  I appreciate it.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.

CORBIN BLEU:  Thank you.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, Noah.  Alright, up next I have Mike from TV America.  Mike?  I’m gonna give him a moment.  Oh, there he is.

QUESTION:  Okay, can you hear me now?

MODERATOR:  We can.

QUESTION:  Can you hear me okay now?

CORBIN BLEU:  Hi, Mike.

QUESTION:  Okay, good deal.  Hey, Corbin, I wanted to ask you to kind of continue on what Mo was saying a minute ago.  Because we have a lot of movies that are about singing, not as many movies that are based on dance.  And dance has been so much a part of your life forever.  I mean, talk about starting to take dance when you were two or three years old.  Talk about what it was like as a kid and how important it is to be able to get back to a dance-based show like this sometimes.

CORBIN BLEU:  Well, again, this movie is a lot of art mimics life and vice versa.  There’s a lot of meta moments.  I started dancing when I was about two years old.  And I started with tap and ballet, and that was always my first love.  And I started acting early, as well, and I started singing early, as well.  But dance was just always my form of expression.  And to this day, it’s just the one thing that just comes naturally, just comes easy.  If there’s ever — you know, there are times when people just — they just want to sing and it just needs to come out of them.  And my body just expresses it through dance.  And when I tell you the character, both of them, both of the characters are just so rooted in realism.  They both found this joy and this love of dance at an early age.  My character, Barrett, actually continued on with it and went on to become a Broadway stage performer, very much like real life.  And Monique’s character goes on to actually become a lawyer and dance is still this joy, this love that’s just hanging right behind her that she’s just wanting to turn back and find again.  And I know — I’m gonna just speak for Mo a little bit, yeah, I know that she has gone on to do just such incredible serious, wonderful things in this world.  I mean, she’s a U.N. ambassador.  So again, I know for me getting to dance with her and her getting a chance to also re-find a joy of dance and that love in this, it was incredible.  And I’ve got to also do one more shoutout to our director and our choreographer —

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yes.

CORBIN BLEU:  …Brian Herzlinger and Christian Vincent because the turnaround on this was not “High School Musical”.  You know, “High School Musical” we had…

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Time?

CORBIN BLEU:  …like, at least — at least — two days per number, at least.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.

CORBIN BLEU:  This we shot — I think majority of the final dance routines were shot in one day.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  In a day, yeah.

CORBIN BLEU:  One day.  And the other dance routines, everything else that you see was shot in one other day.  So just an insane amount of hard work.  And to top it all off, there were things that were implemented that weren’t originally in the script, one being my tap number.  One number in the movie that really is such a pivotal story moment that you actually get to really see Barrett’s love for dance and where his spirit really flies is this tap number that was never in the script, was never a part of rehearsals, until we were like three — I think we were three or four days from getting ready to start shooting.  And I knew that they were gonna do this other tap number and I said to Brian, I was like, “Brian, you know that I tap, right?”  And he goes, “Wait, what?”  I was like, “Yeah, I love tapping.”  And he said, “We should implement that.”  And Christian, freaking incredible man that he is, threw together this tap number.  And we worked on this over the next couple weeks before we had to shoot it and implemented this number.  And it turns out to be such a beautiful moment in the movie.  Just really, really wonderful that they allowed such input and organicn-ess to free flow.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.

QUESTION:  Okay, cool.  Thanks.

MODERATOR:  Awesome.  Thank you, Mike.  And our next question is from Suzanne.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Hey, Suzanne.

QUESTION:  Hi.  I really enjoyed the movie.  I loved watching it.  It really made me wanna go to the Winterleigh.

CORBIN BLEU:  Awesome.

QUESTION:  Where was it actually filmed?

CORBIN BLEU:  We shot up in Vancouver.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yes.  Toronto.

CORBIN BLEU:  I’m sorry — Vancouver — Toronto.  We filmed up in Toronto, I’m sorry.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Up — yes.

CORBIN BLEU:  The other side of the country.  We shot up in Toronto at the…

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Where were we?  I’m like…

CORBIN BLEU:  Horseshoe.  Horseshoe.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  That’s right.

CORBIN BLEU:  Mm-hm.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.

CORBIN BLEU:  Yeah, the hotel.

QUESTION:  Oh, okay.  Great.  And Monique, what was the thing about it that was the most challenging for you?

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  I think letting it be easy.  That was the most challenging thing was just allowing it.  You know, we’re in an industry that can just be so difficult in so many different ways.  And this was an experience that Corbin was speaking of earlier that was in the midst of a very active world pandemic.  We were in the midst of a very intense election in the U.S.  And we’re storytellers.  And we kept reminding ourselves that we got to be the magic makers of the moment.  We get to be the lightworkers.  We get to be the ones that are going to be a part of helping people to have the joy that we all deserve when this all is over.  And so for me, to be honest, yes, learning the dances was challenging.  Spending two weeks in quarantine and then going from basically zero to hero and having not worked pretty much all year long, having definitely not danced or been in a studio at all.  And I actually turned 40, so I was like my knees are not — they’re not capable of doing this which is actually really hilarious because that is something that Lucy talks about as her character.  But it’s very real for me ’cause I’m like no, but really.  I can’t just jump in like that.  But at the end of the day, I guess I always knew that this was supposed to be fun and it was supposed to bring joy.  And if there was anything that I felt like I couldn’t do, I knew that I had the support to change that.  So I knew that with Corbin that I was safe with my partner.  I knew that with Christian, he wanted to make sure that we looked good.  And Brian is just like all-around so incredible that there wasn’t really any pressure.  There wasn’t any extra tension.  So you know, I think, yeah, obviously the most challenging part was going from not dancing or doing anything and being in a pandemic to going full throttle.  But even that is a blessing and it’s a gift.  And so I don’t even like to look at that as really any more than just the challenge that comes with being privileged to be able to do something that you love for a living.

QUESTION:  Awesome.  Thank you guys so much.

CORBIN BLEU:  Thank you.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah, thank you.

MODERATOR:  Thanks, Suzanne.  We’re going now to our final two questions.  Cynthia?

QUESTION:  Hello, can you hear me?

CORBIN BLEU:  Yes, we can.

QUESTION:  Okay.  Hi.  I’m Cynthia Horner from “Right On! Magazine” and “Word Up! Magazine”.  And Corbin, you and Monique used to appear in our magazines all the time.

CORBIN BLEU:  Yes!  Absolutely!

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  I know!  I was like “Word Up!”!

QUESTION:  Yeah.  What is it like now being grown people that really got your start as teenagers and you continued on with your craft?

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  One of us was a teenager.  The other one wasn’t.

CORBIN BLEU:  (Laughs.)

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  I’ll let you guess which one.

CORBIN BLEU:  Homegirl, you still look fly as hell.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Thank you!

CORBIN BLEU:  Honestly, just like life, there are aspects that just get better and better and then there are other parts that you go, oof, that hurts a lot more.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.

CORBIN BLEU:  You know, I think that there truly was an appreciation on this film.  When we were working back then, at least I can speak for myself to say that I was just a teenager.  And as much as I really was a hard worker and I was always focused on what I was doing and I appreciated everything that was going on, it still was just about enjoying that ride.  And it all happened so quickly that there are times where you have to — you forget to remind yourself, let me really take in this moment.  And I feel like I was able to do that a lot more working on this project.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.

CORBIN BLEU:  Just as an adult, in general, those times where it really is special.  One thing that I would love to talk about that I was able — a moment that I was able to look around and go, wow, this is really beautiful, was the representation in this film.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.

CORBIN BLEU:  And its diversity.  I mean, what’s so beautiful is to see these lead actors, Black actors, and that has nothing to do with the driving force of the storyline.  The storyline is a romance story.  It has nothing to do with the fact that we’re Black.  And yet, you get to see all of this diversity and all of this representation in there.  And I feel like that to me is something that as a kid, I don’t necessarily — I wouldn’t necessarily pinpoint as much.  Now, I see it and I go this is something that I wish I was able to see a lot more of on screen when I was a kid and watching all these holiday movies.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah, that’s literally exactly what I was feeling, Corbin, was that that is the biggest shift that has happened since that time.  We were just in a different era and now to be these characters that are not just supporting someone else’s story but to be the story and yeah, that is definitely different and exciting.

QUESTION:  Well, thank you so much.  And merry Christmas in advance.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Thank you.  You, too.

CORBIN BLEU:  Merry Christmas in advance to you, too.  And happy Thanksgiving.

QUESTION:  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  Awesome.  Thank you, Cynthia.  We’re gonna wrap with Samantha.  Samantha?

QUESTION:  Hi.  Thank you both so much for touching on the diversity piece because that’s really what I wanted to ask about.  I was reading about Monique you know just a part of how Taylor’s — the headband became — like, a piece was not really having people that could do Black hair.  And I’m just curious what your experiences have been through the start of your career to now being in the industry where it’s really embracing and prioritizing diversity?

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.  It’s definitely shifted so much.  The fact that we can even have this conversation and be open about it is I think definitely progress.  And I think one thing that Corbin and I both do is we are very collaborative in the process.  So we don’t take a backseat to what we’re doing.  We really want to be involved every step of the way.  And so it’s been really wonderful to watch the industry catch up and also personally to be able to make stronger and different choices about how I want to be presented and so forth.  So I feel like there’s a lot more room.  And not just diversity amongst — like racial diversity, but also diversity within a race.  I think oftentimes, I have been cast in roles that someone could perceive as a token role.  Like, oh, here we’re fulfilling the diversity quota because we’re both very safe people.  And that’s not to…it just is what it is.

CORBIN BLEU:  Yeah.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  And so oftentimes, we’re put in this position and it’s like there’s so much diversity within being Black.  It’s not just, okay, we’ve got someone that’s it.  And that is something that is so special and beautiful about “A Christmas Dance Reunion” is that you just have this family.  You’ve got these people and they just are different shades of Black and it’s not just one note or one tone.  And that is really very exciting to see what the possibilities are now that these other universes are opening up where we can see ourselves from here.

CORBIN BLEU:  One hundred percent with everything Mo just said.  And it’s such an important, important thing for what she’s talking about, as far as diversity within the diversity.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.

CORBIN BLEU:  And this movie by the way, there’s representation with LGBTQIA community.  There’s–

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yes.  Age.

CORBIN BLEU:  In age, in differently abled.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yes.

CORBIN BLEU:  And our writer, one of our co-writing team, you know, Brian Herzlinger but majority of the heavy lifting on the writing was Megan Henry Herzlinger.  We have a female writer.  Yeah, right?

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  It’s so good.

CORBIN BLEU:  So really, I mean, all that is there but again, what’s so amazing and so important to me about this film is that all of that goes unsaid.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Mm-hm.

CORBIN BLEU:  To me, for what I grew up watching, the stuff that I — you know, I grew up watching all of the MGM classic musicals and never really getting a chance to see representation of myself in that character.  And most of the time growing up, if I was watching someone of color, then it was the token.  And usually the phrases that were coming out of that person’s mouth or the kind of demeanor of a certain — it always was a very specific category.  Or they were there because the driving force of their storyline was because they’re Black.  It has to do with their struggle.  It has to do with the fact that they’re not represented.  And we have romance stories, too.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yeah.

CORBIN BLEU:  We have positivity without the struggle, as well.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yes.

CORBIN BLEU:  That’s always there.  That struggle is always there because we aren’t represented in that way, but we will only see that struggle and only see that representation if those are the only stories that we continue to tell.  So that’s why this really to me was such a beautiful, beautiful experience and really important.  And I want to see more of it and Mo and I need to do more of that together.

MONIQUE COLEMAN:  Yes!

MODERATOR:  Awesome.  Well, thank you both so much for participating today.  We all love that you’re here together and reunited.  So be sure everyone to tune in to “A Christmas Dance Reunion” on Friday, December 3rd, at 8/7 Central only on Lifetime.

MORE INFO:

Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman of "Christmas Dance Reunion" 12/3 on LifetimeA Christmas Dance Reunion
Friday, December 3 at 8pm / 7c

Successful attorney Lucy Mortimer (Monique Coleman), along with her mother Virginia (Kim Roberts) returns to the Winterleigh Resort to help celebrate the hotel’s final Christmas season. Once there, Lucy is reunited with the owner’s nephew and her childhood Christmas Dance partner, Barrett Brewster (Corbin Bleu). Though the resort has fallen on hard times and has stopped most holiday events, Lucy leads the charge in recreating the beloved Christmas traditions, including the popular Christmas Dance, to bring together new families and new hope to the resort. Now, Lucy must decide if she’s willing to take a risk on love and partner up once more with Barrett for what could be the last Christmas Dance.

A Christmas Dance Reunion is produced by Off Camera Entertainment and Brain Power Studio with Stephanie Slack, Margret H. Huddleston and Beth Stevenson as Executive Producers. Megan Henry Herzlinger and Brian Herzlinger serve as writers. Brian Herzlinger also directs.

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Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman of "Christmas Dance Reunion" 12/3 on Lifetime

Interview with Lisa Arch

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

 

Lisa Arch with Richard Kind, who plays her husband on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" on HBO

Interview with Lisa Arch of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” on HBO by Suzanne 11/18/21

I enjoyed chatting with Lisa on Zoom! She is so funny. I can see why they like her on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I learned some valuable insights from her about the way that show is run, how the people on it are, and how show business can be. It was very informative. I hope you enjoy it, too!

Suzanne:  I was watching some of your YouTube videos last night…

Lisa: Which one? The reviews? The podcast?

Suzanne: The thing where you’re interviewing people with another lady. I can’t remember her name.

Lisa: The Leslie and Lisa Show.

Suzanne: Leslie and Lisa, yeah.

Lisa: Yeah.

Suzanne: I was watching the one with the the actress from The Flash…So, I noticed that the last one was awhile ago. Are you still doing that?

Lisa: No, it was kind of an experiment. It was kind of an experiment we were doing during quarantine. We had a really good time, but it just wasn’t floating our boat enough, I guess, to keep it going.

Suzanne: Yeah, seems a lot of work.

Lisa: And there’s so much work…It just wasn’t clicking for me. I love working with her. She and I are actually working on another project now, but, yeah, for some reason that was too much. It was just too much with everything else I had going on.

Suzanne: Yeah, I wouldn’t be able to do that kind of thing. I tried it once. I’m like, “Oh, I’m terrible at this. Nevermind.”

Lisa: It’s hard. Everybody makes it seem so easy, but it’s just, it’s a lot.

Suzanne: Yeah. There are a lot of bad YouTube videos where people try to do that. And it’s like, “No, I can’t watch this.”

Lisa: One hundred percent.

Suzanne: Not yours. Yours I enjoyed.

Lisa: Thank you.

Suzanne: It probably helps you’ve done a lot of comedy, both of you.

Lisa: Yes, exactly, and I’ve hosted a ton. So, I love that medium. I still love hosting, and I love interviewing people, but it’s just a lot, when you’re booking all the talent, and you’re doing all the stuff.

Suzanne: And the editing, and you’re trying to promote it; the promotion is hard.

Lisa: You need a team; you need a team of people. We just don’t have it.

Suzanne: I completely understand, because I do all mine, [but] not solo. I have volunteers. I can’t afford to pay anyone to promote, do that kind of thing.

Lisa: But you have volunteers that do it?

Suzanne: I have volunteers who do a lot of writing and proofreading and different things, not promotion so much. I need to get somebody to help me with promotion. That would be great. I spend more time on my own social media, my personal social media, than I do for the site, so that’s a problem.

Lisa: Exactly. Yes. Priorities.

Suzanne: Yeah, I’d rather take a lot of pretty pictures and post them on Instagram than promote my site. [laughs] Well, I realize everybody has their strengths.

So, I’ll get to my questions. You were on Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2009, and then not again until [2020], so what happened in between?

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" group scene with Lisa ArchLisa: Well, so I mean, the show took six years off. I did a season; then they did one more season. Then, they took six years off. I think it’s how it was. No, it might have been two more seasons, and then they took six years off. So, yeah, when I was on the first time, it was just a one shot deal. It was just “come do this role,” and that’s it. There was no indication that there would ever be more.

So, a decade later, when I’m picking my son up from school, my manager and agent called me, and whenever they call me at the same time, it’s good news. But I hadn’t auditioned for anything recently. So, I was like, “I don’t know what this is.” And they said, “Curb wants you back,” and I was like, “Okay. I’m sure they want me back.” They were like, “No, they want you back, and it’s for multiple episodes.” And I just started sobbing, because it was so unexpected, because the day, or the several days, I had done the first time were so magical and everything I had ever wanted this industry to be, and it had never been before. So, to know I was going back to that was just the greatest feeling ever.

Suzanne: I know. He gets a lot of wonderful actors to come in and do their parts. They all love the show so much, and he lets them be different characters, even though they’re playing themselves. They get to be like, the jerk version of themselves.

Lisa: Absolutely, exactly. You’re so right. Yeah, and it is such an amazing, creative environment, and everyone there is such a powerhouse in their own right. So, it’s just an incredible place to be. It’s magical; it’s the Disneyland of the entertainment industry.

Lisa Arch with Richard Kind and Larry David on "Curb Your Enthusiasm"Suzanne: Right, I understand. So, on the show, you’re paired with the amazing Richard Kind. What’s that been like, for you?

Lisa: He is spectacular. He is so adorably insecure in a way. I just don’t even think he understands how brilliant he is. So, it just makes him even more brilliant. He’s so funny and lovable. He’s also just been in everything, literally. There is not a television show or a movie he’s not in, nor is there a Broadway show he hasn’t performed in.

Like, off camera he’s talking with Larry about musicals that he’s been in. Larry’s grilling him about certain shows. You know, “Have you ever been in Fiddler on the Roof? Did [you] ever do this? Were you ever in that?” And the answer is always “yes.” “Yes, I was in that. Yes, I did do that.” He is adorable. When I first did the show…When was it?

Suzanne: 2009.

Lisa: So, I was in my late thirties. I was like, thirty-eight, and he’s like, fifteen years older than me, I think. So, when I was first paired with him, I was like, “This is interesting thing.” But then I just immediately felt like, “Yeah, I see it. He’s my husband. I totally get it.” Then, the more we work together, the more I’ve kind of just like literally fallen in love with him, and I completely see us as a married couple.

Suzanne: That’s cool. Yeah, I interviewed him years ago. Did you ever see “Red Oaks” that he was in? He is wonderful in that. You need to see it; it’s a good show anyway.

Lisa: I have it on my list. I watched like part of the pilot episode, and then something happened. I don’t know, but I have to get back on my list. He told me that I would love it.

Suzanne: I think it’s only two seasons, but it’s really good. He is he just even better than usual in that. It was just like, when I was watching, I was thinking, “What else can you do?” This is like the role of a lifetime. There’s more after that, but still.

Lisa: Yeah, there’s nothing he can’t do.

Lisa Arch on "MadTV"Suzanne: Yeah, and I saw that you were on Mad TV in the late 90s. Was that a great training ground for you?

Lisa: So, actually, I consider my training ground what I did before Mad TV, which was years and years of sketch comedy live. That was really my training ground. I started when I was fifteen doing sketch comedy in my brother’s sketch comedy troupe, which was really a lot of work. We did it every summer for years, and we sold out every show in Hollywood. Then, after that, I was with ACME Comedy Theater for several years, and I did a couple one-woman shows. So, that that my training ground, and that’s what led to Mad TV. Mad TV was definitely a training ground for how to get the crap kicked out of you on a daily basis and react well to it, which I did not do at the time, but now I know how to, so yes, it was a training ground for the toughest parts of this business.

Suzanne: Would you like to elaborate on what you mean by that?

Lisa: Any sketch comedy show – I mean, you hear this, especially from Saturday Night Live, not only because it’s an incredibly competitive show, but also it’s live. Mad TV, we had the luxury of being taped, so you could screw up and do it again. Although that didn’t happen very often; we memorized our lines instead of having cue cards. So, it was sort of like – I don’t know, but it’s just a very competitive genre. I am a competitive person with myself, if that makes sense, but I’m not super competitive against other people. So, to be thrown into that atmosphere was very difficult for me, and I did not respond super well to it.

I met some wonderful people. I actually met my husband on that show, which is the entire reason I think I got that show was to meet him, but it was a really difficult year for me, very hard. A lot of good times, a lot of fun, and a lot of lessons. I was thrown from being a waitress literally right into being a series regular on a show.

So, you go from struggling to people throwing Nikes at you and going, “Here are these for free,” and you know, “Here’s a bracelet from Tiffany,” and all this stuff that you had never had, unless you’re being driven to parties and stuff like that. It really kind of messes with your head. So, it’s also a good training ground and learning how to be grounded, because that stuff is beyond temporary, and nobody actually loves you as much as you feel like they do. So, I learned a lot of lessons and how to trust the right people [and] how to trust myself and not get caught up in the BS of the industry, because [in] the industry, there’s a lot of BS.

Suzanne: Right, I’m sure. I’m always talking about the people just in PR, who their whole business is [PR], and I’m a Mass Comm major, so I learned about PR, but I already sort of knew about it from this job. Their whole business is to hype everything and pretty much lie almost at times. I’m not putting them down; that’s their job, and it’s a hard job. Acting is also a form of lying in a way, and then the people in charge of actors, do they even look at the stuff? I can see why you would have a lot of that.

Lisa: Yes, it’s definitely a lot of BS. I mean, look, I have some friends in PR, and I definitely think what they do is very real and very hard, but, yeah, what you’re saying is true. It’s a lot of like, “How can we make this one part of your life seem even better than it actually is?” Yeah, for sure.

Suzanne: And the network’s do do that a lot too. It’s so funny, because it can be like, “Oh, this is the great hit of the season,” and then two weeks later, they cancel it. [laughs]

Lisa: But look, what’s so funny is what has completely been modeled after that is social media. I mean, yeah, technically every post is a lie. Anything that has a filter on it is a lie. You know, how many couples do you know that have terrible marriages, and then they’re on a vacation with their family, and they’re kissing in front of a Joshua Tree or whatever. You’re like, “Oh, my God. You just you hate him.” [laughs] You gotta weed through the BS and keep your inner circle small.

Suzanne: That’s true. Yeah. Actually, yeah, you’re right, because I always tell people, “Online friends are not the same as real life friends. Don’t believe anything people say to you. They could be lying. Everything they said could be a lie.”

Lisa: And yet, ironically, I feel as though I have learned so much from online friends that I’m not even super close with in real life. Yeah, there’s definitely a balance.

Suzanne: Yeah, I mean, I have I have people that I’ve known before even what they call “social media” where they was just message boards and forums things like that I’ve known for a long time, and I feel like I know them but, yeah, you never know how much you know about them.

Lisa: Absolutely.

Suzanne: My criteria is always, would you invite them to your house? Would you let them sit sit with your kids or your dog or house sit? Would you loan them money? If you answer yes to all that, either they’re friends, or you’re very gullible. [laughs]

Lisa: Exactly. You’re exactly right.

Suzanne: So anyway, you’ve done a lot of kids comedies. Is acting in those very different from acting in regular comedies?

Lisa: It really is. It really is. Nickelodeon and Disney, it’s such a blast. First of all, it’s so stupidly fun, but I never feel as much like I’m acting as I think I feel like I’m just like at a playground. You have to be so much broader. And I have to tell you, I did so much of it that I think a lot of my auditions for many years were way too big, because it’s hard to get out of that mindset. It’s like, you’re playing a mean principle, and then everything you do is really big and angry. So, it’s so much fun, but it is very different. For sure. It’s a heightened version of what I normally would think I would do.

Lisa Arch with Michael Richards on "Seinfeld"Suzanne: Yeah, that makes total sense. You were on Seinfeld in 1996. Did that help you at all get the role of Cassie in Curb?

Lisa: I don’t think so. Honestly, to this day, I don’t know if Larry knows that I was on Seinfeld. I imagine he does, but I don’t know for sure, because it was so many years in between. When I came in, there was no indication that he knew who I was.

It did help me get Mad TV, believe it or not, because right after I did Seinfeld, Mad TV was auditioning, and the person who cast me on Seinfeld was casting Mad TV. I didn’t have an agent at the time, so I called her and just said, “Hey, can I come in? I should be in there.” And she said, “Absolutely. We’ll see you Monday.” So, definitely, Seinfeld was a huge kickoff for my career.

Suzanne: Well, that’s great. Yeah. A lot of careers.

Lisa: Yes.

Suzanne: So, you’ve been on a lot of different TV and movie sets. What sets Curb apart from the others?

Lisa: So, first of all, Curb is all improv. You get a scenario, but nothing’s written for you. So, in that respect, it takes the pressure off, because you don’t have any lines to memorize. A lot of people I’ve spoken to, other people who’ve been on the show, thought it adds pressure, because you have to come up with your own stuff, but, to me, that is my favorite thing to do.

Suzanne: Right, you have all that experience.

Lisa: Yeah, and the thing is, it’s such a supportive environment. Beyond that, it is easy to do, because everyone there is rooting for you to be funny. It’s basically the opposite of what Mad TV was. Mad TV, you felt like everybody was rooting for you to screw up. And when I say everybody, I’m generalizing. There were a lot of wonderful, wonderful people there, but on Curb, it’s literally everybody there…But everyone at Curb is just rooting for you to be funny, because they want the show to be good.

Suzanne: That makes sense.

Lisa: So, it’s insanely supportive. It is, genuinely.

When I wanted to get into this business, it was to do everything that happens on Curb. It’s to play, it’s to feel creative, it’s to feel challenged and supported, and to laugh. And all of that happens there. And, honestly, I can’t stress enough, when I tell you that I sobbed when my managers told me I was going back, I promise you that’s the truth, because it is a magical land filled with magical people. Then, all of a sudden you’re at a table with friggin Larry David and Susie Essman and Cheryl Hines and JB Smoove and Patton Oswald. My head, literally, every time I walk into one of those dinner party scenes, my head just like explodes a little bit, and then I’ve got to put the pieces back together, but it’s a dream. It’s a dream.

Suzanne: You mentioned Patton Oswald. He’s another one who’s in everything, between him and Richard.

Lisa: You’re so right. I actually said that exact thing to my husband. Patton is in everything. And what’s so funny is he and Jeff Garlin and Richard Kind, we’re all sitting at this dinner party scene, talking about how they’re all on The Goldbergs, because Richard and Jeff are on it, and Patton does the voiceover. He’s in everything.

Suzanne: Yeah, and he tours too. I don’t know how he finds time for a real life.

Lisa: I don’t either. And he’s an absolute genius, brilliant mind. He’s just insane and so kind.

Suzanne: Oh, that’s nice. That’s good. It’s good when you hear that people are nice.

Lisa: But by the way, also, and not that he is, because I’ve met him before; he is lovely, but you can’t be a dick on the set of Curb.

Suzanne: I’m sure. Yeah. If it’s that supportive, then, yeah, they wouldn’t put up with that. It’s funny, because you’re all acting like that on the show.

Lisa: You’re so right. Yeah, everyone on that set is so sweet. It’s ridiculous.

Suzanne: That’s good. So, can we see you on other Curb episodes this season?

Lisa: Not this season. I might show up for literally like five seconds on screen in one other episode, but that’s it, unfortunately, because I want to be there every day.

Lisa Arch with Larry DavidSuzanne: And have you heard about whether there’ll be a season twelve, or is that something that only Larry knows?

Lisa: That’s something that only Larry knows, and that’s the absolute truth. It’s funny, because the whole crew – I would say, conservatively, eighty percent of the crew has been the same since the very beginning, and the only reason anyone would have fallen off is because they got a job that they just can’t leave, but everyone shows up for him. But he is the only one [who] knows if, and he’s the only one that knows when, so you never know. Every time it’s been a surprise for me.

Suzanne: Well, I’m sure he’ll keep doing as long as he enjoys it. It’s not like he probably needs the money. [laughs]

Lisa: Yeah, I do not think he needs the money, and I do think he absolutely is having a blast. He’s also like, the coolest human being alive. No one believes me; he’s super sexy, because he so couldn’t care less what anybody thinks, and it’s so authentic. He just emanates, cool. Literally, he’s like Fonzie, but better.

Suzanne: No, I can understand. A little bit of that comes across on the on the screen, even though he’s being a jerk on the show. You can tell. And I don’t think you could produce a show like that if you were a real jerk in real life. It’s funny how many people in the audience in that Facebook group think that’s what he’s like in real life. I’m like, “Are you kidding?”

Lisa: Oh, yeah. And of course there are aspects, I’m sure; that all comes from his brain. So, that’s definitely indicative of what he is thinking, and I do believe there’s a lot of that; that is who he is, but it’s just obviously a much more heightened version of that.

Suzanne: Right. Well, yeah, he’s probably thinking about things that do bother him, but he wouldn’t be obnoxious enough to say it to people. [laughs]

Lisa: Exactly.

Suzanne: Like he wouldn’t have any friends or be invited to dinner parties if he really were that obnoxious.

Lisa: Exactly. And yet, I think he also probably takes advantage of the character to use as needed.

Suzanne: Oh, yeah, because some of the things he says are very political in a very sneaky way and a commentary on society.

Lisa: Absolutely, absolutely.

Suzanne: That’s one of the things that makes it great, I think, because you watch it because it’s funny. Then something gets in there that you go, “Oh, yeah, that’s right.”

Lisa: Little stupid things, like the towels. Like, my husband has said, and I’m not joking, my husband has said a million times, “Please don’t give me one of the new towels.” And I’m like, “I don’t get you.” And he goes, “It’s just different; it doesn’t dry you right.” So, when we saw [that], like, who would think that anyone else on the planet would have that thought? So, when we saw that on the show, we were like, “What?” That freaked us both out.

Suzanne: Where’s the hidden camera, that he was spying on you with?

Lisa: Exactly. Exactly.

Suzanne: That’s funny. Yeah, today I was looking up Pirate’s Booty. I mean, I already know what it is; I’ve had it before, but I thought, “I wonder if they take they were really happy about this episode,” but apparently they were bought out by Hershey, so they don’t care.

Lisa: That’s funny. That is very funny.

Suzanne: Then, I found another wonderful article about what the Talmud would say about what Larry did on that episode.

Lisa: I read that.

Suzanne: Did you read that? Wasn’t that a great article?

Lisa: That was phenomenal. So, I love how specific the Talmud is. That’s the funniest thing ever.

Suzanne: Yeah, I said that to my husband. We both love the show.

So, you already pretty much said your favorite part of working on Curb is the supportive environment and the people.

Lisa: And how fun it is and how funny you get to be. You get to be as funny as you can possibly be on the day you’re working. That’s a great feeling.

Suzanne: When you’ve been on, have you ever seen anybody where you thought, “Ah, they probably won’t come back,” because they didn’t do that great of a job? Or is that all pretty much taken care of before they get on the screen?

Lisa: No, I don’t think that is, because, genuinely, I don’t know that I was supposed to be ever back. I think it’s just Larry populates the show with whoever he thinks would fit. So, I don’t think he ever knows if you’re coming back. I don’t know. But no, I’ve never – But then again, I haven’t worked with a ton of guest stars. I worked with more stars this time than I ever have before, but usually I’m just working with the regulars. So, no.

Suzanne: That’s funny. So, do you have any other projects going on that you want to tell us about?

Lisa: Not really anything that I can talk about right now. I’m doing a behind-the-scenes thing right now that I hope turns out well, but I can’t really talk about it yet. Otherwise, no. I’m a character actress, so much of my life is just auditioning and waiting. And during the pandemic, there was so little going on. Now, it’s just gotten very busy again, audition-wise. So, my fingers are crossed that work is coming, and in the meantime, I’m in school, and loving that.

Suzanne: Are you working towards a particular degree?

Lisa: I am. I never [graduated]. I quit school to pursue acting. So, over quarantine, I decided it was time to try to get my Bachelor’s degree. So, I am working toward my Associate’s degree right now, and then I’m transferring for a psychology degree.

Suzanne: Oh, nice. That probably would have come in handy back when you were on Mad TV, right?

Lisa: Oh, my God so much. You have no idea. Yes. I probably should have finished school, although I would have finished with a theater degree. So, I don’t know that it would. Yes, it would have been very helpful.

Suzanne: Are you finding it challenging at all? Are all your classes online?

Lisa: All online, yeah. I decided there was no way I was going to do it if I had to go to school. So, yeah, all online. And it’s been challenging. It’s hard. You know, I’m a mom, and I’ve got all my house duties, plus all my auditions, plus whatever else comes up. So, it’s been tough, but I’m loving it. I’ve never been a good student, and I’ve never liked school, and I’m absolutely loving it. I feel myself becoming a more well-rounded person, just because I’m learning things that I never knew.

Suzanne: I think, in some ways, it’s better to go when you’re older, because you’re more mature; you take it more seriously. Your writing is probably better, all these different things.

Lisa: Absolutely. I mean, I think if you don’t know what you want to do with your life, it’s an important thing to do, to go to school. Look, to be frank, I wish I had finished back then, but I didn’t; that wasn’t my path. And I do feel that I am one hundred a better student now and learning so much more than I would have back then.

Suzanne: And are you going full time or part time?

Lisa: Oh my God, no, part time. [laughs]

Suzanne: That makes it easier too.

Lisa: Exactly. No, there’s no way it could be a full-time student. And what’s cool is there is a program that does classes in an accelerated fashion. So, a sixteen-week class takes eight weeks, but it also packs more work into those eight weeks, but if I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t get my AA until I was 60.

Suzanne: …I really like your curtains by the way. Those are pretty.

Lisa: Oh, thank you.

Suzanne: I like looking at the background when I interview people.

Lisa: I know, it’s hilarious

Suzanne: [I see] interesting things. Who’s the actor? Jeff Daniels, I was on a TCA thing with him. There’re lots of people there, but he had like fifty guitars behind him hanging on the wall. He apparently has an addiction to buying guitars.

Lisa: That is awesome. I don’t collect anything. I’m not a collector. I collect dust. I don’t have any cool collections of anything.

Suzanne: Oh, you do enough as it is.

Lisa: Yeah, I do, darn it.

Suzanne: All right. Well, I thank you so much for meeting up with me.

Lisa: Thanks for asking.

Suzanne: Oh, it was great. I will see you on Facebook and hopefully more in Curb.

Lisa: Yeah, hopefully more. Fingers crossed. Thank you so much.

Suzanne: All right, bye bye.

Here’s the video!

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

MORE INFO:

Lisa Arch is an American actor and comedian, known for her roles in the 1997–98 season of the FOX Network comedy show, Mad TV, as cohost of TBS’s Dinner and a Movie from 2002 to 2005, and as the recurring character of Samantha Samuels on Disney Channel’s Cory in the House. Arch has also been in movies, such as 2007’s Evan Almighty.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American television sitcom that has been produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000. The series was created by Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself. The series follows Larry in his life as a semi-retired television writer and producer in Los Angeles, and for one season, New York City. Also starring are Cheryl Hines as his wife Cheryl, Jeff Garlin as his manager and best friend Jeff Greene, and Susie Essman as Jeff’s wife Susie. Curb Your Enthusiasm often features guest stars, many of them playing fictionalized versions of themselves.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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Interview with Tia Mowry, Smokey Robinson, and Mark Taylor

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Tia Mowry, Smokey Robinson, and Mark Taylor of "Miracle in Motor City" on Lifetime

Interview with Tia Mowry, Smokey Robinson, and Mark Taylor of “Miracle in Motor City” on Lifetime by Suzanne 11/8/21

This is a fun movie, set in Detroit. In most ways, it’s your usual holiday TV movie, but the Motown music makes it a little extra-special, as does using Smokey Robinson as a major plot point. The acting also elevates it above the usual films we see this time of year.  Tia Mowry-Hardrict (Sister, Sister; Family Reunion) is effervescent as busy social worker and foster mom Amber (who’s volunteered to take over the church Christmas pageant), and Canadian Mark Taylor (Coroner, Frankie Drake Mysteries) is great as her ex-boyfriend, Eddie.  Smokey doesn’t appear right away, and he has a relatively small part, but the real star that outshines them all is Markeda McKay, the adorable young actress who plays Lily, Amber’s foster daughter.

Lifetime had a press day for some of their upcoming Christmas movies, so it was great to be invited to be there and ask questions. I had a fun time chatting with them. Make sure you watch the movie Sunday, November 28 on Lifetime.

MODERATOR: Hi, all. Thank you for joining us for our last panel. Please welcome our panelists, executive producer and star, Tia Mowry, Smokey Robinson, and Mark Taylor.

TIA MOWRY: Hi, guys!

MODERATOR: Hello.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: (Makes kissing face.) Back atcha!

TIA MOWRY: Oh my gosh, I miss you guys!

SMOKEY ROBINSON: I miss you, too. Yeah.

TIA MOWRY: Aw, you guys look so great!

SMOKEY ROBINSON: You’re the one.

MARK TAYLOR: Yeah.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: How you doing, Mark?

MARK TAYLOR: I’m good, man. Good to see you again.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Good to see you, man. Yeah.

MARK TAYLOR: How you doing?

MODERATOR: Thank you all for being here. Our first question is from Suzanne.

TIA MOWRY: Oh. We’re — right off the gate.

SUZANNE: Hi.

TIA MOWRY: Hi, Suzanne!

SUZANNE: Hi, guys. Happy holidays.

MARK TAYLOR: Happy holidays.

TIA MOWRY: Happy holidays to you.

Tia Mowry, Smokey Robinson, and Mark Taylor of "Miracle in Motor City" on LifetimeSUZANNE: I just finished watching your movie this morning. I really enjoyed it.

TIA MOWRY: Yay! (Claps.)

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Wonderful. Yeah.

SUZANNE: I like that it was set in the city because so many of the Christmas movies are set out in the country somewhere, and they imply that the city is bad and the small town or country is good. So… I’m a city girl, I like that yours was different.

TIA MOWRY: Yay!

SUZANNE: Mark, I love your character in “Coroner,” and I really love that show.

MARK TAYLOR: Oh, thank you. Wow, thank you.

SUZANNE: The singing and guitar playing that you did in the film, was that something that you’ve done a lot of before?

MARK TAYLOR: I sing in the shower and…

SMOKEY ROBINSON: I know that tune.

MARK TAYLOR: And guitar, I used to play guitar when I was about 12. I did that for maybe a couple of years and, you know, real minute stuff, so…I had to take lessons and kind of relearn it.

TIA MOWRY: But you guys, here’s a little kind of behind-the-scenes situation. I thought what was really cool about Mark is he’d always walk around with the guitar. Like, when you weren’t on camera, behind the scenes, he was always walking around with it. I guess was that an actor’s choice to just feel really comfortable with the guitar?

MARK TAYLOR: Yeah, I just wanted to get it as good as I could and make it as realistic as possible.

TIA MOWRY: Yeah.

MARK TAYLOR: And it was fun. It was also fun, you know? So it was good to learn some songs and connect.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: You know, I’ve tried to learn to play the guitar about three or four times. I cannot do it.

MARK TAYLOR: Really?

SMOKEY ROBINSON: It just would not — and the tricky part was my favorite instrument.

TIA MOWRY: Wow.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: The guitar is my favorite —

TIA MOWRY: Oh.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: And I wanna play it so badly, but I just can’t get it. My right hand and my left hand do not coordinate on the guitar, you know. But my guitarist told me, he says, “Man, if you wanna learn how to play the guitar, keep it in your hands at all times.”

MARK TAYLOR: Yeah, yeah.

TIA MOWRY: See?

SMOKEY ROBINSON: I understand what you were talking about, man. But I did that and that didn’t work, either. So…

TIA MOWRY: I don’t — you guys, I don’t know how to play any instruments. Like, I…I’m terrible.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: What?

TIA MOWRY: That is one thing — no. Like, that’s — sports and music is I just — I can’t. So kudos to you guys.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Not sports, don’t say sports.

TIA MOWRY: Oh God, no, I can’t even — when I was a kid —

SMOKEY ROBINSON: No sports?

TIA MOWRY: No, no, no sports. Like, when I was a kid, my dad, he tried to put me in what is it t-ball? You know, where the ball is like teed up for you?

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Yeah.

TIA MOWRY: I would strike out on that. So I’d like —

MARK TAYLOR: Wow.

TIA MOWRY: What is it, hand and eye coordination? No. Not good. Thank God, you know, I have other things that I can do.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Well, t-ball is over, honey, by the time you’re six or seven.

TIA MOWRY: Yeah.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: You don’t even play t-ball anymore, so that was way back when.

TIA MOWRY: (Laughs.) Okay?

SUZANNE: Tia, can you sing at least?

TIA MOWRY: Yeah, you know, I can sing.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: She’s got a good voice.

TIA MOWRY: I mean, I grew up with singers in my family. My mother, she actually sang in the choir at church. So I can sing but what’s so funny about this character, Amber Dupont, she doesn’t know how to sing. And actually, Eddie, he picks on me throughout the movie about how I can’t carry a tune. So I thought that was pretty funny. But yeah, I mean, I can carry a tune.

