SciFiAndTvTalk

Sci-Fi Blast From The Past - A.J. Cook (Tru Calling)

 
Tru Calling's Lindsay (A. J. Cook). Photo copyright of Fox Television.

In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, actress A.J. Cook talks about her role of Lindsay in the supernatural Fox TV series Tru Calling.

Guys, clothes, guys, shoes and, oh, yes, guys – these are some of the things that interest the blonde and beautiful Lindsay, one of the characters in the new Fox TV series Tru Calling. She’s the type of girl who, according to that old Cyndi Lauper song, “just wants to have fun,” and along the way hopefully get a job promotion and find Mr. Right. Lindsay’s best friend Tru Davies is an aspiring medical student who works at a morgue and who by the way can hear the dead speak. It’s Tru’s destiny to re-live the day leading up to a persons’ death in order to stop him or her from being murdered. Not an easy task, and one that requires plenty of moral support not to mention the occasional distraction. That’s where Lindsay comes in.

“Lindsay plays the important part of bringing Tru back to reality and helps keep her grounded,” says A.J. Cook, the Canadian-born actress who plays series star Eliza Dushku’s on-screen gal pal. “Because of her special ability, Tru spends a great deal of time carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. So when she and my character get together Lindsay tries to balance things out. She forces Tru to loosen up and have some laughs in the hope that she can forget, at least for a little while, all her responsibilities. It’s a sure bet that when Lindsay is around the topics of conversation are likely to include boys, shopping and, of course, the occasional lapse into the subject of dead people. After all, that’s what the show is all about,” she jokes.

Although Cook has worked steadily over the past six years on the small and big screens, Tru Calling was the first time she auditioned for an American TV show. “I liked the script and thought it was an interesting concept,” notes the actress. “However, what ultimately attracted me to the project was the character of Lindsay. Lately I’ve been drawn to roles unlike those I’ve had in the past. I’ve grown a little tired of playing the drama girls who are trying to figure out what life is all about.

“So I’ve made an effort to look for parts that are not only different but will also challenge me in new and interesting ways, and that’s certainly true of Lindsay. I’m having a blast playing her. She’s not shy whatsoever. Lindsay is always out to have a good time and on a constant quest to find the perfect man. She’s in love with the idea of being in love even though she’s yet to find it. Poor Lindsay usually digs herself into a hole most of the time when it comes to romance. I think my character represents all those girls out there who are searching for that ‘special someone’ but can’t seem to find him.”

In the Tru Calling pilot, our heroine graduates from New York University and begins her internship at a hospital. Unfortunately, things do not work out and Tru has no choice but to accept a job as an attendant working the graveyard shift at a morgue. She is shocked when, on her first night there, she hears the voice of a murdered woman. The next day Tru wakes up to find that time has been rewound 24 hours and she must find a way to save the woman from being killed while at the same time trying to resolve certain issues in her own life. Much of this footage made it to TV screens, but the pilot itself required retooling before it aired.

“Quite a few things changed when we were actually picked up as a series,” explains Cook. “Story elements were shifted and not all the characters were kept around. As a result, we re-shot several sequences. They also added scenes including one with Lindsay, and I was pleased about that because we don’t see very much of her in the first couple of stories. In those episodes, the writers focused more on setting up the show’s universe and making sure audiences were familiar with Tru and what she can do, which made sense.

“So Lindsay more or less laid low when the series first started, but now she’s definitely involved to a greater extent with the rest of the characters. I mean, I love working with Eliza and our scenes together are fun to do. However, I’ve recently had a couple of scenes with Zach Galifianakis, who plays Tru’s co-worker Davis. Zach and I actually worked together before and he’s a pleasure to be around. I’ve also had quite a few scenes with Shawn Reaves [who plays Tru’s younger brother Harrison]. He and Lindsay are both kind of crazy characters and you never know what’s going to happen when the two of them get together.”

At the time of this interview (early November), Cook and the rest of the Tru Calling cast and crew were preparing to shoot the episode Valentine, which, you guessed it, takes place on St. Valentine’s Day. “This is my favourite script so far,” she enthuses. “It has some wonderful material in it for Lindsay along with the other characters. I can’t wait to start work on it.

“There’s another episode called Star Crossed that I absolutely love,” continues the actress. “There’s a scene in it where Lindsay agrees to meet her boss at a bar for a drink. She works for an advertising firm and is trying to get promoted. Lindsay is there to show off her work and make a good impression on her boss – nothing more. Well, he ends up hitting on her and things get messy. It’s typical of how things go for her,” chuckles Cook. “To top it off, Harrison arrives unexpectedly. He and Lindsay don’t like each other and to have him show up makes her even angrier. Lindsay’s entire night goes horribly wrong but in an amusing way. The show’s writers have been giving Shawn and me some terrific comedic dialogue. Our two characters have become the lighter side of the series so we’re always having a good time on the set.”

Born Andrea Joy Cook in Oshawa, Ontario, the actress first appeared on TV in a McDonald’s advert. “That introduction to working in front of the camera was a real eye opener,” she says. “You realize, ‘Wow, a lot goes on here.’ It’s not just you and the camera lens, that’s for sure.” Cook made her dramatic debut playing a stoned hippie in the 1997 TV movie Elvis Meets Nixon.

“The director [Alan Arkush] was really cool,” recalls Cook. “He took the time to talk with me because I was new to the business. There was so much to learn and I was like a little kid in a candy store trying to take it all in. The filming process itself was quite daunting but it didn’t scare me away. On the contrary, it helped confirm that this [acting] was what I really wanted to pursue as a career.”

Tru Calling may have had a bit of a rocky start insofar as the shooting of its pilot, but Cook is confident that the series is now headed in the right direction. “We’re into a rhythm, so things are running a lot smoother,” she says. “I’m hoping that viewers stick with the programme because it just gets better and better. The characters are starting to develop along with their relationships with one another. It’s all very exciting.”

Steve Eramo

As noted above, photo copyright of Fox Television, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Mad Men Star Elisabeth Moss Gives Voice To Arisia In Green Lantern: Emerald Knights - 06 - 07 - 11

 
Arisia (voiced by Elisabeth Moss), the newest Green Lantern Corps recruit, is introduced in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. Photo courtesy of Gary Miereanu and copyright of Warner Home Video.

Mad Men star Elisabeth Moss returns to animation as the voice of new recruit Arisia in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, the all-new DC Universe Animated Original Movie coming to Blu-Ray™, DVD, On Demand and for Download June 7, 2011.

