Tag: interview

AMERICAN SONG CONTEST— Season: 1 -- Pictured: Kelly Clarkson -- (Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC)

Interview with Noah Weisberg

Posted on March 18, 2022March 18, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Noah Weisberg of "Super Pumped: The Story of Uber"

Interview with Noah Weisberg of “Super Pumped: The Story of Uber” on Showtime by Thane 3/17/22

It was a pleasure to speak to him about the show. I’ve known the controversies surrounding Uber for quite a while, so I enjoyed watching a series about it. This is such a great show, and it’s clear that everyone involved loves it and puts forth their best efforts.

Enjoy the video! We’ll have the transcript up soon…

Check out our other Interview with actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kyle Chandler and Uma Thurman; and EP/Writers Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Beth Schacter of “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” on Showtime 2/23/22

MORE INFO:

SUPER PUMPED

“TK — You’re going to love my nuts.” Quentin / Noah Weisberg

Last week, audiences had the opportunity to watch the premiere episode of Showtime’s “SUPER PUMPED: The Battle for Uber”. In the opening scene, you meet Quentin, played by rising star Noah Weisberg (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist).

“TK, you’re gonna love my nuts,” says Quentin, before pitching the Safe Rides Fee: a surcharge added to each trip to cover added costs of ensuring safety… except Uber isn’t taking any extra measures to ensure safety. Paired with a cheap safety video made for drivers, the fee just provides the illusion of care, while bringing in hundreds of millions in profit for Uber. “Wow, I do love your nuts,” Travis responds.

At the end of the episode, we witness the initial moment Travis Kalanick, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, hires Quentin after Quentin claims himself as “an asshole”. “That’s the right answer. Because if you’re not, you’ll never make it at Uber.” TK responds.

Noah Weisberg‘s Quentin will be featured in 6 out of the 7 episodes of Season One as Head of the Uber Tech Department. As Quentin becomes TK’s right-hand tech man, he finds himself carrying out TK’s (often illegal) technical changes to the app, overriding laws in order to make the most money possible.

Weisberg most recently played ‘Danny Michael Davis’ on the fan-favorite NBC series ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST on both its seasons. Prior to that, Weisberg starred as ‘Willy Wonka’ on the national tour of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.

Television credits include recurring roles on Fox’s MODERN FAMILY, TNT’s MAJOR CRIMES, and NBC’s LAW & ORDER, and he has guest-starred on numerous series including CBS’ THE WISDOM THE CROWD, CBS’ THE GOOD WIFE, TBS’ FRANKLIN & BASH, Fox’s BONES, CBS’ BAD TEACHER, NBC’s THE NEW NORMAL.

Noah is also well-known from being part of the Original Broadway casts of ELF – THE MUSICAL, ENRON, LEGALLY BLONDE, and the Off-Broadway revival productions of THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA and DAMN YANKEES. Weisberg also wrote, directed, and starred in the award-winning short film THANK YOU KINDLY, co-starring Kimiko Glenn.

IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1798631/

Website: www.noahweisberg.com

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Noah Weisberg of "Super Pumped: The Story of Uber"

Interview with Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu and Adrian Groulx

Posted on March 15, 2022May 20, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu and Adrian Groulx of "Young Rock" on NBC

Interview with Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu and Adrian Groulx of “Young Rock” on NBC Thane 3/9/22

Speaking with these three young men was almost like talking to “The Rock” himself! They were a lot of fun to chat with. I especially enjoyed hearing about Uli and Bradley’s workouts. Don’t miss the Season 2 premiere 3/15!

Jamie: Bradley, I love the dynamics between teenage Duane and Ata. Talk about what we will be exploring in their relationship this season.

Bradley: Oh yeah. That’s– I will agree with you. I love that relationship just as much. Coming back this season, I was really hoping to have more scenes that would show that special dynamic between Dwayne and his mom because me and my mom are so close and she’s always been there for me and that’s always been kind of a staple in me becoming who I am, and this season, it really opens up a lot more in my timeline, especially, Dwayne really leaned on his mom. When things were really hard, she was always there for him. When he was lost, she always found them and kind of kept them moving forward and always staying positive. And this season, there’s a lot more of that.

Jamie: Uli, Stacy mentioned that she’ll be getting to work more with you this season as well because you’re more grown and you’re exploring the older aspects of Dwayne a lot as well. And she noted that 20-year-old Dwayne also butts heads a lot with hi mom as well. And it’s hard to parent from far away, you know, you’re in Miami at this time. What did Dwayne talk about with you about their relationship as far as mother and son being so loving and so close, yet being so far away at this point in their lives?

Uli: Yeah, we didn’t actually– Dwayne and I didn’t actually hit on anything with that for this season. But I always knew from the outset, from season one, that their relationship was really really close… is really, really close. The distance thing for me… it doesn’t matter where– Dwayne could be across, you know, the other side of the world and Ata could be on the other side, you know, as they are often at times. But they’re so close, they’ll be on the phone with each other. And that’s the same thing that happens now in our show. It’s like, they’re never far from each other at all. Ata is always checking in or, [saying] “Have you done this? We’ve done this, we’ve done this. Have you received this package?” or whatnot. And I think that’s how a mum is, you know? My mum was always checking up on me, or [asking] why wasn’t I at home at particular time. Um, let’s not get into that…

(Laughter)

Uli: But that’s what moms do. We’re their babies. So with Dwayne and Ata, it’s no different,

Stephanie: So, um, Adrian, one of my favorite parts of the show is the relationship between young Dewey and Andre the Giant. Is that something we’re going to get to continue to see more of in season two?

Adrian: I definitely agree with you. That is definitely one of my favorite aspects of my character’s scenes. And we will get to see a little bit more of Andre and Dewey having some fun.

Stephanie: And, Uli, you’re up to the point where The Rock becomes The Rock. Did you have to learn how to wrestle to play The Rock as he learned how to wrestle.

I did. And we don’t actually jump straight into Dwayne becoming the rock. Obviously he had a quite a bit of a transition from when he stopped playing football. So it was almost like it was parallel with my own learning of how to wrestle. In the storyline Dwayne is learning how to get everything down pat, and so was I, as an actor. So I learned, but I loved it. I grew up playing football, uh, Rugby Union here in Australia. So the contact was– I just felt in my element and, uh, and took to it pretty quickly. So… So, uh, you know, we’ll see… we’ll see if the wrestling fans agree.

Stephanie: We always hear stories from young wrestlers about when they took their first bump. So what was that like for you?

Uli: Oh my gosh. Let’s just say a few crash mats. It was, uh, yeah, it was tough. It’s not as easy, and I will say this, you know… I think the general perception outside of wrestling fans is that it’s all make believe, but I guarantee you, the hits are real. And your body.. We ended up shooting 13-hour days. And then at the end of those 13 hours, come and rehearse wrestling. So your body feels it, and full credit to everyone who gets into the squaredd circle, as they say.

Stephanie: And, Bradley (and for everyone), you guys all got to actually work together in the Christmas episode. Is that something you’d like to do more of in other, maybe special episodes?

Bradley: Oh, are you kidding me? I would love that. There’s so many, like, fun ideas you can think of. You could do, like, a Halloween episode. I would love to do a musical episode. We can all be in something like that. That’d be pretty cool.

Uli: Yeah.

Bradley: I know that the opportunities are endless. I’d love to do it.

Uli: We pitched it, by the way.

Bradley: Yeah, we pitched it.

Uli: So Joseph Lee Anderson and I (sorry, I don’t know if we have time for this, but) were singing backstage, and just fooling around. And then, uh, Brian Goatz, who’s the producer from Seven Bucks (Production) was there, and he started recording. And then sent it to DJ. So I dunno if that’s, you know, potentially, we could have a [musical] “Young Rock.”

Bradley: And they can both sing… just about everyone on this show can actually really sing. You know what? Let’s go for it.

Stephanie: Thank you.

Moderator: Okay. Next we have Thane with The TV MegaSite.

Uli: Hey, Thane.

Bradley: What’s up?

Thane: Bradley and Uli, do you spend a lot of time working out? How much time per week?

Uli: I’ll take this one. Uh, I train maybe five days, depending, five days a week. I really enjoy staying in shape and going to the gym and working out. It helps me quite a lot. Um, so yeah, so I mix up weight training with, um, Very little cardio. So that’s what I that’s what I like to do.

(Bradley laughs at his cardio comment)

Bradley: During filming, me and my buddy, Michael, we would.. we’d go to the gym every morning at 3:00 AM. And that was the first time I’ve ever been that religious about it. Like this season, it was probably the most I’ve ever worked out in my life. I really enjoyed it. And it’s, like, it’s followed me ever since. So it’s about six, seven days a week now. I’ll take off and do… I’ll do more cardio because I like it. (Laughs)

Uli: By the way, Bradley was up at 3:00 AM every morning. This is no word of a lie. And I would see him and another cast mate (who I can’t announce) at the gym every morning, 3:30, you know, so kudos to you, bruh.

Thane: Did you have to work hard to try to act like The Rock? And did he give you any pointers?

Bradley: Uli, you can go first, man.

Uli: Uh, yeah, “Don’t be terrible.” No, he didn’t say that.

(Laughter)

Uli: Uh, he really– Dwayne’s great. He gave us a lot of freedom, and basically, the number one thing for me through our conversations was — particularly in his younger years — he was very driven. He was very focused about achieving something. He wasn’t too sure about what that was or what that looked like. But he knew he was meant for something great. And he was willing to put in the work. And I think for me, Dwayne’s advice was, “Always keep that in the back of your mind, that I’m willing to do the work and get to where I want to get to,” with the two hands that he has.

Bradley: For me, he just told me to have belief in myself, you know, and also, that I was in good hands. And I really was, like having Uli around, having all over producers around… everyone. That’s a part of the “Young Rock” technical team. You know, they’ve got our backs and, you know, leaning into that. You don’t really have to copy anything, and everybody’s got you taken care of. I’m sure, Adrian, you can agree?

Adrian: Yeah, everyone is really, really amazing on, uh, on the cast and crew. I didn’t really get to talk to Duane too much about how to play and, Uh, portray the role. So I kind of.. while I was reading the script side, I had a little fun with it. Maybe, uh, improvised a couple of things. But I didn’t really think too hard about it ’cause I just didn’t want to overthink it. So I , you know, played around with it.

Watch our other “Young Rock” Interviews with Stacey Leilua and Joseph Lee Anderson and Ana Tuisila and Matthew Willig

MORE INFO:

Trailer

Young Rock

Tuesdays on NBC (8-8:30 p.m. ET); Season Premiere: March 15

The second season of “Young Rock” delves back into Dwayne Johnson’s life, continuing the storylines from season one while also introducing new chapters we haven’t yet seen. As Dwayne and his loving, resilient family face new challenges and meet new wild characters of professional wrestling, Dwayne contemplates embracing the grind of professional wrestling himself. The show will explore the crazy rollercoaster that has shaped Dwayne into the man he is today and the larger-than-life people he’s met along the way.

Dwayne Johnson, Joseph Lee Anderson, Stacey Leilua, Ana Tuisila, Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu, Fasitua Amosa, John Tui and Matthew Willig star.

Created by Nahnatchka Khan and Jeff Chiang and inspired by Dwayne Johnson’s life. Nahnatchka Khan, Jeff Chiang, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Jennifer Carreras, Hiram Garcia, Brian Gewirtz and Jeffrey Walker serve as executive producers.

“Young Rock” is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, Seven Bucks Productions and Fierce Baby Productions.

Bradley Constant

Dwayne Johnson (15 years old), “Young Rock”

Bradley Constant plays 15-year-old Dwayne Johnson in the new NBC comedy “Young Rock.” Alabama-born Constant began pursuing acting at 12 and convinced his mom to move him to New York City where he would study and begin to gain experience in the industry. The tough environment and fast-paced productivity of the city prepared him for an even bigger move to Los Angeles, where he is now based. Constant previously appeared in the 2018 film “Following Phil” and has had roles in several shorts before landing the part in “Young Rock.” Constant is a die-hard sports fan who also enjoys gaming, bass fishing and golfing.

Uli Latukefu

Dwayne Johnson (age 18-20), “Young Rock”

Uli Latukefu plays 18-20-year-old Dwayne Johnson on the new NBC comedy “Young Rock.” Latukefu will next be seen in Taika Waititi’s feature “Next Goal Wins,” opposite Michael Fassbender and Elizabeth Moss, and was most recently seen in Kriv Stenders’ feature “Danger Close” as well as the new Foxtel drama series “The End.” He also starred in the comedy series “Sando,” the third season of the Nine Network’s “Doctor Doctor” and the drama series “Harrow.” Other screen credits include Ridley Scott’s feature “Alien: Covenant” and Netflix’s epic drama “Marco Polo.” Latukefu was previously featured in Chris Lilley’s “Jonah From Tonga” and the critically acclaimed Foxtel series “Devil’s Playground,” which was awarded the 2015 Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Telemovie and the 2015 AACTA Award for Best Telefeature or Miniseries. He made his Broadway debut in “Peter Pan” at New York’s New Victory Theatre, graduated from Australia’s prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 2012 and was a 2016 Heath Ledger Scholarship finalist.

Adrian Groulx

Dwayne Johnson (age 10), “Young Rock”

Adrian Groulx plays 10-year-old Dwayne Johnson on the new NBC comedy “Young Rock.” Groulx is a Toronto-based actor who will next be seen on the Apple+ series “See,” starring Jason Momoa. Previously, he was a series regular on the CBC series “The Adventures of Napkin Man” and also appeared in the Hallmark Channel movie “The Christmas Cure.” In his free time, Groulx enjoys playing sports and spending time with his family.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu and Adrian Groulx of "Young Rock" on NBC

Interview with Ana Tuisila and Matthew Willig

Posted on March 15, 2022April 11, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Ana Tuisila and Matthew Willig of "Young Rock" on NBC

Interview with Ana Tuisila and Matthew Willig of “Young Rock” on NBC on Lifetime by Thane 3/9/22

Willig plays family friend “André the Giant” and Tuisila plays Lia, the feisty grandma of young Dewey. It was quite a treat to speak with them. They do a great job on the show. I was especially interested to hear from Tuisila because we’re both from New Zealand! I was looking forward to asking Willig about how they got him a similar height to Andre the great, and his answer didn’t disappoint.

Question: Hi, Matthew, did you have any trepidation about playing a legend like Andre the Giant? Because you know, wrestling fans like me, we take Andre pretty seriously.

Matthew: [Laughs] You know, I didn’t…I think I was so into it right away and so excited about doing it that by the time, you know — literally as I booked the job, I was already watching videos and starting the voice process of it all. There’s no question that every now and then I will pause and say, “God, I hope to God that I am giving it some justice,” because that is so important to me.

After season one, I did have some really nice feedback, which is important. Number one, from Dwayne; and number two, from some people who either knew of Andre or knew him back in the day. So I’m not going to be perfect. I know it’s my interpretation. But yes, there’s obviously some trepidation.

It can be…there has been a few moments where I said, “God, am I even close?” You know, to this. But again, it’s my interpretation. I’m always bringing the love, trying to be honest as I can with it. And I’m hoping that’s kind of getting through.

Question: I just love the friendship between young Dewey and Andre. It’s probably my favorite thing about the show. And I’m wondering how we will see that continue to develop in season 2?

Matthew: Thank you. It’s obviously it’s my favorite part as well. And it’s something that I think, you know, people were not only shocked that there was that relationship, but number two, that it was close like that.

Yes, season two, you will see some more of Big Andre imposing his knowledge on little Dewey as he moves forward in life. The stakes are getting higher. The things that little Dewey is worrying about — girls, things like that, you know, love… Andre has some things to say and kind of, you know, as we go along, we see him sort of setting him straight. I’m looking forward to your guys seeing him, at least.

Question: Ana, we saw last season that your character was fighting to keep her wrestlers on her payroll. How will we see her handling her employees this season? And what kind of obstacles will she be facing as the promoter?

Ana: Thank you for the question. I couldn’t wait to answer your question because I’m so excited about season two, because you’re going to see more of Lia, in terms of answering that question. So just wait for season two because all will be revealed. There’s so there’s going to be more of her and her relationship with the so-called promoters in the wrestling field, and how she copes with trying to maintain her own business. So it’ll all be revealed in season two, and it’s more fun and funnier…a lot of, un-PC things will be happening. but, yeah, she gets the business rolling. And yes, it’s going to be in season two. So it’d be more about that to come. Yeah.

Question: Matthew, what kind of insight Did Dwayne offer you into his relationship with Andre when he was a kid?

Matthew: You know, it started with the fact that he called him Uncle Andre. He was literally that sort of character for him. You know, he was someone that was around that period a lot, always in and out of Hawaii. So, at that age, he didn’t see as the scary Andre. He saw the loving Andre, who he was. He used to treat him like a jungle gym, you know? So there was sort of that part of it, and Duane said right away, number one, the man embodied respect, which he learned very early on. And number two, there was a lot of love that he felt for young people and people his age. And he kind of even felt that back then, that Andre was almost like a kid himself. And I think we can appreciate the fact that someone that large and sort of that, uh, scary to a certain degree, the fact that he has that other side of him that is this loving, genuinely caring sort of individual. And so those are the kinds of things that Dwayne told me right off the bat and what has kind of led me into the character that I portrayed in the last two seasons.

Thane: Matthew, you are shorter than the real Andre. Do they give you lifts for your shoes, or (did they) just (use) camera angles to make you look taller?

Matthew: (Laughs) I’m always rooting for camera angles, but I will say that, when we first started, especially, there were lifts in my wrestling boots and also in the boots that I wore for everyday dress, which was a pain in the ass. I gotta be honest. I had a whole new appreciation for women and when they wear heels because I was basically wearing heels on set. So, yeah, so there’s that. Listen, I’m never going to be seven-foot-whatever Andre was, but I think even being 6’7/ 6’8, you know, I think we’re able to play with that and have that sort of distinction between,the normal size person and what Andre was.

Thane: Ana, what preparation did you do, if any, to play the role, since it’s based on a real person?

Ana: Very little is known about Lia Maivia, so the only preparation I had was help from, Dwayne Johnson, and his mother, Ata. So I asked for any dialogue or any tapes of…Well, they don’t call them tapes these days… Anything that could give me some idea of how she spoke. So, it was more information from Ata and Dwayne Johnson, and my own experience as a Samoan woman and mother sort of helped the role a bit because it’s very similar in terms of how strong and fearless she is. I mean, my own mother and mother-in-law are of the same ilk. So, in terms of that it wasn’t so hard. From knowing who Lia was, just feedback and information and advice from Dwayne and his mother, Ata.

Question: Ana, Lia is such a fun over-the-top character. Did you get notes from the family about how far you could take her?

Ana: Thank you. That’s a great question, but, no, I didn’t get any… limitation from the parents as how far. But from those that knew Lia, like Jeff Chiang, the writer… he grew up with knowing who Lia was. And Brian Gewirtz from Seven Bucks. They knew Lia, and they would say to me, “She was a hard case woman.” and “She had a great sense of humor and, you know, some of us were quite scared of it.” So it was all information from people who knew – and are part of the production team – who she was. So, it was just that information. And from, as I said before, Ata and Dwayne of who their mother was, and no, I just went with how it was written, from my own experience. And then, you know, from the producers and the writers (who would sometimes say, “Stop, I never got that.” So I think it’s more around experience and how the writers wanted it, and how the direction… so, and the family said, you know, they didn’t give me any, “don’t go too far because she’s–” I know from my own experiences.. (sound garbled here) But I must say she was a very un-PC woman, you know, if there’s such a word… she would just let fly. And that was wonderful. That’s the wonderful thing about her, that you can just say things, that you can wear slapping gloves and slap the wrestlers around. I love that. and it’s how she was and a lot of fun. Yeah.

Question: I love the relationship between Lia and Ata… she’s kind of overbearing, but also very loving and supportive. What kind of relationship, or at least, what kind of dialogue do they tell you about the relationship that the two of them shared?

Ana: Well, there’d be more of that in season two. There’ll be a lot of revelation around that relationship between Ata and Lia, in terms of passing on the business. And so, there are some twists and turns…but in terms of dialogue around their relationship, again, it’s about experience between mother and daughter, being a mother and a daughter of a similar age. So, I guess it’s the same with how I answered Stephanie’s question as a lot of feedback from the writers, from the production team who knew the relationship between these two. So there’s a lot of direction, a lot of advice and feedback, but also, from personal experience… and it’s also between Stacy and I, like, “Hmm, I don’t feel comfortable about that. Can we change?” So there was also some, Some vehicle for both Stacy and I to ask the writers if we could change a little bit so that it made it a bit more comfortable and a bit more real.

So there was a lot of talking behind the scenes before we filmed. So, I guess that’s what came across, which is really, really good to hear that it’s portrayed that way. And that’s how it was — a lot of work, but. you know, a lot of good personal experiences. Yes.

Watch our other “Young Rock” Interviews with Stacey Leilua and Joseph Lee Anderson and Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu and Adrian Groulx

MORE INFO:

Trailer

Young Rock

Tuesdays on NBC (8-8:30 p.m. ET); Season Premiere: March 15

Dwayne Johnson, Joseph Lee Anderson, Stacey Leilua, Ana Tuisila, Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu, Fasitua Amosa, John Tui and Matthew Willig star.

“Young Rock” is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, Seven Bucks Productions and Fierce Baby Productions.

Ana Tuisila

Lia Maivia, “Young Rock”

Ana Tuisila stars as Lia Maivia on NBC’s new comedy “Young Rock.” Tuisila’s career spans over two decades in film, television and theater. Her most memorable performance is in “The Songmaker’s Chair,” a stage production written by esteemed international author, poet and playwright Albert Wendt, and directed by Nathaniel Lees and Nancy Brunning. Following a successful season, the show later participated in the International Arts Festival at Te Papa Museum in New Zealand. Tuisila has starred in two short films on location in Samoa, Vai and Liliu, which have both been recognized throughout film festivals globally. She speaks fluent Samoan as well as having familiarity with other Pacific languages.

Matthew Joseph Willig (born January 21, 1969) is an American actor and former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Ana Tuisila and Matthew Willig of "Young Rock" on NBC

Interview with Stacey Leilua and Joseph Lee Anderson

Posted on March 15, 2022March 15, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Stacey Leilua and Joseph Lee Anderson of "Young Roung" on NBC

Interview with Stacey Leilua and Joseph Lee Anderson of “Young Rock” on NBC by Thane 3/9/22

It was wonderful to talk to these two actors. They clearly have a great time playing young Dewey’s parents.

The transcript will be up soon. Enjoy the video!

Watch our other “Young Rock” Interviews with Ana Tuisila and Matthew Willig and Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu and Adrian Groulx

MORE INFO:

Trailer

Young Rock

Tuesdays on NBC (8-8:30 p.m. ET); Season Premiere: March 15

Dwayne Johnson, Joseph Lee Anderson, Stacey Leilua, Ana Tuisila, Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu, Fasitua Amosa, John Tui and Matthew Willig star.

“Young Rock” is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, Seven Bucks Productions and Fierce Baby Productions.

Joseph Lee Anderson

Rocky Johnson, “Young Rock”

Joseph Lee Anderson plays Rocky Johnson in the NBC comedy series “Young Rock.” Anderson has appeared in the Oscar-nominated film “Harriet,” recurred on “S.W.A.T.” and has guest starred on “Timeless,” “American Soul” and others. He also directed and starred in the critically acclaimed short film “The Jog,” which premiered at South By Southwest. A

Stacey Leilua

Ata Johnson, “Young Rock”

Stacey Leilua plays Ata Johnson on the new NBC comedy “Young Rock.” Leilua is of Samoan, Maori and English heritage and based in New Zealand. She graduated from one of New Zealand’s leading drama schools: UNITEC School of Performing & Screen Arts, where she majored in acting. Leilua has worked on a variety of productions, including New Zealand’s longest-running series, Shortland Street.” Other credits of note are the UK/NZ feature film ”Love Birds” and the highly acclaimed web series “The Factory,” which she also co-executive produced alongside Kila Kokonut Krew under the mentorship of Robin Scholes, one of New Zealand’s most well-known producers. Leilua has also worked as a presenter (“Homai Te Paki Paki”) and director with the South Auckland-based theatre company Kila Kokonut Krew. Most recently she performed in Tusiata Avia’s ”Wild Dogs Under My Skirt,” which won Production of the Year at the 2018 Wellington Theatre Awards. The production was picked up for a season at the Soho Playhouse in New York in January 2020 where it played to full houses every night.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Stacey Leilua and Joseph Lee Anderson of "Young Roung" on NBC

Interview with Mike Cabellon and Bobby Moynihan

Posted on March 14, 2022March 26, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Mike Cabellon and Bobby Moynihan of "Mr. Mayor" on NBC

Interview with Mike Cabellon and Bobby Moynihan of “Mr. Mayor” on NBC by Suzanne 3/8/22

These NBC panels are always fun. We had 3 interviews with the top 6 cast members of this funny show. You may know Moynihan from “Saturday NIght Live.” These guys are both really funny, as you’ll see in the video. It was just great fun to chat with them. It was like having our own personal SNL comedians to perform for us.

Enjoy the video! Here’s the transcript:

Ross: Hi guys, I’m Ross Crystal from Showbiz Express, and thank you for taking time out to do this. Really appreciate it. Let me start with Bobby. Describe — as we move into the new season — describe your character and how it changes because you’re the Comms guy.

Bobby: I’m the comms director, that is correct. Jayden grows up a little bit this season. He’s got to make some hard decisions; no more living in Mom’s basement. He gets his own apartment. He starts to become a little more independent, and he’s got to do his job, and he’s got to make some real decisions at work, and we see how that affects him and how insane it makes him. [Chuckles]

Ross: I’ll keep to the one and come back, If I may, do a follow-up.

Suzanne Hi, my name is Suzanne, and I run TVMEG.COM. Let’s see… Mike, if you had to do Tommy’s job in real life, could you do it well?

Mike: Oh, God. No, not in the slightest. [Laughs] The Strategist, as I found in my research before season one, I found is primarily a campaign role, and you kinda just go from campaign to campaign. So in that sense, I was like, oh, yeah, it’s kind of like acting, or going from gig to gig. But then when you look at the actual job of, like, trying to advise a politician on what to do next…? I’m the most indecisive person in the world. If I sit at a diner.. you know how, like, a diner is like a menu, it’s like a book? I’m like, I’ll be there for an hour before I can decide. So I would be absolute trash at this job. [Everyone laughs]

Suzanne: All right. And, Bobby, how are you and Jayden the same, and how are you different?

Bobby: Just clothes. Just clothing choices. [Laughs] No, I think we are similar in some ways and very different in many others. There’s an innocence to both of us that I wish I didn’t have as much as Jayden does. Jayden, dollar-heart, nickel-brain on Jayden. But I think Jayden’s a little smarter than he thinks he is. For me in real life, the jury’s still out. We’ll see.

Suzanne: Thank you.

Karen: Hi, I’m Karen Moul from Scifivision.com. We have some new characters in the office this year with the I team showing up, and I was hoping you guys could talk a little bit about how that affects the dynamic in the office and your characters, I guess, without spoiling too much. And maybe Mike could speak first for a sec?

Mike: Sure. this is sort of, I think, one of the big character arcs for Tommy this season… In season one, I feel like Tommy is not expressly antagonistic or whatever in the office, but he thinks he’s better than everyone. So as soon as the I Team is introduced, he sort of sides with everyone else because now they’re like new outsiders to hate on, and I think that it’s this really interesting dynamic because, like, all the interoffice dynamics that exist in season one kind of shift, in light of these new people coming in. And that’s been such an exciting dynamic play this season because, it’s all new and it feels fresh from last season.

Karen: Thank you.

Bobby: Yeah. Towards the end of the season we get — I don’t want to spoil anything — but we get some, some awesome, really wonderful new characters, like, wonderful television characters. I can’t spoil anything, but it gets better and better.

Mike: Yeah.

Karen: Great. Thank you.

Dano: Hi, Dano from The Nocturnal. So, sitcoms are kind of built off chemistry, but your characters have this sort of, anti- chemistry. You’re at loggerheads with one another, and I was wondering, now that you’re on season two, how that, you know, off-screen chemistry between you two and comedic, you know, rapport between you, how does that change in this new season?

Bobby: I always feel like Tommy is my older brother, even though he’s younger than me. We’ll show, like, Jayden — and I feel like there’s a lot, like, they get closer, but also, like, brothers…We have a “Succession” relationship this season, and I can’t wait for people to see it. It’s so much fun!

Mike: No matter how close we get, we’re never more than a step away from like giving each other a noogie, you know what I mean?

Dano: Is that in real life, too? Or just with the characters?

Mike: In real life, it’s constant noogies. That’s how we greet each other in the morning in the makeup trailer. It’s like, “Hey, I know you have to do his hair, but one second… let me just mess it up a little.”

Bobby: He’s a bully. Mike bullies me constantly. No, I love Mike. It’s the best. I think we’re two sweet gentlemen who plays two sweet gentlemen, also, who don’t get along, but they try to. Jayden’s a lot. I don’t know if I would get along with Jayden. [Laughter]

Ross: Mike, if I can ask you… well, actually both of you, but Mike, you’ve got a background in sketch comedy. How does sketch comedy really aid you, or in some ways, perhaps not, in this show?

Mike: First of all, thank you for acknowledging that I am the foremost authority on sketch comedy on this cast.

Bobby: [Laughs]

Mike: I will say one thing that sketch comedy prepares you to do is get off-book really quickly because you’re getting rewrites and scripts day of, and the amount of material that Tina Fey and Robert Carlock churn through is… you could make a whole ‘nother show just with, like, the reject pile that they write. And so frequently, we’ll get these new sides. And, I’m grateful that I have years of experience of just like looking at a page and going, “Okay, got it” and being able to go in, and fully inhabit a character like on the spot without thinking too deeply about it, which, you know, is why I’ll never win an academy award like Holly Hunter, because she really gets deep into character, and I’m very shallow, very surface level there. But I think that that is, like a hard skill that I think is underrated for a lot of actors.

Ross: And Bobby, I mean, for you, how much does SNL come into play here? How much does that experience there come in here? How much latitude do you have?

Bobby: It’s a similar experience in the sense of, I think, Tina and Robert are people who went through the SNL machine and, two of the best, easily, to do it. And I think that they have now created a couple different universes in television, a couple of different TV shows where it’s their thing, and this is how they do it. And it’s very SNL-inspired, which means everyone is expected to be great and do great. And they do. But it doesn’t have the complete terror and anxiety that SNL does. And we get to go home and sleep at normal hours because Ted Danson’s contract is great. [Chuckles] Tt’s wonderful. It’s the best. I’m very familiar with that world of, like, “let’s create this wonderful thing and do it with all these very, very talented people.” And they’ve amassed an insanely talented crew and cast and makes it very easy and fun.

Dano: Does anything change or evolve with that — your collaborative relationship with the Tina Fey over the years?

Bobby: Yeah, I’m less terrified. In the beginning, I mean… I think she’s the most influential person that ever walked through those doors at SNL. She’s brilliant, and she has created so much from it, and I was in awe of her. My first episode of SNL was the first time she did Sarah Palin, and it was my first time doing the show, and I just stopped everything to watch her do it, and was just, like, “Look at this! Look at her and Amy!” It was nuts. But now… I text her now. I’ve gotten to the point where I feel comfortable texting her and not like a child when I do that. [Laughs]

Suzanne: For both of you– do you get to do any kind of improvisation or ad-libbing, or is only what’s on the page?

Mike: We do get to improvise a lot. I think, regardless of the show, Bobby and I probably would, anyway, because we can’t help ourselves. But the funny thing is, maybe 2% of the ad-libs make it into the final cut because Tina and Robert make such perfect scripts right off the bat that they don’t need improvement. They don’t need to be supplemented or augmented by whatever stupid thoughts we’re having on the day. But we do get to play around a lot. Usually we’ll do a few takes as scripted, and then we’ll do a couple of… we play around, and then the editor just throws it right in the garbage.

Bobby: All these improvs are few and far between, but they are assassin precise and he often gets them in.

Suzanne: Wow.

Bobby: I would say, he’s the most successful.

Suzanne: Well, I hope they show up in the DVD as extras or something. That would be cool.

Mike: I hope we get DVDs. That physical object would be great.

Suzanne: Thank you.

Karen: One of the great things about the show, is the way it takes on some very real political issues in LA. In the first five episodes, there seems to be a little bit of a through line with the very real homeless issue. I wonder if you could maybe just tease or preview for our readers, some of the topics, both serious and absurd that the show might take on this season.

Bobby: I think this season is about the mayor trying to do his job better and really trying to make a difference… And what he thinks that is best for LA and kind of the rest of the people dealing with that, and deciding if those choices are the right choices, or if he’s doing it to be, you know, for himself, or is he doing it really for the city? I think that’s a lot… what this season is about.

Mike: I think our writers do a really good job of not trying to make any statements about how the world should be run in real life. Although, this season, Jayden does have one idea that sort of unifies LA with the rest of the world; but it is a good idea, but I don’t think our writers are ever, you know, prescriptive of thinking they could do a better job in politics. I think we’re kind of towing the line of, okay, this show takes place in the political realm, but we’re not here to say that we’re experts on the matter, in any sense.

Bobby: Although I would love president Tina Fey. I think I would take that.

Mike: Heh, heh.

Ross: And then doing your research, do you ever take a trip down to City Hhall?

Mike: We did, in season one, before we shot the pilot, a few of us went down to City Hall and got the real pins that we wear on our lapels in the show, which is cool. I don’t think we go back too frequently, though.

Bobby: I’m there now. I’m there every day. [Laughter]

Ross: Do you find the humor right there?

Mike: There is a certain kind of humor that you can observe just by walking around the halls. We sat in on, like, a public hearing, and I think that that is well-worn territory, thanks to “Parks and Rec,” so I don’t know how much of that we’ll be doing… but there are given characters in any great American city, and Los Angeles certainly has, some of the bigger characters I’ve ever seen.

Suzanne: Do you ever get any feedback from people in LA about how your show handles Los Angeles and the people in it?

Mike: Yeah, actually, yeah. I’ve heard from a lot of people who either worked in LA City Hall or other local politics and are pleasantly surprised at how… it’s funny because they say that we nailed the minutiae of being in an office really well. And I think that speaks to the universality of, like, it doesn’t matter what industry we’re in, because we’re not aiming to specifically try and be like, “This is what it’s like to work in City Hall.” It’s more, just an office comedy. I think that’s what makes every office comedy sort of relatable.

Bobby: No one brings it up to me cause I haven’t– I don’t leave the house. [Laughter]

Mike: “Notorious recluse Bobby Moynihan.”

Check out our other “Mr. Mayor” interviews with Ted Danson and Holly Hunter and Vella Lovell and Kyla Kenedy

MORE INFO:

Trailer

Season Premiere: March 15

“Mr. Mayor” follows a retired businessman (Ted Danson) who runs for mayor of Los Angeles to prove he’s “still got it.” Once he wins, he has to figure out what he stands for, gain the respect of his biggest critic (Holly Hunter) and connect with his teenage daughter, all while trying to get anything right for America’s second weirdest city.
The series stars Ted Danson, Holly Hunter, Vella Lovell, Mike Cabellon, Kyla Kenedy and Bobby Moynihan.
“Mr. Mayor” is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, Little Stranger, Bevel Gears and 3 Arts Entertainment. Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Jeff Richmond and David Miner will executive produce. Eric Gurian will serve as a co-executive producer.

Mike Cabellon

Tommy Tomás, “Mr. Mayor”

Mike Cabellon stars as Chief Strategist Tommy Tomás on NBC’s new comedy “Mr. Mayor.”

Mike Cabellon is a Los Angeles-based Filipino-American actor (“Orange Is the New Black,” “Crashing”) and writer (Comedy Central). He was trained at UCB and is currently an active performer, director, producer and head writer for Webby Award-winning “Story Pirates” podcast.

Cabellon and his sketch team GEIL have created countless sketches and two acclaimed web series: “Early to Rise” (2020) and “Night Crew” (2018). “Early to Rise” won the Audience Award at the 2020 SeriesFest. “Night Crew” premiered on Comedy Central’s digital channels after becoming an official selection for the New York Television Festival, where they landed a development deal with Comedy Central. Together, GEIL has appeared on FunnyOrDie and Adult Swim, as well as screened sketches at Quickie Fest and Red Hot Video Fun Time.

Cabellon’s time in New York included five straight seasons with the BoogieManja sketch program, putting up a new sketch show every single month at the PIT Theater, as well as five straight years of hosting a bar quiz every week with Geeks Who Drink.

He has performed on stages all over the country, including the Del Close Marathon, Comedy Hack Day, Austin Sketch Fest, Frigid Fest (part of the U.S. Association of Fringe Festivals), UCB’s 3×3 Tournament, NYC Improv Festival, SHRTWV Short Theater Festival, Penn Station Area Sketch Fest and a paid corporate improv show on the Las Vegas strip when he was 16. Notable live shows include “Mike Cabellon Is: The Bachelor – LIVE!” a small role in “Hockey Cops,” and hosting “Witching Hour” featuring Jo Firestone and Aparna Nancherla.

His last name rhymes with babylon, grab a swan, crab ’n’ prawn, slab of flan, drab chiffon or lab/salon.

Cabellon is a member of SAG-AFTRA and is represented by Authentic Talent & Literary Management, CAA, and Frankfurt Kurnit.

Bobby Moynihan

Jayden Kwapis, “Mr. Mayor”

Bobby Moynihan stars as Jayden Kwapis in the NBC comedy “Mr. Mayor.”