SUZANNE: Well, the voice is an instrument, so it counts.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Yeah, she can. She’s got a good voice.

TIA MOWRY: Yeah.

SUZANNE: Thank you, all.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Suzanne.

TIA MOWRY: Thank you! Thank you!

MARK TAYLOR: Welcome.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question is from Jamie Ruby.

QUESTION: Hi, guys.

TIA MOWRY: Hi, Jeannie.

JAMIE: Hi.

TIA MOWRY: Or Jamie, is it Jamie?

JAMIE: Jamie. Jamie, yes.

TIA MOWRY: Hi Jamie!

JAMIE: Hi. This is for all three of you. I was wondering, is there anything filming this that surprised you that you found out? Like, what was the most surprising thing?

TIA MOWRY: How hot it was in Canada.

(Laughter.)

SMOKEY ROBINSON: My most surprising thing was that I could do it at all.

TIA MOWRY: Aw. I mean —

SMOKEY ROBINSON: That was my most surprising.

MARK TAYLOR: You were great. You were great.

TIA MOWRY: Look, y’all, Smokey —

SMOKEY ROBINSON: I love you, too, Mark.

MARK TAYLOR: You were great.

TIA MOWRY: You were fantastic. I mean, you’re a legend, you know what I mean? Come on, Smokey.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: (inaudible @ 01:26:29)

TIA MOWRY: You’re awesome. You’re wonderful. Go ahead, Mark. You wanna answer?

SMOKEY ROBINSON: I had a wonderful time.

TIA MOWRY: Oh.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: I had a great time. And everybody was so beautiful, you know? Before it even happened, I was looking forward to seeing Tia because Tia is like my daughter. I mean, you know, I just —

TIA MOWRY: Yeah.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: …I love her so much and so happy to see —

TIA MOWRY: Aw, I love you, Smokey!

SMOKEY ROBINSON: …that she was gonna be there. That was great. And then, meeting everybody and getting the chance to — everybody. I mean, the crew, everybody was just fantastic. So I had a wonderful time.

MARK TAYLOR: Yeah.

TIA MOWRY: Aw. What about you, Mark? Was there anything that you were surprised about?

MARK TAYLOR: What was I surprised about? Um…you know what? I don’t know if I was surprised, but it was just an amazing experience.

TIA MOWRY: Aw, I like that.

MARK TAYLOR: Everyone’s so cool and everyone had a good time. And it was just — I guess maybe the experience I didn’t know was going to be so amazing you know?

TIA MOWRY: Yeah.

MARK TAYLOR: But I’m definitely happy that I was a part of it, and I feel like it was meant to be.

TIA MOWRY: Aw, that’s awesome.

MARK TAYLOR: Yeah.

TIA MOWRY: I think, yeah, for me I think the most surprising part — I mean, I don’t know why it’s always surprising but I think a lot of people, they expect for — you know, these Christmas movies they’re — it’s supposed to be snow on the ground, it’s supposed to be wintertime. But in reality, we film a lot of these movies during the summertime. So we’re wearing jackets, and coats, and scarfs, and it’s so incredibly hot. So you have to —

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Except for at night.

TIA MOWRY: Except for nights. Yeah, except for night.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: It was like the instant drop, like it’s 75 until six o’clock and at 6:01 it’s 30. (Laughs.)

TIA MOWRY: (Laughs.) No. Wait, I will say this though, too, you guys. I think we film these movies in such a short period of time, right? So when I first started doing these Christmas movies, I think the thing that I was most surprised about is how many scenes you shoot in a day. Just for perspective on some movies, most movies, you’ll shoot maybe two-to-three scenes a day. But with these movies, you’re shooting, like, eight or nine scenes a day. So it’s a lot of dialogue to memorize and you’re working long hours. So that can be kind of surprising I think for viewers to know about.

MARK TAYLOR: It’s a grind.

TIA MOWRY: It’s a lot of work.

MARK TAYLOR: Yeah, it’s a grind.

TIA MOWRY: We shoot these movies in such — I think it’s what, 15, 16 days? When a lot of movies go for 21 maybe even 30 days. So it’s a grind. But it’s a good grind.

MARK TAYLOR: Oh, yeah.

JAMIE: I was gonna say, too, coats in the summer may be better than wearing a bathing suit when it’s freezing out or something. I don’t know.

TIA MOWRY: Yeah.

JAMIE: I guess it depends.

MARK TAYLOR: They’re both bad. They’re both bad.

JAMIE: Yeah, that’s true.

TIA MOWRY: You know what? I’m with you, Mark. I think they’re both just ew. But I mean, hey, you know, you do what you love.

MARK TAYLOR: Right.

TIA MOWRY: And I love what I do, so…it’s all worth.

JAMIE: Alright, thank you so much.

MODERATOR: Thank you.

TIA MOWRY: Thank you, Jamie.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Jamie. Our next question is from Mike from TV America.

MIKE: Yeah, for Smokey. One of the good things about this movie is it reminds us of how important those church Christmas pageants are. So could you recall, back when you were a kid and so forth, what was important to you about it? Did you do church Christmas pageants? What did they mean to you?

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Well, you know what, Mike? I was involved in a few of them but my mom was one of those people that went to church three, four times a week, you know? She was a real lady, though. She would cuss you out in a minute but she would go to church three, four times a week.

TIA MOWRY: (Laughs.)

SMOKEY ROBINSON: And actually, to be truthful with you, when I was a child, man, church used to scare me because of the fact —

MIKE: (Laughs.)

SMOKEY ROBINSON: I’m serious about that, man. I was scared to death at church because the church that I went to was a Baptist church, Baptist preacher. And he’s preaching and hollering and hooping and just falling out. And the women are coming up there and they’re putting smelling salts and they’re passing out. I was afraid to death of church, man, until I got to be grown. I really was. I wasn’t really, like, a church-going person as a kid. I went if my mom made me, if she made me. So when she made me go, I went. And she would send me to Sunday school in the morning and then I’d have to go back to church with her in the afternoon. That was really a grind for me, man. But like I said, after I got to be grown and I understood a lot more spiritual things, I understood it more. And so I got to be more relaxed with it. But as far as growing up, man, I was…it was a trip for me.

TIA MOWRY: (Laughs.)

MIKE: Thanks. I wanted to ask you one other thing, Smokey. Even though you shot it in Canada, this gives Detroit a really good look because it used a lot of stills, second unit shots. It makes life in Detroit look very attractive. Do we kind of underestimate how good Detroit is right now?

SMOKEY ROBINSON: I hope so, Mike. I really do because Detroit has been devastated for a while. But it’s because of the economy, because of no jobs and all that. See, Detroit is a job city. And when I was growing up, the auto industry was what kept Detroit going. Detroit was the auto industry, really. So after all the auto plants moved out and the manufacturers and stuff and then we had Motown and…I’m so proud of the fact that right now, they even call Detroit Motown. So we created a lot of jobs and things like that in Detroit, also. And we left and the auto industry left, so Detroit suffered for a long time. And I’m very, very happy to see that it is kind of on the rebound.

MIKE: Oh, thanks.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Mike. Our next question is for —

TIA MOWRY: Thank you, Mike!

MODERATOR: Thank you. Noah, you’re up next.

NOAH: Hello, everyone. It is so great to be here with you guys. By the way, Tia, I feel your holiday energy. I have the holiday energy, too. I feel like you’re just gonna bust out into a Christmas tune. Yes, yes, oh yes!

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Go, Tia. Bust it out, Tia.

NOAH: Come on, Tia.

TIA MOWRY: Aw, thank you.

NOAH: Give us a little “Jingle Bells”.

TIA MOWRY: No! Oh my God! Jingle bells, jingle bells. I’m, like, nervous to sing in front of Smokey.

MODERATOR: Okay, thank you, Noah.

TIA MOWRY: You know, Christmas happens to be one of my favorite holidays. I really look forward to it every single year and that’s one of the main reasons why I love doing these movies. It’s something that my family — especially my mom, like, she’s a huge fan of every Christmas movie I do. And we sit down and we have hot cocoa, glasses of wine, and just really enjoy ourselves. So…

QUESTION: Now, Tia, I want to ask you first off, what attracted you to wanna be part of this? Because we have seen you and your sister, Tamera, be part of a lot of Christmas movies. And I just must say I love watching you two on screen.

MARK TAYLOR: Aw, thank you!

QUESTION: I’ve been a longtime fan since “Sister, Sister”. I just recently binged that, by the way, just aside.

TIA MOWRY: Really? With — yes. Okay, yeah, because it’s in syndication right now.

QUESTION: Yes. Yes.

TIA MOWRY: Thank you! You know, what really attracted me with this script in particular is Mr. Smokey Robinson. You know, they had told me that he was going to be a part of it and I was like no way. I didn’t believe them at first. I was like I have to see it to believe it. I’ve known Smokey ever since I was a young, little girl and I’ve been a huge fan. And I just feel like Motown, it’s been very influential, especially within the African American culture and the community. So to be able to have that Motown flair and to have, like, Smokey be a part of the story, I was on-board from the beginning. And then when they told me that Mark was gonna be a part of it, Mark and I, we had done a movie over 20-something years ago, like aging ourselves but —

SMOKEY ROBINSON: When you guys were babies? You did a movie when you were babies?

TIA MOWRY: A baby! A baby! We were, like, in our 20s.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Twenty years ago.

TIA MOWRY: Yeah, basically. So I just — when I found out who the cast was and all of that and then just the story. I’m a huge believer in just giving women an opportunity. And Rhonda Baraka who is the writer of this movie, she wrote such an incredible script. And she’s also an African American woman which I just think is so phenomenal. So yeah, I was really excited about this project and I hope people enjoy this movie as much as all of us did making it.

QUESTION: Now, Mark, you have worked with Tia and Tamera on a movie in the past titled “17 Again”. I don’t know if that’s what you were just talking about, Tia, but that’s the movie that I’m talking about.

MARK TAYLOR: Yeah, it is.

TIA MOWRY: Yes, it was. “17 Again”, that was what I was talking about.

QUESTION: So now, we see you and Tia, you have feelings for each other in this holiday movie that we’ll see on Lifetime. What was it like to personally work with her once again for this project?

TIA MOWRY: Aw.

MARK TAYLOR: I mean, Tia, you know, she got the big, bright energy, you know? Her spirit is so giving and bright and caring. She’s always checking in with you, making sure that you’re alright.

TIA MOWRY: Yep.

MARK TAYLOR: And she just makes everyone feel involved, like everyone’s on the same level. So it was great. Like I said, it was a great experience.

TIA MOWRY: Yay.

QUESTION: Thank you, guys. I appreciate it. You have a good day.

TIA MOWRY: Thank you, Noah!

SMOKEY ROBINSON: You, too.

TIA MOWRY: Bye!

QUESTION: Bye. Happy holidays.

TIA MOWRY: Happy holidays.

MODERATOR: Thank you. We have time for one final one. Jay, you’re up.

JAY: Oh, thank you very much. Hi. Smokey, my question is for you. You’ve got such a catalogue of songs, obviously, and quite a few of them actually are Christmas songs. What kind of conversation went into exactly what you would perform in the movie?

SMOKEY ROBINSON: You know, Jay, not too much because I was gonna be on board — see, first of all, they sent me the script. And it’s a beautiful, warm, wonderful, warm story. And it was like Tia said, about Black people and about how they celebrate Christmas and what they do and all that. So that got me right there. And then, they told me Tia was gonna be involved. I hadn’t met Mark before filming this, but Tia like I said is my baby. I love her. And they told me she was gonna be involved and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it. And then, it’s about Detroit and all that. So I was on board from getting the script and finding out all that information about what was going on. And like I said, the script is beautiful. It’s a warm, wonderful, Christmas story and I was very flattered to be a part of that.

TIA MOWRY: Aw.

JAY: Just to follow up, when it came to the songs, did they ask for your input about what you might like to perform, maybe from your own catalogue?

SMOKEY ROBINSON: No, no, no, no, no, man. They had some songs in mind that they wanted me to do and I did those. Because whatever they wanted me to do, like I said, I was gonna be on board for. And so I didn’t really pick any songs to sing or anything like that. I just wanted to be a part of it because it seemed so wonderful.

JAY: Thanks very much, Smokey.

TIA MOWRY: You know, wait, Smokey, I have to say one of my favorite moments in the movie is when you walk through the church doors. And you have this — I mean, you have this, like, swagger to you, the way you’re just walking. (Laughs.) Down the aisle. And then you start singing. It is just — I just cannot wait for people to see that moment. I mean, I just started bawling and I just started crying because it’s just — it’s such a beautiful moment. And I know that you’re saying that you’re very grateful to be a part of this movie, but I just want to say thank you for being a part of this movie. I mean, you’re such a legend. And Mark and I, we talk about you all the time. You’re just — you’re so — I mean, you’re a legend, you know what I mean?

SMOKEY ROBINSON: (Over-talking @ 01:38:44) And so I really, really want to take this time — I’ve already told you so many times before, but thank you for lending just your energy and your talent to this story because you did an incredible job. So thank you.

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Well, thank you, sweetheart. I appreciate that. And I got your vitamins, too. I got the vitamins.

TIA MOWRY: Yay!

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Yeah.

TIA MOWRY: Yay! I love that!

SMOKEY ROBINSON: Me too.

MODERATOR: That’s awesome. Thank you so much to the cast of “Miracle in Motor City”. Make sure to tune in November 28th at 8/7 Central only on Lifetime.

(Goodbyes.)

MORE INFO:

Preview

Lifetime Reveals Full Holiday Movie Slate for Annual IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFETIME Programming Event Beginning November 12th, Including 30 New Premieres In 30 Days Kicking Off After Thanksgiving to Count Down to Christmas

Lifetime Reveals Full Holiday Movie Slate for Annual

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFETIME

Programming Event Beginning November 12th, 

Including 30 New Premieres In 30 Days

Kicking Off After Thanksgiving to Count Down to Christmas

Talent Around the Tree This Year Includes

Kelly Rowland, Reba McEntire, Melissa Joan Hart, Mario Lopez, Tia Mowry, Smokey Robinson, Jana Kramer, Marie Osmond, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Tatyana Ali, Roselyn Sánchez, Jacky Lai, Mýa, Ryan McPartlin, Thomas Cadrot, Bresha Webb, Candice King, Emeraude Tobia, Aimee Garcia, Haylie Duff, Ricki Lake, Kirk Franklin, John Schneider, Maria Menounos, Chad Michael Murray, AnnaLynne McCord, and Many Others

Los Angeles, CA – September 28, 2021 – Get ready for the most cheerful holiday season yet! Lifetime announces its largest holiday movie slate ever for the network’s annual It’s a Wonderful Lifetime programming event, kicking off November 12th with five new movies Fridays and Saturdays, and a premiere on Sunday, November 21st.  Then, once the Thanksgiving feast is over and for the first time ever, Lifetime will premiere 30 new movies, in 30 days, with a new movie EVERY DAY from November 26 through December 25. As the #1 holiday movie destination, Lifetime’s 2021 It’s a Wonderful Lifetime slate will feature 35 new movies and over 1000 hours of holiday programming.

In case that’s not enough excitement for you – get ready for It’s a Wonderful Lifetime Holiday Movie Preview hosted by Tia Mowry (star of this year’s Miracle in Motor City)! This special will preview Lifetime’s upcoming 2021 Christmas Movies and will be available on VOD beginning October 24 and will premiere on Lifetime November 7 at 10am ET/PT. In addition to sneak peeks and cast interviews, Tia will share a special holiday treat or cocktail recipe to go with each movie previewed!

At Lifetime it’s never too early to get in the spirit! Beginning October 15, Lifetime VOD will have 10 of your favorite holiday titles available to screen. And if you just can’t get enough – starting November 12, LMC will have 50 of Lifetime’s best holiday movies available to stream!

Miracle in Motor City

Starring Tia Mowry, Mark Taylor & Smokey Robinson

11/28 at 8pm / 7c
CID_31
Amber Dupont (Tia Mowry) bites off more than she can chew when she takes charge of her church’s annual Christmas pageant and inadvertently promises to deliver a special performance by Motown Legend Smokey Robinson. When her best friends secretly enlist Amber’s former flame Eddie (Mark Taylor) to help – the pair reconnect in a quest to find Smokey and convince him to appear. With the clock ticking, family, friends, and superstar Smokey Robinson come together to stage the most special pageant yet.Miracle in Motor City is produced by Cineflix Media with Tia Mowry, Charles Tremayne, and Jeff Vanderwal serving as executive producers. Gaylyn Fraiche consults on behalf of Tia Mowry. Alfons Adetuyi directs from a script by Rhonda Baraka.

Markeda McKay, Tia Mowry, Smokey Robinson, and Mark Taylor in "Miracle in Motor City" on Lifetime

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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picture

Interview with Chrystee Pharris

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

 

Chrystee Pharris of "Monogamy"

Interview with Chrystee Pharris of “Monogamy” on ALLBLK by Suzanne 11/23/21

This was such a fun interview! Chrystee is just great. She’s smart, passionate, funny – and an amazing actress! I’ve enjoyed reading her Facebook posts for years as well as seeing her on TV. I’m so glad we were able to do this.

Chrystee: How are you doing today?

Suzanne: All right. I’m not quite awake.

Chrystee: Where are you located?

Suzanne: I’m in Arkansas right now. I’m from San Diego originally, and then we move around a lot for my husband’s job.

Chrystee: Oh, I was gonna say, “San Diego to Arkansas?”

Suzanne: Oh, it’s worse than that. I haven’t lived to San Diego since 1982. We went here from Hawaii.

Chrystee: Oh my gosh. Is he military?

Suzanne: No, he’s a professor.

Chrystee: Okay, because as soon as you said San Diego and Hawaii, I was like, “Oh, that sounds like military.”

Suzanne: Yeah, actually, the reason I was in San Diego is because my dad was in the military, and he had been there and then liked it. So, we went back after he retired.

Chrystee: My dad was in the military as well.

Suzanne: Which branch?

Chrystee: He was in the Air Force. So I was born on Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Suzanne: Oh, nice. Yeah, my dad was in the Air Force too. I was born in Northern California. It used to be Travis Air Force Base, but I guess it’s gone now, or the hospital’s gone. One of them’s gone. I can’t remember. I was too young to know anyway.

Chrystee: I feel you on that one.

Suzanne: Yeah. So, we’ve been Facebook friends for a long time. I don’t know if you recognize my name. You actually have a lot of Facebook friends.

Chrystee: Oh, wow. No, I don’t think I’ve paid that much attention. There’re so many people. That’s so wonderful.

Suzanne: It’s so great to finally meet you, because I had thought about asking you for an interview at one point, but I thought, “Well I don’t know what she’s doing,” and then I sort of forgot about it, because I got busy.

Chrystee: Oh, yeah. I would have said yes. You know, what else? It also just depends. I mean, like, a lot of times we are super busy, but a lot of times we’re not. And because we’re all independent contractors, it’s a hustle market. It’s not like you have a nine to five where you know what doing and you have a steady paycheck. But in the acting world, you’re an independent contractor, and you’re constantly trying to find work. So, you have to stay busy, otherwise you don’t have income coming in. So, we’re always busy, but yet we’re not busy. You know what I mean?

Suzanne: Yeah. So, so what attracted you to the role of Diandra?

Chrystee: You know, it’s interesting, I know, Caryn Ward and Craig Ross Jr., they’re both married, they created the show. Craig called me out of the blue and said, “Hey, Chrystee, I have this show, kind of an experimental situation. It’s a new network -” which at the time it was called, I can’t remember; now It’s called Allblk, and that’s owned by AMC. He was like, “We’re not really sure what’s going to happen, but I would love for you to play this role.” And I was like, “Okay, of course,” and then he was like, “Do you want to read the script first?” And I was like, “Oh, I guess I should do that, but, yeah, of course, I’ll do this role.”

Then, next thing you know, I remember reading it and kind of getting a little nervous, because I was like, “Wow, I’ve never played a character like this before.” It was definitely a challenge. I remember the first day, and we were doing it, and I’m just “Da da da da,” and he’s like, “No, no, no. You gotta – she’s not – she’s more like this,” you know, because I have to be opposite of Caryn’s character.

And from there, I just was able to slip into this wonderful character that’s changed my life in a lot of ways. I mean, she’s so complex. Things have changed a little bit now, just because the industry has changed. Especially with Black Lives Matter, black people are hot at this moment. So, I say that with a joke. Of course, nobody would understand that, because they’re reading it as opposed to seeing this interview, but when you look at things that are like, I don’t know, different shows, the black girl was always the side chick, the best friend. She didn’t have complex dialogue, storyline. This character is so complex. She has so much stuff going on in her life. This third season, I mean, you just see so much come out that the fans are like, “Wow.” The first season they loved me. Second season, they did not like me. Third season, they were like, “Oh, my God, I completely understand her. Wow, been through that. Wow.” Then, they had compassion for me. Then, the next episode after that, after the first episode, they were like, they had compassion for me. They’re like, “Oh, man, I understand her. Wow.” The next episode after that, episode three, they hated me again. Then, by the end of the season, they’re just like, “Oh, my God, we’re pulling for her.” I’ve never seen fans go through the emotional up and down with the character that I played before. It’s just beautiful. I mean, I just I love Diandra. She’s probably my favorite so far.

Suzanne: And what would you say that you and she have the most in common and what you have that’s very different?

Chrystee: Well, one thing that is not in common is that I’m not worth $10 million. I mean, this character is worth – her parents left her money before they died. That portion of it, I definitely cannot relate to, and being calm and collected, but people would look at me and go, “No, what are you talking about? That is you,” Like, I suppress my emotions, but yet I can’t suppress my emotions. So, it’s like this dual battle.

What I probably can relate to is just the complexity of marriage and divorce and the complexity of family and the trauma that you can go through with family. I think I can relate to that. Not to say that my family went through crazy times, but enough that you think you’re the only person who’s gone through this, and you realize, no, a lot of people have complex relationships with their families, you know? Like my brother passed away. Actually, it’ll be three years now, but he was bipolar, schizophrenic, homeless, you know what I mean? So, you try to hide those things. You don’t want people to see what’s really going on in your family. You try to hide those, and then you realize, “Oh, maybe you don’t have to hide it,” that a lot more of us have gone through these things, and you try to deal with it. Then, the heartbreak of losing them without even being able to say goodbye is the hardest thing in the world, you know?

Suzanne: Yeah, I can imagine. I watched season one yesterday, and I really enjoyed it.

Chrystee: Thanks.

Suzanne: I’m sure I’m not the only one that is playing catch up, because people nowadays, they’ll binge watch some show they never watched.

Chrystee: Yeah.

Suzanne: So, what can you tell me do I have to look forward to in seasons two and three?

Chrystee: Well, part of the thing that you look forward to is that the production value is better. laughs

Suzanne: I did see the first episode of the second season, so I know what you’re talking about.

Chrystee: Yeah, I mean, it’s like night and day, because we actually finally had gotten a budget. That’s definitely number one. But that journey of season two, now you’re pulling for you know, who do you want to stay together? Who do you want to split apart? And for the people who are reading this article, the show, Craig Ross Jr.’s Monogamy is about four couples who are going through marital issues, and they decide to do a spousal swap through an experiment to work out their relationship. Which is crazy in itself, but that second season, you’re really sitting there going, “Oh my gosh, which relationship do I want to stay together?” Like, who do you want to to stay? You get to season three, and you’re not expecting any of what happens in season three. I remember getting the script and going, “What in the world?” You know what I mean? Like, “What the what?”

"Monogamy" on ALLBLKAnd that’s the great thing about the writers, for this show, is you think that the show is going to go one way, and it completely goes left, and you’re kind of in shock. Nothing in the show is predictable, like nothing. Even I remember this particular season – I’m watching the show in real time, because we don’t get to see it ahead of time, and, literally, I remember when I got to episode three or four, and I remember saying, “I cannot remember what happens. I have to go back and reread the script.” And I reread the script, and my significant other was so mad, because he was like, “Well, let me read it.” And I was like, “No, you gotta watch it.” And he’s like, “That’s not fair! You’re gonna read it, and I don’t get to read it. That’s just not fair.” And I was like, “I don’t care.” And I went back and read the whole entire last season of episodes.

But yeah, I promise you, people are going to go through an emotional roller coaster ride, because it’s just so unpredictable. It really isn’t predictable. It almost makes me go, “Really Diandra?”

Suzanne: It has a sci-fi vibe to it, even though it’s not sci-fi, because of the people that you never see and that kind of thing.

Chrystee:
Yeah.

Suzanne: It makes it interesting. Or one of those weird Korean dramas that may or may not be sci-fi.

Chrystee: Yeah, like it seems like some extraterrestrial, although it’s not in any way, shape, or form, but it’s kind of like, it’s not quite like Squid Games, but Squid Games –

Suzanne: It has that vibe.

Chrystee: Yeah. Where you have these people that are talking, and you never see their faces and so forth. Just a little bit, yeah.

Suzanne: And it kind of goes back all the way, if you want to go back all the way to a show like The Prisoner from the 1960s, which I don’t remember if it was strictly sci-fi or it just felt that way, where they had a man who was being kept prisoner. They wouldn’t give him a name. He had a number.The cast of "Passions" on NBC

Chrystee:
I never saw that.

Suzanne: Yeah. It’s a little obscure, but sci-fi fans know it.

Chrystee: Gotcha.

Suzanne: So, that kind of thing is very interesting, and even though they’re not really prisoners, they sign up to be prisoners. So, it’s similar in a way. They have to follow the rules. It struck me interesting that they all followed the rules, I guess because their financial finances were on the line. It would make me wonder how people would act that would do that if their finances were not on the line. It was almost like a reality show, in a way. It was scripted. I guess they did have a Wife Swap reality show, but it wasn’t quite the same way. It wasn’t really wife swapping; they called it wife swapping, but it was family swapping. It didn’t have the whole sexual aspect to it.

Chrystee: Yeah, and, I mean, in season two, there’s a financial challenge, and it makes you wonder how people are going to react, and Diandra goes through that a little bit, in the second season, and it takes her out of her cool, calm collected, “I know how to handle this stuff.” I mean, I think that’s why season two has its own journey.

Suzanne: Yeah, and it struck me as odd that the show is on a streaming channel, and it’s very sexual, but at least what I’ve seen so far, there’s no actual nudity.

Chrystee: No.

Suzanne: You know If this was on HBO, Showtime, Netflix there would have been nudity. So, do you know why they chose that?

Chrystee: Well, I mean, I just think because of the streaming network; this particular network is still limited. I’m not sure if they can take it that far, but I think also, out of respect – I mean, which is why the director is so amazing is that he makes sure that you’re all comfortable with what’s happening. Like in season three, it gets, for my character, in my opinion, a little more riskier, to a certain degree. He and I had had a talk about it, what I was comfortable with, but because of the fact that we shot it during the pandemic, and you want to be COVID safe, he had to change things around and be sure that they could still get the story across without compromising anything or putting us in jeopardy, our lives in jeopardy, because of COVID.

Suzanne: Right. So, that was why there was a year between season two and three with COVID, but you didn’t take the whole year off?

Chrystee: Yes. So the reason why it was it prolonged the first season to the second season was because it was a new network, so they had to do whatever you do. Then, finally we got greenlit; we shot it. We were getting ready to shoot the next season. The pandemic hit. Okay, so, we were like, “Hey, we’re gonna be shooting.” “Wait; hold on. Something’s happening. Oh, wait a minute.” Like, you know, “I’m scared. I don’t want to go anywhere.”

Suzanne: Yeah, I know. So, what’s it been like working with Brian White and Darius McCrary? What a choice your character had.

Chrystee: Yeah, yeah. Well, it was it’s so interesting, because Darius, Wesley Jonathan, and Caryn and I, we all did this movie that really wasn’t the best movie in the world, but people love it. So, I don’t say anything bad about it, but we all did a movie together back in the day, which is how we all met. Then, fast forward to doing this together. I mean, Darius is a very energetic, sweet, breezy, lovable teddy bear. He’s just the sweetest guy, and it was it’s always a joy. Brian is completely opposite. Brian is a little more low key, very business oriented. You know, “let’s get this done” kind of thing. Very focused, you know, that type. Darius is more like, “Hey, everybody, I love you guys! What are we doing today?” So, they’re completely different character people, like just people in general, and they fit their characters to a tee, because Brian’s character is really intense; he’s so intense. Then, you have Darius’s character, who’s kind of like, you know. So, it was a joy to work with both of them, because they’re completely opposite. Completely opposite, but great people. Great people.

Suzanne: Good. Brian has been in so many great things. I just love him. And Darius was on The Young and the Restless. So, you actually have that in common with the soap. It’s funny, because he was brought in to sort of replace Shemar Moore’s character, and it didn’t really work, and I think it might have had to do with the directing or something, the writing, because this character that he’s playing in your show reminds me a lot of Mr. Moore’s character when he played him, and I think if they had given him the right writing and direction then he would have worked better as that character, because…they sort of made him boring in the show. That’s unfortunate, because he’s obviously a very good actor.

Chrystee: Yeah, yeah.

Suzanne: So yeah, I know that a lot of times fans blame the actor when it when a lot of it has to do with the writing and the directing and other factors that we don’t even know about.

Chrystee: Yeah, I mean, it happens, and it’s not it’s also not easy to replace somebody. I came in replacing — her name was Lena Cardwell on Passions, and I remember, in the beginning, people were a little, you know, “Well, no.” Then, I stood my ground. I had good skills, and people accepted me and loved me, and I didn’t have any issues with the transition.

But when the new girl came in, Cathy Doe, she came in, and I’ll never forget, because I remember, we ended up the week that I left was the day that she started, but that same day, we worked on a film together, and we happened to go [unintelligible] film. I know she thought I wasn’t going to like her, or would be standoffish or whatever, because she’s taking my role. And the first thing I did, I was like, “Oh, my gosh, we get to meet! Do you have any questions? Make sure you do you. Don’t try to be like me; just create your own character.” And she was just like, “Oh, my god, she was so nice to me.” She said this in an interview, and I responded back, because the same people who interviewed her interviewed me. I said, “Well, I had to tell her, and for everybody out there, I chose to leave the show.” I wanted to give another woman, another black woman, in particular, the opportunity that I had. It was just time for me to move on. But it’s always love. It wasn’t like she came in and auditioned or something and talked her way in and took my role away from me. No, that’s not what happened. I chose to leave. I wanted to give another opportunity to another amazing actress, and she got the opportunity to do it.

But I just think, in this industry, people can be so insecure about somebody taking over. And not to say stuff like that doesn’t happen, but I just don’t see it that way. I don’t hate on reality star people, or Instagram, people who are getting roles now. I don’t hate on other actresses who are younger than me or whatever the case may be, or have a better body than me or are better actors than me or are prettier than me. I know that I’m talented, and no one can take that away from me.

And now, we’re in a place where you can create your own destiny. It wasn’t like that when we started back in the 90s, in the 2000s and stuff. Things were not like that. You couldn’t create your own projects, because we didn’t have cell phones. We didn’t have little cameras and stuff like that that we could create our own projects. So, now, if you’re hating on other people, then you have an issue, because you can create your own shit.

Suzanne: That’s right. So, I used to watch you on Passions,. Do you still keep in touch with any of the actors on that show?

Chrystee: I keep in contact with Donn Swaby, who played Chad, the original bad. I still speak to Rodney Van Johnson who played my father, and I still keep in contact with Tracey Ross who played my mom on the show. Then, Brook Kerr and Lindsay Hartley who played Whitney and Theresa, a lot of them, and Sam, I keep in touch with all of them on Instagram or Facebook. So, I feel like I talk to them, but then I’m like, “Oh, but do I?”…I’m like, “Oh wait, this is on Facebook.” So, I never know if Facebook is a false – Like, is it a false communication or is it really real? You know what I mean? Because in my mind, I’m like, “Oh yeah, Jade Harlow. I talked to Jade,” but the question is do I really?

Suzanne: Yeah, I think it depends on the actor and how active they actually are on Facebook. I mean, some people just post on Twitter, and they have it set up to go directly to Facebook, and they don’t interact very much, whereas others like yourself are more active.

Chrystee: Yeah. So, I still talk to them all the time, via Facebook, like, even the character that played Ivy, we all keep in contact but, but then I’m like, “But do I?”

Suzanne: Hey, it’s like the rest of us who keep in contact with our old friends or old ex-coworkers or high school friends or whatever. It’s the same thing. Nobody has time to call up every single person that you ever knew.

Chrystee: Right, but I can say that if I ever needed something, I’m sure that I could hit any one of them up and say, “Hey, I need something. Can you help?”…I mean, all of them – They, actually have reached back out and were like, “Oh, what do you need,” blah, blah, blah. So, I mean, I keep in touch with them enough in that sense, but yeah, I talk to most of them.

Suzanne: Great. Brook is on General Hospital right now.

Chrystee: So happy for her. She just had a birthday too, yesterday.

Suzanne: Oh, okay. Cool. And then the actor who plays Sam, he was just in a Lifetime movie over the weekend. I don’t remember the title off the top my head. So, you have something coming out called The Myth of Control. Can you tell us about that?

Chrystee: Oh, yeah. So The Myth of Control is a web series that I had the pleasure of acting and directing an episode. There’re seven episodes. And Mikail Chowdhury, the creator, he reached out to me and said, “Hey, I’d love to collaborate with you, and would you like to not only act, but I would love for you to direct.” And I was like, “Direct? What?” I’ve done stage plays and musicals and stuff, but I hadn’t really direct anything via film or television. So, after putting it off, and kind of sending other directors his way, he was like, “Hey, no, I still want you to do it, do one of these episodes.” And I was like, “Um okay.” So, I said “yes,” and oh my God, that was the best experience that I I’ve had in so long. It felt like the first time I’d ever seen myself on TV. It was that excitement, that joy, because we shot – This was the special part about it is that we shot during COVID, the height of COVID. We sent everybody – because we were sitting around. We were like, “Okay, what are we going to do? What can we do? Why don’t we send everybody a cell phone and lighting and send it to each actor?” None of the actors got a chance to rehearse. None of them saw each other. They didn’t interact with the other actors, if they had somebody in the same scene with them. Everybody shot at their own house; they had to use their own significant other to do the lighting and sound, blah, blah, blah. I had to direct over Zoom. And on top of the fact that I’m directing it over Zoom, my two actresses were deaf. So, imagine trying to communicate via Zoom, which we’re on right now, and communicate with deaf actors, when you don’t even know sign language. We recommend buying your favorite at super low prices with free shipping, www.fakewatch.is and you can also pick up your order at the store on the same day.

Suzanne: So, what how did you do it?

Chrystee: There is something called Google Meets. They translate. They’re amazing. Thank you Google Meets. But they translated the words so that they could read what we were saying.

Suzanne: So, they had a life transcript, essentially.

Chrystee: Yes. So, that was how we were able to communicate, but it was so amazing, so beautiful. It made me realize that I have so much to give, like I’m a great director. I know how to interact with the actors. I know how to get out of them what they need. Some directors are more technical directors. They don’t know how to speak to actors, but I’m an actor’s director. Every actor communicates differently. You, as a director, have to figure out instantly, “How does this actor communicate? How do they receive information?” Because one person, you can just tell them. Another person, you have to show them. Another person, you just have to give them the psychological background of a character, and then they know how to do it. So, you have to know. And some directors just have to let the actors figure it out, because they’ll get there. They’ll get frustrated if you tell them. So, you really figure it out. You’re like a teacher. I have no idea how to –

Suzanne: I was just gonna say, it’s very much like being a teacher.

Chrystee: Yeah, you have to really be so present, to look at your students, your actor, whatever and really, like, figure out in two minutes how they [unintelligible].

So, this young actress, her name is Natash Ofili, and she is phenomenal. It made me realize how we separate ourselves, how there’s another group of people that we don’t communicate with, that either we’re afraid to communicate, or we just are oblivious to. And it made me realize – I have no deaf friends. Then, it made me realize how we do not cater to all the people in the world, because there’re events that I wanted them to come to, but they didn’t have any interpreters. It was like, “Hey, we want to do this; we want them to come to the film festival,” but they didn’t have any interpreters.

So, you realize that – you know, being a person of color, it’s tough. Things happen that, you know, no sense of even going through all the things, but I can only imagine being a person of color and being deaf and going through that trauma. Because one of the things that she said was during Black Lives Matter, like the deaf community is already small, but Black Lives Matter and the Trump era started happening, and it made it even smaller, because that community became separated. She said it was even worse. I mean, there were things that she was talking about that I didn’t even have a clue. I thought sign language was common amongst, just that world. She was like, “No.” Even from New York to LA, east coast, west coast, the south, they’re all different, because at one point in time, she was saying in the south, they would not teach the black community who are deaf sign language to [unintelligible]. So, if you go to the south, they don’t speak the same language as the west coast or the east coast. And even the east coast and the west coast talk differently. Like west coast, I think they talk with both hands and maybe the east coast talk with one hand? She was like, “Oh, yeah, it’s completely different.” And I was like, “I can only imagine.”

Suzanne: That’s interesting.

Chrystee: So, my point of all of me saying all of that was that directing this has opened my world to something I didn’t even know I was missing, and now I cannot live without them.

Suzanne: Right. And you won an award recently for directing something right?

Chrystee: I did. We won two awards so far. It’s been in twenty festivals. I won Best Director, and it won Best COVID film as well.

Suzanne: So, you’re going to have to do more directing, I guess.

Chrystee: Yes, that would be the goal. That would be the goal.

Suzanne: That’s great. It’s always great when somebody can seize the opportunity and then make something great out of it.

Chrystee: Yeah. I mean, that’s the thing about like how I told you we’re always busy, and yet we’re not busy all at the same time. You’ve go to create your own opportunities.

Suzanne: Is there anything else you have coming up that you want to tell us about? Or that you can tell us about?

Chrystee: I mean, I’m at a place in my life where, you know, you always hear those sayings where they say, “Enjoy what you do, and the money will follow?” I used to always look at people and go, “What?” In the beginning, I used to have fun, and then at some point in time, I stopped having fun, because I was always in hustle mode, trying to make sure that I stayed on top of whatever. I mean, I make a living off of this, what I do: voiceovers and acting and directing and whatever. So, the pandemic just opened my eyes to realize life is short, and you need to have fun and enjoy the process. So, now, I am learning how to do in my 40s martial arts and sword fighting, and now my new thing is learning how to do motion capture in animation.

…They did a video, because I was like, “Oh, I should videotape what I just learned.” And I looked at myself, and I was like, “Oh, my God, I look a hot mess.” And normally I’d be like, “There’s no sense in me starting this, because I just look a hot mess” during the sword fighting, and then I was like, “Yeah, but are you having fun?” “I am having fun.” “Okay, then why don’t you just keep going?” And don’t do it because you’re trying to get to this destination of doing motion capture being a kick-ass action hero on some TV show or film, do it because you’re enjoying it. Then, if something happens from it, okay. So, if you want to learn how to play the piano, don’t do because you’re trying to do something at Carnegie Hall, do it because you always wanted to play the piano, and it’s going to make you happy. So, if I die tomorrow, I would be happy, because I learned how to play the piano.

Suzanne: Right. Yeah, a lot of people don’t understand what you’re saying, and I get it, totally. It doesn’t matter what age you are, or what’s going on in your life, do what makes you happy. If you enjoy learning new things, learn new things. It’s not like you have to be fantastic at it. It’s just for you.

Chrystee: And I never looked at it like that. I was always like, “How am I going to make money off of this?” It’s like, when the pandemic happened, first thing I said was, “How am I gonna make money during the pandemic? What in the entertainment industry is still happening?” And it was, “Oh, voiceover work is still happening.” So, what did I do? I built that right there. [unintelligible] So, that’s what I mean. Like, are you having fun with it? You should do it, because it’s fun, not because you get to some destination.

So, yeah, that would be the wisdom that I would leave with my audience is to make sure that you’re having fun, because this life can be long; it could be short, but really, what you want to make sure is that no matter when it comes to an end, you enjoyed every single day of your life. And I don’t think I learned that until the pandemic.

Suzanne: Wow, okay, well, that’s good. That’s a good lesson to learn. It wasn’t a totally wasted.

Chrystee: Exactly. You’re right. You’re absolutely right. It wasn’t. Actually, as many people as I lost and I saw die and go through crazy stuff, it was a good time for me to sit back, because I’ve never taken a break before in my twenty years of doing this; I’ve never taken a break. I don’t take breaks for my birthday, holidays, none of that. I took my first vacation, and, I mean, it was like, “Wow, how come I haven’t been doing this this whole time?” Why was I not doings stuff with my friends when everybody’s like, “Yeah, we’re going on a cruise. You want to roll?” “No, can’t roll. I got to stay here to see if there’s any income coming in from a job.” I was always doing that, and the pandemic made me go, “Wow, all those people who I knew were hustling all the time, and they’re gone,” and they never made it to their destination either. So, you better enjoy this life, because we don’t know what tomorrow may bring.