Long before she caught the TV viewing world’s attention as Peggy Olsson in AMC’s hit series Mad Men, Moss stood before a microphone to give voice to characters in such landmark series as Batman: The Animated Series and Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs as well as the animated holiday special Frosty Returns.

Moss continued working in animation – with roles in series and specials like Freakazoid! and It’s Spring Training, Charlie Brown!– as her on-screen career began to blossom, eventually stepping away from voiceovers to act in a succession of popular series, most notably The West Wing, Invasion and Picket Fences.

Now Moss has undertaken the task of bringing to animated life Arisia, a young recruit forced into her first mission on just her third day as a Green Lantern. Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, and distributed by Warner Home Video, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights weaves six legendary stories of the Green Lantern Corps’ rich mythology around preparations for an attack by an ancient enemy. As the battle approaches, Hal Jordan (voiced by Castle’s Nathan Fillion) mentors Arisia in the history of the Green Lantern Corps, telling tales of Avra (the first Green Lantern) and several of Hal’s comrades – including Kilowog, Abin Sur, Laira and Mogo. In the end, Arisia must rise to the occasion to help Hal, Sinestro and the entire Green Lantern Corps save the universe from the destructive forces of Krona.

Recording her lines on a day off from the Mad Men set, Moss had time for a few questions about her role, working in animation, and the importance of great footwear.

 
(L-R) - Hal Jordan (a.k.a. The Green Lantern), Arisia and Sinestro in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. Photo courtesy of Gary Miereanu and copyright of Warner Home Video.

What’s the essence of Arisia’s story in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights?

ELISABETH MOSS - It’s sort of Arisia’s first day on the job, so there’s a huge learning curve for her. She’s just been basically plucked out of class on her home planet and thrown into this intergalactic police force – just as the universe is under attack. So it’s all very overwhelming for her. But she’s smart and courageous, so she rises to the occasion.

You get years to develop your character on shows like Mad Men and The West Wing. Was it difficult to have just one day in Arisia’s shoes?

EM - Well, I really love Arisia’s boots – they’re very cool, I like their style – so I like being in her shoes (she laughs). Animation is great because you’re part of a large team effort. I’m only required to provide my voice for a single character, and to act that role while the director and writers and animators create the entire story. So it’s fun to see that all come together, especially to see an animated sort-of version of yourself.

What was it about Arisia that attracted you to the character?

EM - I like that she’s strong, and at the same time she’s a pretty girl. But she really adapts well to her first day on the job, and she has a lot of responsibility. I think she’s a nice, strong female character.

 
Arisia in battle with her fellow Green Lantern Corps members in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. Photo courtesy of Gary Miereanu and copyright of Warner Home Video.

You’ve been away from animation for many years. What prompted the return?

EM - It sounded like a cool thing to do, and it sounded like a lot of fun – something great to do on a day off from Mad Men.

I’ve always wanted to do more animation. I think it’s a really fun job; Obviously, it has a certain ease to it, but at the same time it can be difficult. There’s technical things that I’m not very good at or that I’m just learning, things about your voice and making clicking sounds and (using) the headphones … but it’s fun to learn and it’s definitely something I’d like to get to do more of.

Do you find animation is more liberating than on-screen acting?

EM - What’s liberating about animation is that you can show up in your jeans and t-shirt and not worry about make-up or hair style. You can show up in your pajamas if you want. That’s tremendously liberating, as opposed to going through three hours of hair and make-up before going before the camera for my day job. So it’s much more relaxing.

So you’d like to do more voiceovers. Are you seeking any particular roles?

EM - I’m not familiar enough with all the comic book characters to choose. I’m just happy to be asked to do anything. I couldn’t necessarily pick one – I would just like to be involved with whatever somebody thought I was suitable for.

Click on the following link for the first of two short interviews with Elisabeth Moss -

http://dam.dvs.tv/view/GreenLantern/GLEK_Moss_Animation_sd

And number two - http://dam.dvs.tv/view/GreenLantern/GLEK_Moss_Strength_sd

As noted above, all photos courtesy of Gary Miereanu and copyright of Warner Home Video, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Sci-Fi Blast From The Past - Michael Biehn (Adventure, Inc.)

 

Actor Michael Biehn.

In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, Terminator's Michael Biehn talks about his small screen role of Judson Cross on Adventure, Inc.

He’s matched wits with a hulking cyborg from the future, battled face-hugging aliens, and even helped protect the Old West from outlaws. In his over 25 years as an actor, Michael Biehn has become known for the intensity he brings to the heroes and villains that he has played in countless feature films and on TV. This fall, Biehn’s talents can be seen again on the small screen in his portrayal of legendary explorer Judson Cross in the new action/adventure series Adventure, Inc. Judson’s reputation as “the man who can find anything” has led to business deals both dangerous and exciting. In his quest to unravel mysteries of the past as well as the present, the street savvy adventurer has brought more than his share of criminals to justice.

Adventure, Inc. is the brainchild of its executive producer Gale Hurd, whom Biehn worked with on such films as The Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss. “After we did The Abyss, Gale and I would sometimes run into each other at various social functions,” says Biehn. “However, we hadn’t had a chance to work together again until the beginning of last year. She produced a movie for Paramount called Clockstoppers, which I was proud to appear in and thought turned out very well. It was around the time we were working on this movie that Gale began to tell me about a new project, which was a TV series based on an old friend of hers, Barry Clifford. He’s a diver/treasure hunter/professional explorer. In 1984, he discovered the remains of one of Captain Kidd’s boats [Whydah] off the coast of Cape Cod, which he’d spent years searching for. At the moment, Barry is headed for Port Haiti. He’s going to be diving for the Santa Maria, which sank somewhere around Haiti while sailing back home to Europe after its original voyage to America with Christopher Columbus.

“So the series, or should I say its lead character more than anything else, is based on Barry,” continues the actor. “As for the stories themselves, they’re a bit bigger and a bit more ‘Hollywood,’ if you know what I mean. After Gale told me about the show, we met to discuss it further. It was probably nine months or a year later that I got a call offering the part to me. I jumped at the chance because the role is really quite different from those I’ve played in the past. Judson Cross is a little closer to who I am. I’m a guy who’s been married for 15 years and comes from Arizona. I’ve always considered myself someone who’s pretty laid back and fun-loving and who tends to look at the world kind of optimistically. I also like to think I’ve got a good sense of humour and can enjoy laughing at myself.

