Interview with Executive Producers Bruce Helford and Debby Wolfe, and actors George Lopez, Selenis Leyva, Mayan Lopez, Al Madrigal, and Matt Shively of “Lopez vs. Lopez” on NBC by Suzanne 9/15/22
I enjoyed speaking with these actors because they’re all very funny. Because it was a TCA panel, I was only able to ask one question, so I chose to ask George and Maya what it was like to work with each other (since they’re father and daughter in real life). I would have loved to chatted with Al as well. It’s a pretty funny sitcom, and it’s based on their real lives. For some reason, George was wearing sunglasses during the entire interview. I thought that was strange, since we were all indoors.
NBC UNIVERSAL 2022 TCA PRESS TOUR
LOPEZ VS. LOPEZ
Selenis Leyva, Talent
George Lopez, Talent/Executive Producer
Mayan Lopez, Talent/Producer
Al Madrigal, Talent
Matt Shively, Talent
Bruce Helford, Executive Producer
Debby Wolfe, Showrunner/Executive Producer
In a virtual press conference via Zoom at the NBC Universal 2022 TCA Press Tour, the cast and producers of the upcoming series “Lopez vs. Lopez” gathered to discuss the highly-anticipated show. The talent-filled panel included Selenis Leyva, George Lopez, Mayan Lopez, Al Madrigal, Matt Shively, Bruce Helford, and Debby Wolfe, who shared insights into the show’s creation, its autobiographical elements, and the significance of representation in the Latinx community.
“Lopez vs. Lopez” is a working-class family comedy that delves into themes of dysfunction, reconnection, and the rollercoaster of emotions that come with family dynamics. The series is set to premiere on Friday, November 4th, at 8 p.m. on NBC, with subsequent episodes streaming on Peacock the following day.
During the panel, a clip from “Lopez vs. Lopez” was shown, giving the press a glimpse of the show’s humor and heart. The cast and producers, seated in two rows on the Zoom call, were ready to answer questions and discuss their experiences working on the series.
Mayan Lopez, who plays a version of herself on the show, was asked about the autobiographical elements of her character and the similarities to her real-life relationship with her father, George Lopez. Mayan shared that her parents divorced about ten years ago, and there was a period of estrangement between her and her father for approximately three years. However, the pandemic brought them back together, and they started creating TikToks as a way to reconnect. This eventually led to the birth of the idea for “Lopez vs. Lopez.” Mayan emphasized that while her character’s story reflects her own experiences, it also draws from the stories of the show’s writers and explores the cultural aspects of Latino parent-child relationships.
George Lopez, both talent and executive producer on the show, was asked about the differences between “Lopez vs. Lopez” and his previous show, “George Lopez.” He highlighted the evolution of comedy, changes in social media, and the availability of talented actors, making the production process easier. Bruce Helford, executive producer, added that the casting landscape has changed significantly, allowing for more diverse and talented performers, particularly within the Latinx community.
Debby Wolfe, showrunner and executive producer, praised George Lopez and his previous show for paving the way for Latinx talent and opening doors for diverse stories. She emphasized that “Lopez vs. Lopez” continues that legacy, bringing together a talented cast and crew to share authentic and relatable experiences.
Selenis Leyva, who plays a fictionalized version of a real person in the show, spoke about her approach to the role and the blending of her own experiences with the character. She highlighted the complexity and talent of George Lopez and Mayan Lopez, emphasizing that while they play versions of themselves, their performances require depth and skill. Debby Wolfe clarified that Selenis’ character, Rosie, is a fictionalized blend of various Latina moms, drawing inspiration from her own mother and other Latina writers in the room.
The panel also discussed the unique experience of working with family members. Mayan expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work alongside her father and called it a gift and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. George Lopez shared his admiration for the talented cast and the joy of being able to work with his daughter. The show’s executive producer, Bruce Helford, praised the genuine connection between George and Mayan on and off-screen, noting that their real-life bond shines through their performances.
Matt Shively, another cast member, discussed his role as Quinten on the show and how it differs from his previous comedic roles. He mentioned the emotional depth required for his character and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work with the talented ensemble.
Throughout the panel, the importance of representation in the Latinx community was a recurring theme. Debby Wolfe acknowledged the progress made in recent years but stressed the need for further advancements in on-screen and behind-the-scenes representation. She highlighted the responsibility of “Lopez vs. Lopez” to tell authentic stories and open doors for Latinx talent.
In conclusion, the cast and producers expressed their excitement for “Lopez vs. Lopez” and its potential to resonate with audiences, sparking conversations and connections within their own families. They recognized the significance of being part of a show that represents the Latinx community while telling universal stories of flawed, yet loving families.
“Lopez vs. Lopez” is poised to make its mark as a groundbreaking comedy, continuing the legacy set by George Lopez and opening doors for diverse storytelling and representation on television.
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George Lopez is back in primetime and this time heâs bringing his real-life daughter, Mayan. This hilarious and heartwarming comedy tells the story of a working-class old-school Latino who moves in with his modern Gen Z daughter as they rebuild their dysfunctional relationship one argument at a time. Itâs old vs. new, father vs. daughter, Lopez vs. Lopez.
âLopez vs Lopezâ is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group in association with Mohawk Productions, Travieso Productions, Mi Vida Loba and 3 Arts.
George Lopez
George Lopez/Executive Producer, âLopez vs. Lopezâ
George Lopez plays himself and executive produces the new NBC comedy âLopez vs. Lopez.â
Lopez has broken ground for Latino comics by embracing his ethnicity, confronting racial stereotypes, and fighting for his community on and off the stage. He will join the DC universe in 2023 in the superhero film âBlue Beetle.â
Lopezâs âOMG Hi!â comedy tour concluded in the fall. He has four HBO specials on his resume: âThe Wallâ (2017), âItâs Not Me, Itâs Youâ (2012), âTall, Dark and Chicanoâ (2009), which was nominated for a Best Comedy Album Grammy Award, and âAmerica’s Mexicanâ (2007).
On television, Lopez produced and starred in âLopez,â a semi-autobiographical single camera sitcom for two seasons on TV Land. In 2014, Lopez co-created and starred in the multi-camera ensemble comedy âSaint Georgeâ for FX. He hosted TBSâ inaugural late-night talk show, âLopez Tonight,â for two seasons, marking Lopezâs return to series television after co-creating, writing, producing and starring in ABCâs groundbreaking hit sitcom âGeorge Lopez,â which ran for six seasons.
Lopezâs extensive film credits include âWalking with Herb,â âWestern No Manâs Land,â âThe Tax Collector,â âEl Chicano,â âValentine’s Day,â âThe Spy Next Doorâ and âThe Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.â He starred in and produced the inspirational drama âSpare Parts,â based on a true story about four undocumented Mexican-American teens who team up to build a robot for a national competition. Lopez has lent his voice to a string of animated films, including âRio,â âSmurfs,â âBeverly Hills Chihuahuaâ and the âCats & Dogsâ franchises.
In May 2004, Lopezâs autobiography âWhy You Crying?â earned a spot on The New York Times Bestseller Top 20 List. Lopez released his second memoir in 2013, âIâm Not Gonna Lie and Other Lies You Tell When You Turn 50.â
Time magazine named him one of the 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America in 2005 and the Harris Poll named him one of the Top Ten Favorite Television Personalities. The following year, Lopez received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Mayan Lopez, âLopez vs. Lopezâ
Mayan Lopez plays Mayan Lopez on the new NBC comedy âLopez vs. Lopez.â
Lopez, who is an actress, producer and Tik Tok influencer, grew upon the set of the hit television series âGeorge Lopez,â which started filming when she was 5 years old.
To help launch her career, Lopez received extensive training at the Conservatory Program at Second City Chicago and Columbia College Chicagoâs Comedy Writing and Performance Program. She honed her improv skills while performing with various improv troupes late at night at Second City after the Main Stage shows and also did voiceover work for the local Chicago and regional Midwest market.
Lopez left Chicago and returned to Los Angeles just as the pandemic struck. In quarantine and with no auditions, she started to do Tik Tok videos as a creative outlet and her account took off.
Her other credits include âHandsome: A Netflix Murder Mystery,â âOther People,â âJersey,â âMr. Troop Momâ and âGeorge Lopez.â
Selenis Leyva
Rosie âLopez vs. Lopezâ
Selenis Leyva portrays Rosie on the new NBC comedy âLopez vs. Lopez.â
Leyva is best known for her co-starring role on the Netflix hit series âOrange Is the New Blackâ and in the Disney+ original âDiary of a Future President.â For her work on the latter, she won a 2021 Gracie Award, which honors standout women in entertainment and news programming that addresses timely topics and social issues.
Up next, Leyva will star alongside John Boyega and Connie Britton in the drama âBreaking,â which opens in theaters Aug. 26. Â Leyva and her âBreakingâ cast won the Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at this yearâs Sundance. She will also star alongside Michael B. Jordan in the highly anticipated âCreed III,â opening Nov. 23. Leyva recently wrapped production on the HBO Max comedy series âGordita Chronicles,â which will chronicle the life of a 12-year-old Dominican girl who struggles to fit into 1980s Miami as her family pursues the American dream.
Matt Shively
Quinten, âLopez vs. Lopezâ
Matt Shively plays Quinten on the new NBC comedy âLopez vs. Lopez.â
Following high school, Shively launched his career in 2008 with a role on Nickelodeonâs âTrue Jackson VP.â In addition to a series regular role on the ABC comedy âThe Real OâNeals,â other prominent series in which Shively has appeared include âThe Purge,â âAmerican Housewife,â âSanta Clarita Diet,â âTeen Wolf,â âCSI,â âAquarius,â âSMILF,â âMe, Myself and I,â âThe Resident,â âLast Man Standingâ and âGrand Hotel.â
On the film side, Shively made his way to the big screen in 2012 in âParanormal Activity 4.â Other movies on his resume include âPower Rangers,â âFather of the Year,â âThe Wedding Year,â âBucky and the Squirrels,â âExpelled,â âUnderwater Upside Downâ and âMark, Mary + Some Other People.â
Last year Shively joined the cast âPlayers,â Paramount+âs upcoming esports series.
Al Madrigal
Oscar, âLopez vs. Lopezâ
Al Madrigal plays Oscar on the new NBC comedy âLopez vs. Lopez.â
Madrigalâs film credits include âThe Way Backâ with co-star Ben Affleck. Heâs has also been seen in âNight School,â alongside Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish; âMorbius,â alongside Jared Leto; and âHollywood Stargirl,â opposite Judy Greer and Uma Thurman.
On television, Madrigal is best known as the senior Latino correspondent on âThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart,â a series regular and writer on Showtimeâs âIâm Dying Up Hereâ and served as a writer, actor, and producer on the CBS show âBroke.â
Madrigal and fellow comedian Bill Burr co-founded All Things Comedy, which is a leading comedy podcast network featuring shows hosted by some of the industryâs top comedians that has over 15 million listeners and 50+ shows.
Bruce Helford
Executive Producer, âLopez vs. Lopezâ
Bruce Helford is the supervising writer and an executive producer on the new NBC comedy âLopez vs. Lopez.â
Helford co-created âThe Drew Carey Showâ and served as executive producer for its entire run from 1995-2004. He also created or co-created âThe Norm Show,â âWanda at Large,â âFreddie,â âGeorge Lopez,â âNikki,â âBless This House,â âThe Oblongs,â âAnger Managementâ and âKevin Can Wait.â
After serving as executive producer and head writer on the fifth season of âRoseanneâ in 1992, he returned as executive producer and head writer for the revival and series spinoff, âThe Conners.â
Debby Wolfe
Executive Producer, âLopez vs. Lopezâ
Debby Wolfe is the showrunner and an executive producer on the new NBC comedy âLopez vs. Lopez.â
Wolfeâs other credits include âThe Connersâ for ABC, âPrimoâ for Freevee, âLove, Victorâ for Hulu and âOne Day at a Timeâ for Netflix. She previously had development at Amazon, Disney+ and CBS.
Her award-winning short films have screened in festivals worldwide, including Tribeca, NBC Universal Short Cuts, the BET Urbanworld Film Festival and the HBO NYC Latino Film Festival.
Despite her many accomplishments in comedy, Wolfeâs Salvadorian mother still doesnât think sheâs funny. Her Jewish father says he could do her job better.
Interview with Josh McKenzie, Rohan Mirchandaney, Lily Santiago and Michelle Vergara Moore of “La Brea” on NBC by Suzanne 10/21/22
It was nice to chat with these four (in two separate interviews). I enjoy “La Brea” and all of the characters. I’ve chatted with some of the other actors previously, but this was my first time with these folks. They were very nice, and funny, and we had a good (albeit brief) time.
The first chat is with Josh Mckenzie (Lucas) and Rohan Mirchandaney (Scott)
The second interview was with Lily Santiago (Veronica) and Michelle Vergara Moore (Ella)!
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âLa Breaâ follows an epic family adventure after a massive sinkhole opens in Los Angeles pulling people and buildings into a mysterious and dangerous primeval land where they have no choice but to band together to survive. In season two, the Harris family remains separated as Eve is reeling from her son, Josh, having mistakenly gone through a portal to 1988. What she doesnât know yet is that her estranged husband, Gavin, and their daughter, Izzy, have landed in prehistoric Seattle and now must brave the elements and animals to make their way to L.A.
Creator/Showrunner David Appelbaum executive produces with Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, Rachel Kaplan, Chris Hollier, Adam Davidson, Bryan Wynbrandt, Steven Lilien, Ken Woodruff, and Arika Lisanne Mittman.
âLa Breaâ is produced by Universal Television and Australiaâs Matchbox Pictures, both divisions of Universal Studio Group in association with Keshet Studios.
Josh McKenzie
Lucas, “La Brea”
Josh McKenzie plays Lucas in the NBC drama âLa Brea.â
McKenzie burst onto the scene in the 2009 feature film âHopes & Dreams,â which earned him the Most Outstanding Debut Performance at New Zealandâs AFTA Awards.
Additional film work includes âIll Manors,â âMega Time Squadâ and âNorthspur.â His many television roles include âLegend of the Seeker,â âPower Rangers Megaforce,â âFilthy Richâ and âDestination Love.â
McKenzie has trained at New Zealandâs acclaimed Tori Whakaari drama school and at the Berlinale Talent Campus in Berlin. As a young actor, McKenzie began his career appearing in many New Zealand theater productions, including âA Tribute to Menâ at the Arts Festival Wellington and âLes Miserablesâ at the Raye Freedman Arts Center.â
Rohan Mirchandaney
Scott Israni, “La Brea”
Rohan Mirchandaney plays Scott Israni in the NBC drama âLa Brea.â
Mirchandaney recently starred in the hit ABC Australia series âMystery Road,â opposite Judy Davis. He also had a supporting role in Arclightâs âHotel Mumba,â opposite Dev Patel.
Mirchandaney is best known for his recurring role as Dr Rudi on the Australian series âHouse Husbands.â Prior to the pandemic, he starred in the national tour of Melbourne Theatre Companyâs âMelbourne Talam.â
Lily Santiago
Veronica, “La Brea”
Lily Santiago plays Veronica in the NBC drama âLa Brea.â
Santiago is a graduate of the theater program at Northwestern University as well as the prestigious LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
She has appeared in numerous stage productions, including the all-female âMacbethâ at the Red Bull Theater, âOthelloâ at Shakespeare in the Park, âRomeo & Juliet,â at the Huntington Theatre and, most recently, the Publicâs mobile Shakespeare production of âMeasure for Measure.â
As a child, she appeared in a small supporting role in George C. Wolfeâs HBO film âLackawanna Blues.â
She is the daughter of actor, director, and writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson.
Michelle Vergara Moore
Ella Jones, “La Brea”
Michelle Vergara Moore plays Ella Jones in the NBC drama âLa Brea.â
Moore made her first Stateside screen appearance in the crime-thriller âSide Effects,â directed by Steven Soderbergh. Other credits include a recurring guest role opposite Bob Balaban in the Epix spy thriller series âCondorâ and a guest appearance on HBOâs âHigh Maintenance.â
Moore starred in the Australian independent film âBlack & White & Sex,â which had its international premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival. She was one of the first Asian actors to play a lead series regular role in an Australian series â âThe Time of Our Lives,â which was nominated for a Logie Award for Outstanding Drama Series.
In 2021, Vergara Moore starred in âThe Unusual Suspectsâ (Hulu/ABC Australia). In a case of life imitating art, she acted opposite her real-life husband, Toby Leonard Moore, who played her characterâs husband.
A dual Australian/American citizen and New York resident, she completed training at Australiaâs prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) and has also studied improv at Upright Citizens Brigade.
Interview with Luke Matheny (Executive Producer) and Andrew Orenstein (Producer) of “Ghostwriter” on Apple TV+ by Suzanne 10/13/22
This is a very interesting show aimed at children, but it’s fun to watch for adults who like fantasy and magic as well. I enjoyed speaking with both the kid stars and these producers. Don’t miss this show’s season 3 return, especially if you have kids.
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When a ghost haunts a neighborhood bookstore and starts releasing fictional characters into the real world, a group of friends work to solve an exciting mystery surrounding the ghostâs unfinished business.
The Emmy Award-winning series, which has also earned a highly coveted Prix Jeunesse Award, a Parentsâ Choice Gold Medal Award and recognition from Common Sense Media since its debut, was developed for television by J.J. Johnson and Andrew Orenstein with Academy Award-winning and DGA Award-nominated Luke Matheny directing five episodes from the season. Matheny and Orenstein executive produce alongside Johnson, Christin Simms, and Blair Powers for Sinking Ship Entertainment and Kay Wilson Stallings for Sesame Workshop.
Interview with Princess Mapp, Daire McLeod and Nour Assaf of “Ghostwriter” on Apple TV+ by Suzanne 10/13/22
This is a fun kids’ show, but I think it’s worthwhile for adults to watch as well. I enjoyed speaking to these kids. There was a successful kids’ series on PBS with the same name and general idea in 1992. They brought it back with this version in 2019 on Apple TV+. This season, there is a new cast and they’re including more socially conscious story elements.
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âGhostwriterâ – Season Three – Premieres October 21
Emmy Award-winning âGhostwriterâ returns for a third season with an entirely new cast and a new adventure! When a ghost haunts a bookstore and releases fictional characters into the real world, a group of friends works to solve a mystery surrounding the ghostâs unfinished business. A reimagining of the 1992 hit series from Sesame Workshop, the modern-day âGhostwriterâ maintains a city-based, multicultural cast, inviting children ages 6-11 to see themselves on screen as they learn to appreciate a range of new and classic literature. Starring Princess Mapp (âSydney to the Max,â âThe Unicornâ), Nour Assaf (âThe Casagrandesâ), and Daire McLeod (âDanger Forceâ), the series was developed for television by J.J. Johnson and Emmy Award winning Andrew Orenstein with Academy Award winning and DGA Award-nominated Luke Matheny directing the first episode. Matheny and Orenstein executive produce alongside Johnson, Christin Simms, and Blair Powers for Sinking Ship Entertainment and Kay Wilson Stallings for Sesame Workshop.
Interview with actors from “Acapulco” on Apple TV+ by Suzanne 10/13/22
This is a great show! I had fun watching the first and second season. I’m sure you will enjoy it as well. I hope they get a third season. It’s just a funny show with great writing and acting. Check it out! Season 2 starts 10/21. I hope you enjoy these interviews as much as I did.
Interview with Enrique Arrizon (Maximo) and Fernando Carsa (Memo)
Interview with Chord Overstreet (Chad) and Camila Perez (Julia)
Interview with Regina Reynoso (Sara) and Vanessa Bauche (Nora)
Interview with Rafael CebriĂĄn and Jessica Collins
âAcapulco” tells the story of twenty-something MĂĄximo Gallardo (Enrique Arrizon), whose dream comes true when he gets the job of a lifetime as a cabana boy at the hottest resort in Acapulco. He soon realizes the job is far more complicated than he ever imagined and in order to succeed, he must learn to navigate a demanding clientele, a mercurial mentor, and a complicated home life, without losing his way to shortcuts or temptations.
Here are the opening remarks, to tell you about the show. “Thanks for joining us to learn more about “La Reina del Sur,” Season 3. In 2011, the launch of “La Reina del Sur” propelled Telemundo to the top of the charts, and gave way to Telemundo’s Super Series franchise. The first two seasons of this blockbuster hit, which has since been adapted in English by USA Network, reigned as the #1 program in its time slot in the United States, regardless of language. Now Telemundo’s global hit returns for a third season with the unstoppable Teresa Mendoza, portrayed by superstar Kate del Castillo. Season 3 of “La Reina del Sur” opens four years after the second season with Teresa Mendoza behind bars in the U.S. for the murders of three DEA agents. Stripped of her freedom, she’s, once again, separated from her beloved daughter Sofia. After being freed in a dramatic jailbreak, Teresa returns to a covert world powered by alliances and secret deals. Risking her life throughout Latin America with the fervent hope that she can reunite with Sofia, and end her life as a fugitive, once and for all. “La Reina del Sur” premieres in October. Joining us today is Kate del Castillo. We’re now ready to take your questions.
I asked Kate what has changed most for her doing the show and as an actress. She dove right in with a frank answer that aging has been a problem – it’s tougher on her physically. She explained that “it’s a very different show” because the first season was based on the novel, and these last two seasons are still written by the same author, Reverte, but not from a novel. She praised their “amazing writers.” Unlike the first two season, this season is not about narcotics or selling them. She’s extremely happy about that because she’s always stated that her character, Teresa Mendoza, “is Teresa Mendoza regardless of what she does for a living.” She went on to explain that she’s a survivor and not a victim (no matter what happened to her), and she lives in the man’s world, but “she makes the most out of it.” She also explained that Teresa is more mature and a mother. She also joked that the budget is a lot better, too.
In my second question, which was somewhat similar to the first, I asked her what challenged her in the new season, playing Teresa. She answered that playing a mom is challenging for her, since she’s not one – especially since her character’s daughter is a teenager. Also, this season they traveled to many different countries, wearing all different clothes, that are “amazing” and “culturally different.” She said they dress her in a very native way.
She also told us that she decided to really challenge herself physically, so she decided to change her body completely. She “got ripped” and lost a lot of weight. She worked out a lot, and told us, jokingly, that she only ate one lettuce leaf per day. She figured that Teresa would do that while she was in prison for four years. She worked hard to redeem herself, “to get freedom.” Also, “she’s coming out to revenge,” so she has to be “ready for action.” So this Teresa is a very different one physically.
Other press asked their questions. Kate was asked whether she had expected the show to become “an international hit,” or was she surprised? She agreed that it was “a pleasant surprise.” She reminded us that the show is #1 in its time slot, regardless of language. The “crossover” effect gratified her. She revealed that she was in a play in New York that sold out, to which she credits the effects of the show being such a big hit. She continued that nobody knew it would be a hit before they made it. The book had been a “bestseller for decades,” but the show was very low-budget. She cried when it did well and thanked god. They shot it down in Colombia and Spain, where it was very difficult for them. So they were surprised, but very happy, when it was such a hit.
Another reporter asked a long and detailed question about how the production values of Spanish language television have evolved. She gave an example of the background music being used. Kate agreed enthusiastically that the production values have changed a lot. Their new show has “Miami Symphony Orchestra” and “Carlos Rafael Rivera, who’s an Emmy and Grammy winner” doing the scores for the show and the theme song. She compared this show to telenovelas, which typically go on for “up to 200 episodes” and are more low budget. Their show is a much more ambitious TV series for a Spanish-speaking audience.
Next she was asked how she felt about the USA Network version, so that those who don’t speak Spanish could enjoy it in English. While Kate agreed that it’s a good thing, she hopes that more people in the US would read subtitles and hear her voice. As a viewer, she likes to watch shows in other languages and hear the actors’ voices. She just wishes that Spanish-language shows all had the great budgets that English-speaking shows do. She hopes that will change.
The next reporter pointed out that Teresa started out as a naive young woman and then became a criminal and found her voice and strength. The person asked Kate how much of herself is in Teresa. Interesting question!
Kate replied that there is a lot of her in the character. She told us that she has given Teresa a lot, and Teresa has given her a lot as well. She ticked off their similarities: they both like men and tequila a lot, and they both like to say nasty things (which she admits is not so good). She said they both love passionately and neither one has been that lucky in love. Even though she’s not a mother, she thinks that the way she gives her love is very motherly and protective. She added, “I think we both survived a lot of stuff.” She also added that when she’s not feeling great about something, she asks herself, “What would Teresa Mendoza do?” It helped her sometimes. She hopes that in the future, though, that she’ll be more lucky in the romance department. It sounds like she’s as honest as her character, too.
Kate’s father was also an actor, in telenovelas, so she was asked about that. She disclosed that her father “just turned 88” and “is still working” quite a bit. She pointed out that he started in movies and has done over 350, as well as the telenovelas. She described what it was like for him, that the movies were really bad, and that as a Mexican actor, you had no choice but to do that or the telenovelas when they came along. Then the Cine De Oro came along, when Mexican movies improved, so now they’re much better. She also did some movies, and 10 telenovelas, which helped her learn her craft. She admires how they’re so popular everywhere now because they “sell fantasies.” When she was the lead of the telenovelas, though, it wasn’t as much fun for her as an actress. She came to the U.S. to find better roles.
Kate was asked whether Teresa being a mother made her stronger or more vulnerable. She reminded us that in the first season, she was revealed to be pregnant near the end, and she told another character that she was going to have the child because she had become fearless, and she wanted to know fear again. The second season was all about getting her daughter back (from being kidnapped). She was vulnerable in that sense. She pointed out that you have to have both strength and vulnerability in a character because “one feeds the other.”
She was also asked about being a woman starring in an action role. Kate replied that now women with power are coming into their own in TV and movies. She thinks it’s because women are smart and have to grow up and live in “this macho land.” Teresa is in “this terrible world of killing, and drugs, and trafficking,” but she turned lemons into margaritas. She went on about how women are still doing their traditional roles as mothers and keeping house, but they also work and do many more things than they used to. She, Kate, is looking for great women’s roles, as an actress and producer. She noted that it’s hard to find the line between empowerment and being sexy. You want the character to be strong and sexy but without “objectifying” her. Teresa walks that line. She feels that the character is sexy but “never cared about her looks.” She’s attractive because of being smart and generous, and how she makes her own decisions. She ended with, “she did commit many mistakes, which makes her this anti-heroine that a lot of people relates to because she has all these flaws, and I think that’s what makes her more interesting.” I have to agree with that.
She was also asked about Telemundo and what they’ve brought to the U.S. Latino market, quality-wise. Kate praised Telemundo for being daring. She said that other networks like Univision and Televisa remake telenovelas, but Telemundo comes out with their own original content. They take more risks. She knows they support her because of how successful the franchise is. She also loves that they made a great deal with Netflix for exclusive content.
Then she was asked why it took 8 years between the first and second seasons (I had wondered that, too). She explained that it was because she had gone to the U.S. and was doing other projects as a result of how successful “La Reina Del Sur” was. She didn’t expect another season, and neither did the author. Then Telemundo grew, and people became more aware of her because of movies and series she did, but she always had Teresa Mendoza on her mind. She expressed how much fun it was to play her. Eventually, they called her and told her that Reverte was involved, and they would make a new season. So she agreed because of that, and because she loved the idea of playing Teresa again. She was very surprised that it was even more successful than the first one. She didn’t think people would even care, since it was 8 years later.
Another person from the press asked her if viewers in Spanish-speaking countries enjoyed the same elements of the show as the fans in the U.S. did. Kate spoke a bit about the different types of Spanish used in the series and how people in different countries reacted to them. She feels that the show is very inclusive because they have 20 different nationalities represented by the actors. She said, proudly, “You’re going to see a Latin America that you’ve never seen before: Huge, beautiful, and magnanimous, like it is.”
She was asked a question about the American version of the show –Â what impact that had on her show (if any). She said that the USA Network version didn’t get nearly as good ratings as theirs did, so she didn’t think it had much effect. She looks at that version as a very different Teresa Mendoza, like “an alter ego.” She didn’t think it had much to do with the book, as theirs does. She did, however, say that she thought the show was great and that the lead actress, Alice Braga, “did an amazing job.” She praised her beauty and talent.
Based on Arturo Perez-Reverte’s novel, Telemundo’s globally acclaimed Super Seriesâą La Reina del Sur (The Queen of the South) returns for its highly anticipated third season of unparalleled magnitude, starring global superstar Kate del Castillo. Four years have passed since U.S. authorities convicted Teresa Mendoza for the murders of three Drug Enforcement Agents. Separated from her beloved daughter Sofia, Teresa lives behind bars in a maximum-security prison, stripped of all freedoms. Devising a highly sophisticated escape plan, Teresa’s old friends Oleg and Jonathan daringly extract her from prison to take her to Mexico, meeting President Epifanio Vargas. In a world motivated by alliances and secret deals, Teresa agrees to embark on her most dangerous mission yet, taking her throughout Latin America with the urgent hope that she can end her fugitive’s life and reunite with Sofia at last. La Reina del Sur 3 premieres in October on Telemundo.
Kate Del Castillo
Teresa Mendoza, “La Reina del Sur”
A powerful artistic force since her teens, actress-producer KATE DEL CASTILLO returns to one of her most iconic roles as Teresa Mendoza in Telemundoâs blockbuster Super Seriesâą âLa Reina del Sur.â One of the most anticipated television events, the second season of the groundbreaking series premieres on the network in 2019.
Following a decade as one of the most sought-after talents on Mexican television, Del Castilloâs American film breakthrough occurred with the award-winning 2007 hit âUnder the Same Moonâ (âLa Misma Lunaâ), directed by Patricia Riggen. Co-starring Eugenio Derbez, the bilingual film remains one of the highest-grossing and influential Spanish-language theatrical releases in U.S. history.
Del Castillo has carefully nurtured a multi-national presence. Among the highlights of her varied film career is her star turn as a Bolivian dancer in âAmerican Visa,â winning Best Actress Awards at film festivals in Spain and Brazil, as well as a Best Actress nomination at the Ariel Awards. âAmerican Visaâ received its sold-out U.S. premiere at the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles. Her feature film credits include âJuliaâ with Tilda Swinton, âTradeâ co-starring Kevin Kline, and âNo Good Deedâ with Idris Elba. In 2015, Del Castillo reteamed with director Patricia Riggen to join the ensemble cast of âThe 33,â a powerful telling of the 2010 Chilean mining disaster. She currently can be seen with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Common, and Chace Crawford in the Eva Vives-directed comedy âAll About Nina.â
Del Castillo continues to court success on television, reaching beyond Spanish-speaking audiences on various platforms. In 2009, she starred with Guy Ecker in Univisionâs first-ever webnovela âVidas Cruzadasâ (âCrossed Livesâ), which she co-produced. Del Castillo hit a new career peak in 2011 in the title role of âLa Reina del Surâ(âQueen of the Southâ), a gritty primetime serial produced by Telemundo and Spainâs Antena 3. As Teresa Mendoza, a Mexican woman who rises to amass great power within the world of international drug trafficking, Del Castillo’s indelible turn helped redefine the role of female lead in the telenovela genre. Based on the bestseller by Spanish novelist Arturo Perez-Reverte, the series became a cultural phenomenon, spawning an American version on the USA Network.
Her continuing relationship with Telemundo also include the 2015 ratings smash âDuenos del Paraiso,â which premiered at #1 and remains the network’s highest-rated premiere to date. That same year, Del Castillo joined the cast of the award-winning CW romantic comedy series âJane the Virgin,â portraying Rogelioâs (portrayed by Jaime Camil) first ex-wife.
In 2017, Del Castillo starred as Emilia Urquiza in the Netflix political thriller âIngobernable,â one of the first dramatic series produced in Mexico by the streaming giant. Its success generated a second season in 2018, now airing worldwide. Other noteworthy television credits include a five-episode arc on Showtimeâs acclaimed series âWeeds.â Del Castillo also starred in Gregory Navaâs lauded PBS series âAmerican Family,â which marked her crossover debut on American television.
A philanthropist and an outspoken global activist, Del Castillo, was appointed Ambassador for the Mexican Commission on Human Rights to combat human trafficking in 2009, launching the Blue Heart campaign in Mexico City. She remains a devoted spokesperson for PETA, earning the organizations 35th Annual Humanitarian Award in 2015.
Interview with Jennifer Irwin and Michael Consuelos of “Let’s Get Physical” on Lifetime by Krista 10/6/22
It was great to speak to these two actors from this movie. Michael’s parents are actors/talk show hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, who met while working on “All My Children” years ago, so it’s nice to see their grown son also as an actor. This was a panel that Lifetime had for the movie, where those of us in the press asked questions. The movie airs Saturday, 10/15 on Lifetime! Watch the trailer below before the interview…
MORE INFO:
Lifetime Announces Two New Ripped From the Headlines Movies from EPs Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, Jenna Dewan Set to Star and EP
– 08/11/2022 –
KELLY RIPA AND MARK CONSUELOS EXECUTIVE PRODUCE TWO NEW RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES FILMS THROUGH MILOJO PRODUCTIONS BANNER
JENNA DEWAN TO HEADLINE AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCE ORIGINAL MOVIE LETâS GET PHYSICAL WITH JENNIFER IRWIN AND MICHAEL CONSUELOSÂ
LEA THOMPSON, ZACH GILFORD, AND ALICIA WITT STAR IN THE DISAPPEARANCE OF CARI FARVER
BOTH FILMS WILL DEBUT THIS OCTOBER
New York, NY â August 11 â Lifetime announces two new Ripped from the Headlines movies, Letâs Get Physical and The Disappearance of Cari Farver from executive producers Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, under their Milojo Productions banner as part of the previously announced partnership with Lifetime. Letâs Get Physical stars and is also executive produced by Jenna Dewan via her Everheart Productions with Kyle McNally, and features Jennifer Irwin and Michael Consuelos. The Disappearance of Cari Farver stars Lea Thompson, Zach Gilford and Alicia Witt. Both films will debut this October on Lifetime.
Inspired by actual events, Letâs Get Physical is the story of fitness instructor Sadie (JennaDewan, The Rookie) who by day, taught fitness and dance to soccer moms, but by night led a double life running a sophisticated prostitution ring with a customer list that included very prominent men in the community. After an anonymous tip, authorities raided her studio, leading to Sadieâs indictment and ignited a firestorm in the small town leading everyone to ask, who exactly was on the client list. Â Dewan executive produces and stars alongside Jennifer Irwin (The Goldbergs) and Michael Consuelos (Riverdale). Letâs Get Physical is set to premiere Saturday, October 15 at 8/7c.
Letâs Get Physical is executive produced by Milojo Productions, Johnson Management Group, Inc., and Everheart Productions. Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos and Albert Bianchini serve as executive producers for Milojo. Michael Halpern serves as executive producer for Milojo. Jenna Dewan and Kyle McNally executive produce for Everheart Productions. Robin Hayes directs from a script written by Margaux Froley and Kelly Fullerton.
Interview with Mark Labella of “S.W.A.T.” on CBS by Thane 10/13/22
This was quite an interesting interview as you can tell from the video below! I enjoyed speaking with Mark.
MORE INFO:
MARK LABELLA Emerges on Season Six of CBS Police Drama âS.W.A.T.â Premiering October 4, 2022
LOS ANGELES â Actor Mark Labella gets entangled in an elaborate heroin operation in Thailand when he recurs as a guest star on the six season of the hit CBS police drama series, S.W.A.T., premiering on October 4th.
In the season opening episode âThai Hard,â Hondo surfaces in Bangkok training alongside Thailandâs premiere S.W.A.T. team. When Hondo and his former military buddy stumble upon a wide-ranging heroin operation with ties to Los Angeles, they find themselves on the run from a powerful drug kingpin. Labella emerges as Lek, who proves vital when the danger heats up.
Labella was excited to be part of this special storyline, sharing âS.W.A.T. was the best set Iâve ever been on. I have never felt as safe with my choices, as appreciated for my work, and as welcomed on the first day.”
Born in the Philippines and raised in America, Labella is a U.S. Navy Veteran turned Medical Doctor, who has been building a solid reputation for his talents since setting his sights on the entertainment industry. His notable on-camera credits include a role in the upcoming Gerard Butler action thriller feature film for Lionsgate, previously titled The Plane, as well as appearances in the fan favorite TV shows Magnum P.I. and NCIS: Los Angeles.
Behind the camera, Labella has been discovering success as a screenwriter and producer. His background in medicine has become the basis for many of his original projects, including the television drama series, MisDiagnosed, which won the Boston Screenplay Awards and gained enough attention to land him further opportunities as a screenwriter and producer.
Labella has received awards and accolades for a several of his projects: Breathe – ISA Screenplay Contest Top 10, HollyShorts Semi-Finalist and currently on third round of Launchpad Writing Competition; Soul & Spice â PAGE Intâl Awards Competition Top 25 Comedy, Austin Film Festival 2nd Round, WeScreenPlay TV Pilot Competition Finalist; To The Last Girl I Ever Loved â Blastoff Screenplay Competition Winner, Queen Palm Intâl Film Festival Gold Winner, Best Script Award (London) Finalist, Independent shorts Awards Winner, and many others.
Currently, Labella is producing the U.S. leg of the Filipino feature film project, Labyu with an Accent, starring Filipino superstars Coco Martin and Jodi Sta. Maria. In addition, he is the writer for the upcoming comedy series, Soul & Spice, starring the Philippinesâ âComedy Queenâ Ai-Ai delas Alas, Tony Winters, and Johari Johnson; and his latest psychological thriller feature film script, Catholic School, has just been optioned and will head into production soon.
When he is not on-set, Labella spends much of his spare time participating in medical missions and supporting medical and veteran charities. He also volunteers his time writing PSAâs to spread the word to his fellow Filipino-Americans to vote. Labella believes, âMy main goal as a creative artist is to tell the stories that Iâve witnessed during my experiences around the world.â Because of his commitment to telling these untold stories, Labella accepted the nomination as the incoming Executive Director of the 13-year-old non-profit organization, Fil-Am Creative. He is excited to honor his performance to coincide with Octoberâs Filipino-American History month in the United States.
Mark Labella is represented by Walter Tabayoyong at Altamero Management and Rachel Tolliver at Firestarter Agency.
In addition to playing Carter Hall on the superhero shows, Falkâs starred opposite Tom Cruise in KNIGHT AND DAY, as the villain, Steve Carell in WELCOME TO MARWEN, and recently, SWAP ME BABY, the acclaimed comedy from Caden Butera.
BIO.Falk was born in east Germany behind the iron curtain. After he and his family fled the country Falk was able to pursue his dream of becoming a story teller.
After some detouring that led Falk to become a professional backup dancer and choreographer, he finally landed in Los Angeles and got his first big break in Hollywood with Knight and Day, playing opposite Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.
From that point on, Falk continued to work on blockbuster films like White House Down, Transcendence and most recently Oscar winner Robert Zemeckisâ Welcome to Marwen.
Falk had the opportunity to appear on Emmy winning shows such as Arrested Development, The Alienist, The Closer and many more.
Eventually Falk put on a superhero costume like so many others to portray Hawkman in the DC television universe.
Despite fulfilling his childhood dreams and achieving his goals, Falk suffered from severe depression. In his search of purpose and fulfillment he was lead to the plant medicine Ayahuasca, an ancient medicine originating in the amazon.
This work opened up a whole new perspective for Falk and he decided to focus his efforts on producing and creating an environment for film makers that brings the focus back to story vs maximum profit. He founded the company Patronage Film together with Firestone heir Charlie Thiel. His biggest dream is to bring transparency, fairness and creativity back to the film industry .
Check out Falk’s 2022 movie, “Swap Me, Baby!”
Lily, an uptight business woman and Philippe, a larger than life French mushroom tripping gigolo are 8 months pregnant. Their therapist recommends a nature getaway at a remote cabin. Their little weekend trip turns into a hilarious adventure when Philippe stumbles upon a magic box that swaps out their souls. Lily and Philippe are tasked with riddle after riddle not only to get their own bodies back but to also get a better understanding of their opposite and what they have to offer as parents.
Interview with Jensen Ackles, Danneel Ackles, Drake Rodger, Meg Donnelly, JoJo Fleites, Bianca Kajlich, Demetria McKinney, Nida Khurshid and Robbie Thompson of “The Winchesters” on The CW by Suzanne 10/4/22
This was a very interesting panel. I loved “Supernatural,” and I enjoyed the first episodes of this new spinoff, which is a prequel. I was very happy to see Jensen Ackles there on the panel. You don’t want to miss the new shows, especially if you’re a fan of the original show. This was a very long panel, and I didn’t get to ask a question. That’s fine…it was great just to be there. Note: The transcript is from the network…it has mistakes in it.
HOST: Good afternoon and welcome to The CWâs virtual panel for The Winchesters, a prequel of the hugely successful show Supernatural. Before Sam and Dean, there were their parents, John and Mary. Told from the perspective of narrator Dean Winchester, The Winchesters is the epic, untold love story of how John Winchester met Mary Campbell and put it all on the line to, not only save their love, but the entire world. The hunt begins on Tuesday, October 11 at 8pm.