Moynihan was a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” for nine seasons where he originated beloved characters such as Drunk Uncle and co-wrote and appeared in the popular David S. Pumpkins sketch starring Tom Hanks, which spawned a Halloween animated special for NBC and is now streaming on Hulu.

Moynihan’s other television credits include “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Documentary Now!,” “Drunk History,” “The Simpsons,” “Miracle Workers,” “Girls,” “Portlandia” and “Me, Myself & I.” His voiceover credits range from Cartoon Network’s “We Bare Bears,” “DuckTales” and “Stars Wars Resistance,” both for DisneyXD.

On the film side, Moynihan’s voice talents can be heard on Pixar’s “Inside Out” and “Monsters University,” as well as other features.

His all-improvised podcast on Stitcher, “Celebrity Sighting! with Jonathan Biting!” features Moynihan as the always candid and always hammered Jonathan Biting talking to guests about their celebrity encounters.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Mr. Mayor - Season 2 Cast

Interview with Vella Lovell and Kyle Kenedy

Posted on March 14, 2022March 18, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Kyla Kenedy and Vella Lovell of "Mr. Mayor" on NBC

Interview with Kyla Kenedy and Vella Lovell of “Mr. Mayor” on NBC by Suzanne 3/8/22

This was a fun panel day that we had with the 6 main actors from the show. These two women were paired together. We had a lot of fun, as you can see in the video. It was great to ask them about the show, which is very funny and returns 3/15 on NBC.

Kyla: Hello! How is everyone?

Ross: Doing well And thank you. Thank you for joining us and doing this. And, let me begin with Kyla, you’ve got an interesting role, and first step out, you’re at the DMV.

Kyla: Right.

Ross: First of all, was that the real DMV, a phony DMV? What’d you guys do there?

Kyla: It was actually an old police station, but it felt just like a real DMV. I had just gotten my license pretty close to where we shot that, and I felt like I was going back in time a little bit. I mean, down to the lines you, ’cause you know, you do so much waiting around on set that I truly, around hour five, was like, “I am in a real DMV right now.”

Ross: And for both of you, what is new for you this season? Different direction, different way you were approaching the role? Vella?

Vella: Well, my character gets a love interest this season. So that was a totally new dynamic, to get to work with someone new, Yedoye Travis, who’s amazing, and to kind of see that different side of your character. You know, you audition for these shows, and you have two scenes, and you can’t possibly get to every color of a character in that audition. So it’s really fun to, you know, two years in, discover new colors. And how does Mikayla fall in love, and how does Mikayla ask someone out? And all of those different things.

Vella: Yeah, I think this season Orly gets to spend a lot more time in the office with her dad, which was just really fun – a side of her that we really didn’t dive into that much in season one. And she kind of gets to interact with everyone else in the office more, which leads to some pretty fun storylines and some interesting situations. But that, that was so much funding to do this season.

Ross: Very cool.

Suzanne: Vella, you got to sing a lot in “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” Will there be any singing on the show this season?

Vella: Well, unfortunately, I think we established that Mikayla is a terrible singer. So…I actually think there is a little bit of singing. I’m not sure if they’ve cut it or not, but it’s not great. I’m going to go ahead and say that,

Kyla: We got blessed a little [laughs].

Vella: Yeah. It’s not, it’s off very off key. So apologies…

Suzanne: I liked the Christmas song that you all did, even though most of you weren’t doing anything but humming or whatever.

Kyla: Yeah, it was hard.

Vella: Yeah. That was fun.

Dano: Dano from The Nocturnal. So I’m a Los Angeles native myself, and a lot of stuff with the show really hits very close to home. So I was wondering what (for both of you)– Kyla, you have the relationship with the very embarrassing father and, Vella, you’re a young professional navigating life in LA… if there’s any moments where like, you’re reading the script and you’re like, “Oh man, this is just way too real.”

Kyla: Yeah, I think that happens all the time. Like, our writing is so, so good that I think there’s a little bit of truth behind every joke, which is what makes the show so special and fun to watch. But, no, I definitely have so many moments, even when we’re filming a scene where I’m like, “This could absolutely happen tomorrow in a Whole Foods.”

Vella: Yeah, I think there was one script that ended up getting… this part, got cut, but McKayla was in a long distance relationship with someone who lived in Venice. And that is a real thing in LA, when you live on the east side and someone lives on the west side, it truly feels long distance. So there’s a lot of things that just creep up and are very… they’re very… they’re so real that they’re hilarious.

Karen: I was going to ask a similar question. There are ways in which the show feels a little bit like “Seinfeld” did about New York city. That if, you know… if you’re from New York, there was this extra layer of humor there. I actually really wanted to ask Kyla, however, in particular, you are the one…maybe you are the youngest, and Orly spends a lot of time, like, schooling her father. “You can’t say that, you can’t do that. That’s not how you use Tik Tok.” And I wonder how much of that you’re drawing from your real life? And I, you know, Ted’s the same age as this character, right? And you’re working with a lot of older people, and is this happening on set?

Kyla: I mean, a little bit. I do think there have been moments, like, Ted and I did a fun little video where I told him like, slang that me and my peers were using, and he would try and guess the meaning of it. But there are definitely so many funny moments, but we’ll do a table reading, and Ted would kind of fidget, [and say], “So, what does this mean exactly?” But I think that, you know, that’s the fun of it, and that’s what makes the show so special because it is like real life. There are times when my mom will call me and go, “What does this mean? Somebody just texted me this and I have no idea how I’m supposed to respond.” But yeah, no, there’s definitely a lot of truth behind it.

Vella: I mean, I have to ask Kyla how she knows what to post on Tik ToK. ‘Cause I don’t, and how to work it, or how you know what to post. And she’s just…

Kyla: Right? I know, we like, just kind of.. right when the season ended, all started talking about potentially next season, maybe making a (???) video together, figuring it out myself if I’m being honest.

Vella: You’re gonna have to spearhead that.

Kyla: Yeah, right? I go in with a lot of false confidence and that’s really how I get through it.

Ross: On camera, you guys have become a very reverent family, and listening to you right now, you’ve got those qualities. Was there a bonding that came very quickly? Did it take awhile, Vella? What was that like for the cast – and Kyla, too – what was that like for you guys?

Vella: Yeah. I mean, we had only shot, I think, a month or two when we got shut down for COVID. So a lot of our bonding, I think, came during COVID in that time. We would just zoom a lot, and check in on each other, and we have our text chain, and I think we kind of skipped a few steps in terms of working together for months and slowly getting to know each other.
We just went straight to “How are you doing? Are you okay? What’s going on? How’s your family?”

Kyla: I think most of the time when you start a new series, you know, you’re kind of interacting with everyone in between breaks on set. And then when you rehearse, you’re doing your lines and whatnot, and then you all go home for the day. So with us being in zoom within the first month, you guys knew what my bedroom looked like, my cat, my family situation… I think we all just kind of had nothing but time. So it was like a hundred lunch breaks, all put into, like, how many months? So we did definitely come back to it, filming, like we were going into season five of our show – relationship-wise, just because we bonded so much.

Suzanne: Kyla, you were on CSI about 10 years ago when Ted Danson was starring in it. Did you have scenes with him then? And did he remember you when you started this show?

Kyla: Okay. So I did do CSI, but to preface it, I was a corpse.

(Laughter)

Kyla: So Ted and I did have a scene, but it was me lying in a bed, no longer living. So it wasn’t anything too memorable, but I think it was one of those things where we had talked about it, he kind of remembered…? Yes, no, but I was like eight and I didn’t say anything. I just kind of got to go to craft services, eat a lot of food and sleep for 20 minutes. It was a pretty sweet deal. But I think, I think I definitely do probably remember it a little bit more.

Vella: I did not know that.

Suzanne: So, bow that they’ve brought the show back, Vella, that’s your chance. You’ve got to go play a dead body on the new CSI.

Kyla: Yeah, everybody’s doing it.

Vella: I would love to. It sounds — it sounds very relaxing.

Suzanne: You can’t move, though. That’s the only thing.

Dano: One of my favorite Super Bowl commercials last month was the NBC one with Ted Danson. I was wondering if you guys, you know, how you reacted to that, if you’re roasted a bit for that, or… yeah. What were your thoughts on that?

Vella: I think I just texted, like, “Ted!” or something… It was the one where he’s the king of NBC, right?

Dano: Right, And then every other NBC person’s getting annoyed, you know, that Ted, or Keenan, “why not me?” You know?

Vella: Well, it’s the 40th anniversary of “Cheers,” so, I mean, it’s hard to (???)

Kyla: Right, he earned it.

Vella: He earned it. 40 years on a network. I mean, that’s… that’s pretty impressive. I don’t think we roasted him at all. Maybe we should!

Kyla: We can designate somebody to come through.

Vella: “Hey, man…”

Karen: I wanted to ask you guys: I think all of us have seen the first five episodes and, we’ve seen some really fun guest stars on, mostly with Ted. Do you guys get any like good guest star time this year? Do you want to tease anything about who you got to work with, or are you not allowed to say?

Vella: I don’t know. I know there’s some great people that come through. I don’t think, oh, there’s an amazing person that we got to work with, but yeah. I don’t know if we’re supposed to, I don’t know if we can talk about them, I guess.

Host: Not at this point, but excited for you guys to see all the many surprises coming up for this season.

Vella: Yeah. There’s some really great people– some really great comedy people.

Kyla: I guess we think, everyone, because of who’s behind the show. I feel really lucky. I’ve noticed everyone that comes in – even if they have one line – they are so on point, and are so amazing and really do the best job that they possibly can, which I think makes every scene so special. So I do always look forward to, you know, when we read the script to seeing who’s going to come in and who’s gonna play this crazy role. But we have, we have a lot of funny, funny characters that pop in this season for sure.

Vella: Yeah, definitely.

Check out our other “Mr. Mayor” interviews with Ted Danson and Holly Hunter and Mike Cabellon and Bobby Moynihan

MORE INFO:

Trailer

Season Premiere: March 15

Kyla Kenedy

Orly Bremer, “Mr. Mayor”

Kyla Kenedy stars as mayor Neil Bremer’s (Ted Danson) daughter Orly Bremer on NBC’s new comedy “Mr. Mayor.”

Kenedy has spent nearly a decade building an impressive resume for an actress her age. She has worked steadily in film and television and across multiple genres. She is most recognizable from her roles on the ABC sitcom “Speechless” and for her recurring role on the international hit show “The Walking Dead.”

For the younger set, Kenedy is known for her role as a regular on the Amazon series “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” On the big screen, she was last seen opposite Jeremy Sisto in the independent feature “Love Is All You Need?” for which she won the Best Actress Award at the Napa Valley Film Festival.

Kenedy began her career at 8 in Charleston, S.C., booking print and local jobs. She moved to Atlanta and quickly expanded to commercials and films, where she landed a small role in the Farrelly brothers feature film “The Three Stooges.” Shortly thereafter, Kenedy was cast in her first lead role as the title character in the award-winning made-for-TV movie “Raising Izzie,” for which she won the Grace Award at the 21st Movieguide Awards, and a Young Artist Award for Best Actress.

Kenedy relocated to Los Angeles and has gone on to appear in a steady stream of dramatic and comedic projects, including heavily recurring roles on “Night Shift” and “The New Normal” “for which she was again nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Actress in a Guest Starring Role.

Kenedy currently lives in Los Angeles, and loves reading, traveling, and all outdoor activities.

Vella Lovell

Mikaela Shaw, “Mr. Mayor”

Vella Lovell stars as Chief of Staff Mikaela Shaw on the NBC comedy “Mr. Mayor.”

Lovell is best known for her standout series regular role as Heather Davis on all four seasons of CW’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” She is currently recurring in the new Amazon Prime coming-of-age series “As We See It.” Lovell is also the voice of Mermista in the animated Netflix series “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power” (2020 Critics’ Choice Nominee – Best Animated Series).

On the film side, she is best known for her role in the indie hit “The Big Sick” and recently starred in the Comedy Central holiday parody movie “A Clüsterfünke Christmas,” which was written and produced by “Saturday Night Live” alums Rachel Dratch and Ana Gasteyer.

A graduate from the Juilliard School, Lovell has a bachelor’s degree from New York University. While at Julliard, she played Anna Mae in Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottages’ “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark,” and Lady Macbeth in an adaptation of “Macbeth.” She has also performed in “The Bacchae,” directed by JoAnne Akalaitis at Shakespeare in the Park, and “The Great Recession” as well as “Kaspar Hauser” at the Flea Theater.

At Williamstown Theatre Festival, she was seen in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” directed by David Cromer, “When You’re Here” by Samuel Hunter and “Camp Monster.”

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Vella Lovell and Kyla Kennedy of "Mr. Mayor" on NBC

Interview with Ted Danson and Holly Hunter

Posted on March 14, 2022March 16, 2023 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Holly Hunter and Ted Danson on Zoom interview for "Mr. Mayor" on NBC 3/8/22

Interview with Ted Danson and Holly Hunter of “Mr. Mayor” on NBC by Suzanne 3/8/22

It was so great to speak with these two legendary actors. Holly is an Oscar winner and of course, Ted Danson has been on TV for a very long time and is still bringing the laughs on this NBC show. They’re clearing having a great time. This was a press panel, so I was only able to ask one question. The other questions are from other journalists. I would have loved to have asked many more questions. Maybe someday I will! Don’t miss the show, which returns tomorrow, Tuesday night on NBC! It’s even funnier this season.

Ross: Hi guys. Ross Crystal from Showbiz Express. Ted, Holly, thank you so much for doing this and congratulations on the new season. Let me begin with you, Ted. How do we move into the new season? How does the mayor approach this new term, f I may?

Ted: Well, I think he probably has come to the realization that, just because he wanted to prove to himself and his daughter that life wasn’t over, and he ran to be mayor does not necessarily qualify him to be the mayor. [Chuckles] So this year he decides to right away hire somebody he calls the innovation team. You know, the brightest, youngest brains in California, to start shaping his administration and it creates a huge amount of friction in the office. It does provide a love affair for one of the characters, but it really just messes things up even more.

Ross: And Holly, Arpi is as annoying this time around as she’s ever been. What is it about this character that you love?

Holly: I’m just kind of gobsmacked by that. I hardly know how to proceed.

Ross: Hee, hee.

Ted: He’s an older white gentleman, Holly, you know, like the mayor…

Holly: Oh, right. It’s so interesting to think about the I team… the Innovation guys coming in… because Arpi works from…she’s like, old school. She is analog. And in a way, that’s the way city halls all across the United States operate. You know, they’re grassroots, from the ground up. “Can somebody please, tighten the manhole cover that is clattering every time a car goes over it?” I mean, you’ve got those kinds of issues that are coming into city hall. People screaming about whatever…the curbs not being at level on their street. I mean, it’s from the ground up that council members are dealing with issues in their city. From that, all the way to homelessness and traffic in Los Angeles. So the challenge for Arpi in this season, dealing with these Silicon Valley guys who come in with virtual reality approaches to problems is like…it’s so beyond annoying.

Ted: Yeah, I love that we’re in the age of man discovering the real meaning of mansplaining and beginning to realize that “Dear Lord, I never opened my mouth without actually starting to mansplain something.” And I think, you know, to have Neil Bremmer who has taken a sweet (he’s a good guy, but) a very shallow cut on life and is now explaining to Arpi how the city should be run. It has to be the most maddening thing in the world for her character. Because she does desperately care the old fashioned way — really care — about what they’re doing.

Ted: Hey Ross. Did I throw you under the bus? I’m sorry, buddy. Forgive me.

Ross: Oh, no, not at all. I was just wondering, as Mayor Garcetti leaves office and goes to be an ambassador, has he ever called you? Has he ever said, “Hey Ted… seriously?”

Ted: I think he has… I just didn’t want to take his calls.

Ross: [Laughs]

Suzanne: Ted, your character is a rich, entitled, clueless, self-involved guy. Was there anyone in real life that you think about when you’re portraying him?

Ted: I just…shave, look in the mirror, and go, “I got it. I got it. Thank you, Ted.” And off I go.

[Laughter]

Ted: You know, we’re all discovering things about ourselves, gratefully, slightly painfully, during the last couple of years. How entitled! I can just look at myself — how unknowingly entitled I am. I’m a thoughtful, sweet, liberal enlightened man. And I’m not, you know, I’m not. I thought I was. So, truly, I do feel like I was made for this part. And, I think, like the mayor… I, Ted am willing to change, but it’s very hard for me to see myself accurately… how silly I am, you know?

Suzanne: And Holly, you were just talking about the innovations and everything. In real life, on sets…you’ve been around for awhile. Does it ever bother you? Do you ever have that same sort of reaction when younger people come in, onset or anything like that? Do they make you feel like they want to reinvent everything [whereas] you’ve been doing it awhile, [but] they’re like, no…

Holly: Yeah, no, no, that doesn’t happen because you know, what’s so wild is… in a way, I could, I might be able to speak for most actors, but I think most actors, in some ways, are kind of childlike. So many actors that I love, the actors that I love, and adore working with, they’re kind of childlike… they’re children, in a way. Actors are… you spend your entire career changing, adapting….You’re doing things you’ve never done before. So many sets that I come on to… almost every set that I ever go onto. There’s no one that I know. I am meeting everyone for the first time on that set, ever. And I am used to that, and I’m sure Ted can say the same thing.

So actors have this liquidity… they’ve got a fluidity about change that I admire, and I love, and I’ve chosen to do movies, and chosen to work with people who often are breaking through to the other side in terms of form, how movies are made… [For instance], Terrence Malick. When I worked with him on a movie. I wanted to work with Terry to see how he made them and wow. He blew my mind! And working with Catherine Hardwood on “Thirteen,” she was making “Thirteen” in a way that I’d never seen– I’d never experienced before. This also is– it’s just a completely new form for me. So it keeps me changing. I gotta be up for it, and I love that challenge.

Suzanne: Right. Thanks!

Karen: Hi, I’m Karen Moul from SciFiVision. Ah, that’s actually, Suzanne, a great lead-in to my question, which is: What’s it like, now, settling into the second season behind the scenes with a cast that’s in place. I don’t know if COVID protocols are loostening, but maybe Holly first could talk about, what the climate is like, with your second season starting?

Holly: Well, joyful because we have this fantastic DP, David Miller, and he’s a wonderful touchstone because all sets are a little different and how everything is set up is a little bit different. And he provides us with this beautiful kind of structure that we can then go crazy in. We learned the structure from David, and then we all just go wild. We know what the perimeters are of our playing field. And for me to get more acquainted with that… you know, and Ted always, already was very acquainted with working with him. That that’s been very delightful, and I guess there’s just a little more confidence and intimacy with our characters. There had been an automatic kind of chemistry that existed between this cast that we’re all – I think – grateful for because you know, that doesn’t have to happen. And it did with us. There’s a kismet there.

Karen: And Ted, you’re a veteran of the sitcom format and have done many years. This is not your first, I guess, renewal second season. Do you have anything to add to all these comments?

Ted: Yeah, I mean, Holly said the word joyful. (clears his throat) Pardon me… It was joyful. COVID, as you suggested, had relaxed a little…we were still tested and did all of that. But when we got in front of the cameras, we could rehearse without masks, and there was a freedom that didn’t exist the first season. And there was also… we had taken a three- or four-month break, like the world did. And during that time, as a cast, we Zoomed a lot. We stayed in touch. We shared (like everybody did), because it was so intensely real, that the world was locked down, that we shared at a level that we probably wouldn’t have been able to, if we’d had a normal, season after season after season. We really got to know each other and appreciate each other. So when we got back together, not only was that a joy, a freedom of being able to be happily, joyfully, creative… But also, the writers and the actors were discovering who they were. You know, there’s always a process in the beginning where writers will say, “Have your character do this, do that.” And then you’re like, “No, that didn’t work. That didn’t work. That worked.” You know? So there’s a process of discovering who you are as a group, as a show, and, I think we kind of jelled last season, and it was joyful for all of us to appreciate the other characters, appreciate the other actors, and bounce off of such amazing players. It was very exciting.

Karen: Thank you.

Dano: Hi there, Dano from Nocturnal. So, for both Holly and Ted…You guys have both, worked with a lot of different comedic styles and, Tina Fey has her own cadence and brand. Is there a difference in approach or learning curve, versus like a “Bored to Death” and “Cheers” to this, or with Holly, a Coen brothers script to this… I guess, Ted, you also had a Coen-inspired script with “Fargo.” What’s the difference in approaching it?

Ted: Well, Robert and Tina are very fast. It’s much more of a… I grew up in a, “Here comes a joke. Pretty good joke, right?” You know, and the audience would laugh and you’d go on. There was a pause, there was a, you know, a kind of one thing at a time. And, this is very, very, very fast. You’re doing shots, you’re pointing out something political, but you’re kind of firing over your shoulder as you go galloping by. So the speed, the elevated quality of the writing, the words…It’s a challenge. I mean, your job as an actor is to ground whatever you’re doing in some kind of reality. And Tina and Robert are pulling you the other way going, “Nah, let’s shoot for the moon.” But your job remains the same. So that tension of making whatever it is they’re asking you to do, real, is I think the joy, the challenge and the excitement of what we’re doing.

And let me just add one thing about Holly hunter. You know, I can be a nice actor, meaning, I know what you want, so I’ll give it to you. You know, here it comes, you know, and that can be slightly boring sometimes. I watch Holly insist on grounding what it is she’s doing. It couldn’t be as far-fetched as you can imagine, but it’s still grounded and you never let go of that, Holly, and it’s a real inspiration for the rest of…for me, I’ll speak for myself.

Check out our other “Mr. Mayor” interviews with Vella Lovell and Kyla Kenedy and Mike Cabellon and Bobby Moynihan

MORE INFO:

Trailer

Season Premiere: March 15

Ted Danson

Mayor Neil Bremer, “Mr. Mayor”

Ted Danson stars as Mayor Neil Bremer on the NBC comedy “Mr. Mayor.”

Danson is a Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winning actor known for an array of exceptional performances, most memorably for his portrayal of Boston bartender Sam Malone on NBC’s multi-award winning and iconic comedy “Cheers,” which ran for 11 seasons and won three Emmys as best comedy series. He recently starred in creator Michael Schur’s acclaimed NBC comedy series “The Good Place” for which he was nominated for his 14^th Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor and received a Critics Choice Award for his role as Michael.

Other recent credits include the 10th season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” FX’s critically acclaimed second season of “Fargo,” CBS’ long-running “CSI” and “CSI: Cyber,” FX’s “Damages,” as well as Golden Globe nominated role on CBS’ “Becker.”

In film, Danson was seen in 2018 in “Hearts Beat Loud,” a drama music film that premiered at Sundance. He has also appeared in several other high-profile projects, including the 1987 blockbuster hit “Three Men and a Baby” and its sequel, “Three Men and a Little Lady.” He also had a co-starring role in Steven Spielberg’s World War II masterpiece “Saving Private Ryan.”

Raised outside Flagstaff, Ariz., Danson attended Stanford University where he became interested in drama during his second year in school. He then transferred to Carnegie Mellon University and graduated in 1972 with his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama. After graduation, he was hired as an understudy in Tom Stoppard’s Off Broadway production “The Real Inspector Hound.” Danson relocated to Los Angeles in 1978 to help manage the Actor’s Institute for a year-and-a-half while he taught there. Six months after his arrival, Danson earned a role in “The Onion Field” and co-starred in the TV movie “The Women’s Room.”

In addition to acting and producing, Danson is an environmental activist, co-founding the American Oceans Campaign (AOC) in 1987 to alert Americans to the life-threatening hazards created by oil spills, off-shore development, toxic wastes, sewage pollution and other ocean abuses. The AOC merged with Oceana in 2001. Oceana works to teach citizens how they can participate in protecting and restoring marine resources, and to show Congress that Americans are concerned with these issues.

Danson resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Mary Steenburgen.

Holly Hunter

Arpi Meskimen, “Mr. Mayor

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Holly Hunter stars as Deputy Mayor Arpi Meskimen on the NBC comedy “Mr. Mayor.”

Hunter has been nominated for four Academy Awards for the films “Broadcast News,” “The Firm,” “The Piano” and “Thirteen.” In 1993, she won the Academy Award and Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in “The Piano.” In 2008, Hunter received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, she was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award.

Most recently Hunter was seen as rival CEO Rhea Jarrell in HBO’s hit drama “Succession” and Showtime’s highly anticipated miniseries “The Comey Rule.”

Hunter reprised her iconic voice role as Elastigirl in the highly anticipated sequel to the animated hit films “The Incredibles,” alongside Craig T. Nelson and Samuel L. Jackson.

Hunter co-starred in “The Big Sick,” which won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Comedy as well as be Oscar nominated for Best Original Screenplay. For her supporting role, Hunter was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild and Independent Spirit Award, and was honored with a Career Achievement Award at the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Hunter was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as a mother dealing with her daughter’s wild and rebellious behavior in the film “Thirteen,” directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Hunter was also honored with nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press, SAG, BAFTA and the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. for this role.

Hunter received the Academy Award for her performance as a mute Scottish widow in Jane Campion’s “The Piano.” For this role, she received the Cannes Film Festival Award, British Academy Film Award, New York Film Critics Circle Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, National Board of Review Award and a Golden Globe Award, all for best actress. That same year, Hunter garnered an Academy Award nomination for her performance as the investigative secretary in “The Firm,” based on the John Grisham novel.

MR. MAYOR -- Season: 2 -- Pictured: (l-r) Holly Hunter as Arpi Meskimen, Ted Danson as Neil Bremer -- (Photo by: Robert Trachtenberg/NBC) Hunter was nominated for another Academy Award for her portrayal of a driven career-woman producer in “Broadcast News.” For this role, she received the New York Film Critics Circle Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Award, National Board of Review Award and Berlin Film Festival Award, all for best actress.

Hunter made her television series debut in TNT’s drama “Saving Grace,” which earned her nominations for two Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series. “Saving Grace” ended after four seasons in 2010.

Hunter starred in ABC’s “When Billie Beat Bobby” where she portrayed tennis legend Billie Jean King in the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between King and Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs. The role garnered her an Emmy nomination for Best Actress in a Television Miniseries or Movie.

Hunter was nominated for an Emmy for her role in Showtime’s “Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her.” The film tells stories about love and loss in the lives of five women. The film won an award in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival and also screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. Hunter also starred in Showtime’s original movie “Harlan County War,” for which she garnered both an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie.

Hunter was seen in the Sundance Channel series “Top of the Lake,” co-starring Elisabeth Moss, written and directed by Oscar winner Jane Campion. Hunter’s performance garnered her a Screen Actor’s Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries.

She also starred in “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom,” for which she won the Emmy for Best Actress. This role also garnered her a Golden Globe nomination. She starred as Jane Roe in NBC’s “Roe vs. Wade” and was awarded the Emmy for her performance.

In 1982, Hunter made her Broadway debut in Beth Henley’s “Crimes of the Heart” followed by “The Wake of Jamey Foster.” She was most recently seen on stage in the revival of David Rabe’s Tony Award-winning play “Sticks and Bones,” opposite Richard Chamberlain, Nadia Gan, Morocco Omari, Bill Pullman, Ben Schnetzer and Raviv Ullman. Hunter starred in Marina Carr’s “By the Bog of Cats,” directed by Dominic Cooke at Wyndham’s Theater in London.

Hunter co-produced and starred in Beth Henley’s “Control Freaks” and produced Ray Barry’s “Mother’ Son” at the Met Theatre in Los Angeles.

Other New York stage appearances include “The Miss Firecracker Contest,” “Battery,” The Person I Once Was,” “A Weekend Near Madison” and “Impossible Marriage.”

Hunter resides in New York.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Holly Hunter and Ted Danson of "Mr. Mayor" on NBC

Interview with Omar Benson Miller & Marsha Stephanie Blake

Posted on March 12, 2022March 12, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Omar Benson Miller & Marsha Stephanie Blake in "The Last Days of Ptolemey Grey" on Apple TV+

Interview with Omar Benson Miller & Marsha Stephanie Blake of “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” on Apple TV+ by Suzanne 2/28/22

This was a nice (but short) interview with these two actors from this really good show. Omar’s character, Reggie, is not seen on screen a lot, but his character is very important to the show. Marsha, who plays Ptolemy’s niece, is seen a lot more. You don’t want to miss this limited series!

Suzanne: Oh, hi. Hey, how’s it going, guys? I remember you from CSI Miami, Omar, when you played Walter Cole. And, Marcia, I remember you from How to Get Away with Murder. So, it’s great to talk to both of you.

Marsha: Hello, Suzanne, good to talk to you

Suzanne: So, can you each tell me how your audition went for this for these roles?

Marsha: I’ll start, I’ll start. My audition was crazy, because I helped someone else audition first before I knew I was going to audition, and I loved the material when I helped him. And what’s crazier is he didn’t get the part. So, then, I called him, and I was like, “Hey, can you help me now now that you know the material? Can you help me with my audition?” So, you know, we were helping each other. Then, I met Ramin virtually and talked through so much stuff and just really felt like – I’d watched his film. I’d obviously read the book at this point and remember after my callback moment thinking it would be so incredible to be a part of it for so many reasons. I felt like each person I met who was connected to the project was special and really empathetic and kind and cared so much about the material and cared as much as I cared, from the time I read the sides with my friend. I think that’s when you know you’re onto something special.

Suzanne: Okay, and Omar?

Omar: Mine was kind of like this interview; it was virtual. I had a conversation with Ramin, then read a couple of scenes, and then stepped in with the man and had a conversation with Sam. Then, we read to see if we had any chemistry. Vicki Thomas was on reading with me and tried to sabotage my audition.

Marsha: [laughs]

Omar: Thank God, she wasn’t successful. No, but I could feel the chemistry with both Ramin and Sam, through the internet, which is very difficult to do. And the process was something that actually was befitting of what it was going to be like to shoot the project. Shooting in the middle of COVID has been a real challenge in multiple ways.

Suzanne: And what was it like working with Sam?

Marsha: Incredible.

Omar: Unique.

Marsha: Unique, oh I love that. Unique, yes.

Omar: Yeah, he’s a unique individual. He brings what he brings to the table with a skill set and a presence that is very different than anybody else that you’re going to work with.

Suzanne:

Yeah, I can see that. So, neither of you had worked with him before, is that right?

Marsha: Omar, you had?

Omar: No.

Marsha: No? I had worked with him on Django, but my scene got cut. But what’s really wonderful about Sam – I know, it’s heartbreaking, but what’s great about Sam is Sam is the best at introducing you to the cast on your first day. He did it to me with Django. I had this one scene, one little part in this big – it was my biggest movie to date. You know, the biggest thing I’ve ever been in, and then I wasn’t in it. But the way he introduces you when you’re on set that first day, he is like your biggest cheerleader, and I’ve seen him do it over and over again with other people, and I just think that’s such a wonderful and generous thing. It’s not even necessary. You know, you’re there; you already got the job, but he makes you feel so welcome in this space on your first day. And he gave me the biggest shout out on Django that I will love him for that forever. I already had mad love for him as an actor, but I love him as a person.

Suzanne: Omar, did he introduce you to everybody?

Omar: No, most of our scenes are just me and him. So, I felt like I got cheated. I think the pretty girls get that treatment.

Suzanne: I was gonna say, maybe you’re not quite pretty enough.

Omar: He squared up on me. We almost had to fight.

Marsha: That’s his way. That’s his way of welcoming you.

Omar: No, he welcomed me, but it was just he and I as far as the actors on set. So, we all introduced ourselves then to people who we hadn’t already known. Then, really, we dug into the work, and we tore through it. So, that experience for me, just getting in there and getting to do the work with somebody who is a clear master of his craft was a joy. It really was.

Suzanne: Yeah, well I binge-watched the whole thing, and I enjoyed it. So, I hope everybody gets to see it. It’s really good.

Omar: All right.

Suzanne: All right, well, they told me I have to wrap it up, so nice talking to you guys. I appreciate it.

Marsha: You as well. Thank you.

Omar: Thank you.

Suzanne: Bye-bye.

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

MORE INFO:

Omar Benson Miller (born October 7, 1978) is an American actor.^[1] He is known for his work as Walter Simmons on CSI: Miami (2009–2012), as Charles Greane on Ballers (2015–2019), as the voice of Raphael on Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and on the CBS comedy series The Unicorn (2019–2021).

Marsha Stephanie Blake (born c. May 1974) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Linda McCray in the Netflix miniseries When They See Us, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

Release date: March 11, 2022

Trailer

“The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” stars Samuel L. Jackson as Ptolemy Grey, an ailing man forgotten by his family, by his friends, and by even himself. Suddenly left without his trusted caretaker and on the brink of sinking even deeper into a lonely dementia, Ptolemy is assigned to the care of orphaned teenager Robyn, played by Dominique Fishback. When they learn about a treatment that can restore Ptolemy’s dementia-addled memories, it begins a journey toward shocking truths about the past, present and future.

The six-episode limited series will debut will debut globally Friday, March 11 on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes, followed by one new episode weekly, every Friday.

Episode 1

Reggie

Ptolemy Grey’s memory is getting worse. After learning his grand-nephew is no longer there for him, Ptolemy’s niece assigns him a new caretaker.

Episode 2

Robyn

Kicked out by Niecie, Robyn moves in with Ptolemy and accompanies him to a doctor’s appointment for an experimental treatment.

Episode 3

Sensia

Ptolemy begins treatment to restore his memories, drifting in and out of fever dreams about his life as Robyn keeps vigil at his side.

From Apple TV+

ABOUT “THE LAST DAYS OF PTOLEMY GREY”:

“The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” will premiere with 2 episodes globally on Friday, March 11 with new episodes premiering weekly on Friday thereafter, exclusively on Apple TV+.

Jackson stars as Ptolemy Grey, an ailing man forgotten by his family, by his friends, by even himself. Suddenly left without his trusted caretaker and on the brink of sinking even deeper into a lonely dementia, Ptolemy is assigned to the care of orphaned teenager Robyn, who is played by Dominique Fishback (“Judas and the Black Messiah”). When they learn about a treatment that can restore Ptolemy’s dementia-addled memories, it begins a journey toward shocking truths about the past, present and future.

In addition to Jackson and Fishback, the Apple Original limited series stars Walton Goggins (“Justified,” “The Unicorn”), Marsha Stephanie Blake (“I Am Your Woman,” “When They See Us”), Damon Gupton (“Black Lightning,” “Bates Motel”), Cynthia Kaye McWilliams (“Coyote,” “Real Husbands of Hollywood”) and Omar Miller (“The Unicorn,” “Ballers”).

“The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” is produced by Apple Studios and Anonymous Content. Serving as executive producers alongside Jackson and Mosley are David Levine and Eli Selden for Anonymous Content, Diane Houslin, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, and Ramin Bahrani.

ABOUT APPLE TV+

Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL, and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and attv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.*

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Omar Benson Miller & Marsha Stephanie Blake

Interview with Cynthia Kaye McWilliams

Posted on March 12, 2022March 12, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Cynthia Kaye McWilliams in "The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey" on Apple TV+

Interview with Cynthia Kaye McWilliams of “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” on Apple TV+ by Suzanne 2/28/22

This is such a great series. It started out a little depressing, but it gets much better. I hope you can watch it! It’s only 6 episodes. All of the cast is great in it, especially the two leads, Samuel L. Jackson and Dominique Fishback. They get the majority of the screentime. Cynthia’s character, Sensia, is seen in many flashbacks or hallucinations. It was so nice to chat with her!

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

Suzanne: So, tell us how this part came about for you.

Cynthia: Much like any, just an audition from my agent, but as soon as I saw it, I mean the second I saw it, I saw Walter Mosley’s name attached, who’s a novelist I’m a huge fan of. I immediately got interested a little bit more. Then, of course, when I saw that Sam Jackson was leading, I just thought, “What? Sam Jackson’s doing television? Oh, my goodness! What is this?” And I started thumbing through the pages, and I instantly thought, “Oh, I have to be a part of this.” I loved the script. I love the book. I love this incredibly dynamic, fierce woman in Cynthia. I loved the way that she loved him without apology, and boldly. And I really enjoy the character that exists in a memory but is so alive because of how fully she occupied his present when she was there and the way that that vibrance is able to pierce through the fog of his dementia and anchor him and motivate and challenge him to be bold again and go after his memories.

Suzanne: As for your experience acting in the role and filming it, what did you like best about it?

Cynthia: Oh, well, I mean, definitely, just being able to be on a set with such incredible performers. Sam, of course, leading that cast, but all of them. I mean, I think it’s just such a joy. It’s such a joy when you get to have like sort of the trifecta of working on good material with fantastic actors and in an environment that is actually supporting and encouraging, you know, creativity and play, and where the producers and the cameraman and the directors are all serving the story. I think that’s just the most exciting thing for any actor is to be in a space. And there’s no actor, no actor I’ve ever worked with who is more interested in serving the story than Sam Jackson. He’s such a persona. He’s such an icon, but he is also just a gifted, trained, practiced actor, and he loves what he does. He loves the story. He’s so passionate about it. And sometimes I think that’s where all of that, you know, Sam mother-effin Jackson comes from, because he’s so just passionate about getting the mother effin story, right? You know?

Suzanne: He makes it look easy to doesn’t he?

Cynthia: He sure does. Man, I tell you, I am blown away. I got to watch just a bit of the series, and I was so excited just to see what it looked like. I just am so impressed with every time we think we’ve seen all of what Sam Jackson can do, he just wows us with another thing. I’m excited for audiences to see this other character, this new and different and challenging place that he’s gone. Very excited.

Suzanne: Yeah, I binge-watched it a Saturday, I think. Oh, my gosh, it was so good. It was really good. It makes me wish there could be a sequel, but I don’t see how they do that.