“People really haven’t seen those sides of me in, for example, The Rock, Art of War, The Terminator or The Abyss. I’ve been sort of pigeonholed into playing the villain or tough, non-nonsense good guys likes cops, district attorneys, military sergeants, etc. While I enjoy those types of roles I’ve always wondered what it would be like to try something lighter. For years, my family, friends and even my agent have been saying that they wish I could play a character that shows audiences more of ‘the real me.’ Judson Cross gives me the chance to do just that. The writers are trying to imbue him with a sensibility similar to James Garner’s character on The Rockford Files or Tom Selleck’s on Magnum P.I., which, again, is that fun-loving attitude. It’s taken a few episodes but I think we’re finally getting a handle on it, so I couldn’t more pleased.”

Judson’s base of operation is his expedition yacht, The Vast Explorer, which is moored in the fictional seaside town of Beau Harbor, South Carolina. After being salvaged, the old Coast Guard ice-breaking cutter was refurbished and outfitted with a lab, diving centre, submersible dock and engines powerful enough for a ship twice her size. On-board with Judson is Mackenzie Previn, a beautiful woman who, despite her mysterious past, is the one person he trusts with his life. Rounding out the team is Gabriel Patterson, a young man who gave up a promising political career for a less-structured lifestyle.

“Mackenzie, or ‘Mac’ is played by an actress from Montreal named Karen Cliche [pronounced Kleesh], who is just fantastic,” notes Biehn. “Mac is someone who grew up around the world as an army brat and at a very young age became interested in being a soldier. Of the three of us, she’s the muscle. Although there are times when Judson has to get himself out of tight spots, when it comes to somebody really taking care of business it’s Mac. I liken the character to the one Demi Moore played in the movie G.I. Jane. Mac became the first woman to graduate as a Navy SEAL but was then told she couldn’t go into combat with her fellow male officers. She was granted a transfer and fought for a while alongside the Israeli army. Mac recently retired from the military and she hooked up with my character.

“I’ll admit I was slightly nervous when I first came up to Toronto to start filming the show and saw Karen involved in all the on-screen action stuff that I’d normally be doing. Well, I needn’t have worried. Karen is a beautiful actress but, man, can she hold her own when it comes to the kick-ass stuff. She can be one of the guys when she has to. Having always been the one running out in front of the woman and carrying the big bazooka or machine gun, it’s kind of nice to let a woman take charge of some of that for a change,” chuckles the actor. “So I really enjoy working with Karen.

“As for Gabriel, he’s played by Jesse Nilsson, who’s another fine young actor. His character is loosely based on John F. Kennedy Jr. who did some work with Barry Clifford one summer. Gabriel was on a treadmill towards a career as a U.S. senator. He went to all the best schools and everyone was talking about his political aspirations. One day, though, he decided to walk away from all that and, instead, follow a more adventurous path with Judson, who becomes very much a mentor to him. Thanks to his education, Gabriel can speak several languages and knows a great deal about computers. So he’s the brains of the operation, Mac, as I said before is the brawn, and my character is the experience.”

Judson’s name became know around the world after a series of amazing finds including The Lost Dutchman mine in Arizona, Amelia Earhart’s plane, and a Nazi art trove in a Barvarian cave. His discoveries have not only netted small fortunes for private investors but also adorned the walls of museums for all to enjoy. While he is not one to pass up payment for his services, the real enjoyment for Judson comes from the thrill of the hunt. According to Biehn, audiences can expect plenty of thrills as well as surprises in the show’s first season.

“Along with pulling off capers, our characters become involved in trying to protect the environment and preserving shipwrecks on the ocean floor as well as other important historical artifacts. It’s very much the good guys versus the bad guys. However, it’s not what I’d call a reality show by any stretch of the imagination,” he explains. “There’s of a kind of supernatural element to every story that we walk a fine line with. One episode might be about possession and whether or not a girl is really possessed. The next week it might be about a ghost and does this ghost exist or not. I mentioned before that Barry Clifford is down in Haiti, so we might even do a story involving zombies and witchcraft. We’re currently filming an episode that has to do with experiments on ESP that the Russians used to conduct during The Cold War. So the show has all these different twists that I hope will make it even more interesting and fun for viewers to watch.”

Born July 31st, 1965 in Anniston, Alabama, Biehn spent his childhood in Lincoln, Nebraska. At 14, he moved with his family to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. An avid sportsman, the idea of becoming an actor never occurred to him until he enrolled in college. “I wasn’t the greatest athlete, but I thought I might be a sports photographer or maybe a high school sports coach,” says Biehn. He won a drama scholarship to the University of Arizona, but after two years dropped out. The actor moved to Los Angeles to rethink his career aspirations.

“It wasn’t too long before I hooked up with some people in the [acting] business who thought I might have some potential,” recalls the actor. “One thing led to another and within a year I was modelling and doing some commercials as well as small TV roles. The job that got me into the Screen Actors Guild was on a series called Logan’s Run starring Gregory Harrison. I had one line that I had to say twice, which was, ‘Alert! Runner headed towards quadrant four.’ My memory of that is being in front of the camera, saying the line, and thinking, ‘Oh, my God, what’s my next line?’ I froze! Thankfully I was finally able to spit it out,” he laughs. “It was a scary experience but still a good one.”

Biehn’s film debut was as a crazed admirer who stalked Lauren Bacall’s character in the 1981 feature The Fan. He then portrayed a member of a secret racist society in The Lords of Discipline, before hitting it big with his role of Kyle Reese in The Terminator. Besides his movie work, the actor has appeared in a number of made-for-TV films and had regular roles on two TV shows, The Runaways and The Magnificent Seven. “Even when I first thought I could make a career out of acting I had no expectations that I’d be doing what I’m doing today,” says Biehn. “Things have gone quite well for me and I’m very grateful.”

Given his popularity with the public, it would seem that Adventure, Inc. has a good chance of becoming a hit. While that might be so, Biehn is not about to take anything for granted. “No matter how much action a show has or how well it’s shot, the bottom line is it has to have people in it that viewers can identify with and care about,” explains the actor. “So it’s up to us to make these characters ones that audiences will enjoy spending an hour with each week.”

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From The Past - Andrew J. Robinson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

 
Actor/director Andrew J. Robinson. Photo copyright of the USC School of Theater.