HOST: Please welcome executive producer and star, Jensen Ackles, Executive Producer Danneel Ackles, and executive producer Robbie Thompson and the cast of The Winchesters. Weâre so excited to have you all with us, thank you so much. As a reminder to the press, if you would like to ask a question, please click the âraise your hand buttonâ and we’ll put you in the queue and call on you when it’s your turn. If you have a two-part question or a follow-up, please let us know at the top of the question. Also, as a reminder, please, no photography or screen grabs or sharing of anything from this event on social media.
Question: Thank you. Hi, everybody. Ado-, it was sort of a two-part question. After 15 seasons of Supernatural, how did the decision for a prequel come about? And we know that Supernatural spinoffs has been in the talks for quite some time now. What made this one stick? So, two-part question, please. Thank you.
JENSEN ACKLES: I’ll dive in. This was a, obviously something that, that, like you said, has been long talked about, how to expand this world, what that would look like, how it would be done. There have been two, two attempts prior to this one that, that, unfortunately didn’t, didn’t make the cut, but here we are. We’re very excited, I guess, third time’s a charm. And it really came about as the show was wrapping up and the pandemic hit, and my lovely wife and I were forced to sit together and figure out how to be creative within the confines of our house, we started kicking around ideas and this one was, was one that we talked about for quite a while. And, and then we really kind of workshopped it and, and thought about how, what this would look like.
And, and that’s when we, we kind of threw it to the studio and, and threw it to the network and said, âHey, what do you guys think about this?â And they were very quickly interested. Obviously, they, want to expand this world. And so, so that’s when we’re like, Well, I know the guy to write it, so let me call him and make sure that he’s even available or even interested. And luckily he was, and, and here he is today, and he has created an, I think, an incredible world within the world, and that’s not an easy thing to do, and I think Robbie’s just crushed it. And I think that the cast that we have has just absolutely crushed it.
Uh, so it’s, it’s, it’s exciting. It’s very exciting to, to see this. I was not ever ready to kind of put this to bed. I was ready to take a break, but I was never ready to put this world to bed. And so I’m very, very happy that it is it is extending and it is in the very capable hands of the wonderful people you see before you.
Question: Hi, My questionâs for Meg. Does fight choreography have a lot of parallels to dance choreography? What are the big similarities and differences?
Question: Well, yes. I think there is definitely a lot of similarities. It’s been really hard, though, because with stunt choreography, it doesn’t have to look really pretty and put together because, you know, you’re technically beating someone up. So there is that, like, memorization wise, it is very similar, but it’s been really hard to get out of the whole dancing technique, if that makes sense. Yeah.
DEMETRIA MCKINNEY: While we have this moment, thank you so much, CW, for allowing us to have this opportunity, share this story, extend the story, build the family, find the beginning, and we’re, we’re really enjoying it. Thank you.
DRAKE RODGER: Took the words right outta my mouth.
DEMETRIA MCKINNEY: You would not say that.
DANNEEL ACKLES: What a professional.
Question: I’m sorry, Meg, I have a two-part question for you. Meg, how important was it for you, this role to be so different from everything else we’ve known you before, that we’ve known you for? And secondly, has there been discussion as how, how soon pregnancy will come into this character’s life?
MEG DONNELLY: Oh, um…
DEMETRIA MCKINNEY: Oh my God!
MEG DONNELLY: Well, I mean, knowing the story of John and Mary, it does happen eventually. I have no idea.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: Uh, that’s a spoiler for season question mark. I can’t tell you that yet.
MEG DONNELLY: Um, but, you know, I’m so grateful for everything that Disney has given me. But, you know, coming into this new franchise and these amazing new characters, and it’s so dark, it’s been a really amazing honor to kind of step into Mary’s shoes and, and it’s very different from everything I’ve ever done. So I’m really grateful.
Question: This is for Robbie and the Ackles. So, a spinoff of Supernatural was very important to Pedowitz. And I’m curious how yesterday’s announcement landed with you. Did you panic? And how are you feeling about your future?
ROBBIE THOMPSON: Look Marc is one of the greatest champions of, just television of the last, I don’t know how many years, and was an enormous champion of Supernatural. Um, and we, we had a note on the pilot. I don’t know if you guys remember, it was so granular like, I thought I was at a supernatural convention. When I say he watched every episode, he watched every cut. And as a writer, that’s an executive you dream about, because he’s fully invested in the show. So, honestly, all I thought about yesterday was, what a privilege I’ve had as a writer to spend a huge part of my career working with such an, a dedicated and smart leader. So, yeah, it was no panic. It was more just feeling of gratitude.
JENSEN ACKLES: Yeah. I’ll, I’ll echo what Robbie said there. You know, Pedowitz came in, the show was already established, and he reallyâŠit was, I mean, it was kind of [LAUGHS] it was kind of put, it had been put on Friday nights to kind of go away and die. We somehow found a way to survive. He came in, he recognized it, and he said, âWell, let’s move these guys to some better real estate.â And, and when we did, we quickly took off. And he was always a champion for the show. He continues to be a champion for this show and for everything that we do. You know, Jared and I used to always like to refer to him as the other Winchester brother. I think that, that he will certainly continue to champion the show from wherever he wants to. But I’m just so thankful for what he did, not only for the network itself, but for, for this this world specifically. He’s a true mentor of mine.
Question: Okay. Thank you for taking the time to speak to us. Um, this is for any of the producers. I’m wondering, when the show was first, you know, the idea came up, the show was pitched you form, you know, started formulating how, what you wanted to do, what stories you wanted to tell. Is it a situation where you have, you know, Season 1 planned, or is it something where you kind of look ahead and think, you know, I have, this is what I want to do in Season 2, Season 3. I mean, you know, Supernatural ran for 15 seasons, there’s obviously an audience for this, and I think, you know, there’ll be an audience again. So are you prepared for another 15 years? And I’m wondering how many episodes were ordered for the first season?
ROBBIE THOMPSON: I think our initial order is for 13, if that’s, I’m sure someone from Warners and CW here will correct me on that. But to answer your question, you know, at the end of every playback, I’ll go, Okay, that was great, guys, 326 more to go. You know, we, we would love to see this go, you know, the distance. You know, as, as, as writers and then as producers, we want to give ourselves flexibility so that we can be nimble as things change and adapt and, you know, getting to know… you guys are seeing them on best behavior right now. These kids are [OVERLAPPING] We have the anti-chemistry problem that most shows have, which is like, usually like, come on guys, like, get together and like, maybe get to know one another.
Like I, during the shooting of the pilot, it was the closest I’ve been to being in a dorm room in 20, 25 years of my life. (You’re not wrong) It was amazing. So we wanna give ourselves the freedom to, to be able to pivot where we need to pivot. Um, someone asked about pregnancy in case we want to get to that sooner rather than later. Um, but, you know, we, we do have a plan and, and we’ve talked I mean, I’ve heard, individually from all of these, you know, where these actors, where they would like to see their characters go. And I, I try to, to keep this, to be as open a collaboration as possible. Uh, Jensen and Danneel and I talked about an ending, oh gosh, it’s in two years we’ve been working on this almost. And then just completely organically, Drake pitched a, a very, very similar ending. So it was, it was, it was really cool to see how we were all kind of on the same page. Yeah. This guy, Yeah, go on, get him. Heâs super shy, guys. They’re all super shy. If you start playing music, they will all start singing and or dancing.
Um, no, we, you know, it was exciting because it’s a similar feeling that you get in the writer’s room where it’s like, Oh, we’re all kind of headed in the same direction. The, the analogy I was always given as a young writer was, it’s this, this show is a road trip, and, you know, our destination was go from LA to New Orleans. We may stop in Austin and spend two weeks. We may get there and say, actually, you know what, we wanna spend two years there. Um, we always know where we want to get to, though. Um, and I hope, I hope we get the chance to go, to go the distance.
Question: Hi. So, with 15 seasons of Supernatural, a lot of characters came and went throughout the years, some of whom would’ve been alive in the 1970s. Are there any plans for us to see any of them? Like Bobby Singer, perhaps?
ROBBIE THOMPSON: Um, 100% yes. I don’t think I can spoil exactly who, but we have some very familiar faces that are gonna be coming up in an episode we’re gonna shoot in a couple of days. Uh, and then some more after that, and then some more that I can’t even reveal. Uh, hopefully someone that’s on the Zoom as well, at a certain point [LAUGHS] I’m looking at you, Ackles. Um so yeah, we, we, we have plans for that. And we also have plans you know, not just to bring back some of our familiar faces, but as you’re pointing out, younger versions of the characters that maybe we haven’t, we haven’t seen yet.
Question: Hi. Thanks for talking to us. My question is sort of in that vein, it’s for the producers. Is there anything that you did kind of to purposely, I guess, separate the way this is from the original as the show goes on? Or is it more gonna just feel like we’re in the same world we were before for the fans?
ROBBIE THOMPSON: That’s a, that’s a great question, and it was the first question I had when I talked to, to Danneel and to Jensen. They had this idea about the love story between John and Mary. And I think the extent of those first conversations were a lot of, Okay, how do we do this, and not undo anything, and not rewrite or, or anything like that. It was a bit like what is the expression, âphysician do no harm.â You know, we don’t, we can’t recreate Supernatural. You can’t, like, there’s lightning in a bottle time many different… to Jensen, Jared, Kim Manners, Eric Kripke, everybody. We had to find a way to kind of carve our own path. We do have a plan for that. We’re not gonna totally reveal all of it today. But our plan is to sort of pull that curtain back in our 13th episode.
And to the point that you’re that you’re raising, which is how do we differentiate ourselves. It’s always the challenge in a show like this, you know, we used Better Call Saul a lot as a sort of creative North Star, which is, that’s a show that obviously predates the events of Breaking Bad, but it, it exists in its own, in its own little bubble, in its own little universe. You can watch Breaking Bad, and in fact, it’s insane to me, but I know a lot of people who have never actually seen Breaking Bad. Because we are a show that deals with the supernatural and paranormal, we have a few more tricks up our sleeves that we can kind of take advantage of. And we’ll be hinting at that throughout the season, and then really pulling it all back in Episode 13 to, to really let the audience in on, on, on what we’ve done.
JENSEN ACKLES: No, nope. Robbie, Robbie’s got all the, he’s got it all upstairs. And, and you just, I just hope that he’s somehow able to, you know, file it properly. That’s it. Just like the old school Dewey Decimal system up there. That’s, that’s what we got.
NIDA KHURSHID: I see what you did there.
JENSEN ACKLES: No, I got, I got the same thing in my head too, so it’s fine.
NIDA KHURSHID: Yeah, you know, same person, right?
JENSEN ACKLES: No, not at all.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: I’m just excited to finally meet Jensen. This is amazing. It’s been, this is the closest we’ve been. I, I, this, this is thrilling for me.
HOST: Up next, we have Damian Holbrook, followed by Vlada Gelman.
Question: Hey there. Um, so this is for Danneel. Hello. Danneel, so while you’re stuck in COVID in a lockdown with Jensen, and you guys are formulating this idea, having been part of the world, did you find yourself having to remind him of certain things that the show could touch on throughout the 15 seasons of Supernatural? And also for both of you, being actors as well, how involved in casting these people were you?
DEMETRIA MCKINNEY: Oh, this is interesting. We all wanna know this one.
DANNEEL ACKLES: Okay, I… no, because Jensen is actually really, really good at remembering every single detail about Supernatural. He, You are, you’re really, really good. I mean, you can, you can pick a scene. You can, if I, if I give you a scene, you can tell me exactly what year, what episode, what you were doing, where you were living, all of that. You…
JENSEN ACKLES: I don’t need people to know that about me. I don’t…
DANNEEL ACKLES: We, remember one time we thought about doing a game show, Supernatural game show, like quiz thing. You would’ve, you would’ve nailed that. Um, but to the casting question, yes, we were very involved in casting, and we had a lot of fun. Jensen and I and Robbie had a blast casting. And everyone that’s sitting before you, we have a really special story about, I think. Drake, we saw you day one, and that was it. I like, you know, I had like all these pictures up. I was like, I had you up there. And I was like, âYep, it’s him. That’s him, for sure.â So…
ROBBIE THOMPSON: She still has those pictures up too.
JENSEN ACKLES: Yeah, those pictures are still there, which is just odd. Um…
DANNEEL ACKLES: We cast… but we did, we started looking for, for you first, I think that was the first role, right?
ROBBIE THOMPSON: It was, it was very clear. Yeah. Uh, we had a text chain and it was, it was very clear. There was a lot of hydration in that, that, that I think the second [OVERLAPPING] he drinks a lot of water. He stays hydrated. Uh, there may or may not have been, can I tell this story? [OVERLAPPING] Okay. There may or may not have been a beer at one point as well, which was, I mean, I wasn’t expecting him to go full method, but I, I thought it was a commitment, you know, to the bit. Um, but just to touch back for a second, and then we can talk about casting, but Danneel is being very, very humble here. One of the great things is, these two have the story of Supernatural in their brain. But there’s also, like, you know, Jensen lived it for, I think he’s still living it. I think those are actually Dean Winchester’s clothes that he’s wearing right now, guys. I wish I was kidding, but he hasn’t taken them off.
And I, obviously worked on the show for five years. But we need, you need something in that sort of like, balance for someone to be able to have, you know, a fresh set of eyes who knows it, but didn’t, like, wasn’t like, it wasn’t like obsessed, you know, that level… By the way, that was, that was our ghost that was in our stage by the way. I donât know if you guys noticed that. That was amazing. Um, but it was really invaluable. And, you know, they have a partner that they’ve worked with, with their company Renee Reef as well.
And it was really great to kind of almost have like a balance there, of, of people who were giving the, the, the story its due, again to the point of finding new viewers. So I’m, I’m grateful to, to both of them, you know, for that, because it was really integral to, to the, the development of it.
JENSEN ACKLES: There was also…
ROBBIE THOMPSON: We cast, we cast all these wonderful human beings on a, on a hilarious text chain, which I will delete from the internet forever.
DANNEEL ACKLES: Oh, yes. God!
JENSEN ACKLES: Yeah, we can’t have, we can’t have that out there. Uh, Damien, I, I’ll add one more thing to uh, about Danneel is, you know, she didn’t, obviously wasn’t as close to, to Supernatural as, as I was. Um, but what she, she embodies, and I’m convinced that she is, that she was born in the wrong era, because I, I feel like she ha- she continues to embody the sixties and seventies. Um, so when that was the idea, she kind of dove in and, and took control of the steering wheel. And I was like, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait…. I, I, I know a thing or two. Um, and…
ROBBIE THOMPSON: First email I remember early on was you sent a playlist. Danneel put together a playlist. (Oh yeah) And the first song is the first song in the pilot.
JENSEN ACKLES: That’s right.
NIDA KHURSHID: That’s dope.
DANNEEL ACKLES: I was like, we have to set this to music. We have to, you know, we have to cast it to music, everything. And I love that you were into that. That was really fun. Well, your wife’s a DJ too, right? Wasn’t she a big DJ?
ROBBIE THOMPSON: My wife, my wife was a DJ, that’s right. Yeah, she was.
DANNEEL ACKLES: His wife is super cool.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: She also dressed me today.
Question: Hi everyone. Thank you so much for doing this. Uh, so sort of also on the casting note, Jensen, on Supernatural, you worked with every version of Mary and John, played by Jeffrey, Samantha, Amy, Matt. So what was it about Drake and Meg that kind of evoked the spirit of those characters and those performances?
JENSEN ACKLES: Um, great question. I, you know, obviously there’s a…
DRAKE RODGER: Where do you wanna start?
JENSEN ACKLES: Obviously there’s a version of, of these characters that lives very um, very prominently in, in my head. Um, you know, and when, when we were going through the casting process, Drake really jumped off very quickly as somebody that almost seemed like a hybrid of Dean and Sam, not necessarily a replica of, a previous John Winchester. So that was really interesting to, to all of us was just the because this isn’t, this is, this is pre John turning into the person that we really knew and, and obviously the, that Jeffrey Morgan played. Um, this is pre that. So there was a kind of an innocence, a youthfulness and a thirst for life that Drake brought to this character that was really unique and, and refreshing.
But it also just, it, it reminded me of somebody that could very easily be the father of those two brothers. Um, and then with, with Meg, she’s just such a pro that any kind of like subtle thing that we said, âOh, what if you tried this? Or what if you tried that?â she just knocked it out every time. And it, it was, there was a, there was a look and there was a, a confidence. And there, there…
DANNEEL ACKLES: Look at her!
JENSEN ACKLES: I mean, Yeah, I mean, look at her. How do you, how do you, not just…
Exudes confidence.
DANNEEL ACKLES: Well, Jensen, to be fair, to be fair, we, we knew Meg very well, because Meg’s movies played in our house every day for like years. Well, every day through COVID, we watched her sing and dance. And we were…
BIANCA KAJLICH: Do you have a chicken named after Meg? (No!) Cause we do.
JENSEN ACKLES: Well, Bianca, Challenge accepted. Yes, Danneelâs right. We, we were very familiar with, with Megan her work. Um I, I am probably shouldn’t say this, but I could probably sing just about any song that she sang.
DANNEEL ACKLES: Not probably, not probably. He can definitely do it.
DEMETRIA MCKINNEY: [INAUDIBLE]
JENSEN ACKLES: Don’t test me. Cause it’ll, I’ll never live it down. Um, so yeah, Meg was Meg was certainly, um somebody who just, she exuded something that we were all very interested in immediately. And she, yeah, there was, there was really no question… she’s, she’s so strong and she’s, and she has this this fantastic, It almost, it, to me, it reminded me kind of, kind of going back to what I said about Drake. Was there was almost a Dean-esque quality to the way that she was playing Mary, which I felt the role really needed. And, and she was really the only one that was bringing that. And, and it just kind of caught us all. It caught all of our attention. So that was yeah, it was, it was easy. We didn’t have to do too much convincing.
DANNEEL ACKLES: But every, everybody on that stage was a first choice. It, it’s kind of, and I know that doesn’t happen very often, but like, everybody was exactly who we wanted, you know, And we found out through casting that you don’t always get what you want, but we did.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: And to just touch on what Danneel said, she’s absolutely right. Like, and it’s a huge credit to Robert Ulrich and his team. (Yes) They put forth a murdererâs row of a lot of young talent. And then when we found the, the, this crew, this, this motley crew… it was amazing. Uh, and, and, and just to touch on what Jensen was talking about, it’s true what he’s saying about the, the, the Sam and Dean that you kind of see in both of them. And it was really apparent in their chemistry read, which I hope we can put on the DVD for, for hilarious reasons. [OVERLAPPING] We, we would a, we would actually say, âHey guys, give us a second.â
And we would pause, but they would keep talking, not knowing that we were still watching. And there’s some adorableness in there that hopefully the rest of the world can see at some point. It was clear that these were, this was, this was Mary and this is John.
JENSEN ACKLES: I think that’s when, that’s when Beergate happened, wasn’t it?
DRAKE RODGER: That’s when Beergate happened. That’s also when she asked me out on a date.
MEG DONNELLY: I did not.
JENSEN ACKLES: Thatâs true, that’s true.
DANNEEL ACKLES: Yes, you, you definitely asked him to (OVERLAPPING) see Times Square with you.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: You asked someone out on the date, and I’m pretty sure it was him.
MEG DONNELLY: I just said like, like, we should go to New York sometime if we…
JENSEN ACKLES: Thatâs a date!
ROBBIE THOMPSON: Like you do.
NIDA KHURSHID: Casual.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: Let’s meet in Paris. It’ll be fun.
MEG DONNELLY: [INAUDIBLE] so it worked.
Question: Hi everyone, It’s Xandra Harbet. Thank you so much for sitting down and doing this in the show is so amazing. This is a two-parter. So, Danneel and Jensen, you’ve worked with each other a few times over the years, often in an acting capacity. What has your working dynamic been like on the production side of The Winchesters? And what were some of the core things that you wanted to hit on, and what were some of the things you wanted to avoid while developing the series? Especially given the passionate, supernatural fan base that’s already in place?
JENSEN ACKLES: Mâlady…
DANNEEL ACKLES: Well, I, for one, loved working with you. Jensen, Jensen and I, Yes, no, we have a really good working dynamic. I do the work and Jensen watches. Yea, and he’s, yeah… no. It was, it was, it was fun. We do well together.
JENSEN ACKLES: I would say that the, the producing aspect has been a little different than from what acting with her. I mean, acting with her is, is she’s, she’s great, but we’re playing different characters in front of each other. So, so that’s a little different than, than producing when we’re just being ourselves and trying to get things done. It feels a little bit more like…
DANNEEL ACKLES: Itâs a lot less polite.
JENSEN ACKLES: Well, it’s more like, it’s more like our marriage where, yeah, like she said, Danneel handles everything and I just stand on the sidelines going, âLet me know what I can do.â (Yeah) And try not to get in the way.
XANDRA: And what were some of the core things you wanted to hit on and avoid?
JENSEN ACKLES: Well, certainly trying to recapture that heart that I feel Supernatural really had. You know, at the end of the day, the show was about the relationship between these two brothers. You could, you could paint as many ghosts and demons and vampires and, and ghouls and as you wanted on that canvas, but at the end of the day, it was, it really came back to the relationship that these two, these two guys had. And, how they fought, not only for, for the greater good, but they fought for each other.
And I felt like if we could, if we could tell that with, with John and Mary, but also have this love story be… you know, the kind of the, the kicker, I just felt like that was really important. Thatâs something that Robbie and Danneel and I talked about at length, was making sure that this, this truly had the heart that a show needed. That you can dress it up with all the frills and, and thrills, but it, it’s gotta have that relationship and it’s gotta have those cast of characters that you really want to keep coming back week to week to watch.
And I feel like we, I feel like we, we, we have that and we’re doing that. And the people before you now are the… I, I keep coming back and wanting to watch them. I keep reading intently the next, the next story arena and wanting to know what’s gonna happen. What’s gonna happen with Carlos?. I don’t know. Every week he surprises me. They surprise me. It’s just insanity. I love it.
XANDRA: And was there anything you wanted to avoid?
JENSEN ACKLES: Um, rewriting history? Um, I think that was a big important thing. And that’s obviously something that has been a topic of discussion with, with fans and, and critics of how we’re going to navigate what has already been established. We’re not looking to have, you know, we’re not looking to, to, to have the, Robbie and I use the, the Back to the Future reference quite a bit. We don’t want the picture of Dean and Sam to start being erased. This is not what we’re set out to do. This is something that we’re trying to, trying to preserve everything that we possibly can on the mothership. I think Robbie and his crack team of writers have come up with the way of doing that in a way that is servicing this show just as much as it’s serviced or will be servicing Supernatural.
Question: For the cast: How does it feel to be part of the franchise that means so much to many people?
JONATHAN FLEITES: It truly is an honor. I am just so grateful to be a part of this legacy. It’s absolutely insane. I never thought I would be a part of anything like this in my life. I mean, this is the biggest surprise and shock and most amazing thing to be a part of, especially with this group of amazing artists. Um, not to mention that I’m so proud of the inclusivity that’s involved in this show, and the diversity that we’re bringing onto this show. Um, and the space that I’ve been given as an LGBTQ identifying person on this show. Uh, not to mention also non-binary. I just feel so supported and I feel so seen, and I am just so incredibly grateful for Jensen and for Danneel and for Robbie and everyone opening… I’m so sorry. I’m having issues with my headphones. I’m just so grateful for this time and for this opportunity, and that’s all I can really say. So, thank you so much.
DEMETRIA MCKINNEY: It’s, if I may check onto that, it’s just a really cool challenge, getting to be with these younger people, because I’m not old. I refuse to accept it. Getting to be with this group of young people, telling this story that is so beloved by so many people in its beginnings and in its infancy. And getting to tell a journey that is so profoundly new within a space that is so familiar to people. It’s a really cool challenge. You know, they talk about not wanting to undo history, rewrite anything, but still keeping everything really fresh and organic. And I feel like just as hard as they’ve worked in the inception, you know, each time they’ve tried and then getting into this space where we’re doing it now, in the writing room, each idea they come up with, having the conversations that we’ve all had about the individual characters and then getting together and having the conversations about how we relate to each other.
It’s just been a daily challenge that seems so fun and invigorating and fulfilling. So you know, while we know everybody loves what was, we’re really excited about the challenge of them loving what is to come.
Question: So you’ve kinda touched on some of this Jensen, some of what you said, Robbie, what you said about Episode 13. There are obviously big twists here about what’s going on. We know this isn’t the version that the brothers were told, and it feels to me, just from the pilot, like it might not even be the version that John and Mary as we knew it remember. We also know in the world of Supernatural there’s like a lot of capability for like cosmic level trickery, which, you know, the final arc of Supernatural kind of depended on the arc Robbie started by revealing Chuck as God, stuff like that.
Question: Uh, we know there’s a lot of options for what could be actually going on here with the Winchesters, but we don’t really know when, you know, we might get a look at the answers. And I’m asking you this in kind of like the nicest, most supportive, good faith way, cause I know it matters to you guys. How long should we expect to wait in terms of clues about what the deal is? Or rather, how did you approach the job of maintaining fans trust regarding the twists and changes? Like, did you talk about a lot about what the right moment to show some cards? Or like, what was going on with the big picture?
ROBBIE THOMPSON: We, we, we’ve been talking, that’s a great question and we’ve been talking about it literally, since I think the first conversation that I had with, with these two and, and Rene. Um, it was crucial to us to kind of have an understanding of where we were going and why we were going. Um, but to your point, we have a lot of options was what we discovered, and a lot of different misdirects of, of where we’re going. And it’s one of the reasons why we, we are keeping our cards close to the vest now. Um, but we will, there’s, there’s some hints in, in the pilot and then there’s some hints in subsequent episodes.
Um, and as we get into this sort of… we have a, a little run at the end of these, this first 13 where we’ll start to turn over some more cards as well. But I promise we’re, we’re gonna turn ’em all over in, in 13. That’s, that was always the design that we came up with, with our partners at the studio and network. I can tell you this, like, it’s very rare to get to work with partners like Warners and CW, where they’re as invested as we are, and the integrity of what came before us, and, and what’s to come. So we, I totally understand where the question’s coming from. I won’t totally answer it.
Question: I’m super pro-, Iâm super pro, but I was just curious about like, you know, I know that Jensen is obviously always at conventions answering a million questions about tiny details and a lot of expectations about that kind of thing.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: And, and part of that was what was exciting about this, you know. For me as a writer on Supernatural, I, I found my comfort zone was getting out of my comfort zone. Uh, the example I always gave is we did a musical episode and I was like, they came in there like, âwe’re doing a musical.â I was like, âOh God, that’s terrible. Can I write it?â Like, cause it just seemed very daunting and frightening. I’d never written songs before and it felt like we always had a, a thing, Kripke started it. And then, you know, great writers like Sarah Gamble, Jeremy Carver, Ben Edlund, they, they bent us, almost to the point of breaking. And you’re always at that point of like, Oh, is this gonna break? But that’s kind of our sweet spot.
And when Jensen and Danneel came to me with this idea, I was like, Oh, we’re starting in the sweet spot. Uh, that’s really exciting to me. Uh, and then get to, getting a chance to create, you know, these characters with this group of, of, of extremely well-behaved, almost suspiciously well-behaved actors right now. Um, Yeah. See that the voices are coming out and they. There it is, okay. Um it was, it was just really, really exciting. Um, but it’s I, I totally understand where you’re coming from and, and it was literally the first question out of my mouth as well.
Question: Jensen, Danneel, do you have anything on that? Cause I am very curious about it.
JENSEN ACKLES: Yeah. It, this, this, obviously this has been a, a, a topic of, of conversation like you said at, at conventions and, and it’s, you know, I, I would love to have an answer that that puts everybody at rest and say, Oh, okay, okay, we can breathe easy. Um, but in order to do that, I would, I would spoil half the season. (Yeah) And so without, without spoiling the, the half the season, I will say that like Robbie said, the, the integrity of, of the mothership is certainly something that is of, of vital importance to us that we do not want to tamper with.
Um, that said, we also want to make sure that this show has a, is given its space to be what it needs to be and what we all want it to be. Um, and doing so requires some you know, some, some tricky writing. And Robbie has, has come up with ways to facilitate that, that I think are, are not only acceptable, from my perspective, but exciting from the world from of a, as a fan of this world and of this show. And, and, and so I’m, I’m excited for when we can actually talk about it and dissect it.
Question: Yeah. Sounds ex-, it sounds like you’re keeping a lot like really excited to, to let it in on the secret eventually.
JENSEN ACKLES: Absolutely. Can’t wait.
DANNEEL ACKLES: I’ve never liked, I’ve never liked my mute button better. I’m like… not gonna talk about this.
Question: Hey everyone, thanks for doing this. Um, this question is for the producers. Two-part question. Um, the first part was obviously Jensen, you’re doing narration for this, and there’s always a question of, do we do that? Do we stay independent? You know, how much of that is involved? Is it just a booking-ending element, or is it something that could expand? Um, was, is that a conversation that came up about the rules of narration for that? And then number two, it’s dovetailing off of the creativity that, that Supernatural is really known for, as you were talking about a moment ago. It has never been afraid to really rock the boat in terms of format, structure, genre. Um, this is a first season so you certainly want to establish a world, but at the same time are, are you going to have episodes that will kind of honor that legacy and show your version of it in this world?
JENSEN ACKLES: Robbie.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: Iâll go in reverse order. Um, we, we kind of want to establish a little bit more of a foundation before we go crazy. But if you looked at probably most of the episodes of Supernatural that I wrote, I like crazy. So we’ll get there, I promise. Um, and I know that these… you need, you need partners for that. One of the reasons we were able to go a little crazy on Supernatural was we had a great cast that was game for it. Like Jensen told the story the other day where Andrew called him up and was like, âCan you dance?â He was like, Yeah. And then you’re doing like a tap dance number, you know, two, a month later or whatever it was. Um, and being able to have that, you know in your arsenal. We have a lot of… I think, kids who can play here, and, and people who can sing and dance.
So we’ll, we’ll get to that, I think, you know down the road.
Um, and then the, the first question was about narration. Um, that was a big selling point to me when, when they, when they reached out to me about it. Was the, the idea of it was very interesting, but I’ll just be completely honest and say the option to write some more dialogue for, for Dean Winchester, aka Jensen Ackles, or maybe that’s in reverse, I don’t know, was, was extremely tempting to the point of, of being a pretty big selling point. In fact, we were on these stages shooting our first scene, and it was, Megan did it in the van in the pilot.
And so I’m having this surreal moment of like, Oh my gosh, here we are, we’re doing it. And then Ackles sent me the first temp recording. And so I stepped into the other stage and listened to it, and he’s doing the, he’s doing the Dean voice, guys, he was doing it. It was down here. And it was like, Oh my God, it’s Dean Winchester in my ear holes. And I, I got goosebumps. I get goosebumps telling that story right now. Um, and it was, it was huge.
As far as like, you know, how, how do we go with it? You know, we, we talk a lot about, we did not want this to be wall-to-wall narration. A light touch, you know, was, was what we wanted. Um, you know, and it’s a real treat when you’re working on a script and you can say like, Gosh, what would Dean Winchester say? And then you text Dean Winchester, and then he tells you. And it’s been just a great dance. Like, we as writers will, will work on a, on a draft of the voiceover, I’ll send it to Jensen. He and I will get on the phone and like, âHow about this? How about that? We, we said this one last one.â
And, and then, then I would say you kind of do like a final sort of pepper pass in the actual booth. Um, cause it’s gotta feel, that’s the part to me, I was like, this has to feel extra, extra… There’s our ghost again. Um you know, we have to do extra, extra due diligence. And it’s always, it’s always a fun phone call.
Question: Hi guys. Um, this is for Jensen, Danneel and Robbie. Um, is there a lesson or something that you three have learned from your time working on Supernatural that you use as executive producers on The Winchesters?
JENSEN ACKLES: Um, wow. Well, yeah, I mean, I think that that’s, that was kind of… that’s our, that’s our mind. That’s where we source a lot of, of inspiration. That’s where we source a lot of, of doing things, trying, not trying to recreate, but certainly utilizing… I, I’ll give you an example. You know, Robbie and Danneel and I talked extensively about the, the, the atmosphere on set. Uh, something that’s very important to us to have a, a fun, creative, exciting energy on set where people are, are able to, to come in and to, to create and to, to… You know, that was something that, that Jared and I did all the time, was we, we came in, we la-… I never laughed as much as I laughed when I was on that set.
And there was a reason why we stuck around for 15 years, and it was because we truly enjoyed doing what we, what we got to do. And, you know, I often say that we, we don’t have to do this. we get to do this. And it’s, it’s, it’s something where there’s, there’s, there’s no room for ego here. There’s no there’s, there’s no putting up walls and, and being, walking on eggshells and, and making people feel uncomfortable. It’s, it’s an all-inclusive, all captivating type of situation where we, we want this to be a fun space to create a fun show.
Um, if you’re not having fun, We, Kim Manners kind of set that tone early on in Supernatural. He said, âListen, if you’re not enjoying your time on the set, we spend entirely too much time together to not enjoy it. So if you’re not having fun, find something else to do.â And I feel like that’s, that was really important to us to, to set a tone on this set that was, that was fun and exciting and that people enjoyed coming to work and, and playing with these, playing in this sandbox.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: I think, just to touch on that too, something that we carried over from the mothership, um… John Showalter, who’s our, our producing director, and obviously directed more episodes of Supernatural than I can count, and I can count pretty high. Um I mean, I’ve been teaching my son, he, he’s up to 30, guys. English and Spanish. Um, but he, he is really impressed upon us something that we did. And again, it’s about having trust with, with your partners that are telling the story with you, which is our amazing cast, is to let them play a little bit.
Um, you know, we used to always say to our producing directors that would come on Supernatural, like, âGive the boys another take, let’s see what happens.â And it always ended up in the movie and it’s something that we really wanted to, It’s, it’s, it speaks to what Jensen’s talking about, about like creating an environment where people can play. And, and, and I can tell you my favorite moment in every single episode comes from these people individually being alive in the scene, listening to one another, reacting to one another, and, and being present in a way that’s, it’s, it’s really, really inspiring as a writer. And look at, they’re doing it right now. You guys, this is, this is an organic, this, this is not scripted. Um…
JENSEN ACKLES: You can’t write that, you can’t write that.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: Youâre actually freaking me out.
BIANCA KAJLICH: Can I, can I add something onto that too, which I know this is for the producers. But as a cast, I just want to acknowledge how true this is for us. And I think it starts with Jensen. Because, to have an actor who played a role for 15 years, continue to address this subject matter with such enthusiasm, it is a ripple effect down into all of us. And, you know, Demetria and I talk and, and try to tell these younguns (younger, younger ones). It is so rare to have the deal that we’ve got here.
We get to play, we get to show up, we get to ask for things. As an actor, after 25 years of doing this, I’ll tell you, that’s unheard of. And these guys walk the walk. So, it’s honestly the, the joy and the comradery and all of that that’s existing here. The, the drama too. It’s all real cause we get to be our pure vulnerable selves in this.
JENSEN ACKLES: Thanks, B.
Question: Yeah, starting with Bianca and then Jensen and Danneel. Have you ever had a metaphysical experience? Something you could not quite explain?
BIANCA KAJLICH: Yes. (Tell us) Um, well, I don’t, I don’t really wanna cheapen it, because it was such a beautiful experience. Um, but I had, in two different very traumatic experiences in my life, something show up that I could visually see. Um, and that presence showed up before both of the traumatic situations happened. And for me it was a nod to, that everything was gonna be okay.
Question: Jensen?
JENSEN ACKLES: Uh, sorry, something cut out. Could you repeat the question?
Question: Yes. Have you ever had a metaphysical experience, something you could not quite explain?
JENSEN ACKLES: Uh, my marriage. (No!) Oh, no? Okay…
ROBBIE THOMPSON: Thanks, everybody. Thanks very much.
JENSEN ACKLES: Um, you know, this is something that Danneel and I have talked about quite a bit, and [OVERLAPPING]
DANNEEL ACKLES: It happens to us all the time. We have a million of these, except Jensen thinks that, I think, because of all your years of Supernatural, you’re like, Oh, that’s not what that was. No, no, no. That’s something else.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: I mean, Dean Winchester would know.
DANNEEL ACKLES: Yeah, I know. That’s what I’m saying. But…
JENSEN ACKLES: Thereâs, there’s something that we, and, and I don’t know that this to be true or not, but Danneel I feel like is emotionally available for those kinds of happenings. And I, I might not be.
DANNEEL ACKLES: Willing and ready.
JENSEN ACKLES: Yeah, and it, it might be because I spent 15 years playing a character that kicked the shit out of ghosts and demons. And so I just figure like, no, that’s not, because if it is, they picked the wrong house. Um, and so it might have given me some sort of false sense of security. It’s, it’s almost like, listen, I played a doctor on TV for 15 years, give me the scalpel. I, I know that that probably isn’t what would happen if something, something like [LAUGHS] if a ghost walked in here. I, I don’t know how I would react. But I do feel like [OVERLAPPING]o
DRAKE RODGER: I feel like Iâm getting yellow fever, my friend.
JENSEN ACKLES: Probably, probably, it would be, yeah, it would be more like that. But I, I do feel like I tend to jump to the, âthere’s gotta be some sort of logical explanation for why that window just flew open,â or…
DANNEEL ACKLES: Why that hammer flew across the [OVERLAPPING] whole tool belt at [OVERLAPPING]
JENSEN ACKLES: Yeah. Danneel is much more, is much quicker to think that, that there’s an entity or there’s some, some sort of presence.
DRAKE RODGER: There is a whole conversation after this.
DANNEEL ACKLES: There’s just a reason. There’s an, there’s a house, we own a brewery together, and there is an old house on the brewery. And there’s a reason why the construction there has completely stopped. And so one day we’ll talk about that, maybe.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: That’s episode uh, 14 of Season 3. [OVERLAPPING]
JENSEN ACKLES: I will give you, I’ll give you one quick little story. Uh, I don’t remember what season of Supernatural this was, but we used to shoot at this, this decommissioned insane asylum in in Vancouver called [OVERLAPPING] River, Riverview. Demetria, you’ve been there?
So there, there were, there were four floors in a basement. And we generally filmed either in the basement or the first two, two floors. Uh, the third floor wasn’t really utilized, and the fourth floor was off limits. And one day I got the liaison of the, of the building of the property there to take me up to the fourth floor. And I said, I gotta know what’s going on. And she walked up and she said, âWell, this is the staircase that I was pushed down.â I was like, âWho pushed you?â She’s like, âI don’t know, I was alone.â Uh, then she walked into, opened this one door and she’s like, âand this is not the room. This is a room I will not go into.â And it was a, it was a single room that was floor to ceiling tiled. And in the center of the room was a drain, and there was a bathtub, a clawfoot bathtub just sitting in the middle of this room.
And, and I just, I don’t know, I was just walked right in and then laid down in the bathtub. And there was a moment where I was like, this, there’s nothing wrong with… And then I just felt something. I felt like a pressure on my chest and I was like, I’m gonna get up and get outta here. So you know, we get asked a lot, âWere there ever any, any things that happened on Supernatural that were unexplained?â And I was like, Yeah, but we don’t talk about it much.
Question: This is for Drake. I was just curious, how much did you watch Supernatural? And did you find anything in there that you said, you know, I wanna bring this to this show? (Yeah) Was there a [INAUDIBLE] for you at all?
DRAKE RODGER: Was there pie? Yes. There’s [OVERLAPPING]
Question: No, with your tie? T-I-E.
DRAKE RODGER: Oh, a tie. Pie is tie.
Question: Pie is good though too.
DRAKE RODGER: Pie is a tie, I’ll have you know, if you watch the show. Um, No, yeah, I watched Supernatural [OVERLAPPING] No, yeah, I grew up watching the show. Uh, I started on, I think Season 4 or 5, and then progressively watched through 12 until whoever started directing the last couple. Um… yeah, when I got the audition for John it was, it was something like, it meant a lot that Jensen actually said it. Um, but I, I tried, I tried my best to incorporate as much of Jensen and Jared as I could into the performance.
DRAKE RODGER: I figured this is the only opportunity where I have 15 years of material that I can steal everything from, and everybody will think that I created it, and they’ll think that, you know, Dean and Sam got all their mannerisms from me. So yeah, as much as I can, as much as I can, I go through and I steal all the brilliance that they had over 15 years.
ROBBIE THOMPSON: Drake, Drake will, and I, I, we’ve had many conversations about this character when the character’s going and he will cite chapter in verse of various episodes, you know, the title, all of it. Um, and it’s been, he’s been an amazing partner. Um, and everybody up here has, they’ve all, they’ve all done an incredible job of sinking their teeth into the source material. But as Demetria put it brilliantly, carving their own space as well.