Suzanne: That is true. And thank you. Those are great words of wisdom to end an interview, and I appreciate it.

Chrystee: I appreciate it as well, and thanks so much for the interview.

Suzanne: Oh, thank you. I’m glad I got to watch Monogamy; it’s great.

Chrystee: Yeah, if you get a chance to get to that third season, it’s a doozy. It’s a doozy.

Suzanne: I’m gonna definitely try. I watch a lot of TV.

Chrystee: Of course, of course. That’s why I said if you get a chance.

Suzanne: Yeah, I really enjoy it though. Yeah, I will add it to my list.

Chrystee: All right. All right. Thanks so much. Have a good one.

Suzanne: Thank you. Have a good Thanksgiving.

Chrystee: You too. All right. Bye bye.

Here is the audio version of it.

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

MORE INFO:

Chrystee is a television/film actress. She is a native from Middletown, Ohio. She is known for her work on Passions (2004), Scrubs (2005), Steppin’: The Movie (2009), Nashville (2015), Greenleaf (2017),  Spiderman: into the Spider-Verse (2018), Goliath (2019), 911 (2019). 
 
Currently, she is a co-star on the hit show Monogamy available via Amazon Prime (2021).
 
She Graduated with a B.F.A. in Theater from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.
ALLBLK RELEASES TRAILER OF THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW SEASON OF CRAIG ROSS JR.’S MONOGAMY

THIRD SEASON OF FAN FAVORITE DRAMA PREMIERES TWO EPISODES

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2ND

WATCH THE OFFICIAL TRAILER HERE

KEY ART AVAILABLE HERE

NEW YORK, NY – August 11th, 2021 – ALLBLK announced today, the AMC streamer’s popular and tantalizing series, MONOGAMY, returns with a third season! Created by husband and wife producing team Craig Ross, Jr. and Caryn Ward Ross, MONOGAMY follows 4 couples who agree to undergo a new type of treatment called “Swap Therapy” to repair their broken relationships…pushing past the limitations and boundaries of traditional marriage. MONOGAMY Season 3 premieres on ALLBLK, Thursday, September 2nd.

Last Season, a dramatic cliffhanger left audiences on the edge of their seat. This season picks up right where they left off, as the couples begin to unravel after the rooftop shooting in Las Vegas takes a toll on their lives. Connor(Darius McCrary) becomes obsessed with finding Harvey(Roy Fegan) and Sincere (Caryn Ward Ross) has to decide if she needs to move on. Sawyer(Blue Kimble) hasn’t healed from a past trauma causing a wedge between he and Caroline(Vanessa Simmons). Caroline gets closer to finding out just who she is, and realizes that revelation could be bittersweet if she has to go on alone. Carson(Wesley Jonathan) and Maggie(Jill Marie Jones) have to take a hard look at their relationship and aren’t sure they like what they see. How far will these couples have to go to save their marriages? Tune in Thursday, September 2nd on ALLBLK.

ABOUT ALLBLK

ALLBLK is an invitation to a world of streaming entertainment that is inclusively, but unapologetically – Black. Featuring a diverse lineup of content that spans across genres and generations, the ALLBLK library includes exclusive original series such as Craig Ross Jr.’s Monogamy, A House Divided, and Double Cross; must-see independent films, nostalgic Black cinema, popular network TV, lively stage plays, and so much more. ALLBLK is available everywhere streaming services are found – iOS, Android, Amazon Prime Video Channels, Apple TV and Apple TV Channels, Roku and Roku Channels, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, Cox, DISH, Sling TV, Charterand more. ALLBLK content can also be found on WEtv+. At www.ALLBLK.tv, ALLBLK offers a free 7-day trial and thereafter is just $4.99/month or $49.99/year. Keep up with ALLBLK on Facebook at Facebook.com/WatchALLBLK and Twitter/Instagram @WatchALLBLK.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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Interview with Reba McEntire, Candice King and John Schneider

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

John Schneider and Rebe McEntire in "Christmas in Tune" on Lifetime

Interview with Executive Producer and star Reba McEntire, and stars John Schneider, Candice King, Justin David, and Norm Lewis of “Christmas in Tune” on Lifetime by Suzanne 11/8/21

This press panel was a lot of fun… and I like this movie, which airs 11/26 on Lifetime. It was hard to choose which person to interview, since I love the top three stars. I asked my questions of Reba and Candice, and John chimed in, so it worked out well.

MODERATOR: Hi, everyone. Thank you all for joining. Our first panel for today is Reba McEntire’s “Christmas in Tune.” Please welcome executive producer and star Reba McEntire, and stars John Schneider, Candice King, Justin David, and Norm Lewis. Thank you, guys, all so much for being here today. Our first question —

REBA MCENTIRE: Our pleasure.

MODERATOR: Our next question is from Suzanne.

QUESTION: Hi. It’s great to see you all. Reba, I was wondering if you could tell us who wrote the music, the original songs, and will there be an album from this movie?

REBA MCENTIRE: Ooh, we haven’t talked about an album for the music from this album — from the movie. I’m trying to remember the lady’s name who wrote “I Needed Christmas Too”. It’ll come to me about the time we all hang up, but my band and Doug Sisemore did all the arrangements and put the music together. We went in to Dark Horse Studios where we got to shoot part of the movie and record the songs there. So I’ll get back with you on that young lady’s name, and the other songs had been recorded before, but I think the selection of the songs were to the point and just wonderful. Oh, her name was Trannie Anderson who wrote that song “I Needed Christmas Too.” Thank you, Mark.

QUESTION: Thank you. And, Candice, you used to sing backup, I read, on the “Hannah Montana” show. Did you have any spare time where you got to sing with these folks for fun, or —

Executive Producer and star Reba McEntire, and stars John Schneider, Candice King, Justin David, and Norm Lewis of "Christmas in Tune" on LifetimeCANDICE KING: Oh, no. Oh, no. Nope. I save these dusty pipes just for my little baby.

(Laughter.)

CANDICE KING: They’re a little rusty —

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Dusty pipes. Dusty, rusty pipes.

CANDICE KING: Yeah. No, in another life, yes, I was a singer and a backup singer for Miley Cyrus on the “Hannah Montana” tour. So it’s a great ice breaker, conversation starter but, no, luckily, I just got to listen to the legends.

QUESTION: Oh, maybe a sequel movie where Candice gets to sing…?

CANDICE KING: We’ll see.

QUESTION: Thank you, guys.

MODERATOR: Jay Bobbin, would you like to give your question?

QUESTION: Why, sure. Hello, everyone. Good to see you.

NORM LEWIS: Thank you.

QUESTION: Reba, Reba and John, both of you have, I mean, Reba, it geos without saying and, John, you are certainly well known for your singing voice, can the two of you talk about singing together? And then I’ve got a follow-up for you, Reba.

Reba McEntire on Zoom with usREBA MCENTIRE: I thought it was a lot of fun. I had a blast singing with John. He’s, um —

WOMAN: John Schneider and Reba McEntire.

REBA MCENTIRE: Thank you. I had a great time working with John singing. He was fun. He knew what he was going to sing and prepared and —

WOMAN: She’s going to be in a show called Christmas, “Christmas in Tune.”

QUESTION: This is not me, by the way. This is Jay. I’m not doing the narration.

MODERATOR: Hi, everybody. If anyone that’s not speaking can please mute themselves that’d be very helpful.

REBA MCENTIRE: Okay. Now we ready?

QUESTION: Yes, Reba. You were saying? I’m sorry.

REBA MCENTIRE: Okay. Yeah. John and I had a wonderful time on the movie getting to sing together, act together, and he’s a lot of fun to sing with, and the songs we got to sing were marvelous, some of my favorite songs to get to sing.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: And what was so great about this is we got to sing in the studio, the real studio. Before we filmed, we got to hear all the music and work on the music, and then we got to come to the set and sing that music again. So we really kind of had the opportunity to do everything that in the music world we’d been doing for decades, dare I say it, and it was so wonderful to sing with Reba. I’ve never sung with Reba before, at least she didn’t know. I mean I was singing with her on the radio, but it was so wonderful to be singing with her on the same mic and on the same stage, wonderful to share a stage with you —

REBA MCENTIRE: Thanks, John.

QUESTION: Thank you, John. Reba, my follow-up for you. Christmas has become kind of a tradition for you whether you’re doing a movie, or you’re hosting “CMA Country Christmas” or whatever. Could you talk briefly about your relationship with Christmas TV, your thoughts about it?

REBA MCENTIRE: I love it. I think it’s a warm, wonderful way to express your feelings. Music goes a long way with getting everybody in the holiday mood, and it’s also given us a chance to reflect on the year that we’ve had, all the wonderful things that have happened and our many blessings, and we remember the reason for the season. So, I love to be a part of television during the Christmas holidays.

QUESTION: Thank you both very much.

REBA MCENTIRE: Thank you.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thanks, Jay. Our next question is going to be from (Steven McCoy @ 00:08:06).

QUESTION: Hi, how are you, everyone?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Hello, Steven.

QUESTION: Hi, Mr. John and Ms. Reba. I wanted to ask you, I mean, this is such a beautiful story, by the way. You have a parent who was once (in a group @ 00:08:20) in the past, and now get a chance to reunite. Now for you individually, have you guys ever gone through anything like that where you had to reunite with someone from your past and try to get into a warm spirit such as this one in the film?

REBA MCENTIRE: I have.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I tried it once. It didn’t work out so well for me. It worked out much better in the movie.

(Laughter.)

REBA MCENTIRE: In those situations it is pretty much like acting, and you have to move along with things to make it great for the rest of the family; yes.

QUESTION: What is a good moment that happened between you guys on set? Like what is the most funnest moment that you can give us?

REBA MCENTIRE: (Inaudible @ 00:09:09).

JOHN SCHNEIDER: You know, my fun, my most memorable moment was when we were doing that scene where we were being interviewed, and we started to look at each other. Our timing became exactly the same, and I don’t think we realize it, but the crew breaking up because we were so funny together. So that was my favorite part, kind of like doing what we’re doing right now, but the Zoom thing makes it a little awkward. We’re much funnier when we’re not on a Zoom call.

(Laughter.)

QUESTION: Thank you, guys, so much.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: You’re welcome.

REBA MCENTIRE: Thank you.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: And have a wonderful, wonderful Christmas —

QUESTION: Happy Holidays.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. We’re going to try Jamie Ruby again.

QUESTION: Hello, can you hear me this time?

MODERATOR: Yes.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yes.

REBA MCENTIRE: Yes.

QUESTION: Oh, sorry about that before. Hi, guys. So you talk about what’s so much fun, can you talk about what you found the most challenging doing this film?

REBA MCENTIRE: I think the most challenging thing that all of us can speak for was trying to film a Christmas movie in the heat and humidity of Nashville, Tennessee. That was the hardest part, but we endured. We got through it, and everybody had a wonderful time.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah. The hours were not bad at all. It was hot, obviously, but you always do a Christmas movie in July, as you always do a beach movie in November and December. I didn’t have any difficulty with anything except maybe not eating all the snacks, because they were great.

QUESTION: All right. Thank you so much.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: You’re welcome. You have a great day.

QUESTION: You too.

MODERATOR: Thank you. We actually have a question here for Norm. Norm, your character is Duke who plays the musical director, and he also sort of plays the mediator between Georgia and Joe. Can you talk a little bit about your role?

NORM LEWIS: Yeah. First of all, being in this movie was exciting for me with these two OGs right here. And then working with — You know, we’ve seen Candice grow up on television, and now she’s got her own family now, you know, with a blended family. And then this amazing young man Justin, working with this great crew, it was so much fun. But to answer your question, yeah, I was happy to be a yenta. I was happy to be that person knowing that these two actually are meant to be together. I’ve actually had situations like that before, so I pulled from those experiences to try to bring that into the movie.

MODERATOR: Great. Thank you so much, Norm. Our next question is from Jamie Steinberg.

QUESTION: Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for your time this afternoon. Candice, it’s so incredible to see you have these iconic actors as your parents. Talk about working with Reba and John.

CANDICE KING: Yeah. I mean, that was one of the most exciting things when I was flying into Nashville to do this was just knowing immediately being in a room with so many talented people that I’ve admired for years. It couldn’t have been a warmer welcome. I think that, you know, the tone on set usually starts from the top, and the tone on set was happy, jolly, you know, beautiful — all the Christmas feelings you could ever imagine, and I think that is attributed to, you know, Reba and John, the joy that you each brought to work every day. So, and, honestly, I just had to try not to geek out the whole time every time they were singing live. I mean, they had to rehearse in front of us, and it was so beautiful. John was always just strumming his guitar whenever he had a guitar in the scene, and I think that it’s just imperative on sets that someone’s always in a room playing a guitar.

NORM LEWIS: Yeah.

CANDICE KING: I think that needs to be a new like rule —

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Good idea.

CANDICE KING: –because it is so soothing, and just it was a blast of an experience.

QUESTION: Justin, you and Candice have such great onscreen chemistry as well. Did you feel that instantly as well, or did you guys spend some time together to flesh out this on-screen relationship?

JUSTIN DAVID: I think right off the bat when we met each other we had a good, you know, relationship right there and just like also just getting to know each other on like a friendship level just because we’re going to be working so closely together, you know. And it was very nice. Like it flowed in the story and like, you know, work alongside everyone, because it is essentially like a family that I’m working with, you know. Like we got Reba being Belle’s mom and John being Belle’s dad. Like it was really easy. It was awesome, honestly. Yeah.

QUESTION: Thank you all so much for your time.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Thank you, Jamie.

REBA MCENTIRE: Thank you.

NORM LEWIS: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question is from Rick Bentley.

QUESTION: John and Reba, both of you have done projects where you’ve had to sing in them, and then other projects where there was no singing involved. When you have a role where you have to sing, does that feel like I’m going to do something with an old friend, and it makes it more comfortable? Or does it add another layer of, “Oh, my gosh. I now have to not only know my lines and do the acting, but I also have to sing.”

REBA MCENTIRE: Go ahead, John.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Well, I tell you, it was — thank you — it was, it truly was getting to work with an old friend. Reba and I met each other quite some time ago, and for me — because I’m a theater brat, I started doing theater like Norm. I started doing theater when I was very young, eight years old — so when the opportunity came about for me to do this, this is actually the biggest musical production that I’ve ever done on camera. So I very much looked forward to it. It didn’t scare me. It kind of wrapped itself around me like a warm, Christmas blanket, to be honest with you, and to be able to do it with Reba was icing on the cake, absolutely.

REBA MCENTIRE: Aww. I echo those sentiments exactly. I had a wonderful time singing with John, adding music to the story was wonderful for me, and I totally enjoyed it.

QUESTION: Thank you.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: You’re welcome.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question is from Noah Wilson.

QUESTION: Hello, everyone. It is so great to be here with you guys. By the way, I must just first off say, I don’t think anyone has said this yet, you guys look phenomenal. You loo amazing. Festive. All holiday-ish. I love it. And my first question is to you, Reba. I want to ask you playing Georgia Winter in Reba McEntire’s “Christmas in Tune,” could you see similarities between yourself in Georgia as she’s also a country artist in this film?

REBA MCENTIRE: Definitely. And I think that’s what made it so much more easy for me to perform and play that part, because a lot of the decisions that Georgia made are the decisions that Reba would make.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Uh huh.

REBA MCENTIRE: And the things that she would say Reba would say, so I definitely think there was a similarity there.

QUESTION: Now, John, we see Georgia and Joe have had some bad blood between them from years past as a singing duo, but eventually we see them rekindle their relationship in the movie through the power of music. What was one of your favorite songs to perform with Reba in this holiday movie?

Zoom panel with the actorsJOHN SCHNEIDER: Oh, it must have been “The Mistletoe.” Hands-down. What a beautiful song.

REBA MCENTIRE: Gorgeous.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Got a wonderful meter to it. I can’t remember who did the orchestration and the recording of the music, but it is fantastic. And we talked earlier about it. It’s very difficult to write and perform a new, great, Christmas song, because there’s a lot of wonderful Christmas songs out there. I think that this particular song is going to withstand the test of time. I think it’s going to be a new favorite Christmas song on radio for years to come,

QUESTION: And my last question is to you, Candice. We will see your character Belle work with the U. S. Army to put on their holiday fundraiser for the Snowball Event. How important is it to think of our troops during the holiday season as they fight to serve our country —

JOHN SCHNEIDER: (Right @ 00:17:07).

QUESTION: — as they fight to serve our country every single day out of the year?

CANDICE KING: I think it’s incredibly important. I mean, I think collectively, as a world, we experience what it’s like to be separated from family and not be able to immediately see people we want to see when we were all, you know, quarantined last year. And so those that are not only sacrificing their lives, but their time away from loved ones for very long periods of time, I think it’s important to just keep them in our minds and our hearts, especially — you know, all year round — but also during the holidays.

QUESTION: Absolutely. Thank you for your time.

MODERATOR: Thank you.

CANDICE KING: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you, guys. That’s all the time we have today for the “Christmas in Tune” panel. We want to say a big thank you to the entire cast for joining us today, and everybody please tune into the movie on November 26th.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Thank you, everybody.

REBA MCENTIRE: Bye-bye.

NORM LEWIS: Merry Christmas.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Bye-bye. Merry Christmas.

REBA MCENTIRE: Merry Christmas.

CANDICE KING: Thank you.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Happy Thanksgiving. Don’t forget Thanksgiving.

NORM LEWIS: Oh, yeah. That.

QUESTION: And, Norm Lewis, good luck on Broadway and everything. I’ve seen you on Broadway on —

NORM LEWIS: Thank you. Thank you so much.

MORE INFO:

It's a Wonderful Lifetime Press Day invitationLifetime Unveils Full Slate for “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” 2021

Lifetime Reveals Full Holiday Movie Slate for Annual IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFETIME Programming Event Beginning November 12th, Including 30 New Premieres In 30 Days Kicking Off After Thanksgiving to Count Down to Christmas

Talent Around the Tree This Year Includes Kelly Rowland, Reba McEntire, Melissa Joan Hart, Mario Lopez, Tia Mowry, Smokey Robinson, Jana Kramer, Marie Osmond, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Tatyana Ali, Roselyn Sánchez, Jacky Lai, Mýa, Ryan McPartlin, Thomas Cadrot, Bresha Webb, Candice King, Emeraude Tobia, Aimee Garcia, Haylie Duff, Ricki Lake, Kirk Franklin, John Schneider, Maria Menounos, Chad Michael Murray, AnnaLynne McCord, and Many Others

Los Angeles, CA – September 28, 2021 – Get ready for the most cheerful holiday season yet! Lifetime announces its largest holiday movie slate ever for the network’s annual It’s a Wonderful Lifetime programming event, kicking off November 12th with five new movies Fridays and Saturdays, and a premiere on Sunday, November 21st. Then, once the Thanksgiving feast is over and for the first time ever, Lifetime will premiere 30 new movies, in 30 days, with a new movie EVERY DAY from November 26 through December 25. As the #1 holiday movie destination, Lifetime’s 2021 It’s a Wonderful Lifetime slate will feature 35 new movies and over 1000 hours of holiday programming.

In case that’s not enough excitement for you – get ready for It’s a Wonderful Lifetime Holiday Movie Preview hosted by Tia Mowry (star of this year’s Miracle in Motor City)! This special will preview Lifetime’s upcoming 2021 Christmas Movies and will be available on VOD beginning October 24 and will premiere on Lifetime November 7 at 10am ET/PT. In addition to sneak peeks and cast interviews, Tia will share a special holiday treat or cocktail recipe to go with each movie previewed!

At Lifetime it’s never too early to get in the spirit! Beginning October 15, Lifetime VOD will have 10 of your favorite holiday titles available to screen. And if you just can’t get enough – starting November 12, LMC will have 50 of Lifetime’s best holiday movies available to stream!

An Ice Wine Christmas

Starring Roselyn Sánchez & Lyriq Bent

11/12 at 8pm / 7c

One of Philadelphia’s top wine sommeliers, Camila (Roselyn Sánchez) goes home to the magical vineyards of Evergreen, NY, to take part in the town’s annual Ice Wine Christmas Festival and harvest. While there, Camila spends time with her mother Sunny (Maria del Mar) and sister Beth (AnnaMaria Demara), who manages the local winery for Camila’s former ice wine mentor, Henry (Richard Fitzpatrick). But Camila discovers changes are coming as Henry plans to retire, scaling down the Christmas Festival. Beth also recently hired wine specialist Declan (Lyriq Bent) who plans to take the operation to full year production. Believing in the importance of preserving the magic of ‘Christmas in a bottle’, Camila shares with Declan her passion for Christmas and what an authentic ice wine harvest can bring.

An Ice Wine Christmas is produced by Cineflix Media in association with Wishing Floor Films. It is executive produced by Danielle von Zerneck, Jeff Vanderwal, Sherri Rufh & Charles Tremayne. Jill Carter directs from a script by Kelly Fullerton.

A Picture Perfect Holiday

Starring Tatyana Ali, Henderson Wade & Dina Meyer

11/13 at 8pm / 7c

Fashion photographer Gaby Jones (Tatyana Ali) is eager to make a name for herself and finally gets her chance when she lands a coveted job at a magazine. Encouraged by an editor (Dina Meyer) to attend the annual Christmas Photography Retreat in the small town of Pine Falls to ramp up her skills, Gaby reluctantly signs up despite not being a huge fan of the holidays. When she arrives, she learns her rental has been double booked with wildlife photographer, Sean (Henderson Wade) but soon discovers there’s more to a photo than what you see through the lens. As the two fall for each other, their life choices start to get in the way and the two must decide if they’re willing to take a risk in order to share a picture perfect holiday together.

A Picture Perfect Holiday is produced by HYBRID, LLC and includes an original song sung by Tatyana Ali.

Dancing Through the Snow

Starring AnnaLynne McCord, Colin Lawrence & Bianca Lawrence

11/19 at 8pm / 7c

Michael Foster (Colin Lawrence) is a firefighter and devoted single father to 8- year-old Lily (Bianca Lawrence), an aspiring ballerina. After a video goes viral of Michael and Lily doing an adorable ballet routine, Michael becomes the most eligible bachelor, as women everywhere want to date this adorable Dad. However, the only woman Michael has eyes for is Lily’s ballet teacher, Olivia (AnnaLynne McCord). Will Michael be able to dance his way into Olivia’s heart?

Dancing Through the Snow is produced by Champlain Media. Barbara Fisher, Tom Berry and Gilles Laplante serve as executive producers. Paul Shapiro directs from a script by Adam Rockoff.

You Make it Feel Like Christmas

Starring Mary Antonini, Michael Xavier, Stephanie Sy & Alex Poch-Goldin

11/20 at 8pm / 7c

Emma (Mary Antonini) is a talented designer who finds herself too busy to return home for the holidays after her work catches the eye of design guru Kate Marguiles (Stephanie Sy), much to her father, Tom’s (Alex Poch-Goldin) dismay. When her ex-boyfriend and childhood best friend Aaron (Michael Xavier) returns home after active military duty, he makes it his mission to get her home to celebrate their Christmas traditions.

You Make It Feel Like Christmas is produced by MarVista Entertainment. Suzanne L. Berger, Larry Grimaldi, Hannah Pillemer, Fernando Szew and Marianne C. Wunch serve as executive producers. Lisa France directs from a script by Jessica Glassberg, Michael Varrati and Guy Yosub.

Baking Spirits Bright

Starring Rekha Sharma, Dion Johnstone, Aadila Dosani, Praneet Akilla, Manoj Sood & Nimet Kanji

11/21 at 8pm / 7c

Mira Varma (Rekha Sharma) takes pride in her family’s business of making fruitcakes, despite the decline in its popularity of once being America’s most-gifted holiday confection. When Mira’s parents decide to hire Brady Phillips (Dion Johnstone) and his high-powered marketing company to boost sales for the holidays, Mira must fight to hold onto the heart of the company she loves so much.

Baking Spirits Bright is produced by BRB Pictures and Nicely Entertainment. Executive producers include Kristofer McNeeley, Chaya Ransen, Vanessa Shapiro, and Jenni Baynham. Aubrey Arnason directs from a script by Alison Spuck McNeeley and Casie Tabanou.

Reba McEntire’s Christmas in Tune

Starring Reba McEntire, John Schneider, Candice King & Justin David

11/26 at 8pm / 7c

Years after their personal and professional breakup, the singing duo of Georgia (Reba McEntire) and Joe Winter (John Schneider) agree to reunite after their daughter, Belle (Candice King), asks them to participate in a Christmas Charity concert, only to find themselves getting back in tune on stage and off.

Reba McEntire’s Christmas in Tune is produced by Hartbreak Films with Paula Hart, Reba McEntire and Melissa Joan Hart serving as executive producers. Emily Moss Wilson directs from a script by Juliet Giglio and Keith Giglio.

Merry Liddle Christmas Baby

Starring Kelly Rowland, Thomas Cadrot, Bresha Webb, Latonya Williams, Jaime M. Callica & Nathan Witte

11/27 at 8pm / 7c

This holiday, the Liddles have much to be merry about! Jacquie Liddle (Kelly Rowland) and her husband Tyler (Thomas Cadrot) are preparing for the arrival of their first baby. Meanwhile, Jacquie’s sister Treena (Latonya Williams) and her husband Julian (Jaime M. Callica) are thinking about adopting a baby themselves, and spirited, fashionista sister Kiara’s (Bresha Webb) relationship with Chris (Nathan Witte) is heating up. With Jacquie’s family expanding in ways she could never have expected, the Liddles are headed for a crazy Christmas filled with merry mayhem and lots of love and laughter.

Merry Liddle Christmas Baby is produced by Liddle Road Productions III Ltd and Charles Cooper. Kelly Rowland, Loretha Jones, Tim Weatherspoon and Denielle Jackson serve as executive producers. Allen Lewis and Bianca Versteeg serve as supervising producers. Kelly Fyffe-Marshall directs from a script by Andrea Stevens.

Miracle in Motor City

Starring Tia Mowry, Mark Taylor & Smokey Robinson

11/28 at 8pm / 7c

Amber Dupont (Tia Mowry) bites off more than she can chew when she takes charge of her church’s annual Christmas pageant and inadvertently promises to deliver a special performance by Motown Legend Smokey Robinson. When her best friends secretly enlist Amber’s former flame Eddie (Mark Taylor) to help – the pair reconnect in a quest to find Smokey and convince him to appear. With the clock ticking, family, friends, and superstar Smokey Robinson come together to stage the most special pageant yet.

Miracle in Motor City is produced by Cineflix Media with Tia Mowry, Charles Tremayne, and Jeff Vanderwal serving as executive producers. Gaylyn Fraiche consults on behalf of Tia Mowry. Alfons Adetuyi directs from a script by Rhonda Baraka.

Welcome to the Christmas Family Reunion

Starring Michelle Argyris, Alonzo B. Slater & Asia’h Epperson

11/29 at 8pm / 7c

Event planner Amy (Michelle Argyris) helps rising singer Tiffanie Christmas (Asia’h Epperson) plan her holiday family reunion. Along the way Amy must navigate some challenging family dynamics, especially amongst Tiffanie’s aunts as well as her own growing feelings for Tiffanie’s cousin, Calvin (Alonzo B. Slater). Will she be able to pull off an amazing Christmas family reunion? Vanessa Williams, Wendy Raquel Robinson, and Catherine Haena Kim co-star.

Welcome to the Christmas Family Reunion is produced by The Ninth House and Nicely Entertainment. Feras Khatib, Raed Odeh, Vanessa Shapiro and Melody Tsai serve as executive producers. Jake Helgren writes and directs.

Saying Yes to Christmas

Starring Erika Prevost & Romaine Waite

11/30 at 8pm / 7c

A magical Christmas wish makes a career-obsessed June (Erika Prevost) say “Yes” to every invitation while she’s home for the holidays. But when an old flame, Blake (Romaine Waite) joins her hectic schedule of Christmas activities, past feelings are reignited. June must choose between saying yes to her career and life in the city or to her heart in her hometown.

Saying Yes to Christmas is produced by Champlain Media. Laurence Braun, Barbara Fisher, Tom Berry and Suzanne Chapman serve as executive producers. Graeme Campbell directs from a script by John Dion.

Match Made in Mistletoe

Starring Natalie Lisinska & Damon Runyan

12/1 at 8pm / 7c

When talented interior designer Emily Barnes (Natalie Lisinska) is hired by a foreign embassy in DC to decorate for their annual holiday charity ball, the newly appointed ambassador Magnus Andersson’s (Damon Runyan) “minimalist” approach creates a roadblock between them. As Emily’s undeniable love for the holiday season begins to thaw his heart, an unexpected romance begins between the two.

Match Made in Mistletoe is produced by Champlain Media. Suzanne Chapman, Laurence Braun and Tom Berry serve as executive producers. Adrian Langley directs from a script by Jennifer Edwards, Jennifer Miller and Shannon Latimer. Story by Jennifer Edwards and Amy Taylor.

A Christmas Village Romance

Starring Jake Epstein, Jeni Ross & Oliver Renaud

12/2 at 8pm / 7c

When romance novelist Diana (Jeni Ross) learns that Maple Creek, a charming pioneer village, is struggling to stay afloat, she uses her notoriety to help generate interest in the town by sponsoring a Christmas gala. Diana rallies her family and friends to pitch in, but she’s challenged at every turn by the village blacksmith and town historian, Carter (Jake Epstein). Sparks fly as the two must work together to save the village in time for Christmas. But when her gorgeous cover model and secret crush, Greg (Olivier Renaud), surprises Diana the night before the big Christmas gala, she’s torn on who to choose and must take a page out of her novels to figure out her true happily ever after.

A Christmas Village Romance is produced by Neshama Entertainment and MarVista Entertainment. Marly Reed, Marianne C. Wunch and Arnie Zipursky serve as executive producers. Max McGuire directs from a script by Scotty Mullen.

A Christmas Dance Reunion

Starring Corbin Bleu & Monique Coleman

12/3 at 8pm / 7c

Successful attorney Lucy Mortimer (Monique Coleman), along with her mother Virginia (Kim Roberts) returns to the Winterleigh Resort to help celebrate the hotel’s final Christmas season. Once there, Lucy is reunited with the owner’s nephew and her childhood Christmas Dance partner, Barrett Brewster (Corbin Bleu). Though the resort has fallen on hard times and has stopped most holiday events, Lucy leads the charge in recreating the beloved Christmas traditions, including the popular Christmas Dance, to bring together new families and new hope to the resort. Now, Lucy must decide if she’s willing to take a risk on love and partner up once more with Barrett for what could be the last Christmas Dance.

A Christmas Dance Reunion is produced by Off Camera Entertainment and Brain Power Studio with Stephanie Slack, Margret H. Huddleston and Beth Stevenson as Executive Producers. Megan Henry Herzlinger and Brian Herzlinger serve as writers. Brian Herzlinger also directs.

Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas

Starring Demetria McKinney, Chaz Lamar Shepherd & Kirk Franklin

12/4 at 8pm / 7c

When Olivia (Demetria McKinney), a young assistant pastor, gets assigned to be a lead pastor at a new church a month before Christmas, she’s fearful she can’t manage the transition, including getting the choir ready to open the town’s annual Winter Jamboree. Banding together with her new congregation, Olivia discovers a new home for herself, and even finds a little Christmas romance along the way! Featuring a special appearance and songs written and arranged by Kirk Franklin.

Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas is produced by Swirl Films and Big Dreams Entertainment. Executive produced by Kirk Franklin and Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd and produced by Leslie Greif, Eric Tomosunas and Ron Robinson. Erica Sutherlin directs a script by Kourtney Richard.

My Favorite Christmas Melody

Starring Mýa & Rainbow Sun Francks

12/5 at 8pm / 7c

Once a promising singer-songwriter, Abby (Mýa) now finds herself writing uninspired jingles for commercials. As she heads home for the holidays, she’s enlisted by the local high school music teacher to help save the school arts program. In the process, Abby rediscovers her voice and regains the confidence to go after her dreams and lets the possibility of love in too. Rainbow Sun Francks also stars.

My Favorite Christmas Melody is produced by Champlain Media. Lexi Lewis, Barbara Fisher, Tom Berry and Suzanne Chapman serve as executive producers. Michael Kennedy directs from a script by Lauren Balson Carter. Story by Josh Brekhus and Lauren Balson Carter.

Secretly Santa

Starring Alicia Dea Josipovoc & Travis Nelson

12/6 at 8pm / 7c

Miranda (Alicia Dea Josipovic) and Paul (Travis Nelson) are business rivals who accidentally meet at a costumed Santa crawl and spend a romantic evening together without learning each other’s identities. As their anonymous romance continues online, their businesses merge, forcing them into an unwanted partnership. As they clash while working together on a holiday gift-giving app, their hearts must reconcile their online love when unexpected feelings develop for one another.

Secretly Santa is produced by Champlain Media. Laurence Braun, Jayde Siwy, Tom Berry and Suzanne Chapman serve as executive producers. Sharon Lewis directs from a script by John Dion.

Christmas Movie Magic

Starring Holly Deveaux & Drew Seeley

12/7 at 8pm / 7c

When entertainment writer Alli Blakeman (Holly Deveaux) is assigned a story covering the anniversary of a classic Christmas movie in the small town where it was filmed, she agrees on the condition that it could lead to a big promotion. When she meets a local theatre owner Brad (Drew Seeley), they unravel the mysterious origins of the movie’s signature song and Alli learns that movie magic isn’t always just on-screen.

Christmas Movie Magic is produced by Chesler/Perlmutter Productions. Lewis Chesler, David Perlmutter, Robert Vaughn, Julie Di Cresce, Robin Dunne, Fariba Jahanbin, Jennifer Gibson, Alan Mintz and Marek Posival serve as executive producers. Robert Vaughn directs from a script by Rickie Castaneda & Megan Hocking. Story by Caitlin English and James Blakeman.

Christmas With a Crown

Starring Marcus Rosner & Lisa Durupt

12/8 at 8pm / 7c

After Cassie (Lisa Durupt) returns to her hometown to revive her family’s traditional Christmas festival, she meets a dashing stranger, Nicolas (Marcus Rosner), who’s volunteered to help organize the event. Sparks begin to fly between them, but little does she know that he’s really a prince in disguise, longing to find the true spirit of the holidays. It will take a Christmas miracle of royal proportions for their hearts to meet as one.

Christmas with a Crown is distributed by Vision Films and produced by Northern Gateway Films. Lisa Durupt and Marcus Rosner serve as executive producers. Andrew Scholotiuk, Michell Molineux, Michael Lazarovitch and Dylan Pearce serve as producers, Dylan Pearce directs from a script by Michael Varrati.

A Fiancé for Christmas

Starring Marie Osmond, Amanda Payton & Adam Gregory

12/9 at 8pm / 7c

Perpetually single Sawyer (Amanda Payton) makes a fake wedding registry, hoping a shopping spree with a scan gun will be the ultimate retail therapy. But when the registry is discovered and the whole town throws her a surprise bridal shower, she’s too embarrassed to tell the truth. Instead, she finds a fake fiancé to help her navigate through the lies and holiday festivities. However, as real feelings develop between Sawyer and her fake fiancé, they may turn into the real deal after all. Adam Gregory and Marie Osmond also star.

A Fiancé for Christmas is produced by GO FILMS and Happy Wives, LLC. Greg Sperry, Darla Sperry and Stephen Craig serve as executive producers. Ryan Little directs from a script by Angeline Olschewski.

Holiday in Santa Fe

Starring Mario Lopez, Emeraude Toubia, Aimee Garcia & Gia Lopez

12/10 at 8pm / 7c

Casa de Milagro is a family-owned business that makes holiday ornaments and décor, inspired by Mexican Christmas traditions. Their award-winning designs, created by matriarch Milagro Ortega, are highly sought after each holiday season. Siblings Tony (Mario Lopez) and Magdalena (Aimee Garcia), with help from their dad (Efrain Figueroa), run the shop in Santa Fe, but when their beloved Milagro unexpectedly passes, the family struggles to find its heart. With Milagro gone, Belinda Sawyer (Emeraude Toubia), an executive at one of the largest greeting card and holiday décor chains, sees an opportunity to acquire the company. When sparks fly between Belinda and Tony, Belinda realizes there is more to Casa de Milagro than meets the eye.

Holiday in Santa Fe is Executive Produced by Mario Lopez, Co-Produced by Jeff Stearns and Produced by Mark Roberts. Jody Margolin Hahn directs from a script by Cristela Alonzo.

The Holiday Fix Up

Starring Jana Kramer, Ryan McPartlin & Maria Menounos

12/11 at 8pm / 7c

When Sam (Jana Kramer), the designer behind a popular home renovation show, returns to her hometown during the holidays to help renovate the Bell Harbor Inn, she gets paired with Coop (Ryan McPartlin) as her lead contractor. The only problem – he’s the guy who broke her heart and she’s the one who got away. Sparks fly as they work closely to get the renovations done in time for the inn’s annual Christmas Eve Harborfest. Will they be able to fix the mistakes of their past to build a future together? Maria Menounos also stars.

The Holiday Fix Up is produced by Off Camera Entertainment with Stephanie Slack, Margret H. Huddleston, Jana Kramer and Ryan McPartlin as Executive Producers. Written by Jessica Koosed Etting and directed by Brian Herzlinger.

People Presents: Blending Christmas

Starring Haylie Duff & Aaron O’Connell

12/12 at 8pm / 7c

The Hacienda de la Sierra is Emma’s (Haylie Duff) favorite place to spend the holiday season and her boyfriend Liam (Aaron O’Connell) has been secretly planning to propose to her there, surrounded by both their families. Emma is delighted when she arrives to find the whole family bunch there. Of course, no holiday gathering is complete without drama, and soon the families are bickering over every detail! The added stress from trying to blend the two families eventually takes a toll on Emma and Liam, who start questioning their own relationship. Now just days before Christmas, the two families realize that they’re going to have to work together in order to reunite Emma and Liam! Blending Christmas also stars Beth Broderick, Christopher Knight, Greg Evigan, Mike Lookinland, Barry Williams, Susan Olsen, Robbie Rist, Telma Hopkins and Jennifer Elise Cox.

Blending Christmas is produced by HYBRID, LLC.

Maps and Mistletoe

Starring Humberly González & Ronnie Row

12/13 at 8pm / 7c

Emilia Martin (Humberly González), a cartographer of school maps, has plans for a cozy Christmas at home until her boss has a last-minute project for her, designing a novelty treasure map of the North Pole. Emilia decides to seek out the expertise of North Pole explorer Drew Campbell (Ronnie Rowe), who reluctantly agrees to help her. As the two work closely, they discover more than either of them ever expected.

Maps and Mistletoe is produced by Christmas Explorer Productions, Inc in association with Johnson Production Group. Executive Producers are Timothy O. Johnson, Andrew C. Erin, and Dawn Wolfrom. Max McGuire directs from a script by W. Stewart.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

Starring Annie Clark & Dan Jeannotte

12/14 at 8pm / 7c

Ellie (Annie Clark), a serial “ghoster” on dating apps, is told by a fortune teller that she must resolve her past and make amends with all of those she ghosted before Christmas, or she is destined to never find true love! Over the course of one week, she takes it upon herself to track down all the men she ghosted before the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve and discovers love in the process.

Ghosts of Christmas Past is produced by Champlain Media. Lexi Lewis, Barbara Fisher, Tom Berry and Suzanne Chapman serve as executive producers. Virginia Abramovich directs from a script by Shannon Latimer.

The Enchanted Christmas Cake

Starring Erica Durance & Robin Dunne

12/15 at 8pm / 7c

After recently losing her grandmother, Gwen (Erica Durance) is struggling to run their bakery, regain the Christmas spirit, and figure out her grandmother’s magical recipe for the town’s legendary Enchanted Christmas Cake. So, when a high-end chef comes to town to film a Christmas special, Gwen reluctantly agrees to help the producer Gavin (Robin Dunne) prepare for the shoot to help support the bakery. As sparks fly, will she discover that Gavin is the secret ingredient she was missing all along?

The Enchanted Christmas Cake is produced by Chesler/Perlmutter Productions. Lewis Chesler, David Perlmutter, Robert Vaughn, Julie Di Cresce, Robin Dunne, Erica Durance, Alan Mintz and Marek Posival serve as executive producers. Robert Vaughn directs from a script by Linda Kupecek, Robin Dunne and Robert Vaughn.

Christmas by Chance

Starring Winny Clarke & Jacob Blair

12/16 at 8pm / 7c

Chance Charleswood (Winny Clarke) owns a struggling gift shop called “By Chance Gifts.” As the Christmas shopping season approaches, Chance is hired by William Richards (Jacob Blair), a wealthy and popular entrepreneur, to help him organize the perfect proposal for his girlfriend Leyla Brooks (Celeste Desjardins). When Chance needs to get closer to Leyla to find out what she likes, they devise a plan to have her attend their Christmas party as an old friend of the family. Chance and William continue to spend more time together with the hopes of devising the perfect proposal, but Leyla does not seem to be ready for marriage and each plan seems to fall apart. As Chance and William get to know each other more they begin to bring out the best in one another and are able to find their true selves along the way.