In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, accomplished actor/director Andrew J. Robinson talks about playing the crafty Cardassian Elim Garak in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

If you ever find yourself on Deep Space Nine in desperate need of a new suit or classified information on the Cardassian Obsidian Order then be sure to visit Elim Garak’s shop.  This tailor-turned-spy has carved out a comfortable niche for himself hemming pants as well as playing both sides of the political fence in the ongoing hostilities between the Federation and Cardassia.  Although he secretly longs to return home, Garak knows this is impossible and has resigned himself to living out the rest of his life among humans.  For actor and director Andrew Robinson it was love at first sight when Star Trek: Deep Space Nine producers offered him the chance to play the Machiavellian merchant.

“I first came in contact with the Star Trek people when they were casting the pilot for Deep Space Nine,” recalls Robinson.  “I ended up as one of three people, along with Gerrit Graham and, of course, Rene Auberjonois, who were being considered for the part of Odo.  Although I didn’t get this particular role, the show’s producers obviously thought highly enough of me as an actor to call me back to play Garak.  They mentioned to me at the time that he might be a recurring character, but they weren’t sure.  Once I read the role I found Garak so fascinating that I was actually quite excited to do it.

“One of the things that really attracted me to the character is the mask he wears.  I had some experience working behind makeup in the film Hellraiser but nothing as extensive as Garak.  I was intrigued as to how one would go about playing an alien under all of that rubber and latex.  So I did one more audition and after that I was on the set working right away with Sid [Alexander Siddig who plays Doctor Julian Bashir].  I think they wanted to get his character of Bashir more involved in the series so they brought Garak in initially to develop a relationship with the doctor.  Once Sid and I began working with each other we immediately hit it off and there was a great deal of chemistry between us.  The rest, as they say, is history.”

As a child Robinson spent a lot of time at the movies fantasizing about being involved in the action and playing out the characters he saw on the screen.  “Of course, the reality when I grew older was, ‘Well, that's a nice dream, but how do you go about it?’  Even though I had done school plays I had no idea how you went about becoming a professional actor,” he says.  “So that’s when I began thinking about pursuing other careers such as teaching and journalism.  At one point I seriously considered going into the diplomatic service.  I thought. ‘Well, in the diplomatic core they travel, so I could probably get to see Paris that way.’ ”

Luckily for his fans, the actor chose dramatics over diplomacy.  Some of his early television work includes roles on Bonanza, The Streets of San Francisco and Barnaby Jones.  He is perhaps best remembered by moviegoers as the psychotic serial killer Scorpio in the 1971 Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry.  Surprisingly, according to the actor, this popular role almost marked the end of his acting career.

“For a while I was typecast after Dirty Harry and that became boring so I actually laid low for a while,” explains Robinson.  “I left the business for a few years because I didn’t want to do those sorts of parts.  Fortunately, I survived the typecasting and emerged with a career that’s been so much more varied, even eclectic.  The different types of characters I’ve been able to play have given me the opportunity to really explore the various facets of myself and that’s probably what is truly rewarding about this job.”

Robinson returned to the acting profession and over the years has made a name for himself in films and television as well as on the stage.  He first appears as Garak in the first-season Deep Space Nine episode Past Prologue in which Major Kira’s loyalties are questioned after she helps a known terrorist.  The experience was eye-opening for the actor in more ways than one.

“I was absolutely stunned the first time I looked in the mirror and saw myself in full makeup and costume,” recalls the actor.  “I’d never seen anything like that before and there was a brief moment when I didn’t even recognize myself, which is always exciting for an actor or at least a lot of actors.  I know that Rene Auberjonois, Armin Shimerman [Quark] and Ethan Phillips [Neelix on Star Trek: Voyager], those of us who play heavily made-up aliens, really love the disguises.  So that was quite wonderful and a revelation because I immediately got in tune with the character.  It’s hard to explain, but that reptilian guise really helped me get a feel for the whole Cardassian way of looking at the world.

“Something else I found fascinating is the way people react to you when you get behind that kind of makeup,” continues Robinson.  “I didn’t know Sid at all.  That was the first time I’d met him and it was weeks before he knew what I really looked like.  I’d be in there early in the morning for my makeup call.  He’d arrive later and by the time we got on the set there I was looking like Garak.  So his reaction to me in Past Prologueis delightful as Bashir is a bit off-balance because he doesn’t really know what or who this person is and it was quite literally true with us as actors as well.  I once did a film with Eric Stoltz called Mask in which I never saw him out of his makeup.  You know there’s an actor underneath there but yet you don’t know who that actor is, so it can be somewhat disconcerting.”

Over the past six seasons regular viewers of Deep Space Nine have enjoyed following the complex evolution of this wily reptilian.  Garak’s past association with Cardassia’s Obsidian Order has been exposed as well as his estranged relationship and eventual reconciliation with his dead father Enabrian Tain (Paul Dooley).  The tailor even risked his life when he joined with the Romulans in a failed attempt to destroy the Founders’ homeworld so that their grip on Cardassia would be broken.  Robinson is pleased with both the amount of time the programme’s writers have spent developing Garak and the producers’ prudent use of his character.

“The most important way a character grows and develops on these shows is through the writing.  Basically, you as an actor can take your character only as far as the writer takes him.  You can give him a certain amount of depth, shading and added subtleties, but in terms of emotional range this is limited to the parameters established by the writers,” he notes.  “I’m very lucky because the writers love Garak.  They especially love his mystery and I think they’ve been very good about keeping this intact.  If you demystified Garak then he would lose a certain amount of his appeal or charisma.

“I like the fact that they’ve tried to go in various directions with him.  You can have a Garak who is somewhat cold-blooded, brutal and very much unsentimental.  Then you have a Garak who will suddenly turn around and do a good deed, although God knows what his motives are, or you’ll see a Garak who becomes fond of Gul Dukat’s daughter Ziyal and in the process the writers expose the character’s loneliness and his longing for home.  So, as well as showing that very public, very verbal and politically savvy Garak, you’ve also gotten to see a lot of the inner man and his vulnerabilities.

“It’s interesting, too, because they save Garak,” says Robinson.  “They don’t overuse him, which I’m glad about.  For the most part, they bring him out when they want to do something special.  I recently finished an episode in which you see Garak at his politically-active best and trying to rally the troops to invade Cardassia and save it from itself.”