DRAKE RODGER: I had this this interview recently, and I asked my PR team afterwards, I was like, Hey, is there anything that I can do better or like, you know, be more efficient? And she’s like, âWell, if you want to quote an episode, that’s fine, and if you want to even name the season and the number, that’s great. But she’s like, You don’t have to go to like the minute number of the scene that you’re talking about.â Um, she’s like, she’s like, âYou could probably leave that.â
Question: Could you give an example? Can you give an example of something that we could look at and say, Oh my God, yeah, that’s something that he did.
DRAKE RODGER: Oh, oh everything. I mean [OVERLAPPING]
ROBBIE THOMPSON: There’s a bit in Episode 4 where I, I don’t know if I want to spoil it, but like, if you watch it, I think Showalter was saying, Showy was saying, was like, âOh, I, I haven’t seen Jared in a while.â And it was like a mannerism that, that was some of the comedy chops that we were like, Oh wait, and, and yeah, it was, if you look for it in the first handful, but I’m pretty sure there’s one in Episode 4 that is, is um, is a great callback.
HOST: That’s all the time we have for today. Thank you to all the press that joined us, and thank you for everyone behind the scenes who made this happen today. We appreciate it. Don’t forget, The Winchesters premiers on the CW Tuesday, October 11th at 8:00 PM, 7 Central. Thank you so much everyone.
âGotham Knights,â âWalker: Independenceâ & âThe Winchestersâ All Head to Series
The CW is moving forward with all three of its drama pilots to series. Each of said trio is based on a previously existing property.
DC Comics-based âGotham Knightsâ was formally detailed back in December: âIn the wake of Bruce Wayneâs murder, his rebellious adopted son forges an unlikely alliance with the children of Batmanâs enemies when they are all framed for killing the Caped Crusader. And as the cityâs most wanted criminals, this renegade band of misfits must fight to clear their names. But in a Gotham with no Dark Knight to protect it, the city descends into the most dangerous itâs ever been. However, hope comes from the most unexpected of places as this team of mismatched fugitives will become its next generation of saviors known as the Gotham Knights.â Chad Fiveash, James Stoteraux, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, David Madden and director Danny Cannon executive produce for Warner Bros. Television with Natalie Abrams as a co-executive producer. Anna Lore, Fallon Smythe, Misha Collins, Navia Robinson, Olivia Rose Keegan, Oscar Morgan, Rahart Adams and Tyler DiChiara star.
âWalkerâ prequel âIndependenceâ is âset in the late 1800s. It follows Abby Walker (Katherine McNamara), an affluent Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes while on their journey out West. On her quest for revenge, Abby crosses paths with Hoyt Rawlins (Matt Barr), a lovable rogue in search of purpose. Abby and Hoytâs journey takes them to Independence, Texas, where they encounter diverse, eclectic residents running from their own troubled pasts and chasing their dreams, all while becoming agents of change themselves in the small town.â Seamus Kevin Fahey, Jared Padalecki, Anna Fricke, Dan Lin, Lindsey Liberatore and director Larry Teng executive produce for CBS Studios. Also starring are Gabriela Quezada, Greg Hovanessian, Justin Johnson Cortez, Katie Findlay and Lawrence Kao.
And finally, the âSupernaturalâ prequel âThe Winchestersâ is âthe epic, untold love story of how John (Drake Rodger) met Mary (Meg Donnelly) and how they put it all on the line to not only save their love, but the entire world.â Robbie Thompson, Jensen Ackles, Danneel Ackles and director Glen Winter are the executive producers for Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios. Bianca Kajlich, Demetria McKinney, Jojo Fleites and Nida Khurshid also star while Jensen Ackles narrates as Dean Winchester.
Pilot SeasonS. Episode 101
Airdate:
SERIES PREMIERE â Before Sam and Dean, there were their parents, John and Mary. Told from the perspective of narrator Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), THE WINCHESTERS is the epic, untold love story of how John Winchester (Drake Rodger) met Mary Campbell (Meg Donnelly) and put it all on the line to not only save their love, but the entire world.  When John returns home from fighting in Vietnam, a mysterious encounter sparks a new mission to trace his fatherâs past. In his journey, he crosses paths with 19-year-old demon hunter Mary, who is also searching for answers after the disappearance of her own father.  Together, the two join forces with young hunter-in-training Latika (Nida Khurshid) and easygoing hunter Carlos (Jonathan âJojoâ Fleites) to uncover the hidden truths about both their families. Their investigation leads them to a rare book emporium, whose owner Ada (Demetria McKinney) takes an interest to the occult and could provide the missing pieces to their puzzle. But secrets run deep for both the Winchesters and Campbells, and despite the best efforts of Johnâs mother Millie (Bianca Kajlich) to protect her son from pursuing a dangerous life of demon hunting, John and Mary are both determined to work together to uphold their familiesâ legacies while beginning to form a family of their own. Glen Winter directed the episode written by Robbie Thompson (#101). Original airdate 10/11/2022.   Every episode of THE WINCHESTERS is available to stream on The CW App and CWTV.com the day after broadcast for free and without a subscription, log-in or authentication required.
Teach Your Children Well
SeasonS. Episode 102
Airdate:
FAMILY MATTERS â John (Drake Rodger) and Millie (Bianca Kajlich) are on different pages about his new interest in hunting and Ada (Demetria McKinney) tries to bridge the gap.  Mary (Meg Donnelly) follows a trail from her father that points to the disappearance of a teenage boy in Topeka.  Meanwhile, Carlos (JoJo Fleites) has a heart to heart with Mary as Latika (Nida Khurshid) dives into her books to identify the monster.  John Showalter directed the episode written by Robbie Thompson & David H. Goodman (#102). Original Airdate 10/18/2022.  Every episode of THE WINCHESTERSis available to stream on The CW App and CWTV.com the day after broadcast for free and without a subscription, log-in or authentication required.
You’re Lost Little Girl
Season 1 Episode 103
Airdate:
FACE YOUR FEARS â When Maryâs (Meg Donnelly) next-door neighbor mysteriously goes missing, she and John (Drake Rodger) start digging into the disappearance. During their investigation, John unexpectedly reunites with someone from his past.  Carlos (JoJo Fleites) and Ada (Demetria McKinney) bond as they stakeout a potential lead for the demonâs partner.  Meanwhile, Latika (Nida Khurshid) taps into old folklore passed down from her family in hopes it helps Mary and John. Claudia Yarmy directed the episode written by Gabriel Alejandro Garza (#103). Original Airdate 10/25/2022. Every episode of THE WINCHESTERS is available to stream on The CW App and CWTV.com the day after broadcast for free and without a subscription, log-in or authentication required.
Interview with actress Alicia Witt and producer Linda Burnham of “The Disappearance of Cari Farver” on Lifetime by Krista 10/6/22
This was an enjoyable press call. Alicia is a really great actress. I’ve only seen her before in “That 70’s Show,” but she’s an underrated dramatic actress, as she proves in this film.
The Disappearance of Cari Farver is based on a true story and the subject of Leslie Ruleâs bestselling true-crime book A Tangled Web. Dave Kroupa (Zach Gilford, Good Girls, Friday Night Lights) is shocked when his new girlfriend, Cari Farver (Rebecca Amzallag), starts sending him demanding texts. When Dave ends the relationship, he finds himself on the receiving end of an onslaught of twisted messages from Cari, who has abruptly disappeared. Daveâs ex-girlfriend, Liz (Alicia Witt, Friday Night Lights, The Walking Dead), also begins receiving harassing texts from Cari, resulting in a dangerous situation for them both. Meanwhile, Cariâs mother Nancy (Lea Thompson, Back to the Future, Switched at Birth) continually searches for her, keeping the pressure on the police who eventually uncover a shocking discovery. The Disappearance of Cari Farver premieres Saturday, October 8 at 8/7c.
The Disappearance of Cari Farver is executive produced by Milojo Productions, Howard Braunstein Films, and Media Nation. Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos and Albert Bianchini serve as executive producers for Milojo. Michael Halpern serves as producer for Milojo. Howard Braunstein and Linda Berman also executive produce. Danishka Esterhazy directs from a script written by Tawnya Bhattacharya and Ali Laventhol (Bel Air, My Life with the Walter Boys).
Lifetime Announces Two New Ripped From the Headlines Movies from EPs Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, Jenna Dewan Set to Star and EP
– 08/11/2022 –
KELLY RIPA AND MARK CONSUELOS EXECUTIVE PRODUCE TWO NEW RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES FILMS THROUGH MILOJO PRODUCTIONS BANNER
JENNA DEWAN TO HEADLINE AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCE ORIGINAL MOVIE LETâS GET PHYSICAL WITH JENNIFER IRWIN AND MICHAEL CONSUELOSÂ
LEA THOMPSON, ZACH GILFORD, AND ALICIA WITT STAR IN THE DISAPPEARANCE OF CARI FARVER
BOTH FILMS WILL DEBUT THIS OCTOBER
New York, NY â August 11 â Lifetime announces two new Ripped from the Headlines movies, Letâs Get Physical and The Disappearance of Cari Farver from executive producers Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, under their Milojo Productions banner as part of the previously announced partnership with Lifetime. Letâs Get Physical stars and is also executive produced by Jenna Dewan via her Everheart Productions with Kyle McNally, and features Jennifer Irwin and Michael Consuelos. The Disappearance of Cari Farver stars Lea Thompson, Zach Gilford and Alicia Witt. Both films will debut this October on Lifetime.
The Disappearance of Cari Farver is based on a true story and the subject of Leslie Ruleâs bestselling true-crime book A Tangled Web. Dave Kroupa (Zach Gilford, Good Girls, Friday Night Lights) is shocked when his new girlfriend, Cari Farver (Rebecca Amzallag), starts sending him demanding texts. When Dave ends the relationship, he finds himself on the receiving end of an onslaught of twisted messages from Cari, who has abruptly disappeared. Daveâs ex-girlfriend, Liz (Alicia Witt, Friday Night Lights, The Walking Dead), also begins receiving harassing texts from Cari, resulting in a dangerous situation for them both. Meanwhile, Cariâs mother Nancy (Lea Thompson, Back to the Future, Switched at Birth) continually searches for her, keeping the pressure on the police who eventually uncover a shocking discovery. The Disappearance of Cari Farver premieres Saturday, October 8 at 8/7c.
Inspired by actual events, Letâs Get Physical is the story of fitness instructor Sadie (JennaDewan, The Rookie) who by day, taught fitness and dance to soccer moms, but by night led a double life running a sophisticated prostitution ring with a customer list that included very prominent men in the community. After an anonymous tip, authorities raided her studio, leading to Sadieâs indictment and ignited a firestorm in the small town leading everyone to ask, who exactly was on the client list. Â Dewan executive produces and stars alongside Jennifer Irwin (The Goldbergs) and Michael Consuelos (Riverdale). Letâs Get Physical is set to premiere Saturday, October 15 at 8/7c.
The Disappearance of Cari Farver is executive produced by Milojo Productions, Howard Braunstein Films, and Media Nation. Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos and Albert Bianchini serve as executive producers for Milojo. Michael Halpern serves as executive producer for Milojo. Howard Braunstein and Linda Berman also executive produce. Danishka Esterhazy directs from a script written by Tawnya Bhattacharya and Ali Laventhol (Bel Air, My Life with the Walter Boys).
Letâs Get Physical is executive produced by Milojo Productions, Johnson Management Group, Inc., and Everheart Productions. Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos and Albert Bianchini serve as executive producers for Milojo. Michael Halpern serves as executive producer for Milojo. Jenna Dewan and Kyle McNally executive produce for Everheart Productions. Robin Hayes directs from a script written by Margaux Froley and Kelly Fullerton.
Interview with actors DemiĂĄn Bichir, Anika Noni Rose, Madison Taylor Baez and Grace Gummer; and EPs Andrew Hinderaker and Seith Mann on “Let The Right One In” on Showtime by Suzanne 9/20/22
This was another TCA panel – this one from Showtime. I really enjoyed the episodes I’ve seen of this show so far. It’s a very good drama that just happens to have some vampires. DemiĂĄn Bichir plays a man (Mark) whose little girl (Eleanor) is a vampire, so he works tirelessly to keep her alive (no matter what he has to do) and to try to find a cure for her. There’s a lot of mystery about whether the vampires have a virus or what. Madison Taylor Baez plays the little girl. I’ve interviewed her a few times. The first time was for the TV show “Selena,” where she played the young Selena. More recently was for her competing in “America’s Got Talent.” She is an amazing singer. I doubt she’ll be singing in this series, though. Too bad because I know Anika Noni Rose is also a great singer. Hey, if they can do it on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”…. I have to also note that I loved DemiĂĄn Bichir in this fun primetime soap a few years ago called “Grand Hotel.” I was very upset when they canceled it. Anyway, Grace Gummer plays a scientist (Claire) who finds out that her brother is an ailing vampire. Their father has been trying to find a cure, too. Anika Noni Rose plays a cop (Naomi) that lives next door to Mark and Eleanor with her son, Isaiah. It’s a really interesting drama with a lot of family drama as well as the supernatural stuff. It’s unique in that way. The vampires are not “cool” or “sexy” like in many shows. They’re more like addicts and victims. Anyway, it’s really good, so make sure you watch it. It airs tonight, Friday, Oct. 7 on streaming and OnDemand, and then it airs on Sunday on Showtime.
SHOWTIME FALL TCA PRESS CONFERENCE
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
DemiĂĄn Bichir â âMark Kaneâ / Producer (he/him)
Anika Noni Rose â âNaomi Coleâ (she/her)
Madison Taylor Baez â âEleanor Kaneâ (she/her)
Grace Gummer â âClaire Loganâ (she/her)
Andrew Hinderaker â Showrunner / Executive Producer (he/him)
Seith Mann â Director / Executive Producer (he/him)
Here is the introduction in our panel to the show: Next up we have the new Showtime genre-bending thriller “Let the Right One In,” starring Oscar nominee DemiĂĄn Bichir. Bichir and Madison Taylor Baez play father and daughter, Mark and Eleanor, whose lives have never been the same since Eleanor was turned into a vampire a decade ago. Keeping the secret and staying alive present not only terrifying but emotionally-charged challenges, especially when Mark and Eleanor become enmeshed in the lives of others. “Let the Right One In” will premiere on streaming and on-demand Friday, October 7th, before its on air debut on Showtime Sunday, October 9th.
I tried very hard not to give spoilers in my question, so the producer gave me a pat on the back for that. First I mentioned that Maddie was on AGT recently and how well she sang. Then I asked my question: “Why does DemiĂĄn’s character..I don’t want to give any spoilers; but, at the end, he does something kind of monstrous even though he’s human, and he is doing it for human reasons. Why does he choose to do that rather than, say, choose a few different other people and get the blood gradually without doing what he did?” I know, that was a very tortured question…
Producer Andrew Hinderaker offered to let DemiĂĄn answer, but DemiĂĄn let him instead. He said, “I want to commend your ability to ask a very specific question without spoiling. That was incredible.” Aw, that was such a nice thing to say. He alluded to “certain rules” in the show (as all vampire stories have), that they’re trying to stick to. Also, he said that Mark (DemiĂĄn’s character) is trying to keep his child from starving, so he’s under pressure to do that, and quickly. He referenced the other producer, Seith, who had spoke earlier about the “core and the center and the lengths that we go to to take care of our children, and so there are specific rules that will only make that clear as we go forward. That’s what I’ll say to try to answer as eloquently as you do without spoiling anything as well.” I blushed and thanked him for his compliment. No one has ever called me eloquent before!
The other press asked their questions. DemiĂĄn was asked what attracted him to the project and to tell us how he became producer as well. DemiĂĄn spoke at length about how much he loved the original film, and how great the showrunner Andrew and EP Seith are. He said that when they audition actors, the actors audition them as well, “to make sure that they are wonderful people, knowledgeable and, you know, cultured if we are lucky.” He was very impressed with how Andrew was able to turn the movie’s story into a series. He had worked for Showtime before and remembered how brave they are when they let them create and say whatever they want. He said that he gets emotional talking about the great cast, especially “these three beautiful ladies.” He made a soccer analogy (what they call fĂștbol in his country) when he said, “I’m only as good on the field as when I have a beautiful team around me. And I have to say it’s been a tour de force every time we have scenes together, and it’s been wonderful.” He’s very grateful for all that he’s been given by Showtime, the cast, Tomorrow Studios, Andrew and Seith. He didn’t really answer the second question, but he gave a great answer, anyway.
The producers were asked to tell us how they took the movie and made it into a TV show, such as what they added and what they took away. Andrew answered first. He was touched by DemiĂĄn’s words and agreed that they’re all having the same wonderful experience. He loves seeing his cast on Zoom. He says they’re “really just an extraordinary team of people and team of artists.” He believes the movie was the best horror movie ever made as well as very moving. He likes to begin with an emotional connection. The relationship between the two children in the film (one of whom is a vampire – not really a child) is “just astonishingly beautiful and poignant and poetic, and so there’s an opportunity to use that as an aesthetic inspiration.” That’s how they came up with the relationship between Eleanor and Isaiah. He wanted to use the parent-child relationship to explore the idea of a child struggling with addiction. He felt that it was “this incredible gift” to take these seeds in the film and create a new story for the show, to “explore the lengths that this father would go to to keep his daughter alive.” He reiterated that the characters in the TV series are brand new and not the same as the ones in the movie. It’s set in NYC in the current day (the movie was set in Stockholm, in 1980). They also created Naomi and Isaiah as well as the other family with a vampire, where Claire is the sister. Although it’s a new story, he feels that it’s “a love letter to the film.”
Seith chimed in to say that he also loved the movie, and the book. He was blown away by the pilot and the relationship between Mark and Eleanor. He admired the way he took this “beloved movie and found room to create a whole new dynamic.” He praised the way Andrew wrote the characters, which made him excited to work on it.
Another reporter, who hadn’t seen the movie, wanted to know if there would be some sort of explanation to explain what happened in the movie for the TV viewers who didn’t see it, especially regarding how the vampire infection came about.
Andrew joked that they need that reporter in the writer’s room and then asked Maddie to answer the question. Maddie said in a cagey way, “there’s definitely a way that all of this started, and it may or may not be answered. It most likely is, but, yes, you will get background information sometime this season.” Grace added that you don’t have to watch the movie to know what’s going on with the show or to enjoy it (and that’s true, for sure).
The group was asked why they think vampires are so popular in TV, since there are so many new vampire shows coming out. Andrew answered that, compared to all of the other monsters, vampires are the “most human.” They look and talk like us and their method of attack is “intimate.” He thinks we find them “exciting and thrilling.” They love writing for them on this show because they are so “deeply human,” which also makes it “more terrifying.”
Seith was asked how much he uses of the two previous movies, how he distinguishes the new series from those, what choices he makes and how much he shoots at night.
Seith admitted that he’s never seen the American remake of the Swedish film and didn’t want it to influence him. He feels that there’s “more love” in Andrew’s script than there was in the original movie (and more relationships). He wanted to make the city feel very “cold” and “harsh,” like the film, but with more light and love in the center of it. They used that metaphor when they shot the show. He spoke about how the show is different from the film by necessity. They loved the original but then had to “do your own thing.” He and Andrew had to rely on their own instincts as filmmakers to do that.
Maddie was asked what kind of physical and emotional adjustments he had to make “to become this predatory, dark character.” The reporter was impressed with her animalistic movements and asked if she had to train specially for that.
She replied that when she first got the script, she knew that she would have to go to “certain lengths,” which she had to accept. It worked out for her. She fell in love with the role right away. She spoke of late nights with blood all over her face but said that it was all worth it. She didn’t go through any particular training for her “unnatural movement” but just did it the best way she could. She’s excited to see the finished project.
The next journalist was a latina, who said that she was excited to see latinas in a fantasy world. She asked DemiĂĄn and Maddie about working together and what we should expect from them in the series this season. Maddie said that she always enjoys working with DemiĂĄn because she learns so much, and they formed a bond from working together and hanging out, which they took into their scenes. She said that he’s “just an amazing person, an amazing actor.” DemiĂĄn said that he feels the same way about her. He was a child actor, too, so working with children always reminds him of those days. Watching Maddie and Ian makes him admire how much fun they have playing, and he praises the producers for creating such a great space where, even though it’s a dark show, the children can play and have fun. He said that Maddie is a “because she’s a true professional,” so she makes everything easy. She’s also never taken a break from the shooting, other than going to school. She’s always prepared, even though the role is very physically and emotionally demanding. He relates that it took a toil on him, he “was drained,” but the kids were not.
Another reporter asked how Maddie’s singing (which she loves) “informs” her acting and vice versa. Maddie gave a very intelligent answer about how singing and acting both get different aspects from each other. They both use different movements and emotions. She likes to take the styles from singing into her acting.
Grace was asked a tough question about where she finds her character’s “moral center,” since her brother is a vampire and her father is kind of a jerk. She feels that’s the main theme of the series: Where does the moral center lie? Her character was not in the movie. The writers gave her an impression of what Claire was like, and they answered her questions about her very well. She reveals that Grace is “very complicated” and “does very questionable things to save her brother and to find a cure.” She sees her as an “adversary to DemiĂĄn’s character.” The show toes the line between good and evil. She believes everyone lives in the grey zone as three dimensional, complicated people.”
Grace was also asked if her family enjoys vampire stories, and has she shown them this series. Grace admitted that she had never been into them before, and she hadn’t seen the movie at first. She loved it, once she saw it. She learned a lot about vampires from this show and the movie.
Andrew was asked what their “vampire rules” are because every vampire movie or show seems to have their own rules. Andrew didn’t want to spoil too much but did tell us that vampires have to be invited in (alluding to the title of the show). Also, a line in the novel says that being a vampire is like an infection, and they repeat that in the movie, so he discussed that idea with a virologist. The doctor was happy to talk about vampires. The vampires can’t go in the sun and only eat blood. I thought this part was interesting. The virologist “talked about the part of the brain that very specifically manages pigmentation in the skin that acts as a shield for UV radiation from the sun being the same part of the brain that deals with the flight or fight mechanism and the mechanisms that would exist that would shut off the body to accept anything but oxygenated blood.” That became the idea for Claire, a scientist, who is trying a cure or treatment for her brother, and for Mark, who’s trying to find the same for his daughter. Obviously science can’t explain all of it, such as being invited into someone’s home. They tried to be as realistic as possible with the vampire mythology being explained by science to a certain extent.
Grace added that the vampires on the show are more like real people who happen to be victims. They’re not just “scary monsters or violent predators,” which is what makes them different from other vampire movies or shows. He added that because of these mechanisms in the brain, the vampire attacks “can be quite vicious and quite violent,” which is why Naomi is investigating “these homicides that are so gruesome and so violent in their nature,” which seem to be done some kind of monster.
Anika was asked how her character being a detective brought to her character and how it informed her “as a human being.” Anika thinks that her being a cop means that she’s more watchful than most neighbors and notices more. Mark and Ellie are hoping that they’ll be more comfortable there, but they can’t really be, since they live next door to Naomi. She always suspects the worst of people (even though she wants to see the best in people). Andrew praised the way she answered that question. He just spoke to the writing and how the characters and their stories weaved together well.
Seith praised the way Andrew wrote Isiah to be such a three-dimensional character because he wasn’t in the film. He likes the story between Isaiah and his mom, and how she tries to be a good parent to this bullied boy, but sometimes she fails (like most parents do).
Anika was asked how it works for her character to be the single mom as well as the hunter and how that affected her approach to the role. Anika praised the writing because Naomi is written as a real person and not your typical TV mom. She loves that this character is a hunter as well as loves her child. She often has the conflict between being a good mom and being a hunter or protector. She loves how Naomi is multifaceted and who changes constantly because of all that she’s juggling. She expressed that as an actor, she doesn’t like the “mom role” usually because it’s boring. Naomi, though, “is dealing with her own issues, who is tortured with her own things, but also has the capacity for great, strong, intense love, which makes for really good decisions and really bad decisions all in the same space.”
Anika was also asked whether she ever wanted to make any changes to the role or script. She explained how actors often know the character very well and want to ask questions or suggest changes, but in this case, they were very open to her questions and suggestions. They didn’t view it as a challenge, like some writers or producers would. She’s “grateful to be in this space.”
DemiĂĄn has his own restaurant in Mexico, so he was asked how much of that real life experience he brought to this role (because Mark works as a chef). He told us about how he came to New York when he was 22, “trying to learn English,” and he “worked at a Mexican restaurant” while he was starting as an actor. He and his friend opened a restaurant in Mexico that’s been there “for 22 years,” and he still loves to go there and cook. He compares cooking to the theater, “from picking up the right products and picking up the right elements and making sure that everything’s right there on the table before you begin cooking. This is so similar to art in general.” He agreed that this helped him with the role. He’s very happy that Mark is a cook.
SHOWTIME ANNOUNCES PREMIERE DATE AND RELEASESâŻOFFICIAL FIRST-LOOK TEASER FOR NEW THRILLER LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
The 10-Part Drama Will Debut on Non-Linear Platforms on Friday, October 7 And Premiere On-Air on Sunday, Oct 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
âŻPhoto: Francisco Roman/SHOWTIME
LOS ANGELES â July 26, 2022 ââŻSHOWTIME will debut its new thriller drama LET THE RIGHT ONE IN on streaming and on demand for all SHOWTIME subscribers on Friday, October 7, before making its on-air debut on Sunday, October 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Led by OscarÂź nominee DemiĂĄn Bichir (A Better Life), the 10-episode series from Tomorrow Studios (Snowpiercer) also stars Tony winner Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls,âŻPower), Grace Gummer (Mr. Robot), Madison Taylor Baez (Selena: The Series), Kevin CarrollâŻ(Snowfall),âŻIan ForemanâŻ(Merry Wish-Mas), Jacob BusterâŻ(Colony) and Nick Stahl (Fear the Walking Dead).
Inspired by the original hit Swedish novel and film,âŻthe series centers on Mark (Bichir) and his daughter Eleanor (Baez),whose lives were changed 10 years earlier when she was turned into a vampire. Locked in at age 12, perhaps forever, Eleanor lives a closed-in life, able to go out only at night, while her father does his best to provide her with the humanblood she needs to stay alive. With these emotionally charged and terrifying ingredients as a starting point,âŻLET THE RIGHT ONE INâŻwill upend genre expectations, turning a naturalistic lens on human frailty, strength and compassion.
LET THE RIGHT ONE INâŻis executive produced byaward-winning playwright, writer and producer Andrew Hinderaker (Away,âŻPENNY DREADFUL) who also serves as showrunner. Seith Mann (HOMELAND,#FreeRayshawn, Raising Dion) is also an executive producer and directed the pilot, as well as multiple episodes. Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements are executive producers for Tomorrow Studios (an ITV Studios partnership).Alissa Bachner is co-executive producing, and BichirâŻserves as a producer on the series.
DemiĂĄn Bichir NĂĄjera (born August 1, 1963) is a Mexican actor. After starring in telenovelas, he began to appear in Hollywood films. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in A Better Life.
Interview with stars Max Thieriot, Billy Burke, Kevin Alejandro, Diane Farr and Jordan Calloway; and Executive producers Tia Napolitano and Tony Phelan of “Fire Country” on CBS by Suzanne 9/16/22
This was a TCA panel, so there were a lot of journalists there, and we’re only allowed one question (more or less). I’m not allowed to give you a transcript or video, so below is my summary of the panel. I really enjoyed the first episode, so I’m adding this show to my watch list. It’s a unique idea and very well done.
CBS 2022 FALL TCA PRESS TOUR
FIRE COUNTRY
Max Thieriot, Creator/Star/Executive Producer
Billy Burke
Kevin Alejandro
Diane Farr
Jordan Calloway
Tia Napolitano, Showrunner/Executive Producer
Tony Phelan, Executive Producer
This was the first panel of the day, so we heard a general CBS introduction from Phil Gonzales, Senior Vice President, Communications, CBS Entertainment, and he played a promo for their shows. Then we heard from another executive, Mallor Mason. She told us, “We’d like to welcome you to the “Fire Country” panel. The drama inspired by series star Max Thieriot’s experiences growing up in northern California fire country premieres Friday, October 7th on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus.” That’s right, the star of the show, Max Thieriot, is also the creator of the show, and it’s based on his own experiences! Also, he’s an executive producer (of course).
Then showrunner Tia Napolitano said, “We are so excited to bring you “Fire Country.” We’ve got a fun show that is about redemption and family. It’s a character driven thrill ride. We have had so much fun making it. I got excited just watching the sizzle reel again. It is inspired by the reality of the fires in California, and our characters are the heroes that are custodians of a community deep in fire country in California. Let’s get this started. We’re so excited to be here.”
Most of the press asked Max questions, but I really love Billy Burke (ever since I saw him in the “Twilight” movies! And he’s been great in many shows I love, such as “Revolution” and “Major Crimes”), and Diane Farr (who plays Sharon) is also great. They play spouses in this show. There’s a bit of familial reveal at the end of the first episode, too. I asked them if they could speak a little bit about their characters’ relationship, and their relationship with the main character, Bode (Max).
Diane was very funny but really didn’t answer my question. She spoke more about working with Billy than about the characters. That’s fine – it was very entertaining. She revealed that it was fun to work with Billy because he’s “really not a morning person.” She made a funny noise and said that’s the noise he makes when he works. Then she compares him to Max, who comes in very bright, cheery and friendly. She said that he’s “Jesus, who was born in the manger” and then added, “And the juxtaposition of those two men is where I live.” She did say that she was just joking. She went on to speak more seriously about how she and Billy worked well together because they both have strong personalities, are veteran actors, “we negotiate our scenes. I usually want more emotional stuff, and he wants a little more action, and we literally negotiate, “Okay, if you kiss me here, I’ll do that thing you asked for.” Like, we barter for who’s going to give what.” I found that to be very interesting. She also praised Max for being such a great guy and full of heart.
Billy replied, “I’m going to go ahead and let you guess who wins most of those negotiations”. Then he praised Diane for making the acting easy and interesting. He’s very happy, he said, as long as he “feels like there’s something happening there.” He then went on to praise the entire cast, saying that they’re the best cast he’s worked with in a long time. He conceded that he does sometimes arrive in the mornings grumpy (or as he put it, “I’m all grumbly”) but working with them all makes things “a whole lot better.” They joked around a bit more. It was very fun to watch them play together.
The rest of the press had their own questions. The first one asked about how Max had to negotiate (there’s that word again!) his work on this show with his work on “SEAL Team,” where he’s also a part of the cast. Max admitted that it was a little difficult to “juggle,” but what helped is that they were already shooting season 6 of “SEAL team” before they started on “Fire Country” in earnest. He was able to make it work during breaks in the shows. He explained, “It’s been crazy, but, you know, life’s crazy, and I got a couple kids to throw in there, and I’m moving around, up to Vancouver to shoot a TV show…but I’m young, and I can keep up, and … I like staying busy, so it works for me.”
He added that when he started working writing this show, it was the start of COVID, and he didn’t know “how long this process would be.” He’d never tried to pitch an idea to a studio, and he’d never finished writing anything. He joked about being “a little bit of a hummingbird where, like, I’ll start on something and then I’m off to, like, another idea.” This started like that, but then he felt “locked into it.” He theorized that this is “just because it was personal.” He wasn’t sure whether he would play Bode, but then the producers convinced him that he needed to.
Max was also asked where he grew up in Northern California, and why he thought it would make a good TV show setting. The reporter also wanted to know whether the show will have self-contained episodes or be more serialized. Max answered that he grew up in Occidental, although he was born in Los Altos because his family was staying in a friend’s garage unit at that time. He told us that Occidental, which is in Sonoma County, only has about 1,000 people in it. He left there to work in the big cities, so he didn’t value how interesting the small town could be. He looked back on his life there and realized how different it is. He described it as “the comfort that you have and the familiarity you have with everybody and how close this community is. You know, in times of struggle and when everybody needs to come together, they really do, and they all support each other.” He felt that this would be a good “core foundation for the show.” Diane chimed to say that this is why she calls him Jesus Christ, because he was born in a manger.
Tony answered the other question, saying that it’s somewhat serialized, but he believes that it will be easy for the audience to catch up if they miss some episodes. He conceded, “There are obviously fire events, rescue events. Our firefighters battle wildfires from the Oregon border all the way down to Mexico..they also do water rescue, they do search and rescue. So there’s all sorts of stories to tell.” Their personal lives, and the mysteries involving them, will be the more serialized parts.
Billy was asked whether playing a fire captain on “911: Lone Star” helped him prepare for this role. Billy replied that he did a movie called “Ladder 49” (2004). He joked that maybe he’s a “closet pyro” because he loves fire. Then he thought about it and said that it’s really the characters he cares about, more than the world they’re in. His character on 911 was “just this despicable yet somehow likable guy,” which is completely opposite his character here of Vince. He’s not sure that he’s ever played a character like this one before.
The same reporter asked Kevin (who plays Manny) about his role. He’s played a lot of cops, but here he’s more of a “fire cop.” Kevin is very honored to have played by many cops, but he’s new to the world of fire fighters. He shared that they, as actors, “dive as deep as we can to kind of figure out and respect not only the script but respect the job that’s put in front of us.” He’s really enjoying playing the role, but he feels that “it’s still a mystery to me. He just wants to do his best to represent firefighters on the show. He praised their “fire consultants” that show them how to do things. They have to stick close to the real firefighting but within the boundaries of entertainment. He agrees with Max about the small-town aspects of their show. He enjoys that aspect of “community and understanding that heart.”
The cast was asked whether anyone is afraid of fire in real life. No one thought that anyone there was. I mean, even if an actor had that kind of fear, I would think they wouldn’t want to admit it because they might lose their job (as long as they were able to conquer it and not let it interfere with the role). Max responded by talking about great their visual effects team is. Sometimes they have real fires in front of them, and sometimes it’s just visual effects, and their team “makes that look much scarier than it is.”
Max was asked about whether he’d experienced any great fire storms when he was living in Sonoma County; specifically whether his family ever had to be evacuated. Max revealed that there was one that happened when he was two, but he doesn’t remember. It. Most of his writing was based on the fires of the past few years, where a lot of Santa Rosa was destroyed by the fires. That one affected him the most emotionally because of all the damage and lives lost. He described to us that it came very fast, so the firefighters only had time to try to save lives and nothing else. He was texting with his friends who work as firefighters in that area and some of their stories were “pretty horrific.” He lives by the beach, but his mom lives up there, as well as friends. She had to be evacuated. How scary! She has horses and other animals on their faimly farm, so he had to go up and help them get the animals out and go to a safer area, like the dairy land in the southern part of the county.
Diane was asked about her past fire experiences on the movie “SuperFire” and in “Rescue Me” – specifically comparing real fire with CGI fire, and how it’s less risky now. She did agree that they’re much safer now.
She told a great story (she really should be on a podcast or writing) about her jobs. In the movie, she “had to learn how to fly a Cessna.” Then, with the series, “I had to learn everything because nobody thought I could be a firefighter. I trained with three ladies in three states. It was super hard.” She said that didn’t know anything before this series about Cal Fire (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) or about the different types of fires. She alluded to climate change making the world hotter and creating more fires, and how scary that is. She went back to the original point, saying that she doesn’t get to do too many dangerous things as an actor. However, she does “ride a motorcycle in real life,” which they wrote into the show. She thinks it’s probably too dangerous, but when a large stunt man tried to take it away, she didn’t let him, so we will see her riding that.
Actor Jordan Calloway (Jake) is most known for playing Khalil/Painkiller on “Black Lightning.” He was asked how “the physicality of that role” helped to prepare him to play a firefighter. Jordan said, “I’m still laughing after Diane. She’s hilarious. That’s mama bear on set.” He went on to explain that the two roles are very different. With the earlier show, “there was a heavy martial arts, heavy weaponry work.” He mentioned that Max probably has that on “SEAL Team” as well. He praised the real life firefighters for what they do, such as carrying around a heavy oxygen tank all day, as they had to do in one episode, as well as having to run around, check their surroundings, and deal with forest fires. He said admiringly that those are long days they have to stay fit and focused. He has some firefighter friends that deal with the fires in California because he’s from the Altadena area, which is in the mountains north of Pasadena. He remembers a big fire they had in 1996 where they had to evacuate. He laughed, telling us a story where his mom was up on the roof, watering it to make sure it wouldn’t catch fire. She also had “12 gauge shotgun” to keep looters away. However, they found out later that it wasn’t even loaded.
He went back to talking about how tough it is physically for the real firefighters, who spend long hours fighting the fires that can change very quickly. The stunt guys have it much easier, since the fire is fake, but he praised them for how great they are. He said they’re “crushing it.”
The journalist replied that he’s “been evacuated three times,” so he knows what it’s like for the real firefighters. He asked Max how he handles his heavy workload and whether it’s ever scared him. Max doesn’t think he’s ever been scared of the amount of work. He likes to “give a hundred percent” at whatever job he gets. He said that it may seem like his time is very “divided,” but compared to his “grandpa who farmed corn for 72 years,” it’s no big deal. His grandpa said, “Make hay while the sun shines.” He doesn’t shy away from the hard work. He enjoys “the sense of accomplishment in completing things.” He revealed that, “I have my work jeans on right now underneath my fancy shirt because I’m going to go out and finish my chicken coop that’s in the back as soon as we get off this call.” Whether he’s filming or working at home, it’s no different for him. He just has a bit more work than he’s used to, and he’s getting “a lot more emails” than he’s used to from his “Fire Country” co-workers, so he has a hard time keeping up on that, but he enjoys the work.
Actor/comedian Richard Kind, who was on the next panel for “East New York,” arrived early, so Diane Farr said, “I just want to welcome Richard Kind to our Zoom meeting. Richard, I’m so glad you can join ‘Fire Country.'” He didn’t seem to know where he was, so he asked, “Is that true? Am I with all you guys?” So she told him that he was. He replied, without missing a beat, “Well, I look forward to putting on my suit and wearing a big hat. Really big. How do I do that?” It was pretty hilarious.
Then they let Max give some closing remarks. He talked about how much he loves everyone on the show and how great they are. He’s excited to share the stories of the heroic firefighters.
MAX THIERIOT STARS AS BODE, A YOUNG CONVICT SEEKING REDEMPTION BY JOINING A PRISON RELEASE FIREFIGHTING PROGRAM WHERE HE AND OTHER INMATES ARE PARTNERED WITH ELITE FIREFIGHTERS TO EXTINGUISH MASSIVE, UNPREDICTABLE WILDFIRES, ON THE SERIES PREMIERE OF âFIRE COUNTRY,â FRIDAY, OCT. 7
Inspired by Series Star Max Thieriotâs Experiences Growing Up in Northern California Fire Country
Series Also Stars Billy Burke, Kevin Alejandro, Diane Farr, Stephanie Arcila, Jordan Calloway and Jules Latimer
âPilotâ â Max Thieriot stars as Bode Donovan, a young convict seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison release firefighting program in Northern California where he and other inmates are partnered with elite firefighters to extinguish massive, unpredictable wildfires across the region. Itâs a high-risk, high-reward assignment, and the heat is turned up when Bode is assigned to the program in his rural hometown, where he was once a golden all-American son until his troubles began. Five years ago, Bode burned down everything in his life, leaving town with a big secret. Now heâs back, with the rap sheet of a criminal and the audacity to believe in a chance for redemption with Cal Fire, on the series premiere of FIRE COUNTRY, Friday, Oct. 7 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+*. Series also stars Billy Burke, Kevin Alejandro, Diane Farr, Stephanie Arcila, Jordan Calloway and Jules Latimer.
REGULAR CAST:
Max Thieriot
(Bode)
Billy Burke
(Vince)
Kevin Alejandro
(Manny)
Diane Farr
(Sharon)
Stephanie Arcila
(Gabriela)
Jordan Calloway
(Jake)
Jules Latimer
(Eve)
GUEST CAST:
Marcelo Arroyo
(Julio)
Michelle Choi-Lee
(Ana)
W. Tre Davis
(Freddy)
Aleita Northey
(Lindsey)
Ty Olsson
(Cory)
Kaylah Zander
(Aydan)
STORY BY: Joan Rater, Tony Phelan and Max Thieriot
TELEPLAY BY: Joan Rater and Tony Phelan
DIRECTED BY: James Strong
GENRE: Drama
*Paramount+ Premium subscribers will have access to stream live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service as well as on demand. Essential-tier subscribers will have access to on-demand the day after the episode airs.
Interview with Jaime Ray Newman of the movie “MK Ultra” by Suzanne 10/4/22
It was really great to speak with Jaime about her part in this movie, and about “General Hospital” (where she played Kristina, Alexis’ sister) and more. I had a lot of fun. The movie comes out today, Oct. 7, in theaters and On Demand. I highly recommend it because it’s a good psychological horror thriller. Anson Mount (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) stars in it, and Jaime plays his wife. It’s a fairly small role, but she’s great in it.