Cynthia: I know; I know. It’s one of those things, you’re always like, when you get involved with something that’s a limited series, there’s a joy about it, but there’s also like, “Oh…” I’m from the theater, so I am very used to the idea that like we’re in this space and time and everything we share with an audience this night is all it’s ever going to be, and it’ll never happen again exactly the same way. And that’s sad, because you kind of wish you could trap it, or [if] you have a great night, you’re like, “Oh, I wish I could just take that performance and put it on and keep giving it to the audiences,” but it’s also the most beautiful thing. That’s what I loved about theater is just that it’s so special because it’s only that once, and it’s just between us. And I feel like a limited series is very similar and that we’re giving you this thing. We’ve labored for this one piece of art, and we’re gonna give it to you, but once it’s done, it’s done.

Suzanne: Yeah, that’s for sure. Have you ever played anyone from the past before?

Cynthia: In theater? Yes. On television? No, like not an actual historical figure, I don’t think. I’m scanning my memories really quickly and making sure I’m not lying and passing something up, but no, I don’t think so. Yes, in television. I’ve done all contemporary pieces, whether that be comedy or drama. Yes, I’m trying to [remember]. I’m scanning so hard when people ask me what have you ever done, and you’re thinking, “I can’t remember everything,” but no, I don’t think so.

Suzanne: Yeah, I do that too. It’s like, “Oh, I interviewed that person? I don’t even remember it was so long ago.”

Cynthia: I can’t remember what I for lunch yesterday. I don’t know. [laughs]

MORE INFO:

Cynthia Kaye McWilliams was born in Berlin, Germany, grew up primarily in Kansas City, Kansas and graduated from the prestigious Theater School of DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. Just out of college, Cynthia booked a supporting role in Warner Brothers’ The Lake House, followed by a recurring role on FOX’s Prison Break. She then landed a lead role in the pilot, Family Practice and later, another FOX series, Chicago Code.

She moved from Chicago to Los Angeles for a dream job to play sitcom wife to Damon Wayans in a CBS pilot. Though the pilot didn’t go, a few months later she would land a series regular on NAACP award winning comedy, The Real Husbands of Hollywood opposite the hilarious Kevin Hart. Cynthia filmed 5 seasons of RHOH and meanwhile had recurring roles on Survivors Remorse on STARZ, ABC’s Nashville, Bosch on Amazon and booked the lead in the NBC drama pilot, Love is a Four Letter Word.

Switching gears, Cynthia took on the role of sitcom mom Regina in the Netflix’s Prince of Peoria taped in front of a live studio audience at famous Sunset/Gower studios. She associate produced and starred in the holiday comedy, Twas the Chaos before Christmas, returned to the stage in Inda Craig Galvan’s, Black Super Hero Magic Mama at the Geffen Playhouse and joined the cast of Disney Channel original Upside Down Magic which is now streaming on Disney+

Cynthia recently returned from Mexico where she was filming the new drama series, Coyote starting Michael Chiklis. Coyote premiers January 7th, 2021 on CBS All Access. Cynthia also thoroughly enjoys her voiceover career having voiced for multiple characters and shows on Cartoon Network, animated feature film, Bilal and several video games including narrating Valorant, voicing Senna in League of Legends, T-Bug in CyberPunk 2077, Spartan Tanaka in Halo 5, roles in Disintegration, Far Cry 5 & 6, State of Decay 2, Tell Me Why and more.

Cynthia champions women & minorities creating their own content, supports arts education and loves all things food, wine and travel.

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

Release date: March 11, 2022

Trailer

The six-episode limited series will debut will debut globally Friday, March 11 on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes, followed by one new episode weekly, every Friday.

Episode 1

Reggie

Ptolemy Grey’s memory is getting worse. After learning his grand-nephew is no longer there for him, Ptolemy’s niece assigns him a new caretaker.

Episode 2

Robyn

Kicked out by Niecie, Robyn moves in with Ptolemy and accompanies him to a doctor’s appointment for an experimental treatment.

Episode 3

Sensia

Ptolemy begins treatment to restore his memories, drifting in and out of fever dreams about his life as Robyn keeps vigil at his side.

From Apple TV+

ABOUT “THE LAST DAYS OF PTOLEMY GREY”:

“The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” will premiere with 2 episodes globally on Friday, March 11 with new episodes premiering weekly on Friday thereafter, exclusively on Apple TV+.

ABOUT APPLE TV+

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

More Info about Saturday’s Event

Interview with Cynthia Kaye McWilliams

Interview with Sean Kanan

Posted on March 11, 2022May 19, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Sean Kanan event poster (small) — Way of the Cobra – Release Your Inner Badass. Sean Kanan – Meet the Author. Saturday, March 12, 2pm. Free to the public. Refreshments. Moderated. Q&A hosted by James Lott, Jr. Lots of surprise guests!

Interview with Sean Kanan of “The Bold and The Beautiful” on CBS by Suzanne 3/9/22

This was a very fun interview with Sean! I’ve been watching him on soaps since he started on “General Hospital” way back in 1997. I’ve seen him in many guest-starring roles (as I’m sure you have, too), such as in “Lois and Clark: Adventures of Superman,” one of my favorite shows. He’s currently reprising his role of Deacon on “Bold and the Beautiful,” a role he also played for a while on “The Young and The Restless.”

He got his start on “Karate Kid III,” and he says that his Cobra philosophy not only helped him get into that movie but saved his life when he had a “near-death experience.” He’s written this motivational book, “Way of the Cobra” to help others channel their “inner badass.” That’s his third book, mind you… he also wrote “The Modern Gentleman: Cooking and Entertaining with Sean Kanan” and “Success Factor X: Inspiration, Wisdom, and Advice from 50 of America’s Best.”

If you live in the Southern California area, don’t miss the event mentioned on the flyer above. It looks to be very entertaining. There will be other stars there that you’ll want to see as well.

He also won a Daytime Emmy last year for his short-form series “Studio City,” a drama about the life of an aging soap star. It’s somewhat tongue-in-cheek at times, but it also has some heavy drama as it tackles subjects like death/dying, aging, transgender issues, and more. If you’re a daytime fan, you will notice many great actors in the show. More episodes will be coming soon. I can’t wait! Watch it on Amazon Prime.

Suzanne: So, tell us how you got back on “Bold and Beautiful” this time around? What was the process that happened?

Sean: Well, it was a pretty easy process, I gotta be honest. You know, last year was really a terrific year for me, just an amazing year in my career. And as we got towards the end of the year, I received a phone call from the executive producer and head writer, Brad Bell. And, uh, he said, you know, I think I found a way that we could bring Deacon back to the canvas, which was great because Deacon had been languishing in prison for a couple of years. And, you know, I love working on the show. I really do. I was excited to get the call. It been such a great year. And now, as the year was kind of coming to an end, to be asked to come back to Bold and the Beautiful was just like, you know, icing on the cake. The biggest question was, did I have the time to do it? Because I had several other projects with which I was involved. We were able to work it out. And next thing I knew, I’m back on the show. I mean, it was pretty simple. It’s when they have the time, and I’m able to do it and, you know, we both decide that it’s a yes….things happen pretty quickly. And if I’m not mistaken, I think Brad called me in September, and I think I started working in September. So it was really quick. Sometimes it happens. We’re thinking of bringing you back. It’s going to be in like two months. This was really quick.

Suzanne: Wow. So, it’s great that they paired Deacon with Sheila. I mean, I don’t know what took them so long to do that. It’s about time.

Sean: Yeah. You know, the two of them are very, unlikely. I think, initially, if I had to guess, my thinking is that probably they thought, okay, these two baddies, even though Sheila is, you know, much more of a villain than Deacon is, and, you know, I’m always trying to infuse humor into my character, and I don’t necessarily know that they expected the relationship to take on that dynamid, you know? I mean, I think maybe it was, I’m going to put these two baddies together and see what happens. But we’ve sort of developed this really fun chemistry, and this banter, which has made the character a lot of fun for us to play. And I think that the fans are enjoying it.

Suzanne: Yes, definitely. And the banter… So, that’s not in the script… or some of it is? And do you guys ad lib?

Sean: You know, one of the really wonderful things about the show is that, if I have an idea for some dialogue, they’re very receptive to it. You know, I mean, as long as we’re not veering too far off the path, but I’m fortunately afforded a lot of latitude, very generously, to offer some suggestions and, you know, sometimes they work and other times they don’t, but,um, yeah, some of it’s ad-libbed, but there’s also a lot of great writing.

Suzanne: Oh good. Oh yeah. It’s interesting because, Deacon usually just comes in by himself. Sheila has a long history of pairing up with some guy. Usually somebody that’s kind of weak or has a crush on her. And she sort of just uses him as a sounding board as some wimpy guy that does her bidding. But with Deacon, she’s got a real…. You know, a real person to really grapple with.

Sean: Yeah, that’s some of what makes it fun. I think, you know, there’s a little bit of sexual tension there, which is fun. And I think also that Deacon has a very healthy respect for the fact that Sheila, you know… Deacon has fun with Sheila, and he pokes and prods at her, but I think he’s very careful in the back of his head to realize that, you know, if she’s ever offended or pushed in the wrong direction that she can be very dangerous and formidable… as can Deacon, but, you know, Deacon has had a rich history of dealing with crazy ladies on the show. You know, I don’t think he’s looking to poke the badger too much…to beat the devil.

Suzanne: He learned his lesson. Yeah. So, Deacon ostensibly came back to spend time with Hope. Did he also think in the back of his mind that he might get back at Brooke? Do you know if that was the case, or they just sort of went there later?

Sean: I mean, I have to believe that he did. I mean, you know, here’s a guy who’s been in prison for four years, looking at cement walls.. no contact with women and Brooke’s the one that got away. So I’m sure he did a lot of extrapolating and, you know, what would I do if things were different? And I also think that Deacon has legitimately made a sincere and earnest effort to become a better man. And I think that Deacon feels that even though he doesn’t have anything, he doesn’t have any material possessions, so to speak. He’s got a crummy job, and he’s living in a broom closet. The one thing that he can bring to the table is that he’s now a better man. And I think that he hopes that that’s going to be enough for Brooke.

Suzanne: Great. And,what about that big fight scene that you had with Thorsten Kaye? That was… that was amazing. What was that like?

Sean: That was a lot of fun. It was challenging for a lot of reasons. You know, Thorsten and I both did all of our own stunts. The big thing is, you’ve got to make sure nobody gets hurt. You got two, big, strong guys throwing punches at each other, [and] things can happen. I’m so fortunate to work with a guy like Thorsten. He’s a total pro, he’s a lot of fun to work with, and our director for that episode, Jennifer Howard, did a phenomenal job… the editors, everything. So I was really pleased with how it came out. You know, that’s just not something you see on daytime very often.

Suzanne: No, you [usually] see a couple of fake punches and that’s it, or wrestling in the mud with the ladies. That’s about it. So, what was… fans really want to know this, and you probably can’t tell us, but I have to ask it. Do you think that there’s any chance in the future, or near future, hopefully, that Deacon is actually going to get together with Brooke again for real, or is she just always going to be with somebody else.

Sean: I’ll preface this by saying that in absolute honesty, I don’t know. Sean doesn’t know. Oh, I just referred to myself in the third person. That sounded kind of jerky… Anyway, I have to believe, yes. And as the character, I have to believe, yes. Deacon has to believe there’s a shot. And if my character believes it, I have to believe it.

Suzanne: Yeah, it seems that the recent episodes I saw that he tried, and she sort of pushed him away, but he knows as long as he just hangs in there, maybe there’s a chance, you know, and he’s always there for her, you know?

Sean: Yeah. Yeah. I think Deacon’s happy. The second string quarterback, sooner or later, twists his ankle in the game. Definitely.

Suzanne: So that actually reminded me… I had asked on Facebook in the groups there, questions for you, ’cause fans like to ask you guys questions. And, one of them was why was Deacon just walking into Brooke’s house without knocking?

Sean: Yep. We discuss that all the time. I say every single time… The Forresters live in a gated community. He just comes and goes as he pleases with impunity. We laugh about it. It’s the same thing as, how come when you watch a movie, sometimes in movies these people still listen to answering machines? You know what I mean? It’s to convey information that you just kind of have to have. So, yeah. It’s that sort of deal.

Suzanne: Yeah. I mean, for free years, you know, they would at least knock, and then you’re like, why do people just keep dropping by, without calling? Nobody does that.

Sean: Right.

Suzanne: Family, that’s about it. But yeah. So it was one of those things they do to cut time. Right?

Sean: Yeah. Definitely. He’s family.

Suzanne: Technically. Yeah, well, it didn’t really bother me so much because he’s living right in the gate guest house, isn’t he? Or not living there, but he’s visiting visiting.

Sean: No, he’s living in the broom closet at Il Giardino.

Suzanne: Which is… okay. But I figured he was visiting Hope and he went up to see her.

Sean: Sure. Let’s go with that.

Suzanne: So, let’s leave “Bold and the Beautiful” for a moment. If you were called back by “General Hospital” to play AJ… bring him back from the dead (Assuming you’re no longer on “Bold and the Beautiful”), would you come back and play him again?

Sean: Um…no, I don’t think so. No. Nope.

Suzanne: Okay. Well, okay. That’s where I first saw you years ago. I still remember that Nurse’s Ball. Might’ve been the first one. when they were talking about AIDS and AJ said something terrible.

Sean: Yeah. That was difficult for me because, you know, I played the role of the ignorant, uninformed, negative Greek chorus. And it was hard for me because I’ve had lots of gay friends, and it was difficult for me to kind of espouse that stuff when it was so different than, you know, who I am. But I realized after talking with them, too, that it was such an important story… That I was playing an important part of how that story needed to be told. And once I kind of wrapped my head around it that way, I was fine with it.

Suzanne: Right. I think in some ways… even though he didn’t go to jail, AJ was much worse than Deacon because he just did a lot of terrible things and he never, until he finally got killed, he didn’t have to pay for anything.

Sean: You probably know a lot more about them than I do, because you know, a lot of those terrible things he did were while Billy Warlock was playing AJ, right? So for me, my AJ, I didn’t really do anything that was that bad other than, you know, giving his brother brain damage. But yeah, from everything I understand, AJ took a much darker turn when Billy was playing the character.

Suzanne: That’s probably true, yeah.. Well, and speaking of that, it was great to see Sarah Brown in “Studio City.” I just love her.

Sean: Yeah. She’s terrific. I think it was wonderful to get the opportunity to work with Sarah again. And, actually, we have six new episodes of “Studio City.” They’re going to be coming out in the next, I would say, less than two weeks.

Suzanne: Oh, good. I was going to ask you that.

Sean: I don’t know when this is going to air, but…

Suzanne: Soon.

Sean: Great.

Suzanne: Great! Yeah, no, I started watching some of that last night. I had to catch up on three week’s worth of “Bold and the Beautiful” first before I watched some of “Studio City.” So, I saw you posted something on Twitter about a podcast. Was that… are you making a podcast?

Sean: So, what I’m going to be doing is a subscription-based Zoom program based on my book, “Way of the Cobra,” where it’ll be a weekly Zoom meeting, and I’m going to be taking people through the philosophy and strategy of “Way the Cobra.” And that’s probably something that we’re going to kick off within the next month. I’ve got so many things going on, and there’s only so much that, you know, that I can do at one time.

This Saturday, also, we have a really big event, and that’s kind of where my focus is right now. For anyone who’s in the Los Angeles area, this Saturday at 2:00 PM at the Barnes and Noble at The Grove. There’s going to be an amazing event. There’s going to be a reading from the book by me. There’s going to be a moderated interview and Q&A by James Law, Jr. We’re going to have refreshments. We’re going to have some great celebrity surprise guests. You know, some people from “Bold and The Beautiful” are going to be there. And it’s open to the public. It’s completely free. There will be copies of the book available, and it’s just sort of my way of thanking everybody who has supported me and supported the book. And it is going to be such a great event. I hope everyone will come out, and, I would get there early. That’s all I would say.

Suzanne: Oh, good. I wish I lived in the area. I’d come for sure.

Sean: Oh, thank you.

Suzanne: I live in Arkansas.

Sean: Oh, ha ha. Since I’m doing plugs, I would also like to say that I’m also very happy that for those people that can’t make it, “Way of the Cobra” is now available on Amazon and the ebook on Kindle.

Suzanne: Cool. Yeah, I saw it on there. I was looking, I was looking through that with the peek thing to see what it was about. Has it been selling pretty well?

Sean: It’s doing great. It’s been doing great. I get messages from people…literally, from all over the world, telling me that they are having paradigm shifts, amazing breakthroughs in their lives, based on this book. And, you know, I mean, I always say this. Yes, I do podcasts and things like that because I want to promote the book and sell it. That’s just what you do when you have a book. But with every fiber of my body, I believe that the material in this book is transformational. And I believe that that if you’re somebody looking to really level up to, to give yourself a kick in the butt, and to live the life that you were meant to live… the information in the book is going to help you do that. Whether or not you take the action, it’s up to you. But I completely stand behind what’s inside of that book. So I hope everyone will.

Suzanne: Great. No, that sounds good…and you got your degree from UCLA in political science, is that right?

Sean: That’s correct.

Suzanne: So why did you choose that particular major?

Sean: Political science is a major that a lot of people choose if they are thinking of potentially going to law school. You know, part of my deal with my parents, way, way back when, when I was coming out to Los Angeles to pursue my career in acting was that, you know, I had to agree to finish college. And, you know, first of all, when you tell your parents you’re leaving to go pursue a career in acting, it’s like saying I’m running away to join the circus. They wanted me to have a plan B in case, you know, the acting didn’t work out. And, I just sort of said, “Okay, well, I guess I could become a lawyer.” I don’t know why I said it. And my dad said, “Okay, well maybe political science is a good degree.” It turns out, though, that unbeknownst to me, I’m a political junkie. I’m fascinated by politics. I’m fascinated by the history of it. I’m fascinated by all of it. I’m, you know, I watch it vociferously. And so it actually worked out to be a really interesting degree for me to earn.

Suzanne: Oh, good. Yeah. There’s a lot to see nowadays and well, every subject, but especially politics. There’s all the news channels and everything. My husband is a political science professor, so that’s why I asked.

Sean: Wow! Where?

Suzanne: We’re in Southern Arkansas right now. He’s at Southern Arkansas University. He’s actually an administrator now, but, he sometimes teaches as well.

Sean: Political science has a lot of different areas of study… everything from international relations to constitutional. So what area of political science?

Suzanne: His is American government, specifically, elections, and he did a lot of work on debates when he was doing research.

Deacon: Oh, that’s great. Well, you know what? Listen, if I ever get the chance to… I’ve been to Arkansas a couple of times, but if I ever get the chance to be at Arkansas, I’m probably gonna monopolize your husband and geek out.

Suzanne: That would be great, but there’s no way you would ever want to come here. It’s a small town in the middle of nowhere. So, even if you’re on the way somewhere…

Sean: Sometimes that sounds very appealing, believe me.

Suzanne: Well, it was a good place to be during the pandemic because it didn’t really give here for a long time. So, congratulations on winning the Daytime Emmy for “Studio City!” I forgot to mention that one

I posted on a bunch of Facebook groups. So I just have a few questions here that I picked out from the many. You know, a lot of times I just get people who say, “Oh, tell him I love him!” or “Say hi…” but I actually had a lot of questions. I was really shocked.

Chelsea wants to know how it feels to be back after all these years with the longer stay, and if you know, if you’re going to be there for awhile?

Sean: It feels great. You know, we just… this month is our 35th anniversary, and it’s a very special time to be a part of “Bold and the Beautiful” and, you know, I I’ve been a part of the show off and on since 2000. Yeah. Wow. A long time. And so many people are still working on the show in front of the camera and behind the camera that were there when I started. And there’s people that are there from when the show first started. So there really is a great sense of community there. I really care a lot about the people with whom I work, again, in front and behind the camera… the producers, the writers, everybody. So for me, it always feels like coming home, you know, I’m very blessed to be able to play this role, whether or not I’m going to stay for a long time. I would like to this time. I really would. You know, it always seems like Deacon is kind of mercenary. You know, I come in, I stick around for a while, and then I go. I would like to stick around for awhile. If we can, if we can make it work.

Suzanne: Right. Okay. And, Michelle asks who in the cast you hang out with? I assume that means lunchtime, between scenes, whatever.

Sean: Well, I do hang out with Kimberlin because we run lines together a lot.. and you know, Kimberlin and I both have places down in Palm Springs, California, so we have some mutual friends, and I adore her. Um, who do I hang out with? You know who I hang out with, actually, who’s not on the show right now is Justin Torkildsen.

Suzanne: Oh, okay. Yeah, I remember him.

Sean: Justin’s a really good buddy of mine. He’s also in “Studio City,” and he’s got a great role this year. So I hang out with Justin. You know, I like everybody I work with. It’s just, you know, when you’re spending 8, 10, sometimes 12 hours a day with these people, a few times a week…that’s enough time. You know, we see each other at events.

Suzanne: Yeah.

Sean: And then you have your other life. So, I guess who I hang out with sometimes depends on who my storyline is with at the time. Annika Noelle’s dressing room is right next to mine, so I always like to go in and knock at her door, and, you know, just kind of chit chat with her. She’s wonderful. But, you know, I’m really lucky to work with people that I like a lot.

Suzanne: Okay. Yeah. It’s great that you have a daughter on the show that is an adult.

Sean: Yeah. I’d like to find out what happened to Deacon’s son.

Suzanne: Yeah, somebody was asking me that, and I’m like, he doesn’t know.

Sean: No idea.

Suzanne: Yeah. They think you know everything that’s going on in Deacon’s mind and what will happen.

Sean: I’m never told… with very, very rare instance, am I told what’s coming up, and I get new scripts sent to me, and the first thing I do is I check and see if I’m in that script. You know, I checked every page and see if Deacon’s on it. And if he’s not, generally, I don’t read it because… you know, it’s information my character wouldn’t know.

Suzanne: Right.

Deacon: And if I am in it, then obviously I read it really carefully. But I don’t know what’s happening until I get a script.

Suzanne: Yeah, I think that’s true of most actors from what I’ve heard from various interviews. Yeah.

Suzanne: Sabra wants to know if there were any other character on the show that you could play, who would it be?

Sean: If I can play any other character, who would it be? That’s kind of a tough one. Hmm. I don’t know, to be honest. I mean, I just feel like I’ve got the best character that I could ever ask for. Um…Hmmm.

Suzanne: That’s a fine answer. You don’t have to think of one.

Sean: That’s my answer, with all due respect to all the other characters on the show. I just don’t think I would have more fun playing anyone else besides Deacon.

Suzanne: Right. Yeah, he does seem like a lot of fun. He’s fun to watch. So, you know…and also, she wants to know which character from the show you might want to bring back from the dead… since that happens so much on soaps.

Sean: Well, I’d have to go with Stephanie. I mean, God, Susan Flannery was amazing, so I would have to go with Stephanie. Who are some of the other characters that have died?

Suzanne: Let’s see, Phoebe…I mean, I’m trying to think that’s don’t put me on the spot. I put you on the spot!

Sean: Macy died, right?

Suzanne: Macy. Sally spectra. I think the actress died, but I don’t remember if they ever killed her.

Sean: Either one of those two. I adored Darlene Connolly and Bobby Eakes, and they’re terrific. Darlene used to have Annika’s dressing room. And so I used to tell her stories about how I’d knock on Darlene’s door and she’d say, “Come on in, kid!” She’d have a beverage and be reading the racing form… I just loved her. I loved talking to her. I loved talking with her about how she worked with Hitchcock and, you know, just stories. She was really special individual, and I miss her.

Suzanne: I’m sure. Yeah. yeah. I always love interviewing people who’ve been around a while more than young actors because they have great stories, and they’ve been around, you know, they just know stuff. They can talk better. Unlike me. I can’t talk.

Sean: You’re doing fine.

Suzanne: Thank you. And one last question, Janet wonders, which character on the show you would like Deacon to be paired with.

Dean: Well, I just, I really think it would be interesting to see, what would it look like if Deacon and Brooke really had a chance? I mean, I have to go with Brooke at this point. You know, I think they have an undeniable chemistry, and I think that they’re both older and more world-wise, and I wonder if this could be there too.

Suzanne: That’d be great. And it would be nice to see. It would be nice to see Ridge and Taylor give it a real shot without some really difficult things happening, like kidnapping.

Sean: Don’t forget that conflict is what makes…

Suzanne: I know. Just for a while, just for awhile.

Sean: ..the boat swaying gently in the water for so long before you need a big wave to come along.

Suzanne: No, no, you’re right. I think it’s just that things move so fast on soaps now compared to when they used to. And it seems like they used to have more time for the romance. And now they go too quickly, so we think, “What happened?”

Sean: That’s true.

Suzanne: And with “Bold and the Beautiful,” they sometimes break people up off camera, and you’re like, “What? What happened? What?”

Sean: I would really like to see what it would look like if Brooke and Deacon are given a chance and see where it’s at…what that Relationship would bring.

Suzanne: Yeah, I think it would, well, you know, it would drive Ridge crazy…

Sean: You know, this thing about driving Ridge crazy. You know, Deacon is such a pariah that just Brooke having Deacon, in kind of, proper society after him being in prison and all that, you know, the cards would be so stacked against them. But I remember there was this great scene that Kelly and I did. We were lying in bed together, Deacon and Brooke. And I think I said something. I said, “You and I’ve been fighting all our lives.” And I think that you and me against the world thing would be really interesting. It would be interesting if everybody… if Brooke started losing a lot of her support, and she chose Deacon. And what would that life look like?

Suzanne: Yeah what would Ridge have to say about that, for instance?

Sean: What if something happened where she somehow didn’t have her financial power base, and she was living in a crappy apartment with Deacon, and it’s like, could they still be in love living, you know, in a tiny little apartment? Or, what would happen… I was wondering what would happen if Deacon somehow actually got a financial power base? What would Deacon Sharpe’s life be like if suddenly he was on equal footing with the Ridges and the Dollar Bills of the world? That would be interesting.

Suzanne: That would be.

Sean: Deacon’s not an educated guy, but he is a smart guy, and he’s resourceful, and he is a cat with nine lives.

Suzanne: Okay. Well, I appreciate your talking to me.

Sean: Oh, it’s my pleasure. Thank you so much.

Suzanne: And yeah, and you know, I watch the show off and on because I have a lot of TV to watch for my site, but I keep up on what’s going on even when I’m not actually watching it, so…

Sean: Well, thank you for the opportunity. I really appreciate it, and I just want to thank everybody who who’s tuned in and watched this.

And, again, I’m going to plug it one more time. If you haven’t had a chance to check out my book, “Way of the Cobra,” please check out “Way of the Cobra,” the ebook is on Kindle. And the book is now available on Amazon. Unleash your inner badass.

Suzanne: All right. Thank you!

MORE INFO:

Sean Kanan of "The Bold and the Beautiful" on CBS From Wikipedia: Sean Kanan is an American actor, producer, author and TV host, best known for his portrayals of A. J. Quartermaine on General Hospital, Deacon Sharpe on The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless, Mike Barnes in The Karate Kid Part III, and Sam Stevens on Studio City.

Visit Sean’s site

Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Laurie’s Interview with Sean in 2011!

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Buy This Book!

Sean Kanan Interview Screencap

Interview with Hamza Haq and John Hannah

Posted on March 6, 2022March 6, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

John Hannah and Hamza Haq of "Transplant" on NBC

Interview with John Hannah and Hamza Haq of “Transplant” on NBC by Suzanne 3/1/22

This was a fun chat. I interviewed Hamza in 2020. It was great to meet John Hannah. He’s been in so many wonderful shows and movies that I love, like “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Damages,” “Spartacus,” “The Mummy,” “Alias,” and his starring role in “McCallum.”

Suzanne: How are you guys doing?

Hamza: Wonderful.

Suzanne: Nice to meet you, John.

John: Nice to meet you, Suzanne.

Suzanne: And Hamza. It’s great to see you again.

Hamza: Nice to see you too.

Suzanne: You cut your hair. I don’t recognize you.

John: Is that for work, Hamza?

Hamza: Yeah.

John: You working just now?

Hamza: Yeah, I just wrapped yesterday.

John: Okay, good, good. Sorry, Suzanne.

Suzanne: That’s okay. Is this a movie that you just wrapped?

Hamza: Yeah, I just dropped this surreal indie comedy movie that I’m filming here in Montreal, or Vancouver, rather, directed by Kim Albright and starring Anna McGuire. So, it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun.

Suzanne: Does it have a title?

Hamza: It’s called With Love and a Major Organ.

Suzanne: That sounds like an indie title, doesn’t it?

Hamza: Very much, yeah.

Suzanne: Yeah, so when did you guys film season two? Because when I talked to you in 2020, you hadn’t started filming yet?

John: Yeah, we didn’t start until 2021. We were supposed to start late 2020, and then it got pushed and shoved and pulled and pushed, and we ended up starting late February 2020 – 2021, sorry, I’m all mixed up. This is ‘22 isn’t it?

Suzanne: Yeah. What year is it? I don’t know.

John: It’s just about a week ago. This time last year, actually.

Hamza: Yeah.

Suzanne: Oh, wow. Okay, that’s a long time. Do you remember what happened? It takes like a year. [laughs]

John: Well there were these doctors…

Suzanne: So, in the first episode Bash says everything changes, which seems to set the tone for the season, wouldn’t you say?

Hamza: I would. I did. Yeah, it’s just yeah, it there’re so many new elements that the wonderful thing about how it’s been written and how it was presented is that like any bit of comfort that anybody found in in season one is thrown into chaos in season two, right from the off. So, we see everybody just swim through that chaos.

Suzanne: Bishop actually had a pretty bad season one, because he was shot in the head, and then had a stroke.

John: I was drilled, but it saved my life. I made dumb choices.

Suzanne: It was funny, when I saw that with him drilling in your head, because there used to be a soap opera called Port Charles, and the very first episode was a spin off from General Hospital, very first episode, they had that same thing. The intern drilled with a regular drill into this woman’s head, and everybody’s like, “Oh, that’s ridiculous. That’s ridiculous.” Apparently, it’s no longer ridiculous.

John: I mean, it’s not necessarily the way doctors would choose to do it, but needs must, you know, when the devil rides.

Hamza: Like the equivalent of like tying a string to your tooth and closing the door when you need to extract, you know what I mean? It’s kind of the same thing. A dentist wouldn’t do it, but it worked.

Suzanne: Or like when they always seem to do a medical shows when somebody is having that problem breathing, and they stick the inner lining of the pen and tube, and then it happens so much. I’m sure it doesn’t happen that much in real life, but it always happened on every medical show.

Hamza: I haven’t I haven’t done it yet, but it’s early in the day.

Suzanne: So, there’re a lot of politics in this season. John, can you talk about what Bishop faces this season, all of the things that he faced?

John: Yeah, I mean, Bishop kind of played a bit fast and loose with what he should have done and should have declared and his own health in season one, and that got us to where it got him to, back in bed. And season two in a lot of ways is navigating through those choices, politics. It’s corporate politics, really, isn’t it? I mean, the medical profession is no different from any other corporation, and for somebody to get to the top, they have to be fairly skilled at kind of maneuvering as well as being talented at the hospital, at the medical stuff and man management. So, yeah, he deals a lot with that. And the second season, which is kind of interesting, I think that we have the medical procedures, the things that happen. We have the human side of it, and then there is this corporate shark infested water that is, again, perhaps from a liberal point of view, he’s cynically trying to manipulate to hold on to his position.

Suzanne: And we saw this guy come in, Mark Novak, while he was unavailable. Then, we saw, I believe, six episodes, and he leaves at the end. Does he come back later this season? Can you tell us if you’re allowed to?

Hamza: We’re not.

John: Are we not? [unintelligible] I think he’s there and it sets up this conflict in styles, and I think that that works well, in terms of the the jeopardy that it puts pressure upon his history with Novak. It also puts Hamza’s character in a lot of jeopardy as well, because, obviously, I have a sort of protective cloak around them. So, I mean, I think anybody who understands drama would look at it and say there’s a lot of potential there. So, chances are, he comes back.

Suzanne: Okay, and Hamza, your character, he’s actually doing pretty well at first, it seems like. He gets an apartment of his own, or house of his own, and his girl girlfriend – fiancé – comes back to life. And he’s got something going on there with Mags maybe, and then his fiancé shows up and kind of throws a wrench into that. What can you talk about this season with regards to that?

Hamza: Well, we see Bash struggle a lot with the life that he’s creating for himself versus the life that he thought he lost. It’s more about, obviously, in that respect, not any of the medical drama stuff, because there’s a lot of stuff that happens there as well, and Bash gets roped into the politics of the inner workings of the [unintelligible].

John: He’s in the firing line as well, isn’t it?

Hamza: Yeah, there’re a few things that happen where Bishop and Bash’s personal and professional relationship [is] tested quite a bit, in terms of how they’re gonna move forward, and the same can be said about Bash and Raniya, his fiancé who comes back. She’s a representation of a life that he had lost, and now, the potential to bring that up again, and to restart and pick up where they left off, it’s a very exciting thing for Bash, and it’s something that he jumps into head on. It’s not until a little bit later in the season that he starts to feel that maybe he wasn’t in the same mental and emotional space that he was five years ago, because he absolutely isn’t. Everything has, like I said, changed, and he’s now moved away from the man that he used to be, and we’ll see how it tests that relationship, not only with Raniya, but with his sister, Amira, and with Mags as well.

Suzanne: And I can’t wait to see what happens next with his little sister, because the last one I saw was when Raniya was leaving, I’m sure she’s not gonna be too happy about that.

Hamza: No, she is not. I can say that much.

Suzanne: Right, and at least he’s going through therapy now. So, that also probably puts him in a different place like you were talking about.

Hamza: Yes.

Suzanne: I don’t think I would want a doctor who’s having hallucinations. Maybe it’s just me.

Hamza: You don’t know; maybe they’re having them already. You never know. If he saves the life and you get the job done, then his hallucinations are his own business, you know? [laughs]

Suzanne: Yes, in TV. In real life, I don’t know about that. Maybe you might pick up something by accident. It’s not a drill when he needs to get your head, you never know. So, how many episodes total are there? I’ve seen six.

Hamza: There’s seven more to go.

Suzanne: Seven more. Oh, good. So, it is actually thirteen this season. That’s good to know. And anything else that you’d like to tell us about the season, or anything else you’ve got going on, John?

John: I mean, I just I think the show, it keeps twisting and turning, as you say. There’s the politics of it, which is the jeopardy that we’re both in, and that puts a strain on our relationship, our closeness, which I think’s natural. It shakes it up a bit. Everyone’s in jeopardy with what’s going on. The guy on the right has keep it going for the whole thirteen, I think. Hamza, you?

Hamza: Yeah, I just think that just from a storyline perspective, we got very lucky with season two that the writers gave so much richness to all the characters, and we really dive a lot deeper into everybody, and not just, you know, you’re talking to Bishop and Bashir now, but, for fans of the show, everybody across the board has a much richer, more well balanced, like, human story to tell. Like, we dive into Mag’s personal life. Theo’s exploring his, you know, the contentiousness of him being this traveling doctor, and his being apart from his family, and then the relationship between June and her father, and also like her struggle between the two surgical residents as well, or surgical attendings rather, and it’s just so much more well balanced and dives into an emotional depth and a storyline interest that we didn’t see in in season one across the board for everybody. So, I hope everybody appreciates that, because there was a concerted effort to make sure that we see these characters as full rounded humans, and having seen the second season, I think we achieve that.

Suzanne: And are you allowed to tell us whether your character and Mags are ever going to actually kiss?

Hamza: No, as in, “no, I’m not allowed to tell you.”

Suzanne: Okay, I have to figure that happens at some point.

John: [unintelligible] know that you don’t or know that you do?

Hamza: I’m not allowed to say.

Suzanne: Well, I think I’m gonna guess that they are, just because they keep coming so close, but you never know; it’s TV.

Hamza: Tune in next week to see more on Transplant! Will Bash and Mags kiss? Will Bishop finally get – you know?

Suzanne: We want to know these things. You’ve got to have those ships nowadays. And John, what about your character and Claire? Is there anything you can tell us about that?

John: Yeah, I mean, there’s a second chances. I think the theme for Bishop is very much second season, second chances, and that’s true for Claire. That’s true for his relationship with Claire as well, and maybe this is the right time for them to come together, but, again, there’re some twists and turns in that the difference between what you think you want, and what really happens is, you know, we maybe take those choices and then discover that it wasn’t right, or maybe we don’t take them and wish that we had. I don’t want to give too much away, but there is certainly a journey that they go on together, and they care for each other deeply. They’ve had a lot of time together. That doesn’t necessarily always make it an easy path, though. As Hamza was saying, [it’s] the second season, so we’re not introducing the character[s]. We know the refugee story. Hamza is now embedded in the hospital, and that allows the time to spread out with the other characters via Hamza, and as we get to know them spin off on those other stories, which I think gives the show a richer tapestry. Not at all Hamza to say that it wasn’t rich before, but as you were mentioning, it allows us to get to know those other characters also.

Hamza: One hundred percent.

Suzanne: All right. Well, thank you guys. I appreciate you taking the time today, and I hope you don’t have too many other press that you have to talk to and that you have a great rest of your day.

John: Oh no, it’s always a pleasure. I mean, we spend eight months doing the show. It takes ten minutes to talk to someone to get the word out there, and that’s what hopefully brings the audience in. So, thank you for talking to us.

Suzanne: Great, thank you so much. Bye.

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

MORE INFO:

Transplant

Sundays on NBC (10-11 p.m. ET); Season Premiere: March 6

“Transplant” follows the story of Dr. Bashir “Bash” Hamed (Hamza Haq), a talented doctor and Syrian refugee, who fled his war-torn country with his younger sister, Amira (Sirena Gulamgaus), for a fresh start in Canada. After a truck crashes into the restaurant where he’s been working, Bash earns the chance to practice medicine again by using his field-honed skills to save multiple lives in brilliant fashion, including that of Dr. Jed Bishop (John Hannah), the Chief of Emergency Medicine at York Memorial Hospital in Toronto.