In the fifth-season episode By Inferno’s Light Garak uses his remarkable technical skills to transmit a message to a nearby rescue ship to help free himself and his comrades from a Jem’hadar prison camp.  The Cardassian needs to hide inside a small crawlspace in order to complete the task at hand.  Being slightly claustrophobic himself, Robinson had to overcome the disadvantages of working in a confined space as well as the everyday discomfort of working in makeup and a costume.  “My outfit is made out of neoprene, which is what wet suits are made out of, so things can get pretty hot.  You sweat and itch and there’s nothing you can do about it because it’s all happening under layers of this stuff.

“It’s important to remember, though, that you can never give in to the discomfort and claustrophobia because you’ll blow your concentration.  You won’t be able to remember lines or keep focused, so you won’t be able to act,” he warns.  “What that’s forced me to do, basically, is go into a meditative state.  In order to survive and do my work I have to rise above this kind of discomfort and the only way to do that is by what I call Zenning out.  This gives the Garak character this wonderful focus which I absolutely love.  When he’s listening, he’s really listening, and when he’s talking to you, he’s really talking to you, so there’s always this intelligence at work behind the mask.”

Although he has guest-starred in over twenty-five Deep Space Nine episodes the actor is quick to point out his favourite.  “It would have to be The Wire, the episode in which Garak has become addicted to an implant given to him by the Obsidian Order to use should he ever be captured by the enemy.  If he was being tortured he could activate this implant and it would increase the endorphin levels in his brain and replace his pain with pleasure.  With his loneliness and discomfort at being exiled on DS9 he has begun to resort to it more and more.  It’s really a story about addiction and someone, Doctor Bashir, caring enough to help him through this crisis.  It was a wonderful episode to do and a very important one to me.

“I also like the two-parter when Odo goes with Garak to supposedly save Tain, Improbable Cause and The Die Is Cast.  These episodes not only have lots of action and adventure but they also look at the relationship between Garak and Odo which culminates in the Cardassian torturing Odo and then Odo eventually saving him.  I had such a good time playing Garak in both these stories and I loved working with Rene.”

Besides his accomplishments as a film and television actor, Robinson is also a veteran stage performer who helped found the Matrix Theater in Los Angeles.  He has been honoured by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle for directing Samuel Beckett’s Endgame and Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming.  His successful work as a director on these plays piqued his interest in directing television.  So he asked Deep Space Nine co-creator and executive producer Rick Berman about taking part in the intern program Berman created especially for Star Trek actors who want to learn how to direct the series.

“It’s a great system,” enthuses the actor.  “You really get a well-rounded education in directing a television series, everything from editing to special effects, which is quite extraordinary.  Rick really expects you to take the fact seriously that you’re learning a new craft, so that’s what you do.  Once he’s satisfied that you have served a sufficient apprenticeship he gives his approval and a show to direct.”

Robinson cut his teeth as a television director on the fifth-season Deep Space Nine episode Looking for Par’mach in All the Wrong Places in which Worf and Quark vie for the attentions of the same Klingon woman.  He recalls his first day on the set with great clarity.  “I was convinced I was going to go up in flames any minute,” jokes the actor.  “The crew had just finished filming an episode where the director had worked them very hard and they were tired.  It was also a Friday so everyone just wanted to go home for the weekend.  On top of all of this I had one of the most difficult, technically speaking, scenes to shoot on that first day.  It takes place inside the Klingon Hall of Warriors, which is a huge set that takes forever to light.

“We spent half the day on that one shot, so right from the start I fell behind.  Everyone was looking at me and probably wondering, ‘Is he going to survive?’  When I got home that night I asked myself, ‘I wonder if they’d be really upset if I called them up and said, “Listen, let someone else finish directing the episode.  I’m going back to acting.”?‘ but I hung in there.  Everyone was very supportive and I even managed to catch up.  The show turned out better than I expected,” he says happily.

Ensign Vorik experiences the Vulcan mating urge Pon farr and tries to woo a reluctant Lieutenant Torres in the Voyager episode Blood Fever, Robinson’s second outing as a Trek director.  “A lot of the action for this story takes place underground on a planet and that posed a fascinating technical problem: how do you shoot in caves where there’s little light and also little room?  I made the choice to use a hand-held camera for most of the episode, certainly for the scenes that take place inside the cave.  That, thankfully, turned out to be a wise choice as it gives the story an edginess and excitement as well as a rawness that is absolutely right for the triangle between Vorik, Torres and Tom Paris.”

This coming summer the actor can be seen with Theresa Russell in the film The Running Woman in which he makes life a living hell for her character.  In January he directed another Voyager episode and after reprising the role of Garak for Deep Space Nine he spent February directing a play for the Matrix Theater.  Whether he is acting, directing or simply observing his fellow performers, Robinson is grateful whenever he has the chance to involve himself more deeply in his craft.

“For me, acting has been very rewarding, and not just monetarily.  I’ve made a living - a very good living - but I’m certainly not among the rich and famous,” he chuckles.  “My career has been more fulfilling, I think, in that I’ve been given enough different types of characters to truly have been able to expand my horizons as an actor.  I hope I’m able to continue doing this for a long time to come.”

Steve Eramo

As noted above, photo copyright of The USC School of Theatre, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Star Trek's Dey Young - Strength Of Character

 
Actress Dey Young.

I recently discovered several interviews I did a number of years ago that, for one reason or another, were never published. Rather than have them continue to gather "dust" in my computer, I thought I would share them with you. In this interview - actress Dey Young talks about her career and various roles, including those in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and The X-Files.

Mother, actress, sculptor and student.  These are just a few of the hats Dey Young wears in her day-to-day life.  While each role has its own unique set of responsibilities the one thing that remains constant with them all is the level of seriousness and dedication in which Young approaches them.  As an actress she is at her best when given the chance to play strong female characters who are intelligent and resourceful as well as sensitive and feminine.

“It’s always a thrill to play a character who is smart and crafty and uses her mind to get in and out of situations,” she says.  “I’m sure you’ve heard this before but roles like this for women are few and far between.  It’s terrific when you can really dig your teeth into a part and not just portray the vulnerable wife crying on her husband’s shoulder.  I can honestly say there’s not been a role I’ve taken on where I’ve ended up thinking, ‘Oh, this is difficult and just too much for me.’  The hardest part of this business is not always getting the opportunity to do some of the roles that you think you’re qualified for.”