Christmas by Chance is produced by Defiant Empire and Northern Soul Film Company. Andrew Cymek, Brigitte Kingsley and Patrick McBrearty serve as executive producers. Andrew Cymek directs and Brigitte Kingsley writes and produces. Concept by Patrick McBrearty.

Mistletoe in Montana

Starring Melissa Joan Hart, Duane Henry & Jamey Sheridan

12/17 at 8pm / 7c

Welcome to Paradise Ranch, where city slickers get to be cowboys and cowgirls. Merry (Melissa Joan Hart), who owns the ranch has been unlucky in love, but that’s about to change when a single father, Mark (Duane Henry), and his two kids book the ranch for Christmas week. Adventure is on the menu, the holiday spirit is everywhere, and love is in the air.

Mistletoe in Montana is produced by Hartbreak Films with Paula Hart and Melissa Joan Hart serving as executive producers. Kellie Martin directs from a script by Don Perez.

Toying With The Holidays

Starring Chad Michael Murray & Cindy Busby

12/18 at 8pm / 7c

Workaholic designer Danielle (Cindy Busby) returns to her hometown of Holly Pines for the holidays with her young son Paul with hopes to introduce him to some beloved holiday traditions, in particular the town’s North Pole Express train. Once home, she discovers that the North Pole Express has been sidelined. Determined to help, Danielle reconnects with her former high school classmate Kevin (Chad Michael Murray), now a hobbyist and model train enthusiast himself. Together, Danielle and Kevin attempt to pull off a Christmas miracle that would get the old North Pole Express running–and quite possibly give Danielle many reasons, one of them romantic, to consider staying in Holly Pines for good…

Toying With the Holidays is produced by HP Tracks Productions Inc., in association with All Canadian Entertainment and Brad Krevoy Television. Brad Krevoy, Amanda Phillips, Eric Jarboe, Amy Krell, Lorenzo Nardini, Jimmy Townsend, Steve N. White, Susie Belzberg Krevoy and Kathy Ceroni serve as executive producers. Chad Michael Murray serves as co-executive producer. Bradley Walsh executive produces and directs from a script by John B. Mullino and Emily Moss Wilson.

Under the Christmas Tree

Starring Elise Bauman, Tattiawna Jones & Ricki Lake

12/19 at 8pm / 7c

Marketing whiz Alma Beltran (Elise Bauman) and Christmas tree whisperer Charlie Freemont (Tattiawna Jones) cross paths when Charlie finds the perfect tree for the Maine Governor’s Holiday Celebration – right in Alma’s back yard. While they initially spar, romantic sparks soon begin to fly between the two women as the enchanting tree and some Christmas fairy dust from the town’s pâtissière extraordinaire (Ricki Lake) bring out the best in them and spark each other to take leaps of faith and fight for love and Christmas magic.

Under the Christmas Tree is produced by Neshama Entertainment in association with MarVista Entertainment and Wishing Floor Films. It is executive produced by Danielle von Zerneck, Larry Grimaldi, Hannah Pillemer, Fernando Szew, Suzanne Berger and Arnie Zipursky. Lisa Rose Snow directs from a script by Michael J. Murray.

Candy Cane Candidate

Starring Jacky Lai & Jake Epstein

12/20 at 8pm / 7c

Natural-born leader, Julia (Jacky Lai), returns to her hometown of North Falls for Christmas to drown her sorrows in eggnog, cookies, and Yuletide after her recent political campaign for city council ended in a landslide loss. It’s the perfect place for Julia’s holiday escape – until she realizes coming home means running into her old high school rival, Parker (Jake Epstein), the arrogant know-it-all who beat her in a race for senior class president. When the North Falls mayor resigns, the town holds an emergency election, and Julia and Parker find themselves once again facing off. But as Julia and Parker campaign their way through the Christmas season and plan a toy drive together, Julia begins to see a different side of Parker, and the ice between them slowly begins to thaw. As their political race comes to a head, Julia and Parker discover winning isn’t everything.

Candy Cane Candidate is produced by Neshama Entertainment in association with MarVista Entertainment. It is executive produced by Megan Ellstrom, Larry Grimaldi, Hannah Pillemer, Fernando Szew, and Arnie Zipursky. Pat Kiely directs from a script by Melissa Bustamante.

The Christmas Ball

Starring Deidre Mullins, Nick Hendrix & Caroline Langrishe

12/21 at 8pm / 7c

When lead ballerina Clare Fitzgerald (Deidre Mullins) is let go before the Christmas season’s Nutcracker, she’s beyond devastated and jumps at the opportunity to visit her Aunt Bridget (Caroline Langrishe) in England during the holidays. Once there, she meets Liam (Nick Hendrix), a local professor and historian who is helping Aunt Bridget preserve the family manor. Clare discovers that Christmas Regency balls were once held at the manor, prompting Aunt Bridget to propose they hold a ball as part of Liam’s presentation to the preservation society. As Clare and Liam work together, the two also waltz into a new romance.

The Christmas Ball is produced by Headlong Entertainment and MarVista Entertainment. Milos Djukelic, Larry Grimaldi, Hannah Pillemer, Fernando Szew and Marianne C. Wunch serve as executive producers. Amy Barrett directs from a script by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin.

It Takes a Christmas Village

Starring Brooke Nevins, Corey Sevier & Alli Chung

12/22 at 8pm / 7c

In order to make the town’s Christmas market a reality, Mayor Alex Foster (Brooke Nevin) must convince the reclusive Darcy Hawkins (Corey Sevier) to loan out his family’s historic mill, which is no easy task thanks to a long-running family feud. But as Alex slowly chips away at Darcy’s frosty exterior, their feelings grow beyond the interest of the town, leading this unlikely duo to the prospect of love.

It Takes a Christmas Village is produced by Vortex Media. Justin Rebelo and Bill Marks serve as executive producers. Corey Sevier directs from a script by Kate Pragnell.

Rebuilding a Dream Christmas

Starring Meggan Kaiser, Zane Stephens & Bryson JonSteele

12/23 at 8pm / 7c

Successful real estate broker Abbey (Meggan Kaiser) is forced back to her hometown to repair a Victorian house she inherited from her grandmother. She decides to sell the house and hires single dad, Josh (Zane Stephens), to help with the repairs. Working together brings up memories from her past and as her relationship with Josh and his eight-year-old son Noah (Bryson JonSteele) grows, Abbey finds her calling and makes a home for herself.

Rebuilding a Dream Christmas is produced by American Cinema Inspires with George Shamieh executive producing. Sandra L. Martin directs from a script by Amy Bircher, D.F.W. Buckingham and Robert Tiffe.

Hot Chocolate Holiday

Starring Aubrey Reynolds & Jonny Swenson

12/24 at 8pm / 7c

Colette (Aubrey Reynolds) runs a coffee shop that is known for her secret and famous hot chocolate. When Marcus (Jonny Swenson), a new dessert shop owner, starts to draw in Colette’s customers with his very own specialty hot chocolate that tastes exactly like the recipe from her beloved grandmother, she is determined to expose him. But as she gets to know Marcus, sparks fly between the cocoa connoisseurs

Hot Chocolate Holiday is produced by Silver Peak Productions and Candlelight Media Group. AJC Pennyworth and Elisa Jan serve as executive producers. Brian Brough directs from a script by Brittany Wiscombe.

Writing Around the Christmas Tree

Starring Krystal Joy Brown & Curtis Hamilton

12/25 at 8pm / 7c

Mikaela (Krystal Joy Brown) a successful romance novelist who has had bad luck in love, visits a quaint bed and breakfast for a Christmas writer’s retreat near a snowy lake town each year. Upon arriving, she meets dashing writer, Levi (Curtis Hamilton) who soon convinces Mikaela that she shouldn’t be writing about love, if she doesn’t allow herself to get out and actually experience it.

Writing Around the Christmas Tree is produced by The Ninth House and Nicely Entertainment. Vanessa Shapiro executive produces, and Jake Helgren writes and directs.

ABOUT LIFETIME

Celebrating 35 years of entertaining audiences, Lifetime is a premier entertainment destination for women dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning award-winning movies, high-quality scripted series and breakout non-fiction series. Lifetime has an impressive legacy in public affairs, bringing attention to social issues that women care about with initiatives such as the long running Stop Breast Cancer for Life now in its 25th year, Stop Violence Against Women which relaunched in 2018, and Broader Focus, a major global initiative dedicated to supporting and hiring female directors, writers and producers, including women of color, to make its content. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.

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John Schneider and Rebe McEntire in "Christmas in Tune" on Lifetime

Interview with Zoë Robins and Madeleine Madden

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Madeleine Madden and Zoë Robins of "Wheel of Time" on Amazon Prime

Interview with Zoë Robins and Madeleine Madden of “Wheel of Time” on Amazon Prime by Suzanne 10/6/21

These press interviews with the Wheel of Time cast were short but a lot of fun. The series is exciting. I’ve only seen a few episodes so far, but I really enjoyed them.

Suzanne: Zoë, you do a lot of swimming in the first two episodes that I saw. What was the weather like in Prague when you were doing that, and was it cold?

Zoë: The swimming that I did, I did a bit in episode three, and that was actually in the studio. So, thank goodness, it was warm; they heated the pool. They really did take good care of us. So, I was okay. I was okay.

Suzanne: Good and had either of you done any sword fighting or any physical stuff before this show?

Madeleine: I’ve done stunts before on jobs, but nothing to this level, I think, with horse riding and sword fighting, and it was a completely different beast on this one. We had a month of prep to do some horse riding sessions with our movement coach and stunts. So, no, for me personally, nothing on this level.

Zoë: Same with me. I also had a little bit of stunt experience, particularly with a TV show called Power Rangers; stunts were kind of a given. But on this level [it’s] like nothing I’ve ever done before. We had an intensive boot camp to get us up to speed, and even still, we’re still training with with the amazing stunt team. So yeah, we all had a lot to learn.

Question: Egwene is getting initiated into the women’s circle. So, I was wondering if there was any traditions, within your family, to like say, “Hey, I’m a woman now,” or any kind of conversations that you’ve had with your moms, or even women in your family, that are similar to what the women’s circle did in the episode?

Madeleine: Yeah, thank you. That’s such a wonderful question. I’m Aboriginal, so I’m a First Nations’ person of Australia, and there definitely are initiation ceremonies that both men and women do to welcome women or men that are of age in a community. So, that was very special seeing that this was part of a tradition and culture in the Two Rivers. Absolutely, I definitely [grew] up in a very matriarchal family. So, there’ve always been conversations about when you’re coming of age, and also, I really look up to the women in my family. They’re all such pillars of strength, and that’s something that we see in this show, as well. So, I feel like my life and my heritage was a wonderful preparation for what I would find in in this series.

Question: That was for Zoë too.

Zoë: Oh, sorry. Similar to me, I have some incredible women in my family. I do remember some very deep and meaningful and raw and honest conversations I had with my mum as a teenager that got me up to speed with with real life and what to expect, but I can’t say anything similar to pushing someone off a cliff like Nynaeve does to Egwene. So, yeah, my conversations were a little bit more [laughs] tame.

Madeleine: Using words, I guess, more than force.

Zoë: Yeah.

Question: You make it look like the most fun job in the world, and sometimes it can be, but some of these things look like they were kind of difficult to do. I’m curious to know, what kind of headspace do you have to put yourself in, or is there something you have to tell yourself to sort of keep on the right path and keep in the right mindset to do everything that you do?

Zoë: Yeah, I think it’s really important to know – I mean, for me, [for] my process, I like to know where my character has just been and also where she’s going. So, that’s really helpful to stay present in the moment. I think we’ve all had a lot of experiences of really traumatic scenes, emotionally and physically, and it becomes very draining. So, learning how to prepare yourself before then, and being kind to yourself and resting and loving on yourself was really important. But I think a lot of us just immerse ourselves completely. I don’t know if that’s the best way to do it in terms of looking after ourselves, but, I mean, I look around at the the work that everyone’s putting in, and everyone just gives their absolute all to some very hard requirements.

Madeleine Madden and Zoë Robins of "Wheel of Time" on Amazon PrimeMadeleine: Yeah, absolutely. I think there’s something that you said there, which was, just completely immersing ourselves. I think it is an art form of trying to get in that character’s headspace and just completely staying there in the scene, which can be difficult, but when you have a group of actors that you trust, writers, directors that you can trust, to care for you and your craft, you feel safe enough to kind of push those boundaries, whether that’s physically or emotionally. But it’s been amazing to lose ourselves with these characters and just what they go through.

Question: What’s the relationship like, from each of your perspectives, [between] Nynaeve and Egwene on the series?

Zoë: Nynaeve and Egwene’s relationship is really special. It’s definitely like a sisterly bond, but it’s much more than that. I don’t know, I think we haven’t seen a relationship like this on screen. I think it’s a really beautiful relationship to explore, this purely platonic, sisterly love. I mean, for Nynaeve, she will do absolutely anything for Egwene, and she thinks the world of her. She sees her potential and just wants nothing but the best for Egwene, and I think that’s a really beautiful thing that our show was doing is really highlighting how important these real and truthful relationships are, especially when they want each other to succeed and do well. I think it’s nice to to celebrate those types of relationships.

Madeleine: Yeah, absolutely, I think Egwene really looks up to Nynaeve as a mentor and as like a big sister. They really support each other and champion each other. And I think, like Zoë said, wanting the other to succeed and do well is what gets them through. A lot of the time they survive to make sure the other one lives, which is really wonderful. They’ll do anything for each other, and it’s such a wonderful bond. Yeah, like Zoë said, I think [that’s something that] sometimes, particularly in this genre, that we might not necessarily see.

Question: What’s your favorite part about of this world that The Wheel of Time takes place in? What stands out to you about it and makes you excited about the show and being in it?

Zoë: I think, for me, the level of specificity and detail Robert has obviously put into the world, but in particular, the characters. I mean, for me, it hasn’t been much of a struggle to try and access Nynaeve, because there’s so much on the page already. There’s so much to work with. There’re obviously so many resources. There’re 14 books, as we all know, so, when in doubt, we can search for anything that we’re not sure of, but Rafe has also been an incredible expert and help [to] us. So, yeah, definitely the characters. I’ve never played a character so fleshed out and just real. I think what makes them so beautiful is that they’re so relatable but real humans with complexities and flaws, and they’re not the greatest at times, and you question a lot of their motives and their actions. But yeah, I think that’s what makes them so great.

Madeleine: Yeah, absolutely. They’re just real people in a very fantastical, epic world. I think that’s what makes them such lovable characters is that we can all find a bit of them in ourselves and then relate to them, and exactly like Zoë said, the detail that Robert Jordan has given us with his work is – I remember the first day we walked onto the set of the Two Rivers, and it was exactly how I pictured it from reading the books. So, I think reading the story, and then seeing it come to life, and seeing another artist’s interpretations and their collaborations on the characters or the worlds, has been amazing to just see and be immersed in it.

Question: You’ve got gotten to live with these characters now for a while. What’s one thing that you hope that the audience takes away about your character that maybe they don’t see quite on the screen?

Zoë: That’s a great question.

Madeleine: Yeah. Thank you. I think with Egwene, [I’ve] certainly grown with her. She has this sort of sense of self and determination, and she knows her self worth, which I’ve definitely learned a lot a lot about from playing her. I really hope that audiences can also picture themselves in this world and also relate to our heroes and what they go through.

Zoë: Yeah, and for Nynaeve, I hope people can can understand her motivations and why she acts the way she does. [It’s] often because of her deep, intense love for the people that she’s with. She will do anything for the Two Rivers kids in particular. And oftentimes, I think book readers question whether they are aligned with what Nynaeve does and how she thinks and her as a character, but I, personally, get her and love her. So, yeah, I’d love for people to understand all the complexities and the nuances that our characters have underneath.

Here’s the video!

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

The main cast of heroes of "Wheel of Time" on Amazon Prime

MORE INFO:

Zoë Robins was born on February 19, 1993 in Wellington, New Zealand. She is an actress, known for Power Rangers Ninja Steel (2017) and Black Christmas (2019).

Madeleine Madden (born 29 January 1997) is an Australian actress. In 2010, at age 13, Madden became the first teenager in Australia to deliver an address to the nation, when she delivered a two-minute speech on the future of Indigenous Australians. It was broadcast to 6 million viewers on every free-to-air television network in Australia.  Madden has starred in short films by Deborah Mailman, and Meryl Tankard and co-starred with Christina Ricci and Jack Thompson in Around the Block.[8][10] Her first film acting job was at 8 years old. She aims to become a director in the future. When she was 21, Madden made her big Hollywood debut as Sammy in the 2019 Nickelodeon film Dora and the Lost City of Gold.

More info about the show on our other interview

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Madeleine Madden and Zoë Robins of "Wheel of Time" on Amazon Prime

Interview with Josha Stradowski and Marcus Rutherford

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Josha Stradowski and Marcus Rutherford of "Wheel of Time" on Amazon

Interview with Josha Stradowski and Marcus Rutherford of “Wheel of Time” on Amazon Prime by Suzanne 10/6/21

This was a fun interview with these young men. I had watched a few of the episodes the previous night, so it was great to meet them and two of the other actors who star in the show. We only had a brief interview with them, and there were other journalists asking questions as well.

Josha: It looks tropical over there, more tropical than here in Prague.

Suzanne: Yeah, yeah, this is a fake background. Where are you guys?

Marcus: We’re in Prague at the moment.

Suzanne: Still there. Are you still filming the first season?

Marcus: Season Two.

Suzanne: Oh, you started on season two already? Oh, that’s great. That was one of my questions. So, had you read the books before you started filming?

Marcus: I hadn’t. I hadn’t heard of the books, but as soon as I kind of got the part, I was blown away that I actually hadn’t, because it’s so highly regarded, and there’re so many copies; like ninety million copies have been sold. So, yeah, I quickly started reading The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt before we did season [one].

Josha: Yes, same. When I got the part, I started reading the next day. I haven’t finished it yet. I’m on book eleven now. I’m climbing that mountain. I’m not at the top yet, but the view from up here’s pretty good around.

Marcus: [laughs] Sound bite.

Suzanne: And as a follow up, do you know how closely the series follow the books?

Josha: Well, it’s not a one on one adaption, but I’m sure that it does the book justice. It takes the fundamentals, the essentials of the book, 100%.

Suzanne: Okay, great. I’ll let someone else have a chance.

Question: [For] Perrin, I guess, Marcus, you mentioned that you haven’t really read the books, but Perrin’s an axe wielder himself. Rand, in the early episodes, uses a bow often and then moves more to be a sword master. So, what was it like training with those weapons? Is that something you’ve ever done before, or was it completely new to you?

Marcus: Yeah, it was pretty new to me, but I think, when we started, we had quite an intense sort of stunts workshop. I think in that first episode, it kind of kicks off quite a lot. So, we all had those fight scenes to work with, but yeah, it was really cool to kind of work with an axe. I think, obviously, it’s something that Perrin has a particular relationship with, as we kind of move forward, but from the offset, to kind of work with that particular weapon, was really, really cool.

Josha: I had some sword fighting in drama school, but it didn’t feel like was very useful, because this kind of sword fighting we did was definitely more vicious. But, I guess, like you said, first round [he’s] more familiar with the bow and arrow, so I had archery training, and later on, when we all started, we all had sword-fighting training.

Question: How long did it take for you guys to shoot the Trolloc attack in the Two Rivers?

Josha: I mean, I think the bit of Daniel only took a week on itself.

Marcus: Yeah.

Josha: It took really long.

Marcus: Yeah, Daniel and Rosamund had a lot. They had like the bad short straw in terms of like how many nights shoots they had. I think, overall, I don’t know how many, but it was weeks.

Josha: Yeah, a couple of weeks, I think.

Marcus: A couple of weeks or like three weeks. It was lots of different kind of battles all kind of like merging into one. So, when you kind of see it – we saw episode one – it’s amazing how they jump in between. But I remember walking around Prague, having days off, [being] like, “Who’s filming now?” and it was Rosamund and Daniel [who] were still doing that battle. So, yeah, they did amazing.

Question: Whether you’ve read the books or not, I think it maybe doesn’t even matter, this does a great job of explaining it, but like some of the best sci-fi, even though it’s a fantastical world, there are things that we can learn or things that we can get out of this that are parallel to our lives. So, what is it that you suppose people will will sort of think about or take away that’s relevant to us as well?

Marcus: I do think the aspect of like – within the magical system of The Wheel of Time, kind of that male superiority is kind of flipped with the fact that only certain women are allowed to access magic. I think that is just something that’s quite cool to see on screen and something to think about, you know, if that power dynamic had been altered in that way. What would a world look like, if men were, to put it, the underdogs, essentially. So, I think that’s something that you can kind of think about in a contemporary aspect as well.

Josha: Yeah, and on top of that, I guess, because the world of The Wheel of Time is so, so big in so many different groups of people, cultures, different beliefs, and it’s just as hyper polarized and divided as our world is. I guess, the whole show of The Wheel of Time is about finding finding that balance. I think that nowadays, in this time, that is something that will be interesting to see, for people.

Question: I want to ask you both, you both, especially Perrin, is carrying some baggage and some other feelings, but Rand is also carrying some things as well. Talk about that layer of your character. And I will say, speaking to Robert Jordan in 94, that he said a little bit of King Arthur is in Rand, by the way.

Josha: That’s nice.

Marcus: Yeah. Just a little bit.

Josha: The Messias, yeah.

Marcus: Yeah, I think in terms of that baggage or what they kind of take with them, I think, for Perrin, especially, from from the start he has a particular relationship with violence, and it’s kind of brought to him in quite an ugly way early on, and I think it’s something that he carries throughout season one. It’s something that kind of is on his mind a lot and something that he’s very deeply affected by, and he has a lot of feelings of guilt surrounding [him]. Violence seems to keep on coming into his world, and he has realize, does he embrace kind of this animalistic side to him or is there a civilized way that he can maneuver through this world that Moiraine’s kind of dragged them into.

Josha: I think with Rand throughout this story, you know, this bag will become heavier and heavier; more weight is being added throughout this story. And I hope you will see what it costs not only Rand, but of all these characters, and I guess, all of these characters have to sacrifice bits and pieces of who they were in order to do what’s right. But, at first, it starts in the Two Rivers, and, yeah, that’s where we have to start first, before we go on this great arc.

Question: There’re a lot of fantasy adaptations coming out right now, as streamers build up their libraries and are looking for things to jump on to, and that means there’s a lot of options for people to watch fantasy now. So, if I’m someone coming from this, and I watched three back to back trailers for fantasy shows with sweeping vistas and gorgeous magic and special effects, what makes The Wheel of Time stand out for that person? Why is this one special, both for you, and in fantasy in general?

Josha: The Wheel of Time is such a rich world with so much complexity, and the books are known for that. It’s not for no reason that ninety million copies have been sold. Apparently, there’s something in it that people can relate to that touches them. And what that is, for me, is besides that in this world of The Wheel of Time, women are the ones who are in control, if men use the One Power, they abuse it, or the fact that it’s not simply black and white, good against evil. It’s all shades of grey in between. Now, for me, what really makes this stand out, is the characters and that you start to care for these characters and that they’re real. They’re no heroes; they have to go on this mission they never sign up for. You can see their failures and their fears and what it costs of them, the sacrifice they have to make. I think that’s what makes The Wheel of Time special, for me, at least.

Marcus: And that global cast, man, I think being able to see that they’ve been able to cast people from every corner of the planet, really experienced actors, new actors, exciting actors who’ve worked in all different fields coming together on one show like this, I think is very, very special and I think reflects how expansive the world is in the books as well, which is really, really cool.

Question: The action scenes are so amazing in the series; talk about a scene that was the most difficult for you to achieve and what it was and how you dealt with that kind of scale and size of the production that you’ve got here and how you dealt with those issues.

Marcus: In terms of like, I mean, there wasn’t too too many bumps in the road, but I think, that first episode, it was just so new to us, everything. So, I think to have a first episode where you’ve got a lot of stunts, and all the characters are involved, you’ve got a lot of background artists, supporting artists, a whole village needs to be built, and then you’ve got a big action scene on top of that, as well. And you’re very new to finding out these characters, and you’ve got very key moments that kind of lay the foundations for these characters. It’s a weird kind of amalgamation of a lot of things happening at once. So, I think that was quite daunting, but I think it was probably the best way to start the show, because it kind of set the tone…The audience will realize in that first episode that it all kind of kicks off quite quickly. And I think for actors on that film in that first episode, it meant that we had to get a grasp of those characters, their trajectories, and what they’re really like, in the books as well.

Question: You, Josha?

Josha: I couldn’t have said it better.

Here is the video!

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

MORE INFO:

Josha Stradowski is a Dutch actor. He is known for his role as ‘Joris’ in the Dutch film Gewoon Vrienden (2018) and ‘Rand Al’ Thor’ the American television series The Wheel of Time (2021). He started acting as a kid in musicals like The Sound of Music and Ciske de Rat and began playing roles in television as a teenager. He graduated from the AHK theatre school in Amsterdam and worked on multiple plays such as Oedipus directed by Robert Icke at Ivo van Hove’s theater company ITA in 2018. He recently completed filming on a new series. He also played the lead role in an indie feature film, Just Friends, for which he and the film received a number of awards on the international film festival circuit.

Marcus Rutherford is an actor, known for County Lines (2019) and Obey (2018). He is an English actor who will portray Perrin Aybara on Prime Video‘s The Wheel of Time. Rutherford’s casting was announced on August 14, 2019.[1] Showrunner Rafe Judkins stated his character was the hardest to write.

"Wheel of Time" posterThe Wheel of Time is one of the most popular and enduring fantasy series of all time, with more than 90 million books sold. Set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it, the story follows Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.

Based on Robert Jordan’s best-selling fantasy novels, The Wheel of Time was adapted for television by executive producer/showrunner Rafe Judkins. Larry Mondragon and Rick Selvage of iwot productions, Mike Weber, Ted Field of Radar Pictures, Darren Lemke, Marigo Kehoe, and Uta Briesewitz will also serve as executive producers, with Briesewitz set to direct the first two episodes. Rosamund Pike will serve as producer and Harriet McDougal and Brandon Sanderson as consulting producers. The Wheel of Time is co-produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television.

Executive Produced By

Rafe Judkins, Larry Mondragon, Rick Selvage, Mike Weber, Ted Field, Darren Lemke, Marigo Kehoe, and Uta Briesewitz

Developed By

Rafe Judkins

Directed By

Uta Briesewitz, Wayne Che Yip, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Ciaran Donnelly

Produced By

Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television

Cast

Rosamund Pike, Daniel Henney, Josha Stradowski, Madeleine Madden, Marcus Rutherford, Zoë Robins, Barney Harris

  • Credits

    Directed By
    Uta Briesewitz, Wayne Che Yip, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Ciaran Donnelly

    Produced By
    Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television

    Cast
    Rosamund Pike – Moiraine Damodred
    Daniel Henney – Lan Mondragoran
    Josha Stradowski – Rand al’Thor
    Madeleine Madden – Egwene al’Vere
    Marcus Rutherford – Perrin Aybara
    Zoë Robins – Nynaeve al’Meara
    Barney Harris – Mat Cauthon

    Executive Producers
    Rafe Judkins, Larry Mondragon, Rick Selvage, Mike Weber, Ted Field, Darren Lemke, Marigo Kehoe, and Uta Briesewitz

    Developed By
    Rafe Judkins

Prime Video Debuts Official Trailer for The Wheel of Time ​​With First-of-Its-Kind YouTube Experience

Oct 27, 2021

Utilizing YouTube’s 360 player and spatial audio surround sound, The Wheel of Time trailer offers fans an immersive experience that allows them to view the traditional 2-D trailer in a virtual, three-dimensional “wheel”

The world-building fantasy series from Sony Pictures Television will premiere globally
November 19 on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide

Watch Official Trailer HERE

CULVER CITY, California—October 27, 2021—Prime Video today released the official trailer for upcoming fantasy series The Wheel of Time, based on the best-selling book series. The first three episodes of Season One will premiere Friday, November 19, with new episodes available each Friday following, leading up to the season finale on December 24.

Utilizing YouTube’s 360 player and spatial audio surround sound, Prime Video debuted the official trailer for The Wheel of Time in a first-of-its-kind immersive experience that allows fans to view the traditional 2-D trailer in a virtual three-dimensional “wheel.” When fans arrive at the YouTube page to watch the trailer, a quick scan to the left or right will reveal there is much more to experience. To the left of the screen, they’ll discover Moiraine’s (Rosamund Pike) powerful “One Power” channeling—featuring her voice and faces, artifacts, and symbols hidden amongst the energy weaves. On the right, the corruption of the Dark One represents a dissention into madness. The trailer also features spatial audio that gives fans a more immersive experience as objects appear from either side of the “wheel.” The result is a unique utilization of existing technology that creates a trailer experience unlike any other—one that offers multiple viewing experiences for fans of the series.

About The Wheel of Time
The Wheel of Time is one of the most popular and enduring fantasy series of all time, with more than 90 million books sold. Set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it, the story follows Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.

Based on Robert Jordan’s best-selling fantasy novels, The Wheel of Time was adapted for television by executive producer/showrunner Rafe Judkins. Larry Mondragon and Rick Selvage of iwot productions, Mike Weber, Ted Field of Radar Pictures, Darren Lemke, Marigo Kehoe, and Uta Briesewitz will also serve as executive producers, with Briesewitz set to direct the first two episodes. Rosamund Pike will serve as producer and Harriet McDougal and Brandon Sanderson as consulting producers. The Wheel of Time is co-produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television.

About Prime Video
Prime Video offers customers a vast collection of movies, series, and sports—all available to watch on hundreds of compatible devices.

  • Included with Prime Video: Watch movies, series and sports, including Thursday Night Football. Enjoy series and films including the newly released Cinderella, the Emmy Award-nominated satirical superhero drama The Boys, limited series The Underground Railroad, and the films Sylvie’s Love and Uncle Frank; and the smash hits Coming 2 America, Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, The Tomorrow War, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Upload, and My Spy, as well as Emmy- and Golden Globe-winners Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Golden Globe-winner Small Axe, Academy Award-winner Sound of Metal, Golden Globe-winner and Academy Award-nominee Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, and Academy Award-nominees One Night in Miami… and Time. Prime members also get access to licensed content.
  • Prime Video Channels: Prime members can add channels like discovery+, Paramount+, BET+, EPIX, Noggin, NBA League Pass, MLB.TV, STARZ, and SHOWTIME—no extra apps to download, and no cable required. Only pay for the ones you want, and cancel anytime.  View the full list of channels available at amazon.com/channels.
  • Rent or Buy: Enjoy new-release movies to rent or buy, entire seasons of current TV shows available to buy, and special deals just for Prime members.
  • Instant access: Watch at home or on the go with your choice of hundreds of compatible devices. Stream from the web or using the Prime Video app on your smartphone, tablet, set-top box, game console, or select smart TV.
  • Enhanced experiences: Make the most of every viewing with 4K Ultra HD- and High Dynamic Range (HDR)-compatible content. Go behind the scenes of your favorite movies and TV shows with exclusive X-Ray access, powered by IMDb. Save it for later with select mobile downloads for offline viewing.

Prime Video is just one of many shopping and entertainment benefits included with a Prime membership, along with fast, free shipping on millions of Prime-eligible items at Amazon.com, unlimited photo storage, exclusive deals and discounts, and access to ad-free music and Kindle eBooks. To sign up or start a 30-day free trial of Prime, visit: amazon.com/prime.

About Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is one of the television industry’s leading content providers, producing, distributing and carrying programming worldwide in every genre and for every platform. In addition to managing one of the industry’s largest libraries of award-winning feature films, television shows and formats, SPT is home to a thriving global content business, operating a robust portfolio of wholly-owned and joint-venture production companies across the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific, as well as linear and digital channels around the world. SPT is a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation.

Social Handles
Instagram: @TheWheelOfTime
Twitter: @TheWheelOfTime
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWheelOfTimeOfficial

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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Josha Stradowski and Marcus Rutherford of "Wheel of Time" on Amazon

Interview with the cast of “Yellowjackets” Part 2

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Christina Ricci, Samantha Hanratty, Tawny Cypress, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Ella Purnell of "Yellowjackets" on Showtime

Interview with actresses Christina Ricci, Samantha Hanratty, Tawny Cypress, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Ella Purnell, and producers Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Jonathan Lisco and Karyn Kusama of “Yellowjackets” on Showtime by Suzanne 8/25/21

SHOWTIME SUMMER 2021 TCA VIRTUAL PRESS TOUR
YELLOWJACKETS
Virtual via Zoom August 25, 2021
© 2021 Showtime Networks Inc. All rights reserved.

Part 2:
Christina Ricci (she/her), “Misty Quigley”
Samantha Hanratty (she/her), “Teen Misty Quigley”
Tawny Cypress (she/her), “Taissa Turner”
Jasmin Savoy Brown (she/her), “Teen Taissa Turner”
Ella Purnell (she/her), “Teen Jackie Taylor”
Ashley Lyle (she/her), Creator/Executive Producer/Showrunner
Bart Nickerson (he/him), Creator/Executive Producer/Showrunner
Jonathan Lisco (he/him), Executive Producer/Showrunner
Karyn Kusama (she/her), Executive Producer/Director

This was a two-part panel for the show, and this is the second part. See the first part here. The show premieres Sunday, November 14. Don’t miss it!

It has a large cast, but the focus for both panels was on the women (the stars of the show). I asked Tawny Cypress and Jasmin Savoy Brown if they could speak a little bit about what it was that drew them to this project, how they got to know each other, and whether they did anything to try to sync their characters teen-Taissa and adult-Taissa together.

Cypress loved the project right away, in part because she’s from New Jersey (where the characters are from), so she enjoyed being right in there with her character and the soccer team. She told us, “Her vulnerabilities come out fairly quickly, so it was great to see where she cracked. It’s always fun to play people who crack a little bit. Like when she had the scene with Shauna and the pilot, you know, You can see her — that she’s not — maybe not the one in charge. And that drew me to her. Because it’s easy to play somebody powerful, but it’s more fun to play somebody who just thinks they’re powerful. And then as far as connecting with Jasmin, it was very easy. We connected early on. We get together a lot. We talk about the character a lot. We talk about the scripts a lot. We lived one building away from each other. We actually have the same landlord. All this weird stuff.”

Brown pointed out the “weird random” fact that they were the only ones in the entire cast and crew that both brought their cats there (to the filming) and that both are the tortoiseshell breed. Cypress agreed that they had a lot of things in common that were cool and led to a connection between them. She added that they do talk about the scripts a lot. One time Brown texted her at the beginning to ask if they say “EE-ther” or “EYE-ther.” They also go through different types of movements. They “try and keep her a nice through line.” Cypress added that the fact that the script is so well written shows the through line.

Brown chimed in to agree that “The writing is incredible. And that’s what drew me to this project. Along with what the women said in the prior panel. Women are the most important thing in my life. My female relationships, friendships. I was raised by a single mom. I have a ton of aunts. And I was an only child, and so my female friendships were the most important thing from early on. And I love any script, any piece of art that examines female relationships and how complex they are. I felt the writing was incredible. I love dark, mysterious stuff. And, also, I hadn’t worked for a few months and was on vacation when I got the audition. And that’s always how I know that something’s good, if it brings me home from vacation. So, I went — because I’m turning right back around.”

The next reporter asked the actors to answer a hypothetical question, “if you crashed on an island, how do you think you would fare? And not meaning killing people and eating people, but just in general with survival… How do you think that you would do?”

Christina Ricci jumped right in to answer that she loves TV shows like “Survivor,” so she thinks she would do really well. Also, she added, “I know how to do pull—ups, because I know if you fall off a cliff, you need to be able to pull your body weight onto things.”

Brown joked that she wouldn’t want to crash with Ricci, then. The women kept joking around about what they would do. Samantha Hanratty mentioned the show “Naked and Afraid.” Ricci thought that Hanratty would shoot first. Cypress piped up to say that she definitely would shoot first. Ricci also mentioned that she could be helpful and build a fire.

The next journalist asked a long question that was a bit hard to follow. He spoke a little about Ricci and Hanratty’s character, Misty, who starts out as a bit shy (and bullied), but then changes quite a right once they crash. He/she asked what it was like playing such a “quirky” character and wondered if she knew girls like this in school (not the extreme part of the character, of course).

Ricci spoke at length about how she and Hanratty met and discussed the character. She there could be “many different interpretations” of Misty. She described Misty as “socially inept” as well as “so emotional and emotive, but unable to really mold those emotions to fit with other people and to be socially successful.” Then, once this type of person becomes an adult, and life has punished her, and she doesn’t have the protection of childhood, she’s left just “”functioning, getting through with the passive aggression and the artifice. Because I feel like artifice is something you learn as a coping mechanism in adulthood.”

Hanratty took her turn to talk about how much fun it was to play Misty. We learn more about her in the second episode as we see her at age 13 and her past (before the crash). She wants people to like and accept her instead of bullying her, yet she’s constantly rejected. She’s a very optimistic person that refuses to be sad about how she’s treated. We see when she does get broken by what happens. She finished, “I think we see glimpses of it with me, and then you definitely get to see with Christina kind of where those shattered pieces are. It’s really magical to be able to work with Christina on that.”

The producers were asked about the plane crash and what happened, which she describes “pretty graphic.” She wonders how they decided where to draw the line for what viewers would see.

Nickerson answered the question. They never talked about it specifically. He just feels that he can watch it as an audience member and decide whether it’s too much (“distracting”) or not.

Lyle agreed with what he said and explained that they didn’t want to focus on the plane crash and the aftermatch so much as why it happened, such as “How did they get from point A to point B?” They start out as a championship team, working together. She joking interjected, “It really wasn’t so much about, you know, the sports, by any stretch of the imagination. Spoiler alert: not really a soccer show.” The show is about how they worked together as a group, and then they start falling apart over the season. She quoted the actress who played young Shauna, Sophie Nélisse, who said, “the circumstances bring out both the best and the worst in them.” They wanted to answer the question, “Who do these women become?”

Nickerson thoughtfully said that other producers probably have a different because they’re “”laying the groundwork to … shoot it,” but he and Lyle are “reacting to some of what you created in terms of the visuals of it.”

Karyn Kusama felt that the extreme moments in the flashbacks help to answer the bigger question of the series, which is, “What are human beings capable of?” As she put it, “to go from keggers and carpools and, you know, winning a soccer match in high school, to something so extreme that’s meant to happen, you know, 18, 19 months later, it begs that question.” It creates a set of question inside the women that “help drive the whole series and enrich the larger question of the series.”

The next question was for Ella Purnell, who plays Jackie. We see her before the plane crash, where she’s the team captain and able to get everyone to do what they need to do. However, when they’re on the island, she loses her grip after she makes one bad choice (leaving someone on the plane). The journalist asked Purnell what might Jackie be going through during this drastic change? And for her, or the producers, should we make any assumptions about the fact there’s no adult Jackie either in this panel or in the first episodes we’ve seen (unlike the other characters), and she wants to know if they’re worried the audience might predict something happened to her.

Purnell seemed a little bit surprised by the long question. What she loves about the role she said, is that Jackie’s attitude is really all just “a front,” which no one knows until she makes that mistake in the second episode. “And the stark contrast between Jackie’s social stand in Episode 1 and 2 is amazing. I love playing it. I think that when you — you take these kids out of the society that they’re in and that they’re building of high school, you know. Who’s the popular one? Who’s the nerd? They’re all athletes. But that kind of hierarchy system that they’ve created and participated in. And you put them in this unbelievable life or death scenario.” She says that people can surprise themselves, and in many different ways, when “the true essence of who you are comes out.” Jackie is interesting because instead of “flight or fight,” she freezes. She wants to take control and act like she did back in Jersey, she’s frozen in place, because she’s so young and in shock. She believes that’s very frustrating for Jackie – not knowing where she stands. It’s not normal for her. “She loses her footing. She has no idea who to be out here. Whether she picks that up or doesn’t pick that up throughout the rest of season, you’ll find out. But it was definitely fun to play, like, that very sharp decline of sort of social standing between the episodes.”

Lyle repeated that show has “a lot of twists and turns over the course of the season,” but what’s imoprtant is “why” rather than “what.” She concluded with, “take that as you will.” Obviously, she didn’t want to give too much away. Nickerson countered that he would rather viewers “read a lot into everything and sort of, like, go in like a million different directions with it and just have like a great time.”