But Bash is told he’ll need to redo his residency in Emergency Medicine from the bottom and despite his obvious talents intuition, and training, starting over is not an easy road and his life experience is not a perfect match for the strict protocols at York Memorial. Through perseverance he makes inroads, developing camaraderie with his new colleagues, including the driven Dr. Magalie “Mags” LeBlanc (Laurence Leboeuf), the reserved and ambitious surgical resident Dr. June Curtis (Ayisha Issa), easy-going pediatric ER physician Dr. Theo Hunter (Jim Watson), head nurse Claire Malone (Torri Higginson) and even earning the respect of Dr. Wendy Atwater (Linda E. Smith), the department’s second-in-command who runs a very tight ship.

Jed Bishop (John Hannah), the team’s demanding, inscrutable boss, looms large and keeps everyone on their toes with a unique compassion and commitment to his staff that also connects them.

Season two picks up with Bash and his fellow residents reeling after Dr. Bishop suffers a stroke. With everything at the hospital destabilized, the place that Bash had started to consider home suddenly feels precarious. As the team adjusts to new colleagues while dealing with the challenges of life, unexpected faces from the past leave Bash seriously doubting whether his transplant into this new world was successful.

Bash’s hard work, compassion and hopefulness tell a universal story about the human ability to not only survive, but ultimately thrive when our lives suddenly change course.

Creator Joseph Kay returns as showrunner and executive producer. Director Stefan Pleszczynski joins as executive producer and will direct six episodes. Additional executive producers include Bruno Dubé, Jocelyn Deschênes, Virginia Rankin, Tara Woodbury, Josée Vallée and Adam Barken.

“Transplant” is produced by Sphere Media in association with CTV and Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Please visit the official show site at: https://www.nbc.com/transplant.

For the latest “Transplant” news, videos, and photos, please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram:

https://www.facebook.com/NBCTransplant/
https://twitter.com/NBCTransplant #Transplant
https://www.instagram.com/nbctransplant/

John Hannah

Dr. Jed Bishop

John David Hannah stars as Dr. Jed Bishop, the legendary, elusive and inscrutable Chief of Emergency Medicine who keeps his staff on their toes and always at the ready, in NBC’s drama “Transplant.”

Hannah came to prominence in “Four Weddings and a Funeral, for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. His other film appearances include “Sliding Doors” and “The Mummy” trilogy.

His television roles include “McCallum,” “Rebus,” “New Street Law,” “Cold Blood,” “Spartacus,” “A Touch of Cloth,” “Atlantis,” “Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” “Overboard” and “Trust Me.”

Hamza Haq

Bashir “Bash” Hamed

Hamza Haq stars as Bashir “Bash” Hamed in NBC’s “Transplant,” a trained ER doctor who fled his native Syria to come to Canada. He must overcome numerous obstacles to resume his career in the high-stakes world of emergency medicine.

A Canadian Screen Award winner for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series (2021), Haq was also honored as one of Canada’s Rising Stars by the Hollywood Reporter in 2017.

In 2018, Haq appeared alongside William Shatner and Russell Peters as twins Amal and Gopal in the CTV miniseries “Indian Detective,” and earned critical acclaim in the CBC drama “This Life,” for which he earned a 2018 Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Guest Performance. Other notable credits include recurring roles on the Cinemax series “Jett”
opposite Carla Gugino; “Quantico,” starring Priyanka Chopra; and “The Art of More,” with Dennis Quaid and Kate Bosworth.

Additional television credits include “Designated Survivor,” “The Bold Type,” “Being Human” and “Best Laid Plans.” He hosted two seasons of the International Emmy Award-nominated children’s series “Look Kool” and plays Jassie on the CBC Gem digital original drama “The 410.” On the big screen, Haq has appeared in “Bon Cop,” “Bad Cop 2” with Colm Feore, “The Death” and “Life of John F. Donovan” directed by Xavier Dolan, Darren Aronofsky’s “Mother!” and “Run This Town,” detailing the turbulent final year of Rob Ford’s tenure as the mayor of Toronto. He also had a role in “My Salinger Year,” which opened the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in 2020.

Haq is a 2020 recipient of RBC’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award and recently partnered with the Canada Media Fund’s Made | Nous campaign as ambassador to celebrate Islamic History Month. He spoke at the 2021 TEDx Toronto Fall digital event series “Uncharted,” using his public platform to speak on issues important to him, including refugees’ rights, racial
injustice and combating stereotypes, and was honored as Playback’s Breakout Star of the Year.

Raised in Ottawa, Haq is youngest of four siblings born in Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents and has called Canada home for almost 20 years. He holds a bachelor of arts in film studies with a minor in law from Carleton University.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Jeff Astrof, executive producer; and actress Mira Sorvino of "Shining Vale" on Starz Trailer

John Hannah and Hamza Haq of "Transplant" on NBC

Interview with Jeff Astrof

Posted on March 6, 2022October 13, 2023 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Jeff Astrof, executive producer of "Shining Vale" on Starz; photo credit Leon Bennett and GettyIMages

Interview with Jeff Astrof of “Shining Vale” on Starz by Suzanne 2/7/22

It was really fun to talk to Jeff. I love talking to the writers, directors, showrunners, etc. because they are usually more knowledgable about the show and how it came into being. Actors are fun to chat with, but they generally only know about their character. This was part of a press junket for the show, so there were other reporters here asking questions. I’ve put mine first. He loves to talk, so I was only able to ask one question in the show time we had. When I left the chat, though, I said, “Thank you for not killing Roxy!”

Suzanne: Since it’s a horror as well as a comedy, usually in horror movies and shows people die. We’ve seen a lot of people who are already dead in the first five episodes we watched. Will we be seeing other people die?

Jeff: Yes, I guess I could say this. It was actually built into the script early on that one of the main characters dies…they revisited that and said, “We want to revisit it now that you’ve done it…Now that we’ve come to really kind of know and love this character, do we think there’s a different way?” I said, “No, absolutely not.”…I mean, that’s a good point; we’re dealing with potential ghosts and people, but the stakes have got to be higher…you know, I don’t love gore and horror. This person dies in a very tragic and symbolic way. It’s interesting, because on my last show, Trial and Error, in the first season I killed somebody, and they were shocked, and it happened kind of in a comic way in the distance, but this is like, I guess it’s an ironic way. It’s an homage to a horror movie, the way they die. It’s also like, one of the great things Sharon and I set to do in a certain way when writing it, I wanted to know how would I react if I were in a haunted house? Because usually people just do some really stupid things in the haunted houses, [and] that’s the fun; that’s the comedy of it. You know, we’re watching a show now. It’s like, “We’re going to sleep in the attic.” It’s like, “No, don’t. You know not to sleep in the attic under these weird carvings. No, don’t do that; something bad is going to happen.” So, it’s like how do we get these characters to do that? And a part of that was also casting the house and finding that house, which was just miraculous. Like you want a house that Terry could be like, “What a great deal,” and if you look at it from a slightly different angle, it’s like, “Don’t live there. Why are you living in that house?” So, that’s the balance we did. But yes, the short answer is somebody does die. It’s funny, the second season I don’t – oh, we’ll probably have someone die, maybe. I don’t know. It can’t be gratuitous. Everything has to go with with the story, but a couple of characters meet untimely fates.

Suzanne: And that’s a real house right? Somebody actually lives in the one that used in the pilot?

Jeff: Yes. So, Jeff Shane, our [incredible] set designer, rebuilt that house, like inch by inch and then more on the lot when it got picked up. I remember when we shot there, we thought there’s no way you’re going to be able to – first of all, we shot in South Pasadena for Connecticut; it was during COVID. So, everything was closed. You only had a certain number of days to shoot in Pasadena, or else I would have said, “Let’s buy the house,” but you can only shoot six days a quarter, so it would be very long season. It [would be] five years a season. And we found this house on MLS; somebody found the house on MLS, and they were selling it, and it was very obvious why it was still on the market. The woman also was a hoarder…And our producer at the time was somebody who was able to see dead people – not the reason she got the job, but happened to be, so she walked in the house and was like, “No way!” I’m like, “Okay.” We created it on a lot on three stages at Warner Brothers and then also added in different rooms. We have the hallways, you’ll notice the wallpaper from the Overlook Hotel, the kitchen from Rosemary’s Baby. There’s the wallpaper from The Yellow Wallpaper. We are very, very liberal with our references.

Question: Jeff, this is quite a balancing act for you. You’re mixing comedy and mixing horror and also real world ailments that people have. How do you maintain that balance, and so it doesn’t lean too far in either direction?

Jeff: That was the big challenge of it. It’s very funny, because, I usually have my counterpart, Sharon, on here to say that she was looking for somebody creepy and funny, and there was nobody creepier and funnier than I was. When we came out with the show, that was not a good look, that pull quote, for me…I wanted to work with Sharon, because I love her work, and I wanted to stay with something that was genre bending. I heard that she had said she wanted to do this. Aaron Kaplan, the producer, pitched it as The Shining as a comedy. I was like, “Well, yes.” Then, it was female driven…I read the quote about women being more than twice as likely as men to be possessed and depressed and the symptoms being the same. I was like, “I am all in on this.” It’s so funny, because during this interview process, we’re hearing like our versions of what the other person was like on the phone. She said, “I had this idea years ago, and no one was excited about it, except for you.” I was like, “Oh, wow.”…She said, “How can you do comedy and horror? They play different paces, they play different, like, frames, you know, how the shot is framed. Usually, the actor has to play a certain way, and it’s scored differently.” I just know that after you go to a horror movie, after you scream, the audience laughs, and I was like, “Okay, so, it’s the same continuum.” I’ve been telling jokes for so long, and I was like, this is a new way to get a reaction.

I was given two writers for the first season. One was a horror writer, and one was a comedy writer. The horror writer saw the pilot and said, “This is my first comedy,” and the comedy writer saw the pilot and said, “This is my first drama.” So I was like, “Okay, something for nobody here.” And that’s been the thing. My first pitch to Sharon was that we write a comedy and we shoot like a horror. In order for it to have legs, and this is my horror writer, her name is Jill [unintelligible] said, “The challenging thing about horror is like, in a season two of a horror, if it’s a house horror, it’s like, ‘just fucking move.’ ” You know, I mean? So, the challenge is, you have to have that in your mind, that the audience is not going to say, “Just move.”

So, from the beginning, it was like, “Is this playing in Pat’s head, or not?” That is consistent. That’s one of the rules, like with Rosemary is that we only see Rosemary from Pat’s point of view, and she has to be in a certain state of mind. I think at this day and age, I look at what I like, and when I watch, and I don’t know that I’m watching any comedy right now. It’s just like I wanted to create something that I would watch and something that was engaging, and in order for it to be a good comedy, you have to have stakes, and the stakes of this are either a woman’s soul or her mental health, and for the family – I came from a broken home, myself, or divorced house, and it’s like there’s a lot of trauma there, and I like writing about trauma. And, again, with higher stakes can come bigger laughs. I think once we cast it, I think that we were able to do that.

Question: I’m enjoying it so far.

Jeff: Great. Thank you so much.

Question: …STARZ, which has this wonderful, wonderful program has a lot of shows that I really, really love. Did you know outright this [was] not a traditional network kind of show when you were helming it, that maybe it was going to go to a great pay channel like Starz?

Jeff: So, we actually developed it – yes, we knew it wasn’t. I work for Warner Brothers, and the lights are kept on at Warner Brothers, really, by the multi cameras that have been there as long as I have been, and that was a model that, really for most of my career, Warner Brothers was afraid of leaving, and obviously, things change.

My last show I developed actually, [was] right on the cusp. It was a procedural comedy called Trial and Error, and it should have gone to Netflix. Back then they were like, “No, I mean, the place that ships DVDs in the mail? No.”

So, this one, I knew, and with Sharon also. Like, one of the things that comes with Sharon, is she has a pedigree that is like – she doesn’t do network stuff. I mean, not that she hasn’t tried and, obviously, there’s money in network and stuff, but like, this is like, I knew the subject matter. We pitched this to network and ABC, but we knew this was going to be streaming and that we wanted to really blow it out. This is my first thing for streaming. The biggest thing was writing without act breaks, actually like constructing a story. That’s why I put it in the title cards, which is just really a cheat, because that’s where the commercials would go. So, that’s just a little inside baseball, don’t tell anybody, because that’s what I’m used to writing, the three act and four act structure…Basically the show is like a three act show, but yes, it had to be a high end show.

We originally developed it for Showtime, and then Showtime thought it was being developed for Sharon, and they said, “Well, we wanted the vehicle for Sharon,” and we’re like, “Well, this is not Sharon.” So, Aaron Kaplan said, “All right, well, we’re taking it back; someone has to love this,” and Starz swooped right in and from the very first second. They were just like, “This is this is how we want to brand our network for comedy.”

Then, once we cast the cast, also, it just became such a pedigree. So, I would say, real kudos for Starz…Their notes have always been very, very smart, but very, very limited too, and they just want to let us run with it. We knew that from the beginning Shannon and I were going to create something here that there’s no model for, so sometimes a network will look at that as an excuse to try to foist a paradigm onto it, but this was just like, we hope that people copy this and then use us as a [model]…So, God bless stars for giving us all this rope to play with.

Question: As far as casting, how did how did Greg, Courtney, and Mira come on board?

Jeff: So, that was an incredible story, because everybody thought that I’d written the part of Pat for Sharon, and that was never any of our intentions. I just had Pat in mind, and we were going to cast that. Then, after we came out with it, and it got picked up, we were talking about casting it and were going around some usual suspects, some not so usual suspects. The person Pat was written [as was] initially like 40 something years old, and that was just the prototype we had in our mind.

Then, Courtney calls me. I get a 213 call. Only my sister and spammers are 213. Who’s going to [call from] 213? It’s like, “Hey, Jeff. It’s Courtney. Listen, I read the script Shining Veil, and you wrote it for me. I want to do it.” I’m like, “Who is this?” She says, “Courtney.” It’s like, “Courtney who?” She said, “Courtney Cox.” I said, “Courtney, I haven’t spoken to you – Last time I [spoke] to you, cell phones hadn’t even been invented yet.” She’s like, “Sorry, I got your number. I read the script. I’m doing all this press; we’re doing a Friends reunion. I was thinking about you. I got the script. It was written for me; I have to do it.” And I was like, “Okay, I know you’ve done Scream,” and one of the reasons her name didn’t come up initially was because she had done Scream, and we wanted to have our own kind of like niche, and we thought like, “Okay, if Courtney does it, we’ve seen her do horror.” Obviously, they’re still shooting these things, the Screams, and she’s very successful at that. And she said, “No, this is something I’ve never done before, and it’s just really in my voice. It’s like you wrote it for me, and I have to do it.”

So, I went back to Sharon and Aaron and the other producers like, “Courtney wants to do the show. I guess Courtney is doing the show.”

And we were a little bit nervous too, because our director, Dearbhla Walsha, she had just come off Fargo. She’s like, “I don’t want to do Scream,” and now we have the star of Scream. I hadn’t seen Courtney really do drama, but oh my god, like and then I met Courtney with her daughter and I was like, “Okay, I know how to write this.” She’s just so warm and so deep and so hard working, and she’s like, “I have this part; trust me,” and she did.

Then, as soon as we cast Courtney, you know, it’s always that one piece of the puzzle. Then, once we cast Courtney, like we’re like, “Okay, we know the age range. We’re going mid 50s, somewhere, early to mid 50s.” Then, Greg’s name came up, and we called him, and he’s like, “I love Courtney, and I love this part.”

And Greg is so funny, because Greg, even up until a half hour ago, Greg always loves it and is concerned about how to repeat it. He’s like, “Listen, season two -” I’m like, “Greg, are you really pitching us season two? Like, do the press.” He’s so into it, and we had a long talk with Greg about it, and Greg loved it, and he’s like, “I really want to work with Courtney, and I think we’d be a good couple.” And sure enough, their chemistry was great.

Then, originally, we wrote this out; we have Greg and Courtney, and the part of Rosemary has one line in the pilot. Now, I always had big plans for Rosemary. As you see, it evolves, but everyone was like, “She’s basically a little more than the cartoony ghost, like the eyes moving in the picture.” But then Mira got a hold of it and was like, “I really want to do this; I really want to be involved.” Then, it’s like, “Well, if Mira wants to be involved – ” Mira’s like, “Whatever it takes.” It’s like, “You know, you’re not number one on the call sheet.” She’s like, “I really need to do this.”

Mira and I talked for a while…Mira’s dad has the distinction of being one of two people my dad told not to quit the business and move to Hollywood on the second one. They were good friends growing up, Paul Sorvino and my dad. We just talked about the character and Mira was – again, I don’t know where and how much Mira’s character’s revealed in what you’ve seen, but Mira also had a lot to prove, and she thought this was a great vehicle for her, and she brought so much to it. Then, we were like, “Oh my god, I have a an Oscar winner, Emmy nominee, Oscar nominee, like, just get out of the way.” And that’s what happened.

It was one advantage of the fact that I’ve been doing this for thirty years that they had a trust of me, and Sharon, of course, and it was really, really nice. I mean, it’s like, at any given time, I’ll get a call from movie actors talking about the show and what they want to do. Certainly Greg [has] a lot of ideas, and they’re terrific, and it’s so nice to see other people seeing it, because we had no idea. Like we just did this, and the only people I saw who’ve seen it have been people who are friends and family and, certainly, when we saw the chemistry that they had and the challenge in season two, which we’re starting to conjure up, is getting Mira in scenes with the rest of the family too, since right now she can only be seen by Pat.

Question: Oh very cool. And, I mean, Judith Light too.

Jeff: Oh my god, Judith Light, I love Judith Light. Once we had Judith also, and then, it’s very fun, because we cast Judith, and then we saw Judith and were like, “Oh my god, she looks exactly like Ganyor, so, it’s like, “Let’s run with that storyline.”

Then, the two of them together were [fantastic]. I love the kids. I love all of our cast. There’s not a single person where I’m just like, “Oh, how are we gonna write that?”

It’s a shame that we have to kill one of them, but I will tell you this, “Not Roxy.” When I talked about that, anybody can die in the show except Roxy. It has gotten such pushback. Like it’s one of the things that people do who are possessed is they cause harm to animals, and that was a red line. Starz is like, “You do whatever you want. Do not mess with that dog.” That’s the only red line there is.

Here is the audio version of it.

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

MORE INFO:

SHINING VALE

Season 1 8 Episodes 2022

“Shining Vale” is a horror comedy about a dysfunctional family that moves from the city to a small town into a house in which terrible atrocities have taken place. But no one seems to notice except for Pat, who’s convinced she’s either depressed or possessed – turns out, the symptoms are exactly the same. Patricia “Pat” Phelps (Courteney Cox) is a former “wild child” who rose to fame by writing a raunchy, drug-and-alcohol-soaked women’s empowerment novel (a.k.a. lady porn). Fast forward 17 years later, Pat is clean and sober but totally unfulfilled. She still hasn’t written her second novel, she can’t remember the last time she had sex with her husband (Greg Kinnear), and her teenage kids are at that stage where they want you dead. She was a faithful wife until her one slip-up: she had a torrid affair with the hot, young handyman who came over to fix the sink while Terry was at work. In a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, she and Terry cash in all their savings and move the family from the “crazy” of the city to a large, old house in the suburbs that has a storied past of its own. Everyone has their demons, but for Pat Phelps, they may be real. Cox plays the lead role of Patricia “Pat” Phelps, with Kinnear playing her ever-optimistic husband, Terry Phelps, whose patience and self-control will be tested like never before. Mira Sorvino plays Rosemary, who is either Pat’s alter ego, a split personality, her id, her muse, or a demon trying to possess her. Dungey plays Kam, Pat’s oldest friend and book editor. Gus Birney and Dylan Gage also star as Pat and Terry’s teenage kids, Gaynor and Jake.

Jeff Astrof is a producer and writer, known for Trial & Error (2017), In-Laws (2002) and The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006). He has been married to Shawni Modrell since May 28, 2000. They have two children.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Jeff Astrof, executive producer; and actor Parvesh Cheena of "Shining Vale" on Starz

Interview with Judith Light

Posted on March 6, 2022March 6, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Judith Light as Joan in "Shining Vale" on Starz

Interview with Judith Light of “shining Vale” on Starz by Suzanne 2/7/22

It was lovely to speak to such an amazing actress. I first saw her on “Who’s the Boss?” back in the 80’s. I’ve seen her in so many other great shows, such as “Transparent,” “Law and Order,” “Ugly Betty,” “Dietland,” “Dallas” and so much more. She’s great in this, like usual You may not even recognize her. The first few questions are from me, and the others were from other journalists in this roundtable press junket we did.

Suzanne: Hi. When you’re playing your character, is there anyone in particular that you modeled her after?

Judith: No, no. What an interesting question. No, I think that what happened was that they created her as they saw her. Now, maybe the writers had somebody in mind. Maybe they knew somebody that had had some of these issues, but no. It was just like, there it was, right on the page.

Suzanne: Thank you.

Judith: Yeah, you bet.

Suzanne: I know you got your TV start on One Life to Live. If one of the four remaining daytime soaps were to offer you a really good role, around your schedule, whether it was recurring, or guest starring or long term, would you consider it?

Judith: You know, years ago I used to say I wouldn’t do this, and I’m never going to do that. I’m not going to be in a soap opera, and I’m not going to be in a sitcom, and I’m never going to marry an actor, and I’m never going to move to California. You know, I’m not terribly trustworthy. So, I would only answer that to say to you, I will allow myself to stay open to everything and to see how things evolve and what comes to me. I don’t look at something and say, “I’ll never do that.” It’s just it’s not a way to be as a human being, and it’s not a way to live. Who knows what could happen? I have no idea. So, good questions.

Question: …Tell us a little bit about her. She’s kind of a character, but has a part of her life that we won’t get into, but kind of had a dark period in her life, I guess the best way to put it?

Judith: Yeah, yeah. I love that you’re being deferential to not giving away a lot of the information, which I know they appreciate, and so do I. We’re talking about mental illness. I mean, you’re talking about a woman who, as an adult, a lot of her adult life is she’s dealing with mental illness, and the fact that this show is able to talk about that in such a way within the body and the context of comedy and horror and drama and paranormal is just quite incredible, I think. I just think it’s extraordinary. So, that’s one of the things that we’re dealing with is women and mental illness.

Question: Congratulations on being a part of such an interesting show. How long did you have to keep the secret that you were cast in this series?

Judith: Not for very long. I mean, it really happened quite, quite quickly. I mean, I read the script, and then they sent me the pilot to look at, and I was like, “Oh, I’m in.” So, it wasn’t really a very long time. They send it to me, and then we talked about it, and we shot it.

Question: And to follow up on that, was there a personal highlight for you? Because often things that are funny are not always off camera hilarious, the most fun thing ever, and then, vice versa. You’ll find that in dramas, the second they say cut, everyone is laughing their heads off and having a blast. So, is there a highlight?

Judith: The highlight was really getting to work with Courtney and with Greg and with Gus Birney. And to be in a show, like you say, I mean, that’s written and conceived by Jeff Astrof and Sharon Horgan and such a team of women writers, I mean, literally, this is a question for you and everybody who’s watching the show. “How do you write a show that’s a comedy and a drama and a horror show and paranormal?” I don’t even know how you can think about that. You said congratulations on being a part of this show. I am beside myself. I think people are just – I can’t even say think. I know people are going to be absolutely enchanted by this.

Question: You’ve done a lot of darker roles lately. Is there something about these characters that really makes you want to embody them? Or is it just things that come across your desk, and you’re like, “Okay, that’s an interesting role. I’d love to pursue that.”

Judith: I go for the role. I go for what it says about women and their stories. We’re storytellers, you know, just like you all. You’re the storytellers. You tell our stories, and that’s why talking to you is so interesting; it’s so vital. I look at a character. I look at the story. I look at what it’s saying. I see that women are writing for women about women’s issues, women and their artistry, women and their menopause, women and aging, women and their sexuality, women and their mental illness. So, that’s compelling to me. And to do it within, like I just said before, within the context of a show that’s funny and dramatic and tender and fragile and poignant and scary is just – You’re smiling. It’s true. It’s like it’s it’s a joy. It’s a real joy.

Question: As far as dialogue, do you get a chance to play with the words a little bit? Or do you have to stay verbatim to the script?

Judith: No, there’s no law. I mean, if there’s something that I want to talk to the producers about, they’re incredibly open, but when you see a show like this, and the way this is written, I wouldn’t touch this with a ten-foot pole. I mean, I wouldn’t even think to be able to do that. If I have questions, I’ll ask them, but not with something like this. They’re open and flexible, which is also a dream. It’s really great.

Question: Just a quick follow up, there is a scene where you have a moment with one of your grandchildren, and that was a really serious scene, and I really appreciated that scene. You both brought it, and it was so great to see you flexing those muscles.

Judith: Oh, thank you, thank you so much. That was all as all on the page. That’s all on the page. And you know, you can try something as as an actor, and you can throw it out. They might have said to me, “Don’t go there. Go to the funny, or go to the scary. Don’t do that. Don’t make it that deep or that real,” but they didn’t say that. So, that’s what I was saying. And in responding to your other question, which is, I wouldn’t ask them to change anything or rewrite anything. But if you work the way that I do is you just throw out a lot of stuff, and I say to somebody, “Look, this is the smorgasbord; you choose what you want.” And if they want something else, then they tell you. But thank you for noticing. That is a very powerful scene.

Question: So, when somebody looks at your IMDB or your credits, in general, you’ve been working nonstop, and it’s a variety of genres and projects. There’re not a lot of people who do dramatic stuff like you, yet we’re also on Family Guy. So, you’ve also been prolific as a humanitarian, and charitable work as well and standing up for women’s causes, in a wonderful way. Are there a lot of hobbies for you, or does it really all your free time goes back into the craft?

Judith: I wouldn’t say hobbies, but there are things in life that I do that I spend time on that feed my work, a lot of reading, a lot of investigation of psychology. Also, now, I’m starting to produce, and I have a bunch of projects in development. So, those are the things that I’m drawn to doing. I am curious about a lot of different things, and curiosity is the link to me to creativity. If you’re curious about something, you move into a direction of being creative in relation to it. Also, I love working in teams. So, I love being able to be around other people who are also curious and creative, and that’s where a lot of the energy goes. My husband and I are creating a lot of work together. So, that’s also exciting for me.

Question: So, it sounds like stay tuned to keep checking the IMDB to see how much you’re working.

Judith: There you go. There you go. That’s right.

Question: It’s such an honor, I must say to speak with you, and I’ve been a longtime fan of yours. Do you have any favorite projects of yours that truly hold a dear place in your heart? I mean, we recently saw you on American Crime Story. That was a beautiful arc, and there’re so many roles that stand out, of course, over the years, but are there certain roles that still hold a special place for you?

Judith: Oh, you’re so sweet. Thank you. Thank you for saying that. Well, I love American Crime. I love working with Ryan. I mean, talk about a visionary. He’s an incredible person. I would have to say, I did a play years ago, where I took over – I hadn’t been on stage for twenty-two years, and then I took over for a brilliant actor named Kathleen Chalfant in a play called Wit. It was about a woman who was dying of fourth stage ovarian cancer, and that one I hold very close still. I was terrified to do it. I had to shave my head. I had to be naked on stage. There were a lot of things that I had to confront, personally, that were very transformational for me as far as my life was concerned. It wasn’t about my career anymore. It was really about my life and the things that I needed to not be afraid of and to take a chance to take a risk. I did it for almost a year. I did it in New York for about six months. Then, I did it on tour in Boston and San Francisco and Washington, DC, and Florida. Every one of the experiences around that was life changing and affirming for me, and that one I hold I hold very close, very dear. Also, the other things that I’ve done on stage, like Other Desert Cities, just that brilliant, brilliant play by Jon Robin Baitz. I just walked into that family, and that was very, very special to me, getting to work with Joe Mantello and Robbie and then Richard Greenberg, on The Assembled Parties. Those are two other plays that I did. Most of the work that I’ve done stays with me. Not the character; I let go of the character, but the holiness, I guess, is what I would say. And I mean that in a holistic way, that those characters have meant a great deal to me, particularly when you do a long run, like we did with Lombardi. Those things, they stay. They’re embedded, and I really treasure them greatly. I really do.

Question: So, it just seems like the producing side is kind of tapping into a new area for you. How has that been to kind of take a project from an idea and put it together?

Judith: It’s been interesting. It’s more I’m learning from several different producers that I’m working with in the development of these projects. I’m at a place called Brillstein Creative Partners, and I’m working with some really brilliant, extraordinary women producers that I’m learning a lot from, like Amy Powell and Dakota DeBellis. There are people that are on these projects that I’m working on that I’m watching and learning from and seeing how to put something together. Right now we’re in the stages of looking at reading material, finding the writers. Who’s going to be the best team for this? And it takes a long time, and it takes a lot of discipline and diligence and a lot of hard work to put it together. I’m learning, and I’m watching, and I’m seeing that these are people that really know what they’re doing and really know what they’re talking about. So, I’m really in the learning stage. So, I’ll keep you posted. I’ll let you know how it’s going.

Here is the audio version of it.

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

MORE INFO:

SHINING VALE

Season 1 8 Episodes 2022

Multiple Tony and Emmy award-winning actress JUDITH LIGHT is known for her extensive body of television, film, and onstage work, for which she recently received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Opposite Bette Midler, Ben Platt, and Gwyneth Paltrow, she currently stars in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series The Politician. Most recently, Light starred in Transparent, Amazon Prime’s Golden Globe-winning series, created by Jill Soloway, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination and multiple Emmy and Critics’ Choice nominations. In 2018, her role in Ryan Murphy’s Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, garnered her an Emmy and Critics Choice nomination. More here

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Judith Light as Joan in "Shining Vale" on Starz

Interview with Merrin Dungey

Posted on March 5, 2022March 7, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Merrin Dungey attends the premiere of her new Starz series Shining Vale on Monday (February 28) at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. — HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 28: Merrin Dungey attends the premiere of STARZ “Shining Vale” at TCL Chinese Theatre on February 28, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage)

Interview with Merrin Dungey of “Shining Vale” on Starz by Suzanne 2/7/22

I was delighted to speak with Merrin Dungey because she’s been in so many wonderful series, such as “Alias,” “Once Upon a Time,” “The Resident,” “Star Trek: Picard,” “Hollywood Heights,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Big Little Lies” and much more. I don’t know why she’s not starring in her own series by now. She has a fairly small role in this show (at least in the first season), but she’s great in it. I hope they give her more to do in the second season. It was wonderful to speak to her!

The first few questions were mine, and the rest are from the other reporters that were in our virtual room during this press junket. I put one of theirs in sooner so you could see that I was replying, in part, to what she had said when she was answering the other questions.

Suzanne: Hi! So, besides being Pat’s friend and editor, what else can you tell us about your character?

Merrin: Well, it’s not simply just that I’m her friend and her editor. I’m sort of the engine that keeps the story going, because without what I need from her, that’s what leads her to make the decisions that she makes along the way, and I feel that my character is her moral center and her life raft, like the one outside of everything else that’s happening that she clings to. She is like, this is the person that can help me move things forward. I feel like she’s also a little desperate to please. Where there is a sister like relationship that we have, I feel that it’s a long standing relationship. I was there for the beginning. I probably was the one who discovered her and brought her along and got the first book success, hence why I’ve been on this horse and stuck by her so long through her rehabs, through her ins and outs, and having children and all the whatnot, but my patience runs thin, and I have bosses to answer to at this point as well. So, there is a point at which the rubber meets the road, and I feel that without me, you don’t have the show. You don’t have that engine to keep her chasing what she’s chasing to finish the book.

Question: When you had the pleasure of auditioning for the show, did you actually read any of your character’s lines, or were the sides just totally random stuff in there and they were gauging your connectivity to it all that way?

Merrin: No, it’s all written. I mean, I believe that I added some stuff at the end. This is the thing I miss the most about in person auditions, because I’m great in a room, because I like people, and I like to have fun. I honestly, truly believe that some of my success and things have happened – I mean, like, at the end of the day, when you are auditioning for something for a series that could go for six years, you want to know, “Do I like this person? Do I want to spend time with this person?” That’s part of the game. But I believe I sent some stuff about what I was wearing in my audition. They have you do like the, “Hi, I’m Merrin Dungey, and I live in Los Angeles, and I am willing to -” you know, whatever you say, all the things, like “I’m five, nine,” or whatever your height is, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I made some stupid joke about my pants. Like, I was not wearing [pants]…and I think that that helps. Although I’m fully dressed today. I have high heels on; I do the whole thing.

Suzanne: You look very nice today, by the way. So, it’s been sixteen years since “Alias” went off the air, and I know that both of your characters died, but nobody really dies in those type of shows. Do you think that we’ll ever see a reunion series or movie, and would you do it?

Merrin: Yes. Hopefully. And yes. And yes. Look, Jennifer got us all back together for the most part, for a 20th anniversary. Yeah, it was super, super fun to see everyone and just connect and hang out, but I think that we are all game for that. And I would hope that – I feel that Bad Francie lives. She lives somewhere on, you know, life support somewhere or she’s T-2; she’s a robot. So, it would be great. I would love it very much. I would be wholly disappointed if they did do it, and I did not get to reprise any sort of – I don’t care even if it’s a flashback, but not a flashback to Good Francie, because, who cares?

Question: Merrin, I’ve been watching your acting for, it’s like twenty-ish years now. You’ve played every profession on the planet. And this one, we see you playing Pat’s oldest friend and book editor, but not the first time you’ve worked in the publishing industry on screen. One of my favorite shows ever, You’re the Worst, you were working at a publishing industry.

Merrin: I thought I was a PR agent in that. I was at a publishing agency, but as a PR agent for him, getting him all those interviews.

Question: Related to all that, I’m curious how much work goes into seeking the professions and learning the ins and outs before you’re appearing as that on screen?

Merrin: That’s a great question. Thank you very much. I think I don’t necessarily dive into [it] so heavily, unless it’s like detective work, because that’s so much more foreign to what I know. To play a publishing editor or book editor or even a CEO, there just is sort of like, what’s the gravitas? What is the nature of [how you are] presenting, as opposed to what is it you actually do? Because unless you really see me doing what it is that I have to do, like when I do detective stuff, it’s just kind of, there’s usually a different objective for my character. So, I don’t have to worry so much about what it is that I do as a therapist or any of those sorts of things.

Question: I love this world for you, and it’s such a beautiful relationship that the two of you share, that Pat shares with Kam. What does Kam particularly see in her? I mean, obviously, you mentioned that she probably discovered her, but is there something special that you feel like she initially saw in her, and what continues to have her stand by her side?

Merrin: You know, we all have that friend, don’t we? It’s just kind of like a little bit of a like sister relationship, the one that you kind of need to take care of and put under your wing, and she’s constantly effing up, and I have to [be] like, “Okay, how can we – ” I mean, I certainly have had those people in my life, and I think that that’s what Cam sees in her. There’s talent amongst the ruins, and she wants the best for her. She loves her. She also wants to get paid. You know what I’m saying? Sadly, [there’s] a financial component ultimately here, and there does come a point at which [it’s] like, my neck’s on the line. So, it is a two fold relationship.

Question: They do say “never mix business with pleasure.”

Question: So, she has some great dialogue. Talk about that and how it really plays into kind of like, what I love about her, that snarky side of her and all these great lines that she has.

Merrin: Well, thank you. We get to play. That’s the great thing about the show is that there is room to play, and Courtney’s always game. She’s such a great sparring partner as you can well imagine. She’s so witty and sharp and funny, and Jeff Astrof comes in with the zingers at all times. We played a lot with – you know, anytime you open the scene or you end the scene, there’s a lot of room to sort of have fun and improv and do some stuff. So, from that comes some of the zingers and the stuff…And the late night shoots. You get tired, and then you start saying stuff, and it just happens, and it’s fun.

Question: You do take on so wonderfully these dramatic roles. Is there something about this character or maybe about drama series in general that really draws you to that genre?

Merrin: Well, this is a horror comedy. So, it’s not really a drama, and this is my first time doing that. Although I guess American Horror Stories is sort of like a horror comedy. Look, I go where the goods are. I go where there’s some great fun and good people. I feel like, in my later years in particular, I have been able to work with some [outstanding] – Listen, my entire career I’ve worked with some great people: Aaron Sorkin, Sir Patrick Stewart, Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon. I’ve been very, very lucky. It’s ridiculous, you know, Bryan Cranston. I mean, it’s crazy. So, I just feel like I fell out of the lucky tree, and I hit every branch on the way down. So, to continue that streak with Greg Kinnear and Mira Sorvino and Courtney Cox, again, it’s like, “Are you kidding?” This is a dream come true. It’s crazy.

Question: You do it so wonderfully.

Merrin: Thank you. Did I answer your question? Because I feel like maybe didn’t answer your question, but, yes, I’m happy to work with great people. I don’t care what they’re doing. I did an online thing with Con Man, I think was an online series with Nathan Fillion, because it was like, “Nathan Fillon, sure, yeah. Alan Tudyk, yep.”

Question: So, you checked a few boxes. You’re in the Star Trek arena, live action and animation, and horror, you’ve done Lucifer, of course. Now, you’re doing this, although you’re not in the horror aspect per se, at least not yet, but what’s it like to kind of play in those playgrounds and to visit those kind of worlds?