One character that allowed Young to show off her brains as well as her beauty was that of Hanna Bates in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Masterpiece Society.  On a mission to monitor the course of a stellar core fragment, the Enterprise discovers a genetically engineered human colony living in isolation on a deserted planet.  The arrival of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew causes unrest among the colonists, some of which, including Hanna, want to leave their world and explore the rest of the universe.  Because her character was a scientist, Young had more than her share of technobabble to recite.

“It was a big challenge to try to learn all that dialogue and make sense of it,” she says.  “Half the time I’d be asking people, ‘What does this all mean?’ but they didn’t know.  They’d tell me, ‘Just say it and try your best to make it work.’  Luckily, I had most of my scenes with LeVar Burton [Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge].  He was terrific and really helped get me through the more technical aspects of the work.

“The director of the episode, Rick Kolbe, was also very supportive when it came to the technobabble.  I had pages of dialogue to do and a lot of exposition.  One of the things they use the guest-stars for is exposition and Rick helped me a lot with that.  I was very impressed with how well he handled it all.  Star Trek is a very different kind of television show to direct.  It has a certain style and because of this they often hire many of the same directors, like Rick, to work on the series because they’re so familiar with how everything runs.  He was on top of things technically and knew exactly what he needed from the actors.”

Although her character was a scientific whiz, Young admits to not being able to tell the difference between a phaser and a photon torpedo when first coming to work on the program.  She laughs out loud when recalling the day this lack of knowledge became obvious to those around her.  “I’m embarrassed to say this but even with all the years it was on television I never really watched The Next Generation.  When I was younger I may have seen a couple of episodes of the original Star Trek but that’s really it.  When it came to beaming up I had not a clue,” laughs Young.  “Everyone looked at me and rolled their eyes.  They couldn’t believe that here I was guest-starring on Star Trek and I had no concept of what beaming up to the ship meant, how I was supposed to stand or anything.  ‘What’s all this about beaming up?’ I asked them.  In the end they all thought it was pretty funny.”

Obviously, the actress’s naiveté of Trek technology did not damage her stellar reputation with the show’s creators.  Five years later she was asked back to play Constable Odo’s (Rene Auberjonois) love interest in the fifth-season Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode A Simple Investigation.  Although she had been on The Next Generation Young was required to audition for the part of Arissa, an Idanian woman that steals Odo’s heart.

“Even though Rick Berman [executive producer of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine as well as co-creator of the latter] was there I still had to read for some new producers.  Surprisingly, I was a little nervous because I had heard, and I’m not sure how true it is, that there had been some controversy over The Masterpiece Society,” says the actress.  “I read in a magazine that someone was not totally happy with the way it had turned out.  All I could think of was, ‘Oh, God.  That means I’ll never work for the Star Trek people again.’  Whenever you hear something like this you automatically think it was because of something you did.  I don’t know the specifics of what happened so I can’t really address the issue.  You can imagine how happy I was when this part came along and I got it.  There’s even talk of bringing Arissa back, which is really a nice compliment.”

“It [the audition process] is really a gruelling part of the acting business,” she adds.  “You’re constantly being tested and each time you think, ‘Gosh, I’ve done a number of television shows and other things.  Haven’t I proven myself?’  You still have to go back, though, and do it all over again.  Basically, it’s not so much that they’re questioning your talent as that they are looking to see if you have the right energy in terms of the role they want you to play.  I have to respect that.  As hard as it is to keep going in to audition for parts I do understand why they have to be so particular when it comes to casting a character.”

In A Simple Investigation Odo is taken by surprise when a beautiful woman in Quark’s bar, Arissa, tells him he has “bedroom eyes.”  He crosses paths with her again but in a professional capacity when she attempts to access the station’s computer systems.  Arissa tells Odo that she was supposed to meet an Idanian man on the station whom she hired to help find her missing daughter but he is no where to be found.  The constable offers to help Arissa and in doing so finds himself falling in love with her.  This episode was a special one for Odo as it marked the first time the character became physically intimate with a woman.  Young was delighted to have the opportunity to work with such an exceptional actor and human being as Rene Auberjonois and felt the love scene between their two characters was tastefully done.

“Rene is a dear man and a wonderful actor,” says the actress.  “One of my favorite moments in the episode is the bedroom scene between Odo and Arissa.  I thought that the director John Kretchmer really went out on a limb and took a risk in doing the whole thing in one go.  The shot starts down on one side of the bed, arcs up and around and down on the other side and finally comes back up.  Not only was it beautifully filmed but I also felt the chemistry between Rene and I really played out nicely on the screen.

“It was a risky scene because, as I said, there was no way of being able to cut back and forth between the actors.  I remember John told us, ‘Look, I don’t care if you know your lines perfectly for the other scenes.  It’s no problem to stop and do it over, but for this scene you need to know your lines perfectly because I want to do it all in one continuous shot.’  I was talking to the cinematographer, Jonathan West, one day and I asked him, ‘Do you guys do this often?’  He said, ‘No, we really don’t do these types of shots at all because there’s nothing to fall back on if something doesn’t work.’  We were lucky.  I’m sure John was sweating bullets until he saw the dailies the next day,” she laughs, “but thank God everything turned out OK.

“I love that role.  I enjoyed playing Hanna Bates in The Next Generation very much but I reallylove Arissa,” continues Young.  “It was neat to have Odo fall in love with her and he truly meets his match as far as Arissa’s expertise as a spy is concerned.  Even though he eventually catches her she’s still able to pull a few fast ones on him.  They truly admire each other’s abilities and I believe that same admiration and respect carries into their personal relationship.  It was all so much fun.  I hope they do decide to bring the character back as I’d love to work on the show again.”

Young’s first exposure to the acting industry was as a young child growing up in Michigan.  Her older sister Leigh-Taylor Young went out to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actress and was almost immediately hired to appear in the classic American soap opera Peyton Place.  “I’d be watching Leigh on television and thinking, ‘Acting is so glamorous and exciting.’  Of course, I was seeing this from my very wholesome upbringing in Michigan.  It all looked so wonderful but I didn’t really know about the hardship and rejection that is a big part of the job as well as the growth.”

After graduating from high school in Michigan she began studying theatre at Pomona College in Claremont, California and then went overseas to England to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA).  According to Young her training as an actress is an on-going process and to this day she still goes to a professional acting class every Saturday morning.  “I truly believe that your work never stops.  My father was a self-made man and did very well in the computer industry in Michigan.  I was brought up to believe that if you work hard you succeed but that’s not necessarily part of the equation when it comes to the film and television industry.  There’s a lot of luck involved and being in the right place at the right time but I still love it.”