The next press person asked Ricci and Hanratty about their character, Misty. He said, “The character that you’re playing has absolutely no cachet, zero, prior to the plane crash, and then suddenly she is the linchpin for this entire survival. But in the process of doing that, one action that she takes creates the fact that they’re going to be stuck there for a very, very long time. And I’m wondering what — how does that psychologically affect her in her later life, knowing what she has done? It’s got to have some type of ramification in her adult life.”

Ricci explained that for Misty, everything is about her, and her “wants and her longing and her needs. And, so, when they crash, you know, and she does finally become important…she creates a situation in which she will stay important.” She didn’t want to speak for the younger version of the character, but she doesn’t think Misty has any regrets (about what she did) as an adult. Instead, when things get interesting for her as an adult, she’s “thrilled that her life might become exciting again.” Her adult life is not great. Being stranded on the island was the highlight of her life (unlike the other characters on the show).

Hanratty added that before the crash, Misty “was always everybody else’s biggest cheerleader.” She was really rooting for the team to do well. Hanratty discussed with the producers that “maybe Misty is not so good at love, but obsession. And she kind of replaces those two. And, so, she is really obsessed with these girls, and just loves them, but, you know, in her own way. But has never really felt that in return.” When the plane crashes, she takes over while everyone else is still in shock. She has “some medical background and kind of does what she can.” They talked about whether her parents were doctors, so she’s looked at medical books growing up as well as taking the “Red Cross babysitter training class twice.” She finally hears people talking about her in a positive, which thrills her and gives her a reason to go on. She makes this decision (as the reporter mentioned) to keep going with that purpose for as long as possible, and doesn’t feel bad about it. To Misty, “”It’s exciting and it’s liberating and thrilling.”

The producers were asked about whether there might be “something” out in the woods with the soccer team, and it’s possible that it came back with them and is still around in the present. He asks if there might be some sort of supernatural element to show, or something more realistic. He added that in case they can’t really answer that question, he would like to know “what was the human meat actually made out of, and how does it taste?” Ha ha! Good way to handle that question.

Lyle said that the meat was venison (deer meat), which was difficult for Hanratty, who’s a vegan in real life. Hanratty answered that she didn’t eat the venison. She and Brown both at “Beyon Meat” instead (a vegan alternative beef).

Lyle tried to answer the supernatural question. She said they discussed what types of inspirations they would draw on, such as “Rosemary’s Baby.” They were interested in the line between “genuine supernatural phenomenon or sort of a mass hysteria or some sort of madness that takes hold. And so that’s a line that we’re going to be playing throughout the show.” Very interesting.

Nickerson explained that it was difficult to answer the question without spoiling things for the viewer.

Kusama had an interesting way to answer the question. She mused, “I do feel like what the show does in Season 1 that is surprising — and I’m going to throw this — I’m going to throw this bit to Jasmin and to Tawny. Because I think what we’re doing is we’re exploring what ‘supernatural’ means. In this case, it’s about the mysteries of human behavior. And in many respects, Jasmine’s Taissa is one of the most competent in the wilderness, but also suffers terrible trauma very deeply. And when we see Tawny as adult Taissa, she in many respects is the most together and competent, and yet there’s still so much mystery underneath all of that.” She then asked Brown and Cypress to talk a little about how they played Taissa with the idea in their heads of of “what’s possible in human behavior.”

Brown thinks that Taissa’s strength and weakness is the same: she’s very competent and smart, and she can see the world in a realistic way. It “offers solutions, but it doesn’t offer a lot of comfort, at least not on a deeper emotional level… I’m a nerd for the enneagram, so I did a lot of enneagram research and presented her with what I think Taissa’s enneagram number is, and everything that means, and we discussed that. It was a really good tool for me, and she is a very practical person.”

Cypress agreed that “practicality is her strong point. She’s definitely most comfortable at the helm. And as far as the genres go, she seems, like, to have her entire life together. Everything’s on the up and up, and then of course the mysteries start happening, and all of the sudden we’re in, you know, a completely different feeling for the show. And coming to that as an actor, you know, it’s — I don’t really have a reference to have started with, so it was really just acting mystery as drama for me. And that’s how I approached it, anyway.”

The last press person asked if it was difficult for the younger actresses to put their careers on hold (when they’d barely started) wait for the show for two years (between the pilot and filming the rest). Hanratty nodded, so he asked her what it was like during those two years, and what did she do in the meantime, and how did it feel?

Hanratty confessed that she’s an impatient person, so she was a bit on pins and needles, waiting to hear if they would film the rest of the series. Then, because of COVID, she moved home with her parents, so she wasn’t as focused on getting work as she normally is. She started getting more anxious later on.

MORE INFO:

ABOUT THE SHOW

Created and executive produced by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson (Narcos), the one-hour drama series, YELLOWJACKETS stars Melanie Lynskey (Castle Rock), Oscar® and Emmy® nominee Juliette Lewis (Camping), Emmy® nominee Christina Ricci (Z: The Beginning of Everything) and Tawny Cypress (Unforgettable).

Equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama, YELLOWJACKETS is the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over.

The series also stars Warren Kole (Shades of Blue), Ella Purnell (Sweetbitter), Samantha Hanratty (SHAMELESS), Sophie Thatcher (Prospect), Sophie Nélisse (The Book Thief), Steven Krueger (The Originals) and Jasmin Savoy Brown (The Leftovers). Jonathan Lisco (Animal Kingdom, Halt and Catch Fire) joins Lyle and Nickerson to serve as executive producer and showrunning partner.

Produced for SHOWTIME by studio Entertainment One (eOne), Karyn Kusama (Destroyer, Girlfight) executive produces and directed the pilot. Drew Comins of Creative Engine also serves as executive producer.

Christina Ricci (born February 12, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for playing unconventional characters with a dark edge. Ricci is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Satellite Award for Best Actress, as well as Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, Screen Actors Guild, and Independent Spirit Award nominations.

Ricci made her film debut at the age of nine in Mermaids (1990), which was followed by a breakout role as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel. Subsequent appearances in Casper and Now and Then (both 1995) brought her fame as a “teen icon”. At 17, she moved into adult-oriented roles with The Ice Storm (1997), which led to parts in films such as Buffalo ’66, Pecker and The Opposite of Sex (all 1998). She garnered acclaim for her performances in Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Monster (2003). Her other credits include Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Prozac Nation (2001), Pumpkin (2002), Anything Else (2003), Black Snake Moan (2006), Speed Racer (2008), and The Smurfs 2 (2013). Despite being known predominantly for her work in independent productions, Ricci has appeared in numerous box office hits – to date, her films have grossed in excess of US$1.4 billion.

On television, Ricci appeared as Liza Bump in the final season of Ally McBeal (2002), and received acclaim for her guest role on Grey’s Anatomy in 2006. She also starred as Maggie Ryan on the ABC series Pan Am (2011–12), and produced and starred in the series The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2015) and Z: The Beginning of Everything (2017). As well as voicing characters in several animated films, Ricci provided voices for the video games The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon and Speed Racer: The Videogame (both 2008). In 2010, she made her Broadway debut in Time Stands Still.

Ricci is the national spokesperson for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).

Samantha Lynne Hanratty (born September 20, 1995) is an American actress. Her first lead role took place in 2009, portraying Chrissa Maxwell in An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong. In 2011, she played the role Whitney Brown in the film The Greening of Whitney Brown. Hanratty is considered a Celebrity Friend for the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Tawny Cypress (born August 8, 1976) is an American actress. She has appeared in various television and stage plays. She starred as Cherie Rollins-Murray on the television series Unforgettable, on the second and third seasons. She previously had recurring roles on several TV series, including Fox‘s drama K-Ville as Ginger “Love Tap” LeBeau, Simone Deveaux on the TV series Heroes, and Carly Heath on House of Cards.

Her mother is of Hungarian and German extraction and her father is Accawmacke American. Tawny Cypress was born and raised in Point Pleasant, New Jersey and now lives in New York City.

Jasmin Savoy Brown (born March 21, 1994) is an American actress best known for her role as Evangeline “Evie” Murphy on HBO‘s The Leftovers. She also provided the voice and motion capture for Phin Mason / Tinkerer in Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

Ella Summer Purnell (born 17 September 1996) is an English actress best known for her roles in the films Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016), Churchill (2017), and Army of the Dead (2021).

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Girls in "Yellowjackets" on Showtime

Interview with Cast/Crew of “Blade Runner: Black Lotus”

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TV Interview!

Elle of "Bladerunner: Black Lotus" on Adult Swim

Interview with actress Jessica Henwick, producers and directors of “Bladerunner: Black Lotus” on Adult Swim by Suzanne 9/21/21

This is a great animated series that premieres November 13 on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network). I don’t watch much anime, but I loved the “Bladerunner” movies, and this is as good as the original movie (if not better). The way the people move is very realistic – not at all like a regular animated show.  The two directors, who are Japanese, were translated by the producers in this TCA panel.

Blade Runner: Black Lotus

Jason DeMarco (SVP, Anime/Action WarnerMedia), Shinji Aramaki (Co-Director), Kenji Kamiyama (Co-Director), Joseph Chou (Producer), Andrew Kosove (Producer)and Jessica Henwick (Voice of Elle)

2021 Virtual Tour Los Angeles, CA September 21, 2021

© 2021 Adult Swim.  All rights reserved.

Actress Jessica Henwick told us that she didn’t know much about her character when she started. She preferred to learn about her as they recorded her lines. They made them in chronological order. She also praised the lighting and cinematography as “stunning.” Later, she spoke about how well the show fits into the “Bladerunner” universe because it asks the same fundamental questions about what it is to be human or alive, and what separates humans from replicants as well as humans from animals. She approached playing Elle like you would play a child, since she is child-like when she first awakens.  She said that she “has to figure out her limits and what she thinks is okay and what her moral compass is in the same way that we all have to as we’re all growing up.”

The show is set in 2032, between the two films, Andrew Kosove of Alcon told us. They own the rights to the whole franchise, so it was very important to them to keep the series in tune with the source material and to make fans happy. He mentioned that there are many Easter eggs for fans in the series. Joseph Chou, translating from the directors, asserted that they based the show’s visual style in part on the movies while also making it look distinctly for that time period and because it’s anime. Kosove praised the four filmmakers involved with the movies and this series, saying that we have “the vision of different filmmakers because you have the ability both to honor what’s been done before, but to bring something new and to build on what has occurred previously and be fresh and original.”

They told us that the animation was full CG and they used motion capture. Because they were using actors who spoke English, they did the motion capture first and then did the recordings later (because of the pandemic).

Kosove hinted that there may be some interactive elements to the series later on (perhaps a video game based on it) and that there will be some announcements coming up about that. They were asked whether video games were their biggest competition, but he said that they couldn’t possibly compete with videogames. They just focus on doing this great series. Jason DeMarco answered that all of them (meaning TV networks) are competing with videogames and streaming networks as well as everything else because we all only have so many hours in the day for entertainment. He thinks that their show is good enough that people should stop playing videogames and spend their half an hour per week to watch it. He would also love a “Bladerunner: Black Lotus” videogame because he’s a fan and nerd himself, but he thinks the show lives up to the quality of the movies.

Chou spoke about the animation. They did it to look partly realistic and partly animated. They used CG rather than 2D because they thought the lighting would look better. The lighting and atmosphere are created to give it that “Bladerunner” look. It took them a while to get it exactly the way they wanted.

Don’t miss this series, especially if you’re a fan of scifi or animation. The story is really good, and the rest is phenomenal.

MORE INFO:

Based on the Blade Runner franchise, comes the highly anticipated new anime series Blade Runner: Black Lotus.  The newest edition of the franchise follows a young woman who wakes up in Los Angeles, the year is 2032, she has no memories and possessing deadly skills. The only clues to her mystery are a locked data device and a tattoo of a black lotus. Putting together the pieces, she must hunt down the people responsible for her brutal and bloody past to find the truth of her lost identity.  Join directors Shinji Aramaki and Kenji Kamiyama, Jason DeMarco (senior vice president, anime and action series/longform at Warner Bros. Animation/Adult Swim) alongside voice starts Jessica Henwick* (voice of Elle), Samira Wiley* (voice of Alani Davis) and Wes Bentley* (voice of Niander Wallace Jr.) as they discuss bringing the series to life and explore the Blade Runner universe.  Set to premiere later this year on Adult Swim and Crunchyroll, the series is produced by Alcon Entertainment and animation studio Sola Digital Arts.

Trailer

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Poster for "Bladerunner: Black Lotus" on Adult Swim

Interview with the cast of “Yellowjackets” Part 1

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TV Interview!

actresses Melanie Lynskey, Sophie Nélisse, Juliette Lewis, and Sophie Thatcher, and producers Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Jonathan Lisco and Karyn Kusama of "Yellowjackets" on Showtime

Interview with actresses Melanie Lynskey, Sophie Nélisse, Juliette Lewis, and Sophie Thatcher, and producers Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Jonathan Lisco and Karyn Kusama of “Yellowjackets” on Showtime by Suzanne 8/25/21

This was part of Showtime’s TCA Virtual Press Tour for this show. There were two panels, and this is the first. It’s a really good show that jumps back and forth between the past (when the girls were teenagers) and the present (when they’re all older). They’re part of a soccer team that is flying to the finals when their plane goes down in the Canadian wilderness. They have to do terrible things to survive.

I also enjoyed these panels because the person who ran them was a really nice guy, and he ran them very efficiently. The show premieres Sunday, November 14. Don’t miss it!

SHOWTIME SUMMER 2021 TCA VIRTUAL PRESS TOUR
Virtual via Zoom August 25, 2021
© 2021 Showtime Networks Inc. All rights reserved.

YELLOWJACKETS
Part 1:
Melanie Lynskey (she/her), “Shauna Sadecki”
Sophie Nélisse (she/her), “Teen Shauna Sadecki”
Juliette Lewis (she/her), “Natalie Scatorccio”
Sophie Thatcher (she/her), “Teen Natalie Scatorccio”
Ashley Lyle (she/her), Creator/Executive Producer/Showrunner
Bart Nickerson (he/him), Creator/Executive Producer/Showrunner
Jonathan Lisco (he/him), Executive Producer/Showrunner
Karyn Kusama (she/her), Executive Producer/Director

The Upcoming drama “Yellowjackets” premieres on Sunday, November 14th.

Here was my question: “Good morning everyone. My question is for EP Bart Nickerson. There have been quite a few “Lord of the Flies” type shows with teens, like “100” and “Society,” etc. Can you tell us what you think makes your show different – besides the fact that it’s a female soccer team and that we see them later, in their 40s?”

Nickerson replied that he hadn’t really seen those other shows, so he couldn’t speak to the comparison. He feels that the two elements I brought up (being a female soccer team and seeing them later on) were important parts of the premise that give them “a lot of different places to go.” He felt that other shows probably wouldn’t be that similar without those elements. These elements are able to give us insights into the characters’ psyches in ways we wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.

I thanked him and then told him how much I enjoyed the episodes I saw (there were two, I believe).

The rest of the questions were from other journalists in the panel. Melanie Lynskey was asked what she thought when she first read the script, whether she wanted to do it – what her first impression was (particularly since she has to do a lot of really strange things, particularly “where small animals are concerned.” She replied that she was “so excited to read something that was so different” and with a real edge to it. She said the writing was “tense” and also centered on women, each of which was interesting and well written. “By the end of the pilot, I felt like I knew everybody, and they were all unique individuals.” She jumped at the chance to sign up, even though she normally doesn’t like to sign long-term contracts for shows. She didn’t have her usual doubts about the show.

That journalist then asked Sophie Nélisse and Sophie Thatcher (“The Sophies”) what they thought of the “pretty harrowing plane crash sequence” and compared it to various movie plane crashes. Nélisse said that the plane set was “very claustrophobic” and somewhat “tilted to the side” which helped with the realism of their situation. When they saw it in person the first day, it helped them feel scared and get into their characters more. Thatcher added that she felt, “it was a really immersive experience.” They didn’t have to act very much. Also, it was their first day since they’d shot the pilot (two years before, because of the pandemic), so they went right into shooting and all felt “this adrenalin rush” that they all had. It added to the intensity of the situation.

Lynskey was asked to compare her role in “Heavenly Creatures” to her role here (since it was a similar role in the 90’s). She also asked if Nélisse was aware of Lynskey’s past roles in the 90’s and whether she used any of her earlier performances for playing her as a younger person.

Lynskey noted that “probably wasn’t alive” when she started in the business. She didn’t think of that role specifically, but she did think about her own life and relationships with women. She said that her feelings for the women she made friends with on this show made her want to cry. She said, they “are the most precious thing to me.” She really loved how the story “got to the heart of female relationships,” since her own female friends were so important to her growing up. It was a more complex writing of girl friends than most scripts have.

Nélisse agreed that she was born in 2000 and added that she hadn’t watched Lynskey’s work before she got the part. Once she did get cast, she watched some of her work online. She knew she wouldn’t be able to match the high pitch of her voice, and she didn’t think they looked that similar. However, she’s “very honored to be able to play her younger self.” She added that this character of Lynskey’s is so different from any others that she just focused on having chats with her over coffee and discussing the character, so they would make sure they were in the same place about her and what happens to her in the show.

The next question was for the executive producers. The reporter asked about the casting of the actresses, since they had to match up so well (even taking hair, makeup and costuming into account).

Ashley Lyle revealed that, “It was a long and tortured process.” However, they were lucky to be able to cast some of their actresses, such as Lynskey, fairyl early on. She added, “Which was an absolute dream come true.” They mostly focused on getting the most talented people for the roles instead of making sure they all looked alike. Then they matched up photos of the people they wanted to try to see if it would work. She credits the actors with being talented, understanding the story and filling the shoes of their characters. She finished with, “it’s really about the spirit of the character more than anything else, in my mind.” She answered that question so well that no one else had to say a thing.

Lynskey was asked what it was about the character that really made her want to do the show. Lynskey hesitated, thinking of what to say, so Juliette Lewis jumped in. I guess she felt left out because no one had asked her a question yet! That was kind of funny. She said that the script was one of the best she’d read in over 10 years. She praised it a lot, saying it was “riveting,” just reading it, which is very unusual. She also said, “I’m always interested in dichotomies or contrasts and all these multi—layered problems within a human being. And I just loved the way my character is bourgeois on the surface, or, you know, faking her way through life. And then with this, like single—purposed mission to go home and find out a few things.” She admitted that when you say yes to a role, you’re always hoping that it will turn out as well as you think it will. She liked hearing the way the whole season will play out. Also, she’s a big fan of Lynskey’s, mostly because of her earlier work in “Heavenly Creatures.” She said the role was a dream because of the story being so exciting and how much potential it has for future stories.

Nélisse agreed with Lewis. She stated, “The arc of the characters is so interesting. I think what I really loved about it is that for our storyline, we’re just — the younger kids are kind of put in a situation where you get to know yourself on, like, a deeper level. And I think we’ve all imagined what it would be like to be facing a life and death situation. And it brings out the worst in us, but also the best in us.” She found that conflict to be the most interesting. You think you know how you might act in that type of situation, but you don’t really know until you’re faced with it. We get to see “how far these women will go, and how they have to rely on each other but are also kind of against each other.” She loves her character and how introverted she is. She watches the action that’s going on, but as the show progresses, “inside of her a slow burn, that will develop as the show goes on, and you can see how she’ll start to, like, speak for herself and have a voice and find her voice.” The character’s arc is what interests her.

Thatcher spoke up to say that she admires her character’s “grit and her resilience, and how from the very beginning she just remains true to herself, and her lack of filter.” She admitted that in real life, she’s been trying to “incorporate a lot of those qualities into who I am. And it’s cool, because I get to live — like half of my time is living that on camera, and just to, like — it’s empowering. And I think that says a lot about the script and how rich and complex Natalie is. Yeah, there’s a very — she’s incredibly layered. She has this sensitivity that’s not really brought out until a couple episodes in. And I don’t think anybody was expecting that side. She has this — so much lightness in her that she’s really hiding and masking. Because — I don’t know. She’s a teenager. But she’s really, really complex. And she’s made a profound impact on me, which is rare.”

The next press person asked Juliette, who started acting in some pretty tough roles when she was very young, what did she think of it then, and did she have any advice for these younger actresses now who are doing this “really serious series.”

Lewis answered that she really took a shine to her “Sophie,” Sophie Thatcher, whom she admired for being an incredible young actor. She loves that their speaking voices are similar (deep). She pointed out that, “I’ve always been attracted to what I call the “primal energies” and “high stakes” genre or dramas, which is what I cut my teeth on early on. That’s so fun…I always had this empathy as a kid for hardship in others. And when I would look at people and imagine their worlds, I just had a sensitivity, oddly, to pain. And emotionality. I don’t know why, but I had it in myself.” She spoke more about this ability to transfer others’ pain to herself for her character, using her imagination. She thinks children already have the ability to play “make believe” when they’re young, and they can develop that into “theatrics” as they get older, for acting.

The next man wanted to know about what the actors who each play the adult and teen versions of the character talk about, when they get together to discuss the characters, and whether they include “the cadence of their voice” or other things.

Lynskey let us know that the characters had certain secrets that they didn’t know at first, so they had to find them out from the producers, which is usually the case with TV series. They had to piece the parts of her together, based on what they were told. They also had a long discussion about “Shauna’s kind of innate self—confidence and belief in herself, and the fact that she’s like quite a sexual being who is quite secure in her sexuality.” She enjoyed the fact that they were “subverting the expectation of” Jackie being “the beautiful, popular one, while Shauna held her own and knew who she was. The two actresses came at it from the same place and built the character together.

Nélisse agreed that Lynskey had it dead on. She did admit that it was difficult because the adults and teens don’t shoot at the same time, so they didn’t always have time to speak about it. She didn’t always know what Lynskey was doing. However, they kept Shauna’s “personality and her spirit and her journey in mind” while adding in some personal details from her own life because she relates to the character very well.

Lewis credited the “magic of casting” because she and Thatcher “felt a kinship.” Their character, Natalie, is “expressed in her exterior, in her clothes and her music.” Lewis spoke to EP Ashley Lyle quite a bit about Natalie’s attributes. She’s an artist who didn’t really express herself. She is “a natural athlete.” Most importantly to her is that she and Thatcher shared music from that era that the younger version of her character would like.

Thatcher agreed that the music was important to Natalie, so it was important to her as well. She recalls speaking with Lewis on the phone about how Natalie dresses is important to her. She brought up specific things that she hadn’t thought of. It really opened up her mind to the possibilities. She and Lewis both can really relate to the character, so she agreed that they did have a “kinship.” They discussed people Natalie would admire, such as (German singer) Nina Hagen. They both had a very clear image of what she would be like, and what she strived for. They were very lucky to be on the same path about the character.

The penultimate journalist asked how Lynskey and Lewis felt about the two younger actresses acting like them (whether they were successful or not). Lynskey answered that she felt like she really “won the lottery” after watching Nélisse play the character in the pilot. She praised her for having “so much emotional intelligence and depth.” She said that the younger actress was just natural at playing the character and that it really wasn’t like an imitation of her. There were a few things she noticed that they did in a similar way, such as “looking out from under their eyebrows.” Also, they both gave her a certain type of “physicality.” Mostly, she was just very grateful.

Lewis said that she felt the same way that Lynskey did, that she really lucked out. She wants to claim her, but says that Thatcher is really her own person. She said, “The casting was phenomenal. And Sophie’s phenomenal, because she’s Natalie. She’s our Natalie who’s all in the teenage land.” She talked about how teenage girls are before they evolve into womenhood and put on certain faces for life. She really praised her voice placement once again. Thatcher told her that she watched her to find that low pitch. Some of her expressions were also similar.

Lynskey was asked what the best and worst parts of her job are, since she’s been acting since she was really young.

Lynskey put it very well when she replied, “I think any of us would probably say the best part of the job is the moments between action and cut.” She went on to explain how she feels when acting, “something transcendent happens where you leave your body a little bit and you don’t know what’s going on, and something magical happens between you and another actor.” She also added that it’s “beautiful” seeing the talented young actors on a project like this one, who have so much enthusiasm and are so good at what they do, and they have strong voices. The worst part, she admitted, is “having to get up early. Even though I have a two year old now and I have to get up early every single day, it’s just still — just not how I’m made.”

MORE INFO:

ABOUT THE SHOW

Created and executive produced by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson (Narcos), the one-hour drama series, YELLOWJACKETS stars Melanie Lynskey (Castle Rock), Oscar® and Emmy® nominee Juliette Lewis (Camping), Emmy® nominee Christina Ricci (Z: The Beginning of Everything) and Tawny Cypress (Unforgettable).

Equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama, YELLOWJACKETS is the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over.

The series also stars Warren Kole (Shades of Blue), Ella Purnell (Sweetbitter), Samantha Hanratty (SHAMELESS), Sophie Thatcher (Prospect), Sophie Nélisse (The Book Thief), Steven Krueger (The Originals) and Jasmin Savoy Brown (The Leftovers). Jonathan Lisco (Animal Kingdom, Halt and Catch Fire) joins Lyle and Nickerson to serve as executive producer and showrunning partner.

Produced for SHOWTIME by studio Entertainment One (eOne), Karyn Kusama (Destroyer, Girlfight) executive produces and directed the pilot. Drew Comins of Creative Engine also serves as executive producer.

Melanie Jayne Lynskey (born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress. She is known for playing quirky, soft-spoken but headstrong characters, and works predominantly in independent films. Her accolades include a New Zealand Film Award, a Hollywood Film Award and a Sundance Special Jury Award, as well as Critics’ Choice Award, Gotham Award, and Golden Nymph Award nominations.

Sophie Nélisse (born March 27, 2000) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her Genie Award–winning performance in Monsieur Lazhar, as Liesel Meminger in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, and as Caroline in The Kid Detective.

Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark themes.[2] Lewis became an “it girl” of American cinema in the early 1990s, appearing in various independent and arthouse films. Her accolades include a Pasinetti Award, one Academy Award nomination, one Golden Globe nomination, and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

The daughter of character actor Geoffrey Lewis, Lewis began her career in television at age 14 before being cast in her first major film role as Audrey Griswold in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989). She went on to garner international notice for her role in Martin Scorsese’s remake of Cape Fear (1991), which saw Lewis nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as the Golden Globe in the same category.

Sophie Bathsheba Thatcher (born 2000)[1] is an American actress who made her feature-film debut in the 2018 American science fiction feature length film Prospect. Thatcher’s work on stage includes productions of Oliver, Seussical, The Diary of Anne Frank, and The Secret Garden.

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The cast of "Yellowjackets" on Showtime

Dexter Articles

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Interviews and Reviews!

 

Clancy Brown as Kurt Caldwell on "Dexter: New Blood" on Showtime

“Dexter: Original Sin” Review 12/16/24

Dexter: New Blood Vs. Resident Alien: a shocking comparison 1/6/22

Interview with actor Michael C. Hall, showrunner Clyde Phillips and more! 8/24/21

“Dexter: The Complete Series” DVD Review, 10/10/15

“Dexter: The Complete Final Season” DVD Review, 11/10/13

 

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Dexter in the snow in "Dexter: New Blood" on Showtime

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Interview with Michael C. Hall

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Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Julia Jones, Clyde Phillips, Scott Reynolds and Marcos Siega. of "Dexter: New Blood" on Showtime

Interview with Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Julia Jones, Clyde Phillips, Scott Reynolds and Marcos Siega of “Dexter: New Blood” on Showtime by Suzanne 8/24/21

This was a great panel for the TCA, and I was so happy to be able to ask questions for this show that I love. I’m very grateful that they’re bringing it back for at least one more season because it’s one of my favorite shows.

SHOWTIME SUMMER 2021 TCA VIRTUAL PRESS TOUR
DEXTER: NEW BLOOD
Michael C. Hall (he/him), Executive Producer/ “Dexter”
Clyde Phillips (he/him), Showrunner/Executive Producer
Scott Reynolds (he/him), Executive Producer
Marcos Siega (he/him), Director/Executive Producer
Julia Jones (she/her), “Angela”
Jennifer Carpenter (she/her), “Deb”
Virtual via Zoom August 24, 2021

Eight years after he left our air, Michael C. Hall is back as Dexter Morgan and reuniting with original showrunner Clyde Phillips and an incredible ensemble in a 10—episode special event series “Dexter: New Blood.”

Please note that there are spoilers here for the show!

There were many journalists in this panel, but I was very glad that, at least, I was able to ask a couple of questions. I asked the show’s creator and showrunner, Clyde Phillips about why they didn’t bring back most of the cast from the original show. He answered that several are returning. At this point, I did know that Jennifer Carpenter was returning as Deb. I knew that James Remar (Harry) was not, so I was hoping he would mention him, but he didn’t. He complained that it was difficult to keep spoilers from coming out nowadays. He said that John Lithgow, who recently won an Emmy, mentioned that it was great to work again with him, Hall and Carpenter, which let the cat out of the bag that both he and Carpenter would be on the new series (which they hadn’t planned to announce). He also said that there may be more surprises like that as well.

Their decisions about whom to have return was based on these questions: “What’s the best for the story? What’s the best for Dexter’s character? What’s the best for the whole season?” And in answering those questions, that decided who was coming back.

I asked Michael C. Hall (Dexter) a rather silly question about whether it was cold when he was filming – because his character complains a bit about being cold (since he’s from Miami in the original series, but now he’s up in the northeast). I wanted to know if he was cold in real life as well. He said that at least in one instance, where Dexter said he was cold, it was about 80 degrees. Otherwise, it did get pretty cold at some points. He didn’t want to complain too much about the cold, but there were a few times when it was “about 2 degrees.” However, he pointed out, “I mean, I relished it. I kind of loved it. It was —  I liked, actually, being cold, as opposed to acting like it was cold when it was 80 degrees. It was a lot easier to just be cold.”

The next question asked whether we see in the show where Dexter has been the past decade.  Hall answered that we meet him in the town of Iron Lake, where he’s been able to carve out somewhat of a normal life for himself.  Hall thinks he was “nomadic” before that and “he’s been probably skirting along the edge of the western to northern border of the country.”

Dexter and Harrison in "Dexter: New Blood" on ShowtimeThe next question asked why they brought back Harrison and if that has anything to do with the subtitle “New Blood.” Phillips replied that the theme of the show is “fathers and sons.” He acknowledge that Harrison thought Dexter was dead, so now he has a lot of resentment when he’s found out that he’s alive.  “And Dexter has a lot of work to do to win his son back and prove that he’s a good father. And we think we get there.”

Scott Reynolds added that the other theme of the season is “the sins of the fathers” and how they’re passed on to the children. This gave them a lot to explore.

Phillips admitted that the subtitle “New Blood” was chosen by the network, but it does allude to the fact that it’s a new “Dexter,” not the 9th season, and there is blood.

The next journalist asked about the previous finale, where Dexter was last seen as a lumberjack. Now we see him with an outdoor lifestyle, in a small town, “making friends with Bambi.” He/she wondered if the finale made them commit to this change in lifestyle for Dexter.

Hall disagrees with the assumption that the place he’s in is very similar to where he was left at the end of the series. They considered where to have him be when the show begins. He points out that Iron Lake is very different because it has a lot of trees.  “But he’s in, geographically, quite a different place, and certainly has come a long way, just in terms of the time that’s passed. But locating himself … within a context that is pretty much empathetical to everything that defined it from the Miami standpoint was something that felt right.”

Phillips put in his two cents that having Dexter in a small town means he has a lot fewer people around to tempt him to go back to killing.  Although people will die, he is a “new Dexter … struggling with the urge, struggling with his dark passenger, struggling with the fact that he was born in blood, and finally gives in to that struggle.” The whole reason he’s in a small town is so that every person he passes in town could be a potential victim. “‘He’s really got to do the work to find who deserves for him to take a stab at it, as we would say.”

Jennifer Carpenter (Deb) was asked a question about how she approaches the character she’s playing now in the new series (which is not really Deb, but Dexter’s conscience), which doesn’t seem to curse as much as the original Deb did, and how does she compare how she played her, then and now.

Carpenter described herself as “a link or an echo or an inconvenient truth for Dexter.”  She liked playing this new version, where she gets to return do all these things to Dexter, to “haunt… punish… caretake… provoke and love Dexter.”  When acting, she concentrated on where the character of Dexter was emotionally. Phillips added that Deb does swear more as the episodes continue.  Carpenter agreed, advising us to “be patient.”

Hall was asked if he agreed with some Showtime executives that had hinted that they “hadn’t done Dexter justice with the ending” and whether they felt the need to come back and revisit it.

Hall answered that he thinks that the ending of the original show has much to do with why they’re bringing back the character and the show. Viewers were shocked and confused by the earlier ending, so that’s why they will want to see the more satisfying show they’re doing now. He regrets that people didn’t get closure and that they didn’t hear from Dexter because he didn’t say anything in the end. There was no voice-over, like in most of the series. He felt like audiences were left with “a sense of suspended animation.” He feels they were motivated to answer what really happened to Dexter in a definitive way.

Hall was asked what the stag in the first episode meant to him because he/she loved all of the imagery, which seemed to speak to the point that the audience wants to see the good in Dexter and that he does killing “for the right reasons, which of course is ridiculous.” He/she felt that the scene was a strong “tipping point.”

Hall was happy to hear that he/she responded to the stag scenes. Dexter’s ritual of tracking and not killing it “represents some aspiration to goodness, to purity, one that he wants to cultivate and wants to come closer and closer to, and wants to figuratively and literally touch, if he’s able. It’s also a way to push himself to physical exhaustion and to maybe exercise the muscle of restraint and cultivate his restraint. That’s his new sense of power, at least when we meet him.” He added that it helped him manage his Dark Passenger impulses, like therapy. He compared it to taking methadone as a substitute for heroin. Also, he aspires to purity, such as the relationship he had with Deb, and that’s part of his abstinence.  He’s doing penance for his past when we see him in the new series.

Julia Jones (Angela) said she believes that the buck is a symbol of Dexter’s humanity. She thinks that he has more humanity than he did in the original series (which she’s just been watching and hadn’t before).

Phillips agreed that Dexter is trying to cultivate and protect his connection with Julia and the other people in the town as well as with nature and the natural world. He added, “And the connection between Dexter and the white buck is primal, and there’s a lot about Dexter that is primal.”

Carpenter also spoke up to say that what happens with the buck is a reminder “that everything beautiful that Dexter touches, it always ended up disfigured or deformed, in spite of himself.”

Phillips was asked about any “unfinished business” he felt there was with the show over the years and that with the phrase “coming back,” were they able to deal with the new ideas he might have come up with. Phillips described the situation for us, that he and Hall had conversations over the years about bringing the show back, but Hall was always busy with other things. The timing wasn’t right. He said, “And it had to be — it had to be right for Michael, Michael’s psyche, Mike’s character, Michael as an actor, as a man.” Then they finally found a way to make everything work. As of this interview, they’re editing the show, which he thinks is “spectacular.”

Hall was asked whether he though, over the years, about what Dexter could do now – things that hadn’t been done in the earlier series. Hall agreed that there were many things that floated through his brain. He agreed that there was “unfinished business” and “I think from the day the show ended until we started, and perhaps even finished principal photography on this revisitation, it’s been percolating. It’s been something that’s been a conscious, maybe sometimes unconscious preoccupation.”

Jones was asked about her character, Angela, who’s “the first Native American sheriff in town.” He/she hopes that she’s the one that ends up capturing Dexter. He/she asked her to talk about representation and diversity in the show, and hoping that she’s “more than just Dexter’s girlfriend.”  Jones agree that she is. She has a teen-aged daughter, “she’s the chief of police in a small town in upstate New York. She has a lot going on. She’s a very multi—faceted character. She’s passionate; she’s compassionate; she’s strong—willed; she’s flawed. And I think that’s probably my favorite part about her, is just playing with all of those layers and with the flaws, and with what she does with the flaws. And of course, yes, you know, the representation is huge. It’s something that was really important to me when I first started reading the scripts, and it was something we’ve talked a lot about. And there are a number of really wonderful Native actors who are also in it. And this is just a very exciting time for the Native community in the film industry. There are a lot of Native creators and filmmakers who are making things, and they’re getting made and they’re getting seen. And I think that the representation on this show is a part of that movement, and that feels really good.”

A great question was asked about whether there might be a spinoff of “Dexter: New Blood” (if this one does well), with Harrison following in Dexter’s footsteps. Phillip replied that they’re not really thinking about the future yet, and that it would be the decision of the network.

They were asked about how they balanced continuing the story from the original show with making it so that new viewers would be able to watch and enjoy it.  Phillips pointed out that they do tell us that ten years have passed. They didn’t want to just tell us to forget the ending of the original show. They wanted to give the audience credit for being smart enough to understand the direction of the new show. They tell us where he lives and that he has no real connection to his past in Miami. From the first moment of the first episode, you can see where Dexter is and that he’s no longer in Miami or any other place, and that he’s no longer a lumberjack.

Phillips continued, “This is a completely, wholly new environment. And part of that, besides all the story—telling and all, is the design that Marcos put on the show. He made this look like a feature. I don’t want to go too deep into the weeds about it, but the aspect ratio, this is much more like a movie the whole time, so that the audience is automatically sitting forward. They can’t relax and say, ‘Ah, this is a nice, warm cozy pillow.’ Instead, “This is something new. I’ve got to pay attention.'”

I do have to disagree with what he says here a little bit because I don’t think most people can tell the difference between where he was at the end (in Oregon) and where he is now (in upstate New York). They both look cold and dreary, and they both have lots of trees).

The next question was a little bit wordy, so I had trouble figuring out what he/she was asking. I gather he/she was asking whether this is the “definitive ending” of Dexter or not, and whether Phillips would have done the original one differently. He also asked Hall whether he would play Dexter again after this season.

Phillips demurred, saying they can’t talk about the ending of the show. He said that “what we are happy to talk about is the process, how this came to be, what we did. We just got done shooting for 119 days in a row, which I think is — we shot it in Massachusetts, to be New York. And we did it in a time of COVID. And it was an extraordinary undertaking. It was the hardest I think any of us have ever worked, or that all of us has ever worked. And we’re really proud of what we set out to do, and we’re really proud of the fact that we accomplished what we set out to do. So,  I’m avoiding the second half of your question on purpose.”  He did say that just because he might have ended “Dexter” differently (season 8), that doesn’t mean it would have ended in that way. It’s really up to the network and their responsibility about how the show ended and whether Dexter would die or not. He’s grateful that they decided not to kill him (and implied that he would have).

Hall replied that he couldn’t answer the question about whether he would return as Dexter or not because it might imply too much about the ending of the show (too many spoilers, in other words).  He does hope that people who watch the show will have “a satisfying experience for people who watched it originally and are curious about what happened to him. I hope it does — certainly, I hope it does provide some definitive answers that aren’t primarily just mystifying to people.”

The next reporter points out that because of all the true crime shows and podcasts, people may be a little bit more desensitized to murder (than they were when “Dexter” first aired). He/she wondered if that affected their thinking about this season and the character and whether we’d ever hear Dexter in a murder podcast.

Jamie Chung as Molly in "Dexter: New Blood" on ShowtimePhillips pointed out that Jamie Chung plays a “true—crime murder podcaster who is “introduced in the third episode”” and plays a major role with Julia’s character (Angela) … working her way through all of these crimes that have been committed. So, we are paying attention to it.” He and Hall have discussed this very thing, that the audience has changed, and that there are many young people that will watch now (that were too young to watch before). He also mentioned that the way they deal with murder in European TV as well here has changed. “And we — the audience has changed. And we want to acknowledge all of that in what we’re doing.”

Reynolds added that they changed the previous “Dexter” format. Before, they had 8-10 villains per season that Dexter stalks, hunts, wraps in plastic and kills.  This season, things are more personal because it’s about Harrison and “family life. It’s about, you know, a father who is a serial killer, and the effect that has on everybody around him.”

The next journalist asked Hall and Carpenters about getting back into the character, whether it was difficult or more natural, and whether they went back to watch the original series, in order to prepare for this one.

Hall replied that he didn’t go back and watch. He felt that the idea of returning as Dexter “was somewhat daunting, the idea that this person who you said goodbye to had been in some parallel realm been living a life for all these years, and they were going to turn the camera back on, and you needed to embody him once they did. It was a little daunting and scary, and I didn’t know how it would feel. But, you know, as Clyde said, we shot like 119 days, 52 locations. I mean, once we started, we were off and running, and there really wasn’t that much time to check in and sort of assess how it felt, because there was so much to be done. But he was still there, you know. I spent a great deal of time with and as him and felt there were things that are maybe sort of idiosyncratic to the way he behaves, the way he talks, the way he moves. Obviously, he looks a lot like me, but he is a fictional character. But that would manifest themselves or would happen seemingly spontaneously. And it was kind of eerie to have that experience. Like ‘Oh, there he is. I guess I’ll just get out of way and let him be.’ So yeah, it was scary, but once we started, he was there to be found.”