Merrin: Awesome. I mean, it’s such a gift. It’s complicated when you do something like a Picard, because doing that is much like doing an ER in an OR kind of thing, because, I don’t know about you, but I don’t know what I’m talking about. You know what I’m saying? Like, I’m not in space. I’m not with the Romulans. I don’t understand what we’re talking about. So, it took me a long time to sort of pull in what I know about what I know and being a television interviewer, and then how does that work? What points am I trying to hit? We had so much rehearsal for that, because it was six big pages with him, with Sir Patrick Stewart, and we had a blast. It was the longest, hardest day of my life, except for when I did the fight with Jennifer, but in terms of concentration and what it is and having to do, you know, I’m like spinning a sphere or something. You’re dealing with things that are CGI that don’t exist. That is complicated. At least when I was doing Once Upon a Time, even though there was CGI in that, it’s still more grounded in terms of what you’re saying. I think that’s the hardest part. It’s harder to play in those playgrounds, because they’re fantastical, so you are trying to pull in what you know about the real world and attribute it to something that doesn’t exist. But for other people, this is really real, and I’m very proud of myself, particularly for Picard, because people are mad at me…I was like, “Good. I did what I was supposed to.” I had no idea what I was talking about! [laughs]

Here is the audio version of it.

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

MORE INFO:

Part of the "Shining Vale" poster with Merrin Dungey and Courtney Cox.

SHINING VALE

Season 1 8 Episodes 2022

In addition to “Shining Vale”, Merrin Dungey will be seen in a recurring role on the up- coming season of “Lucifer”. Fresh from her strong turn as CJ Emerson on ABC’s limited series “The Fix”, Dungey returned to the critically lauded Emmy winning HBO series “Big Little Lies” as Detective Quinlan, appearing on screen with Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and the legendary Meryl Streep; all nominated for a SAG Award for Best Ensemble. She co-starred as CEO Claire Thorpe on Fox’s “The Resident”, and on a number of ABC hits including “Once Upon A Time” and “Conviction”. Guest star roles range from the groundbreaking turn as Francie Calfo/Alison Doren in the critically acclaimed award-winning “Alias”, and as a Queen of Darkness, Ursula, in “Once Upon A Time”. Other guest appearances include hit shows including “Seinfeld”, “Friends”, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, “Episodes”, “The West Wing” and “Shameless”. Recurring roles include “Chasing Life”, “Brooklyn 99”, “Malcolm in the Middle”, “Revenge” and over 35 episodes of “The King of Queens”. Dungey is an accomplished stand-up comedian, and has performed in Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival, as well as on “Premium Blend” on Comedy Central. She has appeared on the big screen opposite Pierce Brosnan in Some Kind of Beautiful and the Warner Bros comedy CHiPs opposite Dax Shepard. She is a UCLA Theater School Graduate and the youngest recipient of the UCLA Annual Acting Award, as well as the Natalie Wood Prize

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Merrin Dungey as Kam in "Shining Vale" on Starz, seen here with Courtney Cox (Pat).

Interview with Gus Birney and Dylan Gage

Posted on March 3, 2022March 7, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Dylan Gage (Jake) and Gus Birney (Gaynor) of "Shining Vale" on Starz

Interview with Dylan Gage (Jake) and Gus Birney (Gaynor) of “Shining Vale” on Starz by Suzanne 2/7/22

This was from a great press day where we interviewed many of the cast members for this new show. I really love this show, so it was cool to be talking about it with the cast. These two young people are just a small part of the awesome cast. It stars Courtney Cox and Greg Kinnear as the parents. Judith Light is their grandmother. Mira Sorvino is a ghost in their new house. Merrin Dungey plays the mom’s best friend agent. It has so many great stars like Sherilynn Fenn, Rob Morrow and more. Check it out Sunday, March 6! My questions are here at the top, and then the rest of the questions from our roundtable group are listed below that.

Suzanne: So, can you each tell us about the audition process that you went through to get the show?

Gus: Well, I auditioned, I think, like, two summers ago, and it was still COVID. I sent in a tape, and I think I didn’t hear back for like two weeks. Then, I did a read with Courtney over Zoom. It’s so interesting, auditioning over Zoom, because you can’t really get a sense of people. But [what] I remember about this Zoom audition was I really, really still felt connected to her through this Zoom weird format that we’re using now. I remember leaving that and being like, “Oh, that was interesting.” I actually felt like I was just having a moment with someone. Then, I found out not that long after that, that I got it, and it was the the best feeling in the world. So, yeah.

Suzanne: Great. Thank you. And Dylan?

Dylan: Yeah, I so I did my audition. I sent it in, and I got a callback, as you do, and the callback was virtual, and I did it in my grandmother’s office, and the internet wasn’t great. It was over Zoom, and it was hard to hear. So, a lot of the times I misheard what they were saying, and I thought I was doing terribly. I thought I was blowing it so hard, but no. It turns out that they liked me. So, I’m glad.

Suzanne: That’s a great story. Thank you.

Suzanne: I saw the first five episodes, and I enjoyed them a lot. Is there anything unusual that you can tell us that happens to your character in the last three episodes after that, anything non-spoilery?

Gus: I’m trying to think of a way not to spoil things. I guess I would say that each character kind of goes through an emotional shift, and I think you start to see it by the fifth episode, but at least for Gaynor, I think it kind of is cemented more in understanding her mom a little better and starting to make make bigger shifts in the person she wants to be. So, yeah.

Dylan: Yeah, I’m very excited for the last three episodes. I don’t want to say anything to spoil it character-wise, but I definitely think some of the best of the comedy and some of the best of the horror and drama parts of it are caked into those last three episodes, and [it] just sort of crescendos very well and I think end on a very good note.

Suzanne: Oh, great. Thanks so much. I look forward to seeing the rest of them.

Suzanne: I might have missed something there. Where was the house? Is there an actual house that you filmed in, or was it just one they built for the show?

Gus: There was an actual house, and that house was in, was it Pasadena, Dylan? I don’t remember where.

Dylan: I’m not good at geography in my own state [unintellible] a state that I don’t live in, but yeah, for the pilot we actually had a real house. It was a real house, and all of the stuff inside it, all the wallpaper, all like the weird scratches and stuff, that was all there. They didn’t add anything to the house for the pilot. Everything’s there, but then, for every episode after that, they recreated the house like one to one very, very well. We filmed it on like lots and stuff and not like on location.

Suzanne: Does the real house have a particular name or anything? Is it one they use for stuff like this? Do you know?

Gus: It was some woman’s house. She lived there by herself, and I think she might have been a hoarder or something, because they had to clean the house out completely.

Dylan: Yeah, I think that’s just someone house. I don’t think anything else has been filmed there. I think they found a gem just for the series.

Suzanne: Looks like it. Thank you.

Question: Playing brother and sister, how do you develop a relationship as actors, maybe you haven’t even met before? And we can start with Gus first, and then over to Dylan. How do you kind of create that?

Gus: I know immediately when I met Dylan, I mean, I’d watched him in PEN15, so I was a fan; I’m not gonna lie. I little starstruck, but I think that the more we hung out on set, and the more we developed, I don’t know, just an off camera relationship, the easier it became. And it was nice, because we were the two kind of younger people on the show. So, we really only had each other to rely on in that way. It bonded us. Also, I think we’re both a little dorky. So, it was good. I’m sorry, Dylan; it’s true.

Dylan: Wow, just dragging me under. Yeah, I feel like just because we’re both sort of young, there wasn’t a whole lot of people to relate to, other than just me and Gus. So, we sort of like became conjoined at the hip. Yeah, [it] just sort of blossomed naturally into where we’re very easily able to play a realistic brother sister relationship in the show.

Question: Dylan, we were just hearing about PEN15, big fan of that, and we’re kind of conditioned to not like you from watching PEN15, and I think you redeem yourself here. Gus, great on screen as well. So, my question is for both of you, how important is it for likability to be part of your role?

Gus: Wow, Dylan, you want to do it?

Dylan: Sure. I feel like I could play a character – I feel like likability does not really affect – I think that Jake is very likable, just in the fact that he’s just sort of goofy and a little bit dorky. He’s just in his own world doing his own stuff. He’s very uncontroversial, because he doesn’t really put himself out there that much. But I feel like a character’s likability does not really affect too much of what I care about the character, because it only matters how the character thinks of themselves.

Gus: Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, the audience is gonna have their opinion. So, it’s like, it’s the viewer who’s gonna like you or not, and you can’t really control that. And look, Gaynor can come off very, I guess at times unlikable, as sixteen-year-olds do, and you have to let that be and know that that’s part of it. I don’t think that should be something you’re worried about, because people are unlikable sometimes. And I hope as the show goes on, you see that she’s much more layered and complicated than at first glance.

Question: Gus, you’ve been brilliant on Dickinson, and, of course, Dylan, amazing on PEN15, but these are kind of darker roles, I think for both of you, where both of you sort of have some sort of struggle that you’re dealing with. There’s sort of a lot of angst as well for you, Gus, and a little bit more mentally, as far as for Dylan. How did you all shake off a long day of being these characters?

Gus: I mean, I know there were actually pieces of Gaynor that I really liked and pieces that I wish that I had. You know, she’s just kind of a spitfire and very confident and outgoing and strong. I guess I would leave, and I’d be like, “Wow, I wish that I had a little bit more of that in me.” So, it would actually be I would shake off the day and be like, “I should take that with me moving forward.” But I always left really happy.

Dylan: Yeah, and I mean, I feel like I’m close enough to Jake, as a personality. I feel like the only thing really that differentiates us and is a little bit difficult at times, it’s just sort of the fact that he’s very just sort of apathetic towards the outside world and is very [tuned] out. It was kind of hard a little bit sometimes to just like, be so in my own stuff, like on set, and then have to be back into it. So, I kind of had to keep doing that. But after the first few days, I got into the groove of it. I really started doing pretty [well].

Question: How hard is it balancing the horror and the comedy? I know, Dylan, you have the horror credit with Creepshow and Fear Street, so you know that part, but mixing in the comedy? What’s that like? We can start with Gus first.

Gus: I mean, it’s fun, because, actually, they merge them so well. So, you get a good sense of both sometimes; like, if it’s all horror, you don’t get real people behind it, and then, if it’s all comedy, sometimes it can be a little cheesy. I think that there’s this great mesh of all of these different genres in there, and at the end of the day, they’ve written very real, full people and characters that I think anyone can kind of find themselves in. If not one, then you’ll find one in someone else. But yeah, it was very fulfilling.

Question: I’m finding more and more when there’re two people who are going to be acting a lot on screen, that as part of the casting process, they put them on [what] I think they call a chemistry date or a chemistry test or something like that. Did they as part of casting or once you were cast put the two of you together, or did you spend time together going [for] coffee or anything like that to see that you vibe well?

Dylan: I feel like during like the rehearsals and stuff, whenever they like had the outline of like – We were doing basically blocking and stuff, or they just had like tape outlines for how like the furniture would be set up, and we’re doing it in a warehouse and stuff, or something similar, and that’s when we kind of like, I at least when I first knew where we were like, “Okay, this is a cool person, and I think I can jive with them well.” Yeah.

Gus: Yeah, we hung out a little outside of the set too. We would like do an “escape the room,” so, yeah.

Dylan: We did do an “escape the room,” and also, we ate at a Cheesecake Factory.

Question: For both of you, what do you think it is about Shining Veil that’s gonna make it such a fast fan favorite series?

Gus: I really think we’ve created like our own unique genre that hasn’t really been seen and isn’t like anything on TV. I think it’ll intrigue people to keep coming back, and truly, every episode gets better, gets scarier, gets funnier, and gets more complex. So, yeah, I think I think once you start you really can’t stop.

Question: It’s very bingeable.

Dylan: Once you pop, you can’t stop. Yeah, I feel like this show definitely has something special. It shifts. Ever since I first read the script. I was like, “This show’s it.” It’s very good. I feel like it’s very easy to get into, whether you like horror, whether you like comedy; it has something for everyone and such great actors, such great directors, such great writers. I feel like it’s definitely going to be a hit. Absolutely.

Question: Talk about playing in that house. What that’s like? We can start with Dylan first. I looks pretty creepy.

Dylan: Yeah, we only filmed the pilot with the actual house, and everything else was on [the] Warner Brothers lot, like on sets and stuff, but they recreated it scarily well, on the Warner Brothers lot. Like it was like one to one. It was very well done, but just seeing that house in person was kind of jaw dropping. They kept showing us pictures and stuff before we actually did it, but that house is a character.

Gus: Yeah, you get chills walking in there. It’s pretty special.

Question: So, one thing I wasn’t sure about with the show is how long it was filmed over the course of – maybe Gus can take this one, because I keep throwing it at Dylan. You know. that likability question, it just buried him.

Gus: Well, so, we did the pilot a year ago last February, and then we did the the rest of the episodes from June to September, so it was like two and a half months. So, it was pretty fast, and it was all in LA. Yeah, it felt very fast. It was great.

Question: Agree with that Dylan?

Dylan: Mm hmm.

Question: Dylan, your character has OCD, ADHD and some other issues. What kind of research did you do into preparing to portray him?

Dylan: I feel like I definitely have friends that have OCD, ADHD, people that are on the spectrum, and I definitely have a lot of experience with with those friends and stuff. And also I feel like playing Jake, it’s less about those things and more just about he’s just a quirky kid who is really just sort of in his own world doing his own stuff, really likes electronics, video games, but those are the things I could really touch on and really dive deep into, and the rest of it just comes naturally of just not making eye contact, kind of like being hunched over and all sorts of stuff like that.

Here is the audio version of it.

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

MORE INFO:

Gus Birney, Dylan Gage and Courtney Cox in "Shining Vale" on Starz

SHINING VALE

Season 1 8 Episodes 2022

Dylan Gage captured audience’s attention as ‘Gabe’ on the hit Hulu series “PEN15”. Prior to his standout role, Gage guest–starred on such high–profile shows as “This Is Us” (NBC), “StrangerThings” (Netflix), “Creepshow” (Shudder), and “Bobcat Goldthwait’s
Misfits & Monsters” (truTV). On the big screen, Gage can be seen in Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy, Eli Roth’s The House With A Clock In Its Walls, the independent feature Mercy Black, and the upcoming Netflix feature Fear Street 2.

Gus Birney has appeared as ‘Jane Humphrey’ in both seasons of the Apple TV series “Dickinson” opposite Hailee Steinfeld. Previously, she appeared as a series regular on Spike TV’s “The Mist” and in guest-star roles on “Bull”, “Jessica Jones”, “Instinct”, “Law and Order: SVU”, and “Chicago Med”. Her film credits include Here & Now, The Man in the Woods and Untitled Woody Allen Film. She also starred in Tennessee Williams’ The Rose Tattoo at the Williamstown Theater Festival opposite Marisa Tomei, and in Connected at 59E59. Birney is a singer/songwriter and has played at the Bitter End, Arlene’s Grocery and The Listening Room. She also models, including for Kanye West in New York Fashion Week

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Dylan Gage (Jake) and Gus Birney (Gaynor) of "Shining Vale" on Starz — HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 28: (L-R) Dylan Gage, Gus Birney, attend the Premiere of STARZ “Shining Vale” at TCL Chinese Theatre on February 28, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

Interview with Mira Sorvino

Posted on March 3, 2022March 7, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Mira Sorvino stars as Rosemary in "The Shining Vale" on Starz

Interview with Mira Sorvino of “Shining Vale” on Starz by Suzanne 2/7/22

This is a great show! I fell in love with it when I saw the first episode months ago. Now I’ve seen 6 of the episodes (there are a total of 7). It’s a creepy horror show and a funny comedy as well. The actors in it are perfect. Mira Sorvino is the right combination of weird and sexy as Rosemary, one of the house’s inhabitants. I was very happy to speak to her about it, even if it was only a brief interview. The other questions are from other journalists.

Suzanne: Can you tell us what the most fun thing was about filming the show and also the most challenging aspect of playing the character?

Mira: Well, those two both came to play in you know – So, Jeff being the amazing, wonderful, generous showrunner that he is, when I told him, “Oh, I would love it if she could dance,” because in those old 50s movies that she’s in love with, they always had these dance numbers,” and all of a sudden he wrote me and Courtney and Greg like a little dance bit at the beginning of one of the later episodes. I was overjoyed and terrified, because I had hung up my pointe shoes at fourteen, although I’d taken like eight years of classes and as an adult actually still studied, still studied ballet, still studied some jazz, did like salsa and ballroom stuff for some of the other movies I’ve done, like Summer of Sam. So, I got to do this scene that, it’s very brief, but it’s like an homage to Fred Astaire and the coat rack or Gene Kelly and the mop, the boom. And I couldn’t have had more fun, and I couldn’t have been more nervous. I worked on it for a week with the choreographer, trying to appear, trying to show up like a real dancer. Liz Friedman was the director, and she used to direct videos and dance, and she knows all about dance. So, I was like, “Oh, my God,” but I ended up being really happy with it and proud of it and had the time in my life. So, it was both as much fun as one could have on a day of work and as nervous I could be on a set, because I’m not a professional dancer. Like acting is kind of under my feet now; like I know what I’m doing, even if certain scenes will be more challenging than others emotionally, or I’ll have more work to do on a certain aspect of preparation. I’m not a professional dancer, so getting to dance in a professional scene was a joy, but it was also a terror, but I loved it. I was so grateful. So grateful.

Suzanne: I look forward to seeing it. Thanks. When people recognize you, and they tell you how much they like you, what is the movie or show that you’re most recognized for? Is it Romy and Michele, or something else?

Mira: Absolutely. People say, “I’m the Mary.” You know, they do stuff like that, like when they meet me. Yeah, that’s the one.

Suzanne: That’s definitely the one. All right. Well, thanks a lot.

Mira: Thank you.

Question: Hi, it’s great to talk to you; been a big fan of yours for many years, more than I should admit, but I gotta ask you, what’s it kind of like – and I’m going to be delicate about this – to kind of play a character that’s a little retro?

Mira: You don’t have to be delicate about it. I mean, she’s from the 50s. The historical person of Rosemary, who lived in the house seventy years ago, lived in the 50s with her family, and she was a very miserable person with dreams of grandeur and dreams of a different life that she couldn’t achieve. Then, her, you know, ectoplasmic manifestation in the present, is trying to cozy up to Pat Phelps, Courtney Cox’s character; [it has] still got all the trappings of that era. She talks like a character from a movie or TV series from the time. And the crazy part is, I don’t even know whether real people talk that way, but all the evidence that we have, like when I watched Leave It to Beaver or Ozzie and Harriet, or The Donna Reed Show, everyone’s talking in that patois. Then, you’ve got these fantastic, more crime thrillers, which I watched for inspiration, and I think that’s how she sees herself. She wants to see herself as this sort of silver screen, like, you know, power woman. She’s a little bit silly, so she doesn’t quite – it’s not as powerful as she hopes, but she’s trying to be what she wasn’t in life. So, in her real life, she was disempowered and hopeful and then squashed. Her new manifestation is all like verve and “Let’s do it baby!” you know, “Let’s drink!” And I loved it. I loved having that anachronistic vibe, so that it was a clear contrast with the current day people and that still, though, her message was modern, even though she was doing it in archaic way. It’s like, “Are you happy with your life? Is this all you really expected to get out of life? Are you letting other people’s expectations rule what you can be? Why don’t you take charge of your own life; be everything that you want to be? Experience life the way you want it. It’s time for you,” is sort of what she’s saying, even though she’s saying it, like, “Let’s go to Paris and throw a fantastic party.” So, I just love being her. It’s really fun.

Question: Earlier today, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jeff, and he was talking about how no matter how big the stars were, they wanted to be in the show and were willing to demonstrate, “Hey, I don’t care where I am on the [call sheet], I want to be on the show.” How did you first find out about it?

Mira: I think my agents found out about it, and I read the script and had a talk with Jeff, and he sent me later scenes from it, because, obviously, in the first episode, I’m kind of a discovery towards the end. But he sent me some of the tiki bar scenes where you really see her at work, trying to enlist Pat to come over and be her sister and adventure[r]. And I was really intrigued. Then, I got to do a zoom meet with Courtney, who I’d met before, but like, you know, artistically about the project. It seemed like a wonderful fit and was going to be fantastic. So, I was so excited about it, and it has proven to be one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever had, honestly.

Question: It’s such a pleasure to speak with you; I’ve been a longtime fan, and I have to say, Romy and Michele is one of my absolute favorite movies. I’m sure you basically hear that every day at this point of your life.

Mira: I’m very grateful that people love it so much.

Question: With this particular role of Rosemary, did it take stepping into the costume for you to really embody her, or did you just find her based on the wonderful words on the page?

Mira: It was a combo. It was like, once I first started working on her, I actually had an old 50s dress that I ended up wearing into one of the fittings, because it was giving me vibes of her, and I offered to bleach my hair completely platinum so that I could be more ghosty and 50s-ish, and that helped. Then, I just started watching The Donna Reed Show and Ozzie and Harriet and then all these 50s noire movies, because I felt like historical Rosemary was like a normal person who was somewhat repressed, maybe a little high-strung, definitely sort of held down by her husband. He was very abusive and neglectful and controlled her within an inch of her life. The ghost rosemary, the spirit Rosemary, is everything Rosemary hoped to be in life but couldn’t really be. So, now, she’s fabulous. Now, she’s got these tremendous costumes. Now, she’s got these lofty [unintelligible], and she’s hosting. She’s hosting people in her own bar. “Come on in. Let me pour you a drink, darling.” She’s just living that life that she wished that she could live, given the parameters of the narrow vision of what a great life looked like to her at the time. So, yeah, it was sort of working on the two characters, because at certain points in the show, you see her as Rosemary, like the real Rosemary, and most of the time, you’re seeing the spirit Rosemary, but sometimes real Rosemary comes through in spirit Rosemary. Like, there’s a moment – because I think you’ve seen the bathroom scene, right? So, at the mirror, real Rosemary comes through there. So, it’s like spirit Rosemary’s in the bath, and then real Rosemary tries to break through. And real Rosemary is in a lot of pain. So, it’s a very interesting, fun challenge to play this multilayered, not even just person, you know, spirit.

Question: What’s it like to balance all of that, including the horror and the comedy elements in there too?

Mira: Well, I find that if you make a character sort of odd enough or quirky enough, if the writing is funny, just delivering it in character will make it funny. So, you know, because she is somewhat anachronistic and has so much excitement for things that other [people] would not consider exciting, or doesn’t know that smoking is bad for you, or just all these things that just set her apart, like the comedy sort of took care of itself in a way. The horror was also largely delivered by the way scenes start or end or whether there’re jump-scares. It’s only as her sort of progressive and her sort of darker nature starts growing, that’s when I had to really be part of the scare in an active way, because I had to be – you had to believe me capable of harm, which I had to sort of dig into the the darker trauma of the past Rosemary’s life to bring that gravitas to highfalutin modernism…I don’t know, it’s like inside the workings of a weird mind right now.

Question: With a character like Rosemary, there’s a lot of work; there’s a lot of craft to it. Are you able to turn off thirty seconds after they yell “cut”? Or is it the kind of thing where you spend days as that character, and you can’t snap out of it?

Mira: I can snap out of it now. I mean, the kinds of things you don’t snap out of so easily are really, really depressing things like when I played Norma Jean and Marilyn. And then the last thing we shot the day before Christmas Eve was her dying in the ambulance, because in that show, she dies in the ambulance. Then, [I] flew back to New York and had jetlag; it took me two weeks to surface. I was really depressed and sad and dark. When I did The Grey Zone, an incredible movie that no one has seen about a successful rebellion at Auschwitz, perpetrated by the Sonderkommando, and the women who were just like slave labor in the munitions factories. That’s such a dark movie, and the fate of all those people was so devastating. That hung with me for weeks and weeks, and I had nightmares. But when you’re doing something that’s a little bit lighter and more sort of deftly switches from the dark to light back again, psychologically, it’s pretty easy to bounce out of it. Like, I would have fun rehearsing my stuff, but then, I have four children, so don’t really have the luxury of staying in character. I don’t. Like I have a very real life that awaits me the second I even look at my phone and have a million texts from this child and that one and that school and this one, you know, it’s just a lot going on. But I think it’s also experience, the fact that I’ve been doing this for so long makes it easy for me to jump in and jump out of it.

Question: Thank you. And as you’ve heard earlier, Romy and Michele in this household, also a staple. So, thank you for that.

Mira: Thank you.

Question: This is such a beautiful role for you, and you are a part of social media. Are you a looking forward to that instant fan feedback finally to something people are going to get to see you in lately? And also, what do you think it is about the series that’s really going to make it a fast fan favorite?

Mira: Well, I can just say that everybody that we’ve spoken today [unintelligible] has said how much they love it, and that’s really rare. It’s really rare for every journalist you talk to to have unbridled, genuine enthusiasm when they’re talking about something. It didn’t feel like a work day. “Okay, today, we’re talking this actor about this project.” It’s like, “Wow, I really enjoyed this; this was so much fun. I can’t wait to see the rest of it.” Like everybody’s talking like that. So, I do have high hopes that actually the general public will feel the same way. And, you know, when we act, we don’t do it to act in our bathroom; we do it to connect with people. So, I’m really looking forward to having the fans like it. I’m looking forward to them enjoying it, that it means something, since you’re not in front of a live audience. If you were a theater actor, you would know right away from just the breath in the room, whether people were attached to it or not, and certainly by the end by the amount of applause or standing ovations or whatever. Our only way is if people really like the film, and then we get to hear from [unintelligible] the show, and we get to hear from them over over the ether. And that will be fun; I’m looking forward to it.

Here is the audio version of it.

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

MORE INFO:

SHINING VALE

Season 1 8 Episodes 2022

Mira Sorvino (Rosemary) was most recently seen in Ryan Murphy’s Emmy nominated limited series “Hollywood”, (Netflix) as the Lana Turner-inspired star Jeanne Crandall. Other recent credits include the 20 th Century feature Stuber and director Mary Harron’s thriller The Expecting.

Sorvino won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice Award, National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle for her performance in Mighty Aphrodite. She received additional Golden Globe nominations for her performances in the miniseries “Human Trafficking” and for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in HBO’s Norma Jean And Marilyn (also earning her an Emmy Award nomination). In 2016, she was awarded Best Supporting Actress by the Milano International Film Festival for her work in Mothers And Daughters opposite Sharon Stone and Susan Sarandon.

Other notable film performances include Spike Lee’s Summer Of Sam, Guillermo del Toro’s Mimic, Nancy Savoca’s Union Square, Antoine Fuqua’s Replacement Killers, Robert Redford’s Quiz Show, the comedy cult classic Romy And Michelle’s High School Reunion, Ted Demme’s Beautiful Girls, Triumph Of Love and Terry George’s Reservation Road.

Other television credits include “Badland”, a memorable 4-episode turn on Modern Family, “Startup”, and the limited series Intruders opposite Millie Bobby Brown for BBC America. She produced Griffin Dunne’s comedy Famous which was an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, and associate produced Rob Weiss’ Amongst Friends and the documentary Freedom To Broadcast Hate.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Mira Sorvino as Rosemary in "Shining Vale"

Interview with Roger Allam, Keala Settle and Nancy Carroll

Posted on March 3, 2022March 3, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

"Murder in Provence" starring Roger Allam, Keala Settle and Nancy Carroll

Interview with Roger Allam, Keala Settle and Nancy Carroll of “Murder in Provence” on Britbox by Suzanne 2/9/22

This is an interesting murder mystery series on Britbox, based on the Verlaque and Bonnet series of books by M.L. Longworth. Allam plays Antoine Verlaque, who’s a veteran judge (AKA chief magistrate). He and his partner, Marie (Carroll), drink a lot of wine, eat great food, and solve murders. They’re like the French “Hart to Hart.” The writing is better, though. They’re aided by deputy commissioner Hélène Paulik (Keala Settle). In France, judges do investigations. While they call this “Provence,” its actual name is Aix-en-Provence. The show takes place in the south of France. Most of the actors are British, although Settle is American. The show was shot in France, and the characters are French. I enjoyed this virtual TCA Zoom panel.

BRITBOX CTAM PRESS TOUR WINTER 2022
Murder in Provence
Roger Allam, Cast
Keala Settle, Cast
Nancy Carroll, Cast
2022 Virtual Tour
Los Angeles, CA
February 9, 2022
© 2022 BritBox. All rights reserved.

The show is from Britbox and from Alison Owen and Debra Hayward of Monumental Pictures, who were nominated for an Oscar for “Les Misérables” (2012). The series has three parts, but those of us in the press were allowed to see just the first part.

At first, we just had Nancy and Keala. Roger arrived a bit late.

They were asked if the show was shot in Provence. Kela was asked if she was disappointed having to either move to Provence or did they shoot in a part of England that stood in for Provence.

Keala and Nancy Keala was asked about what made her want to film this show, and also about how it felt when her version of “The Greatest Showman” was suddently everywhere. Keala replied, as you might expect, that it “was massive.” She’s never known another feeling like that, so it was “very humbling, and I’m extremely grateful for it.” Her second answer was more surprising. Although she’s American, her father is from England. She moved to England to learn more about her heritage. This led to her getting this job.

Nancy told us that they were in France for just the last three weeks of filming. They filmed in an area of England that she called “fake France” for 8 or 9 weeks, which she thought looked “beautiful.” They took over “an old school near Reading.” Their crew built great sets, which include Antoine’s office, crime scenes, the apartment, etc. She praised their art department for their fine job. Then they went to France. She mentiond that they had lots of sunshine throughout the shooting.

Keala was asked how she felt about leaving Englang to film in France. Keala loved filming in Provence, which was new to her. She could help be excited about how beautiful it was.

Roger Allam arrived late, apologizing. He was having Wi-fi problems.

Another reporter asked Keala about her British accent. She told him that her father is from England and her mother is from New Zealand. That same reporter asked her about whether she planned to spend the rest of her career in Europe or not. She’s not sure because she came here for personal reasons; not for work. She had just intended to “bring my dog and bake some bread.” Then she got this part through pure luck. She was familiar with Nancy and Roger because she’s “always been obsessed with British theatre and television and film.” Since her father was British, she wanted to learn more about her heritage. She “can’t wait” to see what happens next.

The next journalist asked Roger to compare his previous role as Thursday on “Endeavor” to his role now as Antoine. Roger says he wanted to play this role because it’s “such a contrast” to playing Antoine. He’s been mostly a theater actor and enjoyed playing many different roles. Every time he goes for a new role, to tries to do one that’s the exact opposite of his previous character, claiming that he’s doing it “neurotically. While he acknowledged that is a similar role in that both are trying to solve mysteries, but Antoine is a “very, very different kind of character.” That’s what he wanted. He also loved “being in Aix-en-Provence for some of the time which is a lovely place.”

Roger and Nancy were asked to talk about their characters’ jobs, especially Antoine’s role as an investigating judge. He also asked Keala if they might have karaoke night on the show (since she and Roger are singers). The first question was actually addressed quite well in the show, but perhaps this reporter didn’t watch it. Roger explained that in the French judicial system, the judge “collects all the evidence to present the case to court,” working with the police. Nancy pointed out that they did explain that in one of the scenes. She explained that she’s “a professor of criminal psychology,” but she has a “morbid interest in the detail” of her partner’s cases, so she enjoys discussing them with her. She joins the police as an advisor by the end of the first episode.

Keala asked if his karaoke question was serious, so he corrected that he just wanted her to tell us about her relationship with Antoine. She said that her character, Hélène” is friends with Antoine. They went to school together, although in different years. There was laughter when she said that he “just a little bit older.” Although they’ve been friends a long time, and they enjoy joking around, she has to be careful not to overstep because he’s more informed that she is. They all work together to solve the cases. She praised the stories and the “gorgeous settings in the south of France.” She emphasized that they had “really good time” and “laughed a lot.” She did say that most of their cast and crew are singers, so they sang a lot off-camera.”

The next reporter was wise enough to ask about Roger’s singing background, since he was the first to play Javert in the first stage production of “Les Misérables” in London (in 1985). He asked Rogert and Keala about being singers and singing on the set. Keala said that she was nervous about going to the set because Roger and Nancy are “icons.” When the camera would go off, she would start singing because that’s what she normally does. Then Roger “started humming and singing,” which led to them discussing music, and how he had done the first “Les Miz.” She relayed that, according to Roger, “he’s the reason why there’s a confrontation song in the actual show.” She had done the Broadway revival, so they chatted about the show and swapped notes. She noted that, “it was really lovely. And then the rest is history.”

Roger was then asked to tell us about he influenced the creation of that song in “Les Miz.” Roger replied modestly that he just thought the scene needed some “beefing up a bit,” so he made a suggestion, and they incorporated it.

The actors were asked about solving murders in the Provence area. Roger replied that the books are all set in Aix-en-Provence
, so that’s where their stories happen. Nancy added that the writer is based on France. Their screenwriter, Shelagh Stephenson< wanted to make sure that the characters acted very French and not British, “even though there were British actors playing the part.” She put certain “idiosyncrasies” into the writing that are very distinct.

The reporter wanted to know “what French attitude permeates the show.” Keala replied that it’s southern France, so it’s different from “up north.” Nancy said, “Wine helps. Wine helps solve crimes, a glass of wine… and a really good meal!” This made everyone laugh. She added that good chatting about them solving the crime happens while they’re cooking up the food.
Roger thought that his role as judge was very French – being a powerful “representative of the state” and “trying to achieve justice.” He felt this was a uniquely French thing that was different from British scripts.

Roger was asked why he often plays detectives. She asked, “Why do people see in you this solid, honest status?” He joked that it’s because of his “immense inner integrity.” Everyone laughed at his joke. He mused that both of these characters are very different, even though they’re “both men of integrity.” He pointed out that he’s played many slimy villains and that it’s just fun to act as disparate people and walk in different shoes. The journalist asked how Roger is different from Antoine. Nancy pointed out that Antoine has no friends. Roger said thoughtfully that he’s very British, so he tries to be French in the show. Nancy added that the characters all “have a really complex history…that have all been damaged in some way,” but they don’t drag their baggage around for everyone to see. Those few times when you see a little bit of the history, which “informs his empathy and his ability to see both sides of the problem that ultimately caused the death of that character.” Keala and Nancy tried to expound more about the writing and about Roger’s character. Roger said, “What they said,” and everyone laughed.

MORE INFO:

"Murder In Provence" on Britbox info

Bios for Roger Allam and Nancy Carroll of "Murder in Provence" on Britbox

Bio for Keala Settle of "Murder in Provence" on Britbox

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Roger Allam and Nancy Carroll of "Murder in Provence" on Britbox

Interview with Ben Savage, Lindsay Navarro, Erica Durance and Abby Hernandez

Posted on February 25, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Panel for "The Girl in the Shed"

Interview with actors Ben Savage, Lindsay Navarro, Erica Durance and EP Abby Hernandez of “Girl in the Shed: the Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez” on Lifetime by Suzanne 1/10/22

This was a very weird movie to watch. It was very creepy. Everyone did a good job in it. It was odd having the actual victim in the movie there in the panel, though. I think that was a first for me. It was wonderful to speak to Erica Durance because she was so great in this film as well as in “Smallville,” “Saving Hope” and “Supergirl.” Ben did an amazing job. If you’ve seen him in comedies before, this movie will really surprise you.

MODERATOR: Hi, everyone. Please welcome Executive Producer Abby Hernandez and stars Ben Savage, Lindsay Navarro and Erica Durance of “Girl in the Shed: the Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez.” Thank you all for being here today.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: (Waves.) Hi.

BEN SAVAGE: Hi.

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Hello.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Our first question is from Right on Digital.

QUESTION: Hi. Am I muted?

MODERATOR: You’re good.

QUESTION: Hi. This question is for anyone who would like to answer it. Tell us a behind-the-scenes story about something that took place on set.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Behind the scenes, hmm. Erica, Ben, you got anything? There’s so much that happened.

QUESTION: You can tell us a fun fact.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: I’ve got one. I’ve got one. Okay. So, there was a scene where Abby and Kibby are outside. It’s their first time being — it’s Abby’s first time being outside in I believe six months. And there’s a scene where she has this moment, a beautiful moment with a horse. But in reality, this horse was not having it. He did not want to be there. So there’s a couple scenes that where you see this beautiful, majestic horse and then there’s another one where you see a close-up of my face. The horse is not there because the horse has taken off. It like completely jetted. It was quite funny and all of us were a little bit scared because he was running across the field. Yeah, it was a great time.

ABBY HERNANDEZ: That’s hilarious.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Yeah.

ERICA DURANCE: Not to do any spoilers, but remember when we, Lindsay, we had to walk in the field and we had to be looking straight up and it had to be very graceful.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Oh yeah.

ERICA DURANCE: We kept trying to avoid all the — I don’t know there was a bunch of cow pies and all sorts of stuff. And so you’re trying to have this like ethereal really beautiful moment and we’re trying to spot check each other somehow by not looking down.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Yeah, fun times.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Abby, did you have a chance to speak with the cast before they shot the film?

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Yes. Pretty much everybody, all the main characters, everybody that’s here.

MODERATOR: Awesome, thank you. Noah Wilson, you’re up next.

QUESTION: Hello, everyone. By the way, Erica, great to see you again.

ERICA DURANCE: Oh hi, Noah. I don’t see you, but I hear you and I know your voice.

QUESTION: Yes. Well, it’s so great to be with you guys. First off, Abby, I do want to ask you, you know, being executive producer, but also this being your story, how was it like to relive this, something that happened thank you personally, but it come to life in a movie on Lifetime based on a true story?

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Obviously, it’s a weird experience to have this happen in the first place. And then to have it made into a movie is obviously like an even weirder experience. But ultimately, I did find it healing in a weird way just to have it out there.