Love’s Labour’s Lost, Sweet Bird of Youth, Cycles, at the Old Vic National Festival in London, and Last Summer at Bluefish Cove are just a few of the stage productions in which Young has appeared.  She has also had roles in several feature films such as Pretty Woman, No Place to Hide, Back in the U.S.S.R. and True Heart.  Her numerous television appearances include Civil Wars, Murder, She Wrote, The Marshall, Extreme, Picket Fences, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award, Moloney and Melrose Place.  Young also played Judy Bishop, the mother of a little girl made of more than just sugar and spice in the first-season X-Files episode Born Again.

“I was appearing in Last Summer at Bluefish Cove at the Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles when I went in to audition for The X-Files,” she recalls.  “I read for Rick Millikan, who’s the casting director, Chris Carter [series creator] and the writers of the episode, Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon.  I didn’t see that many other people when I went it to audition.  I did my piece and the next thing I knew they offered it to me.  It was that simple, which is usually not the case in Hollywood.  The most difficult part about the whole thing was flying from Vancouver [British Columbia] back to California on the weekends to appear in the play.  They were very kind and cooperative in getting me back to Los Angeles, however, and worked around my schedule so that I’d be able to do both.”

Unlike Star Trek the actress was somewhat more familiar with The X-Files before she guest-starred on the series.  “I’d not watched a lot of them but I myself am very into that whole paranormal psychology thing, so when I read the script I thought, ‘Oh, wow!  This is great.  It’s right up my alley.’  While I wasn’t a  part of the whole X-Files craze I knew who Mulder and Scully were,” she jokes.

Most of the scenes the actress had on the program were opposite David Duchovny (Mulder) and Gillian Anderson (Scully).  She was impressed by their work, particularly Anderson’s, as she had very little acting experience prior to being cast as Scully.  “I thought Gillian was incredibly fortunate to be given a gift like this and at the same time I thought she was doing a great job with it.

“I also enjoyed working with the director of the episode Jerrold Freedman,” recalls Young.  “I hadn’t met him prior to my beginning work on the series as he wasn’t at my audition.  Television is a producer’s medium as opposed to feature films where directors are more involved in the process from the start.  So it was the producers who chose me for The X-Files but when I got to Vancouver and met Jerrold I found him to be incredibly laid-back and very friendly.  He was very open to what I wanted to do with my character and was always there if I had any questions.

“I love working with directors who really want to hear your input and allow you to put in your two cents about your character,” says the actress.  “I’m also a sculptor, which I love immensely, and people will sometimes say, ‘Why don’t you go off and do your sculpting and sell your work.  You’re talented and you enjoy it.  Why not spend your time doing that instead of working at a job in which you’re paid probably half of what you’d make as a sculptor.’

“Being a visual artist involves a communication’s process that’s very insular,” notes Young.  “It’s about you and the piece of stone or clay or whatever medium you happen to work in.  It’s really quite a lonely profession as opposed to the collaboration and communication you experience when working on a film or television series or particularly in front of a live audience.  It’s this type of creative give-and-take that I really crave and enjoy being a part of,” says Young happily.

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From The Past - Jacqueline McKenzie (The 4400)

 
Jacqueline McKenzie as The 4400's Diana Skouris. Photo copyright of The USA Network.

In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, Jacqueline McKenzie talks about playing NTAC Agent Diana Skouris in The 4400.

The 4400’s Jacqueline McKenzie is all smiles as she navigates through the maze of trailers on the show’s Vancouver lot. “Come in,” she says, walking up the steps to her trailer and opening the door. Her little dog Hershel rushes up to greet the actress and her guest, and then takes a seat next to her, resting his head on the table in front of him and listening intently to the conversation going on. McKenzie, who plays National Threat Assessment Command (NTAC) Agent Diana Skouris, has just finished shooting her one and only scene for the day and is especially pleased with how it went.

“Sometimes the ideas and politics in our scripts as well as the analogies that are flying around are just so phenomenal, and I think it’s a testament to our writers how they continue to make all that totally accessible to our audience,” praises McKenzie. “The dialogue within that can, on occasion, be really tricky, and as actors we have to get a lot of the dry material across to those out there watching. At the same time, we have to invest in those words in order that they don’t come out so dry. That’s the tough part, but it’s also our job.

“Now today, for instance, I had a scene with Conchita Campbell [who plays McKenzie’s onscreen adopted daughter, Maia Skouris], one of my favourite people on Earth, and it was wonderful to sit next to her on a sofa and talk one-on-one. I didn’t have to tell her about what’s going on politically. I didn’t have to disseminate a bunch of very strange biological information, some of which I’ve found a bit difficult to learn over the past few days. So it was nice to just chat with Conchita. I actually had another lovely scene yesterday with Joel Gretsch [NTAC Agent Tom Baldwin] where our two characters are talking, not about the work, or what 4400 has what complaint, or who’s out to get them, or whatever, but simply a personal exchange between friends.

“Of course, if that’s all we were doing, we’d be telling the writers, ‘I want to say something that matters. I want to talk about the politics and the biology of the situation,’” jokes the actress. “So for me, this [fourth] season is turning out to be an exceptionally good one because we’re being given a nice mix of stories, and I like the balance they’ve got between the personal and professional. There seems to be more interaction between characters as well. I spoke yesterday on the phone with Ira Steven Behr [executive producer] and he told me, ‘This year is shaping up to be very strong,’ and I’m extremely excited about that.”

Since the premiere of The 4400, Diana Skouris, Tom Baldwin and their NTAC colleagues have been busy dealing with the sudden return of 4400 men, women and children abducted over several decades by humans from the future. Many of these people were given superhuman gifts in the hopes that they would use them to help reshape humanity for the better, but that has not always been the case. By the end of season three, the stress of Diana’s job and the dangers to her as well as her daughter Maia, a 4400 who can see future events, had gotten to her, so Diana, her boyfriend Ben, and Maia leave town for a six-month sabbatical in Spain. What are McKenzie’s thoughts on her character’s change of scenery?

“It was a little bit of a shock to me,” she notes. “Diana actually running off with her sister April’s [Natasha Gregson Wagner] former boyfriend was a strange thing because I just felt it was incredibly uncharacteristic of her. However, she had no real choice because it was destined by the future. I mean, Maia said she saw that Diana and Ben eventually get married, so I basically accepted that as a fait accompli. I’m pretty sure, though, that Diana was not the type of gal to chase after other peoples’ boyfriends in high school. So it was very curious the way that all happened, but it was wonderful for me because I got to work with Brennan Elliot [Ben], who’s an amazing actor. It also showed another side to my character, which I always welcome, and I really appreciated being offered that opportunity as an actor.