Oh, one little correction. The actress in the movie that I referred to (Jen Richards) is not the same actress as the one that guest-starred on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” That’s what I get for talking off the top of my head, rather than looking it up to make sure. That actress is Jesse James Keitel. They look very similar, but they are not the same. Maybe they could play sisters in some future movie or TV show!
Starring Anson Mount, Jaime Ray Newman, Jason Patric, Jen Richards, Alon Aboutboul and David Jensen
Written and Directed by Ex-Intelligence Officer Joseph Sorrentino
Based on the infamous CIA drug experiments from the early 1960s, this psychological thriller follows a brilliant psychiatrist (Anson Mount) who unknowingly becomes entangled with a dangerous government entity fixated on mind control.
Under Project MK Ultra, the CIA ran an illegal human experimentation program intended to develop procedures and identify drugs such as LSD that could be used in interrogations to weaken individuals and force confessions through brainwashing and psychological torture.
Jaime Ray Newman (born April 2, 1978) is an American actress, producer and singer. She is known for starring as Kristina Cassadine in the soap opera General Hospital, Mindy O’Dell in the drama series Veronica Mars, Kat Gardener in the fantasy series Eastwick, Lt. Laura Cadman in the science-fiction series Stargate Atlantis, Tess Fontana in the science-fiction series Eureka, Kat Petrova in the drama-thriller series Red Widow, Sam Gordon in the comedy-drama series Mind Games, Allison Roth in the crime drama series Wicked City, and Sarah Lieberman in the Marvel series The Punisher.
Along with her husband Guy Nattiv, she won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2019 for producing the drama Skin (2018).
Interview with actors Miia Harris, Ceci Balagot, Nayah Damasen, and Case Walker and EP’s Todd Holland, Adam Bonnett and Phil Breman on Paramount+/Nickelodeon by Suzanne 9/21/22
This TCA panel was for a new Halloween special movie based on the popular animated series and children’s dolls, “Monster High.” It airs Thursday, 10/7. It was fun seeing how excited everyone was.
First we had an introduction from Todd Holland, and he played us a musical clip from the show.
I had researched the cast, and the only one that I knew very well at all was Nayah, who was on “Grey’s Anatomy.” I asked her how working this fantasy setting was different from working in her past projects, which were mostly set in the real world.
She agreed that this movie was the most extensive fantasy experience that she’s had. She maintained, “it’s not every day you are painted pink and waking up at 3:00 in the morning,” but she enjoyed it. Getting to play a monster is very different from real life. However, these monsters do “go through very real human experiences.” Of course that’s true because otherwise it wouldn’t be very relatable for viewers. She went on to say that her character, Draculaura, is “trying to find her place
in the monster world.” Similar to the other characters she’s played, they’re young kids growing up and trying to figure out who they are. She compared Draculaura to her character, Kimmie Park, in Grey’s. They both love to sing but are prevented from doing that, so they have “that same predicament.”
There were many other reporters there asking questions. The first one asked the cast what it was that they made them want to do the movie. Miia grew up loving “Monster High,” and she would “pretend to be Clawdeen Wolf and howl at the moon very
proudly in public.” She remembers that the show had a big impact on her, and it was great to identify with such a “cool character,” especially being “a person of color.” She’s glad to have the opportunity to do that for other children and to create “that safe space for kids everywhere.”
Ceci admitted that she was a “really weird kid” and liked spooky and creepy things. She also grew up “singing
and dancing.” The movie gave her an opportunity to sing, dance and be spooky on screen, so she loves it.
Nayah is another one who grew up watching old musicals, and being in a movie musical is her dream job. She’s also happy to be part of the MH franchise “with fashionable dolls and a really cool cartoon,” which she loved as a little girl.
Case is another one who loves live-action musicals, and it was a dream for him to do this.
Another reporter spoke touchingly about her daughter, who’s autistic and loves these characters. She had some questions from her little girl that she asked. She asked what the cast and producers there think about “old friends of the series” and how they’re “reacting to the new characters.” I think everyone here assumed that by “friends” she meant “fans” because that’s how they answered it.
Todd explained that they love the fans and value them. They made the movie because of how popular the series is. However, he knows that some people have complained about changes, but he believes that inclusion is important. He explained that Mattel decided that it was time to “change the body types and broaden some of the character histories to include more people.” He hopes that original fans will see how beautiful that message is and will enjoy the new dolls they come out with. The message is the same as it’s always been: “”All monsters welcome,” or as he said, “Be unique, be a monster, be yourself, and you
are invited.” EP Phil added in his own opinion that they love how passionate the fans are. He said, “We like to consider them our alumni.” He confided that he has to pre-teen daughters who are part of that group. He explained that “The
core tenants of the brand are still there from the inclusion and diversity and community, but most of all a sense of friendship.” He ended by saying, “We are excited about introducing this new world to a whole new group of kids.”
Miia was asked to discuss her musical background and whether she was surprised that she was able to get the chance to do a musical on TV. Miia told us that she grew up “in the musical theater world” and has been training her singing and dancing talents since she was 8. Once she hit high school, developed a “deep passion for songwriting,” which led to her singing publicly for money in her hometown. Professionally, she’s mostly done acting, but she’s always wanted to include music as well, so to do both things she loves is “a dream come true.” She said that she’s “a very happy monster.”
The same reporter asked if Todd or Adam wanted to add about the fun of creating the new music. Adam told us that the music mixes “many different genres,” with all of them having something creepy in them, thanks to Todd’s guidance. They tried to give all of their songs “their own really unique MONSTER HIGH personality.” He praised the cast members for being so talented in acting, singing and dancing. Also, they had to do all of their casting over Zoom. The cast blew them away with their auditions in spite of the limitations.
Todd spoke about how crazy it was to do try to get the songs and have them performed in such a short amount of time, which he had never done before. Musicals are new to him. He has 12-year-old daughters who are triplets, so they helped him choose the songs to use. Some of the songs they didn’t choose for the final cut were used in the background of the movie. He also mentioned that Nayah performs “with her Nickelodeon band Good News Girls.”
Phil chimed in again to praise the production, the music and the performers.
Next, the cast were asked which was most difficult: Singing, dancing or something else?
Miia piped up to say that she loves dancing, but having to do them in very tall monster boots, with little “peripheral vision” (because of the monster contact lenses) was challenging.
Todd concurred, saying that whenever Miia stumbled, she would say, “I’m okay!” and they were always asking, “Are you all right?”
Adam pointed out that they had to always hide her human ears under the wig (since she has costume wolf ears), but she was always concerned about her eyes popping out during the musical numbers. He said that the actors had a lot of those type of things to worry about while also singing and dancing.
Case gave his point-of-view that “keeping it all together at the end of the day” could be tough because of the long days, but he said that when it all came together through all the hard work, it was worth it. He also added that being all together in it “was the best part.”
Ceci said that what was tough for her was dancing with a big wig. She’s used to ballet dancing, where your hair is usually slicked back. She noted that all of their “amazing dancers” had to do the same thing, but with really big shoes. She thinks it looks “effortless” on screen, so she’s excited for everyone to see it. She thinks the filmed version looks more “relaxed” that how “stressed and diligent” they were during filming.
The next press person asked about how tough it was to take an animated show and make it a live-action musical and whether anyone had any criticism about it.
Todd admitted that it’s difficult to take a cartoon character or doll and translate that into a regular teen. They had to adapt and change things that didn’t work. There were a lot of conversations between them and Nickelodeon and Mattel to try to find the right look of the characters. That was difficult, and then how to make the live action people look realistic, like making “Frankie” blue and look real, not like “Halloween makeup.” He praised their “brilliant department heads in hair, makeup, and costumes that worked very hard” to make it all work.
Adam and Phil complimented Todd for his vision in wanting the “monster world” to be fun but also more believable. They didn’t want it to look like a cartoon. They hired “a brilliant production designer named Fred Andrews, who was just so smart and brought a level of sophistication to creating this world in Vancouver.” He had to create this scary school that doesn’t really exist, from scratch.
Phil noted that the main point of the show is friendship and being your “authentic self.” He credits the actors for bringing these characters to life in that way.
The actors were asked if they were big fans of Halloween and how they celebrate it.
Ceci reiterated that she loves anything “spooky and scary.” She and her brother have a “Halloween movie marathon” of scary or fun-scary movies for a month. She mentioned “Heathers,” “Hocus Pocus” and the Peanuts Halloween special. She hopes that others that love watching these movies will add “Monster High” to their list.
Nayah told us that she loves the scary mazes at places like Universal and Knott’s Berry Farm (in Southern California). She plans to go to the maze that has “OG monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein.” She joked that she plans to go there and take a picture with Dracula, her father (in the movie). She loves to dress up in costume as well. During the filming of the movie, Halloween occurred, so they all dressed up like scary characters from “The Wizard of Oz.”
Case also said that he loves Halloween and dressing up, but he’s looking forward to next year when there are people dressing up as the characters from “Monster High: The Movie.”
MONSTER HIGH: THE MOVIE premieres Thursday, October 6th, on Paramount+ and that same evening at 7 p.m. ET/PT on Nickelodeon.
MATTEL, NICKELODEON AND PARAMOUNT+ DEBUT TRAILER FOR MONSTER HIGH: THE MOVIE, LIVE-ACTION MUSICAL PREMIERING THURSDAY, OCT. 6
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. and HOLLYWOOD, Calif., June 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT), Nickelodeon and Paramount+ today revealed the premiere date and trailer for Monster High: The Movie, a live-action movie musical based on the iconic Monster High franchise about the children of famous monsters and creatures. Monster High: The Movie premieres Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon and streams that same day on Paramount+. The movie will encore on Nickelodeon on Friday, Oct.7, and Saturday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. (ET/PT). Internationally, the movie will premiere on Nickelodeon and Paramount+, beginning Oct. 6.
Monster High: The Movie
Monster High: The Movie follows Clawdeen Wolf (Miia Harris, Just Beyond), who was born half human and half werewolf, after she arrives at her new school, Monster High. She quickly makes friends with her classmates Frankie Stein (Ceci Balagot, Dispatches from Elsewhere) and Draculaura (Nayah Damasen, Grey’s Anatomy), and for the first time in her life, Clawdeen feels like she has finally found a place where she fits in and can truly be herself, despite keeping her human half a secret. When a devious plan to destroy Monster High threatens to reveal her real identity, Clawdeen must learn to embrace her true monster heart and find a way to save the day alongside her new friends.
Monster High: The Movie also stars: Case Walker (The Other Two) as Deuce Gorgon; Kyle Selig (Mean Girls on Broadway) as Mr. Komos; Marci T. House (Day of the Dead) as Headmistress Bloodgood; Scotch Ellis Loring (Firehouse Dog) as Clawdeen’s dad, Apollo; Steve Valentine (Mom) as Draculaura’s dad, Dracula; Jy Prishkulnik (Just Beyond) as Cleo de Nile; Lina Lecompte (Death Pursuit) as Lagoona; Justin Derickson (When the Streetlights Go On) as Heath Burns; Lilah Fitzgerald (Honey Girls) as Ghoulia; and Nasiv Sall (Descendants 2) as Abbey Bominable. Additional fan-favorite characters from the Monster High universe will also be seen throughout the movie.
In addition to Monster High: The Movie, an animated series based off the beloved Mattel franchise is slated to premiere later this year on Nickelodeon. Both projects join other Mattel Television content in production, including series and specials based on Barbie, Masters of the Universe, Thomas & Friends, Polly Pocket, Pictionary and Fireman Sam, to name a few. Mattel first introduced Monster High in 2010, and it quickly became one of the most successful and beloved kids’ properties of all time. The franchise seeks to foster a more accepting world where everyone is proud to be their authentic self, which is more relevant than ever. Today, Monster High is back with a reimagined set of fangtastic characters, inspired by the original ghouls, for a new generation that embraces what makes them unique and rallies people everywhere to express themselves.
Monster High: The Movie is directed and executive produced by Todd Holland (The Real O’Neals, Malcolm in the Middle, Firehouse Dog). The story is by Jenny Jaffe (Big Hero 6: The Series, Rugrats), Greg Erb, and Jason Oremland (Princess and the Frog, Playmobil: The Movie), and the teleplay is by Jaffe and Billy & Matt Eddy (Zapped, Teen Beach Movie). Adam Bonnett (Descendants franchise, Masters of the Universe: Revelation) serves as executive producer. Frederic Soulie, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Mattel Television and Phil Breman, Vice President of Live Action Development, oversee the movie for Mattel and serve as executive producers. Production on Monster High: The Movie for Nickelodeon is overseen by Zack Olin and Shauna Phelan, Co-Heads of Nickelodeon & Awesomeness Live-Action, along with executives Lee Rosenthal, Linda Halder and Jules Kovisars.
About Mattel Mattel is a leading global toy company and owner of one of the strongest catalogs of children’s and family entertainment franchises in the world. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire, entertain, and develop children through play. We engage consumers through our portfolio of iconic brands, including BarbieÂź, Hot WheelsÂź, Fisher-PriceÂź, American GirlÂź, Thomas & FriendsÂź, UNOÂź, Masters of the UniverseÂź, Monster HighÂź and MEGAÂź, as well as other popular intellectual properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. Our offerings include film and television content, gaming, music, and live events. We operate in 35 locations and our products are available in more than 150 countries in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and ecommerce companies. Since its founding in 1945, Mattel is proud to be a trusted partner in empowering children to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. Visit us online at mattel.com.
About Nickelodeon Nickelodeon, now in its 43rd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location-based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon is a part of Paramount’s (Nasdaq: PARA, PARAA) global portfolio of multimedia entertainment brands.
About Paramount+ Paramount+, a direct-to-consumer digital subscription video on-demand and live streaming service, combines live sports, breaking news and a mountain of entertainment. The premium streaming service features an expansive library of original series, hit shows and popular movies across every genre from world-renowned brands and production studios, including BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and the Smithsonian Channel. The service is also the streaming home to unmatched sports programming, including every CBS Sports event, from golf to football to basketball and more, plus exclusive streaming rights for major sports properties, including some of the world’s biggest and most popular soccer leagues. Paramount+ also enables subscribers to stream local CBS stations live across the U.S. in addition to the ability to stream CBS News Streaming Network for 24/7 news, CBS Sports HQ for sports news and analysis and ET Live for entertainment coverage.
For more information about Paramount+, please visit www.paramountplus.com and follow @ParamountPlus on social platforms.
PARAMOUNT+ PEAK SCREAMING RETURNS WITH MORE THAN DOUBLE THE SCARES
The Horror and Thriller Film Collection Includes the Highly Anticipated Premiere of âSignificant Otherâ and Popular Horror Franchises Such as âA Quiet Place,â âScream,â âI Know What You Did Last Summer,â âParanormal Activityâ and âThe Descentâ
Family Fright Night Favorites Include the Debut of âMonster High the Movie,â Plus Halloween Episodes from âBig Nate,â âSpongeBob SquarePants,â âPAW Patrolâ and More
NEW YORK â Sept. 22, 2022 â The Paramount+ Peak Screaming collection returns to the service today with an expanded screaming and streaming collection just in time for Halloween. The collection features more than double the programming from last year, including highly anticipated new originals, fan-favorite horror movies and iconic Halloween episodes from beloved series. This yearâs seasonal collection will include the debut of MONSTER HIGH THE MOVIE (Thursday, Oct. 6), a brand-new live-action musical from Nickelodeon; the exclusive premiere of new thriller movies such as SIGNIFICANT OTHER (Friday, Oct. 7); the release of an all-new special Halloween episode of GHOSTS (Thursday, Oct. 27) and more. The Halloween-themed content on Paramount+ can be found here.
The thematic library, which includes entertainment for everyone in the household, is thoughtfully curated into subgenres to enhance discovery. Carousels within the Peak Screaming collection include:
Big Screenâs Big Screams: Blockbuster hits such as A QUIET PLACE, THE RING, THE DESCENT, WORLD WAR Z and 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE.
Buried Gems: Chilling thrillers such as THE BABYSITTER, as well as horror films like SPELL and SAINT MAUD.
Slash Hits: Spine-chilling films such as ORPHAN: FIRST KILL, SCREAM, CANDYMAN and THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN.
Suspenseful Series: Edge of your seat shows such as EVIL, PAROT, THE TWILIGHT ZONE and CRIMINAL MINDS.
Family Fright Night: Family favorites such as SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH, THE ADDAMS FAMILY and ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK.
Nickelodeon Monster Fest!: Beloved Halloween episodes from popular Nickelodeon series such as BIG NATE, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, PAW PATROL and BLUEâS CLUES.
Spooktacular CBS: Iconic Halloween episodes from some of the most popular CBS series, including BEVERLY HILLS, 90210, BLUE BLOODS, CHEERS, FRASIER and GHOSTS, which returns for its second season on Thursday, Sept. 29. The frightfully funny series will also debut a special Halloween episode, âHalloween 2: The Ghosts of Hettyâs Past,â on Thursday, Oct. 27.
Chilling Classics: Timeless films such as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, PROPHECY, DEMENTIA 13 and ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES.
Teen Wolf: The Beginning: The complete original series of TEEN WOLF, including popular episodes such as âWolf Moon,â âSecond Chance at First Line,â âLunaticâ and âCode Breaker.â
In October, the movie collection will grow again to include even more genre-defining hits and cult classics such as THE GRUDGE, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, SHUTTER ISLAND, JENNIFERâS BODY, ANNIHILATION and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, among others.
Paramount+ with SHOWTIMEÂź bundle subscribers can stream the SHOWTIME Bloody Good collection of series and movies, including the Showtime Original Series premiere of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN on Friday, Oct. 7, plus other killer series like DEXTERÂź: NEW BLOOD and Emmy-nominated YELLOWJACKETS. Fright fans can also watch the latest installment of the legendary franchise SCREAM (2022), horror hits from A24 like X, MIDSOMMAR and HEREDITARY, and other perennial Halloween favorites including THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and ROSEMARYâS BABY. The bundle is currently offered at a special introductory pricing of $7.99 per month for the Essential Plan and $12.99 per month for the Premium Plan through Oct. 2.
The Peak Screaming collection is available to stream now. To view the Peak Screaming trailer, click here.
For more information about Paramount+, please visit www.paramountplus.com and follow @ParamountPlus on social platforms.
Interview with actors Katherine McNamara, Matt Barr, Greg Hovanessian, Lawrence Kao, Philemon Chambers, Gabriela Quezada, Katie Findlay, Justin Johnson Cortez; and Executive Producers Jared Padalecki, Seamus Fahey and Anna Fricke on The CW by Krista 9/22/22
This was an interesting panel for this new show, which is a spin-off of the hit series “Walker” on The CW. Both shows air Thursdays starting Oct. 6. Unfortunately, they had a lot of press there, with a big cast who liked to chat, so I was not called on to ask a question. I enjoyed it, though. NOTE: This transcript below was provided by The CW. There are some mistakes in it.
THE CW NETWORK
Walker Independence
Seamus Fahey, Anna Fricke, Jared Padalecki, Lawrence Kao, Greg Hovanessian, Philemon Chambers, Gabriela Quezada, Katie Findlay, Katherine McNamara, Matt Barr, Justin Johnson Cortez
HOST: Good morning, y’all! Welcome to the virtual press panel for Walker Independence, our brand new series and origin story to our hit series, Walker. Walker independence is from CBS television studios and premieres on Thursday, October 6th, at 9:00 PM on The CW. Our executive producers like to call this a remix of a Western, and we’re thrilled to be bringing this genre to the CW. Set in the late 1800s, Walker Independence follows Abby Walker, an affluent and tough-minded Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes, while on their journey out West.
After crossing paths with Calian and a curious Apache tracker, Abby arrives in the town of independence, Texas, where she encounters diverse and eclectic residents running from their pasts, chasing their dreams, and keeping their own secrets, including Kate Carver, an idiosyncratic burlesque dancer with perhaps too keen an interest in Abby’s origins. And Kai, a soulful Chinese immigrant who runs a local restaurant/laundry and offers Abbey friendship without agenda.
Abby also literally runs into Hoyt Rawlins, a slippery rogue thief and con artist with a dented heart of gold, who quickly eyes Abby as a mark until she turns the tables on him. In seeking justice for her husband, Abby encounters Independenceâs noble deputy sheriff Augustus, and his new boss, Sheriff Tom Davidson, who she has reason to believe is a very bad man, indeed. Abby and Hoyt soon find themselves precariously aligned, both seeking to uncover the truth about the identity of her husband’s killer as they navigate the dusty roads of Independence, a frontier boom town, where nothing is what it seems. Old West, new rules.
Now we’ve had our premier episode available for everyone to view since June, and have just added two episodes, 2 and 3, to the press site this week. So we hope you’re all very familiar now with Walker independence. So please welcome the cast and executive producers of Walker Independence and starting here on the back row, in the left, we have Lawrence Kao as Kai. Greg Hovanessian as Tom Davidson. Philemon Chambers as Augustus, or Gus. Gabriela Quezada as Lucia Reyes.
And then moving up to our front row on the left. Â We have Katie Findlay as Kate Carver, Katherine McNamara as Abby Walker, Matt Barr as Hoyt Rawlins. And Justin Johnson Cortez as Calian. Also say hello to our executive producers. Show runner and executive producer, Seamus Kevin Fahey. And executive producers, Anna Fricke and Walker himself, executive producer Jared Padalecki.
We’re so excited to have you all with us this morning. Thank you so much. And as a reminder to the press, if you’d like to ask a question, please click the âraise your handâ button, and we will put you in the queue and call on you when it’s your turn. If You have a two part question or follow-up, please let us know that this, please let us know this at the top of the question. And no photography or screen grabs or anything from this event on social media. Thank you so much. And first up, we have Jamie Ruby with Rick Bentley on standby. Jamie to you.
JAMIE:Â Hi, thanks so much for talking to us this morning. So this is for the cast. Can you talk about sort of how these costumes inform your character and maybe some of the difficulties you’ve had with them?
KATHERINE:Â Well, I’ll, I’ll speak.
PHILEMON:Â You start, you start. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
KATHERINE:Â Shall I start?
MATT:Â Yeah. Ladies have fun with this one.
KATHERINE:Â Ladies first, and it is the 1870s. You know, we have the most amazing wardrobe department. Marian Toy is our brilliant costume designer and she has taken such care to make sure everything is as historically- accurate as possible. And that comes down to us wearing corset. And a lot of these dresses, this one in particular, that is actually vintage from some year, I’m not, I don’t think it’s from 1870, but it is as historically accurate as possible.
And it really does change how you move, and how you walk and how you just exist in space. And you know, we have such an amazing cast of characters that has such a diverse wardrobe. But I will say that our women’s shoes in the 1870s were not made for function.
(audio problem here)
KATIE:Â Not, everything in the 1870s was built to keep women from running and carrying things. Not good.
KATHERINE:Â Keep us in our place. And getting on horses.
KATIE:Â And getting on horses, [UNINTELLIGIBLE] with any goods of any kind. (It’s true) Not a [INAUDIBLE].
KATHERINE:Â Although, they do give us pockets.
KATIE:Â They give you pockets.
PHILEMON:Â They give you pockets.
KATIE:Â But the reason here, the reason I don’t have pockets is because, so like, Kat was saying, Marion Toy is maybe one of the smartest people I’ve ever met in my life. A lot of my stuff, cause Kate’s a bit of a fashion plate is, is borrowed from vintage collections as opposed to made. So I don’t get pockets, but then I’m also wearing things that are so beautiful, I’m terrified to sit down because if I rip, like they’re so old. And if I have one tiny rip, I feel like I’ve let history down. So… Hey, does anybody else wanna talk about [OVERLAPPING]
GREG:Â The corset stance too, to make it more comfortable.
KATIE:Â So you prop yourself up on your own bones a lot when you get tired.
GREG:Â The squat move.
(Overlapping chatter)
Send you guys a photo. I’ll send you…
JARED PADALECK:Â I’ll post it.
JUSTIN:Â Yeah please do Jared, Jared has it.
KATIE:Â Youâre so charming.
JUSTIN: Yeah, I wore it for about seven minutes and uh, it wasn’t fun at all. So…
GABRIELA: Â I think all the men on set should wear corsets.
(Overlapping chatter)
SEAMUS:Â I thought we talked about no spoilers, but we’ll embrace them.
KATHERINE:Â Already, first question, spoilers.
KATIE:Â Justin, you have interesting costume stuff though.
JUSTIN:Â I do, I do I, I mean, I, I love my costume.
MATT: It’s a little breezy in there.
Show us the back, Justin.
GABRIELA:Â We need to see your thigh.
Yeah, I want to see the back.
Do you have a runway?
JUSTIN:Â But, I asked for legit leggings. That way I could have some breathing…
KATHERINE:Â Itâs up to your imagination.
PHILEMON:Â We will not go further into that.
GREG:Â But every, every once in a while we’ll I, I’ll go to set for a rehearsal and I’ll be in my street clothes. And we do the blocking and it’s weird. It’s so weird because you’re not in costume and the costume is just everything. When you put that gun belt on, with the weight of the revolver and the bullets and the badge. It changes everything.
KATIE:Â Greg’s got a cool hat too.
PHILEMON:Â Iâve been meaning to talk to you about this gun belt now. Okay, look, when youâre running in a gun belt, it don’t work.
It bounces around.
PHILEMON:Â It bounces around.
(Overlapping chatter)
KATIE:Â I have so many videos of Philly trying to run in a gun belt. I say that like it’s a joke, maybe five or six, honestly.
Ten-pound pound thing around your waist.
(Overlapping chatter)
JUSTIN:Â Nobody answered that in a good way.
MATT:Â Here’s a red light. I was like, is that good or bad?
JAMIE:Â Well, okay. How about this? I will ask a follow up then. Um, can you guys talk about sort of how the, like the, I guess the seed of the idea to go from the other show to this as being the prequel, like sort of how that came about?
SEAMUS:Â Sure. Um, Anna and I were working on Walker, and basically there was a beloved character named Hoyt Rawlins that we decided to kill off. And we kind of regretted it, to be honest. And, and so we started to think about what did we do wrong with our lives, but also with that creative choice. And so it kinda started with just a text to Anna saying like, well, what if we went back to the first generation Walkers and, and Hoyt Rawlins was part of the, part of the ride. And a couple texts later and all of a sudden Jared’s on the hook and studioâs excited and it kind of just went from there, and we just built momentum and developed the pitch. And, and so there’s a lot of Easter eggs with Walker that weâre gonna do more and more. But, you know, we wanted it to kind of stand on its own and be its own thing, be the first generation and figure out like, what are all the expectations people might have. And how do we, how do we subvert them? How do we kind of have a fresh approach, new take to, to the proceedings and kind of just kept building with that in mind and that approach.
MATT:Â I remember when, when Seamus was like, Hey, you know what, what if we went back in time? And I’m like, what, like two years before? He’s like, he’s like, he’s like maybe like 150. Love it.
KATIE: Â So really what you’re saying is that Matt Barr just caused an existential crisis for you, like he does for the rest of us.
KATHERINE:Â It makes perfect sense.
KATIE:Â Â I don’t know what waking up every morning looking like that is like, I can’t, I can’t relate.
GREG: Oh, terrible.
HOST:Â So next up, thank you so much, Jamie. Next we have Rick Bentley and on deck is going to be Vlada Gelman.
RICK:Â Thank you. Can you hear me? Hey, Katherine, two-part question. First off, following up on that previous question, how do you see Abby as sort of setting the, the bar or for the legacy of Walker to follow her? And secondly, you seem to be always attracted to roles that aren’t set in just a modern-day person. I mean, they’re, they’re costume roles, they’re different time per-, those sort of thing. Is that something you’re attracted to or, or are casting people just see you in those roles?
KATHERINE:Â You know, it’s interesting you say that because for years when they ask an actor the question, you know, what’s your dream role? I would always say, a period piece, you know, put me in a corset and a hoop skirt and I’m a, I’m a happy girl. And I guess manifestation works cause here I am. But no it’s, it really is an honor to kind of do something entirely different. And some, I love that somewhere in the CW verse, I’m Stephen Amellâs daughter 20 years in the future, but also Jared Padaleckiâs great, great, great, great grandmother. Works for me. [LAUGHS] But somebody out that timeline and I’m, I’m very, very much can’t wait to hear.
But no, when it came to this character and this role in particular, it’s not necessarily something I look for it, it just sort of happened to be what fell into my lap. You know, I’m always attracted to characters that are challenging and that have interesting stories to tell. And this was that. You know, we read the pilot and Seamus had created such a wonderful world of characters that still felt as though it was akin to the world of Walker, but something new and something fresh in a genre that held so much nostalgia and so much familiarity for so many people.
So it’s a new opportunity kind of give a new look at a part of history that a lot of people feel they know. Also, I do have big boots to fill with the Walker legacy that our lovely Mr. Padalecki has set out for us.
RICK:Â Thank you.
JARED:Â She just meant literally bigger, I have big feet. Thatâs all she meant by it.
HOST:Â Next up we have Vlada Gelman and on deck is Damian Holbrook. Go ahead Vlada.
VLADA:Â Hi everyone. Thank you so much for doing this. I wanted to ask a little bit more about Hoyt, because obviously we saw a version Hoyt on the original Walker series. So can you talk about how this Hoyt differs or compares to that Hoyt. And Matt, how did that kind of inform your performance?
MATT:Â Yeah, you know, I always thought of the modern day Hoyt as like a golden retriever with an unloaded gun. And 1800âs Hoyt is maybe like a, like a German shepherd, you know, he’s, he’s nice until you cross him. And then he is, he’s gonna bite. 1800âs Hoytâs more dangerous. I think in the wild west you kind of had to be to survive. So I wanted to see that sort of DNA in him. But I also liked the idea that you can’t really outrun your fate. And so, there was that consistent kind of recklessness in the Rawlinsâ DNA that just, you know, as we meet Hoyt 150 years later, they’re still, you know, still trying to figure things out and get in his own way. Um, and they’re equally charming, aren’t they? I mean, they have to be right? (Very charming)
KATHERINE:Â Â It’s true. It’s hard to compare. There’s no comparison. That Rawlinsâ charm is genetic, that’s for sure.
PHILEMON:Â It’s, it’s a thing.
MATT:Â Yeah. I wanted to, I want to differentiate them, but also, you know, feel very much that same kind of core bloodline there.
VLADA:Â Thank you.
HOST:Â Thanks, Vlada. Â So next up will be Damian Holbrook. And then on deck we have Josiah Soto. Damian, go ahead.
DAMIAN:Â Hey everybody. Um, so it’s good to see everyone. And I want to know about cowboy camp. And did the producers go and participate as well?
(Overlapping chatter)
PHILEMON:Â They were there in spirit.
KATIE: Â I’m the only one now.
PHILEMON:Â Cowboy camp was fun.
GREG:Â I’m waiting to do it with Katie Finley and she hasn’t kind of responded back.
KATIE:Â You and I have a, have a talk to have. Â I, so just, just to put this out in the open, I told Seamus that if I didn’t ride a horse by Episode 5, I was walking off the show. I am now the only person who was not ridden a horse. And I think I’m gonna trade it for a pony, cause I didn’t know we had ponies until a week ago and I love them.
KATHERINE:Â They are adorable. But theyâre twins, arenât they?
KATIE:Â Talk to a real person. Don’t talk to me.
DAMIAN:Â So how was, how was cowboy camp? Who excelled?
PHILEMON:Â Uh, we all did.
LAWRENCE: I was gonna walk off the show yesterday, but then I decided not to, because they finally allowed me to go to cowboy camp. They finally did.
KATIE:Â I lost my only ally.
(Overlapping chatter)
KATIE:Â You were my only person.
LAWRENCE:Â Weâll go, we’ll go riding next week.
KATHERINE:Â Also did enjoy cowboy camp with Justin.
MATT:Â I think our first day at cowboy camp, we’re all like saddling up. And then everyone’s like, where’s Justin and he’s like hauling ass, you know, just loping with this horse [OVERLAPPING].
He’s already on top of a mountain.
MATT:Â In your element.
JUSTIN:Â This is when the hair grew. It just grew.
MATT:Â That’s right. That’s right.
KATHERINE:Â No, cowboy camp was a lot of fun. You know, we all had, I had a very different experience than most the other guys. I had to learn how to ride with Justin, with Matt, backwards on a horse with Matt, for the pilot. And then now, Abby has her own horse. And that whole arc has been a really interesting relationship getting to watch all of these guys do such amazing things and then joining the team myself.
MATT:Â It’s kind of bonding for us too. You know, we all, we all were getting to know each other, you know, as we’re starting this journey together, hopefully for many years. And getting out there, riding together just was pretty special.
KATHERINE:Â And there’s nothing like it. I mean the office that we have, being our town is just the most beautiful place in the world.
MATT:Â Yeah.
PHILEMON:Â And there are some beautiful shots on those horses. And I gotta give a shout out to Rainman. Thank you so much.
(Overlapping chatter)
GEORGE:Â And T for being a butthead for trying to buck me off all the time.
KATIE:Â I would too. Any of us would.
MATT:Â You know, Philly… Nicholas… Philly, Nicholas Cage said Rainman tried to kill him in one movie.
GREG:Â Oh!
MATT: You, you love him, so… Oh, Rainman loves
(Overlapping chatter)
GREG:Â That’s A true story.
PHILEMON:Â Nicholas, if you are listening, Rainman is great.
MATT:Â He is good.
PHILEMON:Â Okay? Thank you.
(Overlapping chatter)
KATIE:Â My horse is also great.
GREG:Â What horse?
KATHERINE:Â Thank you.
HOST:Â So thank you very much, Damian, I appreciate it. Next up is Josiah and on deck is Luaine Lee. Go ahead Josiah.
MATT:Â Josiah, you around.
JUSTIN:Â Thank you, Josiah. I’ll take that question. Uh, so I think when we start…
(Overlapping chatter)
JOSIAH:Â I’m so sorry. Can you hear me? Iâm so sorry, I donât know why it was glitching like that, but thank you so much for letting me ask a question. Um, I just kind of wanted to ask more like of a general question to, like I guess, like the entire cast there’s a lot of like, I guess, conversation about method acting or just different methods actors take to, I guess prepare for their certain roles. Â I guess just like how different was it for each of you to, I guess just prepare and also like what steps did you take, I guess, to like, just in advance, if that makes sense.
JUSTIN:Â As you can see I’m in my wardrobe.
(Overlapping chatter)
KATHERINE:Â Jokes aside, for us as a, as a group, at least, what I’ve felt is such a comradery. You know, we really have built this community together personally and among our characters. And I, I think you see that on screen. You know, all of us genuinely enjoy working together and genuinely enjoy finding these character relationships and bringing them to life and seeing how they grow and change. And that’s been the most fun for me is, you know, diving into a time that’s so foreign to all of us.
MATT:Â I think sometimes you work from the inside out. And I think with our show too, like we were talking about earlier, the wardrobe, you walk onto our set, which is like this Western town, you know, in New Mexico. It’s beautiful and you’re, there’s horses and there’s goats and there’s, you know, all these, these beautiful background actors. And it’s like, you’ve time-traveled back in time. So it’s very easy to just walk right into that character and, it’s, or maybe it’s a crutch. I don’t know.
PHILEMON:Â No, I found the wardrobe and the setting…
KATHERINE:Â Special group of people.
JUSTIN:Â Yeah. The wardrobe and the setting definitely informs, you know, I think how we’re working in this show in particular. Like Greg said earlier, and Matt just said. It’s like, if we’re doing it in our daily clothes, it’s just not really gonna work. It’s kind of hard to get in the head space. Um, but for me personally, what I’ve loved about this cast is, if I come to them and want to talk about our relationships in the show, or whatever it is, and everyone’s extremely open, you don’t always get that. Some people are very closed off and, or maybe they don’t make time. But everyone’s been amazing when it comes to, you know, meeting up. âLet’s talk about, you know, where are we coming from? How do you feel about this?â And, and it’s extremely valuable and I appreciate it.
PHILEMON:Â Agreed, agreed. I mean, you know, it’s, I count it as a joy really to just work off of all of you. Because it is so nice and everybody’s just so good at their job, you know? I mean, no words, no words.
KATIE: Â I think that we also, I don’t know if anybody’s deep enough into the internet to know what a head canon is. It, our head cannons for each other on this show, are we could write a whole extra show about how excited we all are to hang out. And when, like we realized uh… before Justin and I had ever met on the show, we were taking one prom photo per official photo shoot, until we met on the show. Like, we’re all so excited to be here together. And we write little storylines for each other, with each other constantly, and poor Seamus is like, âAll right, guys, come on, like I’m writing an actual television program, can you calm down.â
MATT:Â You know, for years I’ve been trying to find excuses, not to shower as much. So…
PHILEMON:Â That is, that is very true. No, that is very true.
MATT:Â I’m a method actor now.
PHILEMON:Â Yeah, you are, yeah you are.
Can we go back to the fact that… I donât know if anyone noticed…
GREG: The bond that we all had from day one is a very special relationship that we’ve all developed. And it just creates this, this really safe space where there’s a lot of trust where we can all be really vulnerable and kind of experiment and go the distance. And just this support of all of it really allows for a, you know, very experimental-type safe space, which helps a lot. Especially, you know, playing evil where I, I kind of have to turn it on and off. Here comes the hand…
PHILEMON:Â I was gonna say, Iâm gonna cover your mouth.
KATIE:Â Greg’s evil in real life. So it helps.
GREG:Â IâM, I’m nothing like the character, so there’s gotta be, completely the opposite. I’m like a, a boy, like four-year-old goofy…
KATIE:Â Greg’s a Great Dane puppy.
PHILEMON:Â Me and Katie can actually, you know, prove that Greg is nothing like his character.
KATIE:Â Yeah. I have, I have a bunch of blackmail materials.
GREG:Â So that, that you know, safe space to be able to turn on and off like that and, and completely go outta my skin around all these beautiful people is, is very special. Yeah. It’s just so…Â Way too much love here.
GREG:Â It’s such a joy, itâs, itâs such a joy to be working with everyone here.
KATHERINE:Â No, but it’s true. The world of the west is not always the most happy place to be, for lack of a better word. And to have this group of people just sort of carry each other through emotionally on those days where we have several emotional scenes stacked together and, and these things that we, we feed off of each other’s energy and, and the commitment to the character and the commitment to the story. And it’s really a beautiful, wonderful place to work.
KATIE:Â It is, she’s right.
LAWRENCE:Â I also think like character-wise for all of our characters, we’re all going through like the same kind of thing. Like everyone’s trying to find themselves in this town, like, we’re all trying to find our identity. We’re all like starting off, like on a fresh start, like having new beginnings, like every single character. And I think that’s what, like brings us together too.
PHILEMON:Â Agreed, community.
GREG:Â It’s evolving. It’s evolving.
PHILEMON:Â Community.
HOST:Â Next up we have Luaine Lee and on deck will be Bruce Miller. Go ahead, Luaine.
LUAINE:Â Yes, it’s actually Lou-Ane. Uh, I’d like to ask Seamus and then Jared, there is a Renaissance of westerns. Where do you think that started and why?
SEAMUS:Â You want to go first Texan? Or do you want, you want the…
JARED:Â Uh, I’ll defer to the boss and then I’ll chime in.
SEAMUS:Â Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. I, I, I grew up, my dad loved westerns, so I, I watched westerns with him, and it was more interesting of like, which ones did my mom like? And just like, come at it more than like just the ones that dad liked. So I always had like a little bit of like, instead of just Butch Cassidy, what’s like McCabe and Mrs. Miller. What’s the little Western that’s a little off? And so I always loved them, the, the, the popular ones and the, you know, the obscure ones, One-Eyed Jacks, I think is one of the best westerns ever made, not many people talk about. So I think it always stayed with me. And I think it stayed with a lot of, a lot of folks, like creators and just people who, you know, rewatched ones. And I don’t know why it went dormant. Um, but obviously there’s Deadwood and gentleman by the name Taylor Sheridan, who kind of helped the revival. But, at the time, I think, I think there wasn’t a fresh take.
SEAMUS:Â It’s kinda what we were talking about earlier. I think part of the reason was we’d seen a lot of the same things like over and over again. So I, I think the revival kind of started. I mean, it, it was funny cause when Anna and I were talking about it and we looped in Jared, it was, there was a little bit of like, they’re never gonna bite. No one’s gonna do a Western. Um, and then a couple shows came out and just changed the landscape. Um, and, you know, The Harder They Fall came out and, and kind of just was a big splash. So I think, to me, I think it went dormant because no one had figured out, how do we come at it from a different way? And that’s why we say remix. It’s not a remix of history at all. We’re shining a light at history with, that was there, voices that are there. Margins of history that just wasn’t told.