Carpenter considered the question, saying “My heart is actually racing considering that question. And it was sort of unclear to me exactly what was being asked of me from the start. And I didn’t really feel like I wanted to go back and sort of take score. I didn’t feel I was — I sort of feel that that had a different ending than the show had. So, I decided my work was to go to the bottom of the ocean and collect her and see if she wanted to be a witness to watching an unmedicated, decoded, unpunished, unchecked serial killer experience himself. And I wanted to say, ‘Yes,’ because I think Mike is one of the greatest actors I’ve ever worked with, and he — I wanted to massage Deb’s scar tissue. I wanted to — I would show up any day of the week to sort of relieve her pain. In my sense, most of them — of course, they’re all exclusively with him. And I didn’t realize what a help he would be in that repair for her. It was cosmically profound going back.”

Another person asked about Deb representing the dark passenger – what this means for Harry, and how is she different.

Dexter and Deb in "Dexter: New Blood" on ShowtimeCarpenter answered, ” I sort of, of course, love the concept of the dark passenger. And I feel like, you know, being uninvited inside Dexter’s psyche, I feel like sometimes the dark passenger is the passenger directly behind the wheel, and it was an opportunity not to be an angel or a devil on his shoulder, but to jerk the wheel to the right and the left against Dexter’s will. And to manipulate him, to navigate him, to abuse him, to save him. I feel like it was — it was something entirely different than some sort of ghost entity.”

Hall agreed that Harry was more like his guiding light, with a consistent P.O.V., but Deb, “in the context of this world, was coming from everywhere. And I think, you know, in as much as she’s an internalized character for Dexter, I think it represents just how far he’s come or how far he’s fallen, or how much he is, relatively speaking, to the time when we first meet, him internally reeling and without a compass, in as much as he’d like to have one.” He was excited to have Carpenter playing because he knew she would be able to “shape shift and come at me and at Dexter from so many different places, turning on a dime. And of course, she did. And it was really fun to crack open our sense of his internal landscape. Because it’s much more in a way like pyrotechnic and crazy than it used to be, I think.”

Phillips and Reynolds were asked if Deb was just replacing Harry. Phillips points out that what Harry did to Dexter, as Deb says in the show, “could well be considered child abuse. To take your son who you rescued, their being born in blood and who is out killing dogs in the neighborhood, and then channeling him to use his force for good and go out and kill bad people is not the healthiest psychiatric situation to be in.  And I think Deb represents more than the dark passenger. She represents a corner of Dexter’s mind that we all have in our own heads that says, ‘Well, wait a minute. If you do this, then here are the consequences.’ Then Dexter has to decide whether to do it or not. He points out some key moments from the first episode. ” If you noticed at the very beginning of the show when we first introduced Deb’s character, it’s very quiet. It’s very still. They’re talking about, ‘Well, you’re the one who chose this fucking place.’ And then they’re sitting at the table and Jen has her head down, and Dexter almost touches her, but he can’t, because she’s part of him.” Also, he mentioned that Hall had come up with the idea during the pilot’s development that “their relationship should feel lived in. We are touching Dexter in two weeks — the show takes place over about two weeks — in two weeks of his life. So, this relationship has gone on for years, and we just happen to be privileged enough to get a glimpse into it.”

Another reporter pointed out that Hall “made reference to Dexter being there to be found again” and that in the first episode, there are long scenes that give him a lot to do. He asked if they were helpful to him in finding his way in this new show. Hall replied that he liked how we first see him by himself, “not interacting with anyone other than this wild animal and this internalized manifestation of his dead sister. ”  It shows us “how isolated he is from the world” and tells us how we see him in that new world. He “really relished as an actor.”  He hopes that viewers watching that new series feel that and how Dexter tries to be in the world, but he’s not quite in it. He finished with “allowing the character and the pace of it to breathe a bit at the beginning was” something he enjoyed and was important for the story.

A new person asked what qualities they looked for when casting Harrison (Dexter’s son).

Phillips related that they wanted to first “believe that he could indeed be Dexter’s son.” He said that they shot the show out of order. They first shot the winter stuff in February (when Dexter was so alone). The end of the show, which takes place at a bus station, was “shot the third week in July. It was 80 degrees that night. And we all — we needed a young actor adept enough to be able to go with that the way an experienced actor like Michael could go with that. And Jack [Alcott], in his readings, we gave him those scenes to read as we were casting, and he just nailed it. There’s an enthusiasm about him, a cultist shift about him, and a great depth of character to his character. And he’s a great kid.”

The same reporter also asked about the new titles, since the original ones were “iconic.” How would they “”reflect its own unique identity, but also sort of live up to the original?” Good question!  We haven’t yet seen the new titles because when we watched the pilot, they hadn’t finished them yet. Phillips acknowledge that: “we haven’t really completely closed the deal with what the new titles are. But it will not resemble the cheekiness of what we had before, the jaunting of the irony of what we had before. Again, it’s all part of, this is a different show, while they were touched on, as Marco said, to the old show. But the viewer should expect that the title sequence, if there is even a sequence, but the titleage will be very different from what they’ve seen before.”

Next, Hall was asked what made him decide that it was the right time to come back to the series and character.

It was a funny moment in the panel because he/she prefaced the question with “if this isn’t too personal…” so he replied, “That’s too personal — I’m just kidding. No, I’m just kidding.”

He continued seriously that “it was a combination of things. I think enough time had passed that there were certain story—telling possibilities that hadn’t really been in play earlier on. So that was a part of it. And it also had to do with the fact that we were kind of getting the band back together. I mean, that Clyde was going to do the show, that Scott was going to do the show, that Marcos was going to be our sort of main director and sort of a producing director in terms of creating a visual language for the show, that Jennifer was available to come back. It was — there were many moving parts, all of which came together. But I think, like I said, a big part of it was that enough time had passed to — well, frankly, for Harrison to be of a certain age to be plausibly someone who has the wherewithal to track down his father.”

They were asked whether Deb will be funny again, like she was in the older series.  Phillip replied that she is.  He told us that “”In fact, there’s a great scene I just watched earlier on where Dexter is reminiscing with Harrison about ‘odd Deb’ and how outrageous she was. And they end up having a little back and forth, quoting some of her more outrageous statements. So yes, it’s part of the show. Humor is a big part of the show.”

Carpenter joked that she was “Funny looking, for sure. ” She felt that the last scene she thought was “pretty fun,” but she doesn’t think she should give it away.

Hall and Jennifer were asked if they ever thought, back in 2006, when “Dexter” first began, that the show “”really was on the cutting edge of what would become like a real premium TV revolution. And you guys were at the forefront of that. Do you take time occasionally to stop and smell the roses and look around” and think about other TV characters that have come about because of their show. Hall admits he wouldn’t have thought about 2021 way back then.  He’s “just incredibly grateful that I happened to catch some sort of momentum or catch some sort of waves acting—wise and jobwise that coincided with the ocean really churning in the way that it continued to. It was — I remember that first season, it felt like we were in on a secret. And I think we all felt like we — it would be a secret worth sharing. And I certainly had hopes that the show would develop some sort of niche cult following as far as the breadth and depth of the audience that we ultimately attracted. I had no expectation that that would have happened. But I’m glad it did.”

Carpenter joked that she was grateful her car broke down after the audition and not before.  She went on in a more serious vein to say that ” this role has been one of the great privileges of my life. Not only did I learn so much as an actress, but there was such a massive give and take between myself and Debra, and Debra — and, you know, one of the greatest pleasures I think was going to the Comic-Cons, where there would just be roomfuls of rabid fans. And it was sort like you would take your empty tank from having just shot a season and they would just fill it up with like the cleanest gasoline so that you could go and burn through another season.
And you knew there was someone out there watching it, and they needed it, like food. And for the longest time the people would want to take pictures or say, ‘Hi.’ I always thought like the weird girl in the cafeteria. I didn’t know how to handle it. But now, like when people say (inaudible) something, time for this. Especially after the pandemic. It’s just — I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

Phillips complimented her, saying that it was her talent that brought her there.

The next press person said that Dexter has many different parts – some vigilante, and some avenging angel. He wondered if his complex person crept into Hall’s own mind because of how long he played him and now coming back to him again, and whether it was difficult to turn that off, or if he has to do some sort of mental reboot.

Hall agreed that it probably does “require some sort of refresh.” He was happy that it was shot elsewhere and not in the area where he lives, so that he could go back to a more “familiar and different context” once filming was done.  He added, though, that he’s nothing like Dexter. He mused about playing him. “I think to spend this much time, this much intense time preoccupied with the imagined life and psychology of a character that’s otherwise just words on a page is definitely going to have some sort of — there’s got to be some line—blurring that happens.” He said that it’s somewhat like therapy because Dexter can “do away with certain things.” He’s thankfully that he doesn’t have a Dark Passenger, but there would certainly be things he would like to do away with in his own world, both inside and out. He’s happy to use the acting to do it in a ritual way.” On the other hand, though, he said, “ultimately, I’m just moving my mouth. I have no idea.”

The questioner was persistent, asking, “How do you shut it off, though? It’s such an intense –-” and Hall jokingly interrupted, “I don’t. There’s a person tied up right there. I’m not going to show you. But — no. No. I know. It’s intense.” He said that it’s what they [as actors] do, and he hopes he informs it, and vice versa. “just as I hope any sort of artistic endeavor of mine feeds me and gives me something back for what I give to it, you know. But it’s an energetic dynamic that’s I think beyond my ability to actually describe.”

In the final question, Phillips was asked about the location of the show. Miami was “sleek and pretty,” which made a kind of a contrast there” (with the killings) “Now we’re in kind of a city where we see more murder stories, you know, woodsy and dark and it feels it’s more like it. I read somewhere that serial killers are disproportionately in places like Oregon and stuff like that. That’s where they move to. He/she asked, “So, talk about what is it about this setting that’s kind of cool for this phase of Dexter’s life?”

Phillips suggested that Reynolds join him in answering, since he’s the “serial killer expert.” Phillips thinks that while their new venus is not “sleek and pretty” like Miami, it’s “absolutely, undeniably beautiful.” He reminded us that the version we saw is not the final one with all of the “final visual effects and everything. And once all of those go in before it airs on November 7th, you will join us in believing in that.” He asked Reynolds to “talk about the woodlands and the serial killer havens.”

Reynolds confided that they wanted to set the show in a small town (Iron Lake) because “just how beautiful blood on snow is. That sort of like red against the white, it excited us, you know. And so that’s why we — that’s one of the big reasons why we went to the sort of small-town sort of thing. And it is funny about how a lot of serial killers — you talk about that Oregon thing, that Oregon area. There’s the BTK and Three River Killer and all these different — at the end of Dexter, there was like, back in the day, I think the FBI said there was like 16 working serial killers in that area. I don’t know what drives them into that area, but I think like—minded things draw themselves to each other, which is a big part of this show. It’s a big conceit of the show, even. And that will be interesting to see in this beautiful, idyllic, small town of Iron Lake, to see how that works out.”

The reporter followed-up with another question to Marcos Siega. He asked whether he relied on the original show at all “for any of the visual template.”  Siega answered that, “There’s some touchstones that you’ll see in the episodes, but we really wanted to set it apart as its own movie, its own big special” show.  He started from the idea of “What would a Dexter movie and the people in it look like”? However, “we do hold on to some of the little details that I think audiences will be excited about in terms of the style and tone.”

Check out the rest of our Dexter pages!

MORE INFO:

Trailer

ABOUT THE SHOW

Starring Emmy nominee Michael C. Hall as America’s favorite serial killer. DEXTER: NEW BLOOD will premiere Sunday, November 7 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME. Joining Hall is returning original DEXTER star Jennifer Carpenter as Dexter’s sister Deb in a new iteration. Jack Alcott stars as Dexter’s teenage son Harrison, who mysteriously returns to Dexter’s life after 10 years apart. The cast also features Julia Jones (The Mandalorian), Alano Miller (Sylvie’s Love), Johnny Sequoyah (Believe) and Clancy Brown (The Crown, BILLIONS®). Reuniting Hall with original series showrunner Clyde Phillips, DEXTER: NEW BLOOD consists of 10 one-hour episodes.

Set 10 years after Dexter went missing in the eye of Hurricane Laura, DEXTER: NEW BLOOD finds him living under an assumed name in the fictional small town of Iron Lake, New York. Dexter may be embracing his new life, but in the wake of unexpected events in this close-knit community, his Dark Passenger inevitably beckons.

The eight-season run of the original DEXTER premiered in the fall of 2006 and starred Hall as Dexter Morgan, a complicated and conflicted blood-spatter expert for the Miami police department who moonlights as a serial killer. The show became one of the most acclaimed series on television, earning multiple Emmy® nominations for best television drama series as well as a prestigious Peabody Award in 2008, and was twice named one of AFI’s top 10 television series. The first three episodes of the original DEXTER are now available for free on YouTube, Showtime.com and Sho.com, as well as across multiple SHOWTIME partner platforms. All previous seasons of DEXTER are now available for subscribers on SHOWTIME.

Produced by SHOWTIME, DEXTER: NEW BLOOD is executive produced by Clyde Phillips, Michael C. Hall, Scott Reynolds, Marcos Siega, Bill Carraro, John Goldwyn and Sara Colleton.

Press Release:

DEXTER: NEW BLOOD TO PREMIERE ON SHOWTIME ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7 AT 9 PM ET/PT

Photo: Kurt Iswarienko/SHOWTIME

Starring Emmy® Nominee Michael C. Hall, the Special Event Series Debuts Sneak Peek Trailer

LOS ANGELES – July 25, 2021 – Starring multiple Emmy nominee Michael C. Hall as America’s favorite serial killer Dexter Morgan, the special event series DEXTER: NEW BLOOD will premiere Sunday, November 7 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME. Set 10 years after Dexter went missing in the eye of Hurricane Laura, the series finds him living under an assumed name in the small town of Iron Lake, New York.  Dexter may be embracing his new life, but in the wake of unexpected events in this close-knit community, his Dark Passenger beckons. Joining Hall, the cast also includes Julia Jones (The Mandalorian), Alano Miller (Sylvie’s Love), Johnny Sequoyah (Believe), Jack Alcott (THE GOOD LORD BIRD) and Clancy Brown (The Crown, BILLIONS).  Reuniting Hall with original series showrunner Clyde Phillips, DEXTER: NEW BLOOD is currently in production on 10 one-hour episodes in Western Massachusetts.  The announcement was made today as the world premiere of the sneak peek trailer was presented in a virtual panel at Comic-Con@Home.

For a link to the trailer please go to: https://youtu.be/hA-oCTUrNfE.

The eight-season run of the original DEXTER premiered in the fall of 2006 and starred Hall as Dexter Morgan, a complicated and conflicted blood-spatter expert for the Miami police department who moonlights as a serial killer. The show became one of the most acclaimed series on television, earning multiple Emmy® nominations for best television drama series as well as a prestigious Peabody Award in 2008, and was twice named one of AFI’s top 10 television series. The first three episodes of the original DEXTER are now available for free on YouTube, Showtime.com and Sho.com, as well as across multiple SHOWTIME partner platforms. All previous seasons of DEXTER are now available for subscribers on SHOWTIME.

Produced by SHOWTIME, DEXTER: NEW BLOOD is executive produced by Clyde Phillips, Michael C. Hall, John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Marcos Siega, Bill Carraro and Scott Reynolds.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of ViacomCBS Inc., owns and operates the premium service SHOWTIME®, which features critically acclaimed original series, provocative documentaries, box-office hit films, comedy and music specials and hard-hitting sports. SHOWTIME is available as a stand-alone streaming service across all major streaming devices and Showtime.com, as well as via cable, DBS, telco and streaming video providers. SNI also operates the premium services THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as on demand versions of all three brands. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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Michael C. Hall on "Dexter" on Showtime -photographed exclusively for EW on July 23, 2021 in Boston, MA.

Interview with Dean Winters and Shawnee Smith

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

 

Shawnee Smith and Dean Winters of "Christmas Vs. The Walters"

Interview with Shawnee Smith and Dean Winters of “Christmas Vs. The Walters” – in theaters now by Suzanne 10/28

This movie is very funny and warm – great for the holidays! These two fine actors play the husband and wife of the Walters family. Shawnee is the main star of the film, but she has a wonderful cast surrounding her. Go see the movie because you’ll enjoy it! We had a fun chat here. I hope you like it as much as I did.

Suzanne:   So, when was the movie filmed, and how long did it take? Either of you?

Dean:   We shot the movie last November.

Shawnee:   Last year, yeah.

Dean:   Yeah. It was about a three and a half week shoot, and we shot it in Long Island and Melville. It was a real run and gun production, and we were able to capture the atmosphere of Christmas on Long Island. We just had a really, really good time shooting this film. I had been a massive fan of Shawnee’s for years and had a big crush on her. And when I met her, I melted. So, it just kind of added to the joy of making a film. She’s very easy to work with, and the film is really her film. So, we were all there to support Shawnee, and Shawnee is just, I mean, she’s just one of the really good ones, you know?

Shawnee:   Oh, what a good husband, right? I love him.

Suzanne:   I watched it yesterday, and I enjoyed it. It was it was funny, and it made me cry in one part.

Shawnee:   Right, I watched it. I watched it on my phone with my headphones late at night. The kids were all sleeping. I woke them up laughing. I was laughing out loud. I cried. I thought, you know, we’re not going to win any awards, but like, grab your family and go to the theater and have a ball. It sets a good tone for the rest of the holidays.

Suzanne:   It does. And you two seem very natural as a husband and wife. Did you do anything beforehand and sort of get to know each other better to prepare for that?

Shawnee:   We got married and pregnant.

Dean:   [laughs]

Shawnee:   Now we have three kids, because we are method actors.

Dean:   No, we actually met the day before filming, and it was just very, very natural. You know, good casting.

Suzanne:   You could tell. There’s a great cast anyway. I mean, you had so many great character actors.Paris Bravo, Gianni Ciardiello and Dean Winters of the movie "Christmas Vs. The Walters"

Shawnee:   The cast just kept filling out and filling out. I was like, “Who’s playing my doctor?” I mean, it was like, just when you thought it can’t get any better, you know, and then down to our ingenue, Paris Bravo plays our daughter, who’s amazing and a badass triple Black Belt. I mean, she’s like a future action star.

Dean:   Then, you have guys like Richard Thomas, and Bruce Dern and Chris Elliott. I mean, they really filled the room with great character actors, and it just kind of adds to the atmosphere.

Suzanne:   What was the both the best and worst, or most challenging things about making the movie?

Shawnee:   Definitely the most challenging was filming during COVID protocol. Rehearsing with masks on is just different. You can’t really rehearse like that. I mean, you do the best that you can, but all the windows and doors are open for ventilation, and it’s November. In November in New York, in Long Island; you’re freezing. God love the crew; they were masked up all the time, and we were testing every other day. Far and away that was the most challenging. Everything else was pretty easy.

Dean:   Yeah, we were one of the first movies to actually shoot during COVID. So, I think last October is when films really started to kind of dip their toe in the water again. So, it was a real[ly] new experience for everybody. So, that was the most challenging part. The fun part was just, we all just love each other very much. So, working with each other was really a no brainer, and that chemistry, you know, in real life, I think kind of parlays on screen.

Suzanne:   And [Shawnee], do you actually get stressed out at all on Christmas?

Shawnee:   Oh, listen, of course! I’m a mother. There’s so much pressure to be a family, have a meal, and then the presents, and you’re like, “We’re gonna keep it simple this year.” Somehow, Christmas Eve, just the momentum of the thing builds up, and it’s like that tension is just a fun thief, you know? Like, the fun part of Christmas Vs. the Walters is that circumstances all around just break everybody down to the point where they just let go of the reins, and then everyone exhales and starts to have fun together, you know, take the pressure off. So, I think my good technique for taking the pressure off this Christmas will be just put on your pajamas and go to the theater and watch Christmas Vs. the Walters.

Suzanne:   And Dean do you get most recognized for that Mayhem commercials or for a show you a movie that you did?

Dean:   Pretty much Mayhem sums it up. [laughs] Yeah, in New York, it’s like, you know, yesterday, I was walking down the block, and within the span of walking down the block, I got Oz, Sex and the City, Law & Order, and then Mayhem, but it’s really just Mayhem all day long.

Suzanne:   Well, you do such a good job of it. I hate your character. I hate those commercials – not that guy! But I like you, and I loved you in Law & Order: SVU.

Dean:   Oh, thank you.

Suzanne:   Anything else? We’re almost done… anything else you’d like say about the movie?

Dean:   I think that this movie has a tone for a Christmas film that I haven’t seen before. Every great Christmas film has its own tone, whether it’s Elf or Scrooge or It’s a Wonderful Life, whatever, and this movie has a different tone to it, and I think that’s what is going to hopefully make it have its own little kind of special niche. It’s really just a lovely film about showing you what’s important, which is usually right in front of your face.

Suzanne:   And Shawnee, final words?

Shawnee:   You love this family. I love this family; that’s a marriage that I want to be in, and I root for them. Last Christmas, we were all in the middle of this pandemic, and we couldn’t go to the theater, and we couldn’t be with our families, and so this year, let’s do it and have a ball. Looking forward to it.

Suzanne:   Thank you guys. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.

Here’s the Video!

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

MORE INFO:

Official Website   Trailer

"Christmas Vs. The Walters" posterDiane Walters, an over-burdened mother of two with a third child on the way, strives to create the perfect Christmas while her loving but dysfunctional family falls apart around her.

CAST: Shawnee Smith, Dean Winters, Caroline Aaron, Betsy Beutler, Paris Bravo, Nate Torrence, Richard Thomas, Jack McGee with Bruce Dern and Chris Elliott

DIRECTED BY: Peter A. D’Amato

WRITTEN BY: Peter A. D’Amato and Ante Novakovic

PRODUCED BY: Rob Simmons, Ante Novakovic, DJ Dodd and Jared Safier

COMPOSED BY: Rhyan D’Errico, and Jared Forman

EDITED BY: Pete Talamo

DISTRIBUTOR: Safier Entertainment

RUN TIME: 101 minutes

MPAA RATING: PG-13

Dean Winters of "Christmas Vs. The Walters"Dean Winters is an American character actor. He is known for his role as Ryan O’Reily on the HBO prison drama Oz and had roles in TV series Rescue Me, 30 Rock, Sex and the City and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as portraying “Mayhem” in a series of Allstate Insurance commercials. He co-starred in one season of the CBS Network cop drama series Battle Creek and had a recurring role as the Vulture on the comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine.Shawnee Smith of "Christmas Vs. The Walters"

Shawnee Smith is an American actress and singer. She is known for her portrayal of Amanda Young in the Saw franchise and for starring as Linda in the CBS sitcom Becker (1998–2004). She co-starred as Jennifer Goodson, the ex-wife of Charlie Goodson on the FX sitcom Anger Management (2012–2014). In addition to acting, Smith once fronted the rock band Fydolla Ho, with which she toured globally. Later, with actress Missi Pyle, she served as half of Smith & Pyle, a country rock band.

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Cast of "Christmas Vs. The Walters"

Interview with Morgan Freeman

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

 

Morgan Freeman of "History's Greatest Escapes" on History.

Interview with Morgan Freeman, James Younger and Geoffrey Sharp of “History’s Greatest Escapes with Morgan Freeman” on The History Channel by Suzanne 8/17/21

It was truly great to speak with such an esteemed actor as Morgan Freeman. This sounds like a very interesting show about historical prison escapes. Morgan is one of the producers, as well as  the narrator of the series. This was for the Fall TCA panel, so I was very grateful that I was able to ask two questions.

I asked them if there were any stories they weren’t able to tell, and they said that some they had to skip for logistical reasons, but they might be able to do them for season two. They had also tracked down one guy, Nuno Pontes, who had escaped from the former Western Penititentiary, who had agreed to do the show, but then he didn’t want his mother to see him on TV because he was an ex-con and he was embarrassed (so they had to do the show without showing his face).

Then I asked Morgan Freeman whom he thought would have made a good replacement for him, if he had been unable to host the show. After joking that I was going to get him in trouble, he answered that Jeremy Irons would have been his choice because “he has a magnificent voice, and he’s a great actor.” As a fan of the “Batman” movies, that answer made me very happy! Make sure you check out this fabulous series.

A+E NETWORKS CTAM PRESS TOUR SUMMER 2021
History Channel Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman, Host and Executive Producer
James Younger, Executive Producer, Revelations Entertainment
Geoffrey Sharp, Executive Producer, Revelations Entertainment
2021 Virtual Tour Los Angeles, CA August 17, 2021
© 2021 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.

 

Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman: Unveiling the Art of Prison Breaks

Los Angeles, CA, August 17, 2021 – The History Channel has taken a unique turn in its storytelling approach by partnering with the iconic Morgan Freeman and his production company, Revelations Entertainment, to bring viewers “Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman.” This eight-episode nonfiction series delves into the intriguing world of some of history’s most daring prison escapes, revealing the untold stories behind the notorious breakouts.

During the A+E Networks CTAM Press Tour in the summer of 2021, Morgan Freeman, host and executive producer of the show, along with executive producers James Younger and Geoffrey Sharp, shared insights into their groundbreaking project.

The History Channel, known for its exceptional documentaries and nonfiction series, has consistently explored various aspects of history. Eli Lehrer, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming for the channel, highlighted their dedication to bringing history to life through storytelling. In 2020, their presidential megadocs “Grant” and “Washington” achieved remarkable success, with “Grant” becoming the most-watched nonfiction miniseries in history. Now, they are gearing up to release two new presidential megadocs, “Lincoln” and “Theodore Roosevelt,” in collaboration with acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

However, the channel’s interest in history doesn’t stop at political leaders. They also commemorate events like September 11th by providing unique perspectives through documentaries that include government insiders, first responders, survivors, and victims’ families. To mark the 20th anniversary of the tragic day, History Channel will air seven powerful documentaries, shedding light on the various aspects of that fateful day.

The highlight of the CTAM Press Tour was the introduction of “Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman.” This series goes beyond the headlines and explores the fascinating stories of individuals who executed some of history’s most daring prison breaks. Morgan Freeman’s involvement in the show sparked comparisons to his iconic film “The Shawshank Redemption,” but Freeman was quick to distinguish between fiction and reality, emphasizing his ability to separate the two.

“Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman” showcases real-life stories of ingenious escapes from notorious prisons worldwide, including Alcatraz, Dannemora, Clinton, and Cummings. These stories of resourcefulness, ingenuity, and determination exemplify the lengths to which some prisoners will go to regain their freedom.

One of the standout stories is “The Great Escape” from World War II, where allied airmen managed to escape a German POW camp. In this case, their escape was successful, but in most instances, escapees are either recaptured or meet unfortunate fates.

The producers emphasized the meticulous research involved in bringing these stories to life. They interviewed guards, prison officials, historians, and even some of the escapees themselves. Some stories were based on documents created after the escapes to analyze how they happened.

During the Q&A session, Morgan Freeman and the executive producers shared their fascination with these escape stories. They highlighted the human ingenuity and resourcefulness that drives prisoners to attempt escapes, even if it means years of planning and execution.

The panel also discussed the significance of history and the untold stories that still exist. “Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman” aims to shed light on these lesser-known aspects of history, making viewers realize that history is often hidden in plain sight, waiting to be uncovered.

While the series tells these remarkable stories, it doesn’t shy away from acknowledging that some details may remain unknown or disputed. The focus is on presenting the adventures and the human spirit behind these audacious prison escapes, leaving viewers both fascinated and inspired.

“Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman” promises to take viewers on an exhilarating journey through history’s most incredible prison breaks, reminding us that the human desire for freedom knows no bounds. With its premiere, it will undoubtedly captivate audiences and continue the History Channel’s tradition of delivering compelling and factual storytelling.

MORE INFO:

"History's Greatest Escapes with Morgan Freeman" key art

About the Show

Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman is an eight-part series from The HISTORY® Channel hosted and executive produced by Morgan Freeman. The five-time Academy Award nominee and one-time Academy Award-winning actor has appeared in hundreds of films and television roles. One of his most famous and beloved performances was in Shawshank Redemption, a film focusing on the exploits of a group of inmates inside the fictional Shawshank State Penitentiary.

In the series, Morgan will explore real-life prison breaks that have captured the attention of the public. It’s an up close and personal view of what the prisoners are faced with in executing their break outs. Famous escapes from Alcatraz, Dannemora, Pittsburgh State Penitentiary and other locations are recreated with actors playing KEY roles and interviews from some of the prisoners themselves, their families, their cell mates and from the guards and prison employees that tried to prevent the escapes. Along with the interviews and recreations, the series will utilizeS new software technology called Unreal Engine to recreate—with great verisimilitude—the prisons themselves.

 

Morgan Freeman of "History's Greatest Escapes" on History.

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Interview with Gloria Reubens

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Judy Reyes, Gloria Reuben, Fatima Molina, and Camila Nunez of "Torn From Her Arms" on Lifetime

Interview with Judy Reyes, Gloria Reuben, Fatima Molina, and Camila Nunez of “Torn From Her Arms” on Lifetime by Suzanne 9/14/21

I haven’t seen this movie yet, but it sounds like a good one. I enjoyed chatting with the women on the panel.  The little girl was super cute! Don’t miss it October 30.

MODERATOR:  Hi, everyone.  Thank you for joining us today.  Please welcome our panelists: Judy Reyes, Gloria Reuben, Fatima Molina, and Camila Nunez.

JUDY REYES:  Hello.

MODERATOR:  Before we get to some of our questions for today, Camila, can you tell us a little bit how you prepared for your role in this film?

CAMILA NUNEZ:  Yes.  Hi, everybody.  I did with my acting coach, with the director Alan and (Mama Fati @ 01:14:49) in the movie (inaudible @ 01:14:50) and do a good job.

MODERATOR:  Awesome.  Thank you so much.  Suzanne, you’re up.

QUESTION:  Gloria, can you tell us something about your character in this movie, because I didn’t get to see it?

GLORIA REUBEN:  Well, Ginger Thompson is the journalist who broke the story.  I don’t know how much I’m able to disclose, but I will — You know, it’s common knowledge that a tape was leaked, and Ginger got hold of the tape from inside the detention center, one of them, that’s all I’m going to say, and she broke the story.  She, as soon as she heard the tape, she was up all night documenting it, writing about it, and submitted it to “ProPublica” and, yeah, the rest is history.  The whole world ended up knowing about what was exactly going on.  It’s great.  She’s amazing.

QUESTION:  Okay.  Great.  I can’t wait to see it.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, Suzanne.  Jamie, you’re up next.

QUESTION:  It’s such an incredible movie.  Judy, for you, what was it that really drew you to this project?  I mean to have four strong female leads is probably enough, but also the subject matter has to be a little strenuous on you as well though.

JUDY REYES:  I mean, I was immediately attracted to the story.  I’ve been a huge follower of the issues on the border for the last four years since it gained all that attention, and it really mattered to me as a mother.  I’m completely heartbroken by the fact that a government would separate the children from their parents.  I can’t imagine what it’s like and the thought of it always made me cry.  It felt like a bit of a gift to me when it came in my direction to be able to participate in the telling of the story, and I was just excited and really honored to be a part of it along with, you know, if — The truth is if women don’t do it, it don’t get done.  And so this particular film with all these women fighting for each other, for themselves, for the truth, and for what’s right.

QUESTION:  And for Camila, you have to cry on camera so much.  It was so sad watching you with all those tears —

FATIMA MOLINA:  I know.

QUESTION:  How did you get into that frame of mind to be so sad?  And then how did you shake off those sad feelings?

FATIMA MOLINA:  It was really easy, you know, when you know the part, when you know the characters, and I had the possibility to talk to Cindy Madrid, who is the real character in real life, and when she told me what she had to — what happened to them, to her and her daughter, it was like so painful.  It was like really, really strong for me and you cannot go in, into that kind of part, into that feeling knowing everything what them was going through.  And, I don’t know, for me and for actresses, actors, it’s I know that what we do is to entertain, but if we can leave a message to the world this is ideal.  And I think this movie, it’s doing a risk.  For me, it’s really, really important that the world know this story, this history, and I know it’s a great, great movie and that you will enjoy it.

QUESTION:  Actually, my question was for Camila.  Camila, can you hear me?

CAMILA NUNEZ:  Yes.

QUESTION:  She’s on – – I was asking you it must have been very difficult for you to have to cry so much during the movie.  How did you shake off all those sad feelings?

MODERATOR:  Camila, we can come back to you if you want to think about it.  Judy, do you want to answer in the meantime —

CAMILA NUNEZ:  (Speaks Spanish.).

JUDY REYES:  She said she felt it.

QUESTION:  Thank you.

JUDY REYES:  And it was, I mean, it’s the simplest way to put it.  She’s a really extraordinary young actor and who has a real, real understanding and a connection of the story that she’s telling, and it was a real thrill to be around her.

FATIMA MOLINA:  Yeah.

JUDY REYES:  And a real inspiration.  I mean, she’s a very powerful young actress.

GLORIA REUBEN (?):  She is.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Jay?

QUESTION:  Hello.  My question is for Gloria.  Actually, a two-pronged question for you, Gloria.  Did you actually meet Ginger and, if so, how did you find her?  And, also, journalism, as we know, is going through the times it’s going through, and reporters are being regarded and the way they’re being regarded.  Did you feel a special responsibility to portray journalism in the positive light that the story reflects?"Torn From Her Arms"

GLORIA REUBEN:  Right.  Well, I think the truth of the story reflects that kind of positive light on its own.  And, unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to meet Ginger in person.  I came on quite late in the process just prior to the film starting production, but I did end up meeting with her via Zoom shortly thereafter.  And, again, needless to say, she is extraordinary.  She’s a Pulitzer Prize winner and has been a journalist for I don’t know how many decades now, but she is extremely committed to the truth, and as you said, journalism has been under attack, particularly under the leadership of the same person that implemented Zero Tolerance Policy, right?  So I think that that both kind of goes hand-in-hand with the destruction of the truth and humanity and what many of us experienced either as unfortunate witnesses or part of the destruction of those two things as the story reveals.  So, again, Ginger, as you can imagine during that time when the story broke and she did travel to Texas, that she was not the only journalist who wanted to get the story, needless to say.  That’s how our story unfolds, but there was, and I believe very strongly, a continuous effort and dedication and drive and commitment to true journalism making its mark, because eventually the truth is revealed.  Now whether people choose to believe the truth we have no control over, but for those journalists like Ginger Thompson the fight continues.  So it was — I know this is said a lot, and I have portrayed actual living people before, but this one is — it’s pretty cool, if you will.  It’s too general a term, but she’s kind of a rock star in my book, so that says a lot.

QUESTION:  Thank you very much.

GLORIA REUBEN:  Welcome.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  And there is some Spanish dialogue in this movie.  Can you speak to how important that was?  Anyone can take that.

JUDY REYES:  For me, it was very important.  It speaks to the authenticity of the story that we’re telling although it challenges the audience to actually keep up, but the fact is is that’s probably part of the challenge of the situation that caused this so-called Zero Tolerance Policy when people are not familiar.  But it gives us an opportunity to step into a world, into another’s person struggle through their very experience.  So, for me it was exciting to have a film that presents the Spanish and that we struggled to keep it in.  It was very important to all of us, everybody that you see on the screen, for the very reasons that that’s the story that you’re telling, and there’s really no reason not to.  Obviously, you have to allow a balance but I think that we did a really, really wonderful job, and I appreciate Life time for bringing the story to you.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Howard, you’re up next.

QUESTION:  This question is for Judy.  As Gloria stated, the previous administration instituted this policy of zero tolerance and a separation of family, but that situation still is instituted.  It’s still occurring.  How many families are still separated and the reparation of the family members, how is that coming along?

JUDY REYES:  I can’t speak to the actual number, but it’s an unacceptable number.  It is in the thousands of the families that are still being separated from their children.  Some have been sent back.  Others are still here.  It’s been such a chaotic and disorganized and dreadful process that a lot of parents are having trouble seeking and finding where their children are.  I know that the current administration is doing what’s in their power to reunite the children, because they do acknowledge it.  We all wish, I know I wish, that it could be done faster, that more attention can be given to it, but I’m hopeful because attention, a light has been focused and given of the story of Cynthia and Jimena, and how the truth about the reasons that people come here, the struggle that they have getting here, the attempts that they make, the multiple attempts because things back home where they live are that bad, and the desensitization of the people who are in charge of these facilities, for lack of a better term, and always looking for that one light, because people who actually risk coming here are of extraordinary hope and faith and because they don’t want to surrender to the struggle, to the crime, to the threats, especially with their children, and I do appreciate the efforts that are being made by the current administration.

QUESTION:  Do you find any irony in the fact that this is a nation of immigrants and the fact that the person who instituted the policy was the son of a — a grandson of an immigrant and, yet, there seems to be a thought process that my family should be the last family that’s entered?

JUDY REYES:  Of course it’s absurd and it is rooted in a lot more than irony, and I also, as well as Fatima, got to speak to the people who play.  I got to speak to Thelma, and the thing about Thelma is that she’s been doing this for decades, because she knows that’s how it is and that’s how it’s always been, and our attempt in telling a story like this is it is that it changes, because it’s simply wrong.  It can’t be that because you came here before me or because your people came here in another way, on a boat, on a plane or whatever the heck, or undocumented, that you get to be the last one.  It speaks to a lot of the things that we have to pay attention in other countries where people leave for this very reason.  Nobody wants to leave their own land.  They want to leave fear and crime and danger.

GLORIA REUBEN:  Climate.

QUESTION:  Thank you very much.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  (Makeesha @ 01:27:29).

QUESTION:  Yes.  I had a question for Fatima, Fatima.  Am I saying your name right?

FATIMA MOLINA:  Fatima, yes.

QUESTION:  Fatima.  Yes, I love your name.  Yes, I loved you on “Who Killed Sara,” and I wanted to talk about how —

FATIMA MOLINA:  Aw, thank you.

QUESTION:  Yes.  This is a very different motherhood role for you.

FATIMA MOLINA:  Yeah.

QUESTION:  And thankfully because we didn’t even get a — Well, I don’t want to ruin it for anybody.  But, anyway, can you talk about is that one of the reasons you wanted to take this role? And are you hoping to sort of broaden your audience and get more exposure on this side of the mat?

FATIMA MOLINA:  Well, I have no doubt of this story, you know.  I think this is a (call about @ 01:28:17) has happened and continue happening, and for me it’s real important that so many people can watch this movie, this story.  It’s really, really important for me as a Mexican.  I know that we are speaking for a lot of people, and this is really important for all the team that we are part of this.  And I’m so sure that so many people are going to understand what we want to say, this is not correct, and we want that things change in these kind of situations.  We really need changes in all the world, and I’m so glad to be a part of this project.  I’m so happy to share with these amazing people.  They’re amazing actresses, and I’m just so happy to present this.  I know this is a big, big call to a lot of people, and I feel good.

QUESTION:  Me too.  Thank you so much.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  And our final question before we go is for everyone.  If you could tell us what it was like filming on location in Mexico.

GLORIA REUBEN:  No comment.  No, I’m just kidding.

(Laughter.)

JUDY REYES:  You know, for me, because there was so much Spanish in the film it spoke to — it really challenged me.  Spanish was my first language, but I’ve communicated in English most of my life, and I’m from the Caribbean, and this is a, obviously, a Central American country.  There’s something palpable about the struggle that shooting on location brings you.  It kind of almost puts you in that place.

FATIMA MOLINA:  Yeah.

JUDY REYES:  I think as actors we also have a tendency to create it.  It’s not like we’re dramatic or anything, but it was — I thought it was really essential.  It brought a lot to me and that I’ll always have with me, and the wonderful people that we work with just worked really hard to realize this film.  I think they received a challenge as well through the story that we were telling.

GLORIA REUBEN:  Yeah, no question.  I just have to say, Judy, to echo that, for sure, the crew was awesome.  It was amazing.

FATIMA MOLINA:  Yes.

GLORIA REUBEN:  And I didn’t do a lot of exterior stuff but of course to have that kind of, you know, the stuff, the scenes that I know were shot exterior, you had to have it there and you had to film I there, because it’s literally in the air.  Everything looks different.  Everything feels different when you’re actually on the ground in the areas where, you know, that are very indicative of the true story so, yeah.  But, again, the crew, awesome, amazing, hard working and it was terrific in that regard, for sure.  Great director, too, so.

MODERATOR:  Thank you so much.  Thank you to all our panelists today, and stay tuned for our next panel.

JUDY REYES:  Thank you.

MORE INFO:

Trailer Lifetime Site

Torn from Her Arms is the timely story of Cindy and Jimena Madrid, a mother and daughter who fled violence in El Salvador, only to be separated at the U.S. border. Detained in different centers, Cindy and Jimena’s story gained national attention when a gut-wrenching audiotape of six-year old Jimena crying for her motherwas leaked, helping to alert the world to what was happening to undocumented immigrant families at the border. Torn From Her Arms shines a spotlight on the harsh child separation policies in place as part of the zero-tolerance policy and the struggle to reunite families.