QUESTION (from Noah): Lindsay, you know, this is a film based on the real-life kidnapping of, you know, Abby. You know, 14 years old. Learning her full story, what was it like for you to personally portray Abby on the screen and act out some of the scenes of what actually went on in her, you know, real life?

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Yeah, wow. There was such a responsibility that came with that. It being a true story, knowing that Abby was a part of the project. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to do it as well knowing that Abby was on board. So it was challenging in that way. And but it all made it easier knowing that I could get in touch with Abby and we could talk things through. So for that I will be so — I will be forever grateful having her there, accessible on What’s App getting to video chat with her. But yeah, it made it heavier and it was challenging to walk through those scenes knowing that she had experienced this. And there was that weight that came with it.

QUESTION (from Noah): You know, Erica, last question goes to you, my friend. What will viewers learn from watching this movie look forward based on Abby’s real-life story?

ERICA DURANCE: Oh, I don’t know if that should be — thank you for giving that to me. I think that’s more of an Abby question. I suppose I can only share part of what I learned playing the part of Zenya in it and in speaking with her. Is the absurdity, the cruelty of life, the beauty that can come out of things that are awful and with Zenya, I found that she was just so incredibly powerful and strong and but yeah, I was kind of awe struck in dealing with her and talking to her. So originally when I was going to do this, she talked to me through her whole experience and it was incredibly generous of her. It was a three-hour phone call. But yeah, I don’t quite know how to answer that succinctly which is why I’m bumbling about. But it’s the human spirit and what we are capable of doing or what we are capable of doing to each other, how we are capable of finding our way around it in some way. But I do feel like I’m kind of — I’m the actor playing it. It wasn’t my story in that sense. I think it will be really awe-inspiring for a lot of people.

QUESTION (from Noah): Absolutely. Thank you guys so much. I appreciate it. Great to see you again, Erica.

ERICA DURANCE: You too.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Thank you, Noah.

QUESTION: Bye guys, thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Jay Bobbin?

QUESTION: Thank you very much. Erica, actually my question is also for you. It puts a different twist on what was just asked. The mother role on all these projects…

ERICA DURANCE: I hope I do better this time. Anybody else can kind of chime in as I bumble about.

QUESTION: I’m sure you’ll do fine. The mother role on these projects. It’s interesting because depending on how it’s cast, whose playing it, how much they’re given attention in the script, we’ve seen Jenny Garth do it and she did it to a great extent in the one that she was in. Joely Fisher did one and she had maybe a few scenes here and there. It was largely, “Where’s my daughter? What happened to my daughter?, etc.” With you, as you approach this, how did you approach the mother role? Because you want to make your mark, but even as you said, it’s really the daughter’s story. How did you go about portraying the mother to make your mark in the film based on what you’d read in the script?

Erica Durance and Lindsay Navarro ERICA DURANCE: Well, the first thing that I did was talk to Zenya. And I think that’s very important when you know you’re doing a true story so you’re portraying somebody else. You have to get inside as much as they’ll allow you access, to their process and what it was like. And so because she was so incredibly generous as I said in really walking me through the scenario and like Lindsay had mentioned there was a couple of moments on the set where I was going to do a scene that was specific and to something that kind of had happened to her. And I just had a last minute need to call her and go, “What was it you did when this happened?” And she was just right there. And just so helpful. So that gave me a blueprint of how she would have done it. And then at the end of the day, you have to take the situation that you’re dealing with and process it in the way that you would just naturally, if you can be natural, but how you would respond to those given situations as truthfully as you can. And for myself, it was tricky because I have little kids. And so I knew that there was going to be a point where I would probably step into a zone which was difficult to come back to and figure out how to separate myself from it. But you kind of have to dive into it. And so for myself then because it was such an intense, every day was intense and they shot my stuff all very sequentially so I had, you know, five days and it was all the scenes. And it was all of it all at once in that way. I just kind of locked myself in my green room and listened to music constantly and then just tried to give it my best. And I depended a lot on Jess Harmon who was our wonderful director to help guide me through those different nuances and what she believed was truthful and maybe not as truthful or kept me on point with the story as close as I could be.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much. Ben and Lindsay, most of your scenes are together. What was it like working together for this project and how did you tap into these characters? Of course after speaking with Abby and crafting the relationship?

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Ben, you go for it. You go for it.

BEN SAVAGE: I think that it’s such a difficult subject and it’s such a complicated story that I think Lindsay and I both wanted to be very careful about how we approached the subject and how we approached the relationship. And I think when we first got started, I think Lindsay and I were both a little apprehensive about making sure that we did this properly. But I think we gelled together as well as we could. I mean Lindsay is a total pro. And we had a wonderful crew, a wonderful cast, a terrific director with Jess Harmon. And I think we worked together as well as we could. It’s a tough subject and I think everyone wanted to be very sensitive to everything we were going through. But yeah, it was an interesting journey.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Yeah. We gave each other space when we needed to have space when there was a difficult scene coming up that we needed to film where it was perhaps more emotional or more physically demanding. We would give each other that needed space. And then there were other times where Ben and I would check in with one another make sure we were doing okay. I really appreciated that from Ben actually that he would come over and just ensure that I was comfortable, I was content. And truly, I mean you said it, right Ben? We had an amazing cast, amazing crew that made everything feel very safe and easy to drop into. But it was a challenge.

MODERATOR: Thank you both so much. Rick Bentley?

QUESTION: Hi. Thanks for coming. Abby, I can’t even pretend to wrap my head around the hell on earth you went through with this. I’m just wondering where you found the strength and the courage to face it again through this production? And ultimately, what do you want to come out of this?

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Ultimately, I guess I’ll answer the last question first. What I want to come out of this is awareness I guess. I think that a lot of teenagers, since, you know, the age of social media and socialness is such an important thing. I think everybody, or not everybody but a lot of people have that a voice in the back of their head. You know, if I disappeared it wouldn’t matter. And I learned that yeah, it does matter. It affects a lot of people and it will forever. And then I guess, you know, the first question, how did I must the courage to, you know, sign off to do this movie. You know, it’s nothing new to me. It’s something — it’s in here constantly. Has been in there since 2013. I’m almost kind of numb to it, you know what I mean? And I feel like the world has progressed since then. You know, when at first I did not want to give Kibby up. I was really, you know, under tight pressure. And that’s when I gave up and I said I know the name of the person. But we’re in a day and age now where I think, you know, it’s encouraged to be honest about what’s going on. I don’t feel as scared anymore.

QUESTION (from Rick): And Abby, if I can follow-up real quickly, have you seen the final film?

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Yes.

QUESTION: Was it a tough watch?

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Yeah.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much. Thank you, Abby. Abbie Bernstein?

QUESTION: Hi. Thank you all for doing this. For Ms. Hernandez, can you talk about changes made between reality and the film either for time or dramatic clarity or things that they felt would help people understand the story better that maybe happened differently?

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Sure. I think the ultimate thing that, you know, trust in the movie seemed to be kind of linear. At first it was nothing and then it grew. I think in real life, Kibby was almost in sort of a way — I don’t know want to say manic, but he would trust me and then no trust. Trust me and then no trust. So marijuana cleaning was one of the very first things that happened in October. In the movie it was portrayed afterwards once he had really gained my trust. So I think that’s basically what it was. And ultimately that’s kind of true. I mean he didn’t trust me at first really at all to see his face or know his name. But later on, he did. I think that’s a good way of portraying it.

QUESTION: So his psychological ping-ponging was made more streamlined for the film.

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Yes, exactly.

QUESTION: And were there any things about you that you thought, oh I wouldn’t have done it like that or gee, I wish I had done it like that?

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Lindsay was more classy than me. (Laughs.) Gosh. I don’t know. I mean I really don’t know.

QUESTION: Well, thank you very much.

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Yeah.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Suzanne Lanoue?

QUESTION: Hi. Can you hear me okay?

BEN SAVAGE: Yeah.

QUESTION: Okay, good. Ben, you usually play the good guy. Have you ever played this kind of psycho role before? And was it challenging?

BEN SAVAGE: It was certainly a change of pace for me. But again, I just, as everyone said here, I think it was such an important story to tell. And I was just happy to be a part of the storytelling in the film. And yeah, certainly a departure, but you know, it was a very interesting role to play.

QUESTION: I’ll bet. And Erica, were you familiar with everyone that worked on the show before? Had you worked with any of them previously?

ERICA DURANCE: I knew Jess Harmon through her family. So I kind of knew of her, but I hadn’t met anyone else. I was of course familiar with Lindsay and Ben. And Abby somewhat through the news, right? But otherwise, it was all — yeah it was kind of the first day meeting everybody.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: Great. Thank you so much guys.

BEN SAVAGE: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. We have time for one more with the Hollywood Times.

QUESTION: Hi. Could you talk about this film, how it’s relevant to the others that are in Lifetime’s girls’ initiative? And also what can — maybe talk about what can young women learn from watching the film?

MODERATOR: The first question I just want to jump in for a second. The first question is more of a question that we are happy to get you an answer to on the press side. But the cast can answer the second one.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you.

ERICA DURANCE: Sorry. Can you repeat the second one again?

QUESTION: Yeah, what can young women learn from watching this film?

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Keep your cool.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Sorry, Abby. Go ahead.

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Oh I just said to keep your cool which is easier said than done especially as I’ve gotten older, but yeah.

ERICA DURANCE: Abby, one of the things that your mother said to me and you mentioned and in some of the earlier conversations we had which still shocks me to this day is your ability to — where you kept your cool in a way, the way your mother described it was to somehow find a way of seeing the humanity in the person that was treating you so cruelly.

ABBY HERNANDEZ: Mm-hmm.

ERICA DURANCE: And use that as a survival technique. And that still to this day is just shocking to me that you were able to somehow see that and find a way to make a connection with this person who was doing these things.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Mm-hmm.

ERICA DURANCE: And spoke to such a huge amount of power and strength and I believe the young gals and whoever’s watching this, men or women, I think that that will be something that resonates a lot.

BEN SAVAGE: If I could just add, jump on that. I would just say I certainly can’t speak about what women can take away, but I think a larger message of course that I certainly took away from it was just strength and strength of character. And I think everyone associated with this film was so impressed with Abby and her story. And I do think there are some lessons to be learned here. But again, I’m just glad that we were all able to come together and tell this wonderful story as best the way we could. And Lindsay, I think you should jump in, too.

LINDSAY NAVARRO: Yeah, yeah. I was just going to add on as well, the tremendous courage that Abby had and continues to have in being so passionate about sharing this story as well. It’s truly remarkable. And I’m with you, Ben. I think it’s — for a larger audience, I think a lot of people are going to be inspired and will continue to be inspired by Abby’s story. And the crew, yeah the crew valued it so much as well. Everyone was so careful about telling the story as truthfully as we could and with such passion into telling it. So I think people can take away this hope, the power of prayer, the power of faith and the power of not giving up.

QUESTION: Wonderful, thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much. Thank you to the cast and to Abby. You were all fantastic in this film. Please make sure to tune in to “Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez” on February 26th at 8, 7 Central. Thank you all so much for being here today.

MORE INFO:

Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez is the true story of 14-year-old freshman Abby Hernandez (Lindsay Navarro) who vanished while walking home from school in North Conway, New Hampshire. Kicking off the state’s largest search, Abby’s disappearance left her family, especially her mother Zenya (Erica Durance), investigators and the community mystified of her whereabouts. Taken by Nathaniel Kibby (Ben Savage), Abby was kept is a soundproof container and forced to wear a shock collar while enduring psychological, sexual and emotional abuse. Despite suffering daily torture, Abby kept hope alive that she would one day be able to see her family again.

Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez is produced by Sprott Productions Inc in association with Johnson Production Group and executive produced by Abigail Hernandez, Stacy Mandelberg and Michael Vickerman who also wrote the script. Jessica Harmon directed.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Ben Savage and Lindsay Navarro

Interview with actors, director and writer of “State of the Union”

Posted on February 25, 2022February 25, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

"State of the Union" panel

Interview with actors Brendan Gleeson, Patricia Clarkson, and Esco Jouléy; director Stephen Frears and EP Nick Hornby of “State of the Union” on SundanceTV by Suzanne 2/10/22

This was such a fun and funny TCA (Television Critics Association) panel to listen to. These are great actors in an emotional show. You should check it out if you can. It airs on Sundance and SundanceNow. They’re only 10 minute episodes, so it’s easy to watch, in that sense.

Brendan and Patricia were asked if they ever had to adjust the speed of their dialogue to keep the episode length to 10 minutes, or whether they ever went longer than 10 minutes. (I’m sure the editing would take care of this. It’s not like it’s live.) Brendan explained that their director kept them going at a fast pace. However, the way the dialogue is written makes them want to go fast. He found it “exhilarating.” Patricia agreed and said that they had to make the most of their “brilliant 10 minutes.” No time was wasted, and they love how director Frears kept them going. Esco jokingly imitated Frears, saying, “Faster. Faster.” Frears made jokes of his own that all esteemed directors Billy Wilder and Steven Spielberg ever said was “Faster!” This was a very fun panel with a lot of jokes and laughing.

A journalist asked if they felt the same frustrations as Scott did (ordering coffee, etc.) and whether they were on his side in the story, or more on Ellen’s side. Brendan replied that he wasn’t familiar with a lot of the subjects addressed in the show, such as using the correct pronouns. Esco helped him with that. He said, “it was very liberating to explore how gender has become such a kind of imprisoning definition.” He loves how the writing makes Scott very curious about things, even though he does complain a lot. Esco chimed in to say he learned from the script, too. Nick added that he didn’t have the same problems as Scott does in the show, but he does “completely understand the mindset,” which is how he was able to write it. He agrees with Brendan that he “discovered a lot of things through the writing and then through talking to Esco.” He explained that “I go into a complicated coffee order, then it’s difficult the first time, and then I order the same thing 3,000 times in a row.” This made everyone laugh. Nick quoted one of Scott’s lines, where he was yelling at himself for saying the wrong pronoun: “Oh, Scott, you stupid old man.” Nick confided that someone had pointed that out to him one time, and he said it to himself. So it worked out well to give it to Scott. Everyone laughed at that, too.

Esco admired how Scott was able to recover from making a mistake a recognizing that someone else wasn’t pleased by it. He said, “Because at the end of the day, we all want to be respected. This person just wants it differently than you and it’s like, okay, I’m going to go on this journey with you to respect you the best way I can because I appreciate you.”

Patricia joined in the conversation by explaining that there were non-binary assistants and others on their set, so they had to do in real life what their characters were doing on-screen, so it was “wonderful” and helpful for them to learn all of these things. She noted that it was “quite remarkable at times.” Nick joked that “I think it’s kind of a miracle that Brendan, Stephen, and I managed to get through it without Esco stalking off the set and never coming back.” Everyone laughed and joined in the joking. Esco complimented them all for being “amazing.” He points out that the intention matters. If someone isn’t being mean (just ignorant), then he’s happy to help them learn because he’s meeting them for the first time, too.

Patricia told Esco that he’s “one of the coolest people ever put on this planet.” She went on to compliment him more. Brendan added in his own praise, too. Esco talked about how we all “make assumptions” so it’s amazing how people can see you differently that you see yourself. In the show, Jay is able to “know Scott even more.” There was more joking around after that.

A journalist asked Nick if there was any difference for him, writing for men or women. Nick says that he just writes for people, and there are so many different kinds of people out there to write about. He starts with a character and then builds the story from there. He doesn’t think of them as being a particular gender. A writer’s job is to write everyone. Of writing people of different sexuality than him, he said, “you’ve just got to hope for the best, observe as much as you can, and get people to read.” He asks for help from others if he’s not sure about certain things, which he did for the part of Jay. He turned the question over to Patricia. She replied, “Oh, honey, I’ll take anything you want to write me, any day of the week.” This led to more laughter, of course. Then Patricia praised him a lot, saying, “I’ve never had such a delicious, glorious feast of words.” She says that his dialogue is very fast and funny. She added, “it moves so quickly between the emotional and the poignant and the poetic and then into brilliant comedy. It’s just all in one quick breath sometimes and it’s an actor’s dream. It’ll kill you, but it’s an actor’s dream.” There was more laughing.

Esco piped up that he really loved that he writes for humans because once he read the script and saw that Jay was a real person, he had to do it. He added, “it made me feel so three-dimensional.” Brendan joked, “I think it’s worth mentioning on top of that that men are humans, too.” He also praised Nick’s writing. He noticed that, “even when they’re chatting to each other, the whole idea of being able to learn and listen, and also then a certain generosity of spirit, I mean it’s what obviously has united this particular troop.” He said it was a “a joy” to work with these people because they were “so committed and so vigorous in what they were doing, but also emotionally brave.” He went on and on, but you get the idea.

Esco was getting emotional and said he missed them all, confessing that he felt all the feels at that moment. He just thought it was “amazing” and it made him feel “like a superhero and we were on the A-Team.”

Another press person asked Brendan and Patricia if the dialogue, which is sometimes “so raw and painful” ever made them feel things about their own lives or reflect on their own mistakes. Brenda replied that as an actor, you always have to use part of your own experience to fit your character. Patricia told us that it was never easy to say these type of lines as an actor, that it’s “brutal.”

Brendan added that he can really relate to Scott’s confusion, and Nick agreed. The press person agreed that it’s probably “a male thing…We’re all baffled. We’re all baffled in relationships.” There was a lot of laughing and agreeing.

Nick was asked a question that had nothing to do with the show. He was asked whether any of his other books would be turned into TV shows. He also asked his opinion about “Ted Lasso.” Nick refused to talk about “Ted Lasso.” He enjoys when he books become movies or TV shows, so it’s fine with him if it happens more. He said that back when he sold “High Fidelity,” it was a new experience for him. He related that he made “incredible friendships with people that I might not otherwise have met, one of them the director of this series and another one with the writer of the original movie.” It allowed him to learn about other industries. He mentioned that another TV series of his novel “Funny Girl” will be coming out later this year, so he’s enjoyed getting to know those people.

MORE INFO:

Emmy-winning State of the Union Renewed for a Second Season with New Cast on SundanceTV

BACK FOR A LITTLE MORE, THE EMMY AWARD-WINNING SHORT FORM SERIES STATE OF THE UNION RENEWED FOR A SECOND SEASON ON SUNDANCETV

CREATOR NICK HORNBY AND DIRECTOR STEPHEN FREARS REUNITE TO DELIVER A PROFOUND EXPLORATION OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF GROUNDBREAKING SERIES FROM SEE-SAW FILMS

NEW SEASON PREMIERING LATER THIS YEAR ON SUNDANCETV AND SUNDANCE NOW STARS BRENDAN GLEESON, PATRICIA CLARKSON AND ESCO JOULÉY

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES – January 27, 2021 – SundanceTV announced that it has renewed the Emmy®award-winning short form drama series, State of the Union, for a second season. Produced by See-Saw Films, Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges), Patricia Clarkson (Sharp Objects) and Esco Jouléy (High Maintenence) will lead the second installment of the innovative format, 10 episodes, each 10 minutes in length, which commenced production in January. The second season will premiere on SundanceTV and AMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now later this year.

Written by Nick Hornby (Brooklyn, An Education) and directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, A Very English Scandal), State of the Union, cleverly explores relationships and the human experience. In this season, liberal campaigning Ellen (Clarkson) drags her traditional, self-made husband Scott (Gleeson) out of his comfort zone and into a hipster Connecticut coffee shop, where they have ten minutes before their marriage counseling session to drink a coffee, gather their thoughts and argue about everything from Quakerism to pronouns. Amongst the bickering they also discuss betrayals from their past, how they’re changing as people, and what the future of their relationship might look like in a changing world.

“The first season of State of the Union was a triumph of storytelling form, captivating audiences – 10 minutes at a time – by smartly and authentically exploring our fundamental humanity and curiosity around what makes people think, feel, love and interact,” said Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks. “We are thrilled to once again partner with the great Nick Hornby and Stephen Frears, and welcome Brendan, Patricia and Esco, to break new ground in short-form storytelling with a series built on the most universal and unifying element of all – the human relationship.

“We are over the moon to be given another opportunity to work with Nick and Stephen on a new season of State of the Union with our friends at SundanceTV.” Said Jamie Laurenson and Hakan Kousetta, Executive Producers, See-Saw Films. “We are incredibly happy to welcome Brendan, Patricia and Esco to the team for a new story this season.”

Emmy Award-winning and multiple Golden Globe nominee, Brendan Gleeson recently played the role of Donald Trump in the CBS miniseries The Comey Rule and will soon be seen in the role of King Duncan in Joel Coen’s film adaptation of Macbeth. Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe- Critics’ Choice- and Emmy Award-winning actress, Patricia Clarkson was recently seen in the HBO limited series Sharp Objects and the sixth and final season of Netflix’ House of Cards. Burgeoning multi-talent Esco Jouley recently wrapped a role on the upcoming Starz series Blindspotting, from creators Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs, and was recently seen in HBO’s High Maintenance. Full Bios and Headshots

Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, and Emile Sherman are executive producers along with Hornby and Frears, with Sophie Reynolds producing the series for See-Saw Films. Kristin Jones, EVP of international programming for AMC and SundanceTV, is the executive in charge for SundanceTV. Endeavor Content is handling international sales.

The first season of State of the Union starred Oscar®-nominee Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, A Private War) and Emmy®-winner Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids, Get Shorty) in an innovative look at a couple who meet for drinks ahead of their weekly marriage counseling appointments. The short form series premiered as an official selection of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and screened at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. State of the Union received three Emmy awards: Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama (Pike) and Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama (O’Dowd).

About SundanceTV

Since its launch in 1996, SundanceTV has remained true to founder Robert Redford’s mission to celebrate creativity and distinctive storytelling through unique voices and narratives found in the best independent films. From delivering critically acclaimed Emmy®, Golden Globe® and Peabody Award-winning television featuring some of the world’s most talented creators and performers, to showcasing some of the most compelling and iconic films across genres and generations, SundanceTV is a smart and thought-provoking entertainment destination. SundanceTV is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc.; its sister networks include AMC, IFC, BBC America and WE tv. SundanceTV is available across all platforms, including on-air, online at www.sundancetv.com, on demand and mobile.

About Sundance Now

AMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now is for culture craving TV watchers looking for their next series to obsess over and offers a rich selection of original and exclusive series from engrossing true crime to heart-stopping dramas and fiercely intelligent thrillers from around the world, all streaming commercial-free. Adding exclusive new programs every week, Sundance Now has exclusively premiered several distinctive, critically acclaimed Sundance Now Original Series, including supernatural drama A Discovery of Witches; glamourous thriller Riviera; and critically acclaimed French spy drama The Bureau; plus Sundance Now Exclusives, such as Nordic noir thriller Wisting and British drama Des starring David Tennant; as well as riveting true crime series like No One Saw a Thing.

Follow Sundance Now on:

Twitter@sundance_now

Facebook@SundanceNow

Instagram@SundanceNow

YouTube@Sundance Now

About See-Saw Films

Academy Award®, BAFTA and Emmy Award winning producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman founded See-Saw Films in 2008. With offices in London and Sydney, See-Saw specializes in international film and television production.

See-Saw’s film projects include this year’s awards contender Ammonite, written and directed by Francis Lee, starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan which was selected for the Cannes, Telluride, Toronto and London Film festivals. In 2016 they released 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. Upcoming projects include Operation Mincemeat, directed by John Madden and starring Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen and Kelly Macdonald; The Power Of The Dog, written and directed by Jane Campion, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons; and The Unknown Man directed by Thomas M Wright, starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris.

See-Saw’s television division kicked off with 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 and Sky Atlantic, 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, Jack Lowden and Kristin Scott Thomas; and ‘The Essex Serpent’ for Apple TV+, directed by Clio Barnard.

Nick Hornby Bio

Nick Hornby is an Oscar®-nominated screenwriter and award-winning author. He won an Emmy for his short form series State Of The Union directed by Stephen Frears and starring Rosamund Pyke and Chris O’Dowd. He adapted Nina Stibbe’s memoir Love, Nina into a BBC1 television series and received Academy Award® and BAFTA nominations for his screenplay adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s novel Brooklyn, which was directed by John Crowley. The film starred Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent, received three Oscar nominations in total and was awarded BAFTA’s Outstanding British Film. Nick’s previous film and television projects include his Oscar and BAFTA-nominated adaptation of Lynn Barber’s memoir An Education, which was directed by Lone Scherfig and starred Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike and Emma Thompson, his adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s New York Times bestselling memoir into the film Wild, which starred Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern, and his adaptation of his own memoir for the screenplay of Fever Pitch starring Colin Firth.

Nick’s best-selling books have served as a rich stream of inspiration for filmmakers: the British film of Fever Pitch was re-made by the Farrelly brothers, starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon; High Fidelity was directed by Stephen Frears, starring John Cusack and Jack Black, and in 2020 was re-imagined as a TV series starring Zoe Kravitz; About A Boy was directed by the Weitz brothers, starring Hugh Grant, Rachel Weisz and Toni Collette; A Long Way Down was directed by Pascal Chaumeil, starring Pierce Brosnan, Aaron Paul and Toni Collette, and his young adult novel Slam was adapted into an Italian language feature directed by Andrea Molaioli. Jesse Peretz directed an adaptation of his novel Juliet, Naked, starring Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke, and Chris O’Dowd.

Nick’s other novels include How to be Good (2001), Funny Girl (2014) and Just Like You (2020). His non-fiction work includes Fever Pitch, 31 Songs, and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree, a collection of Nick’s book columns for US magazine The Believer, to which he continues to contribute a bi-monthly column. Among other recognition for his literature, Nick received the EM Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. In 2010, he co-founded the children’s writing charity The Ministry of Stories, located in East London and now expanding to other UK cities.

Stephen Frears Bio

Unanimously regarded as one of Britain’s finest directors, Stephen Frears has always embraced a wide variety of styles, themes and genres. He worked almost exclusively for the small screen in the first 15 years of his career, with programs such as One Fine Day by Alan Bennett and Three Men In A Boat by Tom Stoppard. Stephen’s more recent TV work includes Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight for HBO and Channel 4’s The Deal starring Michael Sheen and David Morrissey. In the mid-1980s he turned to the cinema, shooting The Hit (1984), starring Terence Stamp, John Hurt and Tim Roth. The following year he made My Beautiful Laundrette for Channel 4, which crossed over to big-screen audiences and altered the course of his career. After directing its companion piece Sammy And Rosie Get Laid and the Joe Orton biopic Prick Up Your Ears, he began working in Hollywood, with Dangerous Liaisons and the Grifters (for which he was Oscar®-nominated) among his most notable titles.

Returning closer to home, he directed The Snapper and The Van, two Irish films based on Roddy Doyle stories and, after a second spell of making American films (The Hi-Lo Country and High Fidelity), based himself largely in Britain. Frears showed his versatility with two vastly different movies – Dirty Pretty Things, a realistic account of immigrant life in London, and Mrs Henderson Presents, a nostalgic backstage comedy-drama. For his 2006 film The Queen he was again nominated for an Oscar. His subsequent films included Cheri and Tamara Drewe. He followed these with Philomena, starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, which won a BAFTA and was nominated for three others, along with three Golden Globe and four Oscar nominations; The Program, which starred Ben Foster as seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong; and Florence Foster Jenkins, starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, which received various accolades including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture and an Oscar nomination for Streep. Frears followed this with Victoria & Abdul, which starred Judi Dench, who received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance. Frears’ return to TV was with the acclaimed three-part BBC television series A Very English Scandal, which won Stephen a BAFTA for Best Director. He followed this up with an Emmy win for Nick Hornby’s short form series State Of The Union – starring Rosamund Pike and Chris O’Dowd; and most recently directed James Graham’s QUIZ for ITV starring Michael Sheen and Matthew Macfadyen.

Patricia Clarkson as Ellen and Brendan Gleeson as Scott - State of the Union _ Season2, Episode3 - Photo Credit: Laura Radford/See-Saw Films/Sundance TV STATE OF THE UNION Season 2 – BIOS
Brendan Gleeson (Cast, “Scott”)
Brendan recently played the role of Donald Trump in the CBS miniseries The Comey Rule. He will next be
seen in the role of King Duncan in Joel Coen’s film adaptation of The Tragedy of Macbeth, which is due
for release this year.
He played the lead role in three seasons of the acclaimed, Mr. Mercedes based on the Bill Hodges novel
trilogy by Stephen King.
Other recent projects include Frankie opposite Marisa Tomei and directed by Ira Sachs, The Ballad of
Buster Scruggs directed by the Coen Brothers, Paddington 2 directed by Paul King, Hampstead opposite
Diane Keaton and directed by Joel Hopkins, Live By Night directed by Ben Affleck, Justin Kurzel’s
Assassin’s Creed with Michael Fassbender, Vincent Perez’s Alone in Berlin opposite Emma Thompson,
Adam Smith’s Trespass Against Us, Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette with Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan,
and In The Heart of the Sea directed by Ron Howard.
Other projects in recent years include Calvary directed by John Michael McDonagh, Doug Liman’s Edge
of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise, and Cartoon Saloon’s Song of the Sea, directed by Tomm Moore. He is
also well–known for his role as Professor Alastor Moody in the Harry Potter films, and for his portrayal of
Sergeant Gerry Boyle in John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard.
Brendan was nominated for Golden Globe and BAFTA awards for his role as Ken in Martin McDonagh’s
In Bruges, and won an Emmy for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in HBO’s Into The Storm, directed by
Thaddeus O’Sullivan. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA for this performance.
He is an accomplished musician, playing the fiddle and mandolin.

Patricia Clarkson (Cast, “Ellen”)
Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe Award, Critics’ Choice Award and Emmy Award–winning
actress, Patricia Clarkson takes on roles as varied as the platforms for which she plays them. This multi–
faceted approach makes her one of today’s most respected actresses.
Clarkson’s continuous innovative work in independent film earned her the 2018 British Independent
Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Sally Potter’s film The Party. In 2010 she received
rave reviews for her starring role in the award winning romantic drama, Cairo Time, which put her
career in the American spotlight. She won the Independent Award for Acting Excellence at the 2009
ShoWest Awards. In 2003, her role in Pieces of April earned her nominations for an Academy Award,
Golden Globe, SAG, Broadcast Film Critics and Independent Spirit awards. The National Board of Review
and the National Society of Film Critics named her Best Supporting Actress of the Year for her work in
Pieces of April and The Station Agent. 2019 garnered Clarkson the Golden Globe Award and Critics’ Choice Award for her role in HBO’s Sharp
Objects. Last year she was also seen at the helm of the Krewe of Muses Mardi Gras Parade, she was
honored with the Precious Gem Award at the Miami Film Festival, and honored with the prestigious
“Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema” from the 54th annual Karlovy Vary
International Film Festival.
Clarkson’s recent films include Isabel Coixet’s The Bookshop, the independent film drama Jonathan,
opposite Ansel Elgort, the final installment of the Maze Runner trilogy, the detective film Out of Blue
based on the Martin Amis novel, in which she plays the lead character, and Sally Potter’s film The Party.
Recent television projects include the HBO limited series Sharp Objects and the sixth and final season of
Netflix’ House of Cards. She will next be seen in State of the Union.
In 2014 she starred alongside Sir Ben Kingsley in Learning to Drive directed by Isabel Coixet. The film
won runner up honors for the People’s Choice Award at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and
was released in August 2015 and opened to critical acclaim. Other recent films include the timely thriller
The East, opposite Brit Marling and Alexander Skarsgård, the comedy Friends with Benefits, in which she
co–stars with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis and the Lone Scherfig directed drama, One Day with Anne
Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. In 2010, she was seen in the box office hit Easy A.
Clarkson and the cast of Good Night, and Good Luck. with George Clooney and David Straithairn,
received both Screen Actors Guild and Gotham Award nominations for Best Ensemble. Far From Heaven
won her a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Supporting Actress, All The Real Girls won her a Special
Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and The Safety of Objects earned her an Acting Prize at the
Deauville Film Festival. The Green Mile earned Clarkson and cast (including Tom Hanks and James
Cromwell) a Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble Award nomination, and High Art earned her an
Independent Spirit Award nomination for Supporting Actress.
Other film credits include: Martin Scorsese’s thriller Shutter Island, Woody Allen’s Whatever Works and
Vicky Christina Barcelona, Blind Date with Stanley Tucci, Elegy, No Reservations, All The King’s Men, Lars
and the Real Girl, Simply Irresistible, The Pledge, Jumanji, Rocket Gibraltar and The Untouchables.
In 2011, Clarkson was seen in Lifetime’s Five, an anthology of five short films exploring the impact of
breast cancer on people’s lives directed by Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore, Patty Jenkins and
Penelope Spheeris. She previously guest starred in the critically acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under, for
which she won an Emmy in 2002 and again in 2006.
In December 2014, Clarkson returned to Broadway, after a 25 year hiatus from the stage, to star in The
Elephant Man, opposite Bradley Cooper and Alessandro Nivola. Following its successful run on
Broadway, the cast reprised their roles on the West End at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London the
following year. That year, Clarkson was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle award for “Outstanding
Featured Actress in a Play” and a Tony Award nomination for her role in The Elephant Man.

Esco Jouléy (Cast, “Jay”)
Esco Jouléy is an actor, singer, dancer, clown, movement artist, and creator located in New York City.
Esco recently wrapped a role on the upcoming Starz series Blindspotting, from creators Rafael Casal and
Daveed Diggs. Recent credits include HBO’s High Maintenance, Netflix’s upcoming series Inventing Anna, Hulu’s Monsterland and Bravo’s In A Man’s World, where they appeared as a movement coach. Esco’s
theater credits include: Interstate, Runaways, Galatea, The Demise (Magic Theater Player), and Beowulf.
Esco was a resident actor at the historic Barter Theater for three and a half years and is an alum of the
ABC Discovers Showcase.
As a movement artist, Esco is the creator and performer of One, a mute character that lives in the same
world as the great artists Charlie Chaplin, Burt Williams, and Harpo Marx. Esco has used this character
to explore the language of movement and how one would communicate with people if one could not
speak. Esco is a Penn State University graduate with a BA in Integrative Arts and a minor in Dance. Esco
also graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC. Esco was awarded the Robert
J. Prindle and Doris P. Prindle Memorial Award and the Lauren M. Becker Memorial Award in creative
art. More information about Esco and their work can be found at escojouley.com, @escojouley,
onezlife.com, and @onezlife.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Please visit our Law & Order page!

Patricia Clarkson as Ellen, Brendan Gleeson as Scott and Esco Jouléy as Jay - State of the Union_Season 2, Episode 10 - Photo Credit: Laura Radford/See-Saw Films/Sundance TV

Interview with “Law and Order” cast

Posted on February 24, 2022February 24, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

"Law and Order" actors and producer on TCA panel

Interview with actors Anthony Anderson, Hugh Dancy, Jeffrey Donovan, Odelya Halevi, Camryn Manheim, Sam Waterston, and EP/Showrunner Rick Eid of “Law and Order” on NBC by Suzanne 2/11/22

I really enjoyed this TCA panel because it was a lot of fun. I love this show and have watched most of the episodes. I’m so glad that they’re bringing it back. Dick Wolf was originally scheduled to be on this panel, but unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make it.

NBCUNIVERSAL
WINTER 2022 TCA VIRTUAL PRESS TOUR
NBC -Law & Order
Anthony Anderson, Talent, “Det. Kevin Bernard”
Hugh Dancy, Talent, “Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price”
Jeffrey Donovan, Talent, “Det. Frank Cosgrove”
Odelya Halevi, Talent, “Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun”
Camryn Manheim, Talent, “Lt. Kate Dixon”
Sam Waterston, Talent, “District Attorney Jack McCoy”
Rick Eid, Executive Producer/Writer/Showrunner
Virtual via Zoom
February 11, 2022
© 2022 NBCUniversal, Inc. All rights reserved.

We were told this about the show before they ran a clip: “During its astonishing 20 year, 456 episode run, ‘Law & Order’ garnered 52 Emmy Award nominations and became one of the longest running primetime dramas in television history. Set and filmed in New York City, each episode follows the investigation of a crime by NYPD detectives and the prosecution of a defendant by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. ‘Law & Order’ returns to NBC on Thursday, February 24th, at 8 p.m.”

Executive Producer Rick Eid told us that Dick Wolf sent his apologies because he has laryngitis and was told to rest by his doctor.

For the first question, Camryn Manheim (Kate) talked about how one of the greatest things about being on the show is that “New York’s finest actors just come and play with you.” She thinks viewers will be as “surprised and excited” as she’s been to see them.

Sam Waterston (Jack) and Rick were asked about whether there were previous attempts to bring the show back. Sam asserted that there were. Rick wasn’t involved in the previous efforts, but Dick Wolf had been talking about it for a few years. Then this past summer, he was told that it was happening and asked if he would be interested in getting involved. He says that he “jumped at the opportunity.” Sam added that Dick was talking about it to him about around “five years ago too, and I don’t think he’s ever stopped talking about it.” He credits Dick’s “persistence and determination and his complete conviction that it was a terrible mistake to stop in the first place” with the show coming back. He also added that the audience kept watching all the “Law and Order” shows on TV, on streaming, on cable, etc. and so they’ve always had a “persistent appetite” for the show. He thinks they’re the reason the show is back.

A journalist mentioned that it’s great to have Sam and Anthony back, but he said that Sam had “teased” that some “fan favorite individuals” would be coming back and wanted to know if they could tell us anything about that.

Those of us who have watched the first episode in advance know that a certain actress will be returning for the first episode (we don’t know if it’s for future episodes as well or not).

Rick said that they can’t tell yet who the returning actors are, but “You’ll definitely see some familiar faces along the way.” He said that want to find ways to bring back former “Law & Order” actors.