It’s a remix of how it’s told – the filmmaking, the storytelling, how, how we cast the show. So, I think that’s, that’s what kind of helped the resurgence for this show. And I think that’s what’s helping the resurgence of, not just TV, but film, is like everyone’s coming at like, what haven’t we seen before? What are different voices we haven’t highlighted, and storylines, we, we kind of, haven’t seen before? And maybe starting with the expectation, the tropes, and then like, I was talking about earlier, figuring out ways to subvert it or twist it, or go for the unexpected, or go for something that’s a little uncomfortable and being patient with the storytelling to get someplace that we haven’t, haven’t seen. I think fundamentally that, that was the biggest thing.
JARED:Â Yeah. I think yeah, I, too kind of echo and, and go off on a bit of a tangent possibly. Well, first and foremost, I want to say
(Overlapping chatter)
SEAMUS:Â Â Jared, a tangent?
JARED:Â Seamus, I also love One-Eyed Jacks. I know you you’re upset that people don’t talk about it. Uh, we can talk about it. But I think you know, Seamus obviously, Seamus and Anna had the Western idea. And Seamus really spearheaded that. And I think, not just westerns, but I think genre stories in general. You know, I came from a, a show for 15 years, that was a sci-fi genre. And I think there’s a bit more freedom in telling a genre show. You know, you see this resurgence of superhero shows, and thrillers and sci-fi, and now westerns. And I think there’s some freedom that the, the actors and the writers are afforded. Because if you were to write some scenes like we have in Wendy that take place in 2022, people would be like, âNah, this is BS,â and change the channel.
And so I think another part of it and kind of touch on what Kat was talking about earlier, Katherine, you know, the, the Old West wasn’t necessarily comfortable. And I guess I would say, you know, a version of that is it, it wasn’t conducive to comfort. And so there’s something about seeing characters in, in an unfamiliar situation, persevere and, and work to, to keep finding who they are, like Lawrence is talking about, and I think a lot of the, the cast has talked about. And I think that was something that really struck me during the casting process. You know, the, the writers, not only do they, do they create the road trip, you know, they say, Hey, you need to go from point A to point B, but they create the roadmap that it’s on in the first place.
And so you get some actors and actresses that come in and they get from point A to point B. May see somebody else come in and they go in a direction that you weren’t really expecting and get to point B faster, or more efficiently or better, or more emotionally. And so I think to, to a person, our cast, they came in and they were the character. And I think it was, I’ve never heard of a show that got every number-one pick. Always somebody has a conflict or, you know, they’re still tied into another show, they’re guest-starring on or something. But each and every single person, once we were watching all the videos, were like, oh, that person is already that person. I didn’t even see that.
And I think Seamus and Anna and the rest of the gang felt the same. But going back kind of closing the loop. Genre shows, specifically have a broader palette with which to play from. And so the Western, you know, it is making a resurgence and I think that’s wonderful.
LUAINE:Â Thank you.
HOST:Â Thank you, Luaine. And thanks for, thanks for correcting me. Next up is Bruce Miller, and then on deck is Bryan Cairns.
BRUCE:Â This is for the minority actors. What kind of responsibility do you feel in giving a new kind of performance, or a new kind of portrayal of minorities in the Old West? And you know, how, how do you deal with that? It must be very difficult. And then I have a follow-up for Matt. So if I could.
PHILEMON: Okay. Um… it is a heavy responsibility, because, not all the time have our characters been showcased properly in westerns. And nine times outta 10, we do get the shorter end of the stick. And it’s unfortunate, but with Seamus and Jared, our writers, everybody’s doing a great job at showcasing us fully. And I’ll tell a little story and then I’ll let you go. Um, it was a, a young black kid on set, he was one of the extras for the day, and his name was Elijah. And he was just so excited to be there. He was just like, âI watched Walker and I, I watched Walker, Texas Ranger, and I’m a big thing of westerns.â And I just saw the excitement in his eyes. And that’s the reason why I do it. Because I want a little boy to see themselves and say, I can be that. Cause when I was growing up, I didn’t see that in westerns. I didn’t see that in a lot of media. So for me it is a very rewarding feeling to be here and to do this with these amazing people. That’s it.
LAWRENCE: Â Yeah. And the fact that we can even just flesh out these kinds of characters, like back in the 1870s, like in, in a Western is like we, we never had the opportunity to do that. Just, just showing that we exist is already something in itself. And, yeah. You know, like I, I just feel like people normally would see a character that looks like me in a Western and, and you know, you would, it’s just, it’s just natural to look down upon a character like that. You know, we were never perceived in a, I guess in a cool light. And so just to, to exist in a way. Like even for Kai to be like, you know what, I’m gonna embrace this accent. I’m gonna make this accent cool. Like I’m gonna make this like character like soulful. You know, it’s a, it’s a, it’s just a cool opportunity. And it’s like a, it’s a huge responsibility, but um, it’s so much fun and Iâm just so excited to be here.
PHILEMON:Â Wow, donât cry.
GREG:Â Donât cry.
JUSTIN:Â No, I could echo a lot of what they just said. Um, Native people obviously have always kind of been around the Western genre, and I think, I think people have come to expect them in that genre. And I, and I, I think they need, they deserve to have a place in there. So for me, it’s, it’s that I just wanna make sure we’re doing it in a way that is respectful, authentic, that makes this character feel like a complex human that people could relate to, and not just there to serve plot or serve another character. And a big part of the responsibility for me is to treat the Apache language and the Apache culture, with the respect it deserves. Itâs, it’s one of the few times we’ve seen this language on screen.
JUSTIN:Â So the responsibility to do that right is, is heavy. And you know, I’m, I’m always doing my best, and I’m always nervous, you know, that, that people will, will kind of just not see the weight of that. So I hope people see how important it is that we’re hearing this, this language and people are gonna hear it all across the country, and maybe across the world and be incredible. And it’s, it’s a blessing. So I’m just thankful and, and I’m thankful to everyone behind it and, and everyone that’s supportive here, and, it’s exciting. It’s exciting. So I’ll rise to it., hopefully, and Iâll do my best.
PHILEMON:Â Oh, not hopefully. You’re doing, you’re doing it.
LAWRENCE:Â A quick one for Matt.
(Overlapping chatter)
GABRIELA:Â I just want to add that, the US, at the end of the day, is made up of different cultures. That’s what we are. And the fact that there’s so many stories that have never really been told is interesting. So, I think that’s what’s so exciting about the show, is that we’re able to show so many different cultures that existed during that time, and everyone’s stories, and you know, that’s what makes the US the US. So why, why not show it?
SEAMUS: I, I wanna hear what Katie has to say, if, she was about to say something too. But I wanted to give a shout out to Larry Teng really quick. (Yes, yes) You know, when we, we pitched it and you know, you go through the process, and when the pilot goes, you’re obviously looking for a director. And I had worked with Larry before, and back of my brain, I, I knew, I knew he was kind of a perfect match, not just because he’s a great filmmaker, he’s, he’s just a solid human being, and he’s a logistical genius, which we needed to pull off. But, you know, it, it was, it was a tough thing again, at that time, like when we were pitching in getting into the pilot, it was very tough to kind of sell a Western. And, and Larry was onboard right away, And he was very excited when, when we met and talked about it.
And I hope he doesn’t kill me if he ever hears this or whatever, but he got the vision and he just knew how to like sharpen the vision and expand the vision. Uh, but I remember asking him, I was like, when we were out there in New Mexico and filming, I was like, âI never asked, like, why, why did you really want to do it?â And, and it was tough for him to even answer, based on everything that like Philly and Lawrence is saying, just like, âI haven’t seen a Western like this and I’ve been waiting.â And, and he couldn’t even finish his sentence. And it just meant a lot. And, and kind of like, you know, Justin’s saying, just that, almost burden of responsibility of, we know we’re not gonna get everything right, but we’re gonna, we’re gonna try, we’re gonna fucking try.
And we’re gonna leave it all on the field and, and do our best. But that was kind of like, that moment was like a little bit of a rallying call. And it just kind of spread between like how we talked to crew, how we were putting together the crew, how, how we talked to cast, we were putting, to how we approach the story, everything. But it was, it was a huge moment in realizing like what, what we we’re about to embark upon, no doubt.
KATHERINE:Â We were so lucky to have Larry, because whenever you’re starting a series, you have to have that person who has the vision and who can be there to connect what’s on the page to what we’re all doing emotionally to what’s visually happening with the camera. And that was Larry, from the music to the camera, I mean, he had paintings on his vision board. He had all of these things that brought all of the elements of what the West is, all that nostalgia, but also added color and depth and interest and intrigue and all of this complexity, both in the way it was shot, to the way it was designed, to the way we played all of the moments. And it really added so much to make the pilot special. And that has kind of spurred us on, for lack of a better word, to continue on that. Thank you. I love puns. To continue on that, on that journey and on the trail with all these lovely folks.
GREG:Â Also his leadership as well, was what really set the tone and set the bar. And yeah, Larry left us with something to, to carry on forward. Um, and we miss him. We miss him a lot.
(Overlapping chatter)
SEAMUS:Â Heâll be back.
GREG:Â What, what he, what he started, he catalyzed something that was…
MATT:Â Justin just goes, âhe’s not dead, you guys.â
KATHERINE:Â He’s alive
(Overlapping chatter)
GREG:Â He touched all of us. So, you know, and we all miss him. We all miss him. Thank you for that question, that was a great question.
LAWRENCE:Â Who’s Larry?
KATIE:Â Youâre the worst person I’ve ever met in my life, and I want you to know that in front of all these people.
GREG:Â Come on, Lawrence.
HOST:Â You have a follow-up for Matt as well?
BRUCE: Yeah. I just have a quick one for Matt. And Matt, is there something that a viewer should look for that they would see that would connect the two characters?
MATT:Â Oh my gosh. They’re, I mean, like I said, I think they’re, they’re 90% of the… [JUSTIN POINTS TO BEARD]
KATIE:Â Have you seen this? Have you seen this? (The beard)
GREG:Â You woke up like that.
BRUCE:Â There’s not a gesture or anything that you would say, oh yeah, that’s something he would do?
MATT:Â Yeah. There’s a, there’s a, a wink. I think Hoyt has this sort of, he, he’s so amused by
(Overlapping chatter)
PHILEMON:Â Do it, do it.
Make him do it.
MATT:Â Ready? [WINKS]
Perfectly executed.
GREG:Â It got hot in here.
MATT:Â I think there’s a, I think there’s this little, there’s a little swagger, the way that Hoyt walks
(Overlapping chatter)
KATIE:Â Itâs a walk that I can’t do cause
(Overlapping chatter)
PHILEMON:Â You’ll see it on behind the scenes stuff.
JARED:Â There are also some pretty great Easter eggs as part of the dialogue that Seamus threw in there that we can’t wait for the audience to see as they air, especially our crossover audience. Um, so yeah, I think, I think Matt is doing a great job of gingerly dancing around it, but there’s certainly a nod to the OG Hoyt. Or the, I guess it would be the new gangster. The old gangster.
MATT:Â Whoâs the OG, Jared?
JARED:Â I guess you’re the OG now.
MATT:Â That’s right. That’s right.
KATHERINE:Â Matt Barr is the OG. That’s, thatâs, end of story.
BRUCE:Â Thank you so much.
HOST:Â Thank you, Bruce. Next up is Bryan Cairns and on deck is Terrell Royster.
BRYAN CAIRNS: Hey guys, this question is for Katherine. Abby could have shot sheriff Davidson, but didn’t. Can you talk about what her sense of justice is? And in what ways is she redefining it as things are thrown at her?
KATHERINE:Â You know, with Abby, I think she’s a woman who’s a bit out of her time. You know, she is very well educated, very intelligent, but still somehow finds her in a world where she knows nothing. She has to completely start over her entire life, literally, you know, is gone in the first 15 minutes of our show, and stumbles into this town that is also finding itself. And it’s, it’s such an interesting opportunity to see a woman in this time period have such agency, and to be able to start over on a life that is for her, and to create her own destiny, while also trying to take revenge for the death of the love of her life. And try and find some sense of justice in a world where justice is always a shade of gray.
But that is one thing I love about all of these characters is that I think everyone has their own sense of justice, and their own drive, and their own way of moving through the world that they think is right, and something that they’re striving for, and something that they’re hiding. So, you know, as the series unfolds, we get to see the different kinds of justice that happen in the West and the different ways in which these characters can go about accomplishing that.
BRYAN:Â Thank you.
HOST:Â Thanks Bryan. Next up is Terrell Royster and on deck is Jennifer Griffin.
TARA:Â Hey guys, can you hear me? (Yes, loud and clear) All right, cool. This question goes out to the executive producers, obviously watching the pilot episode of Walker independence and, you know as Katherine said earlier, The CW verse at this point. Obviously there are actors in this show that have been in other shows. Are we in surprise for other, other actors, referring to Mark Shepherd that have been in other shows that we’re gonna see as the show goes on? Either this, either regular Walker, or Walker independence?
SEAMUS:Â Yes.
JARED:Â If they say yes, then I can say yes. So yes.
TARA:Â So those will be surprise guest stars.
SEAMUS:Â Yeah. Come on. You don’t want me to give away, right?
PHILEMON:Â No, no.
JARED:Â There are some people that there, there are some people from shows that also were on CW or WB back in the day, that are just perfect for certain roles. And I know that with Seamus and Anna’s knowledge of kind of the CW/WB lexicon, they probably have a few different actors in mind, they’re writing a few different things, and weâll be sure to, to try and reach out to them, continue to reach out to them if, if the opportunity arises.
TARA:Â Cool. Thanks.
HOST:Â Next up is Jennifer Griffin and on deck is Briar. Go ahead, Jennifer.
JENNIFER:Â Hi guys. Uh, thanks for being here today. Uh, my question is for Anna and Katherine. And I have a quick follow-up then for anyone who wants to answer it. Um, but basically we don’t often see westerns that are told from a female perspective. And I was wondering if you could talk to that a little bit.
ANNA: I think just, just to jump in, I think first and foremost, when Seamus and I were talking about this, it’s as, as Seamus was saying, like watching the westerns with his dad and, and paying attention to what his mom also liked, I think is a big part of it. It’s like, we know we had this great world in Walker, and wanting to move forward and telling, you know, a remix with this spin on it. And what’s, what’s another point of view. And Walker is such a legacy story, obviously this is as well. And so, you know, we wanted to, to go back and tell it from that, from that origin essentially.
KATHERINE:Â Iâll follow up on that. You know, my, my favorite thing about my job is that I get to be a storyteller. And I think, you know, there are a few story tropes that are told over and over again. But, what makes stories interesting is when you find a new perspective, and a part of that story, or her perspective on that story that has not yet been told. Or has not yet been told in a certain way. And that’s what we get to do with, with Walker Independence. It starts with Abby. It starts with this woman who has to rebuild her life from the ashes of her expectations.
And then it brings in all of these other characters in this town that’s building itself up as well. And it allows for us to show what we hope is a more historically accurate version of the west than perhaps we’ve been able to see before on screen.
JENNIFER:Â That’s great. Thank you, and I have a follow-up question. I donât know who wants to answer this question, but what are you guys most excited for fans to see this season?
KATHERINE:Â These people.
PHILEMON:Â This right here.
KATHERINE:Â All of this, all of these characters, all of the relationships, there’s so much, and so many layers that I think there’s, as Katie said, there’s so many head canons and things that we all want to explore even more, so hopefully we’ll be able to do so for the next several years.
MATT:Â I think, I think a lot of the, the magic in the show is the interactions between these characters and how, I mean, story in general is about change and how people, you know, how characters reinvent themselves. And so, it’s fun to see how we ping-pong off each other. And, and the, the chemistry is so different between each of our, you know, our, our cocktails, I guess if you will.
PHILEMON:Â Yeah. And finish each other sandwiches.
KATIE: Iâm sorry. Iâll give you space.
KATHERINE:Â But sometimes we do finishes otherâs (sandwiches) sandwiches.
MATT:Â So westerns are, are just badass. There’s horses, horse chases, bank robberies, gunfights, romance.
PHILEMON:Â Oh, why’d you say romance like that?
(Overlapping chatter)
MATT:Â I love romance.
KATIE:Â Let, it be known today, there is romance, thatâs true.
MATT:Â I’m a lover, not a fighter. You know?
KATIE:Â That’s the first thing I tell people about you.
PHILEMON:Â That’s true.
KATIE:Â So tell people to stop asking me about you.
GREG: Weâre all, weâre all learning it as we go along too. So…
EVERYONE PUTS THEIR MICS IN GREGâS FACE
GREG:Â But, but every, every time we get these scripts for each episode, it’s like, we’re so blown away about how all the plot points shift. And we, we, you know, we’ve discussed the, the direction of each… What are you guys doing? Get outta here. The direction of each character and, and we’ve, you know, want to get some insight on it, to try and hone it all out. And then there’s shifts in the way it’s presented by the writers. I think we need a shout-out to the writers and how incredible they present all of these plot twists and these, you know, evolution of each character.
GREG:Â So if I, I mean, if I’m blown away every time I read the script, I can’t imagine what viewers are gonna think. Cause it’s like Christmas morning every time you get a script, a new episode.
KATHERINE:Â And I think too, we’re also proud of this community that we’ve built, both on camera and behind the lens. Every single person on this set is so passionate about telling the story and about the detail and every element of bringing this show to life. And I’m looking at a photo of our town right now, and thinking about the costumes, to the sets, to the props, to every single element. It really brings it together and creates this sort of visceral magic for all of us.
JARED:Â Yeah. I think the interplay, what I’m excited about, the interplay between the cast, for sure. The storylines are incredible. And as a lot of the journalists and a lot of the cast and other producers that are here know already, TV is a giant machine. Making a TV episode is hundreds of people over weeks and/or months, long days and long nights to bring you 42 minutes every week, if we can. And so, sometimes you have to just have somebody there to get the job done. You know, somebody who might go, âthey went that way.â
Here on this show, every single character could have their own show. No, one’s there just to progress the storyline. They’re all exciting and intriguing and kind of touch on what Matt touched on. Their interplay with each other is different. They’re not just this person every single time. If they’re talking to this character from the town, they have this relationship. And then it’s very obvious what the relationship is with that person, and so on and so forth. Um, and so I’ve, I’ve really enjoyed, you know, I see the scripts obviously before they get filmed, but getting to watch some dailies and, some of the earlier cuts of the episodes. I’ve been like, I didn’t even, I didn’t think of that. Like how did they figure that out? So I’m just, you know, bravo all around from top to bottom.
JENNIFER:Â That’s fantastic. Thanks so much, guys.
HOST:Â Thank you, Jennifer. We’ll get to Briar in just a second, but I also wanted to find out what Gabriela thinks about, you know, women in westerns. And I mean, she plays this really unique character also and would love to hear her, her thoughts on that.
GABRIELA:Â Yeah. I mean, as Kat said, I feel like you never get to see the perspective of women. And I think what’s interesting is that all three of our characters seem to be very modern-day women in, in a western. My character Lucia is, I think trying to find herself, and she comes from a very traditional Mexican family. And gender roles in Hispanic families, there’s the machismo and there’s the marianismo. And women are often taught to self-deny, and it’s family, it’s family first, which I love, I love family. But I think that there’s a cool journey of her trying to find herself and her independence and where she fits in this world. And that’s different than what you, I think would normally see in a Western. And it’s also very modern. It’s a cool, modern twist on, I guess what would be traditional.
(Overlapping chatter)
PHILEMON:Â Well said, I love Gabby too.
HOST:Â Next up is Briar. And then on deck is Margie Barron. Go ahead, Briar.
BRIAR:Â Hi. Um, my question is for everybody. I want to know, what is a historical event or moment, or even something that you’ve seen in westerns before that you loved, what you love to see explored in Independence?
PHILEMON:Â Heavy question.
(Overlapping chatter)
PHILEMON:Â Okay, put me on the spot. Um, you know, for me, I, I really loved The Harder They Fall, and I’m glad that Seamus brought that up. Like everybody can tell you, I watch it probably six times a day. But I just loved that. They brought characters to life that didn’t have light, that were played by different races, and now they’re being more authentic. So I, I love that, and I would love for that to continue. But I have to go, because I gotta go to set and I gotta film.
JARED:Â Love you, Philly!
(Overlapping chatter)
KATHERINE:Â Mine is a bit of a lighter version. I grew up in the Midwest. I’ve always loved, you know, I grew up playing the Oregon Trail computer game. I’ve always loved this idea of putting your entire life on a wagon and going out west. But there’s such a romanticized idea of it. In the pilot, we actually had a historically accurate-sized covered wagon for part of it, and put in, you know, a piano, and a bunch of stuff that would’ve been their life: a bed, a bunch of clothing, books. It was tiny.
You put myself and one other actor in there, you couldn’t even fit the camera inside. We had to find creative ways to go from the outside. And it really just puts perspective to what people went through in that time, just to even get around.
KATIE:Â I have one. I haven’t, I haven’t done a very good job. I’ve just been sitting here cracking wise. And I feel like everybody’s been waiting for me to do this. The west was queer. It was queer. It was all kinds of people, all kinds of gender presentation, all kinds of… And, and I think that’s something we see so rarely. Cowboys lived together in domestic marriages that were sometimes romantic and weren’t. People ran away to the frontiers so that queer women could marry their wives and masquerade as men, because women couldn’t own property. So they bound and bought a damn ranch.
And I, I am so looking forward to the opportunity to explore it, both through my own queerness and, and the queerness of others, which sounds like a hilarious thing to say. But, but I think that, yeah, it’s something that’s not often touched on, sort of the, the wildness of frontier self-discovery and the kind of refuge that was available for people. I mean, not only of different sexualities and genders, but of, of cultures. To find peace or adventure or acceptance or escape or respite from the societal norm of the time.
And obviously in westerns that are a bunch of old, straight, white guys, you’re, you’re not gonna see that. So, I’m really delighted to have been given the opportunity to, to get in there and wiggle around a little bit. I’m using weird verbs this morning, and I’m not sorry about it at all.
JUSTIN:Â Â Wiggle, wiggle.
KATIE:Â Everybody hates me.
KATHERINE:Â I can’t wiggle in the corset, I’m sorry.
KATIE:Â You can wiggle like a paper doll. Justin, go.
JUSTIN:Â Keep wiggling. I think for, for me, the historical part of it, that would be really interesting to see, is the reservation system at this time in history for native people, a lot of land is getting taken away and they were getting forced into, either smaller parts of their own land or getting moved to completely new places that they know nothing about. They know nothing about the, the land, what grows there, what food’s there, and they were expected to thrive. Um, so that could be a really interesting to get thing to get into Seamus.
SEAMUS:Â We will.
JUSTIN:Â And, you know, I, I think, I think Calianâs character and his relationship with the town right now is, is a really cool thing that we’re exploring, because the landscape was changing so much at this time. And, and native people did interact as people came west. So, it’s, it’s been really fun to find these relationships and find truth in them, and it’s stuff we haven’t really seen in the past. So, you know, a lot of times what we, what we write, we have really clear examples of. And so I, I almost feel like we’re on a new frontier right now with this show, and exploring these relationships that I’ve never seen shown in TV and film. And I’m sure they’re out there somewhere, but I never had the opportunity to see that. So that’s been a really interesting part of this journey for me.
MATT:Â Just real quick, like when, as the railroad moved west and these little towns sort of popped up, cause the railroad started to splinter, I always loved the idea of what they represented. Which was that American dream of like, you, you can make what you want in this world. You know, you can build your own life. And it is, it is what you make it. And people fought and died for it. And yet they still kept coming west, still came because of what that meant to people, to have the freedom, to define your own life. And so that sounds romantic and it’s… we, we’re still doing it today, I guess, you know?
KATHERINE:Â Well, that’s exactly it. To follow onto what you were saying, you know, this story is such a, a classic story of a western, of people who are building their own lives and choosing their own independence. But it’s such an allegory for today. We’re at this point in the world where we have a chance to, in some ways, start over and in some ways reset. And I think getting to see a town go through that on such a small scale, on a network like The CW can be an example and an interesting allegory for our world today.
KATIE:Â Well, because it also is the intersection of other people’s freedoms, right? Because you can hold a personal freedom, like sure, we’re going west. I want my own life. You get there, and suddenly your freedom is intersecting with the freedom of everybody who was already there. And there is, there is potential for, for damage and for harm, and watching how humans try, fail, try again to live peacefully with one another under various systems that sometimes, let’s be real, really don’t work, and sometimes do. Like there’s a lot of tension, and often tenderness involved in those interactions.
And I think that’s one of the, thematically, what a gigantic idea to then fold up in, you know, this little town full of people in the absolute middle of nowhere, who are all, like, many of them are experiencing each other, people like each other for, like literally the first time in their lives. There’s no YouTube, you know, you’re walking out in the middle of the desert all by yourself. So I think that, yeah, I, I agree with Kat that it is, it is sort of a, a microcosm of, of quite a, quite a, a contentious and broad thing about the world that we live in.
LAWRENCE:Â I think another fun thing to explore, history-wise would be the Chinese exclusion act. And you know, at that time, like they just stopped allowing Chinese people to come to America and, and, you know, not even own any businesses. So like to, to experience that, to actually explore that, if we get there would be pretty awesome.
SEAMUS:Â Yeah, just to piggyback off of everybody. I mean, we’re all saying the word change a lot, and we’re all saying the word identity. And, and, and I think, from day zero, day one onward, the idea of taking moments from history, you know, the railroad’s coming, we know, you know, Chinese Exclusion Act, different Native American tribes being forced into reservations. All these historical events are happening. And I always thought it was interesting to be like, what were the very small conversations in a town in the middle of nowhere that were happening before these huge events that we just read about in history books. And just kind of reducing it down to characters, and like focusing on like the emotional impact of that, and moments that we don’t necessarily think about when we’re in a history class.
Cause itâs called Independence for a reason, too. So it’s like, everyone’s trying to figure out like, who they are on their own while these massive events are happening and there’s this huge turning point of what the country was, what Texas was, what this town could be, and who these people are and how they’re gonna adapt. I think it’s just combining that, the historical backdrop of that, while being excited about building the characters in a way where they’re heading toward a certain direction, and then you, you flip it. You flip the script, you, you know, pull the rug out from under people and, and have some unexpected turn.
in the marriage of character and history, I always think that’s another thing, going back to what Jared was saying earlier. I think westerns can do that better than any other genre, you know, for all the obvious reasons. But I think the potential of that, we haven’t even tapped into yet.
HOST:Â Thank you, Briar. And I do wanna get to Margie, if you’re still there. Margie, you’ll have to be our last question for today. If you didn’t get to get to your question, please feel free to email me, and we will do our best to get you answers. But Margie, go ahead and we will wrap up for today.
JARED:Â And blame Katie.
MARGIE:Â Thank you. I’m really excited about this. I love westerns. Uh, grew up on the, you know, the great TV era of, of TV westerns, Maverick, you know, Rifleman, A Man From Black Hawk, a little treasure in there. Anyway, Seamus talk about watching classic westerns with his dad. I, I want to tap into a few other people, Justin and, and Matt and anyone else who wants to chime in. Can you relate Walker independence with any of the classic westerns, whether, and you can combine them like, Dodge City with a touch of Lone Ranger, or High Noon with a touch of Maverick. What, is there any classic old Western that just has a wink and a nod that you see there in Independence?
MATT:Â I see it more, I see it more with characters, you know? What was kind of cool about when Wyatt Earp and, and his brothers went to Tombstone, you know, what, what was cool was that these were like, they were kind of anti-law. If you remember, they were like gunslingers that became lawmen. And I think we have some of that DNA in our show. Um, I can’t talk too much about that maybe, but we will, we will see about how, you know, these, these towns were… What’s funny is that these sheriffs and these lawmen were actually, you know, outlaws at one point in time. Um, and we see that in a lot of those classical westerns, like, you know, Tombstone, to mention one.
JUSTIN: I just love Chavez from Young Guns. Like I, that’s the one Western I watch. I was like, yeah, him. The rest of ’em, you know, it’s like, you wanna be, you wanna be the guys from Tombstone, because they’re taking care of business. (Right). But for me, you know, I, I think we’re doing something different. Again, like I’ve said, if I, I don’t think I would relate to doing this character, or even agree to, if I thought there was something out there that I’d already seen before. Um, and I think that’s why we’re doing it.
MATT: I do see a, I see a lot of Matt Dillon in, in Augustusâ character that, that nobility, you know, his moral compass is right on target.
KATHERINE:Â I mean, I would hazard to say, no. I think that’s our whole goal here, is to make something new. And to take a genre that yes, there’s elements of it. There’s characters, there’s the warm nostalgia of seeing, you know, a horse walking down a western street and women in these grand dresses, and a cow in Congress in the middle of town for no reason. Spoiler alert. But, [OVERLAPPING] a cow. But that’s what our goal is here, is to create a new perspective on this genre, and to create something that you haven’t seen before, and to shed light on things that are very uncommon in this genre. And, and, you know, yes, we will have homages to things throughout, but hopefully we can accomplish that.
KATIE:Â I, I’m gonna say that Kate’s Blazing Saddles all by themselves. But other than that, yeah, that’s something I do find refreshing is that, you know, you can look back into a lot of classic westerns, but there are gonna be people who are misrepresented, insulted, left out completely. Um, so, you know, you can say that the, the spirit of High Noon walks around in everyone handling their problems without giving it away, holding the weight of the world on their shoulders, without, you know, joining in community, refusing to join in community until it’s a desperate situation.
But I, I see us as a Western about community, rather than separation or isolation or violence, per se. Even though, you know, lots of people ride horses through barns and do cool stuff, I’m not allowed to swear. Um, but, but yeah, I think, I think there is sort of a… a unique communal support and an emotional side to Walker Independence that that just sort of shifts it slightly away from most, most of the classic westerns that I’ve seen, which is a reasonable amount, I think. Don’t look at me like that.
JUSTIN:Â Love you so much.
HOST:Â Thank you, Margie. Thank you so much. And thank you to everyone. Thanks to all the press who joined us today. Thanks to everyone at The CW. Thank you for everyone behind the scenes who made this happen today. It was three different time zones and lots of people, we appreciate it. Also big thanks, not only to our cast and executive producers here, but also to Dan Linn, Lindsey Liberatore, Laura Terry, and Larry Teng. Also to Lawrence and Greg, and big shout-out to Philly who’s out there working already, to Gabriela and Katie and Katherine and Matt and Justin. Jared, thank you for being here. Anna, thank you for being here. Seamus, thank you so much. Once again, we will premiere on Thursday, October 6th on The CW at 9:00 PM. Hope everybody gets to finish watching all the episodes, if you didn’t get to. And wishing you a wonderful day. Thanks.
Walker: Independence is an upcoming American television series developed by Anna Fricke for The CW. It is a prequel to the television series Walker, which also airs on The CW. The series stars Katherine McNamara in the lead role, along with Matt Barr as Hoyt Rawlins, with Greg Hovanessian, Lawrence Kao, Justin Johnson Cortez, Philemon Chambers, Katie Findlay, and Gabriela Quezada also starring.[1]
The series was ordered in May 2022[2] for a fall premiere, paired with its parent series in a Thursday time slot on October 6, 2022.
Pilot
SeasonS.1 Episode 101
Airdate:
SERIES PREMIERE â In the late 1800s, Abby Walker (Katherine McNamara), an affluent and tough-minded Bostonian, embarks on a journey out west with her husband Liam (guest star Brandon Sklenar), when her husband is murdered before her eyes. After crossing paths with Calian (Justin Johnson Cortez), a curious Apache tracker, Abby arrives in the town of Independence, Texas, where she encounters diverse and eclectic residents running from their pasts, chasing their dreams, and keeping their own secrets, including Kate Carver (Katie
They played a great preview of the show for us. The hosts, Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell, performed the theme song. They are certainly multi-talented. They also reminded us that “The Real Love Boat” premieres Wednesday, October 5th, on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Executive Producer Jay Bienstock addressed us with these opening remarks:
So when you hear “The Love Boat” theme song like we just did, you cannot underestimate the power of nostalgia. You can hum that theme all day long, and it will make you smile. So our new series “The Real Love Boat” caps into that nostalgia. So when you hear the theme song and when you see Ted Lange show up dressed up in that famous red bartender’s outfit that he wore when he played Isaac, when we see Jill Whelan, who played Captain Stubing’s daughter, Vicki, arrive on the ship, I mean, you feel like you are in the middle of a mist of friends. It feels like you are coming home. “The Real Love Boat” has this great sense of adventure. Now, the ship, the Regal Princess — which, by the way had 3,200 paying customers on board when we were shooting, no less. The ship visits these beautiful ports around the Mediterranean Marseille and Santorini and Crete it’s really magical, and it’s the perfect environment to fall in love. It’s fun to imagine that, at any port, at any given time, our singles may find the love of their life. And our singles, these are regular people who have great stories, have been in love and fallen out of love. We have a firefighter and a nurse, a youth basketball coach, real people looking for real love. So not only do we have the real ship and real singles and we have a real married couple as our hosts, Rebecca and Jerry, all we needed was the secret sauce. So, like the original series, we needed real crewmembers to be our matchmakers. So we have our captain. We have our bartender. We have our cruise director. And they are the real deal. I mean, those roles are their day jobs. They are not TV people. They are ship people, and over the years, they have made matches for many people on their cruises, and they did so on ours. It was sort of this interesting combining of roles of television and real life. So you take these real singles, take the real Princess Cruise Line, take real crewmembers, and you add them all together, and you throw in one of the most iconic theme songs ever, and — you heard Rebecca and Jerry — it’s amazing. I can listen to that all day long. It’s so fun the way they sing it together. You put that all together, and we have a really, really fun show, and that is “The Real Love Boat.”
I don’t normally watch any kind of unscripted or non-fiction TV shows. I would rather watch great acting and writing. However, I was very happy to speak with Jerry O’Connell and Rebecca Romijn, my favorite celebrity husband-and-wife team. At first it was just these two, and they brought out the crew later.
I’m not embarrassed to say I had a huge crush on Jerry from when he starred in “Sliders” on FOX back in 1995-2000. He was a child actor who got his start in the movie “Stand by Me” when he was only 12. Both he and Rebecca are now in different “Star Trek” series, which I love because I’m a long-time Trekkie. She stars as Number One in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and he does the voice of Commander Ransom in “Star Trek: Lower Decks.” I told them that I think they’re “amazing actors” and asked them what made them want to do this project. Rebecca answers that they “love watching reality television” and “watching love stories,” so they’re very excited to do it in person rather than from their sofa. They also enjoyed the “beautiful locations.” Jerry agreed, saying, “We as a couple consume an unhealthy amount of unscripted television.” They joked for a few minutes about how they shouldn’t be admitting that. They should, instead, say that they only watch “premium streaming shows” with “people with accents who live in manors.” They love the CBS competition shows and jumped at the opportunity to host this show. Rebecca had previously hosted “Skin Wars,” but he hadn’t hostead before. Since they’re actors, “This is a muscle we had not flexed before,” Rebecca said.
Jerry talked about how the show drew him in emotionally. Someone got eliminated in their first episode. He started to say something, but Rebecca interjected that he “cried.” He denied that, saying he was just “emotional,” but she repeated that he “cried.” It was a very funny moment. They have a great rapport that’s fun to watch. Jerry said that his “superiors” let him know that he can’t be so invested in what’s going on with the “singles” on the show. Rebecca agreed that being neutral is hard for Jerry. He gets “very caught up in the emotion” because he’s an actor. He added that when he watches at home, he definitely takes sides and shares his strong opinions on social media. Jay jumped in to say that this all proves how real the show is, that the singles wnat to find love and how real it is for them. He thinks that watching them do this is great TV. Jerry shared that he was shocked at how “emotionally attached I became to our couples and how much I was rooting for them.” When they’re acting, they know it’s pretend, but with this, it’s real.
Other members of the press asked their questions as well. They asked if the singles on the show remember the original “Love Boat,” since they’re so young? Rebecca assumed that they probably didn’t know about it. She thinks that the one of the show’s strengths is the nostalgia for people who grew up in the 80’s. Jerry wonders if some do have awareness of the show because of the Princess cruises, where there is a “Love Boat channel” and you can watch all of the episodes there.
This reminded him that he had asked Jay and their other boss, Eden, what he should do to prepare for the show. They just told him to watch the original “Love Boat” because it was all about people trying to find love. Rebecca agreed that both the old and new shows are about “people whose hearts have been broken, who are looking for a second chance at love.” Jerry hopes that people will watch the new show and get that same “warm, fuzzy feeling.”
Jay reminded Jerry that he’s not his boss. He talked about scouting to find the people for the show, and he met the ship’s captain, Captain Paolo. He explained how it worked to film on the ship. He impressed them all with how charming, good-looking, and well-mannered he was, so they decided they wanted him to be their captain on the show. They had to find someone else to actually drive the ship instead of him. He related that the Captain and others are the “matchmakers” on the ship. They “bring people together,” along with Jerry and Rebecca. At that point, they brought out their crewmembers and introduced them.
Captain Paolo was asked if he’d had any acting experience, but he hadn’t. He said he was just playing himself in the show, so he doesn’t consider this acting experience, but he said it was “incredible.” He was asked whether the singls on the show really talk to the captain about how much they want love and whether he believes their stories, and how did he help them. He confirmed that the cruise director, Matt, and the bartender, Ezra, gathered info about the singles and what happened with them, and they all worked to help them out, “to either fortify or strengthen their bond or maybe try to open themselves up to other opportunities out there with other singles until they find the real love.”
Jerry and Rebecca were asked if they’re good matchmakers in real life. Jerry claimed that he was responsible for two couples getting married. Jerry went on to talk about how the setting for “The Real Love Boat” is made for couples to get together and find romance because it’s in the Mediterranean and other beautiful locations. Jerry mentioned that he and Rebecca have been together 15 years. He also admitted that he’d never been on a cruise before. He thinks it’s a very romantic place. Rebecca added that “Water is sexy” while Jerry went on to say that “time stands still.” He understands it now. He compared it to other traveling, like by airplane, which is stressful and not romantic. Rebecca also admitted that she’d never been on a cruise before, either. She said she loved sleeping on the boat, “I have never slept better in my life, like, rocked like a little, gentle baby, oh, so beautiful.”
Bartender Ezra was asked how long it took her “perfect the iconic Isaac finger point to your liking” and what it was like to meet Ted Lange (who played Isaac, the bartender, on the original “Love Boat’). Ezra replied that the finger point is a lot harder than it looks and Ted helped her with it. You have to tuck the thumbs in but point the fingers out. She said that it was “amazing” working with Ted. She was already a huge fan of the original show because of working on the Princess cruise line. She had always joked “that it should be required viewing for crewmembers to watch Season 1.” So she was very excited about the show and to meet Ted. In fact, she said, “Jay told me to stay away from him until we got the cameras rolling because I was so excited to see him and work with him.” She gushed about great he’s been to her. Jay also shared with us that Ted is working behind the bar in some scenes.
Jay was asked whether their partnership with the Princess line was to help promote it and get the cruise industry to be popular again, since it took quite a hit during COVID and via several revealing documentaries. Jay denied that and said that it was just about being “The Love Boat” and nothing else. Jay was also asked whether anyone else besides Ted and Jill (Whelen, who played Vicki on the original series) were going to be on the show. He let Captain Paolo talk about Jill. He had meet Jill on a previous cruise. He used to watch the show with his grandfather who was on the original as an executive chef. They were discussing this before they show the new show, and “all of these nostalgic things.” It was a great conversation for both of them.
Rebecca said a few closing words about how much they love the show and enjoyed traveling to the various beautiful locations. “We are very proud to be a part of it, and we hope everybody enjoys it as well.”
MORE INFO:
REBECCA ROMIJN AND JERRY OâCONNELL COME ABOARD AS CO-HOSTS OF âTHE REAL LOVE BOATâ
The Dating Adventure Series Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 5, as Part of
CBSâ All-Reality Wednesday
CBS announced today Rebecca Romijn (Paramount+â STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS) and Jerry OâConnell (CBSâ THE TALK) as co-hosts of THE REAL LOVE BOAT. The husband-and-wife team will take the helm guiding viewers through the dating adventure series inspired by âThe Love Boat,â the hit scripted series in the â70s that used Princess Cruises ships as its setting. The series sets sail Wednesday, Oct. 5 (9:00-10:00 PM, PT/ET), following SURVIVOR (8:00 PM PT/ET) and leading into THE AMAZING RACE (10:00 PM, PT), to create the Networkâs all-reality night.
âAfter years of consuming, arguing about and dissecting unscripted television, hosting a reality series where a group of singles look for love while aboard a Princess Cruise ship, seemed like a dream come true,â said Romijn and OâConnell. âWhen we heard it was aboard THE REAL LOVE BOAT, that dream got an iconic theme song â âwe promise something for everyone.ââ
Rebecca Romijn continues to maintain her leading lady status in Hollywood since famously starring as Mystique in the FOX X-Men franchise. Currently, Romijn stars in the Paramount+ series STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, reprising her role as the iconic character Number One, whom she also portrayed in STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. As co-host of THE REAL LOVE BOAT, the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover model returns to familiar territory â she served as the host of MTVâs iconic âHouse of Styleâ and as host and executive producer of the GSN bodypainting competition series âSkin Wars.â
Actor, director and television personality Jerry OâConnell serves as host of THE TALK, CBSâ Daytime Emmy Award-winning talk show that examines topical events and contemporary issues. OâConnell began his acting career at age 11 when he co-starred as Vern Tessio in âStand by Me,â spawning a career of roles in critically acclaimed films and televisions series. OâConnell currently voices Commander Jack Ransom in STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS for Paramount+ and he can now be seen in the thriller âEndangered Speciesâ opposite his wife, Romijn, and Philip Winchester.