Lifetime Partners with KIND (Kids In Need Of Defense) on New PSA Featuring The Cast of Torn From Her Arms

– 10/14/2021 –

LIFETIME PARTNERS WITH KIND (KIDS IN NEED OF DEFENSE) ON NEW PSA FEATURING THE CAST FROM TORN FROM HER ARMS PREMIERING OCTOBER 30

PSA to Run on Air and Be Featured on Lifetime and KIND’s Social and Digital Platforms
To Help Bring Awareness to the Ongoing Family Separation Crisis

View PSA Here.

Los Angeles, CA (October 14, 2021) – Lifetime is proud to partner with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), the country’s preeminent nongovernmental organization devoted to the protection of unaccompanied and separated children, on a PSA featuring the cast from the network’s upcoming film Torn from Her Arms.  Additionally, Lifetime is donating $10,000 to KIND, to help in their efforts to raise awareness to the ongoing issue of family separation at the border.  The PSA, which features stars Judy Reyes, Fatima Molina, and Vicky Araico, will air on Lifetime following the premiere of Torn from Her Arms on October 30 at 8/7c and will run on both the network and KIND’s social and digital platforms.

“KIND is grateful to Lifetime for reminding audiences of the needless suffering caused by family separation. It’s pain that continues to this day as many children remain separated from their parents and live each day with this trauma,” said KIND President Wendy Young. “Lifetime’s generous support will help KIND’s continuing family reunification efforts and our representation of separated children. Torn from Her Arms depicts a policy that must never happen again and encourages us to consider a more humane treatment of the most vulnerable seeking safety at our borders.”

Amidst the ongoing crisis at the U.S. border, Torn from Her Arms depicts the harrowing true story of a mother and daughter who must find their way back to each other after being separated. Judy Reyes (Devious Maids, Claws) takes on the role of Thelma Garcia, a Texas Immigration lawyer who works tirelessly to reunite the pair, and Gloria Reuben (Mr. Robot, ER) portrays Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist ProPublica reporter, Ginger Thompson, who broke the story. 

The movie follows Cindy Madrid (Fátima Molina, Who Killed Sara?) and her six-year-old daughter, Ximena (Camila Nuñez), who fled violence in El Salvador for safety in the U.S., only to be separated at the border as a part of the Administration’s Zero Tolerance Policy. Detained in detention centers in different states, Cindy and Ximena endured inhumane living conditions and inadequate medical care, but that was nothing compared to the emotional toll of being apart. Their story would gain national attention when a whistleblower leaked a gut-wrenching audiotape of six-year-old Ximena crying for her mother. The onslaught of media attention incited by Ginger’s story alerted the nation to the cruelties being committed against undocumented immigrant families at the border.

ABOUT KIND

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is the preeminent U.S.-based nongovernmental organization devoted to the protection of unaccompanied and separated children. KIND envisions a world in which every unaccompanied child on the move has access to legal counsel and has their rights and well-being protected as they migrate alone in search of safety.

In 2008, KIND was founded by the Microsoft Corporation and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie to address the gap in legal services for unaccompanied minors. KIND now has offices across the United States and in Mexico that provide unaccompanied children with holistic care that includes legal assistance and social services. Through strategic partnerships, KIND provide pro bono legal representation for refugee and migrant children across the country. Since its inception, KIND has received referrals for more than 27,000 cases and now serves over 5,900 children annually in partnership with nearly 700 law firm, corporate, law school and bar association partners.

Beyond U.S. borders, KIND’s Mexico-based offices and its programming in Central America works with partners on the ground to address the root causes of migration, protect children during migration, and connect repatriated children to essential services. Through its European Initiative, KIND and partners in Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, and the United Kingdom work to ensure access to high quality pro bono legal assistance for unaccompanied children in Europe.

Each of these efforts informs KIND’s robust state, national, and international advocacy and public education work to champion policies and laws that protect unaccompanied children on the move no matter where they are in their migration journey

ABOUT LIFETIME
Celebrating 35 years of entertaining audiences, Lifetime is a premier entertainment destination for women dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning award-winning movies, high-quality scripted series, and breakout non-fiction series.  Lifetime has an impressive legacy in public affairs, bringing attention to social issues that women care about with initiatives such as the long running Stop Breast Cancer for Life now in its 25th year, Stop Violence Against Women which relaunched in 2018, and Broader Focus, a major global initiative dedicated to supporting and hiring female directors, writers, and producers, including women of color, to make its content. Lifetime Television®, LMN®, Lifetime Real Women® and Lifetime Digital™ are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.

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"Torn From Her Arms" poster

Interview with Nicole Maines

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Nicole Maines from a video on her Instagram

Interview with Nicole Maines of “Supergirl” on The CW by Suzanne 10/14/21

I’m not ashamed to say that I worked very hard to get this interview for the last year or so. I’m glad we finally got the chance to chat over the phone! She is really great on the show, and as a person, and as an advocate for LGBTQ++ rights. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

NICOLE MAINES ISN’T DONE WITH DREAMER! That’s what she keeps saying, anyway, and I think if she says it enough, perhaps she will get the chance to reprise her character (or keep writing about her).

Suzanne:   Are you still in Palm Springs… I saw on your Instagram…?

Nicole:   Oh, that was a couple of weeks ago. No, no, I’m in Los Angeles.

Suzanne:   Okay, back in LA. Is it nice out?

Nicole:   I don’t know. I woke up at noon.

Suzanne:   Oh, well, that’s good.

Nicole:   I’m unemployed. [laughs]

Suzanne:   I understand, believe me. So, there are just five episodes left of Supergirl. How do you feel?

Nicole:   I mean, I’m excited. I mean, especially the next episode. That’s our big Nia episode. It’s Nia, who’s back.

Suzanne:   Oh, good.

Nicole:   Yeah.

Suzanne:   So, how do you feel about the show ending though?

Nicole:   I mean, it’s bittersweet. I’m excited for what’s gonna come next and what new opportunities are there for me, but this was home for three years, and I miss the people, and I miss the crew, and I miss getting to be Nia and getting to play around with Nia

Suzanne:   Right. Oh, I forgot you were only on there for three years. I watch the show religiously, I promise. You seem like you’ve been there forever, like everyone.

Dreamer posterNicole:   It felt like I was there forever. I mean, I really, really loved and I do love that character and to be her, and that was my first sort of initial thought when they gave me the call and told us we didn’t get picked up for seven. I was like, “I’m not done. I have more to do with her.”

Suzanne:   Do you think fans will be happy with the way it ends?

Nicole:   I think so. I think we have a really, really fun ending, and getting to shoot that last episode was really fun. And we have some stuff that I think people have been wanting for a while, and it’s going to be great.

Suzanne:   Oh, good. Yeah. As long as they don’t kill off Supergirl, I’ll be happy. I’m not happy about the way they ended Arrow. Too depressing… but that was a more downer show than than yours anyway.

Nicole:   Yeah.

Suzanne:   I don’t know if anybody has died on Supergirl?

Nicole:   Yeah, Astra died.

Suzanne:   Oh, her mother, right.

Nicole:   Aunt.

Suzanne:   Aunt, right. Oh, well, she was a villain anyway. Well, the nice thing about most of these kind of shows, they can always bring them back again.

Nicole:   Totally.

Suzanne:   So, what did you find most challenging about playing Nia/Dreamer?

Nicole:   Oh, gosh, I mean, where to start? I think the hardest part, for me, was finding my sea legs and coming onto the show pretty new, pretty green and trying to keep up. Everyone on our show is so stupid talented that it’s intimidating. And for someone who didn’t really have a lot of experience under my belt and didn’t really have a lot of formal training to fall back on, it was really scary. It felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants at all times, but I wouldn’t change a thing. It was the perfect first show for me, and, I don’t know, as soon as we were done, I was like, “Okay, now I’m ready! This is just rehearsal. Let’s go back. Let’s do it again. Okay, now I’m ready.”

Suzanne:   Well, it probably added to your character though, because, she was pretty insecure and everything when she first started.

Nicole:   Exactly. I was able to bring all of that energy into Nia. That was really nice, because, simultaneously, with me going coming on to Supergirl and sort of finding my sea legs there, she was coming into CatCo brand new, and she was finding her sea legs as a superhero. So, I was able to bring that energy to the character, and I think it really worked. I hope it worked.Dreamer and Supergirl

Suzanne:   No, it did.

Nicole:   Nobody told me otherwise.

Suzanne:   Well, they would have told you if you weren’t doing it right. So, I think that’s good.

Nicole:   I hope so. [laughs]

Suzanne:   So, what was the most fun part of playing her?

Nicole:   Oh, gosh. Getting to create a superhero. I mean, that is a dream come true, just getting to watch her powers evolve, and watching her fighting style evolve was so fun. Getting to do the Hurricanrana in fourteen, everyone was calling it the Black Widow move. [laughs] It was f – sorry, excuse me, I don’t know if I can swear, but it was fucking cool!

Suzanne:   It’s fine.

Nicole:   Getting to kind of see where she came from and now seeing her kicking all of this butt was so much fun, and getting to be a part of that and getting to help shape this character. And now I have this character who is forever part of me.

Suzanne:   Yeah, it’s it’s a shame. I mean, obviously, I’m upset that they canceled the show, but it’s a shame that they cancel it now that she’s finally got hold of her powers and everything.

Nicole:   I know, I’m like, “You haven’t really seen Dreamer at 100%.” We haven’t seen Dreamer not struggling for a second, just like, be Dreamer. So, if I could have done anything else, I would have wanted to show just what a full power Dreamer can do and what Dreamer at 100% looks like.

Suzanne:   Well, is there any chance of her showing up on a crossover with the other shows or joining Legends of Tomorrow or anything like that?

Nicole:   I mean, never say never. I haven’t heard a dang thing, but I’m ready. I am here waiting to take your calls. Please call in. [laughs]

Suzanne:   Right. And what was the most fun part of playing her?

Nicole:   Oh, my gosh, I mean, getting Dream energy was really fun. Getting to do all those blasts and getting to come up with the choreography for it was really fun. I think one of my favorite moments was, and I’ve said this before, on the 100th episode, when I put up that giant shield against Reign, and the wind and the fans were blowing and debris was going everywhere…I felt so cool in that moment. That was the kind of stuff I loved, getting to be a superhero. That was the best part.

Suzanne:   Is that what you’ll miss the most?

Nicole:   No, I think I’ll miss the people the most. I think it’s the people the most. I just saw Staz. He came and visited me for a couple of weeks. We saw Jesse while he was down here. So, it was good. I [had just been] with Katie. So, I keep in touch with all of them.

Suzanne:   Good. Good.

Dreamer PosterNicole:   I really miss them, and I miss having the Superfriends together.

Suzanne:   It’s so funny that they started calling them Superfriends on the show. [laughs] You know, the old cartoon. I don’t know if you ever saw it.

Nicole:   Oh, yeah, I know, I know. I thought it was great. What a great revival.

Suzanne:   Yeah, people of my age and slightly younger grew up watching that.

Nicole:   We all have hoodies that were made that have the Superfriends on them in that Golden Age comic style, and it has the logo [for] Superfriends on it, and I wear it all the time.

Suzanne:   That’s neat. Were you a comic book fan before you joined the show?

Nicole:   Not too much, honestly, no. I read comics, and I had some comics, but I wouldn’t say was a comic book fan or a comic nerd. This show definitely changed that, and I still have a ways to go. I’m still not by any standards like an aficionado, but I definitely developed a new appreciation for it. And after writing Dreamer into the comics, my relationship with that has definitely changed in a much more “hungry for more” way.

Suzanne:   Yeah, I read that you wrote part of the the Dreamer story for the pride comic book. Will you be writing some more?

Nicole:   Well, not part of it. I wrote the whole thing.

Suzanne:   Oh, the whole thing, okay.

Nicole:   I wrote the whole thing. They asked me to do it, and it was a really great experience. I got to play around and pull a bunch of different things that I wanted to do. We have some nods to the Nolanverse Batman movies. I got to have fun. I did not realize, however, that people thought that the comic was set in the Arrowverse still. I had a lot of people lamenting that. They’re like, “Oh, we really want her to be [in] the DC Comics universe, and this is clearly still the Arrowverse.” I was talking to my editor about it a little while ago, and we were like, “It is?” We had every intention of it being in the DC Comics universe, and I think what happened was I made a mistake. In the title in the location tab, I wrote “National City” instead of “Midvale City” which I had not realized not being a comic book fan at the time and just not properly knowing my stuff. I take credit for that. I did not know that in the comics Supergirl is in Midvale City and not National City. I didn’t know that there was a difference. If anyone asks, I’m just saying that National City is Dreamer City.

Suzanne:   People always find something to complain about. So, I wouldn’t worry that much about it.

Nicole:   Oh, who knows, but yeah, so for anyone wondering, that was DC Comics canon; Dreamer is DC Comics canon, I swear.

Suzanne:   So, do you know if there’s a plan to have a Dreamer comic or have her join any of the other DC Comics?

Nicole:   I mean, I have plans. I don’t know if anybody else [laughs] has plans, but this is at any given moment. This has really unlocked something in me that just as I was writing it, it just occurred to me – not occurred to me, but it just felt right, and it felt like something that I was supposed to be doing and and building this superhero up and being on the show and knowing what her potential is that we never really got to fully explore with Dreamer just being Dreamer. I want to get to explore all that, and I want to get to show people what this character can really do and just how powerful a superhero she really is. And we’re going to be seeing that more and more. We’re going to be seeing that in this coming episode even. Someone was posting – in the promo, you’re seeing this kind of tug of war, energy battle between Nyxly and Dreamer, and someone pointed out, they were like, “Dreamer’s holding back Nyxly,” which was two the Totems powering her, and they’re like, “If Nia’s holding all that back, she’s a god.” And I retweeted that, and I was like, “Yes! This is what I’ve been saying!” I’m shocked that no one stopped me, but I guess they haven’t stopped me, because I’m right, [but] I’ve just gotten unapologetic about it. I’m just honest. I’m just honestly saying, “Dreamer is the most powerful character in the Arrowverse.”Dreamer poster

Suzanne:   Okay.

Nicole:   And I’m like, “Please, if I’m wrong, feel free to show me,” but I’ve done my work. I’ve shown my work, and I’ve done the math, and I’m like, “Show me where my math is wrong.”

Suzanne:   I think you could definitely make a case for that. I think that’s something they should have done the next season, if they had another season, is something where Supergirl and Dreamer are fighting.

Nicole:   Oh, I had a whole pitch, and there were different ways we could have done [it]. I think it would have been interesting for sort of the darker side of Dreamer that we got to see a little bit in “Reality Bytes” and show the difference in philosophy between Dreamer and Supergirl, and then we could kind of explore that [relationship]. Okay, so what about when the mentor and the mentee disagree on the no killing rule? Because dreamer had very good reason and motivation for wanting to kill the transphobe in “Reality Bytes.” I think that would have been interesting to explore, but I also understand. We also kind of agreed and we’re like, “I don’t know if the trans superhero should kill anyone.” From a storytelling perspective, on the other hand, that would have been a really, really interesting thing to explore and explore that moral gray area.

Suzanne:   Well, I’m sure at some point they will have a trans character that can do things like that. I remember that one of the soap operas a while back, they had a black person that was a villainness, and it was the first time they’d ever done that on a soap opera.

Nicole:   It’s a question of [unintelligible] representations, how to frame these characters, and are we responsible for keeping them in a positive light? I’m of the opinion that I don’t think we should limit these characters to their identity and limit their character arcs to that identity. I think it’s important that we’re showcasing trans people as three dimensional people, and that includes their flaws, and I think that if Dreamer had gone through with that, that could have been a really, really interesting narrative, even bringing into it her powers and her seeing the future. And if she sees the future, why wouldn’t she, you know, just nip this in the bud? There’s so much down the road that she has to deal with, she’s like, “If I can stop this person from hurting anybody, why shouldn’t I?”

Suzanne:   Is she seeing the future or a possible future?

Nicole:   Well, that’s the question. Another thing we could have explored is in the comic books, of course, Nura Nal’s power. Dreamgirl was always infallible. You didn’t always have the context for her dreams, but her dreams always came true. And I think with Nia, it’s much more of a possible future that she can now take steps to alter that course, if she chooses, which I think, from a storytelling perspective, is a little more interesting.

Suzanne:   Definitely.

Nicole:   Just because we already know what’s going to happen. [laughs] Why are you watching the show?

Suzanne:   Yeah, and the comic books, at least the ones when I read when I was growing up, they were a lot more simplistic than TV is today. So, you can do that without – you know what I mean.

Nicole:   [unintelligible] kind of have to add a few extra layers.

Suzanne:   Yeah, audiences expect more now.

Nicole:   Give me a couple more twists and turns.

Suzanne:   Yeah. So, have you been doing anything besides sleeping in and going to Palm Springs since you wrapped Supergirl?

Nicole:   I mean, just planning, lots of auditions. But I’m planning. I have all of these ideas for Dreamer. I have all these ideas for Nia, and it’s just lots of plotting on my part.

Suzanne:   Are you going to be maybe writing something up?

Nicole:   Maybe, who knows. I would love to continue. I would love to get to do another DC pride issue; I would love to keep that going. And this is the thing with representation, and this is where the next step is going to be. You can’t just tap the balloon once and let it sink; you have to keep it in the air, and I think that’s how representation is. So, now, the next step, it’s not a question of…“Is Dreamer gonna pop up next?” It’s, “Where? Where [unintelligible] this character next?”

Suzanne:   And I’m definitely looking forward to that.

Nicole:   Me too. So, to all those reading, I assure [you] she’s not done.

Nia and BrainySuzanne:   And this is your first ongoing TV series, right? Your character has the romance with Brainy. Was that your first onscreen romance as well?

Nicole:   No, no, right before Supergirl,  I had done a movie, Bit, and I had the pleasure of having a romance with the lovely Zolee Griggs. So, that was fun. So, that wasn’t like my first, but it was fun, and getting to do those things with Jesse was really nice, too, because he’s just so great. He’s frickin’ talented and hilarious, and getting to do those Midvale episodes, especially, was some of the most fun I’ve had on that show, because we really just got to ham it up together.

Suzanne:   Oh, yeah, those were fun.

Nicole:   We both love to do [that]. We had such great comedic chemistry that we didn’t always get to play on in the show, and so having those two episodes is a great opportunity to [be] like, “Okay, let’s like Brainy and Nia be like be [unintelligible].

Suzanne:   Yeah, they definitely had some of the comedy relief.

Nicole:   Yeah.Brainy and Nia

Suzanne:   So, you don’t have any other projects coming up that you can talk about?

Nicole:   Not yet, but hopefully, soon. Stay tuned. Watch [unintelligible].

Suzanne:   No, definitely. I just have two more questions. What shows do you like to watch for fun?

Nicole:   Well, my favorite show is Supergirl, airing on Tuesdays on The CW at 9/8 central! [laughs] I’ve started Squid Games. I know I’m a little late, sorry, but started that, loving it. I was watching that. [It] was like “green light” and they kept running, and I was like “You guys! Stop running! It’s not working!” I love any show that I get to scream at the TV.

Suzanne:   You’re supposed to wait until you’re old to do that. And anything else that you’d like to say to your fans?

Nicole:   Just thank you so much. Thank you for making this character a hit. Thank you for loving her and supporting her and being excited about her, and if you want to see more of her, say so. Talk about it with your friends. Talk about it on social media. Let people know what you want to see, because I am totally down. Keep going.

Suzanne:   All right. Well, I really appreciate you calling me.

Nicole:   Yeah, of course. Thank you so much for taking the time.

Suzanne:   Oh, yeah. No, I’m a big comic book fan and especially a CW superheroes fan. So, I love it.

Nicole:   Yeah, it was really fun to get to do that. I mean, my era was like [unintelligible] back in the day, so to be on Supergirl was insane.

Suzanne:   Oh, cool. All right. Well, thanks a lot.

Nicole:   Thank you.

Here is the audio version of it.

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

Please visit our Supergirl page!

MORE INFO:

Nicole Maines2020 VARIETY “Power of Young Hollywood” Honoree, 2020 VARIETY “Power of Pride” Honoree, 2020 HRC Upstander Award Honoree and 2020 GLAAD Media Award nominated actress, Nicole Maines, is a hero for the LGBTQ+ community in many unique ways as she makes her debut and shines as the breakout star and standout character ‘Nia Nal’ aka ‘Dreamer,’ TV’s first transgender superhero, on The CW’s incredibly popular adaptation of the DC Comic “Supergirl” (Season 6 returning 2021). Maines is brilliant as she brings to life ‘Nia/Dreamer,’ ‘Kara Danvers/Supergirl’ (Melissa Benoist, “Glee”) strong, hopeful and inspirational second half, who is a truth-seeking news reporter at ‘CatCo’ with ‘Kara Danvers/Supergirl’ when not protecting the citizens of ‘National City’. Nicole Maines on the cover of "Shape" Magazine
Nicole Maines is just as much of a superhero on screen, as she is off screen… if not more! Born and raised in Maine, Nicole made her extraordinary mark on the world by being an LGBTQ+ activist and an indisputable voice for the transgender community. In 2014, Maines fought and won the Supreme Court case, Doe v. Clenchy, that moved the needle for transgender children by allowing them to use Nicole Maines on the cover of "The Advocate"the school bathroom designated for the gender with which they identify. She is an inspiration on-and-off screen paving the way for the next generation of LGBTQ+ youth and being a beacon of light for all. Maines booked her first role guest starring in USA’s “Royal Pains” while studying at University of Maine and landed the lead role in 2019’s BIT, a movie about a transgender vampire moving to Los Angeles. Being able to be vulnerable and open to share with the world her journey of being transgender with the help of Amy Ellis Nutt in her New York Times Bestseller biography, “Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family” ignites us to share our truth.
When Nicole needs to recharge from being super actor-activist hero on-and-off screen, she loves playing video games on Xbox and the Nintendo Switch. In addition, Maines enjoys cosplay; anything to give her a reason to dress up, especially Star Wars themed. Growing up, Maines loved playing dress up because it was how she could express herself before transitioning, she believes playing dress up gave her most of her inspiration and desire to pursue acting in college. Beyond gaming and cosplay, Nicole has an infatuation for art; it runs in her family with her mom being quite the illustrator/painter, Maines loves creating digital art and is currently assisting in creating the scenery for an adaptation for the book “Throne of Glass” by Sarah J. Maas. As being as creative, inspirational and artistic as she is on the screen, if not more, off the screen Nicole shows her passion in everything she does and believes in, a hero in many unique ways. You can follow her on social media here @nicoleamaines.

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Nicole Maines as Nia Nal AKA Dreamer on "Supergirl" on The CW

Interview with Zyra Gorecki

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Zyra Gorecki of "La Brea" on NBC

Interview with Zyra Gorecki of “La Brea” on NBC by Suzanne 10/18/21

This is a fun scifi show, and it’s always nice to interview the actors in this cast. I only had about 5 minutes with her, but she was able to answer all my questions within that time frame, so it worked out well. She’s not one of those that goes and on, which I really appreciated.

Suzanne:   How are you?

Zyra:   Good. How are you?

Suzanne:   I’m good. Not awake yet, really…

Zyra:   I don’t think any of us are really; it’s Monday.

Suzanne:   That’s right. So, I don’t have long, so I’ll get right to it. Your character, she carries a lot of guilt, because she didn’t fall into the sinkhole with her mother and brother. Then, later, she misses them and worries that about them. So, how did you convey that with your acting? What is your method?

Zyra:   I think because we filmed the first episode first, it was super nice, and remembering that feeling of watching them fall, because we did the stunts. I watched Natalie fall. I would bring that up and I would just think on that and ruminate, and that is a horrible feeling. Because, you know, you take responsibility for that, you had a grip on your mom and then, you know, even if she does pull your hand off of her, it’s a horrible feeling. I think you just have to think about that and really think about how you would feel about that.

Suzanne:   Okay, and are you still shooting in Australia? How do you like it there?

Zyra:   Nope. Now we finished about a month ago. Actually, I can’t believe it’s been a month already. It was fun though. It was fun shooting in Australia. It was locked down for the six months we were there. So, that was less fun, but Australia itself is really fun, and filming was absolutely fantastic.

Suzanne:   Oh, great. Had you been there before?

Zyra:   Nope. First time.

Suzanne:   Oh, that’s nice. Did you get to see kangaroos and things like that?

Zyra:   Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We were all over the place. Kangaroo are like deer for us here. You know how you just like see deer all over everywhere? That’s how they are in Australia. Koalas are harder to find.

Suzanne:   Oh, really? Oh, okay. That’s neat. I want to go there one day.

Zyra:   You should.

Suzanne:   Yeah. Did you ever watch LOST, and do you think fans and the media should be comparing La Brea to LOST?

Zyra:   So, we were talking about this; a lot of the cast were talking about this, and it is definitely a comparable comparison, but I think Jack said this; he said that “La Brea, it fills the gaps that LOST had.” It makes sense. It doesn’t have things where you go, “Um, that doesn’t quite add up.” You know? I think it took LOST and went, “All right, I’m gonna learn from this. I’m going to do better.”

Suzanne:   Okay, well, I hope it has a different ending. [laughs]

Zyra:   Yeah.

Suzanne:   And is there anything else that you’d like to tell fans about the show, about your part in it?

Zyra:   Oh, it sounds so cliche, I know, but really, expect the unexpected, and everything nuts is happening all the time. [laughs] All the time.

Suzanne:   Yeah, that’s what’s great about the show. It always shocks you.

Zyra:   Oh, yeah, especially if you have a short attention span for TV shows, which I do. You don’t ever get bored. It’s great, because if you get bored with one character, you’re like, “Oh, there’re all of these other stories.”

Suzanne:   There’re a lot of characters

Zyra:   A lot of characters.

Suzanne:   All right, they’re telling me I have to go. So, thank you. I appreciate it.

Zyra:   Thank you so much.

Suzanne:   All right. Have a good day.

Zyra:   Thank you, you as well.

Here is the video of it.

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

La Brea Interview for TCA 9/13/21

MORE INFO:

Zyra Gorecki

Izzy Harris, “La Brea”

Zyra Gorecki stars as Izzy Harris on the new NBC drama series “La Brea.”

Gorecki is one of the first below-the-knee amputee actresses with a series regular role in a major broadcast television series. Gorecki is involved with the non-profit organization Amputee Blade Runners that helps provide free running prosthetics for amputees.

In addition to her acting career, which includes guest-starring on “Chicago Fire,” Gorecki is an avid runner and skilled athlete who is passionate about living and promoting a sustainable lifestyle.

An epic adventure begins when a massive sinkhole opens in the middle of Los Angeles, pulling hundreds of people and buildings into its depths. Those who fell in find themselves in a mysterious and dangerous primeval land, where they have no choice but to band together to survive. Meanwhile, the rest of the world desperately seeks to understand what happened. In the search for answers, one family torn apart by this disaster will have to unlock the secrets of this inexplicable event to find a way back to each other.

The cast includes Natalie Zea, Eoin Macken, Jon Seda, Nicholas Gonzalez, Chiké Okonkwo, Karina Logue, Zyra Gorecki, Jack Martin, Veronica St. Clair, Rohan Mirchandaney, Lily Santiago, Josh McKenzie and Chloe De Los Santos.

Writer David Appelbaum executive produces with Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, Rachel Kaplan, Steven Lilien, Bryan Wynbrandt, Ken Woodruff, Arika Lisanne Mittman and Adam Davidson.

“La Brea” is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Keshet Studios.

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Zyra Gorecki and Eoin Macken of "La Brea" on NBC

Interview with Elisabeth Röhm, Justina Machado and Skyler Samuels

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Elisabeth Röhm, Justina Machado and Skyler Samuels of "Switched Before Birth" on Lifetime

Interview with Elisabeth Röhm, Justina Machado and Skyler Samuels of “Switched Before Birth” on Lifetime by Suzanne 9/14/21

This was from Lifetime’s “Fall Press Panel” last month. It was great to speak with these amazing actresses and directors. I’m a huge fan of Elisabeth, not only from “One Life to Live,” but also from “Angel” and “Law and Order,” among many other movies and shows. She directed this movie rather than appearing in it. It’s her second time directing. She seems to really enjoy it. It’s a good movie, which Machado and Samuels star in, so make sure you check it out 10/23 on Lifetime.

MODERATOR:  Our next panel for today is “Switched Before Birth” starring Justina Machado and Skyler Samuels and directed by Elisabeth Rohm.  Hi, ladies.  Thank you all for being here.  Our first question is from Suzanne.

QUESTION: My question is for Elisabeth.  I remember you on “One Life to Live” by the way, so.  I’ve been watching you a long time.

ELISABETH ROHM:  That definitely dates me by a couple of decades.

QUESTION:  Aww… So how often does this sort of thing happen, the IVF switching thing that they show in the movie?

ELISABETH ROHM:  Well, you know, statistically speaking 15% of couples will struggle with getting pregnant naturally.  I was one of those and you know, look, it’s a not-regulated industry, federally regulated industry, so it’s hard to say percentage-wise what kind of mishap, how many times a mishap like this will happen, but you know it’s frequent enough that we really hope that this film makes you take a good, long hard look at the fertility industry.

QUESTION:  And as a follow up, do you prefer directing over acting or do you like both?

ELISABETH ROHM:  Well, if I get to act with women like this, I want to be acting.  No.  But directing, listen I feel really privileged that Lifetime has the Broader Focus program and Tanya Lopez created this opportunity for me to pivot in my life and career.  And I really love directing, especially when you get to direct a friend like Justina Machado who I starred opposite and just, you know, Skyler Samuels and all the actors in it.  So, I have a big place in my heart for directing right now.

QUESTION:  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question is from Jay Bobbin.

QUESTION:  Thank you.  Elisabeth, my question is for you, too.  You have taken some very big and emotional swings with your directing so far, “Girl in the Basement.”  I remember the last one of these you talked about how emotional it was to work with the actors on that.  For your second project, were you looking for something as emotional in a different way or would you have been satisfied with something like “Psycho Intern” which is also in the Lifetime can?

ELISABETH ROHM:  Well, to be honest I probably would have accepted any job from Lifetime.  I have a deep gratitude to the network and I’m excited about developing other projects with them.  Justina and I have some exciting things that we’re working on together.  But I felt very privileged to be given the opportunity to direct something about IVF because I really went through my own journey, and it was painful and difficult.  And these actresses really captured what is deeply personal to me and it’s like lightning in a bottle to watch these two act in this movie, so I was lucky I got a good second swing.

QUESTION:  As a follow up, knowing the subject as you did personally and also having gone through the prep for the first film, did you find it — I’m using the word “easier” hesitatingly, because I’m sure subject-wise it’s not necessarily easier.  Did you find it a smoother process this time around directing for the second time?

ELISABETH ROHM:  Maybe ignorance is bliss.  I think the first time was a little bit easier.  The second time you know all the things that are required in a different way.  But I think it was easier because I had actresses that were my friends playing the lead roles and I felt really supported by them to just thrive and succeed.  And it really does take a village.  And, you know, I have the utmost respect for these two.  So, I would say — I guess I would say it’s easier.  It’s just I knew the stakes were high.

QUESTION:  Thanks very much.

MODERATOR:  Thanks, Jay.  Our next question is from Jamie Steinberg.

QUESTION:  For Justina and Skyler, what kind of research did you do on this kind of surrogacy and the pain, both of — on both sides of the women’s viewpoints?

JUSTINA MACHADO:  I can’t see anybody.  I never know.  I guess I’ll go first.  You know, we all know people — we all know women.  I mean, I certainly know women who have struggled with fertility, who have had to go through these cycles to try to get pregnant and the ups and the downs and all of that that comes with wanting a family. You know, it’s a very, very human story which is why I was so attracted to it.  But also, I think the second part of your question was how our characters — was that the second part of your question?

QUESTION:  Yes, the pain that a woman on either side feels in this situation.

JUSTINA MACHADO:  Right.  And that’s what’s so beautiful about this movie because you really get those two points of views.  I mean, no one is wrong here.  No one is wrong in the movie.  You know, Olivia’s character is — this is what she feels, she carried this baby.  My character is like this is my egg.  So, no one is wrong, but we’re both so passionate, both those characters are passionate about their point of view.  I was all for Anna’s point of view. I truly believe that if that were to happen to me that would be my point of view. I want my baby. So the beauty of this is you get to see two very valid points of views.

SKYLER SAMUELS:  Yeah, I completely agree with what Justina said.  There is no right or wrong.  It is complicated and messy. I watched it. I still don’t know, and I pray to God I’m never put in a position where I would have to choose that.  But you know like Elisabeth was saying, IVF mishaps happen far too often.  It’s not regulated.  And the fact that anybody could be put in that position is unthinkable.  And as far as research for the role, interestingly enough, I have a couple of close girlfriends who throughout 2020 had been going through some real fertility struggles.  And in the pandemic of it all, you know, I think that was another tier of isolation.  You know, being in a pandemic is isolating.  Fertility struggles are isolating.  Put those together, and it’s a really, really challenging time. And you know getting to sort of be on that journey with them trying to be supportive and trying to understand how they feel both physically and emotionally and the fact that there are things that women who go through this process can’t explain to their husbands or their partners.  Like as much as they want them to know there’s something that’s happening in you that’s just so raw and confusing and complicated that it can be hard.  And there was a really beautiful thing which happened which was on our first day of filming.  I’m in my sort of funny pregnancy, you know, my fake pregnancy belly.  And I had sent a picture to my best friend being like, you know, look who’s got the belly.  And she sent me a picture with a positive pregnancy test.  So, my girlfriend who had been struggling all year and had gone through this process, I found out that she got pregnant the day we started this movie.  So that kind of felt like my good luck charm going into this.

QUESTION:  And then you had to start bawling and ruin the scene.

SKYLER SAMUELS:  Well, yes.  I do a lot of bawling. This is true.  Skyler cries a lot in this movie.  And while I’m, you know, not a mother myself, I hope one day.  I’m very familiar with what grief feels like and with loss.  And I think that that is universal to all of us.  So, though this movie is about motherhood, I think more than anything it’s about a sense of belonging and a sense of grief and how to sort of live with loss that you just — you can’t make sense of.  And I think that’s something that everybody can relate to.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question is from Steve Gidlow.

QUESTION:  Hey, my question is for Justina and for Skyler.  I’m just wondering what it like is being directed by somebody who has acted as opposed to someone who’s just a technically trained director.  And how different is it again, on top of that having a friend direct you on the project?

JUSTINA MACHADO:  I always — I don’t necessarily think you have to be an actor to be a great director, you know.  But I do think that that’s a big plus.  And there’s just things that they understand, actors-turned-directors.  I feel like there’s an understanding with how to deal with different personalities on set — how to speak to people on set because they know how they like to be spoken to.  They know how they like to be dealt with.  And like the little kookiness that sometimes we as actors can have that they will understand and not think it’s a different kind of behavior.  That always helps because somebody has been there.  And then when you’re working with a friend, it’s just even more — you’re even more free and more vulnerable.  I felt I could be freer and not be judged by certain things that I thought or was thinking, or nothing was a dumb question, or nothing was something that that they didn’t have time for.  And Elisabeth and I are dear friends.  I mean, we met doing “Family Pictures” a couple years ago for Lifetime.  So just being able to work with somebody that I already have such a great rapport with, just made work a lot easier and fun as much as we had to cry.

ELISABETH ROHM:  I was going to say.

JUSTINA MACHADO:  And we got to feel like this.  It was fun.

ELISABETH ROHM:  No more crying.  You did it perfectly.  Now it’s done.

JUSTINA MACHADO:  So that was my experience.

SKYLER SAMUELS:  Yeah. I think there’s always a benefit having someone direct you who’s been in your shoes.  But I think there’s actors-turned-directors, actors who are friends and there’s Elisabeth Rohm.  Elisabeth is my biggest girl crush of all time.  She knows this.  I announce it wildly to the world.  I met her over Zoom last year and I got off the call and I said to my reps, “Yeah, so I want to grow up to be her, so let’s figure out how we can be best friends” because I absolutely adore this woman and what she’s done.  And how absolutely poised and creative and intelligent and thoughtful she is in everything that she does.  No question this was some of the hardest work I think I’ve done in my career to date.  This is the closest character I’ve played to myself which is a lot more challenging than I anticipated.  And I don’t think I could have done the work that I did without Elisabeth.  She gave me permission to take up space and be free in a way that no one has before, and it’s been a gift moving forward.  I don’t know that how I feel about my job and my abilities would be the same without Elisabeth.  She’s just — I don’t know she’s my acting guardian angel always.  She’s a magical person.

ELISABETH ROHM:  I love you guys.  I think I’m going to —

QUESTION:  Your turn to cry now.

SKYLER SAMUELS:  I can’t help but cry.

QUESTION:  Thank you so much.

ELISABETH ROHM:  And so really, it’s a love story between these two, you know?  That’s really — outside of it being like a film that’s also — Lifetime’s so good at making not just movies, but movements.  This is a movement in a sense, but it’s really a love story between friends.  So, the friendship between them is really felt and like they both said, navigating grief and finding each other through it all.  So thanks, thanks for that, you guys.

QUESTION:  Thank you so much.

MODERATOR:  Thanks, Steve.  Our next question is from Jamie Ruby.

QUESTION:  Hi, guys.  Thanks for talking to us.  Skyler, you started to say how like playing something more towards yourself was more difficult.  Can you kind of talk like expand on that?  What was it that you found difficult about bringing that?

SKYLER SAMUELS:  Yeah, I mean you know I’ve been very lucky that I’ve worked for many years and gotten to play many parts, you know, a lot of which have been you know sort of like supernatural or superhero and I’m kicking ass and doing all kinds of fun things.  And I’ve loved those parts.  They’re wonderful.  But I think there’s something that when you prepare as an actor to play a role that feels like you, when I read the script, there are things that Olivia Crawford says that I’m like, “Oh god, that’s like straight out of my mouth.”  Or just like the way that she moves through space, it felt like me.  And I think what was both challenging and liberating about that experience was that I had to work through my own grief in real time doing this movie.  That there is no barrier between sort of — the barrier between Olivia Crawford and Skyler Samuels was like paper thin.  And I’m not used to being that close to the character.  And I think that it made — everything emotional that happens in the movie is as real as can be.  I had to really be okay with bringing my own real-life grief and experience and struggles and triumphs and just sort of putting it all out there in a way that I haven’t had to do before.  And like I just said, I couldn’t have done that without the guidance, love and support of Elisabeth Rohm and Justina.  What a partner to just like let you do your thing because it’s challenging.  But it’s also really liberating to be able to do that.  It sort of sets a part of you free.  That’s the best way I can describe it.

QUESTION:  Thank you so much.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  We have time for one more question and that’s going to be Jay Bobbin.

QUESTION:  Thank you.  Justina, this is for you.  You’ve been at this career a long time.  And sometimes it takes that one galvanizing thing like “One Day at a Time” where things really break open and opportunities like this come your way.  Is it safe to assume this is an especially sweet time for you now?

JUSTINA MACHADO:  You know, it’s so bizarre because it’s so not a sweet time in the world with everything that’s happening.  But it’s kind of been, you know, I’ve been okay.  And I’m grateful.  I’m grateful for that.  And you’re absolutely right, I’ve been at it a long time.  So, I’m grateful to still be here, still at it.  And “One Day at a Time” did open this whole new world to me, for me.  And it feels good.  It feels really good to be in a place where you’re not just the person behind the camera, that people really — I mean, in front of the camera.  People really want to know your opinion, you know.  It’s valued what you have to say.  It’s more of — it’s the most I’ve ever collaborated in my life in my career, this time in my career.  So, it’s been wonderful.  And these movies — this movie that we did, Elisabeth and Skyler and I, and then Elisabeth was talking about the fact that we’re also working on some other things — it’s been liberating, exciting.  And yes, I’m happy because I’m getting old — so I’m happy.

ELISABETH ROHM:  And everybody’s who loves you is dying for you to direct.  That’s what’s going to happen next.

JUSTINA MACHADO:  Exactly.  I want to move to that, too.  I want to direct.  I want to do all these things.  Yes, that’s how I feel so yes.  It feels very good, Jay.  Thank you, it feels good.

QUESTION:  Thank you very much.  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  A big thank you to all our panelists.  Ladies, we really appreciate you taking the time to be with us today.

ELISABETH ROHM:  Thank you.

JUSTINA MACHADO:  Thank you.

SKYLER SAMUELS:  Thank you, guys.