Sam was asked if he had any idea how successful the show would be and that so many Broadway actors would love guest-starring on the show. Sam admitted that he had no idea how it would turn in to this massive juggernaut in multiple forms. Sam told us that he’s long wanted Dick Wolf to get a Tony award because of what the show has done for NYC actors, but so far they haven’t been interested in that. Anthony (Kevin) joked, “Hey, Sam. Can you talk to the Television Academy about giving me an Emmy? I’m 0 for 11. Could you make that phone call for me too, then?” and Sam joked back, “Oh, sure. I’ll take care of that.” Anthony replied, “Okay. All right. Thank you.” And Sam finished with, “If you can spare me, I’ll go do that now.” Everyone laughed. Maybe these two should get a comedy show on the side! They’re both very funny, as they showed throughout this panel.

Anthony and Sam were asked if it was difficult to get back into their character’s shoes are all this time. Anthony replied that it “felt like no time had passed at all.” He was glad to talk to Dick about coming back to the show. Coming back to NYC and putting on the same badge, in the same squad room and sound stages felt like “sitting in a well worn saddle.” Then he joked that “The hard part is working with someone like Jeffrey Donovan.” Jeffrey grinned, saying that he knew Anthony would say that. They joked around for a little bit, too. The three of them did a lot of joking around during the whole panel.

Sam and Anthony were also asked if it was difficult to do other acting jobs when they were “so tied” to the show. This was not a great question because of course, they’ve both been very successful since they left the show. Anthony was also asked how it felt to end the comedy “black-ish” and then jump back into a heavy drama.

Sam gave this answer that sounded like he’s probably used it many times in interviews: “ever since I saw this on a crosstown bus on 57th Street, a quotation from Satchel Paige that said ‘Keep on running and don’t look back because somebody may be gaining on you,’ and that’s kind of been my motto about show business ever since.” He added that he’s always done more than one acting job at once, whenever he can. When he was doing “Law & Order” before, he would do stage or other projects.

Anthony let us know that after ending 8 seasons of “black-ish,” joining this show again “was a no-brainer.” He hopes that in 20 years, they’ll be asking him for a “black-ish” reboot. He’s always been a “Law & Order” fan, so he thought it would be foolish not to return. He also said that having Sam back, and the two of them being familiar to viewers, and to join with the other new cast members, was an added bonus.

Rick Eid was asked about the trailer we saw, which hinted at the fact that there might be changes in the way they do policing and with criminal justice. He pointed out that “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” has also addressed this a little bit. He wondered how this show will approach that.

Rick replied that they’ll try to “reflect the world we live in now.” He believes that “2022 is a unique moment in time and our stories and our characters reflect what’s happening in society.” Police business is different than it was when they left the air in 2010, and so is the way the D.A.’s do their business. There’s more awareness of certain things than there was before. He hopes they reflect this in their stories.

Sam admires the way Rick has been telling exciting stories, addressing all of the current conflicts rather than ignoring them. He says, “he’s just walked up, straight up to one after another. Every show is a shock.” Sam pointed out that the press were ignoring the other actors.

The next press person asked Odelya (Samantha) and Jeffrey (Frank) what it was like to step into a show with such great history and a large fan base. Hugh (Nolan) took the question and joked that it was the opposite of that “well worn saddle” Anthony described. There was much joking and laughing after that. He said, seriously then, that figuring out how the show works has been wonderful. Odelya answered the question as well, saying that being here “still feels like a dream, like, you know, someone pinch me.” She grew up in another country and has been watching the show with her mom since the 90’s. She wanted to be a lawyer on the show ever since. Her mom told her that she just wanted to play a lawyer on TV, and now here she is. She gushed that she’s learning a lot from the others and enjoying it all.

Jeffrey said, completely deadpan, “They don’t let me have a saddle. I’m not sure why. I think it has something to do with Anthony saying that I can’t have things.” Everyone in the panel was laughing. It was really hysterical. He went on to say that he’s a huge fan of the show and the cast. He watched back in college at NYU in the 90s, and he always dreamed to be a guest-star on the show.

Camryn answered that her first job when she graduated from NYU in 91 was, in fact, at “Law & Order.” She noted that it’s hard to believe that it was 30 years ago. She’s played three different characters on the show. She explained that they’ve updated the show in many ways, and the stories are very current, but they have “that same old precinct. Nothing is updated. I mean, the phones are still from, you know, Edison’s time.” She praised the cast, saying she loves them, and they keep her laughing. She feels very lucky to be there and can’t wait for the people at home to see it. She’s proud to be part of it.

Sam and Anthony asked if there was anything they could tell us about where their characters are since we last saw them. He or she also asked if the others can tell us anything about their characters. Great question!

Sam told us that, “Dick always says that action is character, and the actions of McCoy are being defined by Rick, and it’s different and interesting, and it’s great to find out.” He said you found out about your character from “the next script.”

Anthony loves that they don’t share too much about the characters’ personal lives, so you can watch the show at any time and not feel lost. It’s about solving the crime, the story moving along and then “bringing law and order to the world.” He thinks this is part of the special “magic” of the show.

Sam chimed in to say that one of the great things about the show is that the characters are just working and doing their jobs, so everyone can relate to that.”

The next person asked about that very topic because the other “Law & Order” series focus on the personal lives of the characters. He asked if they’ll do this with this new season.

Rick agreed with Sam that the action is the character. “People’s characters are sort of defined by the decisions they make and the choices they make.” He allowed that there may be some other relatives or backstories of the characters, but the crime stories are put first. We may see how some of the histories of the characters influence how they make certain decision. He hinted that in the first episode, this happens with Samantha (played by Odelya).

Rick was also asked if there will be crossovers with the other “Wolf Franchises” and other “Law & Order” spinoffs. Rick didn’t want to say much, he just said that it could happen.

A reporter asked Anthony if he had a hard time adjusting to just being an actor rather than executive producer, like he was on “black-ish.” Anthony had no trouble with it at all. He knows that they all have different jobs at different places. He confided that he learned a lot about the way show business works the last time he was on “Law & Order,” which he used when he worked on “black-ish.” He credits this show for making him “more well-rounded entertainer.”

Hugh joked, “Although he did say to me on my first day, ‘I’m the star, and never forget that.’ So take it how you will.” Then Anthony joked, “Well, when Sam is not around, I am. When Sam is not around, I am.” There was more joking around and laughing.

The next journalist asked if the show will address hate crimes against Asians because it was recently in the news that the real-life New York City D.A. prosecuted the highest number of them. Rick admitted that they don’t specifically have that story planned, but they have stories about hate crimes. They could address the Asian angle of it in the future.

After that, the cast teased Rick for a bit.

Another person in the press asked a rather obvious question that had already been addressed by asking how much the show was going to “draw directly from the headlines.” Sam answered that it would be a “huge” amount. He said that it must be difficult for the writers to figure out which ones to choose first because “There’s so much.”

Hugh addressed the question, and quoted what was said earlier, about how they hope the “engine of the show” can spark debate in any moment and reflect what’s happening in the real world. There was more joking around after that.

Sam concluded with, “I think the interview part ended. I think all of the journalists have gone home,” and everyone laughed. It was, indeed, the end.

MORE INFO: Trailer

The Original Returns "Law & Order" Key Art -- (Photo by: NBCUniversal) NBC is bringing back one of its most treasured and honored dramas with the 21st season of “Law & Order.” The series, which will continue the classic bifurcated format that was created for its original run, will once again examine “the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.”

Sam Waterston, Anthony Anderson, Jeffrey Donovan, Camryn Manheim, Hugh Dancy and Odelya Halevi star.

Dick Wolf is creator and executive producer. Rick Eid, Arthur Forney and Peter Jankowski are executive producers.

“Law & Order” is produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

breaking news | September 28, 2021

• NBC is bringing back one of its most treasured and honored dramas with the 21st season of “Law & Order.” The series, which will continue the classic bifurcated format that was created for its original run, will once again examine “the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.”

• “There are very few things in life that are literally dreams come true,” said creator and executive producer Dick Wolf. “This is mine.”

• “‘Law & Order’ is quite simply one of the most iconic shows in television history, and the idea of continuing its legacy and partnering with Dick on an all-new season is nothing short of exhilarating” said Susan Rovner, Chairman, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, “This is great news for NBC as well as TV fans everywhere.”

• “The return of the flagship ‘Law & Order’ series for a pivotal 21st season is a proud moment for Dick and a proud moment for us, his studio partners,” said Pearlena Igbokwe, Chairman, Universal Studio Group.
• The series was nominated for more than 50 Emmy Awards and won in 1997 for Outstanding Drama Series.

• A premiere date and cast will be announced at a later date.

• “Law & Order” will be executive produced by Dick Wolf, Rick Eid (writer/showrunner), Arthur Forney and Peter Jankowski.

• The series will be produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Wolf Entertainment.

Anthony Anderson

Det. Kevin Bernard, “Law & Order”

Anthony Anderson plays Det. Kevin Bernard on the 21st season of the NBC drama “Law & Order.”

An Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actor, Anderson is the star and executive producer of ABC’s multi-award nominated sitcom “black-ish.” He also currently hosts the ABC game show “To Tell the Truth” and “House Haunters.” Anderson is also executive producer of both “black-ish” spinoffs “grown-ish” and “mixed-ish” as well as “Road Trippin,’” which airs on Snapchat.

Anderson has numerous other TV and film credits, including “Transformers,” “The Departed” and “Hustle & Flow.” A winner of seven Image Awards, Anderson has also hosted the NAACP Image Awards for the past eight years and in 2020 was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Jeffrey Donovan

Det. Frank Cosgrove, “Law & Order”

Jeffrey Donovan plays Det. Frank Cosgrove in the 21st season of the NBC drama “Law & Order.”

Donovan is perhaps best known for his leading work as former CIA operative Michael Westen on the Emmy Award-nominated USA series “Burn Notice” for seven seasons. Donovan received strong notice playing North Dakota off-kilter mobster Dodd Gerhardt in FX’s critically acclaimed second season of Noah Hawley’s “Fargo” and was cast as series lead Charlie Haverford, a tarot reading con-artist, on Hulu’s “Shut Eye.”

On the film side, Donovan recently filmed a sequence of back-to-back films – “National Champions” for director Ric Roman Waugh and starring opposite J.K Simmons; the Western ”Surrounded,” opposite Letitia Wright and Jamie Bell; the hostage drama “892,” opposite John Boyega and Michael Kenneth Williams; and the family drama “First Love,” opposite Diane Kruger. Past features include “Wrath of Man” for director Guy Ritchie, “Let Him Go,” alongside Kevin Costner and Diane Lane; and Noah Hawley’s “Lucy in the Sky,” alongside Natalie Portman and Jon Hamm.

His other film credits include “Soldado,” opposite Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro; “Villains,” opposite Bill Skarsgård and Kyra Sedgwick; and “Honest Thief,” opposite Liam Neeson,” Denis Villeneuve’s “Sicario,” Clint Eastwood’s “J. Edgar” (playing Robert F. Kennedy) and “The Changeling,” Rob Reiner’s “LBJ” (as John F. Kennedy) and Ric Waugh’s “Shotcaller.”

Camryn Manheim

Lt. Kate Dixon, “Law & Order”

Camryn Manheim plays Lt. Kate Dixon on the 21st season of the NBC drama “Law & Order.”

Manheim is best-known for her Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe Award-winning role on “The Practice” as well as roles on “Stumptown,” “Waco,” “Ghost Whisperer,” “Person of Interest,” “Utopia,” “Criminal Minds,” “Code Black,” “Masters of Sex,” “Two and a Half Men,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Extant,” “Chicago Hope,” “Harry’s Law,” “Younger,” “Hand of God,” “The L Word,” “Will & Grace,” “Ally McBeal,” “Family Guy” and “The 10th Kingdom,” among others.

Manheim was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Gladys Presley in the CBS mini- series “Elvis.”

Her feature film credits include “Cop Car,” “Return to Sender,” “Slipstream,” “An Unfinished Life,” “Without Men,” “Twisted,” “Scary Movie Three,” “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion,” “Happiness,” “The Laramire Project,” “Dark Water,” “The Road to Wellville” and “Eraser.”

Manheim made her Broadway debut in Deaf West’s Tony Award-nominated production of “Spring Awakening.” She also won an Obie Award for Craig Lucas’ “Missing Persons” at the Atlantic Theater Co.

She received her M.F.A from New York University.

Hugh Dancy

Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price, “Law & Order”

Hugh Dancy plays Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price on the 21st season of the NBC drama “Law & Order.”

Dancy received critical acclaim for starring as Will Graham in NBC’s “Hannibal,” receiving two Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series. He also starred in Hulu’s “The Path” opposite Aaron Paul and Michelle Michelle Monaghan and most recently wrapped production on the Apple TV+ anthology series “Roar” with Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo and Issa Rae.

Dancy will next star in the upcoming film “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” which Focus Features will release in theaters in March.

Odelya Halevi

Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun, “Law & Order”

Odelya Halevi plays Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun in the 21st season of the NBC drama “Law & Order.”

Halevi most recently landed a major role in the DC Entertainment film “Black Adam,” opposite Dwayne Johnson, set for release in 2022. Additionally, Halevi just wrapped a major recurring role on Freeform’s “Good Trouble” as well as a pivitol role in the Amazon series “Good Girls Revolt.”

Notable guest-star credits include “New Girl,” “Mike and Molly,” Midnight, Texas,” “NCIS,” MacGyver” and “Why Women Kill.”

Halevi’s grandparents immigrated to Israel from Yemen where she was born and raised.

Sam Waterston

District Attorney Jack McCoy, “Law & Order

Sam Waterston plays District Attorney Jack McCoy in the 21st season of the NBC drama “Law & Order.”

Waterston was born in 1940 in Cambridge, Mass., where his father was a language teacher and his mother a landscape painter. He attended Brooks and Groton prep schools before earning a scholarship to Yale University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962. Later that year, Waterston made his New York debut at the Phoenix Theater in “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feelin’ So Sad.”

Over the next five decades, Waterston’s career has included a plethora of film and television credits as well as repeated returns to the stage. His trophy case includes an Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as an OBIE and Drama Desk for theater. Other accolades include an Academy Award nomination for his role as journalist Sydney Schanberg in 1984’s “The Killing Fields” and six Emmy nominations for his roles in “I’ll Fly Away” and “Law & Order.”

Waterston co-starred on Aaron Sorkin’s “The Newsroom” for HBO and soon can be seen in the final season of Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie,” opposite Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Martin Sheen. In 2022 Waterson will be featured in the Hulu limited series “The Dropout,” opposite Amanda Seyfried and William H Macy.

A passionate activist for decades, Waterston is currently Chairman of the Board of Oceana, the world’s preeminent ocean conservation NGO, and also serves on the Board of Refugees International.

Rick Eid

Executive Producer, “Chicago P.D.”; Executive Producer, “Law & Order”; Executive Producer, “FBI”

Rick Eid is executive producer and showrunner of the hit NBC dramas “Chicago P.D.” and “Law & Order,” as well as the CBS drama “FBI.”

His prior credits include “Law & Order: SVU,” “CSI,” “Hostages,” “The Guardian” and “Dark Blue.”

Eid has also written essays for a variety of blogs and magazines. Prior to his writing career, he was a corporate attorney specializing in mergers and acquisitions at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.

He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

LAW & ORDER -- "The Right Thing" Episode 21001 -- Pictured: (l-r) Camryn Manheim as Lieutenant Kate Dixon, Anthony Anderson as Detective Kevin Bernard, Jeffrey Donovan as Detective Frank Cosgrove -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Interview with Tommy Davidson

Posted on February 22, 2022March 16, 2023 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Tommy Davidson

Interview with Tommy Davidson of “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” on Disney+ by Suzanne 2/15/22

It was a lot of fun to speak to Tommy! Not just because I’m so familiar with his earlier work, but because he’s just a funny guy who frequently breaks into funny voices. We definitely bonded over growing up in the 70’s, watching cartoons.

Suzanne: Can you tell us how “The Proud Family” reboot came about?

Tommy: It came about [from] a phone call, and it was a phone call that took about fifteen years to get made. All of a sudden, I get a phone call from Ralph Farquhar and Bruce Smith. If they’re calling me, I know it’s “The Proud Family”. We were down for 15 years; we were up for for six, and here, we get an opportunity to do something so beautiful, again. I get this call, and I’m going, “Are you kidding me?” And they’re like, “We’re not kidding you, man. We’re not kidding you.” So, of course, I said “Yes.” We all said, “Yes.” We all met over at Disney Studios, all the actors that were in it, who we love so much, and the new ones. We all met over there at Disney Studios and just laid out our voices just to get everything back into balance. It was the same feeling. It was the same feeling, but better, because now we’ve got new adults. We got a whole world of kids that are now 29-30. We got a whole new world of kids in a new world that we have, an animated series that deals with everything that’s in real time in this real world, and it’s still just for the kids.

Suzanne: Great, and which network is it on, and how many episodes are there?

Tommy: It’s actually on Disney Plus.

Suzanne: Disney plus, okay.

Tommy: Yeah, it’s actually on Disney Plus.

Suzanne: And how many episodes are there?

Tommy: You know what? I don’t know how many episodes, but it’s enough for us. I believe we’re up to like 20.

Suzanne: Okay, that’s good.

Tommy: I’m glad you asked me, nice and early.

Suzanne: And how much voice work had you done before you did the original Proud Family?

Tommy: Oh, really? Okay, that question. [laughs] Now, you’re going to take me back. Yeah, you’re gonna take me back to my Datsun 610. I’ve been doing voice work ever since I got to Hollywood in ‘87 and was doing voice work, doing dubs for movies. I moved into doing cartoon voices for “Ren & Stimpy” and for “The Simpsons.” I did animated work and would come in and get like thirty bucks per session to cover all of the different voices in all these different cartoons. So, I played character voices. So, the main [one] that I nailed was this one, is The Proud Family.

Suzanne: When you were a kid, were you one of those kids that was always doing silly voices?

Tommy: Not only that, I was the expert at cartoons. I’m one of those kids that – we didn’t have cartoons at nighttime unless it was the holidays, so if we’re seeing a cartoon at night, we’re going, “This is a cartoon that’s on in the nighttime!” because we had to wait for Saturday morning or after school. So, I grew up with all the mainstays. I was there when “Scooby Doo” premiered. I was there when “Hong Kong Phooey” premiered. I grew up on on “The Wacky Races” and “The Pink Panther” and all the Warner Brothers cartoons, all the Hanna-Barbera, from “The Jetsons” all the way through to “Magilla Gorilla.” So, it was like the [unintelligible] and all this, so my whole childhood was enriched by cartoons, and, of course, the main cartoon was “The Jackson Five” cartoon. Jackson Five and “Fat Albert,” because those were the first cartoons that really focused on an African American audience.

Suzanne: I watched those. I’m like two years older than you.

Tommy: Okay, okay.

Suzanne: I grew up with all those, and then sometime during the weekdays in the afternoon, you had the reruns of the old ones, like “Bugs Bunny” and “Road Runner.” All those.

Tommy: Oh, yeah. We know those by heart.

Suzanne: Yeah.

Tommy: We know those so much.

Suzanne: Yeah. And which guest stars were you most happy to see for this new version?

Tommy: Nas X with his really edgy and crazy career, and groundbreaking. It was just good to see him. And the episode is fun. It’s funny, is colorful, and it’s palatable. You know, it’s right on time.

Suzanne: Great. Go back a little bit again. Do you ever still see the people that you worked with on “In Living Color?”

Tommy: Oh yeah, all the time. We pass each other, like not even ships in the night, like on a roller coaster. Vroom. The roller coaster going the other way. “Where you going?” “I’m going to New York.” “I’m going to California.” Vroom. You know, we’re just passing each other. I just ran into Marlon Wayans at a comedy club. I texted everybody yesterday, because it was an article about our halftime Super Bowl special that we did that was groundbreaking. So, everybody texted me back and said “Wow, I didn’t see this.” We still are in tandem.

Suzanne: That’s great. I know they tried to reboot it in 2012. Do you think they’d ever tried to do it again with the some of the original cast, where you do a special or something?

Tommy: Well, that’s one of the things that really rests on Keenan Ivory Wayans who’s really the brainchild and the genius behind this. If he called us right now, we’d all stop and go and do it. It’s like the Avengers. We’re like the Avengers. You know what I mean? We all get in our vehicles and start, you know, dun dun dun [unintelligible] stuff and we all come in. Like the Avengers, we all meet, and there’s the big fella over here, and Captain America over here, and Black Panther over here, and we’re ready for action.

Suzanne: That’s great. Yeah, my husband and I used to watch “In Living Color” every week. We just loved it. So, it’s great to meet you.

Tommy: Yeah, the best. Thank you so much. We changed society more than I thought. I mean, you look at TV now, and what we did now is just a staple. Everything is filled with color. Everything is filled with hip hop. Everything is filled with this progressive kind of comedy. Everything has it, and all of our writers went out into the market and created shows like “Friends” and “Martin.” I mean, you can’t really watch TV without someone from “In Living Color” [either] as a director or writer, someone being right there. I did Cedric the Entertainer’s show the other night, “The Neighborhood,” and lo and behold, one of the executive producers was Keenan’s assistant.

"Strictly Business" DVD cover Suzanne: Wow.

Tommy: I mean, we have deep roots.

Suzanne: We also saw your your movie, “Strictly Business,” and really enjoyed that, and it was a huge hit. I think nowadays they would probably do a sequel or two, right?

Tommy: I would like that. I would really like that, just to see where Bobby and his partner are now. I did that on purpose; I did that movie on purpose. I had a choice to do whatever movie I wanted to do, and I chose that, because I thought it was a good story about just a regular brother from the hood, from the projects in Harlem, who gets with a business grad from Harvard, and they go to a black bank, get a loan, and start their own business, all over a hot chick. I mean, how can you beat that?

Suzanne: Right, and that was very of the time too.

Tommy: Oh, yeah. There was not really a movie like that for us at that time for African Americans, for that spectrum of society. There wasn’t really. So, that was the first one. So many Joseph C. Phillip, Halle Berry and Tommy Davidson in "Strictly Business" promo still CEOs, African American CEOs of companies and business owners, they’d always come to me and say, “When I was a kid,” or “when I was in school, that movie made me want to be in business.”

Suzanne: Wow. That’s great. That’s quite an effect.

Tommy: Yeah.

Suzanne: It’s wonderful. I was watching some of your other interviews. You had quite an interesting personal history growing up. Would you ever consider making that into a movie or a TV series, like Chris Rock did with “Everybody Hates Chris?”

Tommy: I’d like to do something like that, but what I’d like to do in particular is probably do a docu-comedy so that I can cover every aspect of what that brings to bear in reality for me. And the way that society is now, that could make a really, really heavy impact, which is bringing forth the information from what I experienced with the beautiful people that were around me and developed me into this human that I am.

Suzanne: That sounds interesting too, either way. And when people see you, and they recognize you, what do they must recognize you for now?

Tommy: You know, it’s hard, because everybody has a different one. Everybody has something different. So, they’ll recognize me from doing Varnel Hill on “Martin,” or they’ll recognize me from being Oscar Proud on “The Proud Family,” or they’ll recognize me from doing the million talk shows that I do. You can’t tell what movie they’re gonna say they love. You know, “I loved Woo.” “I loved Booty Call.” “I loved Ace Ventura with you and Jim [Carrey].” You know, “I loved Bamboozled with Spike Lee.” You never know. Or there’s somebody who just loved the character that I did on In Living Color, if it’s the simple cook in the back, “Pick it up!” [unintelligible] There’re so many different things, that I’m the lucky one. I’m the lucky one, because I can never really get too down, emotionally, because there’s always somebody coming up to me with a bright face going, “The thing you did with – ” you know, “My grandmother’s right here. She wants to meet you,” or “My cousin’s here; can you meet him?” I always get an uplift.

Suzanne: That must be very rewarding.

Tommy: Yeah, yeah, I like to call it “closed-heart surgery”. You know, there’s open-heart surgery where you’ve got to open it up, and you’ve got to get in there. Well, me as a comic traveling on the road, and me doing movies, I can actually affect the heart in a positive way, just right where it is. You know, “closed-heart surgery.”

Suzanne: That’s great. That’s a good phrase. And is there anything else that you’d like to tell us about “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder?”

Tommy: We’re louder and prouder. We’re going into the new millennium. Penny’s in high school. The father’s going crazy, like I did with my daughters when puberty started kicking in and boys started coming around. I’m like, “What is going on here?” And Oscar is in that state where he’s like, “You can wear that dress, but you’ve got to wear tennis shoes with it!” [laughs] He’s just like, “What are these? What are these, rubber bands?!” and it ends up being – you know what I mean? So, it’s like it’s actually autobiographical for me, too. I have a fifteen year-old. I also have a twenty nine year-old girl. So, raising her, and they’re totally two different generations, but it’s just basic fun. That’s the beautiful thing about it is that with all the complexities in this society, right now, The Proud Family still focuses on simple, all-American ethics. All-American ethics, the kind that I’ve watched on The Brady Bunch or Andy Griffith or The Flintstones or Leave It to Beaver, or Bewitched. Every episode ended up like, “I learned something about being good. I learned about being a good person.”

Suzanne: Yeah, that’s good.

Tommy: I’m glad that’s not out of style.

Suzanne: No, especially not with kid shows.

Tommy: Yeah, right, especially not, yeah.

Suzanne: And do you have any other projects coming up that you can tell us about?

Tommy: Oh, yeah, I just released my first single, called “Sweet Reunion.” You can catch it on YouTube, Apple or Spotify or anywhere. I’m finally getting into the music industry, which I’ve been wanting to do all my life. I’m working with musicians all over the world, and that’s just a beautiful thing. I launched a book, right before the pandemic and during the pandemic, where I got a chance to really talk about my life and my journey and how I came into this world, and that’s a beautiful thing, too. I’m touring with Mike Epps around around the world. I developed my own film and television company. So, we’re getting into developing projects around the industry, and [I have] a little girl, a little ten year-old girl.

Suzanne: You’re busy.

Tommy: My recent production, you know?

Suzanne: And you’re about to go on “The Wendy Williams Show,” right?

Tommy: Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. She’s an old friend. We knew each other before her show, and she’s like me; she’s a loyalist. Like once a friend, you’re a friend. I’ve done her show so many different times, and she’s such a wonderful person and has a lot to offer. She somehow balances gossip with goodness. I don’t know how that’s done, but it’s done

Suzanne: Was that your baby we just heard?

Tommy: Yeah.

Suzanne: Hi. What a cutie. Well, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me this morning.

Tommy: Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s always a pleasure to be representing in the market where I come from, which is basically the 70s.

Suzanne: Yeah, 70s rule.

Tommy: 70s rule. We got bused together to school and changed everything. So, thank you.

Suzanne: All right. Thank you very much. Talk to you later.

Tommy: You too. Bye.

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

MORE INFO:

Known for a myriad of iconic filmed content, TOMMY DAVIDSON continues to bring a fresh take to each and every project he in which he stars or participates in. First up this month is his newest tv project, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, in which Davidson returns as the patriarch, ‘Oscar Proud,’ in the fan favorite, iconic series with the 2022 reboot exclusive to Disney+.

Here’s a quick preview at the official clip!

Davidson, who tours the country endlessly selling out arenas from coast to coast, every weekend, is joined on the Proud reboot with his co-stars reprising their roles: Kyla Pratt as Penny Proud, Paula Jai Parker as Trudy Proud, JoMarie Payton as Suga Mama, Cedric the Entertainer as Uncle Bobby, Karen Malina White as Dijonay Jones, Soleil Moon Frye as Zoey Howzer, Alisa Reyes as LaCienega Boulevardez, Carlos Mencia as Felix Boulevardez, Maria Canals-Barrera as Sunset Boulevardez and Alvaro Gutierrez as Papi in the animated family sitcom from acclaimed creator/executive producer Bruce W. Smith and executive producer Ralph Farquhar, who led the original series.

Guest-starring 2022 voice cast includes: Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Chance the Rapper, Normani, Leslie Odom Jr., Tiffany Haddish, Lena Waithe, Anthony Anderson, Gabrielle Union, Debbie Allen, James Pickens Jr., Courtney B. Vance, Jane Lynch, Marsai Martin, Jaden Smith, Glynn Turman, Lamorne Morris, Brenda Song, Tina Knowles, Eva Longoria, Holly Robinson Peete, Al Roker and more. All previous seasons of “The Proud Family” are now also available on Disney+.

For more on Tommy, go to his website: https://www.thetommydavidson.com

The Proud Family launches on Wednesday, Feb. 23^rd.

Disney+ Orders “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder,” the Long-Awaited Revival of the Groundbreaking Animated Series

February 27, 2020

Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar Return to Helm All-New Episodes with Original Voice Cast

Disney+ has ordered the long-anticipated revival of the groundbreaking animated series “The Proud Family” which, 18 years after its Disney Channel premiere, is still beloved for its characters, stories and multilayered humor and for its messages about inclusion and cultural diversity in a smart, modern way. The new animated family sitcom “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” is currently in production at Disney Television Animation with Academy Award-winning creator/executive producer Bruce W. Smith and executive producer Ralph Farquhar, who led the original series, at the helm, reuniting them with Calvin Brown, Jr. who is co-executive producer and story editor.

All previous seasons of “The Proud Family” are currently available on Disney+.

In a joint statement, Smith and Farquhar said, “In our minds, the show never really went away, as we still had tons of stories left to tell. It’s the perfect time to bring back this show, and we can’t wait to take fans, old and new alike, on this journey with us.”

Picking up the story of its central character Penny Proud, the new series will also include her madcap family: parents Oscar and Trudy, twin siblings BeBe and CeCe, and her grandmother Suga Mama (and Puff!). Of course, it would not be “The Proud Family” without Penny’s loyal crew Dijonay Jones, LaCienega Boulevardez and Zoey Howzer, among others.

Disney+ and Disney Television Animation also released concept art featuring the main characters from the upcoming series.

Reprising their voice roles are: Kyla Pratt as Penny Proud, Tommy Davidson as Oscar Proud, Paula Jai Parker as Trudy Proud, Jo Marie Payton as Suga Mama, Karen Malina White as Dijonay Jones, Soleil Moon Frye as Zoey Howzer and Alisa Reyes as LaCienega Boulevardez. Cedric the Entertainer will also return as Uncle Bobby Proud.

“The show’s humor and relatable stories are as relevant with audiences today as ever,” said Agnes Chu, senior vice president, Content, Disney+. “Our audiences have loved rediscovering their favorite episodes of ‘The Proud Family,’ and we’re excited Bruce, Ralph, Calvin, and the returning cast are creating new stories for their new home on Disney+.”

Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer, Disney Channels Worldwide, said, “The genius of the original ‘Proud Family’ series was that, under the guise of a family comedy, it provided a brilliant social commentary on our life and times. With this new series, Bruce and Ralph will once again challenge everyone to think differently about the world we share.”

About Disney+

Disney+ is the dedicated streaming home for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and more. From The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International segment, Disney+ is available on most internet-connected devices and offers commercial-free programming with a variety of original feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series and short-form content. Alongside unprecedented access to Disney’s incredible library of film and television entertainment, the service is also the exclusive streaming home for the latest releases from The Walt Disney Studios. Visit DisneyPlus.com to subscribe and/or learn more about the service.

About Disney Television Animation

Disney Television Animation (DTVA), established in November 1984, is an industry leader in the creation of animated television for preschoolers, kids and tweens across Disney-branded channels and platforms. The animation studio is home to hit television series including “DuckTales,” “Phineas and Ferb,” “Gravity Falls,” “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Sofia the First,” “Elena of Avalor” and the “Mickey Mouse” shorts.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Tommy Davidson

Interview with the cast of “All-American: Homecoming”

Posted on February 21, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

"All-American: Homecoming" poster

Interview with actors Geffri Maya, Peyton Alex Smith, Sylvester Powell, Cory Hardrict, Kelly Jenrette, Camille Hyde, Mitchell Edwards and Netta Walker, and executive producer Nkechi Okoro Carroll of “All-American: Homecoming” on The CW by Suzanne 1/27/22

This was a really fun panel. These actors really seem to enjoy their work and have a lot of congeniality with their fellow cast and crew. I watch MANY shows on The CW (mostly superheroes). I watched 5 episodes of this new spin-off. It started slowly but started to get better by the end of the third episode. It’s basically a soap opera set in a fictional HBCU, just as the original show is a soap opera set in a high school. That one is mostly about football. This one is about baseball and tennis. I’m sure you’ll recognize a lot of the actors from the first show. However, you can watch this and enjoy it even if you’ve never seen the show from which it’s spun off.

Nkechki (whom they refer to as “NK”) answered the first question from a journalist about what role will HBCU* experiences play in the series. She said Bringston University, where the show is set, is a character itself on the show. Even though it’s not a real institution, it seems real because it’s the “life force of the show” and it’s everything for the students. She also asked whether the show is still about football, and whether there are new characters (besides the ones from the original show). NK answered that show is about tennis and baseball, as well as about “HBCU life in general.” She also took a moment to praise the cast as beautiful and amazing. She can’t wait for us to get to meet the characters of the show because she feels like they’re her friends. She continued on to explain that the cast is mostly new people who represent “”the absolute spectrum of what it is to be young and Black and at an HBCU.”

I then asked her if there was a particular real-life campus that she based Bringston on. She replied, as expected, that it’s “an amalgamation of a few different campuses.” She complimented their production designer as “brilliant” because they sat down and envisioned what they wanted, and then they brought it to life. Viewers who went to an HBCU should recognize the campus as being similar to the campuses in DC, Atlanta and other places. NK confided that she didn’t go to an HBCU, so she wanted to create her own. I asked a followup question about whether she directed her actors to train in tennis and baseball ahead of time, or did they hire actors who already knew how to play. As I’d hoped, she asked the stars Peyton and Geffri to give their two cents. Peyton, whom you may know from “Legacies” on The CW, plays baseball star Damon Sims. Geffri plays tennis star Simone Hicks. I was happy to be in a conversation with Peyton because I was so unhappy when they wrote him out of “Legacies.” Now I see that it was for the best because he’s able to go on to bigger things in this show.

Peyton joked, “Uh, honestly I’m just a natural-born talent in like whatever I do.” There was laughter and NK jokingly said he was going to let him talk. Geffri told us truthfully that she hadn’t ever held a racket until they found out about this backdoor pilot. Once they knew it was going forward, she found a good tennis coach and started working hard on the sport. She said that tennis is “beautiful” and that it takes respect and work with your “full mind, full body and full spirit.” She hopes we can see it and feel it. I assured her that it worked out great from the four episodes I saw.

Peyton then answered more seriously. He used to play but hadn’t played baseball in about 17 years. When they shot the pilot, he was very scared as soon as he got up on the mound, since he was playing “super athlete.” After that, he and Sylvester worked on pitching and batting with a scouting coach with the Atlanta Braves. They did a lot of work not only baseball, but just working out in general as well. Then he flew to Bellingham, Washington to work with the college kids there at Western Washington University. He said he “had no idea that was a place.” Ha ha! I have a friend who teaches there, and I felt the same way when I heard he was moving there. “Where the heck is Bellingham?” Anyway, he said it was great to see the kids in their environment, and it not only helped him with playing but with his acting. He gave an example: “we see how those kids react to the coaches.” He gave baseball props because he discovered that it’s not an easy sports. He used to think it was boring to watch, but now he knows more about it and finds it interesting. NK then praised him for being “so incredibly locked.” I’d never heard that term before, but I assume she means that he’s very focused.

NK then praised Camille. She really nailed the part in her audition, and then she was asked if she played tennis, almost as an afterthought, and she answered with a list of her tennis accomplishments. They were shocked but knew they found the right actress to play Thea. They never have to use her double because Camille is “unbelieveable.” She’s their expert, in fact, if they want to know how they’re portraying tennis correctly.

Camille said that it was lucky for her that she and her character had a lot in common. She never lost a match when she was in high school. She brought some of that “can’t lose” attitude in her acting as well. The mentality includes, “even if we come close to losing and we win, it wasn’t good enough. So you train harder, you work harder and that’s, that’s definitely just scratching the surface of what it means to be a college tennis athlete. Um, there’s never enough serves you can hit in a day. There’s never enough drills you can do in a day. That’s how I was until, you know, my hands are bleeding and the blisters were all popping on my feet, but you know, that’s what it means to be a college athlete.” She says they definitely earned their respect.

The cast was also asked by a journalist about whether they tell people when they go in to audition whether they can play the sport or not. He said he would be worried that someone said he got it wrong if he wasn’t very good at it.

Cory joked, “Fake til you make it.” He was joking, but Geffri confided that she was always told to say yes on auditions when asked if she could play something, and then go practice to make it real. She did say that it “just depends on the person.” Peyton said he’s seen that go wrong before where someone said they could play basketball but had to leave, embarrassed. Mitchell admitted that happened to him. He told the people at the audition that he could play basketball, but he couldn’t. He was terrible. Sylvester jokingly consoled him by reminding him that he’s a football player. Then Geffri joked, “But you know what they said, Mitch? They said, That boy got beautiful skin, though.'” They joked around some more.

Cory added in that you should always tell the truth, get the job, work hard and “keep your faith.”

Geffri admitted that she told them for this part that she can’t play, but she promised to learn. NK confirmed that Geffri did say exactly that. They just hoped that would be enough so that they could do the spin-off. Geffri joked that she would never tell NK no. She jokingly said, “’Are you an astronaut?” Yes. I am going to spacecamp. Yes.'”

A reporter asked how good they think they’ve become. Peyton joked that after the series was over, in about 6 years, he’s going to play professional baseball. Geffri teased that he woudl be going pro in the spinoff of the spinoff.