THE REAL LOVE BOAT brings singles together to sail the Mediterranean on a luxury cruise ship while looking for love. Destination dates, challenges and surprise singles will test the couplesâ compatibility and chemistry. Like the beloved original scripted series, the indispensable crew members, including captain and cruise director, will play pivotal roles in the matchmaking and navigation of the romantic (and sometimes turbulent) waters ahead.
After nearly one month at sea, one winning couple will dock in the final port and take home a cash prize plus a once-in-a-lifetime trip courtesy of Princess Cruises, the seriesâ exclusive cruise line partner.
THE REAL LOVE BOAT is produced by Eureka Productions in association with Buster Productions. Chris Culvenor, Paul Franklin, Wes Dening and Jay Bienstock serve as executive producers for Eureka.
Biography
Jerry OâConnell is an actor, director and television personality. He serves as host of The Talk, CBSâ Daytime Emmy Award-winning talk show.
OâConnell began his acting career at age 11 when he co-starred as Vern Tessio in Stand By Me. Born and raised in New York City, OâConnell graduated from New York University with a BFA before returning to feature films. He received critical acclaim for his role as quarterback Frank Cushman in Jerry Maguire.
Most recently he appeared in the film Endangered Species, with additional credits including Scream 2, Canât Hardly Wait, Mission to Mars, Tomcats, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced comedy Kangaroo Jack, Yours, Mine and Ours, Man About Town, Obsessed, Piranha 3-D, The Lookalike, Deep Murder, and The Secret: Dare to Dream. OâConnell was also seen in the big screen follow-up to the cult hit television series Veronica Mars. In addition to his film work, he has been seen in multiple hit television series, including Scream Queens (FOX), Mistresses (ABC), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Billions (SHOWTIME), The Mysteries of Laura (NBC), Carter (OWN) and currently voices Commander Jack Ransom in Star Trek: LowerDecks (PARAMOUNT+.)
Additionally, OâConnell hosted his own daytime talk show Jerry O in 2019 and starred in the Broadway play A Soldierâs Play in early 2020.
OâConnell resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Rebecca Romijn, and twin daughters. His birthday is Feb. 17. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @mrjerryoc.
Rebecca Alie Romijn was born on November 6, 1972 in Berkeley, California. Her father was Dutch-born and worked as a custom-furniture maker. Her mother was American-born, with Dutch and English ancestry, and was a teacher of English. Rebecca attended Berkeley High School where her nickname was the “Jolly Blond Giant”, then she attended the University of California at Santa Cruz where she majored in Music, but left in 1995.
She was a natural for modeling, and has posed for Sports Illustrated, Christian Dior and Victoria’s Secret, to name but a few. Rebecca first met John Stamos in 1994, at a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and had her first date with him at Disneyland. They married in September 1998, but have since gotten divorced.
Rebecca’s favorite foods are fillet mignon, tuna sashimi and HĂ€agen-Dazs Cappuccino Commotion ice cream. But to keep her weight at a svelte 130 pounds, she stays fit with a rigorous stretching and strengthening routine (her firm body tone is evident when compared to photos of her earlier modeling, where she was very slim but not toned). Rebecca’s most famous movie role, so far, was as the shapeshifting Mystique in X-Men (2000), based on the long-running comic book series about teenage mutant superheroes (that Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created in 1962). To play Mystique every day, Rebecca had to start out nude, and then two female makeup artists would apply blue body paint and other stick-on parts for 8 hours a day. Rebecca told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) that things like tissue paper would stick to her hips; and, one day, the long hours of wearing sticky paint makeup made her so upset that director Bryan Singer told her to have a glass of white wine and relax. Notwithstanding those technical difficulties, X-Men (2000) was a box-office bonanza, and Rebecca’s future in films was assured.
SHOW INTRODUCTION: Hello, and welcome to our panel for the new SYFY series “Reginald the Vampire.” The hour long series, which stars Jacob Batalon as the title character, will premiere on SYFY on Wednesday, October 5th at 10:00 p.m., following the Season 2 premiere of “Chucky.” Imagine a world populated by beautiful, fit, and vain vampires. Reginald Andres tumbles headlong into it as an unlikely hero who will have to navigate every kind of obstacle: the girl he loves, but can’t be with, a bully manager at work, and the vampire chieftain who wants him dead. Fortunately, Reginald discovers just a few unrecognized powers of his own. A new show with a lot of heart and just enough blood, “Reginald the Vampire” prove the end of life is just as complicated as life itself.
This was a great TCA panel about the show. I really enjoyed the episodes I watched, and you will, too. I told them this and jokingly thanked them for getting a certain earworm song they used in the show stuck in my head. Peyton replied that it’s stuck in all of their heads, too.
Savannah Basley plays the “evil” ancient vampire, Angela. Mandela Van Peebles (son of Mario Van Peebles!) plays Maurice, the vampire who turns Reginald. There is a very sexy scene in the show between them, so I asked them about what they had to go through as actors to do that scene, which was sexy but involved lots of blood. Savannah had already mentioned that there was lots of “stickiness.”
Savannah explained that it was fun and that she loves the horror genre. She loves being hands-on and said that being covered in blood and having it “squirting” was fun. She admitted that while there is a vain part of you that worries about how your hair and makeup look, you can let go of all that and have the freedom to wallow in the fake blood and just concentrate on acting in the scene. She did add that the stickiness was kind of annoying, but the rest was “a lot of fun.”
Mandela also answered that having EP Jeremiah Chechik and the other “great people behind the camera and being able to trust their vision” was the best part for him. He wants to look good in a sex scene and can be critical of himself. He also spoke at length about how the romance between Maurice and Angela spans many years, so the earlier sex scenes have more innocence, whereas the later ones have more confidence and “the strength of someone who has grown up a bit since the first time.” He agrees with Savannah that it’s fun and figures that when you’re immortal (like the vampires are), it would be difficult to keep holding a grudge (as Angela and Maurice do against each other). He enjoyed playing their relationship and is looking forward to seeing it on screen. Jeremiah also chimed in to compare these type of scenes with others he’s done in the past. He admits that “they can be very disquieting, can be very tense, and can be very uncomfortable.” However, they weren’t for these actors. He works hard to make sure that all of the actors “feel very comfortable and relaxed” and not “self conscious.”
He praised the actors for how they made the scenes fun. Savannah also replied that there was “safety on set.” They made sure that she and Mandela were comfortable, ready and feeling okay. They worked with an “intimacy coordinators,” which made them feel less vulnerable. She felt it was important to show Angela’s softer side, since she’s seen as angry or evil, so that we can see why Maurice fell in love with her. She might have put a wall up due to things that have happened in her 400-year lifetime.
Showrunner Harley joked, “She might pull your heart out of your chest, but other than that, she’s very, very soft inside.” Everyone laughed at that. There was quite a lot of laughing and joking around during the whole panel, which was very fun.
Most of the press questions were for Jacob, who’s not only the star of the show but famous for his role as Ned in the Spider-Man movies. He was asked about having to play a vampire. He praised Harley and the others for making the show as realistic as possible and turning the usual vampire “tropes” on their heads – especially the ones about vampires only being thin and beautiful. He jokingly added that the vampire blood gets everywhere, including in some “bad crevices.” He enjoys being the hero of the story, even though he’s not tall, thin or has “long, flowing hair.” He did have a hard time speaking, at first, because of the fangs, and tried to speak without a lisp on the first day of shooting.
He was also asked about how different it is being the lead in a TV show (after playing Spider-Man’s best friend). He answered that he just tries to make sure that everyone gets along well and enjoys their time on the set. He feels very fortunate that everyone he works with is “so great and so amazing and talented and sweet and willing to work.” He added that it shocked him how much you have to come to work prepared (he may have been joking here, but I’m not sure). He feels that working on the movies led to this way of thinking.
Harley praised Jacob because he wasn’t used to shooting 8 or 9 pages per day, and he was worried that he might burn out, but he is a “superstar.” He said that everyone in the cast is like that. He thinks they’re very lucky to have such a great cast and that is “such a key thing to a successful show.” He mentioned that Jacob is a real leader in the cast and that he never remembers him even having a bad day. Jeremiah added that Jacob was always completely prepared and ready; he set the tone for everyone else. Jacob modestly thanked them for being there for him. Then he joked, “but I am, like, on the title of the show, but whatever. It’s fine” which provoked more laughter.
Jacob was also asked about the trials his character is forced to go through, but he wasn’t sure what he could say without giving away any spoilers. Harley mentioned some difficult arcade games. Jacob said that the “vampire karaoke” was difficult for him (there is a great karaoke scene in the show, although it’s not part of his trials). This is where Savannah said that working with the sticky blood was difficult and got everywhere, which Jacob agreed with. Jeremiah concurred that they did use an awful lot of red liquid, but the cast “all kind of sublimated to that and drank deeply.”
The cast were all asked about their favorite things about their characters. Savannah loves how Angela is strong, powerful smart and “claims this full autonomy over herself.” Em pointed out that Sarah is very real, since she isn’t playing a vampire. Sarah is “the grounded center” and she feels that she was able to grow along with the character as she tried to “find her place in the world.” Mandela enjoyed getting to do new things, such as playing a vampire. He tried to channel his granddad and great-grandad, since he was playing someone that’s lived a long time. He tried to bring “different generational traits to a modern character.” It was fun for him to do that as well as playing in a more diverse vampire universe. Jacob described how Reginald is very “thoughtful” and “enigmatic,” and he’s “uncertain about life” and yet aware of how people see him now in this situation (as a “fat vampire”). He used this big change in his life to become a better person. He also thinks that the other characters really affect Reginald’s life deeply. He really loves playing with all of that.
Everyone was asked what other creatures they would like to see on the show. Harley said in a mysterious way that they all would love to see “an angel with a flaming sword.” Jacob likes dragons, and Em agreed, but Harley said that he doesn’t think they could afford dragons. Jacob would also love to see a “vampire battle.” Jeremiah said that they could have just about any type of fantastical creature, since they have vampires. Savannah loves mythology and would love to see a wendigo. Someone else mentioned a Chupacabra. Em joked that she’d like to see a jackalope. Harley agreed that it would be “more appropriate” for their show and “that’s definitely affordable for our special effects.” Savannah asked if Angela could have a pet jackalope. Harley said that he had really wanted to have Mandela and Nikki holding puppies, but they weren’t able to make it happen (that may have been a joke). Em talked about how much fun their show is, that they can be absurd. She commented, “I love that. I love that shit.”
They were asked how their show will stand out from all of the other vampire series currently on the air or coming up. Harley pointed out that most of the shows are not humorous (aside from “What We Do in the Shadows”). He thinks that their source material created a certain type of tone where they have an “interesting dichotomy between the vampire world, where vampires are really vapid, vain, runway models” and they use that to address the issues of “body shaming and body positivity” where Reginald doesn’t fit into that same type, which is different from other shows. They get into how the vampires “love bureaucracy” and are very vain. He discussed the conflict in the vampires between what they see when they look in the mirror (which they do a lot) and whether their inner beauty matches up.
Jeremiah said eloquently that their show is “very rooted in real emotional dynamics. That is the rock solid foundation, and it’s based on how we fit in, how we present ourselves, what we think of ourselves, how we relate to others, what is expected of us, our sexual orientation…the color of our skin. All of these things are really social dynamics which we explore within the wrapping of a vampire show.” Their show is more about those aspects rather than sucking people’s blood. It’s about how you can improve your life after you die. He also mentioned that their show stands out both “tonally and visually” from other vampire shows. It’s not as dark. Lindsay put in her two cents that their show has a different heart than the other shows. It’s really more of “an underdog story” with a “positive message that’s baked into all the entertainment and comedy. So it’s very aspirational, and it’s just so much fun.” She also said that the other shows don’t have their talented cast. Jacob agreed that their show is more about “the human condition” and the journey of self that Reginald goes through, and “the connections he has through death.” He concluded that Reginald “learns life through death, and that’s a very poignant and deeper sort of meaning than just, like, wanting to kill people and look super hot.” Jeremiah informed us that Syfy ordered the show because it’s original; there is nothing else like it on TV.
Mandela was asked to comment on a story his father (Mario Van Peebles) told about how his grandfather (Melvin Van Peebles) wouldn’t help him when he wanted to become an actor because he wanted him to do it on his own. He asked if that’s the way it was with him as well. Mandela answered that he went to college, and then when he tried to get a “real job,” it didn’t work out. He found it very hard. He remembered how much fun it was when he was a kid, traveling all over the world with his dad to different places (for filming). He figured that working on a set was a lot more comfortable for him than working in an office. Once he decided to go for that, it worked out. He’s very excited to be doing the show. He didn’t really answer the question, but that’s fine.
Jeremiah joked, “I’d stick with this for a while.” The reporter asked Mandela what type of regular job he had been looking for, so Mandela answered that he made smoothies at a health food store, “Simply Wholesome.” I thought he was joking at the time (since Reginald and his friends make smoothies), but maybe he wasn’t. It was hard to tell in this panel because there was a lot of deadpan joking.
MORE INFO:
Reginald the Vampire
Premieres Wednesday, October 5, at 10 PM ET/PT on SYFY
Imagine a world populated by beautiful, fit and vain vampires. Reginald Andres tumbles headlong into it as an unlikely hero who will have to navigate every kind of obstacle â the girl he loves but canât be with, a bully manager at work and the vampire chieftain who wants him dead. Fortunately, Reginald discovers he has a few unrecognized powers of his own. A new show with a lot of heart and just enough blood, âReginald the Vampireâ proves the undead life is just as complicated as life itself.
âReginald the Vampireâ is produced by Great Pacific Media Inc., Modern Story Company, December Films and Cineflix Studios and executive produced by Harley Peyton, Jeremiah Chechik, Todd Berger, Lindsay Macadam, Brett Burlock and Peter Emerson. The series is based on the book series by Johnny B. Truant.
Jacob Batalon
Reginald Andres, âReginald the Vampireâ
Jacob Batalon plays Reginald Andres in the new SYFY series âReginald the Vampire,â which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Batalon is best known for his role as Peter Parkerâs charming best friend Ned Leeds in the âSpider-Manâ films starring Tom Holland, including the most recent box office smash âSpider-Man: No Way Home.â Heâs also appeared in âAvengers: Infinity Warâ and âAvengers: Endgameâ as well as several indie films.
Upcoming projects include the films âHorrorscopeâ as well as Netflixâs âLift,â alongside Kevin Hart.
Born and raised in Honolulu to Filipino parents, Batalon attended a two-year acting program at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. While working through his last year in the program, he sent in a self-tape submission for a vague supporting role in a Marvel movie, his first audition ever, which led to being cast in the âSpider-Manâ films.
Savannah Basley
Angela Hibbert, âReginald the Vampireâ
Savannah Basley plays Angela Hibbert in the new SYFY series âReginald the Vampire,â which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Basleyâs first TV role was in âThe Art of More and she has subsequently appeared in multiple series, including âTales from the Hood,â âCoroner,â âUtopia Fallsâ and âWynonna Earp.â Sheâll soon return for the second season of âSurrealEstate.â
Her first film role was in the 2015 short âWhite Lock,â which won the Special Jury Prize at the Amsterdam Film Festival.
Basley is a dual Canadian-US citizen, the daughter of a Canadian mom and an American military veteran.
Em Haine
Sarah Kinney, âReginald the Vampireâ
Em Haine plays Sarah Kinney in the new SYFY series âReginald the Vampire,â which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Born in Vancouver, B.C., Haine is the only child of an Austrian father and French-Canadian mother. They eventually moved to London to study the Meisner technique at the Actors Temple. While in both New York and Los Angeles, Haine took up Improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade.
Haineâs first break came with the role of oddball Noreen Vanderslice in the critically acclaimed miniseries âFargo.â Other TV credits include âChilling Adventures of Sabrinaâ and âThe Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.â
On the film side, Haine has appeared in âDeadpool,â âTullyâ and the indie âGregoire.â
Mandela Van Peebles
Maurice Miller, âReginald the Vampireâ
Mandela Van Peebles will play Maurice Miller on the new SYFY series âReginald the Vampire,â which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Van Peebles most recently recurred on Taylor Sheridanâs drama series âThe Mayor of Kingstown.â He recently guest starred on season 2 of âWu-Tang: An American Sagaâ and appeared in the biopic âSalt N Pepa.â
Past film work includes a starring role in âJigsaw,â the latest installment of the âSawâ franchise, and USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage.â
Other television work includes the 2016 Emmy Award-nominated miniseries âRoots.â
Harley Peyton
Executive Producer, âReginald the Vampireâ
Harley Peyton is an executive producer and showrunner on the new SYFY series âReginald the Vampire,â which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Peyton was born and raised in Spokane, Wash., and attended Harvard and Stanford universities as well as the California Institute of the Arts.
On the TV front, Peyton has served as a writer and/or producer on âTwin Peaks,â âMoon Over Miami,â âRoute 66,â âDracula,â âWedding Band,â âReign,â âDominion,â âChannel Zeroâ âProject Blue Bookâ and, most recently, âChucky.â
On the film side, his credits include âLess Than Zero,â âGold Coast,â âHeavenâs Prisoners,â âBanditsâ and âFriends With Benefits.â
Jeremiah Chechik
Executive Producer/Director, âReginald the Vampireâ
Jeremiah Chechik is an executive producer and director for the new SYFY series âReginald the Vampire,â which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Chechik is an award-winning director who has worked in commercials, studio and independent film and domestic and international television for three decades. Among his several feature credits are âChristmas Vacationâ and âBenny and Joon.â
In television, he has worked for all the major studios and/or networks and has directed pilots, produced miniseries and worked in every possible genre. Among his credits are âThe Bronx Is Burning,â âGossip Girl,â âBurn Notice,â âHelix,â âCriminal Minds,â âChuck,â âShadowhunters,â âRogue,â âThe Giftedâ and many others.
Interview with Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid and Bailey Bass of “Interview with The Vampire” on AMC and AMC+ by Suzanne 9/29/22
This was a fun roundtable with the three stars of this great new vampire show. If you love vampire shows, or the Anne Rice novels, you should love this show. It’s very well done, and these actors are great in it. Jacob plays Louie, and we see the story through his eyes as told to ailing reporter Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian, who’s outstanding as always). Sam Reid plays LeStat, the seductive vamp that turns Louie and becomes his friend, lover, mentor, etc. Bailey plays Claudia, the young woman that joins them. They were very kind and fun to interview.
Suzanne:Â Â Hi, I’m Suzanne Lanoue from TVMEG.com, and I’ve watched the first episode. I didn’t get screeners till this morning, so I only got to watch the first one so far, but I’m really enjoying it. It just grabs you and drags you in. So, congratulations on being renewed for season two already, which is great. Do you know when you’ll be starting to film season two, or have you already started filming it?
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â We haven’t started. We haven’t started shooting, no.
SAM REID:Â Â Probably, I don’t know if we can say anything. [Laughs]
Suzanne:Â Â Have they told you yet?
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â They haven’t not told us anything.
Suzanne:Â [Chuckles} OK, well, thank you!
Jamie from SCIFI VISION:Â Hi, I’m Jamie Ruby from SciFi Vision. Thanks for talking to us today, I really enjoyed the first five episodes that we’ve seen. So, for the three of you, can you kind of talk about how you balanced what you pulled from the book versus what you added with your own spin on it?
SAM REID:Â Â Hello, Jamie, I’ll answer that. No. But I would say that anything for myself and my character, my own spin probably came from my own interpretation of the books and Rolinsâ work. So, I wasn’t really trying to put any of my own spin on it. It’s just how I imagined it to be, really.
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â Yeah. I second that. Itâs like, you will always view a character through your own lens to an extent and then it’s just kind of, I mean, I guess with anything, it’s like, do other do the other creative people like that, and do they want to discuss it? But you don’t want to mess with this. Like the combination of Anne Riceâs writing and Rolinsâ writing, you don’t really want to touch it, you don’t want to just sort of throw your own stuff in just for the sake of it.
SAM REID:Â Â They’re so dense already the characters that it sort of would be a shame to try and deviate too much of thing.
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â What could you possibly add?
SAM REID:Â Â Yeah.
BAILEY BASS:Â Â I feel the exact same way. It’s really, yes, we were cast because there’s something special in us that Rolin and the entire team really enjoyed when we were doing our auditions. But other than that, it’s really just doing the research and the book, reading the scripts, doing our own technique, and then just coming and creating in this world.
Jamie:Â Okay, great. Thank you so much.
Jamie from STARRY MAG:Â This is Jamie Steinberg, with Starry Constellation Magazine. Jacob, this is another deeply tortured soul for you to portray. Is there something about these kinds of characters that really draw you to them? Or is this them finding their way to you? Or is it something you see in them that really resonates with you and makes you want to portray them?
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â I think it’s a combination of both. We find each other. I think I’m slightly less like Grey Worm than I am like Louis. But yeah, I mean, I think you normally want to be like very boundaried when you talk about things and be like, âOh, well, I’m so removed from the character, and I’m brilliant at acting and blah blah blah blah blahâ. But to be honest, yeah, I feel very, very connected to Louis. It’s the thing that bothered me about how Anne Rice wrote him, and also how Rolin wrote him as well. Yeah, I’m drawn to characters who are searching. And Iâd ask him questions, not just about the world, but about their place in it and what they contribute or don’t contribute to it. But yeah, I also I felt like it would be like, narcissistic of me to be like, âI am the only person who can play Louis.â But namely, because there is somebody else that’s done it, as well. Many people.
Jamie:Â Well, I think you brings such a unique take on it, though, because of the artistry you have. Both of these characters that you mentioned, have just been wonderfully nuanced, I think through your portrayal. So it might be just a little bit time for you to pat yourself on the back for what you’ve brought to the role on your own.
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â This one’s for you, Bailey.
QUESTION:Â Â Question for Jacob and Sam, one of the really interesting things about this particular adaptation is the romance that we kind of finally get to see between Louis and Lestat. Can you speak to that a little bit? What does it mean to you to be able to portray that relationship in that way?
SAM REID:Â Â Well, I think AMC has the rights to the entire Vampire Chronicles, and so it’s very important to make sure that relationship is established early on. Particularly as the books progress, it becomes much more clear that they are in a very intense romantic relationship. So, I think it’s it’s great to make sure that we’re serving the story correctly. And it wouldn’t be Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire if it wasn’t there. So, yeah.
QUESTION:Â Â I was wondering, and this is kind of specifically for Bailey and Sam, the show doesn’t shy away from race or that being a factor at all for their very long life experience. Was that important to you? And were you afraid of any ignorant backlash, because previously, the characters were paid by white actors?
BAILEY BASS:Â Â I was really excited to play Claudia. It’s really a dream to play such a complex character that’s very loud and unapologetic. I honestly didn’t think twice about anything else. I just knew that Rolin was very intentional about the actors that he wanted to cast in the show, and I’m very fortunate that I was one of them. I just dove into all the research. I read the book. I would cross reference the book and the script and see the quotes that Rolin took from the book and was very intentional about adding them into the script. After doing all the research, I mean, I became Claudia and it was fun to play her.
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â Yeah, I think something that Rolinâs done, which is – I’m almost loath to call it important, but like it creates a richness is that this isn’t a colorblind casting situation. Louisâ central question is about his humanity and his place in humanity. I think that if you were to cast a black actor or black actors for Louis and Claudia, and to not address that, you’d take a lot away from that question of their humanity. I’m glad that we don’t shy away from it. And in terms of backlash, I just don’t want to give it energy anymore. Like I just – people are going to – I think people need to be seen. Sometimes they’ll say anything to be seen or recognized, and it’s sad, but it’s the internet.
QUESTION:Â Â I would love for you to talk a little bit about what it’s like just being vampires, being able to play vampires when biting people and having these kinds of scenes. What goes into that and how much fun is that to play? How difficult is that to play?
SAM REID:Â Â
It’s very fun. It’s very fun. Yeah, you know, because we’ve got a lot of elements that come into every scene. So, they’re very beautiful, sort of rich dialogue-heavy scenes, but we also have this whole element of the vampire, you know, he kills, so we’ll be pausing for the blood to be put in. We had all these different types of blood that we’d been drinking and tasting, and they made us hibicus flavored blood when we had to drink large amounts of it.
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â
It did not taste like hibiscus. It tasted like it was like a Sour Patch Kid.
SAM REID:Â Â Yeah.
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â But in liquid form.
SAM REID:Â Â But there’s a lot of thought and consideration [that had] gone into this. But yeah, it’s so much fun, really. Vampires are, I think, the best type of monster, because they have so much humanity. They’re so articulate. They experience a huge amount. Anne Rice is responsible for our shift in vampires, because she puts the perspective into the eyes of the monster, and you have empathy for them. So, it’s very fun to do these really extreme, horrific things, but also with a level of understanding and empathy and bringing that into the character. So, it’s a fun thing to do.
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â Itâs the best! Itâs the best. The best monsters.
Jamie from SCIFI VISION:Â So, obviously, you guys do go to some really dark places, though, with your characters. Can you sort of talk about getting into that headspace, and how you sort of, I guess, get back out of it? Is it hard to sort of go there? For all three of you.
BAILEY BASS:Â Â Yeah, it’s hard. We had such long days that it kind of, for me personally, it was hard for me to differ[entiate], like, who’s Claudia and who’s Bailey. So, I kind of had to, like really sit with myself and reflect, but it’s hard. But then also, this is what I love to do, and playing such an extreme character, that’s what makes it fun is that I get to relive and be in these spaces that I would never normally be in if I didn’t get to play Claudia. But the dark, even though it’s dark and everything, I definitely enjoyed it. And I had Sam and Jacob, which they were incredible scene partners, and we all had each other. We made sure that throughout the whole process, our mental health, even though we’re like hysterically crying sometimes that afterwards, our mental health was still good,
SAM REID:Â Â I think to Bailey’s point, like, sometimes the darkest jobs or the darkest sets where the material is the most bleak are the most fun, because, we instinctively know how to just kind of like, help ourselves through that. So, we’ll be making a lot of jokes. You know, it is ridiculous, sometimes what we’re doing, and you have to step back and think [laughs] You know, weâre suspended in the air, covered in blood, so we just kept it light. It was a fun thing to do.
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â Yeah, I agree. I mean, it’s dense. It’s dense, so you need to focus on the language as well. Like, aside from, yeah, we had a lot of fun, but when you’re doing the scene, you focus on what you’re doing. And I think if you let yourself get dragged into it too much, then hard to to do your job, I think.
Jamie from STARRY MAG:Â Bailey, this is such a beautiful costume you have. Talk about when you first saw what you’d be wearing for the series, and if you had any input, and if it takes really putting on that costume to embody your character.
BAILEY BASS:Â Â Costume is one of my favorite things in my job, being able to speak with the costume designer and be able to talk about what she saw when she read the script, because it’s not just me, it’s a big collaboration of an incredible crew that helps make us look good, basically. And to be able to talk to hair, makeup, and costume and get to know what their first ideas were when they read the script, and then being able to collaborate with them and say what I thought, was really, really fun. And the costume designer for this show, Carol, was just so collaborative. I came in and we were talking about posture. That’s a very big thing for Claudia, because in the beginning, she’s like fourteen years old, and she’s excited being a vampire. She would shrug a lot and just walked like, however and had terrible posture. So, the costume designer would think about that when she was making the costumes. And then also I have to look like a little girl. So, she created these beautiful bows along with making sure that the shape of my costumes hid any curves possible. So, when I put them on, I really felt like a little girl. So, when I was doing the scenes where Claudia is struggling, she wants to be a woman, and I’m sitting in this pink dress that it’s not flattering to anything that’s me as Bailey, it was really easy to feel what Claudia would be feeling at that moment.
Suzanne:Â Â I really enjoyed the wedding scene and your dancing, Jacob; that was great. Was that actually you dancing? And did you have to train for that, or did you already know how, and will there be any more singing or dancing in the show?
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â That was me and Steven Norfleet, who plays Paul, and we had about a month to train, to practice. I don’t know if you’ve ever done tap dancing, but it’s like learning how to walk again, like how to walk for the first time, like to get your brain to coordinate in that way and to like shift the weight of your body is really confusing. And to add to that we did a lot of our lessons on Sikkim (???). And it’s all like, it’s all sound. You like making music with your feet, but with the lag of, of like, you know, doing it online. But you just drill; you just drill it every day. You drill it every day, and just you have to listen. It’s less about like being mechanical about your body and just like listening to the sound. But there is there is more dancing in the show.
Suzanne:Â Â Oh, good.
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â Yeah. It was in the trailer, right?
SAM REID:Â Â Yeah, the three of us did dancing lessons.
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â Yeah, we did.
QUESTION:Â Â I’m curious to just have any of you or all of you talk a little bit about what you love most about the dynamic between all three of your characters, either once Claudia comes in, or kind of as that progresses.
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â I find it, I think from Louisâ point of view, he’s trying to recreate a kind of family dynamic that he is grieving for in his human life. I think it’s probably the thing that he misses most in some ways. It’s like a grounding thing, is his brother and his sister and his mom, maybe to a lesser extent, but maybe not. So, I find the way that it kind of goes for them, and for him, it’s kind of unexpected. I think he wanted, he was hoping that in bringing somebody else into their family, I think he thought that Claudia might be like him. [laughs] So, it’s interesting. I feel like an outcast, but to also be a part of – I mean, Iâll let Bailey talk more about about that part of it, but really, Claudia ends up being sort of forgotten about a little bit, and their dynamic, which is sad.
BAILEY BASS:Â Â I think what’s wonderful though, is that there’s really no protagonist or antagonist. It changes through every scene in every episode, because these characters are so specific and complex, and Rolin Jones, the writer of the show, did an incredible job of explaining in depth why we do what we do. There’s a reason why we kill the people that we do, why we hurt each other. And because of that, the viewer kind of feels bad for the person hurting the other, but then also feels bad for the person being hurt.
QUESTION:Â Â So, obviously, as vampires, your characters live very long lives. Which era would you like to see, be able to play your character in?
JACOB ANDERSON:Â Â 80s 80s 80s. I want the pastels. I want the hair. Let’s go, 80s.
SAM REID:Â Â Iâd probably do the 1700s. I think Lestat really that is where he’s from, and that’s the era in which he was born into, so I’d quite like to see him in that in that era.
BAILEY BASS:Â Â I just want to get to the 50s. Like, I just want Claudia to get to the 50s so I can wear all those skirts and just explore more hairstyles, because we evolved. Doing the prep work, there wasn’t a lot of hairstyles – we had a horrible of time looking for photos of black girls in that time period with very versatile hair, which we know they existed, just no one took pictures of them. So, to be able to expand that more and show women who have curly hair, that this is what they look like in that time. I’d love to expand that and go into the 40s and 50s.
AMC+ KICKS OFF OCTOBER WITH HIGHLY ANTICIPATED PREMIERES FOR THE WALKING DEAD, WHICH BEGINS ITS EPIC EIGHT-EPISODE CONCLUSION, AND ANNE RICEâS INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
September 16, 2022
New York, NY â September 16, 2022 â This fall, AMC Networksâ targeted streaming services will feature a number of highly anticipated series debuts and sendoffs including the premieres of the final season of The Walking Dead, and the eagerly-awaited new series Anne Riceâs Interview with the Vampire, both on October 2, the series finale of acclaimed Kevin Can F**K Himself on October 3, the season finale of AMC+ Original Pantheon on October 13, as well as the return of popular IFC Original series, Documentary Now! and Shermanâs Showcase, on October 19 and October 26, respectively.
This month also features exclusive new film premieres rolling out every week in October with AMC+ Exclusive Films from Shudderâs Halloween lineup, including horror comedy Deadstream (October 6), Italian thriller Dark Glasses (October 13), gothic fairytale She Will (October 13), the latest installment in anthology franchise, V/H/S/99 (October 20) and the diabolically entertaining Resurrection (October 28).
The companyâs targeted streamers also set to bring viewers an extensive catalogue of compelling dramas, fan-favorite franchises, highly anticipated films and timely collections on AMC+, Acorn TV, ALLBLK, IFC Films Unlimited, Shudder and Sundance Now, and the newly acquired anime-focused HIDIVE, all month long.
Anne Riceâs Interview with The Vampire
Two-Episode Series Premiere Sunday, October 2; Subsequent Episodes Available One Week Early on AMC+Â
A sensuous, contemporary reinvention of Anne Riceâs revolutionary gothic novel, Anne Riceâs Interview with the Vampire follows Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson), Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) and Claudiaâs (Bailey Bass) epic story of love, blood, and the perils of immortality, as told to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). Chafing at the limitations of life as a black man in 1900s New Orleans, Louis finds it impossible to resist the rakish Lestat De Lioncourtâs offer of the ultimate escape: joining him as his vampire companion. But Louisâs intoxicating new powers come with a violent price, and the introduction of Lestatâs newest fledgling, the child vampire Claudia, soon sets them on a decades-long path of revenge and atonement.
AMC NETWORKS DOUBLES DOWN ON ANNE RICEâS ICONIC FRANCHISE WITH RENEWAL OF ANNE RICEâS INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE FOR A SECOND SEASON, AHEAD OF SERIESâ ANTICIPATED DEBUT ON OCTOBER 2
September 28, 2022
NEW YORK â September 28, 2022 â AMC Networks announced today the renewal of Anne Riceâs Interview with the Vampire for a second season, ahead of the new seriesâ anticipated debut on AMC and AMC+ on Sunday, October 2. A sensuous, contemporary adaptation of Riceâs revolutionary gothic novel, Anne Riceâs Interview with the Vampire follows Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson), Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) and Claudiaâs (Bailey Bass) epic story of love, blood, and the perils of immortality, as told to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). The 8-episode second season will be set in Europe with Oscar and Emmy Award-winning producer Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Halt and Catch Fire, Rectify) and Showrunner Rolin Jones (Perry Mason, Friday Night Lights) executive producing.
âThe scope and breadth of this show, and what Mark and Rolin have delivered, is just stupendous. They have rendered the rich and vibrant world of Anne Riceâs Interview in a wonderful way, and weâre incredibly proud. From the set build, to production design, costumes and more — no detail was overlooked. This stellar cast deliver powerful performances that emotionally connect us to these characters and their humanity,â said Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios. âWe look forward to sharing the final product of this extraordinary effort with audiences in just a few short days and are thrilled that this story will continue. This is only the beginning of an entire Universe featuring enthralling stories and characters that capture the spirit of Anne Riceâs amazing work.â
Said Johnson: âThe opportunity to revisit the passionate and shocking world of Louis, Lestat and Claudia is irresistible. We will happily walk through the doorway that AMC has so kindly opened for us and deliver a season two that takes full advantage of the wonders bestowed upon us by Anne Rice.â
Said Jones: âBulgaria. Romania. Paris. (Ah Paris!) San Francisco. New Orleans. Dubai. The writing staff of Anne Riceâs Interview with the Vampire is honored, humbled, and hungry to add more stamps to our vampsâ passport books. All praises be to our fearless network, we shall endeavor not to screw it up.â
The company will also launch an Interview with the Vampire Podcast, hosted by writer/comedian/vampire-enthusiast Naomi Ekperigin, with the first preview episode available today. Â Each week, Ekperigin will be joined by the actors and writers behind the show â unpacking the twists and turns of every episode. Â Podcast episodes will feature exclusive behind-the-scenes stories from the set and writers’ room and take a deep dive on the history of the vampire genre with horror experts sharing how the vampire lore has changed and morphed over time â and what has compelled us to follow these terrifying, seductive creatures across centuries. New podcast episodes are available each week wherever you get your podcasts following new episodes of Interview with the Vampire on AMC and AMC+. Â The AMC+ Interview with the Vampire Podcast is produced by AMC in conjunction with Pineapple Street Studios.
Ekperiginâs writing credits include BROAD CITY, SEARCH PARTY, MRS. FLETCHER, GREAT NEWS, and DIFFICULT PEOPLE. She has developed for ABC and Comedy Central and is currently developing for Hulu. Ekperiginâs acting credits include Appleâs MYTHIC QUEST, ME TIME, with Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg, SEARCH PARTY and SINGLE PARENTS. She co-hosts the popular live show and podcast COUPLES THERAPY with her partner Andy Beckerman and I LOVE A LIFETIME MOVIE with fellow comedian Megan Gailey. As a comedian, she has appeared on 2 DOPE QUEENS on HBO and LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS. Her half-hour special is on Netflix as part of their series, THE STANDUPS.
AMC Networks acquired the rights to Riceâs iconic works, encompassing 18 titles including The Vampire Chronicles and The Lives Of The Mayfair Witches series, in 2020 with Interview as the first title to be developed and greenlit to series. Â The second series, Anne Riceâs Mayfair Witches, starring Alexandra Daddario, Jack Huston, Tongayi Chirisa and Harry Hamlin and executive produced by Johnson, Showrunner Esta Spalding (Masters of Sex), Writer Michelle Ashford (Masters of Sex), Director Michael Uppendahl and Jeff Freilich, is set to debut in January.
AMC Networks holds the comprehensive rights for this world renowned and globally coveted intellectual property to develop for its own television networks and streaming services under the AMC Studios umbrella, as well as external partner licensing, with the late Anne Rice and her son Christopher Rice serving as executive producers on all series and films. Together, The Vampire Chronicles and The Lives of the Mayfair series have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.
About AMC Networks Inc.Â
AMC Networks is a global entertainment company known for its popular and critically-acclaimed content. Its portfolio of brands includes AMC, BBC AMERICA (operated through a joint venture with BBC Studios), IFC, SundanceTV, WE tv, IFC Films, and a number of fast-growing streaming services, including the AMC+ premium streaming bundle, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now and ALLBLK. AMC Studios, the Companyâs in-house studio, production and distribution operation, is behind award-winning owned series and franchises, including The Walking Dead, the highest-rated series in cable history. The Company also operates AMC Networks International, its international programming business, and 25/7 Media, its production services business.
Interview with Victor Garber, Jewel Staite, Zach Smadu, Genelle Williams, Jory Randall and Susin Nielson of “Family Law” on The CW by Suzanne 9/29/22
I really love this cast, but I’m worried that the show’s writing is not as good as it should be. I believe they’ve made Jewel’s character too unlikable. We’ll see, I guess. This is a Canadian show, renewed for a third season, so it must already be popular up there.
It was a very fun panel with a lot of joking around. I really enjoyed it. I love Victor Garber from “Alias,” “The Flash” and “Legends of Tomorrow,” and Jewel Staite from “Firefly” and “Stargate: Atlantis.”
THE CW NETWORK
Family Law
Jewel Staite âAbigail Bianchi,â Victor Garber âHarry Svensson,â
HOST:Â Hello, and welcome to the virtual press panel for the CWâS new drama series, Family Law. We are excited to have Jewel Staite, Victor Garber, Zach Smadu, Genelle Williams, creator and showrunner season, Susin Nielsen and executive producer Jody Randall participating on the panel today. Family Law follows lawyer and recovering alcoholic Abigail Bianchi, struggling to put her career and family back together after hitting rock bottom. As a condition of her probation, Abby is forced to work at her estranged father, Harryâs firm, Svensson & Associates, and practice in family law for the first time, while figuring new relationships with half-brother, Daniel and half-sister, Lucy, whom sheâs never met. The result is a dysfunctional family law firm operating to help other families with their own dysfunctions. Premiering Sunday, October 2nd at 8:00 PM, this is Family Law.
HOST:Â Please welcome the cast and executive producers of Family Law. And as a reminder to press, if you’d like to ask a question, please click the âraise your handâ button and we will put you in the queue and call on you when it’s your turn. Um, on deck we have Jamie Ruby, and first up, we have Suzanne Lanoue.
SUZANNE: Hi. Thanks for talking to us today. You guys are great. I love the show. My question is for Victor and Jewel. Uh, can you tell us about your character’s father-daughter relationship and what it’s been like for you to play that?
VICTOR GARBER:Â Well, Jewel can’t talk, so you, do you wanna, do you wanna give them a clue as to why, why I said that?
JEWEL STAITE:Â Yeah. I, I have a really bad cold, but I sound worse than I feel.
VICTOR GARBER:Â That’s good. Cause you sound terrible.