MORE INFO:

Preview and more

Switched Before Birth
Premieres October 23 at 8/7c

Switched Before Birth follows Olivia Crawford (Skyler Samuels) and her husband Brian (Bo Yokely), who after multiple miscarriages, numerous failed IVF trials and stretching themselves to the limit financially, finally receive the joyous news that she’s pregnant with twins.  While going through her latest round of IVF, Oliva meets and becomes fast friends with Anna Ramirez (Justina Machado), who is struggling to have a child after years of focusing on her successful restaurants.  When Anna becomes pregnant as well, the ladies celebrate and begin to prepare for their babies.  Olivia is also there for Anna when she suffers a devastating miscarriage and struggles to move forward while her marriage to restaurateur Gabe Ramirez (Yancey Arias) crumbles. When Olivia and Brian finally welcome their twins Olivia’s life feels complete, but the happy couple’s world is turned upside down when they discover that not only are the babies not twins, but one of the babies is also biologically Anna and Gabe’s that was implanted into Olivia by mistake.  Now pitted against each other, Olivia will do anything to keep the baby that she carried, while Anna will stop at nothing to bring her son home.

Switched Before Birth is produced by Big Dreams Entertainment and Swirl for Lifetime.  Leslie Greif, Laurie Pozmantier and Stacy Mandelberg serve as executive producers and Elisabeth Rohm directs a script from Kelly Fullerton. Eric Tomosunas also serves as executive producer and Alex Kerr and Ron Robinson serve as producers.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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"Switched Before Birth" poster

Interview with “Chicago Fire” Actors

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

David Eigenberg, Joe Minoso and Christian Stolte of "Chicago Fire" on NBC

Interview with David Eigenberg, Joe Minoso and Christian Stolte of “Chicago Fire” on NBC by Suzanne 10/8/21

This was a really fun interview! These guys are hysterical. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Here’s the video of our chat.

NBC’s “Chicago Fire” 200th Episode Virtual Press Junket
Friday, October 8th 
12:00PM-1:30 PM PT 

Suzanne:   So, congratulations on your show being on the air for ten seasons. That’s fantastic.

Joe:   Thank you.

Christian:   Thank you.

David:   We’re very grateful.

Suzanne:   I mean, it’s not unheard of, but it’s kind of rare.  Joe, your character Cruz goes through a lot in the first three episodes. In the third episode, he seemed to be doing better, but will he still be traumatized? If you can tell us from what happened in the first episode?

Joe:   You know, I think we’ve definitely kind of gotten over that hump, at least for now. I think there are other hurdles that he’s going to be facing over the course of the season, but I think we’re going to be able to see Cruz back in action, the way he used to be.

Suzanne:   And now he’s gonna be a dad.

Christian:   Until there will be – I don’t think this is a spoiler; I think they’re okay with this, but at some point, there’s going to be an incident at a factory that results in Joe’s character having a terrible fear of packing peanuts.

Joe:   Oh, I didn’t want to bring that [up]. See, I feel like that did spoil it, because now you told them exactly. Well, you didn’t tell them that I fall into the vat of packing [peanuts]. Oh!

Christian:   Now, see, you just made it worse.

Joe:   Sorry.

Suzanne:   I have a fear of packing peanuts, so I understand. I hate those things. [laughs]

Joe:   They’re terrible for the environment.

Suzanne:   They’re almost as bad as Christmas tinsel. You’re finding it for weeks after you get the package.

Christian:   I haven’t seen tinsel in years.

Joe:   Where do you get tinsel?

Suzanne:   You can still get it online. Go on Amazon.

Christian:   Well, you’re not really doing the best job of selling me on wanting tinsel.

Joe:   Find it. It’s on Amazon!

Suzanne:   It’s worth it.  David, Herman got a black mark on his record for helping Sylvie. Is this going to cause more trouble for him this season? If you can tell us?

Joe:   Is it? Good question.

Christian:   David, is it?

David:   As my cast mates and my friends in real life, Christian and Joe, might say, my mouth, David, and the mouth of Herman are correlating in the same column of inappropriateness and belligerence, so you never know when Herm is going to snap off. The difference between me and Herman is Herman is trying to do the right thing. David is doing – how would you categorize it, Chris?

Christian:   He’s doing the thing.

David:   The thing. But you never know, and these days, we’re never cued into really what’s going to occur later on. People always find that kind of amazing, or people that you meet on the street, go like, “You should have them blah…” We don’t know.

Joe:   They don’t ask us what we’re interested in, because let me tell you, if they asked us what we were interested in, our show would be very different. Very, very different. And to their [credit], I think it’s a good idea that they’re not asking us for ideas.

Christian:   Joe’s not suggesting we would continue to get any viewers if it went our way.

Joe:   No, we would get canceled immediately.

Question:   Would it be like this conversation?

Suzanne:   Yeah, that would be good. I think you should have a podcast or something; you guys would be great.

Joe:   I keep telling Christian this. I haven’t asked David. Frankly, I want to be –

David:   There’s going to be a billing problem. It’s always a billing problem. He’s on the screen, a guy who gotten everybody to say he’s the greatest actor of our generation.

Christian:   What’s that? I’m sorry, did you want something?

David:   Yeah. See, and then it becomes – it’s a billing problem with the podcast. I’ve wanted to do it, but just…

Christian:   When David says it’s a billing problem, he’s talking about the fact that I bill him for any time he spends around me.

Joe:   Well, I mean, you have to charge David, it’s work. It’s actual literal work.

Christian:   It’s what he understands.

Question:   I have one quick question, that I think you guys kind of answered by the entire conversation, which is the show makes everyone feel sort of like a family. I was going to ask, do you feel like a family behind the scenes? I think the answer is clear by this conversation, but you can go ahead and give us a little more.

David:   Yeah, there’s a constant banter at our show, and not to be narcissistic, a lot of of it is to ridicule me, and whoever [can] pile on, they do, and because I came here –

Joe:   You have to understand. David goes in there asking to be ridiculed.

Christian:   Yes.

Joe:   He thoroughly enjoys –

Christian:   He’s not a victim of anything.

Joe:   He loves to be the butt of jokes.

Christian:   He loves it. He loves it. He invites it; he insists on it.

Joe:   Trust me. I’ve tried to talk –

David:   Family branches – that’s the flower, the thing that family branches out of. A good sense of humor and somebody who’s easy to hit.

Joe:   No one understands what the hell you’re saying you’ve made this a completely useless part of the podcast.

David:   I’m done apologizing for myself. I am what I am.

Question:   Thank you. I think that the question was answered before, but thank you.

Question:   Episode 200 I’ve heard is a very, very big one for you guys. What can you [say] about what you’re up to there?

Christian:   Can anyone think of anything to say that doesn’t spoil anything? If you have been a longtime viewer of the show, then you’re probably going to watch it without my prompt, without me trying to sell you on it, but if you are a person who’s been devoted to the show for a long time, brace yourself!

Joe:   Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is definitely –

David:   The conflict will come from outside, but the love will blossom from [with]in. That’s kind of at the core of I think what happens with a lot of these characters, even their flaws, is that they care and they have compassion, and that comes from first responders, the actual first responders that we work with, and their genuine concern for the human condition and taking care of people…We don’t have any nemesis within the core group of all the actors, the eleven, twelve, thirteen actors, depending on what day it is that we have together; we don’t have a nemesis amongst us. But the show is always branching out. It’s just, you know, it’s tentacles of love. I love that metaphor. Tentacles of love, what could be better?

Joe:   I mean, if that’s not the title to a song, I don’t know what is.

Christian:   [pulls out guitar] I’m sorry, did you say Tentacles of Love?

Joe:   Oh God, I never should have made that setup.

Christian:   Give me just a minute. All right, I’m done.

Joe:   Ask your question.

Question:   Since we are on our 200th episode, I want you each to share your favorite memory about being on the show.

Joe:   Everything between action and cut, like, especially those first couple of years, just whatever nonsense was filling our time, while they were setting up some giant fire while we were sitting in a freezing truck, those will forever be the best memories for me of the show.

Christian:   If you take the first few seasons, because it was all new to us, and we were all sort of marveling at the very idea that we could get paid to hang out with this cool group of people and suffer through some pretty rough conditions together, to the extent that you kind of lose your sense of humor on your own. Take any moment in the back of that truck where we’re laughing until tears come out of our eyes, and that’s my favorite moment. As far as the actual acting part, a lot of the cool rescues and stuff we did, those are hard won moments. They take a lot of hard work from a lot of people to make those things happen, and they are rewarding in their own way. But very recently, last week, we shot a scene that took place entirely in the bullpen, right outside Chief Boden’s office, and it was hard to comprehend, but it was a fast paced, high stakes, fast-moving scene, and it was probably the most rewarding acting experience I’ve had in ten seasons. It was exciting.

Joe:   Well, and we’ve been exploring a lot more kind of long form filming; we’ve been doing a lot more kind of longer takes. I think I will forever remember my episode with David in that elevator; that was unlike anything we’d ever filmed. We were doing thirty pages a day, twenty-five, twenty-six minute takes. And I think what Christian is kind of honing in on there is when we have the opportunity to play with each other for an extended period of time, and everyone’s hyper focused on just making the scene work, it is rewarding in a wholly new way. It’s ten years of doing, you know, one page at a time. When you get an opportunity to really let something kind of cook like that and let yourself feel through an entire couple of scenes, it’s really rewarding as an actor.

Christian:   Yeah, and to tag on to what Joe is saying, I think part of that, what is rewarding about it, is it kind of catches you almost off guard, because we don’t tend to take ourselves very seriously. We mock ourselves and each other all the time. Once in a while we’re in the moment like that, where I think each of us realizes, “Oh, we’re pretty good at this,” and we kind of forget that, because we’re used to just sort of taking ourselves in a casual fashion.

David:  [There’s] never, that I’ve ever been in or heard of, a scene in the show where everybody isn’t all inclusive, working on trying to get this thing to its best, highest level of effectiveness or creativity or however you want to label it. Everybody is on board to go, “How can we do this to make it [the] best?” And there’s never been a moment of somebody going like, “I’m not doing it like that,” type thing. And that’s a unique [thing in] my experience, not that I’ve seen a lot of that, but I’ve seen it where people bash against the grain of trying – I think the show has been very selfless in like, “How can we help make this work?” Many times other actors go like, “Can I kind of throw you something that’s going to aid you?” Or whatever. There’s a conversation about being better as opposed to how can the individual be better, because we all want each other to be as good as as we can. We always want to aid each other, rising to the highest level. It’s hard for me to explain, but it’s just hard to articulate that kind of friendship and creativity because it’s never been detracted against, if that’s right.

Christian:   And the new people come on the cast, they get it. They either get it, or they don’t last very long, but the thing is, if you come on our show and think this is gonna be about you, you’re gonna find out otherwise pretty quick.

David:   We had one actor one time, who will remain nameless, and we were at a call day, and they said, “I’ll read my lines from inside the vehicle,” and that immediately was like [shrugs]. They didn’t get out, because we were standing on the street ready to go. And not to be negative, I don’t mean to bring it down, but you fit or you don’t, and we’ve been really successful with that with those numbers.

Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com

MORE INFO:

From renowned Emmy Award-winning executive producer Dick Wolf (“Law & Order” brand) and co-creator Derek Haas, the writer behind “3:10 to Yuma,” comes season 10 of the adrenaline-fueled drama “Chicago Fire.” This edge-of-your-seat ride is a look into the professional and personal lives of the firefighters and paramedics of Firehouse 51 as they risk their lives every day to save and protect the citizens of Chicago.

Led by Capt. Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) and Lt. Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney), the Truck and Rescue Squad companies work day in and day out beside each other. This tireless, never-give-up mindset brings them all closer together – the men and women of Firehouse 51 are more than co-workers, they’re family.

The firehouse also includes Battalion Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker), who keeps his house running smoothly and his firefighters prepared to overcome all adversity. Paramedic Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) returns alongside seasoned veterans Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg) and Randy “Mouch” McHolland (Christian Stolte) as well as resourceful firefighters Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso).

Completing the team are daredevil Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende), talented and dedicated Darren Ritter (Daniel Kyri), and 51’s newest addition, headstrong paramedic Violet Mikami (Hanako Greensmith).

Executive producers are Dick Wolf, Derek Haas, Andrea Newman, Michael Gilvary, Reza Tabrizi, Arthur Forney and Peter Jankowski.

“Chicago Fire” is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Wolf Entertainment.

Please visit the official show site at: https://www.nbc.com/chicago-fire

For the latest “Chicago Fire” news, videos, and photos, please like on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram:

https://www.facebook.com/NBCOneChicago
https://www.twitter.com/NBCOneChicago
https://www.instagram.com/NBCOneChicago/

David  Eigenberg

Christopher Herrmann, “Chicago Fire”

CHICAGO FIRE -- Season: 10 -- Pictured: David Eigenberg as Christopher Herrmann -- (Photo by: Art Streiber/NBC)

David Eigenberg stars as Christopher Herrmann, a seasoned firefighter and salt-of-the-earth family man, in NBC’s drama “Chicago Fire.”

Eigenberg is known to film and television audiences for his former role as Steve Brady, the good-hearted husband and quintessential New York bar owner in the Emmy-winning HBO series “Sex and the City.”

His film credits include “See You in September,” “The Trouble with Romance,” “The Mothman Prophecies” and “A Perfect Murder.”

Eigenberg’s selected television credits include “Justified,” “Criminal Minds,” “N.C.I.S.” and “Law & Order: SVU.”

A member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York, Eigenberg has performed in numerous Off-Broadway plays. On Broadway, he received his break in 1990, playing a hustler in the original cast of John Guare’s “Six Degrees of Separation,” directed by Jerry Zaks at Lincoln Center. He also starred in the original cast of “Take Me Out,” directed by Joe Mantello, which was awarded the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Drama League and New York Critics Awards for Best Play.

Eigenberg served in the United States Marine Corps for three years. He is married and living in Chicago with his wife and two children.

Joe Minoso

Joe Cruz, “Chicago Fire”

CHICAGO FIRE -- Season: 10 -- Pictured: Joe Minoso as Joe Cruz -- (Photo by: Art Streiber/NBC)

Actor Joe Minoso plays Joe Cruz on the hit NBC drama “Chicago Fire.”

Additional TV and film credits include “Get Shorty,” “Man of Steel,” “Shameless,” “Prison Break,” “The Chicago Code” and “Boss.”

Minosora, raised in Yonkers, N.Y., graduated from Adelphi University with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, and Northern Illinois University with a master’s degree in fine arts. Minoso worked extensively in the theater prior to his television and film appearances, including Chicago’s Teatro Vista, the largest Latino theater company in the Midwest.

As the founder and CEO, Minoso recently launched Mass Epiphany Studios and the Epiphany Project. Mass Epiphany Studios is a film and television vocational arts academy and studio system that looks to be a megaphone for America’s marginalized artists of tomorrow. For more information, check out the website at www.massepiphany.com

In addition, Minoso is active in the community and supports charities and organizations that include Shriners Hospital for Children, 100 Club of Chicago, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Cycle for Survival, Salvation Army and the Red Cross.

In addition, Minoso supports animal organizations that include the World Wildlife Fund and Fetching Tales Foundation. He and his wife currently have two rescues dogs, a pit-bull and French bulldog.

Christian Stolte of "Chicago Fire" on NBCChristian Stolte

Randy “Mouch” McHolland, “Chicago Fire”

Christian Stolte stars as Randy “Mouch” McHolland, a seasoned veteran who will do anything to protect his fellow firefighters and his coveted spot on the firehouse couch, in NBC’s drama “Chicago Fire.”

Stolte was born in St. Louis during the Cuban missile crisis. He moved to Chicago 28 years later in search of artistic fulfillment. He studied acting under Jane Brody and began working steadily in Chicago theater in such places as Steppenwolf Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre (which produced a play written by Stolte, which won a Joseph Jefferson citation for Best New Work), Piven Theatre, Famous Door and Profiles Theatre.

His first film role was in “The Public Eye,” starring Joe Pesci. He has worked semi-regularly since, including roles in such films as “Ali,” “Road to Perdition,” “Stranger Than Fiction,” “Public Enemies,” and, perhaps most recognizably, as the killer who provokes Gerard Butler’s vengeance in “Law Abiding Citizen.”

On television, he has had recurring roles in the dramas “Turks,” “The Chicago Code,” “Prison Break,” “Boss” and “The Playboy Club.” He is a co-creator of the web series “Graveyard,” which can be witnessed in all its grotesque glory at thegraveyardshow.com.

Stolte still resides in Chicago, where his idiosyncrasies and peculiarities are indulged and tolerated to this day by his wife and two endlessly amusing daughters.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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David Eigenberg, Joe Minoso and Christian Stolte of "Chicago Fire" on NBC

Interview with the cast of “Queens”

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

TCA panel for Queens on ABC

Interview with actors Eve, Brandy, Naturi Naughton, Nadine Velazquez, Taylor Sele, Pepi Sonuga, and executive producers of “Queens” on ABC by Suzanne 8/26/21

ABC ENTERTAINMENT / DISNEY TELEVISION STUDIOS

SUMMER 2021 TCA VIRTUAL PRESS TOUR

Queens

Eve, Cast
Naturi Naughton, Cast
Nadine Velazquez, Cast
Brandy, Cast
Taylor Sele, Cast
Pepi Sonuga, Cast
Zahir McGhee, Executive Producer
Sabrina Wind, Executive Producer
Tim Story, Executive Producer
Swizz Beatz, Executive Music Producer

Virtual via Zoom
August 26, 2021

This was a fun chat with the cast and producers of the show. I asked Brandy (Norwood) and Eve (Jihan Jeffers) about the differences they’re feeling between doing their comedies long ago and this show now. Brandy starred in “Moesha” in the 90’s and Eve starred in “Eve” 2003-2009. They had great answers to my question. I had said “a long time ago” and then stopped myself because I didn’t want to sound like I was calling them old! I said, “And I don’t want to make it sound that long…” and Eve said, kindly, “It was a long time ago. A long time ago.”

Brandy spoke about the differences between doing that sitcom, where they would rehearse all week and then shoot before a live audience. This show is shot like a movie. She admitted, “It’s a little bit more challenging, but I love the challenge. So, I absolutely love the way that we shoot and how we have to learn things quick. And it just keeps you on your toes.”

Eve answered that she was very young, “the youngest person on the cast. So I was running from clubs to table reads, which is — I never recommend that at all.” She beamed that it’s nice to be back working as a woman and to be “working with an ensemble again that I actually feel really close to.” She was close to the people on “Eve” as well, and she enjoys that. She loves being able to create a new character that has some parallels to her own life. She said, “Definitely, I’m finding some, like, new things and being able to do — and to be like a rapper, a different rapper, an alter ego, to a certain extent. So I mean, it’s — there’s a lot. There’s a lot. And I would have to say, as much as I loved my show then, I’m able to enjoy it even more now, with maturity.”

Brandy chimed in again to say that the fact that this new show has music is a bonus for her.

Normally, I refer to all interviewees by their last names, as a sign of respect and professionalism, but since these actresses/singers go by their first names, it seems kind of silly to do that in this particular interview, so I’m not going to do that.

Other questions were asked by journalists at this TCA panel. One asked them whether the show will be playing up the rivalry between the characters or whether it will be more about their friendship. He/she observed that from what he/she had seen already, “it seems like you’re laying the groundwork here for more sisterhood.” Brandy and Eve agreed with that last statement. Nadine also agreed that they’re showing more of the friendships between the women. “I think our show is about sisterhood and family. And you fight with your family, and these are people that have been brought back together after a long period of time. And we have fights, but we want to see people supporting one another and coming back together. There’s always going to be arguments. There’s always going to be a hierarchy that exists, and shifting. But we do want to be on the friendship more so than a rivalry or bickering or backstabbing.”

A reporter asked Swizz Beatz how he chose his name (he was formerly “Kasseem Dean”) and how he found his voice and style as producer. Swizz Beatz replied that he got the name growing up in the Bronx. The name started out as “K-Swiss” because he wore Kicks sneakers, and then he became “DJ K-Swizz,” which evolved into “Swizz Beatz.” He answered the second part of the question that he just found his voice by doing the music. He asserted, “I just wanted to be disruptive, and I just wanted to make people happy.”

A member of the press noticed that the premiere had some connections to their real-life pasts and wondered if that was something that would continue throughout. Eve said that they want to be very authentic, especially about the times they lived through. There will be “moments” from them. “When people listen to the music, when they see our outfits, they see our hair, everything, we want them to be transported back to that moment. So it’s all about the authenticity.” Brandy agreed with that.

He/she also asked whether Eve will be coming out with a new album (besides the music from the series). Eve pointed out that Swizz would be the one to determine that, and Brandy would be involved as well.

Sabrina Wind suggested that the music from the show will be great, and she can’t wait for us to hear it. Eve jumped in on that to agree that the music is “incredible.” She liked doing the music for the series because it was a way to dip back into music “without having the actual pressure of an album.”

This was the next question for the cast, which was a good one: “Do you find doing rap more like singing or more like acting, or is it its own performance style completely? Or is it a blend of the two?”

Naturi Naughton answered first that she thinks rap has it’s own style but is a lot harder work than just singing. She’s a singer but felt that doing the dancing, performing, etc. was exhausting, and that she wasn’t in shape enough for it. She added, “I’m having so much fun. I never knew I could really rhyme, and I actually feel like I’m — I’m feeling myself a little bit.”

Brandy replied that she always loved rap and has “been a hip-hop head from since the ’90s.” She loves to rap as well as sing, but she says the rapping they do on the show “is really, really difficult. It’s so fun and so challenging, and I absolutely love it.”

Nadine Velazques said honestly that she’s never rapped before, but she’s loving it now. She’s been finding new rap music, listening to it and studying rappers to hear things that she’s never heard before. She concludedthat  it definitely used her acting ability because she’s never done it before.

Pepi Sonuga said thoughtfully that acting like her character, Muffin is all about acting. She tries to break the script down into different acting techniques. Then, when it comes to the rap, it’s different. “When I’m breaking down a rap, I get to colors and animals. I might say ‘This chunk reminds me of rapping like a fox, and then a bunny.’ Or like, ‘This is green,’ you know. So it’s really cool. I break down the raps just how I would break down a script. Because she’s so out there, I get to use all these techniques I’ve learned but never got to use before.”

They were asked more about the raps – some of them are more like soliloquies with a beat behind them, rather than a conventional song.

Eve agreed, saying, “I think what we want to convey is that, you know, we want to bring the artistry back to hip-hop. We want to bring back those amazing stories. We want to bring back the lyricism, which is what I’ve always been attracted to as an MC. And really rap means rhythm and poetry. You know what I mean? So we want to — you know, we want to give emotion and really show how skillful hip-hop really can be, used to be, is, depending on who the artist is.”

Zajor McGhee put in his own two cents that they always want the music tied to the story. When people have asked him before about the show, he explains that they’re not just a show with music, but more of a musical show. They use the music to help us learn about the characters and what’s going on. “And those are little tidbits that I think make the music not only amazing, with the job Swizz had done, and the amazing job these women do performing it, but we are always pushing our story forward if you were paying attention to the lyrics. And then on top of that, you can just dance. When I get to practice to Swizz, I just dance in my house.” Swizz Beatz thanked him for that.

A journalist reminded Brandy that she and her husband interviewed her (Brandy) quite a few times in the past (early in her career), and she was very ambitious back then during those interviews. Brandy had said that she wanted to do it all. She wanted her own show, to sing in records, concerts and movies, and to produce. She said, “You wanted to be a queen back then.” Brandy was surprised to hear from her. She said that Brandy had “ticked off a lot of those boxes” and asked, “What boxes are left, and what gave you that ambition to be Queen Brandy way back at the start?”

Brandy suggested that the passion is something you’re born with. She said you go after the things you dream about. She’s always wanted to sing and inspire people. She felt it was her purpose, so she pursued it. She tied the question into “Queens,” saying that it’s a blessing because she gets to do all of the things she loves in one show, “with amazing people. And I’m just so excited. I can’t even believe this is happening or that it’s even real. So I’m just in the moment, excited.”

Brandy was asked about her future and long-term goals. She would like to do this for as long as she can and to do more film and more music. “I love music, until the day I die. So it’s more to do.”

About the show, the cast was asked where the names came from and whether it would really be possible for a group like this to “reboot” and try to make it in the music business again. Nadine quipped, “Not without a Valeria.” Naturia thinks it might be easier to reboot because they “have things like Verses, for example. We should revive the music and give even a new generation an opportunity. So thanks, Swizz, for doing things like that. Even things like social media. We are able to bring old school to the new school. So if a group like New Edition or a group like Nasty B’s wants to revive themselves — I actually think it’s very possible and attainable if they want to. That’s actually what our show explores. Do you really want this life again? That’s the question.”

Saladin pointed out that Backstreet Boys did a reunion tour as well as New Kids on the Block and Boyz II Men… “We’re seeing it happen a lot in the world. So I think people are passionate for the good times that they had back in the day, and what those memories are.”

Zahir couldn’t give specific reasons how he came up with the characters’ names. He said, “one by one, when I was thinking about the show, the names sort of came to me first. And I would pitch them to, like, my reps as they’d come up with a new name. But how they came about, I really don’t have any idea.” Then the cast members joked around for a minute about the names.

A reported noted that the group of artists is unusual “you have …former solo artists and girl group singers, rappers, and singers.” She asked how they got them together and whether it was a big adjustment for Nadine (who never rapped or sang before).

Nadine admitted, in a very sweet speech, that she was intimidated by the idea, but she “was ready to face the things that I’ve been keeping from the world. So, you know, I am musical in my soul. I am a poet in my soul. I am a dancer. And she’s in there. And this job is making her come out. And I’ve been hiding her forever. I’m going to cry. And like — the support of Eve, and the way that Tim Story supports, and Brandy supports, they gave me life to just, like, every scene bring her out more and more. And I’ve had a really traumatic experience in the entertainment business, because I was so afraid to show so much. But I get to be that here. And so, like, kind of like the character; it’s like a second chance, and it’s like an opportunity to become something, to redefine myself, just like these characters are.”

No one answered the reporter’s first question after that, unfortunately. That happens sometimes in these panels.

A reporter reminded Nadine that when he/she interviewed her a few years ago, she said that she doesn’t do singing and dancing. He/she asked how she was handling choreography for the show. Nadine replied that she feels like she has two left feet, but she’s getting it. She’s had tremendous growth since the pilot and feels a lot more comfortable and free with her dancing.

Taylor was asked if he’s playing “a composite of producers and managers that we’ve heard about from the past.” Taylor answered in a sort of roundabout way. “I think I’m playing a full and complex human being who is on a quest for self—discovery and searching for meaning. And I think producers in the past have been on that journey themselves. They’re human beings. So I’m trying my best not to be a caricature, but behind the scenes, when they get to see this character, he’s confronting himself in many ways. And that’s where his growth will come from. And hopefully people can relate to that.”

Brandy and Eve were asked this question, “each of you are adapting sort of different aspects of your styles in these characters. How did that combination work?”

Eve said that when they all first got together, they just instantly clicked. The others agreed. She did specify that they all were used to working different ways, so they had to make adjustments. She was used to doing dance rehearsals a certain way, for instance. She admitted that she got frustrated because she was having trouble with the steps. She added, “But it just was like Nadine said, it’s the support of each other that has helped all of us be able to gel together. And the respect for one another. And the understanding that we all do work in different ways. And we’re still learning and gelling. It’s honestly been incredible, really.”

Brandy added her own feelings, that she wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else because it’s “magical” with this group. Naturi added, “I always wanted sisters growing up, and now I feel like I’ve got them.” Brandy said, “And you’ve got them, girl.” It was a very sweet, genuine moment.

Zahir was asked who inspired him for the character Li’l Muffin. He said that he was “just inspired by the freedom and the character of all of the rappers that are out today, whether that’s Nicki or, you know, Cardi, Megan. You know, Rico Nasty, right? Like, they’re just out there. And part of it is an image thing, but also there’s a level of self—expression with these young artists today that didn’t exist. Megan, in one of the songs, is rapping about Sasuke. And I looked it up, and it’s an anime character, or whatever. And I’m like, ‘Wow, hip-hop has changed.’ But that’s cool, you know.” He went on to say that Li’l Muffin is a combination of all of these artists. He was impressed with the way Pepi came in and just nailed the character and then brought it to another level.

Swizz Beatz was asked how he keeps the lyrics of the music “fresh and entertaining and on trend.”

Swizz said that he grew up doing this type of thing in the 90’s and liked reliving his youth. He said, “doing it in 2021, it just feels good. It feels natural. And being that it’s a show, I get to have extra fun, you know. I don’t have to be so serious with the music. You know, we can have fun and put risky things in there and, you know, make the characters come out even more. So it’s been a fun journey.”

A journalist asked Brandy about going from “Disney Princess” to “ABC Queen” – what will her fans from “Cinderella” think about this new show?

Brandy thinks they’ll enjoy it because it’s versatile and very different. She’s definitely not a princess on this show.

The others commented that Brandy is very different on “Queens.” Nadine said, “She’s very powerful on the show, very. Very badass and raw and beautiful.”

Taylor chimed in to say that, “Zahir has been able to capture with his writing, the evolution of human beings, with the spirit and people fighting for what they want and fighting themselves. Just watching these women work every day, just not only as artists but as performers, has been inspiring to learn something from them every day. So I think that’s what fans will really grasp and feel when you watch this.”

Another reporter asks what makes this show different from shows like “Star” and “Girls5eva.” I would have asked this question, too, so I’m glad someone did. Zahir answered that he thinks there is room for all of their shows, although he’s not a regular viewer of the other shows. He wasn’t able to compare them very well. As he said earlier, this is more of a musical and character drama about the women and their lives, “and second chances.” He thinks those other shows “were potentially a little more focused on the music business.” Actually, I would say it’s a lot like a combination of both shows.

He also pointed out that many of the people in their cast were around in the music business back in the 90s, so that gives their show, “a certain level of authenticity.” He also doesn’t think most networks have a show with “five women of color and a man of color front and center.” He said, “we have the opportunity to tell the breadth of stories about the experience of women of color and Black women in this country that isn’t the pressure of Eve having to be the one Black character to say the thing that matters, right? Like we are varied; we’re great. We are beautiful. And I think that the time was yesterday for this show, and the time is today, and the time is tomorrow for this show.”

MORE INFO:

QUEENS (Tuesdays, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) Series Premieres Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021

Starring Eve, Naturi Naughton, Nadine Velazquez and Brandy, “Queens” follows four women in their 40s who reunite for a chance to recapture their fame and regain the swagger they had in the ‘90s when they were legends in the hip-hop world.

“Queens” stars Eve as Brianna aka Professor Sex, Naturi Naughton as Jill aka Da Thrill, Nadine Velazquez as Valeria aka Butter Pecan, Taylor Sele as Eric Jones, Pepi Sonuga as Lil Muffin and Brandy as Naomi aka Xplicit Lyrics.

“Queens” is produced by ABC Signature, a part of Disney Television Studios. The pilot episode was written by Zahir McGhee and directed by Tim Story. Zahir McGhee, Sabrina Wind and Tim Story are executive producers. Swizz Beatz is executive music producer. The series will be filmed in Atlanta.

BIOS

Eve, star of "Queens" on ABCEve is a GRAMMY®, Daytime Emmy®, BET and MTV Video Music Award winning artist. Previously, she served as the host of CBS’ “The Talk” and appeared in the Netflix show “Feel Good.”
Eve is best known for her multimillion-selling records “Who’s That Girl,” “Gangsta Lovin’” and “Let Me Blow Your Mind” featuring Gwen Stefani, which won the inaugural GRAMMY Award for Best Rap/Song Collaboration in 2002. She has released four multimillion-selling albums and 32 singles, and she has collaborated with some of the biggest artists in the world throughout her career – Dr. Dre, Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Jill Scott, DMX, Swizz Beatz, Juicy J, The Roots and Missy Elliot. Currently back in the studio after seven years, she is working with some of the biggest producers and writers from around the world – Dallas Austin, Jin Jin, Jessie Ware and Toddla T.
In July 2019, Eve released her first single in six years, “Reload,” to a huge wave of applause with plays across BBC 1Xtra from Mistajam and BBC Radio 1 from Annie Mac and Clara Amfo. She embarked on her biggest UK dates ever last year playing over 10 UK arenas with Kiss FM. 2021 looks to be the year Eve debuts her new live shows at UK and U.S. festivals, marking her debut at any festival in the world.
In October 2020, Eve announced joining the BBC and BBC Sounds exclusively for her debut podcast “Constantly Evolving,” where she speaks to cultural figures from all backgrounds talking about life, how they got through their struggles in both personal and business life, and how they are still “Constantly Evolving.”

Brandy, star of "Queens" on ABCBorn to a musical family, Brandy, the Mississippi-born daughter of Willie and Sonja Norwood, became one of the most successful multimedia stars of the ’90s thanks to her constant presence on both the pop and R&B charts, her popular hit sitcom “Moesha” and the classic made-for-TV movie phenomenon “Cinderella” (starring Whitney Houston), which attracted more than 60 million viewers and broke new ground with its multicultural cast.
Since emerging with her 3x-platinum self-titled debut album in 1994 (released when Brandy was only 15 years old), this trailblazing pioneer has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide (including the 5x-platinum-selling “Never Say Never”) and is ranked one of the bestselling female artists in American music history by the RIAA, having sold over 11 million albums in the United States. During her reign, she recorded five albums: “Never Say Never” (1998), “Full Moon” (2002), “Afrodisiac” (2004), “Human” (2008) and “Two Eleven” (2012).
Brandy has also earned scores of awards, including a GRAMMY®, an AMA, two Soul Train Music Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, three Billboard Awards, four MTV Awards, six Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards, two Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards and three BMI Awards. While maintaining a recording career, she also gained fame for starring in several film and TV projects including the popular UPN sitcom “Moesha” (1996-2001), a 1997 version of “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” a supporting role in the 1998 horror sequel “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer,” BET’s series “The Game” and as a judge on the No. 1-rated talent competition “America’s Got Talent.” All of this success landed Brandy features in Billboard, Uptown Magazine, Essence Magazine, NY Daily News, Rolling Stone, The Today Show, PlayBill, and more. Additionally, she has also been a spokesmodel for Cover Girl, DKNY and Ultima/Kaneka brand by Brandy.
Taking things to the next level in spring 2015, she made her Broadway debut in the Tony® Award-winning, record-breaking musical smash “Chicago” as Roxie Hart. “Chicago” is the No. 1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history and Brandy is now a part of that history.
At the top of 2016, Brandy released “Beggin & Pleadin,” a bluesy trap-soul melody that was greeted with much admiration. Her first studio album in eight years, “b7,” was released on July 31, 2020, to critical and fan acclaim, and debuted at No. 1 on the Independent and Current R&B Charts. Recently, Brandy teamed up with singer Monica in a Verzuz celebration. The celebration of R&B and the culture garnered 6 million views and 5 billion impressions on the virtual platform, making it the most-viewed Verzuz battle to date.

Naturi Naughton, one of the stars of "Queens" on ABCSinger, songwriter and actress Naturi Naughton is known most recently for her globally recognized role as Tasha St. Patrick in the six seasons of Starz Network’s No. 1 hit series “Power,” created by powerhouse producer/writer Courtney Kemp and executive produced by 50 Cent. Having wrapped the sixth and final season of “Power,” Naughton’s character has been extended into the “Power” franchise spinoff, “Power Book II: Ghost,” which debuted on Sept. 6, 2020, and has already been renewed for a second season in which she will continue her role as Tasha St. Patrick. Naughton is the two-time recipient of the 2017 and 2018 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work on “Power.”
She has also been honored at the 2019 Triumph Awards, as well as been recognized by the Women in Entertainment Executive Network (WEEN), Black Women in Film Summit and the National Urban League of New York for outstanding works in TV and film.
Naughton’s critically acclaimed work as an actress includes her compelling performance as Lil Kim in Fox Searchlight’s hit film “Notorious,” as well as her role as Denise Dupree in MGM’s remake of the classic film “Fame.” In August 2020, Naughton starred as Sarah Green in the film “Emperor,” based on an escaped slave who travels north and has chance encounters with Frederick Douglass and John Brown. She has also starred in various other projects including Warner Bros.’ “Lottery Ticket,” opposite Loretta Devine, Ice Cube, Mike Epps and Bow Wow. On the small screen, Naughton is known for her memorable guest performances on “Mad Men” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” and her roles on “The Playboy Club” and “The Client List.” She also appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award®-winning musical “Hairspray” for three years.
Before her transition into film and television, Naughton was a member of the platinum-selling pop trio 3LW. She was greatly inspired Nadine Velazquez, one of the stars of "Queens" on ABCby Whitney Houston as a child and knew by the age of 5 that she wanted to be a singer and an actress. In 2021, Naughton will begin releasing fresh music as a solo artist and is excited to dive back into the craft that launched her ever-blossoming career.
She currently splits her time between Los Angeles and New York and is the mother of 3-year-old daughter Zuri.

Nadine Velazquez is an American actress and writer. In addition to her work on “Queens,” she wrote and will star/produce her series “La’Tina” at Showtime with Will Smith and Frankie Shaw. She previously starred in HISTORY’s series “Six” with Walton Goggins and starred opposite Kevin Hart in “Real Husbands of Hollywood.” Other features include Paramount’s “Flight” opposite Denzel Washington, Summit Entertainment’s “Snitch” opposite Dwayne Johnson, and 20th Century Fox’s “The Bounce Back” opposite Shemar Moore and Bill Belamy. Velazquez also starred in NBC’s “Love Is a Four Letter Word,” the FX beloved series “The League,” and as recurring characters in CW’s “Hart of Dixie” and TNT’s “Major Crimes.” She is also known for her lead role as Catalina in NBC’s Golden Globe-winning series “My Name Is Earl.”

Taylor Sele, one of the stars of "Queens" on ABCBorn in Monrovia, Liberia, Taylor Sele immigrated to Queens, New York, at an early age and has always been drawn to performance and entertainment. First finding a love of sport, his athleticism landed him a football scholarship at Boston College followed by the opportunity to play professionally in the NFL.
As an actor, Sele is compelled by the nuanced choices characters make and the inherent drama of that decision-making process. A grounded yet versatile talent, he has starred opposite Claire Danes in “Homeland” (Showtime) and Forest Whitaker in “Godfather of Harlem” (Epix). Sele is honored to star alongside the four female forces of “Queens.”
His additional credits include “The Deuce” (HBO), Ava Duvernay’s “When They See Us” (Netflix), “Orange Is the New Black” (Netflix), “P Valley” (Starz), “Blue Bloods” (CBS) and “FBI” (CBS).

Pepi Sonuga, one of the stars of "Queens" on ABCPepi Sonuga is one to watch on both the big and small screen.  Sonuga also stars in the Hulu limited series “Pam & Tommy” opposite Lily James, Sebastian Stan and Seth Rogen.
On film, Sonuga appeared in A24’s neo-noir crime drama thriller “Under the Silver Lake” opposite Andrew Garfield, Jimmi Simpson, Riley Keough and Topher Grace. Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the film premiered at Cannes in 2018. She also starred in the Netflix feature “Thriller” opposite Mykelti Willamson and RZA.
Sonuga got her first start in 2013 in the drama “The Life of a King.” The film is based on the true story of Eugene Brown, played by Cuba Gooding Jr., an ex-convict who starts the Big Chair Chess Club for inner-city youths in Washington, D.C. Other film credits include the SyFy feature “Leprechaun Returns.” On television, Sonuga plays a young Angela Bassett on Fox’s “9-1-1” and the lead in an installment of Hulu’s “Into the Dark” anthology series. She previously starred in Freeform’s drama series “Famous in Love” for two seasons and Starz’s comedy horror series “Ash vs Evil Dead,” created by Sam Raimi.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Sonuga currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Episodes:

Queens: SERIES PREMIERE – 1999 (10/19)

“1999” – Starring Eve, Naturi Naughton, Nadine Velazquez and Brandy, “Queens” follows a fractured girl group living in the shadows of their once prominent hip-hop dynasty. After their popularity skyrocketed with the success of their chart-topping single, “Nasty Girl,” they were once regarded as one of the greatest girl groups of their generation. Despite critical and commercial success, the group was plagued by internal conflict and jealousy. Estranged and out of touch, the four women, now in their 40s reunite for a chance to recapture their fame and regain the swagger they had in the ‘90s when they were legends in the hip-hop world. The series premiere of “Queens” airs TUESDAY, OCT. 19 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (TV-14, DLS) Watch episodes on demand and on Hulu the day following their premieres.

“1999” was written by Zahir McGhee and directed by Tim Story.   Repeats 10/24.

Queens: Heart of Queens (10/26)

“Heart of Queens” – While Brianna deals with the shattering truths of her marriage, Jill risks losing the safe community she has built for herself when she decides it is time to stop living a lie and comes clean about who she really is. Meanwhile, after a fateful meeting with Cam’ron, Naomi struggles with finally putting herself first on an all-new “Queens,” TUESDAY, OCT. 26 (10:01-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (TV-14, DLS) Watch episodes on demand and on Hulu the day following their premieres.

Guest starring is Cam’ron as himself.

“Heart of Queens” was written by Zahir McGhee and directed by Tim Story.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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poster for "Queens" on ABC