Geffri then answered seriously that she definitely sees growth in everyone’s playing. She already knew Camille before the series and thinks that she has grown as a person. She thinks, while “there’s always room for improvement” she thinks she’s improved at tennis and will continue to work hard at it because it “requires dedication.” She added that it’s also very fun to play.

NK praised them all for their hard work, which she saw in the many hours of footage that she had to edit for the series. They had very little notice to get in shape for the pilot and learn how to play well. She applauded them for not only their hours of commitment to playing but also acting, learning lines, and showing up for long days of shooting. Also, some of them had to learn to dance. Netta plays Keisha, who’s a dancer and choreographer, so she had to really work hard to “nail the routines we give her,” and Mitchell has to sing as well. She saluted their “bringing excellence, which is the theme of the show.” She felt honored for them to all bring their A games to the series.

Peyton also added that he felt if he worked really hard on the baseball, then it became easier, so then he could focus more on his character and the art of acting.

Another journalist asked about what the characters find out or learn as they go through this time in their lives where a lot of change happens.

Netta talked about playing a college age young person on the show, which she can really relate to because she made a lot of the same mistakes and going through self-discovery. She feels like they’re doing it in a way that’s not filled with bias, which is unusual. Then having the “extra layer of Black excellence on top of it” makes it even more enjoyable. She told us that when you’re at an HBCU, you have to be at your best: “you gotta be on. You can’t slack, edges better be laid, hair better be pressed, outfits better be on top, and everyone’s been doing it for it.” She’s happy to be playing Keisha, who’s the top girl socially at the school.

Cory cracked that Keish is the one they all wanted to be in college; “She’s the “it” girl.” Netta joked back at him that he couldn’t possibly think that way because his face “is perfectly symmetrical”.

Camille added that her face is symmetrical, too, but she credits everything to their stylists, who put together their clothes, hair, makeup, etc. It makes their jobs easier because it “represents us in our community and Black excellence and the hair and you know, how much, you know, young, Black culture, a lot of it is hair. A lot of it is style.” She believes that it will translate well on the screen. Geffri agreed with that and went on at length about HBCU and the black excellence they represent. She feels privileged to show what this life is like to young kids who might be thinking about going to college.

Cory took the opportunity to praise NK for creating this world. He’s happy to be a “positive influence in these young male figures lives, and especially this Black experience.”

NK redirected the praise toward the cast, saying that she capture “lightning in a bottle” with all of them. Meeting Geff, in particular, inspired her to create this world. There was a lot more to this panel, but you get the idea about the show and how much this cast loves each other.

*HBCU refers to historically black colleges and universities, in case you didn’t know. Famous examples include Spelman, Howard and Xavier University.

MORE INFO:

"All-American: Homecoming" poster “ALL AMERICAN: HOMECOMING”

Mondays (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET) on The CW

ALL AMERICAN: HOMECOMING is a young adult sports drama set against the backdrop of the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) experience at Bringston University, where Black excellence is a way of life. The series follows Simone (Geffri Maya, “All American”), a young tennis hopeful from Beverly Hills who is trying to fight her way back to great after some time away from the court, and Damon (Peyton Alex Smith, “Legacies”), an elite baseball player from Chicago who is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. After Simone’s aunt Amara Patterson (Kelly Jenrette, “Manhunt”), a journalism teacher and activist, exposes a scandal that threatens to derail the school’s beloved baseball program, new coach Marcus Turner (Cory Hardrict, “The Chi”) is determined to bring a championship back to Bringston the honest way — with Damon’s help. Damon will adjust to his new normal with fellow baseball player and childhood friend JR (Sylvester Powell, “Five Points”) by his side. Meanwhile, as Simone struggles to find her footing, she will get a little guidance from Thea (Camille Hyde, “Katy Keene”), the super-competitive queen bee of the Bringston tennis team, and Keisha (Netta Walker, “Come as You Are”), the school’s unofficial mayor, who will help Simone learn how to live her best life. As they contend with the high stakes of college sports, Simone and Damon will also navigate the highs, lows, and sexiness of unsupervised early adulthood at a prestigious HBCU.

ALL AMERICAN: HOMECOMING stars Geffri Maya as Simone Hicks, Peyton Alex Smith as Damon Sims, Kelly Jenrette as Amara Patterson, Cory Hardrict as Coach Marcus Turner, Sylvester Powell as JR, Camille Hyde as Thea Mays, Mitchell Edwards as Cam Watkins and Netta Walker as Keisha McCalla.

ALL AMERICAN: HOMECOMING is from Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios in association with Berlanti Productions, with executive producers Nkechi Okoro Carroll (“Rosewood,” “The Resident”), Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Riverdale”), Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Riverdale”), David Madden (“You”) and Robbie Rogers (“All American”).

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

All American: Homecoming -- "Start Over" -- Image Number: AHC101a_0697r.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): Rhoyle Ivy King as Nathaniel Hardin, Geffri Maya as Simone Hicks and Netta Walker as Keisha McCalla -- Photo: Ser Baffo/The CW -- (C) 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Interview with the cast of “The Endgame”

Posted on February 21, 2022February 22, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Morena Baccarin and Ryan Michelle Bathe of "The Endgame" on NBC

Interview with actors Morena Baccarin, Ryan Michelle Bathé, Costa Ronin and executive producers Jake Coburn and Nick Wootton of “The Endgame” on “NBC” by Suzanne 2/11/22

This was part of a larger NBC panel for TCA. I really enjoyed watching this show because it’s exciting. It really keeps you on the edge of your seat. The actors are really good. I would have watched it just because Morena Baccarin is always good. You may know her from “Firefly,” “Gotham” or the “Deadpool” movies. She’s always outstanding. Ryan Michelle Bathé does a good job as the heroine. Noah Bean is also in the cast; I loved him in many roles, such as “Damages” and “Nikita.” I interviewed Costa Ronin before, and he’s an excellent actor and nice person. Make sure you check it out! It’s a little bit like “Blacklist,” mixed with “Killing Eve” and “Blindspot,” and a dash of “Queen of the South.” Yet it’s definitely its own thing.

Most of the questions were directed at Morena Baccarin, so I asked a question for both women. Most of the good questions had already been asked. First, I told them how much I loved the show. Then I asked, “Did either of you have much input into either your character or the clothing that you get to wear in the show?” They kind of laughed at my question, which is fine. Morena replied that they did have conversations beforehand about their characters and how these two women related to each other. Their two characters are so tied together that you can’t have one without the other. She also said that “the clothing is very important to this character.” When we first see Elena, she’s “coming out of this box in a dress,” so they had trouble, at first, finding the right gown so that she could amazing. The effect she described is, “it’s a very strange and incredible moment to see this international arms dealer being captured in a giant ball gown.” She had tried on many dresses and hadn’t found the one she liked. She was on the Upper East Side of New York for a doctor’s appointment. She had some time to kill, so she walked into the Carolina Herrera shop and saw the dress immediately. She said to herself “That’s the one,” tried it on and sent the producers a photo of it. They did look into other options, but this was the one that she felt gives you the right feeling that they wanted Elena to invoke in the audience when they saw her coming out of the box. EP and showrunner Nick Wooton agreed. Once she found that dress, they tried to see if anything else came close, but nothing did. Morena joked, “And now I’m stuck with this dress forever.” Nick joked with her but then made it clear that she does change clothes at some point. Morena asked if Ryan had anything to add, but Ryan made her own joke by saying, “No. Val is just a bit of a sparrow… just rolls around in the dirt with the pigeons and just, kind of, gets on, stomp, stomp, stomp.” I think she was just saying that Val’s clothes are no big deal compared to Elena’s. It was a funny way of saying it, though.

Here are the questions asked by other journalists on the panel. Most of the questions were directed at Morena, since most people are probably more familiar with her work. Here are the questions for her. She was asked how it was being the lead of the show (since this is her first lead role). Morena thinks that she and Ryan are equal leads on the show and that Ryan gets more screen time than she does. She noted, “it’s fun to be No. 1 on the call sheet, but the work is definitely not all on me.”

She was also asked what about the script or character attracted her to it. She answered that she always wanted to play a larger-than-life character who plays for “high stakes.” Also, she liked the humor in the series and felt that it was a page-turner as she read it. She also enjoyed that it’s about two people who happen to be women. They’re both “after the same thing,” even though they’re on opposite sides.

Next Morena was asked if she had to do any type of physical stunt work or training for her, or what things she did to embody the “beautiful essence” of Elena. Morena told us that the accent was the biggest thing for her that she had to embrace and work very hard to perfect. It’s not one she’s done before, but it was “a lot of fun to create this part.” Going back to my question, she confirmed that she had a lot of discussions with the producers about the accent, who the character was, etc. She thinks Val has a lot more action to do than Elena.

Morena was asked if she thinks Elena will be an anti-hero that “the audience will root for.” Morena joked that the dress made her do “weird things” and then seriously agreed that she believes that Elena is not really a villain because she’s fighting for a good cause. Any “villain” has to have good reasons in their minds to do what they do. Usually it’s because of someone they’re connected to, which is the case here. She believes that anyone who watches the first episode or two will be rooting for both Elena and Val. Nick chimed in that the first arc of the show starts of looking like there’s a good guy and a bad guy, and then the series explores their characters, and some gray areas. Then there’s a “gradual shift over this ten day period of time.” It might end up in a very different place.

Morena was asked what new challenges the role has brought to her (which is a similar question to the one she was asked before). She answered it differently, though. The character is very complicated, so they get to explore who Elena is, what makes her tick, and “her emotional arc and life.” She’s always asking Nick what Elena’s motivation is in each episode so that she could make sure to know what drives her and to make her real, not like a cartoon. She’s had trouble with the accent and gets help from Costa with that. She stressed that, “the acts that are happening around her that she’s orchestrated are enormous.” She also had to make sure to “have fun” with the part. If she doesn’t have fun, then she loses the audience. It has to be “grounded in reality” and not too out there, so she’s always questioning whether she’s acting too broadly or not. She compares it to being in “bumper cars” while trying to find Elena.

Ryan was asked some questions. She was previously in “Boston Legal” and “All Rise” as lawyers, and now she’s an FBI agent. In real life, she went to Stanford and NYU. She was asked if she ever wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, etc. and how she decided to become an actor. Interesting question. Costa joked, “You could have had a real job is what he’s saying.”

Ryan replied that she did consider becoming a lawyer and an FBI agent. She also wanted to become a pilot in the Air Force and fly fighter jets, but she was told she couldn’t do that (probably because it’s very tough to get to do that job, especially for women). There were many things she wanted to do, but that led her to become an actor because then she gets to play all of these things. She’s glad that she doesn’t have to actually arrest or shoot anyone. Then she joked, “Jake and Nick know about my shooting” and Nick replied, “Steady aim. Steady eye. She’s dead eye.” Well, I wish I had asked whether he was being facetious or not.

Ryan was asked about graduating from Stanford. Issa Rae also came from there. She was asked if she saw that other black students were going there to build the drama program. She was also asked how she feels about starting a new show when her husband’s show is ending (she’s married to Sterling K. Brown of “This Is Us”). Ryan praised Stanford and their “wonderful alumni community.” She noted that it was a Stanford woman that gave her “my first big job in Hollywood.” She told us that she’s sad about the end of the Pearsons and his show, just like she feels “all of America is.” She said that Sterling has made “great friends” there. She thinks that her starting a new show dovetails nicely with his ending and feels it would be too difficult to both be starting 2 new shows at the same time.

Another press person asked her about Val’s motivations on the show because she seems so “pure.” He wondered what else she’s about. Ryan let us know that each show is a new day in the story, so time passes differently there than out here in the real world. Her description made total sense, “”it’s like if you dropped into the worst five days of someone’s life, you would think that that five days was it, and you wouldn’t know that they like cheeseburgers” (for instance). She joked that she and Morean really tried to get it into the show that she likes cheeseburgers. Morena cracked her own joked, “We have a pitch for you after this,” so Nick replied, “Done. It’s already written.”

Ryan continued to explain that we don’t know too much about Ryan at first because she’s just so focused on these tough days in her life, not anything else that’s going on in her life. “right now,” she explained, “she’s got to get her girl and, in the process, unravel an international government conspiracy.”

Another reporter told Ryan how much she adores her and that she’s happy to see her in this cool show. She asked if she’s correct to assume that this is a type of Robin Hood story. Ryan agreed with that, and Morena agreed that there are definitely aspects of that other story. Ryan added that it has to do with what Elena does with the money, but she’s not allowed to tell us about it.

Nick explained that the story is more about the corruption going on in public institutions, that is “in plain sight.” Elena is pointing out the flaws in the systems. The real world flaws are informing their “narrative.” They have no shortage of real world issues to use for future episodes because of everything that goes on in the world.

Another fan of Ryan’s asked whether she would have time to be on “All Rise,” now that it’s on OWN, as well as “First Wives Club,” since she’s in this show. Ryan confided that she just loves “All Rise” and the people there. She especially praised star Simone Missick, whom she called a “queen” and compared her to “Nefertiti.” She hopes they can make the schedule work for her to be on “All Rise” as well.

Poor Costa had been largely ignored, so it was nice to see that someone finally asked him a question. He was asked about his character and what made him want to take the role. He’s played a criminal in many shows, such as “The Americans” and “Homeland.” Costa admitted that it’s “the best script I have read in the last two years.” He’s very excited to be part of it. It’s more than just a crime show. It combines many elements. It does have a lot of action, but there are “quiet moments” which show why the characters are doing things. It’s not a one-note show. He compared it to a symphony, saying, “you have a little bit of this, you have a little bit of that.” Each episode brings more incredible story. He really praised the writers and said he’s proud to be part of it.

Executive Producers Nick and Jake were asked if the series was shot in New York, or whether it was just a few external shots. He also asked if there were any financial considerations, such as tax credits, or if shooting was affected by the pandemic.

Nick confirmed that it was shot entirely in NYC. He joked, “Money has never entered into the conversation for one second about this show. It is shockingly carte blanche.” Nick loves the city. His mom was “born and raised in The Bronx,” and he’s spent a lot of time there. He described why he thinks it’s best place for any crime drama: “the density of humanity, the beauty of the sky line, the water, the range of socioeconomics. Everything about New York lends itself to a great show, as we’ve seen a thousand times and we’ll see many times more. To me it’s the most exciting city in the world to shoot in.” They did get tax credit but could have shot it somewhere cheaper. They chose New York instead.

MORE INFO:

"The Endgame" on NBC starring Morena Baccarin and Ryan Michelle Bathé A pulse-pounding high-stakes two-hander about Elena Federova, a recently captured international arms dealer and brilliant criminal mastermind who orchestrates a number of coordinated bank heists throughout New York City for a mysterious purpose. Her antagonist is Val Turner, the principled, relentless and socially outcast FBI agent who will stop at nothing to foil her ambitious plan. The gripping heist drama reveals how far some people will go for love, justice and the most valuable commodity in the world: the truth.

Morena Baccarin, Ryan Michelle Bathé, Costa Ronin, Jordan Johnson-Hinds, Kamal Bolden, Noah Bean and Mark Damon Espinoza star.

Nicholas Wootton writes and executive produces. Jake Coburn, Julie Plec, Emily Cummins, Andrew Schneider and Justin Lin, who directed the pilot, will also executive produce.

“The Endgame” is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, with Nicholas Wootton Productions, Jake Coburn Productions, My So-Called Company and Perfect Storm Entertainment.

Morena Baccarin

Elena Federova, “The Endgame”

Morena Baccarin plays Elena Federova on the new NBC drama “The Endgame.”

Baccarin recently starred in the film “The Good House” and has a role in the upcoming “Last Looks,” an action-suspense film opposite Charlie Hunnam. She is best known as the female lead in the “Deadpool” franchise. Other film credits include “Greenland,” “Ode to Joy, “Framing John DeLorean” and “Spy.”

Baccarin captured the attention of audiences and critics for her Emmy Award-nominated performance in “Homeland,” alongside Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin. She began her career in “Firefly,” was a series regular on “Gotham” and the sci-fi drama “V,” and recurred on “The Mentalist.”

Baccarin is actively involved with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), whose mission is “to help people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future.” She also sits on the board of Waterwell, a civic-minded theater company that inspires audiences and students to change the world they live in.

Baccarin was born in Rio de Janeiro and moved with her family to New York at the age of 7. She is a graduate of the prestigious Juilliard School and resides in New York with her husband and two children.

Ryan Michelle Bathé

Val Turner, “The Endgame”

THE ENDGAME — Season: 1 -- Pictured: Ryan Michelle Bathe as Val Turner -- (Photo by: Zach Dilgard/NBC)

Ryan Michelle Bathé stars as Val Turner in the new NBC drama “The Endgame.”

In 2020, Bathé starred in the Emmy Award-nominated Amazon film “Sylvie’s Love” and CBS’ “All Rise.” Since 2019, she has starred in the BET+ series “First Wives Club,” based on the 1996 film. Her many television credits include “The Rookie,” “Empire,” “This Is Us,” “Army Wives,” “Retired at 35,” “ER,” “Boston Legal” and “How I Met Your Mother.”

On stage, Bathé has performed in Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” and “Much to Do About Nothing” at the Old Guthrie Theatre and Old Globe Theatre, respectively. She also co-starred in the musical “The Hot Mikado” at the Ford Theater in Washington, D.C.

Two years ago Bathé launched Down on Maple Productions and signed a first-look deal with ViacomCBS MTV Entertainment Group. The partnership covers content created and/or developed for television and new media with the focus on identifying emerging talent and underrepresented voices.

She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, an organization whose members are dedicated to sisterhood, scholarship and service. Combining her passion for helping children and philanthropy, Bathé is also a passionate member of Alliance of Moms, a membership-based program that supports pregnant and parenting teens in foster care in Los Angeles County.

Bathé was born in St. Louis and raised in Stamford, Conn. She graduated from Stanford University and earned her MFA in acting from New York University. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.

Costa Ronin

Sergey Vodianov, “The Endgame”

Costa Ronin plays Sergey Vodianov in the new NBC drama “The Endgame.”

Ronin, who was born and raised on the west coast of Russia, recently completed principal photography on the independent feature “ISS,” starring opposite Chris Messina. He was recently be seen in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and is best known for his roles in the hit drama series “The Americans” and “Homeland.”

Other TV credits include “Splitting Up Together,” “Extant” and “Gotham.

Nick Wooten

Executive Producer, “The Endgame”

Nick Wootton is an Emmy Award-winning television writer and producer. He has written for various critically acclaimed drama series, including “Chuck,” “Prison Break,” “Law & Order,” “NYPD Blue” and “Scorpion.”

Wootton won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series in 1998 for his work on “NYPD Blue.”

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Morena Baccarin and Ryan Michelle Bathe of "The Endgame" on NBC

Interview with Garcelle Beauvais, Alison Thornton, Malia Baker, and Emma Tremblay

Posted on February 19, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Lifetime panel with Garcelle Beauvais, Alison Thornton, Malia Baker, and Emma Tremblay

Interview with Garcelle Beauvais, Alison Thornton, Malia Baker, and Emma Tremblay of “Caught in His Web” on Lifetime by Suzanne 1/10/22

This was a very interesting movie about high school girls being cyber-stalked. Garcelle Beauvais plays the police detective that helps them. It was a part of a larger Lifetime Panel with many other movies. It’s an interesting movie to watch. My question is toward the end.

MODERATOR: Hi, everyone, and welcome to our very last panel of Lifetime’s press day. I’d like to introduce the cast of “Caught in His Web.” Please welcome Garcelle Beauvais, Alison Thornton, Malia Baker, and Emma Tremblay. Let’s go ahead and get to our first question from Karen at Sci-Fi Vision. Karen?

QUESTION: Hi, everybody. I really enjoyed the film and the twists on this problem. I wanted to ask you guys, Garcelle, as a parent, I think you have teenagers at home, and the rest of the cast, all you are young ladies, either high school age or it’s not that far behind you, and I wanted to ask how much you were aware of this type of problem in high schools.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: First of all, I want to say hi to the cast. I love these girls.

All: Hi.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: For me, one of the reasons why it was so important not only to be a part of it but to get the word out is because it can happen, and I’m always trying to use things as cautionary tales for my boys. And I always say don’t ever give your personal information to anyone but obviously these girls did, and they just got targeted. I think this film is really important.

ALISON THORNTON: Yeah. I um — I had friends in high school who had their photos shared, unfortunately. I feel like it’s something that is really common nowadays. Sending a picture is like currency, especially I think in the age of COVID when everyone’s separate. So I think that it’s a really important message.

EMMA TREMBLAY: I grew up in a house where my parents were very aware of what I was doing online just for my own safety and protection, and I’m just grateful that I had that support system and I never had to experience anything as traumatic as what we go through in this movie because it’s terrifying because it’s totally real and happens and I was just lucky enough to be aware of it as I grew up and just avoided that danger.

MALIA BAKER: For sure. I mean I agree. I feel like especially being a young girl in today’s society, you have to normalize kind of almost connotation of this can happen, and if you take pictures, it’s kind of inevitable for that to happen and I feel like this movie just dives deep into it on a great level, and it’s really important, and I’m glad that we’re able to share the message.

QUESTION: Great. Thank you very much.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Karen. Our next is from Starry Constellation Magazine. All right. We can come back to you in just a few moments. How about we go to Noah Wilson. Noah?

QUESTION: Hello, everyone. It’s so great to be here with you guys to speak a little more about “Caught in His Web.” Garcelle, I want to ask you first. I feel like this is so relevant in today’s world because so many are trapped in crazy things on the internet and social media. But what made this movie project, one day, you definitely were game to do?

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Well, I had never worked for Lifetime believe it or not. I’ve been in the industry for 100+ years. So that definitely was an opportunity that I didn’t want to pass. But like you said, it’s such an important thing. We share so much of our lives on social media that you would think that these young girls could have some privacy when needed, and the fact that you share — if you share one photo — you know, nowadays, people can change things. They can even do videos and, you know, edit them so it looks like you’re doing something. So to me, it was really, really important, and having 14-year-old boys, I try to stress to a point where they’re like, “Mom, not everybody’s bad.” And I’m like, “No, not everybody’s bad but there’s a lot of people who want to take advantage,” and I feel like that’s what this movie speaks about. Even if you’re a great kid, great grades, you abide by the rules, this can also happen to you, and I think that’s the message too.

QUESTION: Garcelle, have you ever come across a sticky situation being on social media, being a public figure in the public eye?

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Yeah. Absolutely. I think I’m always careful. Now, I don’t post in real-time. If I go to an event, I will post the next day so I’m not literally at the event when I post just out of caution. But I also feel like, for me, when I posed for Playboy, that was a really big deal for me because not a lot of black women get to be on the cover and it was a big deal, and I only shot, you know, my top. I only exposed my top, and I feel like there are pictures out that people have edited that are not me. So that can — it can ruin a career. It can ruin your life. If certain things are put out there that are not your image or not what you’ve done, and so it’s just scary all around. Although social media can also be great but that aspect I think is really scary.

QUESTION: Lastly, to all of the girls that are on here right now that are part of the film, “Caught in His Web,” what did you guys learn personally from Garcelle? Did you learn anything and take anything away from her?

ALISON THORNTON: Yeah. I mean watching how Garcelle composes herself on set is really inspiring. I remember we were doing a scene — I can’t say what it is because it’s a spoiler but there was a note that I feel like I was having trouble understanding, and I did a take, and then I did a different take trying to incorporate the note, and then I remember we just had a moment where I spoke to her about it, and then we spoke to Hannah, the director, and she’s so good at being assertive in terms of asking for what you need and clarification and also just being so warm to everyone and so supportive on set. It made for such a wonderful and open environment to work with which I was very grateful for.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Aw, thank you. I love that. They were so great. I love all of them equally.

EMMA TREMBLAY: I can totally bounce off of what Alison said because I feel the exact same way. Garcelle made set just so comfortable and, of course, I was like, oh, my gosh, I’m working with Garcelle. And she was just the sweetest, most wonderful woman to work with, and just you were all incredible.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Thank you.

MALIA BAKER: I definitely agree with everything you girls just said. I’d also say there was this one — there was a few days actually where the call sheet got messed up, and our scenes were all being switched around, and I remember Garcelle had this huge monologue, and she was ready but they changed some of the lines, and she was trying to get it ready but by the time that we were filming, she got them all down, and I think just thinking on my feet, and like you guys said, being assertive, knowing what I want, and not being afraid to ask for it. It’s really important on set, and I feel like you can kind of get shuffled into that, no, it’s okay, thank you. That kind of realm. So it’s great to learn.

QUESTION: Thank you guys so much. Congrats on the film.

EMMA TREMBLAY: Thank you.

MALIA BAKER: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Up next, we have April Neal. April?

QUESTION: Hi, everyone. Thanks for doing this. Okay, so when I watched the film, and I’m a parent, all I could think about, and I want everyone’s input on this, is that smartphones, not cellphones but smartphones that have internet connectivity, there should be an age limit because it seems to amplify the worst of all of the things that we experience growing up, and kids are notoriously bad at containing themselves and exercising caution with something that easy to use. I wanted your opinion. Garcelle, especially you, and also the cast. Would there be an age for the younger cast? Would there be an age acceptable for you to have just a cellphone and not a smartphone and then make the transition when you’re more emotionally able to handle the responsibility that you guys go?

EMMA TREMBLAY: You go ahead.

ALISON THORNTON: I actually think that that’s a great idea. I mean I personally didn’t get a smartphone until I think I was 15. But yeah. I think what you said is a really great point because I remember even when I was younger, I would send silly photos to my friends on Snapchat and whatnot, and people would screenshot them without me knowing, and I think that — I remember having someone come to my school and talk about this actually and say on an app like Snapchat, you think that what you’re sending is gonna disappear in a few seconds, and it doesn’t even occur to you that people — like, whenever you send something like that, even if it’s a silly photo or something that you wouldn’t want everyone to see, you don’t know whose eyes are gonna be on it, and even at 13, 14, I, for some reason, that didn’t click in my mind. So I think I mean having just a normal cellphone, not a smartphone maybe is fine just for emergencies if you’re taking the bus home or whatever but I mean, for me, I probably would’ve — I think 15 was a good age for me to get my smartphone just for emails and whatnot.

EMMA TREMBLAY: Yeah. For me, I was 12. It was just when I started walking to school by myself, so my parents were like, okay, now you can have a phone. And I feel like just being introduced to social media and the internet and a slower way and just a good environment was really nice. Just not having that exposure to discover myself, I feel like that’s just really dangerous because there’s so much on the internet that is just endless, and it’s kind of scary to think that there could be little kids out there just seeing things that they shouldn’t be seeing. It’s a scary place.

MALIA BAKER: Sure. Yeah. I agree. I mean I think it’s definitely a debatable topic. I have a younger sister who’s 11, and I was around 11, 12, when I got my first phone, and she has one now, and there was always gonna be that kind of protectiveness I think when she has that, and a lot of with the apps nowadays, like Alison said, you can just send things, and you don’t know that they’re being screenshotted or like Emma said, you can discover a lot of things that you shouldn’t necessarily be discovering at that young of an age. But I feel like on the other flip side of it, there’s a lot of great things that you can be creative with or just share information that you think is important if you want to use your voice. Even just looking up photos of puppies. There are great aspects to it but as long — I think they come hand-in-hand with some of the scarier parts, and I think they’re both really important to take into account.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Yeah. I agree with everything you guys are saying. As a parent, it’s scary. The minute you hand your kids a phone, whether it’s 11, 12, 13, and it’s just scary because they have access to everything, and you can do the parental codes, and I’m sure you guys can agree that there’s ways around those parental codes. (Laughs.) And so I worry. I worry all the time, and you can’t live your life in fear but I think you can also be aware of some of the pitfalls. And I hope this is what the movie does. I am having a screening at my house when this airs with my kids and their friends because I really want the message out there.

MODERATOR: Thank you, April. We’re gonna move onto our next question from Jay Bobbin.

QUESTION: Hello, everyone. Just curious about the nature of Whoopi’s involvement in this. Obviously, she’s talking about issues every day on “The View,” and she’s very invested in what she chooses to deal with subject-wise. Could any of you who had direct contact with her on this talk about the nature of her involvement?

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Unfortunately, because she’s so booked and busy, she wasn’t on set. She was working in New York on “The View” of course. But I think she chooses her projects carefully. I would assume she has grandchildren and this was probably a topic that she could connect to and spread the word.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. Loved you in “Flight” by the way with Denzel Washington, Garcelle.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Jay. Up next, we have Luanne Lee. Luanne?

QUESTION: Hi. Garcelle, you acted as sort of a mentor to the girls when you were making this film. But do you have any cautionary tales for them about being an actor?

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Let me just tell you. These young ladies have their heads on right. They are professional. They are sweet. They are kind, and I love their relationship. I don’t know if you guys even knew each other prior to this but I felt like there was an instant kinship between them. I would say, for me, always show up prepared, and cautionary tales, if something doesn’t feel right to you in your gut, there’s probably a reason, and always follow that.

QUESTION: Thank you.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: You’re welcome.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Up next, we have Rick Bentley.

QUESTION: Thank you. Emma, Alison, and Malia, you’re three young women dealing in this crazy social media world to begin with. But then you add in that layer that the three of you decided to get into acting at a young age. Did you have more conversations with people about how the social media world was going to increase for you because of that or did it create more concerns? Have you put up more firewall? How has that sort of ramped up what you were already dealing with as young women anyway?

MALIA BAKER: Yeah. I mean I feel like having social media is kind of the automatic go-to especially when you are more in the public. It can be terrifying. I was not a natural social media dealer. I didn’t have Instagram or Snapchat, and then when I got into acting, they were like, you need to get these things, and I was like, oh, great. That sounds amazing. So it wasn’t a natural ease into this whole big world, and I feel like growing up, like you said, kind of getting into this industry at a younger age, it is a necessity, and as great as it can be, it can also be like Garcelle mentioned earlier, a little scary, posting things in the moment or having your locations on. There are just certain priorities that need to be taken care of and accountability that needs to be had when we’re thinking about all the aspects of this.

EMMA TREMBLAY: For me, social media was really — it was easy to get into because my parents were like just with me the whole time and explained everything so well and explained all the dangers and all the positive things, and so, for me, yeah, it was a really nice introduction into it, and I have a good relationship with social media, and I’m thankful for that because like I’ve always said, it’s a scary place.

ALISON THORNTON: Yeah. I would agree with both of you guys on that. I, like Malia, it wasn’t natural for me to be on social media. I wasn’t on it before I was acting, and even now, sometimes it feels like there’s this weird pressure to post and to keep people up to date with what I’m doing which I’m still kind of coming to terms with. Sometimes I do silly things like I’ll post something and then five seconds later, be like, “No, I can’t post that,” and then delete it right away. So I’m still navigating social media but we’ll see.

EMMA TREMBLAY: We all are.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: We all are.

QUESTION: Thank you very much.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Rick. And we actually have time for one more question, and I’m gonna give that to The Hollywood Times.

QUESTION: Hi, Garcelle.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Hi.

QUESTION: I know sextortion is an ongoing issue here, and I was just wondering, how much of this film — and maybe you can give an example — is based on actual events?

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Oh, well, it definitely is based on actual events. I think what’s happening is that we’re all sort of learning how to navigate this social media world, and I think with kids, remember when you were a kid? I think everything was rosy and you were so hopeful and full of life and trusted people. And I think the cautionary tale is not that you can’t trust people, especially if you’re in high school because you need to make friends but it’s what you share with people, and if someone’s asking you to share something inappropriate, it’s probably inappropriate to do so, and I have two 14-year-old boys, and I try to tell them if someone sends you a picture of someone, do not forward that picture to another friend because that’s how it all gets started. So it’s real events but then applied to how modern and how dependent we are on these devices that we hold onto all day.

QUESTION: Okay. Thank you very much.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: You’re welcome.

MODERATOR: I actually lied. We do have time for more questions. So let’s get some more in. Suzanne?

QUESTION: Hi. How are you guys doing today?

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Good. How are you?

QUESTION: All right. Thanks for being here. I was going to ask… Garcelle, can you talk to us at all about the development as far as your part of it, the development of the movie?

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Yeah. For me, when I got the script, I was fascinated. At first, I thought how does someone get to control your life like that? And it was really a deep dive into how people hack the information they get, what they do to it, identity theft. I mean it was a lot in terms of going down that rabbit hole and realizing how much someone can have an effect on your life, someone who’s not even in your home, who you don’t really have contact with. So, for me, it’s really getting into that mindset that I wanted to understand what the girls were going through but at the same time, I felt like my character was not tech savvy and had to learn a lot as she went along. So it was about learning a lot but then letting it go so that it didn’t appear that I had all the answers. Does that make sense?

QUESTION: Yes, it does. Thank you. And the actor that played the hacker girl that helped out was really good, too.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Yeah. She was really great. Morgan was really great.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Suzanne. Up next, we have Abby.

QUESTION: Sorry. I’m sorry. I thought you said the other one was the last question. For Ms. Beauvais, I think you would be the point person on this question. Too often, the law enforcement doesn’t even take actual rape seriously much less sexual harassment. What is there about this case even in the story that had the law enforcement taking it seriously?

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: Well, I think the fact that my character sort of pushed that along because, at first, even when Alison’s character went to the precinct to report it, it was kind of brushed aside. Like, okay, these girls say these guys are — this guy is coming after them but there wasn’t really any concrete proof, and especially, I would have to say in the tech world, sometimes, a lot of adults, me included, don’t know everything that these kids can get into. So it’s always with law enforcement, I feel like until something bad happens, they really can’t do anything about it. But I felt like my character at least took it seriously enough and I think it was maybe because of the connection of these young girls to sort of delve a little deeper and see what she could find out and hopefully catch this guy.

QUESTION: Have you ever been inspired by anything, bad interactions you’ve had online to look further into who the heck is this idiot?

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: No. I just block and delete. (Laughs.) I don’t have that much time. But I just think it’s unfortunate that somebody who you don’t even know — not a real interaction with can really ruin your life, and I think that’s a cautionary tale for all of us, really, whether you’re young or old.

QUESTION: Thanks very much.

MODERATOR: Thank you. And, finally, our last question is from Right On Digital. Right On?

QUESTION: Hello? Hi. Can you hear me? Okay. My question is this: this is a hypothetical question. If you all were going to a high school or junior high school to speak to the students in reference to the fact that this film has come out, what is the message that you would like to relate to the young people that would hear you speak?

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: You guys want to go first?

ALISON THORNTON: That’s a really good question. I think that, personally, what I would say is my biggest takeaway from shooting the movie is just pay attention to the power that people, especially women in this case, can have when they believe each other and when they support each other. I think that a lot of the times today, there’s this culture of being a savage and being cold and not necessarily being nice to each other, and I think that this movie is really empowering because it kind of shows the opposite effect of that and how there’s way more power united and how you can actually take down predators and you can just go to such intense lengths when you just believe people and support them.

MALIA BAKER: I agree with Alison 100%. You said it perfectly. And I feel like this film has such in-your-face kind of messaging. Nothing is really kind of filtered in a sense that you need to look really, really hard for the underlying meaning of the film. It’s there and being united and having young women especially being united on this front, there’s amazing moments in the movie where you see that happening, and I feel like, going forward with this film and with other ones in general, it’s just really empowering to see it, especially coming from kind of the same perspective on the world as I think a lot of young people watching this movie will feel.

QUESTION: Okay.

EMMA TREMBLAY: I personally love what Alison said and what I was kind of thinking is my favorite part of the film is just the fact that these girls are so much stronger together and just the way that they form their team is so beautiful and fun to watch, and I’m so glad that I got to work with Malia and Alison as my two classmates. They were incredible. And then Garcelle as well. We were just a great team. We were a great team together.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS: We were a great team. And I think what I would — I agree with everything these young girls have said but I also feel like it can happen to anyone. I think that’s what I would say in my conversation with the students is that it can happen to anyone. Just be careful.

QUESTION: Thank you for such wonderful answers. Very inspiring.

MODERATOR: Awesome. Well, thank you, and thank you to the “Caught in His Web” panelists along with all of our amazing other panels today for joining us. With that, Lifetime’s press day is officially concluded. Thank you, everyone. As a reminder, transcripts and recordings will be available beginning tomorrow. If we didn’t get to a question, please email us at lifetimepr@aenetworks.com, and please be sure to tune into all of our incredible movies all season long. Follow us on social @lifetimetv and @lifetimetvpr. Have an incredible week.

MORE INFO:

Trailer

"Caught in His Web" poster

Inspired by actual events, Caught in His Web tells the horrifying story of Emma (Alison Thorton), Olivia (Malia Baker) and Gabby (Emma Tremblay) who are each unknowingly tormented by a mysterious cyberbully by the name “Blake.” Infiltrating each of their lives by hacking into their cell phones and computers, “Blake” coerces them to send nude photos and continually harasses them and tracks their every move. Feeling extremely alone and experiencing anxiety, depression and fear, the girls later discover they are not alone in being tormented. They decide to join forces and enlist the help of Detective Holland (Garcelle Beauvais), in the hunt to unmask their harasser and end their nightmare.

Caught in His Web is produced for Lifetime by Cyber Productions, Inc. in association with Johnson Production Group. Whoopi Goldberg (The View, The Stand, A Day Late and a Dollar Short), Tim Johnson (Sleepwalking in Suburbia, Toxic Skies), Stacy Mandelberg (Invasion, Haunting Sarah), Jason Egenberg (Des & Lou, Unthinkable), Jack Heller (Mainstream, Zombieland 2), Tom Leonardis (A Day Late and a Dollar Short, Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley), Brendan Deneen (Gangland Undercover) and Scott Veltri (Mainstream) are executive producers. Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen is co-executive producer. Hannah Cheesman (Succor, The Boathouse) directs from a script written by Danielle Iman (Riverdale, Pretty Little Liars).

Proofread and Edited by Brenda