JEWEL STAITE: I know. Really bad  [OVERLAPPING] Do you want me to talk, do you want me to talk first? [OVERLAPPING]
VICTOR GARBER:Â Uh, hi. Nice of you to all be here. I can’t see you all, but I’m, I’m, I’m very excited that the show’s premiering on The CW. Um, I think it’s a great show that, the, the relationship between, Abigail and Harry is, is fraught, it’s fractured. And this is an attempt on, on both their parts to try to mend it. Um, and it’s, it’s, of course like all relationships, it takes more than you realize. And, and that is the thrust of the first… that is, that that’s the beginning, and it continues throughout the, the season. Uh, and it’s you know, it’s, it’s family law and in, in, in so many different ways. And they’re trying, they’re trying to find common ground, and they’re, they’re just not quite making it.
JEWEL STAITE:Â Which is interesting because Abby and Harry are very similar [LAUGHS]. They’re both really stubborn. They both like to win the argument. They both love to argue. So the dynamic is, is fraught, but it’s also really interesting to play because there are so many similarities between the two them that they haven’t noticed yet, of course.
VICTOR GARBER:Â They, they don’t notice that for quite some time. [LAUGHS]
SUZANNE:Â All right, thank you. And you don’t sound so bad, Jewel.
JEWEL STAITE:Â Aw. Thanks. See guys?
JORDY RANDALL:Â Sheâs being polite.
HOST:Â Okay. So, on deck we have Terrell Roister, and up now we have Karen Moul.
KAREN:Â Â Hi. thank you so much everybody, for speaking with us today. Jewel, I hate to make you talk, but I have a question about Abby. Uh, as the, as the series opens in that first episode, I think on paper, Abby is, she’s abrasive, she’s in denial about her mistakes. She’s, on paper, she’s maybe a little hard to like, and yet she hits the screen and I’m instantly rooting for her. And I hope you could talk a little bit about what audiences will see in Abby in these early episodes.
JEWEL STAITE:Â Um, first of all, that makes me feel so good. Because, initially when I started playing this role, I had this silly, you know, worry that she wouldn’t be likable. And then I realized in order to make her as authentic as possible, I had to throw that out the window. And it didn’t matter if she wasn’t likable or, you know, she just had to be as authentic as possible. Um, but she, she uses all of these coping mechanisms – the abrasiveness, the haughtiness, the overconfidence, her sense of humor to hide all of this hurt and this pain that she just simply doesn’t feel like dealing with. That is not something she’s interested in facing for a really, really long time. So it takes her quite a journey to admit any sort of mistake. And, and she’s only willing to do it, to get her family back and get her children back, really, that’s, that’s her sole priority. And unfortunately, her addiction gets in the way of that priority. Um, but she’s, she’s a person in a lot of pain. And it’s incredibly hard for her to be vulnerable to show them.
KAREN:Â Thank you.
JEWEL STAITE:Â Thank you.
HOST:Â On deck we have Mike Hughes and now we have Terrell Roister.
TERRELL:Â Oh, I guess is my turn. Hey guys, how you doing? Hey Terrell, Big Olâ Bell Media, question for Jewel, Victor, Zach and Genelle. Uh, you know, watching, watching the episode and seeing you guys work as a family is super tense on the show. Very, very uncomfortable at times, cause you know, you guys don’t know each other. Um, what, what was the kind of like, what got you in the mindset to get you to, âOh yeah, we’re, we’re all a family,â or to feel like a family on set? Or at least say, I guess a broken family, if I wanted to say [LAUGHS]?
JEWEL STAITE:Â You wanna go first?
ZACH SMADU: Yeah, I mean that, that, that is the fun of the, the dynamic between all of us as, as Victor and Jewel has kind of have touched on, the fact that we’re somewhat combative and, and private people who are all kind of forced together, both within the family life and also within the law firm. And how was that to play? I mean, to be honest, that’s, that’s not so easy, cause we actually genuinely really get along. But maybe that’s probably why it’s, it’s, it’s easy to kind of step into that in the acting world, cause we, we trust each other, we love being around each other on set, going to work. And, you know, there’s no egos, there’s no, no, no problems, interpersonal problems, it’s just fun. And so, you know, whatever the scene requires, it kind of, kind of came second nature to us. We were able to find that dynamic between all the siblings and, and with our, our father figure  Harry as well, I think.
JEWEL STAITE:Â Yeah. I think, you know, we, we shot this show at the beginning of COVID. So we, we shot for two weeks and then we took this big long break, the whole world took a break. And in that break we had a lot of time to text each other and to really bond in this weird way. So, when we did start filming again in July to finish out the season, we were really, really close. And then, because we had to be in this safety bubble to make sure no one got COVID we, we became even closer. And, and, I don’t know about you guys, but like, I trust you so much that it, it makes the job so much easier. Because I know that whatever I kind of throw at you, you’ll riff on that and throw back at me, and vice versa. So it, it makes these interactions really fun. You know, we love playing combative because, you know, in real life we’re all just like sickeningly in love with each other.
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â Not in âreal life,â in real life. [LAUGHS]
JORDY RANDALL:Â But I what I want to know is how did the sibling relationships on the show play in real life. That’s the question, Jewel [INAUDIBLE]
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â Â Yeah, because you stole my point, just like a big sister would. She literally said what I was gonna say. So yeah. [LAUGHS]
JEWEL STAITE:  I would say, like Zach is more like the big brother. You know, like Genelle  and I we, weâre, Zach is very good at kind of calming everyone down. (Weâre crazy, thatâs what she wants…) He’s the voice of voice of reason and he’s like, he’s a calming presence. So when Zach is around you, I, you just automatically feel, like my shoulders drop and, and he’s just got that kind of presence. So I would say if anybody, you know, in the sibling relationship is like the older, sage, more wise sibling, it would be Zach.
ZACH SMADU:Â Enough with the sage.
SUSIN NIELSEN:Â What do you think of that, Zach?
VICTOR GARBER:Â I find him confrontational. And kinda, itâs, it’s difficult some, some days, but I have overcome that. And now we’re, we’re doing, we’re doing much better.
JORDY RANDALL:Â Zach, you’re the father figure to Victor it sounds like.
ZACH SMADU:Â I guess, it sounds like that. It really plays into the Daniel/Harry story.
VICTOR GARBER:Â I will just say, I, I will just say they take care of me, 100%. I am, I am so in, I, I can’t really do anything without their help. And I mean, anything, Â order cereal on the, on… Ask Genelle how much money she’s forked out to get me the proper granola. It’s just, I rely on them for everything. And now that I’m home, I think, âWhere, Oh, they’re not here.â
GENELLE WILLIAMS: If they ship to America, I literally thought, âOh, I have to get Victor some cereal.â [LAUGHS]
HOST:Â We have actually a question for Susin and Jordy. Uh, what was the inspiration in creating the show? How near and dear to you is this project? And how did you get this amazing cast together?
JORDY RANDALL:Â Susin, you do have to speak. I told you.
SUSIN NIELSEN:Â Uh, yes. Alrighty. Well, um yeah, I, the, the, the idea is very near and dear to me. Um, my own [LAUGHS] my own family background isn’t as dramatic as the show, or these four. But, but certainly the nubbin of the idea came from a lot of my own family history. Um, I didn’t grow up with my dad, I grew up with my mother. I didn’t meet my father until I was a teenager, at which point I also met my half-brother and my half-sister. Now my father only had one subsequent relationship, not two. Um, but I think that I, in a lot of my work, you know, a lot of our, I think we’re, we’re all informed by our families. And so that was where the idea started to percolate. And I love working in the realm of drama and comedy. And so it just felt like the world of Family Law was a perfect place for this very dysfunctional family to be operating, and attempting to help other dysfunctional families, you know, while Abby is also trying to win back her husband and children as well. Um, so that was kind of the inception of the idea. And then in terms of the cast, Victor Garber, when somebody mentioned Victor Garber, I thought, well, yes, that would, that would be amazing. [LAUGHS] That will never happen. Â But that would be so amazing. So [LAUGHS]
VICTOR GARBER:Â Thank you, Susin. Your check is in the mail.
SUSIN NIELSEN: Â Um, and then when we were auditioning Abby, I just remember when, when we saw Jewel, I believe it was her callback audition. And you know, I just tell the story of just getting a jolt of electricity up my spine and just realizing, this is Abby, this, this is her. And it was such an exciting feeling. And then, of course we, and then we got Jewel together with some callbacks for the siblings. And again, it was just so obvious that it was Genelle and that it was Zach. And I was so excited because Zach actually rides a road bike [LAUGHS], so you didn’t have to fudge any of that.
ZACH SMADU:Â Yeah, that was one of the questions you asked as we were walking out the rooms. âDo you actually ride a bike?â I’m like, âI do. Got it. I got it.â
JORDY RANDALL:Â I think it’s one of those great stories where we look now and like, there’s nobody else who could have played these four parts other than these four people. Like, this is, what Susin visualized in this series is only possible with these four people, so we’re incredibly lucky. And I think when we look back at the development of the show, you ask if we’re passionate about it, I think we first talked about doing the show 10 years ago. I think we first had the idea, we started to develop it. And it’s been a journey and a labor of love. One of those things that you knew was gonna be a show. You knew it was gonna be a great show, but you kind of had to wait for the opportunity to rise, wait for the world to change and for it to open up. And I think we were lucky. We waited and we found that right moment where we got to finally do the show with the right people. So we’ve waited a long time to do this, so we, every day we’re thankful that we’re, we’re here and doing the show.
SUSIN NIELSEN:Â Well, and that’s kudos to you, Jordy for sure, that you kept believing in it as well. So, yeah.
JORDY RANDALL:Â But we’re right where we need to be now. So you can see the passion, you know, all of you watching these squares here, you can tell these, everyone here loves it.
HOST:Â I love it. So on deck, we have Abby Bernstein, and right now we have Mike Hughes.
MIKE HUGHES:Â This is for Susin and Jordy, and it kind of follows up on what Susin was saying before. We used to have quite a few shows like this, ones that had some comedy, some drama, and managed to solve a case at the end of each week. It kind of disappeared from American TV, but they’re making a comeback this year, âSo Help Me, Todd, Rookie’s Fed and this one are three shows in that format. So, first of all, is Canada always consistent? We had these kind of comedy drama combinations throughout the years. And second of all, what is it that you really like about doing a show that has all of these things together and solves a case?
JORDY RANDALL:Â Well, I’ll answer the first part cause I think Susin will be best suited to answer the second part. I think for us, no, this is not a type of show that’s prevalent in Canada more than the United States. I think, as, you know, producers, we looked at this and, and said, this is the kind of show the world needs right now. You know, there’s a lot of darkness, thereâs a lot of controversy over the last few years. Like, it felt like the world doesn’t need another dark serial killer show. What they need is something where you care about family and you laugh and you cry a little bit and you solve the case. Like we wanted the audience to feel something, go on a journey where they actually have a pleasant experience and have fun. Um, so no, I think that was a conscious choice that’s turning out to yes, be the trend now, but I think it felt like what the market needed.
MIKE HUGHES:Â And Susin, you mentioned…
SUSIN NIELSEN:Â You, I mentioned what?
MIKE HUGHES:Â That you like both comedy and drama and you like to combine them. So tell us about why you like that.
SUSIN NIELSEN:Â Yeah, I, I, you know, it’s funny. I think it’s just always been my sensibility. Um, uh, I also write young adult novels, and they’re always in that vein of, of comedy and drama. Um, for me I don’t know, for me that’s life, right? You laugh, you cry. And I tend, it tends to be my own viewing tastes as well. I love watching shows that can both kind of punch me in the gut emotionally and, and make me laugh. Um, you know, my favorite writers do that as well. Um, I, and I think on, you know, I actually think it’s, it’s really hard to do to, to have that blend of, of, of comedy and drama and know what the right balance is.
SUSIN NIELSEN:Â And certainly what’s so wonderful about our cast is that they get both of those avenues so well. So, you know, within the course of a few scenes, um… well, Episode 1, I mean, I’m, I’m feeling so bad for Abby when she’s talking to Nico on the phone and you realize that she’s separated from her children for the first time in the episode. And then she goes to AA and we realize, okay, she’s in AA and then she calls herself a shmalcoholic, and suddenly the tone changes again. And I just, I love playing with that kind of emotional journey.
JORDY RANDALL:Â And I think that’s one of, that’s, well that’s, that’s like a Susin Nielsen superpower, honestly. Is like, you can call this a light procedural, but it’s a comedic procedural with heart. Cause every single episode, you’re gonna feel something. And I think that’s the beauty of the show.
SUSIN NIELSEN:Â Well, and I do like to think of myself as the, as an optimist. It, sometimes it’s hard. But yeah, I like, you know, I’ll, I’ll be honest, like, I like writing a show that’s very hopeful. And we all have really effed up families, right? Â So I think we can also [OVERLAPPING]
VICTOR GARBER:Â What do you mean, Susin? What do you mean?
JORDY RANDALL:Â I thought we werenât gonna talk about that.
SUSIN NIELSEN:Â And our, and most of our families make us crazy, but they also make us laugh sometimes too, hopefully.
HOST:Â Um, on deck we have Rick Bentley, and up now we have Abby Bernstein.
ABBY:Â Hi. Thank you all for doing this. Um, for anybody and everybody who’d like to discuss this, was there anything you had to learn in order to either write or play a legal procedural, comedic or dramatic in terms of how lawyers present themselves, or in terms of what the law is, or in terms of how to say the jargon?
ZACH SMADU:Â Uh, well, I will, I will say, I know Abby and well… Jewel and myself, continually have to learn and check with each other and check with Susin and the writers going, âSorry, how do you say that word? And what does that mean again? What does that exactly mean?â Cause I, I can speak for myself, I didn’t know too much about the law in detail, let alone pretending to be a lawyer and, and make that realistic and make that, you know… There’s, there’s, it’s like any other procedural, if it’s a medical or, or a police procedural, there’s certain terms and, and lingo and ways in which that, there’s a turn of phrase that people use that if, if you don’t understand, and if you, if you’re not with what it actually means and how it’s used, it can fall very flat.
ZACH SMADU:Â And so I know, at least for myself, it’s been a challenge and something that I really wanted to make sure that I was always on, because, you know, you can, when you see it on television and it doesn’t ring true, well, it affects the show deeply. So, I’ve been studying law, I’m halfway through getting my diploma.
VICTOR GARBER:Â Oh, stop it.
JORDY RANDALL:Â It isnât what itâs called.
ZACH SMADU: Â It’s a law degree? No, it has, it has a challenge.
VICTOR GARBER:Â Mythical law degree.
JEWEL STAITE:Â Um, Zach and I have talked a lot about the, the courtroom… bravado that you have to have as a lawyer. So it’s like, it’s like being an actor when you’re on stage, right? So when you’re doing your thing and you’re up there and you’re questioning the witness, what, what does this person do with their body? How do they exude confidence? What’s their walk in the courtroom? Um, and, and we both have our little tricks and things. And [LAUGHS] remember Zach, I was watching him question a witness, remember? And he, and he came out, he like, he like did this really good thing where he sort of like leaned on the witness box, in this like, casual way as he was just sort of tearing this person apart. And after that take, I was like, âI like the lean, buddy. I like the lean.â And he’s like, âThanks.â And I’m like, âI’m gonna steal that.â And he’s like, âDon’t you dare.â
ZACH SMADU: Donât you dare, thatâs mine! [LAUGHS]
JEWEL STAITE:Â But you know, each character has to have their way of kind of taking control of the courtroom. So, that was interesting to learn. And, and I think, you know, I can speak for Zach as well as myself in saying that the courtroom days are the hardest. And it takes a lot of prep to learn the dialogue, to make it sound like it’s second nature, and to choreograph your moves. What line are you walking on when you have to hand over a prop, an envelope, a thing to the judge, to the, to the other lawyer, you know, the opposing council? There’s so many things to remember, that it’s literally, it’s like a dance. And, and we work on those for weeks [LAUGHS] before we actually shoot.
ZACH SMADU:Â Well, and it’s really important, because there’s so many little details in a single court scene that, you know, there’s one line or there’s one piece of information that the audience needs to understand. And if, you know, you don’t build to that part, and it is a dance, or it’s like a song, right? If you don’t actually hit the melody at the right time and make it clear and make it obvious and, and let that scene sing, then it’s not gonna work. And so it can fall flat.
SUSIN NIELSEN:Â Yeah. And I guess I would say from the, you know, from the writing point of view, I too know very little about family law. But I know more now than when I started. Um, and we have wonderful consultants who, who really help us out. And so we’ll often start with, you know, we’ll, we read copious articles and books and we have all sorts of ideas for cases. Some are torn from the headlines, some are…. there’s a beautiful episode in, in Season 1 where some of it takes place in a memory care home, a woman who has early onset Alzheimer’s. And that came from reading an article in, in the New Yorker.
SUSIN NIELSEN:Â And we figured out a way to build it into a court case. And so, often what we’ll do is we’ll come up with the idea and we’ll come up with the things that we’d like to have happen, and then we run it by our consultant. [LAUGHS] And, and she’s great because she actually helps us figure out how to make it work within, mostly the realm of the law. We call it TV law. Um, you know, some of our law is maybe a little more Canadian, some of it’s more American. It’s TV law.
ABBY:Â Thank you.
HOST:Â We have a question actually for Genelle. What similarities are there between you and your character, and what are the differences, and how do you relate to your character?
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â Similarities? Um, I, I actually don’t, I, I get asked this question often, and I could be wrong. Maybe Jewel or Zach or Victor might say something different. Um, but I don’t find myself that similar to Lucy other than her being, you know, very empathetic and caring and loving. I guess that’s a lot of things, huh?
VICTOR GARBER:Â Yeah, that’s a lot. Youâre, youâre exactly like her.
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â I think she’s way smarter than I am, cause she really genuinely is. She’s an incredibly intellectual young woman. Um, I’m smart, but not that smart. Um, I, I thoroughly enjoy playing Lucy for those reasons, I think just because she is very strong. She’s wise beyond her years. Um, and as much as she’s very self-aware of herself, she’s also, like I said, very sympathetic and very loving. And sheâll see, you know, both sides of things. Where I sometimes, especially with Abby and Daniel, where they can be very, by-the-book or extreme one way or the other, she tends to kind of be able to give this middle ground, which is nice. Which I guess again, is similar to me. So, ignore what I said in the beginning about me.
VICTOR GARBER:Â Yeah, exactly. She’s exactly like you.
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â Iâm, I’m more like Lucy than I think.
VICTOR GARBER:Â Iâm so glad you worked that out. I’m so glad you worked it out.
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â I didnât know!
JEWEL STAITE:Â You’re more fun. (Pardon?) Youâre fun and silly and like, I don’t know, you’re just like a very warm, kind of radiating, like a, you know, you’re, you’re just like a super friendly kind of person and…
ZACH SMADU:Â Yeah, you don’t take yourself too seriously. (More guarded) But yeah, I would say, I would say Lucy is way more guarded.
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â Lucy is much more guarded.
ZACH SMADU:Â But you have the same superpower that Lucy has. You can see it in the, in the scenes when she’s doing therapy sessions or whatever. You have the same, in real life of being able to instantaneously connect with people. Right? You know, weâre out for dinner and you, you know everybody’s, every, every server, every person, every, the host, all their names and their backstory. Like, we’ve been here for five minutes. Like, how, how do you know? How do you know what? But she just said she, you have the, the exact same [OVERLAPPING]
VICTOR GARBER:Â Genelle, Genelle is the personification of joy thatâs just… (Oh, guys) Every time she walks in a room, there’s like, âOh, why is, Oh, I feel, oh, this is… [INAUDIBLE].â
JEWEL STAITE:Â Thatâs true.
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â I love you all. Thank you. Thank you. Well, you made me cry.
VICTOR GARBER:Â Thatâs the point, yeah.
ZACH SMADU:Â Something that Lucy also does, yes.
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â Lucy, Lucy definitely, Lucy can be emotional. I just, the other day, wasn’t I, Susin told the other day, to not be so emotional. I remember this clearly. Lucy, Lucy, sometimes yeah, could be a little emotional. [LAUGHS]
HOST:Â Genelle, we need to be friends. Um, so on deck, we have Bruce Miller and up now we have Rick Bentley.
RICK:Â Thank you very much. Victor, I have a two part question for you.
VICTOR GARBER:Â Oh now, canât do two parts.
RICK: Then weâll do it as A and B. (Okay) Could you talk a little bit about play,  the, the differences between playing Harry, the father and Harry, the legal eagle? And then on the, the second question is, do you look at yourself as sort of the personification of authority figures? Cause I think going all the way back to Godspell, you have by characters who are, who are in charge, people who lead. And I’m just wondering, are those the roles that attract you or, or do they see you, casting people see you in those roles?
VICTOR GARBER:Â You know, I honestly don’t know how casting people see me. But I know when I read something, if it’s something I feel compelled to do. And this, this role, I, I was, this, this came out of the blue, this, this, this script. And I said, Oh, this is really good. Um, and I want to, to do this. And I, you know, I, I think I, I do have a need to… I, I think I’d be a terrible lawyer because I would be on both sides all the time. And I, that’s, that’s, I, I do find that I, it’s hard for me to, you know, I, I know what I think is right and um, but I also have compassion for people who don’t… know what’s right. And I think that’s why it’s a good fit for me. I think this role is… and as a father, that’s, that’s the, the joy of playing this role because it’s so, it’s, it’s always, it’s always changing, you know?
VICTOR GARBER:Â And, and Harry’s problem or, or relationship with Abigail is, is so compelling. And it, and it, itâs shifted for those reasons. That he, he, he wants to be paternal, she won’t let him. And then he real and then, and then she’s, she’s so adversarial and he won’t, and he can’t, he can’t not fight. So there as, as, as, as Joel was saying, they are so similar. And that was really one of, that’s the joy of playing this role. It’s so multidimensional. Uh, and it, it’s challenging for me, which is really all I asked for in a role.
VICTOR:Â Did I answer the second part? (Yes, sure) Okay. Do you wanna know what I had for breakfast?
ZACH SMADU:Â Was it cereal?
VICTOR GARBER:Â It was cereal.
HOST:Â On deck we have Laura Novak, and up now we have Bruce Miller.
BRUCE:Â This is for Victor, too. I, I was just curious, how many lawyers have you played?
VICTOR GARBER:Â You know what, you have to read the resume, cause I don’t remember. Not that many. I mean, I know, not that many. Um, I’m sure I have… Oh, I was, oh, in Legally Blonde, I was a really terrible lawyer. (Bad one) Um, that’s the most, I think that’s, I, but I’m sure I’ve played more. But, I really don’t remember. I, I, I sometimes wonder how I’ve gotten this far because I don’t remember how I got here.
BRUCE:Â So nothing carries over then from one lawyer to another?
VICTOR GARBER:Â Well, of course, I mean, I, I, I mean, on some level, but not consciously. Because, you know, you can only do what the script is giving you to do. You know, and all scripts are different, and some are better than others. The, the, these scripts are better than other scripts I’ve, I’ve… been involved with. And, and so it’s, it’s really, it’s a gift really for an actor. It’s always on the page, always starts on the page. And that’s what, that’s what I always am completely taken with. Um, and I made decisions, for other reasons and I was wrong because the script wasn’t, I knew the script wasn’t right for me, and I shouldn’t, I, I think, oh, well, like, sorry I did that. I’m not, I’m not gonna give you the names of those things.
SUSIN NIELSEN:Â Later Victor, over drinks.
VICTOR GARBER:Â Yeah. Oh, you know.
HOST:Â I wanted to do a quick last call for questions. Um, on deck we have Lou Ann Lee, and up next we have Laura Nokak.
LAURA:Â Hi this question is for Jewel. I’d also like to hear from Zach and Genelle. Uh, how did you feel about inheriting half siblings you’ve never met and then having to work with them daily?
JEWEL STAITE:Â Well, I mean, that’s a pretty wild concept, to begin with. I cannot imagine having to do something like that, especially in the position that Abby’s in where her tail is between her legs, and she is so ashamed and is, you know, living at her mom’s, and her life is falling apart and she’s gotta strut into that office acting like she already owns the place. And I think deep down she’s probably pretty terrified. Um, so it takes her a long, long time to figure out what her relationships are with these two people. I think Lucy comes on pretty strong, wants to be buddies, wants to be sisters.
JEWEL STAITE:Â And Abby, by nature is just not super into that, and doesn’t have very many friends. Abby is not the type of person to have a best friend. Um, and so that’s just completely foreign to her. And Lucy, you know, is often quite affectionate and tries to link arms with her and give her hugs. And it’s like, you know, there’s like one moment where Lucy’s really despondent and sad and at a loss, and Abby sits next to her and doesn’t know what to do. Um, and just sort of like puts like a really awkward, like quick hand on her lap, cause she really is just so clueless.
JEWEL STAITE:Â Um, and then with Daniel, you know, I think Abby really respects Daniel when she sees what he can do in the courtroom, she, she thinks he’s a pretty great lawyer. And they’ve got this weird relationship where she slams into his face, but talks really nice about him behind his back. [LAUGHS] And, and it, sort of does this, like this sisterly thing where, you know, she comes to Harry and says, âyou gotta give him more credit. He’s really good at this. And the way you treat him is not okay.â You know, and, and essentially stands up for her brother, but Daniel never knows, He never knows about that. And it’s really interesting that Abby’s not willing to give that away.
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â I think the beautiful thing is that, it’s not in, in this situation, especially for, for all three of us, it’s not that we didn’t know each other existed. So, yeah, you know, Lucy’s always known that she’s had this sister and she’s always wanted to have a relationship with her. It wasn’t a surprise that she existed. So, I, I think this longing to have her, as Abby said, she comes on strong because all she’s ever wanted was to have this sisterly bond. She’s always been close with Daniel, of course. Daniel and Lucy have had a relationship from the very beginning. But unfortunately with Abby, she hasn’t. So she does try every single tactic to try and get Abby to love her, and she does, in her own sort of messed-up way.
JEWEL STAITE:Â That’s true. [INAUDIBLE]
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â Yeah. I mean she, she does, she does love her. She plays hard to get. But I think, based off of your question, it’s, it’s a, it’s a nice thing because it’s something that Lucy has always wanted. And she’s always known that she’s been there. And this is a day that she’s been waiting for. So there isn’t this big surprise. So, to play it was fabulous. I mean, I wanted her to like me even in the, in the casting, in the audition process, I wanted…
JEWEL STAITE:Â And I love you.
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â And I donât whether she, she took to my love very well the very first time I met her. But [LAUGHS] other than that, I mean…
JEWEL STAITE:Â She was overly friendly in the audition room, and I was so stressed because, hey, guess what, I was auditioning. And Genelle [OVERLAPPING]
GENELLE WILLIAMS:Â I could have wrapped her in my arms, I couldâve.
JEWEL STAITE:Â It was so annoying. She was like, âI love your shoes. Where are you from? Have you been in this restaurant?â And I was like, Oh my God, I’m trying to memorize this monologue. Like, I wanna get this job, girl. [OVERLAPPING]
ZACH SMADU:Â Well, in, in big contrast to, to Lucy, I think for Daniel it’s quite the opposite. I think Abby showing up is kind of the worst thing, both for his professional world and also the family dynamic that he has. He’s, he’s, it’s literally changes the pecking order in the family, you know, as Genelle and, and Jewel have said that we’ve known about each other, but we’ve never had any interaction. So when Abby shows up, Daniel goes from being, you know, the, the older son in his own mind, to being the middle child, to also being, you know, a partnered lawyer with his stepsister that he doesn’t know, who is quite competent and quite good, despite all the, the shame and the, the backstory that she comes into.
ZACH SMADU: So it’s really a challenge for him to find where he lands within the family with, within Harry’s eyes. And also how he, Daniel is quite competitive in, in nature. So Abby is, is quite the foil for him constantly. And I think Daniel’s also very protective of the relationship, the, the one relationship he has with, with Lucy. So  even Lucy’s, you know, eyes and arms, you know, reaching out to, to welcome Abby is, is kind of threatening to Daniel. So it provides a lot of, a lot of a lot of conflict for, for him especially. Well, I mean, I think it still does as the seasons have gone on. So it’s, it’s very fun to play.
HOST:Â Okay. So last question is with Lou Ann Lee.
LOU ANN:Â Yeah. Victor, you’ve played everything from Jesus to the devil. Actors tell us that villains are much easier to play than the good guy, but you are so good at the good guy. What are the secrets of playing that kind of character?
VICTOR GARBER:Â I have no secrets. I, I donât know. I, I all, all I can tell you is that everyone is complex. Everyone has, you know aspects of their personality that they can rely on. And, and some, and they’re lost in, in other situations that they don’t know how to respond. And it’s, honestly, I don’t really think of them as evil or good. I just think of them as people. Do they have a problem? Do they, is there a challenge? Is there, you know, and I use this word âobjective.â But it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s really, really dependent on what the writing is, and who you’re acting with.
VICTOR GARBER:Â You know, you, I mean, Jewel and I have had scenes where things have come up at where, where we’re having a confrontation or something, where something comes up and sort of… and because we’re both in the moment, it hits us in a completely, an undiscovered way. Cause you can’t plan anything as an actor. I mean, you can plan certain things, of course, but I mean, in terms, if you start planning how you’re going to respond to people, you might as well just stop acting, because that’s just not okay.
VICTOR GARBER: And, and so really  honestly, it’s about being in the moment. And, you know, it’s, if it’s in the script that you do something that is, that is not okay, you, you have to somehow believe that you’re, it is in your, in your own way. And so really, it’s really acting and, and I’m just so grateful that the three actors, that your other three actors are on this panel, are just, I, I cannot tell you how impressed I am by their level of professionalism, of talent, of support, of empathy, of and humor.
VICTOR GARBER:Â We, we, that’s the secret, to me, of why this show is working as well as it is, aside from the incredible writing. It’s, it’s this chemistry, and it’s a magical thing, and it’s indescribable and it doesn’t always happen.
LOU ANN:Â Thank you.
HOST:Â Perfect way to end the panel. Um, thank you for joining us today. Thank you to everyone for your participation. As a reminder, Family Law premiers Sunday, October 2nd on The CW. I hope everyone has an awesome day.
SERIES PREMIERE â Abigail (Jewel Staite) begins her probationary period at Svensson and Associates, forced to work with her estranged father Harry (Victor Garber) and her half-siblings Daniel (Zach Smadu) and Lucy (Genelle Williams). She immediately oversteps her low-level position by helping Jeanette, a woman who found her sperm donor via Craigslist, track down the father of her now 13-year-old daughter and sue him for retroactive child support. But when Abigail sees the toll this case is taking on her clientâs daughter (who simply wants a relationship with her dad) she fears her intervention might tear this family apart; mirroring her own family situation. Meanwhile, Abby is still stung by her separation from her husband Frank (guest star Luke Camilleri) and misses her kids terribly. Lastly, Daniel, is dealing with a custody battle of his ownâŠan arbitration over a pug called Craig. Lauren Holly also stars. The episode was written by Susin Nielsen and directed by Jordan Canning (#101).  Original airdate 10/2/2022.
Parenthood
SeasonS.1
Episode 102
Airdate:
PARENTHOOD â Abigail (Jewel Staite) and Daniel (Zach Smadu) represent a couple with Down syndrome who must prove to authorities they are fit to raise their unborn child. Social services has threatened to take the baby away unless Ellie and Levi can prove they are capable parents. Abigail and Daniel agree to represent them and try creative ways to come up with a workable parenting plan, but obstacles â including Harry (Victor Garber) – litter their path. Meanwhile, Lucy (Genelle Williams) prefers to avoid the whole topic of parenthood altogether, which proves difficult when her wife Maggie (guest star Ali Liebert) ups the pressure to start a family. And when Abigail discovers Nico (guest star Brenden Sunderland) is being bullied at school, she confronts his tormentor but takes it too far. Lauren Holly also stars. The episode was written by Susin Nielsen and directed by Jordan Canning (#102). Original airdate 10/9/2022.
Interview with Executive Producer Don Mancini, actors Zackary Arthur, Björgvin Arnarson, Brad Dourif, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Devon Sawa, and Jennifer Tilly of “Chucky” on Syfy by Suzanne 9/15/22
“Chucky” Season 2: Executive Producer and Cast Share Behind-the-Scenes Insights
Virtual via Zoom – September 15, 2022 – In a fun TCA panel discussion, executive producer Don Mancini and cast members of the hit USA Network and SYFY series “Chucky” offered a glimpse into the upcoming season. The show, which garnered immense popularity in its first season, will return on October 5 at 9:00 p.m. on both networks. Fans of the film franchise and newcomers alike will be treated to a thrilling continuation of the story, as Chucky seeks revenge on those he holds responsible for foiling his plans in the previous season.
The panel consisted of Don Mancini, the showrunner and executive producer, along with actors Zackary Arthur, Björgvin Arnarson, Brad Dourif, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Devon Sawa, and Jennifer Tilly. The discussion covered various aspects of the show, including the Catholic background that influenced Mancini’s storytelling, the evolution of Chucky’s character, and the actors’ favorite moments from the series.
When asked about his Catholic background and its impact on the show, Mancini revealed that he was raised Catholic but attended an Episcopalian school in eighth grade, which exposed him to different aspects of the Catholic Church. This intersection between Chucky and religious themes intrigued him, as the character often subverts authority figures and challenges institutions.
Mancini also explained how Chucky seamlessly transitioned from the film franchise to the TV series format. He attributed the character’s enduring popularity to Brad Dourif’s unforgettable performance as Chucky and the skill of the puppeteers who bring the doll to life. Furthermore, the serialized narrative storytelling, which the films had already established, allowed the TV series to delve deeper into character development and explore different sub-genres of horror.
The cast members shared their own experiences and favorite moments from the show. Devon Sawa expressed his excitement about returning for another season and the joy of working with young actors. He particularly enjoyed the video game scene from the previous season. Alyvia Alyn Lind highlighted the scene where Chucky flips them off, as it showcased the characters coming together and created an unforgettable moment. Björgvin Arnarson praised Chucky’s manipulative nature and the surprising twists it brought to the story. Zackary Arthur mentioned the “Snug as a fucking bug in a rug” line and the creepy lullaby scene as his favorites.
Reflecting on the evolution of Chucky’s character over the years, Brad Dourif acknowledged Don Mancini’s creative vision as the driving force behind it. He commended Mancini’s ability to adapt to changing horror trends and continually challenge the character, making each season an exciting and daunting experience for him.
As the panel concluded, the cast expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to work on the show and their excitement for future seasons. Despite the challenges and emotions that come with wrapping up each season, the camaraderie among the cast and crew made the experience rewarding.
With the return of “Chucky” just around the corner, fans can anticipate an exhilarating second season that pushes the boundaries of horror and explores new depths of the beloved character. The series continues to captivate audiences and carve its own path in the horror genre, thanks to the creative genius of Don Mancini and the exceptional performances of the talented cast.
MORE INFO: Chucky
“Chucky” Season 3 coming Fall 2023 on USA & SYFY.
CHUCKY is a continuation of the iconic film franchise chronicling the murderous escapades of the notorious killer doll. In the TV series, Chucky crosses paths with archenemies, old allies and new prey, as he seeks to inspire fear and mayhem wherever he goes. After his diabolical plan to invade Americaâs childrenâs hospitals was foiled in season one, Chucky now seeks revenge on those he holds responsible: surviving teens Jake (Zackary Arthur), Devon (Björgvin Arnarson) and Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind), along with his ex Tiffany, now his sworn enemy. Meanwhile, can âJevonâ make it as a couple in the face of adversity at their new Catholic school, not to mention a brand-new onslaught of terror from the demon doll?
The series is produced by UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, and executive produced by Don Mancini, Nick Antosca, Alex Hedlund, David Kirschner and Jeff Renfroe.
Don Mancini
Executive Producer, âChuckyâ
Don Mancini is the creator and an executive producer of the hit USA Network series âChucky.â
Mancini created one of the most terrifying and iconic horror villains of all time with Chucky, the red-haired, freckle-faced doll possessed by the soul of a serial killer. Chucky slashed his way into the pop culture zeitgeist in 1988 with the premiere of âChildâs Playâ and the franchise now includes six sequels.
Mancini is not only a standout figure in queer horror, heâs also one of the only franchise creators of any genre to continue overseeing his creation for over 30-plus years
Additionally, Mancini served as a writer and producer on âHannibalâ and âChannel Zeroâ as well as co-writer on âTales From the Crypt.â
Brad Dourif
Chucky (Voice), âChuckyâ
Brad Dourif plays the devilish title character in the hit USA Network series âChucky.â
Over the course of a lengthy career, Dourif has appeared in more than 50 feature films, winning a BAFTA Award and being nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe Award for supporting actor in the iconic Jack Nicholson-starrer âOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.â Other films on Dourifâs resume include âDune,â âBlue Velvetâ and âMississippi Burning.â He is also known for his work on the âLord of the Ringsâ franchises.
On the television side, Dourif played Doc Cochran on the mesmerizing HBO Western âDeadwood,â from David Milch. For his work on the show,â Dourif earned an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Jennifer Tilly
Tiffany Valentine, âChuckyâ
Jennifer Tilly plays Tiffany Valentine in the USA Network drama âChucky.â
Tilly received an Academy Award nomination for her role in Woody Allenâs âBullets Over Broadwayâ and earned an American Comedy Award nomination for âLiar Liar,â opposite Jim Carrey.
Tillyâs film credits include âBound,â âThe Getaway,â âThe Fabulous Baker Boys,â âDancing at the Blue Iguana,â âBride of Chuckyâ and âThe Doors.â
On the TV side, Tilly has appeared on âModern Family,â âHill Street Blues,â âItâs Garry Shandlingâs Show,â âMoonlighting,â âCheers,â âFrasier,â âDrop Dead Diva,â and âCSI.â For the last 11 years, sheâs been doing voiceover work for Foxâs âFamily Guyâ as well as the films âMonsterâs Inc.,â âMonsters at Work,â âHome on the Range,â âStuart Littleâ and âThe Haunted Mansion.â
Equally at home on stage, Tilly has many theater credits under her belt, including âTartuffe,â (LA Public Theatre) âBoy’s Lifeâ (LAAT), âBaby With the Bathwater,â (LAPT) and âVanities,â (Dramalogue Best Actress Award). She received a TheatreWorld Award for Best Newcomer for her performance in Second Stage’s âOne Shoe Offâ at the Joseph Papp Theatre. On Broadway in 2001, she co-starred in âThe Womenâ with Cynthia Nixon and Kristen Johnson, and then returned to Broadway to co-star in âDonât Dress for Dinnerâ in 2012.
She appeared with Miranda Richardson in the critically acclaimed world premiere of Wallace Shawn’s play âGrasses of a Thousand Colorsâ at the Royal Court Theatre in London. She then reprised her role in the American premiere at the Joseph Papp Theater.
Tilly is a skilled poker player and won a gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker in 2005.
Björgvin Arnarson
Devon Evans âChuckyâ
Björgvin Arnarson plays Devon in the hit USA Network drama series âChucky.â
Arnarson is a globetrotting military kid, discovered his love for acting after he booked his first role on Bounce TVâs âFamily Timeâ sitcom. His recent credits include the series âPEN15â and the feature film âThe Seventh Day.â
He pursued acting from a young age, participating in theater and making short films. When Björgvin is not on set, heâs an entrepreneur and filmmaker, active in the local art scene. He also plays piano and studies digital arts.
Zackary Arthur
Jake Wheeler, âCHUCKYâ
Zack Arthur plays Jake Wheeler on the USA Network hit series âChucky.â
Most recently, he lent his voice to âSecret Agent Dingledorf and His Trusty Dog Splatâ and was previously seen in âMississippi Requiem.â Upcoming, heâs set to co-star in âJillâ with Tom Pelphrey (âOzarkâ).
Arthur made his feature film debut in âThe 5th Waveâ and additional movie credits include âHero Dog: The Journey Home,â âThe American Boys,â âDonât Come Back from the Moonâ and âMom and Dad.â
Heâs perhaps best well known for his role in Amazonâs Emmy Award-nominated series âTransparent,â appearing in 19 episodes throughout the showâs five seasons along co-star and Emmy winner Jeffrey Tambor.
Arthur has also guest-starred on a variety of TV projects, including Jim Carreyâs Golden Globe-nominated comedy series âKidding,â Pamela Adlonâs Peabody Award-winning FX series âBetter Thingsâ and David Hollanderâs critically acclaimed Showtime series âRay Donovan.â Additional television credits include âBorrasca,â âSWAT,â âTeachers,â âGreyâs Anatomy,â and âBest Friends Whenever.â
He currently resides in Los Angeles with his family.
Alyvia Alyn Lind
Lexy, âChuckyâ
Alyvia Alyn Lind grew up in Los Angeles in a houseful of actresses. She began her career at the age of 3 and at such a young age, has an impressive list of credits.
Alyvia is presently in production on the highly anticipated USA/SyFy television series âChucky,â produced by NBC/Universal, playing the entitled, privileged âmean girlâ âLexy Cross.â
Lind is also a series regular in the popular, post-apocalyptic, genre-bending âDaybreakâ currently streaming on Netflix, playing the role of âAngelica Green,â a highly unstable kid genius.
Alyvia is often recognized for playing Anna Farisâs daughter in the remake of the comedy classic âOverboard.â She recently completed season 2 of âFutureman” with Josh Hutcherson, produced by Seth Rogen, airing on Hulu. She can also be seen in the Netflix original film, âWalk. Ride. Rodeo.â
Alyvia is best known for her portrayal of the living legend, Dolly Parton, in the NBC Universal telefilm, âCoat of Many Colors,â and immediately following, âChristmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love,â which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Alyvia was recognized by the prestigious Criticsâ Choice Awards by being nominated in the adult category at seven years old, for Best Actress alongside Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, and Kirsten Dunst, and she was also nominated and won the Movieguideâs Grace Award for Best Actress. Not only did the MOW break records with 18.6 million viewers, which made COMC the highest-rated movie or miniseries on the broadcast networks in six years, the film walked away with numerous awards, including The Tex Ritter Award and the coveted Epiphany Prize given by the Movieguide Awards. One of Alyviaâs favorite parts of working on the film was singing her solos, and recording âAngel Hill,â an original duet with Dolly Parton.
Alyvia was also seen in the Amazon original movie âAn American Girl Story â Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmasâ playing the lead character, a young girl who sets her mind to helping children with polio. In conjunction with the film, Aly teamed up with Lollipop Theatre Network to help bring awareness to children with life-threatening illnesses.
Alyvia is also known for the much publicized, campy Lifetime movie, âA Deadly Adoptionâ where she enjoyed the enviable role of Will Ferrellâs and Kristen Wiigâs kidnapped daughter.
One of Alyâs career highlights was playing Adam Sandlerâs daughter in the Warner Bros. film âBlendedâ alongside Drew Barrymore and Bella Thorne. Alyvia plays the precocious and sweet âLou Friedman,â the youngest daughter of Sandler.
Alyviaâs television credits include the ABC hit series âRevenge,â playing the five-yearold âAmanda Clarke,â the wisecracking âCharlotte,â on the Nick@Nite comedy âSee Dad Runâ with Scott Baio, âAnnika,â a foreign exchange student (she learned to speak Swedish for the role) in the TNT comedy âTeachers,â âGamerâs Guideâ for Disney, âSashaâ on âAlexa and Katieâ for Netflix,â Lilyâ on the Ryan Murphy Fox hit â9-1-1,â and she can still be seen (since the age of 3) in the television daytime drama âThe Young and the Restlessâ as âFaith Newman,â in which she was Emmy nominated for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series in 2017 at the age of 9 and is again nominated for her work in 2020.
On the big screen, Lind appeared in Dimension Filmâs âDark Skiesâ (2013) with Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton, and was seen in Universal Picturesâ âMockingbird,â a thriller starring Spencer List, and the feature film âShangri-La Suiteâ opposite Ashley Greene and Emily Browning in which Alyvia portrays Lisa Marie Presley.
Alyvia is also known for her recurring role, âGracie,â on the groundbreaking, award winning Amazon show âTransparentâ, and the critically acclaimed âMasters of Sexâ for Showtime, playing âJenny,â Michael Sheenâs and Caitlin Fitzgeraldâs daughter.
Alyvia grew up with two older sisters, Natalie and Emily, (both actresses) in an animalloving home. She has a passion for dogs and her favorite pastime is being a mom to her rescued malti-poo named âGeorgie,â and her new goldendoodle puppy, âRocky Lou.â In her spare time, she likes to record songs and make movies with her sisters, practice guitar, write music and dance. Alyvia has grown up watching her mom, actress Barbara Alyn Woods (âOne Tree Hillâ and âHoney, I Shrunk the Kidsâ) and looks up to her for acting inspiration.
Devon Sawa
Logan Wheeler / Lucas Wheeler, âChuckyâ
Dewon Sawa plays Father Bryce on the hit USA Network drama series âChucky.â
Born in Vancouver, Sawa is an industry veteran having gotten his start in such films as âCasper,â âNow and Thenâ and âLittle Giants.â He soon became a household name after starring in the iconic horror franchise âFinal Destinationâ as well as cult favorites âIdle Handsâ and âSLC Punkâ as well as its sequel, âPunkâs Dead.â He also starred opposite Sylvester Stallone and Dave Bautista in âEscape Plan: The Extractors,â opposite John Travolta in âThe Fanaticâ and opposite Guy Pearce in âDisturbing the Peace.â
On the TV side, Sawa can be seen on the HBO Max series âHacks.â He also appeared on the CWâs âNikitaâ as both Owen Elliot and Sam Matthews, a Special Forces operative with multiple personalities.
Interview with Mark Gagliardi of “Blood and Treasure” on Paramount+ by Suzanne 8/26/22
This was such a fun interview! Mark is hilarious. I really enjoyed speaking with him. I really love his character on “Blood & Treasure.” I hope you enjoy our video! Don’t forget to watch “Blood & Treasure” on Paramount+. This Sunday, 10/2, is the season finale.
MORE INFO:
Actor and comedian Mark Gagliardi is one of the main stars of the Paramount+ series BLOOD & TREASURE (plays âFather Chuckâ) â new episodes of the 2nd Season drop on Sundays!
Additionally, Mark co-hosts the podcast âWe Got Thisâ with fellow comedian Hal Lublin â each week, Mark and Hal sit down to settle all the small debates that are a big deal to YOU â once and for all. No subject is too small for Mark and Hal to tackle! Even though you may think it’s an impossible puzzle to solve, don’t worry… We Got This.
IMDB bio: Originally from Tennessee and trained at DePaul in Chicago, Mark Gagliardi is best known for the viral hit ‘Drunk History’ and his work on stage in ‘The Thrilling Adventure Hour’, a monthly live hit show and podcast at Largo in Los Angeles. He is a veteran of The Second City and National Lampoon, improvises regularly with the record-breaking group Freedom Snatch, and works at Disneyland and Universal Studios as an actor and improvisation coach.
Interview with actors Natalie Zea, Eoin Macken, Nicholas Gonzalez, Veronica St. Clair, Jack Martin and Zyra Gorecki; and executive producer David Appelbaum of “La Brea” on NBC by Suzanne 9/15/22
This was for a TV Critics Assocation panel. They have them twice a year, and they’re a lot of fun. We’re not allowed to use photos, videos or transcripts from them, though, so I’m having to quote and paraphrase what was said here. I hope you enjoy it! I love this show. It’s even more exciting this season.
NBC UNIVERSAL 2022 TCA PRESS TOUR NBC LA BREA
Nicholas Gonzalez, Talent
Zyra Gorecki, Talent
Eoin Macken, Talent
Jack Martin, Talent
Veronica St. Clair, Talent
Natalie Zea, Talent
David Appelbaum, Showrunner/Executive Producer
Virtual via Zoom September 15, 2022
Those of us in the press saw the first episode of the show ahead of time. A lot happens in that first episode, and (MINOR SPOILER) Izzy’s artificial leg is damaged. I tried to ask Zyra Gorecki about that, without giving away too much. She admitted that, “both physically and emotionally, she’s having a very difficult time. So the goal is, obviously, they land in Seattle, they’re trying to make it back to L.A., right? That’s a very long walk. That’s a very long walk with two completely there legs, let alone, you know, one leg and a dad that’s got a lot of issues, you know?” I think she put it very well and without giving spoilers. Just know that all is not what it seems when the show starts! There are many surprises in the first episode, so you don’t want to miss it.
Another member of the press asked whether that idea about her leg was from the writers’ or from Gorecki herself. Showrunner David Appelbaum answered that the writers came up with the idea but consulted Gorecki. Gorecki said that it was “very weird” to imagine herself in 10,000 BC and having that happen.
Many journalists were at the panel and asked their questions. Appelbaum was asked whether this season has the same amount of both CGI and non-CGI special effects as last season. He confirmed that there were many special effects this season because the audience expects that, given the setting. He thinks the audience will enjoy it this season even more. He was also asked about physical things the cast interacts with when there is the CGI effect, such as a mastodon. Applebaum explained that sometimes they just use their imagination, while other times they have a proxy that they use. He praised the cast for their imagination and creativity.
Macken joked that their director, Adam Davidson, waves his hands and runs around, which works for him. Everyone laughed. Gonzalez agreed, saying that it can be hard to keep a straight face when Davidson is dressed up in a blue leotard and doing animal impressions. He and Macken joked a bit more about that.
The actors were then asked whether they had “unique acting challenges” this season. Martin spoke vaguely about some problems involved with being in a different time period and having to imagine his own family at that age. Macken added that he felt the scripts were very exciting. He praised Applebaum for giving the actors details about what’s going on in the story and with their characters, so that they can share in the journey and the action.
Gorecki was also asked about a scene where she pet a particular prehistoric baby animal. She replied that it was a foam head of a baby rhino, which Davidson held and wiggled at her. She laughed that it was “super entertaining.” She was also asked about how different it is this season, now that she’s working more with CGI and doing more action. She related that it was very different and had to act like this fake animal was trying to hurt her. She told us that “being afraid of something that isn’t there is wild,” and then she laughed.
Next, Martin was asked about having to learn about a new time period in which his character, Josh, lands. He revealed that he was already obsessed with that decade, especially the music and movies that he loves. He consulted with his relatives and looked at old photos to get an idea about the costumes. He can’t wait for us to see it. Applebaum added that Riley is also a huge part of that story with Josh. St. Clair spoke about how great this new storyline is. She praised their new time period, especially the hair, the costumes and the music. She also loved that it was very different from last season when they had to work in the mud, rain and Australian winter. Zea, whose character stays in 10,000 BC, made a joke about how she shouldn’t rub it in, and everyone laughed.
LA BREA — “The Next Day” Episode 201 — Pictured: (l-r) Natalie Zea as Eve Harris, Nicholas Gonzalez as Levi Delgado — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)
Gonzalez was asked how his character has evolved since last season. He spoke about how his character is principled and upstanding, yet he had an affair with Eve. Things are different this season because he has to keep everyone safe but is faced with this woman that he loves. He shares that there will be a big test to find out whether friendship or love will win out.
He was also asked whether he still runs because (according to Wikipedia), “he was an accomplished cross-country and track runner, winning the Texas State Championship in the mile and two-mile.” The reporter saw him run when he was in college. Gonzalez answered that he just started running again, so he found it interesting that he was asked this now.
The actors were all asked what they liked most about their characters. Zea told us that she likes that Eve felt like she was just a regular person, but now that she’s faced with this “extraordinary situation,” she is struggling both externally and internally about herself. She also likes that she’s flawed.
Macken shared that he likes how his character is involved with his children and not just his ex-wife. He enjoyed this season’s father-daughter journey, and how Izzy can understand her father more. Gorecki agreed that it’s fun to see how different Izzy and Gavin interact this season, and how she takes more control and grows more.
Martin answered that he thinks his story “is about agency and self actualization.” He likes how Josh is forced to grow up and take on more responsibility than most 17-year-olds and to be heroic, even though “he’s definitely still a kid.”
Gonzalez likes how Levi has to navigate his relationships with Eve and her family, as well as the rest of the characters.
Sinclair likes how Riley is “resilient,” especially when dealing with her father and the other “temperamental men,” even though (as she noted), she’s usually wearing a skirt.
Another question was about what will happen when everyone gets back together – especially with the love triangle, and now that Eve knows that Gavin wasn’t crazy, like she thought.
Zea answered that there will be “Fireworks, baby,” which Applebaum agreed with. She went on to say that she believes they cooperate very well together because of the life or death circumstances. Macken agreed that they had to put their survival ahead of their “emotional complexities.” Gonzalez and Macken joked around a bit about it until Zea said, “All right, boys. You’re both pretty,” which made everyone laugh.
Appelbaum was asked about expanding the original world, which was set in 10,000 BC. He thinks the show has a lot of potential for more growth. He praised NBC, Universal, and all the people that he’s worked with, who have been so supportive, and the writers. He loves how they keep finding “these different layers and elements of what this world is and what the characters are and where the show can go.” He thinks it’s exciting to peel back all the layers. Gonzalez added that as actors, it’s fun to jump into the different time periods and how unpredictable the story is. Martin also chimed in to say how much he likes it when the characters go to different times and places where they’re forced to change.
Gorecki was asked about which city in Michigan she’s from, but she said that it’s a very small town, so she won’t say where because of stalkers. She was also asked how the story about her being an amputee came about. She passed the question to Appelbaum, who said that it was always part of this story, even before they found Gorecki. They did an exhaustive search to find the right actor, he said, and they were very lucky to find Gorecki because “she has this great charisma and this natural talent and just immediately inhabited the role.” He praised her growth in season two.
Appelbaum was asked where he was when he learned that they were being renewed for season two. He laughed and said that they just had a baby, so he was feeding the baby with a bottle when he heard. This was a very sweet way to end our panel!
“La Brea” was a tremendous success in its first season and finished as the number one drama for a first year show. The highly anticipated second season begins Tuesday, September 27th at 9:00 p.m. on NBC and will stream the next day on Peacock.
In Season 2, the Harris family remains separated as Eve is reeling from her son, Josh, having mistakenly gone through a portal to 1988. What she doesn’t know yet is that her estranged husband, Gavin, and their daughter, Izzy, have landed in prehistoric Seattle and now must brave the elements and animals to make their way to L.A. Let’s take a look at a recap of Season 1.
From the Official Website:
Tuesdays on NBC (9-10 p.m. ET); Season Premiere: Sept. 27
âLa Breaâ follows an epic family adventure after a massive sinkhole opens in Los Angeles pulling people and buildings into a mysterious and dangerous primeval land where they have no choice but to band together to survive. In season two, the Harris family remains separated as Eve is reeling from her son, Josh, having mistakenly gone through a portal to 1988. What she doesnât know yet is that her estranged husband, Gavin, and their daughter, Izzy, have landed in prehistoric Seattle and now must brave the elements and animals to make their way to L.A.
Creator/Showrunner David Appelbaum executive produces with Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, Rachel Kaplan, Chris Hollier, Adam Davidson, Bryan Wynbrandt, Steven Lilien, Ken Woodruff, and Arika Lisanne Mittman.
Natalie Zea
Eve Harris, âLa Breaâ
Natalie Zea stars as Eve Harris in the NBC drama âLa Brea.â
Originally from Texas, Zea made her way to New York where she earned a scholarship to the prestigious American Music and Drama Academy. Shortly after graduation, Zea appeared in Off-Broadway productions of the âThree Sistersâ and âA Midsummer Nightâs Dreamâ until a few years later when she made her television debut in an episode of the short-lived WB drama series âD.C.â
Zea has had recurring roles in â9-1-1: Lone Star,â âThe Unicornâ and âMembers Onlyâ opposite John Stamos. She was also a series regular during the first three seasons of the FX drama âJustifiedâ and brought on as a recurring character for the fourth season. Oher TV projects include âThe Following,â âWhite Famous,â âCalifornication,â âThe Detourâ and âDirty Sexy Money.â
On the theatrical side, she co-starred in âHappily,â which screened at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival.
Zea helped develop Los Angelesâ reputable Lone Star Ensemble, a theater company in which she serves on the board of directors. She has a 6-year-old daughter with her husband, actor Travis Schuldt, and lives in Los Angeles.
Eoin Macken
Gavin Harris, âLa Breaâ
Eoin Macken plays Gavin Harris in the NBC drama âLa Brea.â
Macken can also be seen as the male lead in the film âThe Cellar,â co-starring Elisha Cuthbert, which premiered at SXSW 2022 and on Shudder. He also wrote, directed and produced âHere Are the Young Men,â adapted from a novel by Rob Doyle, as well as directing and producing the satirical comedy âGrey Elephant.â
Mackenâs TV credits include âStumptown,â âThe Night Shift,â âNightflyers,â âKilling Jesus,â âMerlinâ and âThe Tudors.â On the film side, Mackenâs credits include âClose,â âThe Hole in the Ground,â âHere Are the Young Men,â âResident Evil: The Final Chapter,â âThe Forestâ and Netflixâs âTill Death,â alongside Megan Fox.
Zyra Gorecki
Izzy Harris, âLa Breaâ
Zyra Gorecki plays Izzy Harris in the NBC drama series âLa Brea.â
Gorecki is one of the first below-the-knee amputee actresses with a series regular role in a major broadcast television series. Gorecki is involved with the non-profit organization Amputee Blade Runners that helps provide free running prosthetics for amputees.
In addition to her acting career, which includes guest-starring on âChicago Fire,â Gorecki is an avid runner and skilled athlete who is passionate about living and promoting a sustainable lifestyle.
Nicholas Gonzalez
Levi Delgado, “La Brea”
Nicholas Gonzalez plays Levi Delgado in the NBC drama âLa Brea.â
Gonzalez recently wrapped three seasons as a series regular on ABCâs âThe Good Doctor.â He can also be seen recurring on ABC Familyâs hit series âPretty Little Liars, ABCâs âHow to Get Away with Murderâ and BETâs âBeing Mary Jane.â His other notable TV credits include major recurring arcs on âSleepy Hollow,â âThe Flashâ and âFrequency.â
On the feature side, Gonzalez recently co-starred in âBorregoâ and âEvil Takes Root.â Other notable feature work includes âPraying for Rain, opposite Jane Seymour; James DeMonacoâs âThe Purge: Anarchy,â opposite Frank Grillo; and Jonas Akerlundâs âSpun,â opposite Mickey Rourke.
Veronica St. Clair
Riley Velez, “La Brea”
Veronica St. Clair plays Riley Velez in the NBC drama âLa Brea.â
St. Clair can be seen in the Netflix series âUnbelievable,â opposite Kaitlyn Dever, as well as the fourth season of â13 Reasons Why.â
She graduated with a degree in theater arts from the University of San Diego.
Jack Martin
Josh Harris, âLa Breaâ
Jack Martin plays Josh Harris in the NBC drama âLa Brea.â
A Los Angeles-based, actor, writer, and comedian, Martin was most recently seen on CBSâ âAll Rise.â
After posting his sketch comedy online during quarantine when the industry was on hold, he exploded on the Internet with his self-produced videos, gaining hundreds of thousands of followers across multiple platforms.
Fresh out of Georgetown University, Martin also studied at New York Universityâs Tisch Stonestreet Studios Film & TV conservatory, an intensive program focused on screen acting. He had also studied acting and the business side of entertainment through various talent management internships before realizing he was better suited in front of the camera, than behind it.
Martinâs self-referential sense of humor brings something unique to every video he makes. He knows who he is and is not afraid to poke fun at himself.
David Appelbaum
Executive Producer, âLa Breaâ
David Appelbaum is the creator, showrunner and executive producer of the NBC drama âLa Brea.â
Appelbaum was a co-executive producer on âThe Enemy Within,â âWisdom of the Crowdâ and âNCIS: New Orleans.â
Appelbaum began his career with four seasons on âThe Mentalist.â
Interview with Scott Prendergast, Elizabeth Klaviter, Marcia Gay Harden, Skylar Astin, Madeline Wise, Tristen J. Winger, Inga Schlingmann and Rosa Arrendondo of “So Help Me Todd” on CBS by Suzanne 9/21/23
Here were some introductory remarks about the show. First, from the moderator: The series is inspired by our creator and executive producer Scott show premieres Thursday, September 29th, at 9/8 Central on CBS and Paramount+.
Joining us today is the cast and executive producers of the series. Please welcome creator and executive producer Scott Prendergast, showrunner and executive producer Elizabeth Klaviter, stars Marcia Gay Harden, Skylar Astin, Madeline Wise, Tristen J. Winger, Inga Schlingmann, and Rosa Arredondo.
The second remarks were from the creator/EP Scott Prendergast: “I’m so happy to be here with my showrunner Elizabeth Klaviter and our six incredible cast members. Just a quick recap. This show is based on a true story. My mother’s husband did disappear and I helped her find him and that’s where we drew the inspiration for the show. So it’s very exciting to be here. The cast is incredible. And I’ll just quickly tell you that when I pitched the show, the first thing I said to CBS was if you took Alicia, the lawyer, from “The Good Wife” and Kalinda, the investigator, made them mother and son and had them do “Moonlighting,” that’s the show, and here we are a year and a half later.
This press panel was for the TV Critics Association. They give us a transcript of the interviews, but we’re not allowed to post them verbatim, and there’s no video or audio.
This is a fun new dramady starring Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden (whom you may remember from “Law and Order” and other shows) and Skylar Astin, who’s probably best known for playing Zoey’s love interest in “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” (ZEP) I spoke with Marcia before, years ago, so I was very happy to get a chance to speak to Skylar because I really loved ZEP.
CBS/Paramount let us watch one episode before airing. It’s a quirky show, and those rarely do well on TV, but you never know. One of the more interesting things about it is that the idea for the story came from the show’s creator’s real life experiences.
With these large press panels, we’re lucky to get one question in, so I was ecstatic to ask him if he would be singing on this show. He not only starred in ZEP but was in the musical movie “Pitch Perfect.” He said that they had no plans to do that yet. He didn’t think his character, Todd, would be a very good singer.
The follow-up question to mine asked if filming the show was easier because there wasn’t choreography and everything, like on ZEP and Pitch Perfect. He felt very comfortable doing musicals, but this show has its own “specific rhythm,” so he treats it the same way. He was talking about the dialogue, which is “very rhythmic.”
“So Help Me Todd: A Quirky Blend of Comedy and Mystery Unveiled in CBS’ New Series”
In a recent Television Critics Association (TCA) panel, the creators, cast, and executive producers of CBS’ upcoming series “So Help Me Todd” gathered to share insights into this intriguing blend of comedy and mystery. The series, set to premiere on Thursday, September 29th, at 9/8 Central, promises to captivate viewers with its unique storyline and a cast that seamlessly mixes humor and drama.
“Inspiration from Real Life”
The show’s creator and executive producer, Scott Prendergast, kicked off the event by sharing the series’ origin story. He revealed that the inspiration for “So Help Me Todd” came from a real-life experience where his mother’s husband disappeared, and he played a pivotal role in helping her find him. This deeply personal narrative forms the foundation of the show’s premise.
Prendergast described the series as a blend of “The Good Wife,” “Moonlighting,” and classic CBS procedurals, with a strong focus on the unique mother-son dynamic at its core.
“Balancing Comedy and Mystery”
A recurring theme during the panel discussion was how the show successfully balances comedy and mystery. Skylar Astin, who plays the titular character Todd, explained that while the show has its comedic moments, it also explores deeper emotional aspects. Astin noted that Todd is a complex character, and he enjoys portraying the character’s messiness and vulnerability.
Executive producer Elizabeth Klaviter emphasized that the humor in the show is grounded in authentic character development. The cast’s performances and the witty scripts allow viewers to relate to the characters while enjoying the comedic elements.
“A Cast of Characters”
The cast of “So Help Me Todd” includes the talented Marcia Gay Harden, Skylar Astin, Madeline Wise, Tristen J. Winger, Inga Schlingmann, and Rosa Arredondo. Each actor brings their unique qualities to the series, contributing to the chemistry that makes the show stand out.
Finding Laughter in the Unusual
One of the standout aspects of the show is its willingness to embrace humor in unusual situations. Scott Prendergast shared a real-life anecdote where he pretended to be someone else to locate a missing person. This blend of absurdity and suspense is at the heart of “So Help Me Todd,” making it an engaging and entertaining watch.
Plans for the Future
When asked about the show’s future, Scott Prendergast revealed that they have ambitious plans for seven seasons. He believes that the evolving mother-son relationship and the characters’ growth will provide endless material for captivating storylines. The panelists expressed their excitement about exploring the family dynamics further, including relationships between siblings, colleagues, and adversaries.
A Quirky Family Saga Awaits
As the panel concluded, it was evident that “So Help Me Todd” promises to be a unique addition to CBS’ lineup, offering viewers a captivating blend of comedy and mystery while delving deep into the intricacies of family dynamics. With a strong cast and a commitment to maintaining the delicate balance between humor and drama, this series is poised to become a must-watch this fall.
Prepare to embark on a journey with the Todd family as they navigate life’s twists, turns, and absurdities, all while seeking answers to intriguing mysteries. Tune in on September 29th to catch the premiere of “So Help Me Todd” on CBS and Paramount+.
SO HELP ME TODD stars Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden and Skylar Astin as razor-sharp, meticulous attorney Margaret Wright (Harden) and Todd (Astin), her talented but scruffy, aimless son whom she hires as her law firmâs in-house investigator. As the black sheep of the well-heeled Wright family, Todd is a laidback, quick-thinking, excellent former private detective who fell on hard times after his flexible interpretation of the law got his license revoked. Margaretâs penchant for excellence and strict adherence to the law is at complete odds with Toddâs scrappy methods of finding his way through sticky situations: by the seat of his wrinkled pants. When Todd inadvertently teams with his mother on a case, sheâs surprised to find herself duly impressed by â and proud of â his crafty ability to sleuth out information with his charm and his wide-ranging tech savvy. At last, Margaret sees a way to put her son on a âsuitableâ path to living an adult, financially solvent life she approves of, and she asks him to join her firm. Todd agrees, since it means getting his license back and once again doing the job he excels at and loves. Mother and son working together is a big first step toward mending their fragile, dysfunctional relationship, and they may even come away with a better understanding of each other at this pivotal point in their lives. But whether Todd and Margaret will be able to accept each other for who they are is another case entirely.
Marcia Gay Harden
July 2022
Academy Award-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden has forged an incomparable body of work, and like a chameleon she transforms into each character she plays. Her critically lauded performances are myriad â from glamorous Ava Gardner in âSinatra,â to artist Lee Krasner in âPollockâ (winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress), to the down-and-out Celeste in âMystic Riverâ (Oscar-nominated in the same category) â and her versatility has been praised in other films such as âMillerâs Crossing,â âThe First Wives Club,â âMeet Joe Black,â âMona Lisa Smile,â âThe Hoaxâ and âUsed People.â
Harden stars in the comedy series âUncoupledâ opposite Neil Patrick Harris. She plays a socialite in the middle of a bitter divorce who commiserates with Harrisâ character when his husband walks out on him.
On the film side, Harden will be seen in âRoadsideâs Gigi & Nateâ with Jim Belushi, Josephine Langford and Charlie Rowe, set for a September theater release, along with Greg Mattolaâs âConfess, Fletchâ opposite Jon Hamm.
Currently, she recurs on the Emmy-nominated series âThe Morning Showâ opposite Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, for which she was just nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. Most recently, she starred in the Amy Poehler-directed comedy âMoxieâ and the miniseries âBarkskins.â
Harden lives in Los Angeles. Her birth date is August 14. She can be followed on Twitter @MGH_8 and Instagram @mgh_8.
Skylar Astin
July 2022
Skylar Astin is a celebrated actor with a varied career across stage and screen. This past summer, Astin returned to the theater in the Off-Broadway revival of âLittle Shop of Horrorsâ as Seymour, directed by Tony winner Michael Mayer. Also, he appeared in the documentary âSpring Awakening: Those Youâve Known.â Astin and the rest of the cast revisited their roles and re-sparked the cultural phenomenon which put Astin on the map and went on to win eight Tony Awards in 2007. Following the release of the documentary, he performed a special rendition of âTouch Meâ at this yearâs Tony Awards with the original cast.
Most recently, Astin starred in two seasons of âZoeyâs Extraordinary Playlistâ alongside Jane Levy, Mary Steenburgen and Peter Gallagher.
Additional television credits include appearing opposite Golden Globe-winner Rachel Bloom in the final season of âCrazy Ex-Girlfriend,â the Golden Globe-nominated dark comedy âGraves,â Frank Coraci’s comedy âHot Air,â âGround Floor,â âGirls,â âHalt and Catch Fire,â âHouseâ and âLove Bites.â
Astin is perhaps best known for his star turn as Jesse in the hit âPitch Perfectâ franchise. Additional big screen credits include âGhosts of War,â â21 and Overâ opposite Miles Teller, âTaking Woodstockâ for director Ang Lee, the Sundance cult-hit âHamlet 2,â âFlock of Dudes,â âCavemenâ and the beloved animated film âWreck It Ralph.â
In 2020, Astin appeared in âSecret Society of Second Born Royals,â an original live action film. Astin was nominated for a Criticsâ Choice Award in the category of Best Actor in a Superhero Movie for his role in this film.
A native New Yorker, Astin portrayed the iconic role of Tony in Carnegie Hallâs performance of âWest Side Storyâ and received rave reviews in Encoreâs production of Kurt Vonnegutâs âGod Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.â He was also seen in Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeckâs play, âWhat Weâre Up Against.â
Currently, Astin resides in Los Angeles. He can be followed on Twitter @SkylarAstin and Instagram @skylarastin.
Madeline Wise
July 2022
Madeline Wise is an actress with a diverse background. After studying at Bard College, with a stint at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, she co-founded New Saloon Theatre Co. and worked extensively in the downtown theatre scene in New York.
Wise made her television debut in season three of the Pete Holmes semi-autobiographical comedy âCrashing,â produced by Judd Apatow. She also played Sir Patrick Stewartâs mother in season two of STAR TREK: PICARD and has appeared in âSingle Drunk Female,â EVIL and âCurb Your Enthusiasm.â
Her film credits include Noah Huttonâs sci-fi âLapsisâ and Sophia Silverâs meditation on adolescent female friendship âOver/Under.â
Currently, she resides in New York. Her birth date is March 1 and she can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @wise_dumb.
Tristen J. Winger
June 2023
Born and raised in South-Central Los Angeles, Winger discovered his love for acting at a young age. He notes he was a âTGIFâ kid, looking forward to Friday nights where he could tune in to âFamily Mattersâ and see himself represented for the first time on television through Jaleel White and his on-screen character Steve Urkel. Winger attended the Amazing Grace Conservatory (AGC), where he was able to hone his craft in theater, bringing characters to life on stage. He went on to attend the King Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science, where he became friends with Issa Rae (who would eventually give him his first big break with âThe Misadventures of Awkward Black Girlâ), graduating one year early. While Winger initially thought he would pursue a career in the medical field, even studying science, math and engineering at California State University Northridge, the performing arts kept calling his name. He dabbled in music production and audio engineering, learning to produce and make music while in college, and took a few retail jobs while he auditioned for acting projects in Los Angeles. While working at the Apple store he landed one of his first big jobs on âInsecure,â and he has been booking film and television projects ever since.
On television, Winger has played a variety of characters that come from many different backgrounds. He is best known for his role as Thug Yoda on the award-winning series âInsecureâ from creator/writer/producer Issa Rae. His other credits include âBigger,â âEast of La Brea,â â50 Central,â âAlmost 30,â and his first big break, comedy web series âThe Misadventures of Awkward Black Girlâ opposite Issa Rae, which debuted on YouTube in 2011.
Wingerâs feature film credits include Tripp in the short film âThe Hostage,â which was accepted into the Nantucket Film Festival. Winger also appeared in the award-winning short âBaldwin Beauty,â which went to the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 and was nominated for Short Film Grand Jury Prize and Best Short Film. The project was also nominated for a NAACP Image Award in 2020 for Outstanding Short Form (Live Action).
Winger frequently lends his voice to projects. He voiced multiple characters in the highly popular PlayStation 5 video game âHorizon: Forbidden West.â Recently, he starred in the podcast âWe Stay Lookingâ (six episodes), which was produced by HBO Max. The podcast was nominated at the 2022 Ambies for Best Scriptwriting, Fiction and secured back-to-back wins at the 2021 and 2022 Webby Awards in the Podcasts – Scripted (Fiction) (Limited-Series & Specials) category.
Winger is passionate about giving back to his community and bringing awareness to the growing food insecurity issues in South L.A. Winger is also an advocate for shining a light on the stigma around mental health and lack of adequate mental health resources for Black men, as he has been on a personal journey through therapy and building deeper, meaningful relationships with others, and himself. For years, Winger has championed the Amazing Grace Conservatory where he got his start, supporting emerging artists and at-risk youth in the performing and digital arts by offering a well-rounded and culturally enriching educational program in an environment that is nurturing for their personal, artistic and professional growth.
Currently, Winger lives in South-Central L.A. with his rescue dog, a Yorkiepoo named Frito. He can be found on Instagram and Twitter at @tristenjwinger.
Inga Schlingmann
June 2023
Inga Schlingmann is a first-generation American, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan and Germany. She attended NYU, where she was pre-med and majored in art history, with minors in chemistry and psychology.
While at NYU, Schlingmann was crowned Miss Manhattan, with a platform focused on lowering infant and maternal mortality rates. After NYU, she worked with Americorp as a birth doula and lactation aide for underserved and undocumented women in Brooklyn.
Schlingmann left healthcare to work at Bloomberg LP and later went on to work for LinkedIn, where she was a senior account director when she landed the role of Susan in SO HELP ME TODD.
Schlingmann currently resides in New York. Follow her on Instagram @ingaschlingmann.
Rosa Arredondo
June 2023
Rosa Arredondoâs career includes work in film, television and on stage. An Alvin Ailey-trained dancer, Arredondo transitioned to acting early in her career, though she continues to take dance class regularly. Her most recent film, âThe Secret Art of Human Flight,â appeared in competition at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.
Arredondoâs stage credits include the Blair Underwood/Daphne Rubin-Vega Broadway production of âA Streetcar Named Desireâ at the Broadhurst Theatre, Sonnet Repertoryâs production of âThe Maidsâ and Arredondoâs one-woman show âJourneys,â which she wrote, produced and performed herself as part of the Female Forward Festival at The Royal Family Theater in N.Y.C.
Currently, she resides in New York. Her birthday is Jan. 13.
Interview with Ashley Jones of “What Happened to My Sister?” on Lifetime by Suzanne 9/16/22
This was a fun interview last week with Ashley! I interviewed her 9 years ago for another Lifetime movie (Gosh, where does the time go?). She’s always very kind and beautiful. Don’t miss her new movie as well as the LMN marathon of her previous movies all day Friday, September 23! She is most known for being on the soaps, such as “The Bold and The Beautiful,” “General Hospital” and “The Young and The Restless.”
LMN Favorite Ashley Jones Returns With New Thrillers
LMN FAVORITE ASHLEY JONES RETURNS WITH NEW THRILLERS
SECRET LIVES OF COLLEGE ESCORTS MARKS ASHLEY JONESâ DIRECTORIAL DEBUT
AND STARS PILOT PAISLEY-ROSE, LAURIE FORTIER AND BRIANA CUOCO
FOR AN AUGUST 19 PREMIERE
WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SISTER? STARS ASHLEY JONES, LAURYN SPEIGHTS AND MONIQUE STRAW
AND PREMIERES SEPTEMBER 23
NEW YORK, NY (August 4, 2022) â LMN favorite Ashley Jones returns to the network with a two pack of films this summer including the premiere of Secret Lives of College Escorts starring Pilot Paisley-Rose, Laurie Fortier and Briana Cuoco on August 19 at 8/7c which marks Daytime Emmy Award nominee Ashley Jones directorial debut, and What Happened to My Sister? on September 23 at 8/7c which Jones, Lauryn Speights and Monique Straw star in. Additionally, LMN will run a marathon of movies featuring Jones on September 23 leading into the premiere of What Happened to My Sister?
What Happened to My Sister? Friday, September 23 at 8/7c
Drea (Lauryn Speights, The Good Place), a freshman at college, decides to rush the same sorority her sister Gabi (Heather Harris, Broken Mirror) died rushing two years earlier in hopes of finding out the truth about her death. Monique Straw (Fast Color) and Ashley Jones also star.
In conclusion, the cast and producers expressed their excitement for “Lopez vs. Lopez” and its potential to resonate with audiences, sparking conversations and connections within their own families. They recognized the significance of being part of a show that represents the Latinx community while telling universal stories of flawed, yet loving families.
George Lopez is back in primetime and this time heâs bringing his real-life daughter, Mayan. This hilarious and heartwarming comedy tells the story of a working-class old-school Latino who moves in with his modern Gen Z daughter as they rebuild their dysfunctional relationship one argument at a time. Itâs old vs. new, father vs. daughter, Lopez vs. Lopez.
Al Madrigal
Here are the opening remarks, to tell you about the show. “Thanks for joining us to learn more about “La Reina del Sur,” Season 3. In 2011, the launch of “La Reina del Sur” propelled Telemundo to the top of the charts, and gave way to Telemundo’s Super Series franchise. The first two seasons of this blockbuster hit, which has since been adapted in English by USA Network, reigned as the #1 program in its time slot in the United States, regardless of language. Now Telemundo’s global hit returns for a third season with the unstoppable Teresa Mendoza, portrayed by superstar Kate del Castillo. Season 3 of “La Reina del Sur” opens four years after the second season with Teresa Mendoza behind bars in the U.S. for the murders of three DEA agents. Stripped of her freedom, she’s, once again, separated from her beloved daughter Sofia. After being freed in a dramatic jailbreak, Teresa returns to a covert world powered by alliances and secret deals. Risking her life throughout Latin America with the fervent hope that she can reunite with Sofia, and end her life as a fugitive, once and for all. “La Reina del Sur” premieres in October. Joining us today is Kate del Castillo. We’re now ready to take your questions.
Then she was asked why it took 8 years between the first and second seasons (I had wondered that, too). She explained that it was because she had gone to the U.S. and was doing other projects as a result of how successful “La Reina Del Sur” was. She didn’t expect another season, and neither did the author. Then Telemundo grew, and people became more aware of her because of movies and series she did, but she always had Teresa Mendoza on her mind. She expressed how much fun it was to play her. Eventually, they called her and told her that Reverte was involved, and they would make a new season. So she agreed because of that, and because she loved the idea of playing Teresa again. She was very surprised that it was even more successful than the first one. She didn’t think people would even care, since it was 8 years later.
Inspired by actual events, Letâs Get Physical is the story of fitness instructor Sadie (Jenna Dewan, The Rookie) who by day, taught fitness and dance to soccer moms, but by night led a double life running a sophisticated prostitution ring with a customer list that included very prominent men in the community. After an anonymous tip, authorities raided her studio, leading to Sadieâs indictment and ignited a firestorm in the small town leading everyone to ask, who exactly was on the client list. Â Dewan executive produces and stars alongside Jennifer Irwin (The Goldbergs) and Michael Consuelos (Riverdale). Letâs Get Physical is set to premiere Saturday, October 15 at 8/7c.
The Disappearance of Cari Farver is based on a true story and the subject of Leslie Ruleâs bestselling true-crime book A Tangled Web. Dave Kroupa (Zach Gilford, Good Girls, Friday Night Lights) is shocked when his new girlfriend, Cari Farver (Rebecca Amzallag), starts sending him demanding texts. When Dave ends the relationship, he finds himself on the receiving end of an onslaught of twisted messages from Cari, who has abruptly disappeared. Daveâs ex-girlfriend, Liz (Alicia Witt, Friday Night Lights, The Walking Dead), also begins receiving harassing texts from Cari, resulting in a dangerous situation for them both. Meanwhile, Cariâs mother Nancy (Lea Thompson, Back to the Future, Switched at Birth) continually searches for her, keeping the pressure on the police who eventually uncover a shocking discovery. The Disappearance of Cari Farver premieres Saturday, October 8 at 8/7c.
Lifetime Announces Two New Ripped From the Headlines Movies from EPs Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, Jenna Dewan Set to Star and EP
Most of the press asked Max questions, but I really love Billy Burke (ever since I saw him in the “Twilight” movies! And he’s been great in many shows I love, such as “Revolution” and “Major Crimes”), and Diane Farr (who plays Sharon) is also great. They play spouses in this show. There’s a bit of familial reveal at the end of the first episode, too. I asked them if they could speak a little bit about their characters’ relationship, and their relationship with the main character, Bode (Max).
get off this call.” Whether he’s filming or working at home, it’s no different for him. He just has a bit more work than he’s used to, and he’s getting “a lot more emails” than he’s used to from his “Fire Country” co-workers, so he has a hard time keeping up on that, but he enjoys the work.
Alexis’ sister) and more. I had a lot of fun. The movie comes out today, Oct. 7, in theaters and On Demand. I highly recommend it because it’s a good psychological horror thriller. Anson Mount (
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Captain Paolo was asked if he’d had any acting experience, but he hadn’t. He said he was just playing himself in the show, so he doesn’t consider this acting experience, but he said it was “incredible.” He was asked whether the singls on the show really talk to the captain about how much they want love and whether he believes their stories, and how did he help them. He confirmed that the cruise director, Matt, and the bartender, Ezra, gathered info about the singles and what happened with them, and they all worked to help them out, “to either fortify or strengthen their bond or maybe try to open themselves up to other opportunities out there with other singles until they find the real love.”
Sins of the Father
Actor and comedian Mark Gagliardi is one of the main stars of the Paramount+ series BLOOD & TREASURE (plays âFather Chuckâ) â new episodes of the 2nd Season drop on Sundays!
From the Official Website:
Veronica St. Clair
Marcia Gay Harden
Skylar Astin
Madeline Wise
Tristen J. Winger
Inga Schlingmann
Rosa Arredondo