“So the three of them went off to Spain, but then they come back this season,” continues McKenzie. “Diana is someone who has always lived and breathed her work. She has lived to work, really, and I think when she went to Spain she figured, ‘Well, I’ll work to live,’ but once she got there, my character realized, ‘I have to strike a balance here somewhere because I know I can do great work.’ Then there’s Diana’s relationship with the Tom character. He’s the man in her life. There is no one else. Marco is the man in the Theory Room at NTAC, but she can’t go there because they had a relationship and she broke it off. Tom, however, has been the constant for her. He’s someone she respects, admires, trusts and has fun with.

“I think she truly missed Tom, and the fact that he has a sobering effect on her. With Ben it was all very whirlwind-like.; oh, let’s put a pin in the map and see where we’ll wind up. They were both swept up in that, and now it’s time to get down to practicalities here. Diana can’t survive without the work. It feeds her and she can offer a great deal in that regard, especially seeing that Maia is such a big part of her job. So Diana’s butt got dragged back to NTAC, and now they’re all playing it by ear to see what happens next.”

This year on The 4400, NTAC has more to contend with than just the original 4400s. Jordan Collier (Billy Campbell), the self-proclaimed leader of the 4400, has made promicin available to the general population. It’s a drug that either kills those who take it, or allows them to develop a 4400 ability. At the end of the show’s third year, Diana’s sister April was among those considering taking the drug. Well, she did and, apparently, survived, because the character returns to use her newfound power in the fourth season story The Truth and Nothing But the Truth.

“I actually received a text from Natasha a little while ago,” says McKenzie. “The episode that her character returns in this year was directed by Scott Peters [series creator/executive producer]. He had told me that the scenes with me and Natasha in the hotel room and along the promenade look awesome. That was so nice of him, so I thought I’d text Natasha and tell her. It was a joy having her back because she’s always so committed to the work and loves being up here with us. Natasha acts with true gusto. She just grabs a scene and runs with it. There was plenty of personal stuff for us to do in this story, which we both loved, and I think it’s going to be fun for the audience to watch, too.

“Another episode we’ve shot this year that I think people are really going to enjoy is The Marked, which has two of the most incredible guest-stars to ever walk the planet. One is an actor called Tim DeKay, who plays Andy Imroth, kind of a multi-millionaire software guy, and the other is Todd Giebenhain, who plays this neat film noir-ish filmmaker named Curtis Peck. We had Leslie Libman back to direct this episode. She directed two stories last year including the second season opener Wake-Up Call, which is one of my favourite 4400 episodes because it’s such beautiful and sublime storytelling. It was written by Ira Steven Behr and Craig Sweeney [4400 writer/producer] and, boy, can they tell a good story. I believe Craig wrote The Marked and it’s going to keep viewers guessing, but in a thrilling as opposed to manipulative way.”

If it sounds like McKenzie is enjoying her fourth season on The 4400, you’re right. “I know, I know, I sound like a walking commercial, ‘Oh, things are so wonderful,’ but they are,” she says smiling. “This is a great show, and I think it also has a reputation here in Vancouver as a series that people want to work on. We’re all very fortunate to be a part of it, and we know it.”

Steve Eramo

As noted above, photo copyright of The USA Network, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Justice League: Season 2 Coming In July - 07 - 26 - 11

 
Justice League: Season 2 box cover art. Photo courtesy of Gary Miereanu and copyright of Warner Home Video.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and their DC Comics super hero comrades burst onto the scene in dazzling high definition as Justice League: Season 2 arrives on Blu-ray™ for the first time. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the series’ 26-episode second season will be distributed on Blu-ray™ by Warner Home Video on July 26, 2011 for $39.99 SRP. Order due date is June 21,2011.

Amping up the action, intrigue and epic storylines from its successful first season, Justice League: Season 2crossed new boundaries in its portrayal of the greatest fighting force in the universe. Comprised of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl, the Justice League wages war with their own personal demons and internal issues of mistrust and insecurity, all the while battling a most heinous collection of villains led by Darkseid, Brainiac, Solomon Grundy, Amazo, Joker, Vandal Savage and more.

Justice League Season 2 was produced by Bruce Timm and James Tucker. The core voice cast features George Newbern (Superman), Kevin Conroy (Batman), Susan Eisenberg (Wonder Woman), Michael Rosenbaum (Flash), Phil LaMarr (Green Lantern) Carl Lumbly (Martian Manhunter) and Maria Canals Barrera (Hawkgirl).

The guest cast includes many topline actors from film and television, most notably Mark Hamill (Star Wars) as Joker, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (The F.B.I.) as Alfred, Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) as Felix Faust, Powers Boothe (Deadwood, 24) as Gorilla Grodd, Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy) as both Clayface and Orion, Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond) as Lobo, Dennis Haysbert (24, The Unit) as Kilowog, Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan) as Metamorpho, Eric Roberts (Runaway Train) as Mongul and Robert Picardo (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis) as Amazo.

Justice League: Season 2 on Blu-ray™ boasts several interesting bonus features, including:

All-New Featurette: “The Justice Lords and Beyond” – An in-depth exploration of the alternate reality concept, the use of this physical theory in the DC Comics Universe and the alternate Earth created in the fan-favorite Justice League episode A Better World.

Featurette: "Justice League: Declassified" – Actor Phil LaMarr (the voice of John Stewart/Green Lantern) takes you behind the scenes with the show's creative team.

Easter Egg: "Not Too Savage" – A never-before-seen deleted scene with an introduction by producer Bruce Timm.

Commentary on Three Key Episodes: “Twilight, Part II,” “A Better World, Part II” and “Starcrossed, Part III” -- Producers Bruce Timm and James Tucker, director Butch Lukic and the late writer/story editor Dwayne McDuffie provide fans with keen behind-the-scenes insight on three important episodes.

“In terms of compelling stories, character development and enhanced humor, Justice League’s second season took the series to another level – and Warner Home Video is proud to finally give fans the opportunity to witness these exciting episodes in the true high definition available via Blu-ray™,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, WHV Executive Director of Family and Animation Marketing.  “This is a must-add to any collection.”

As noted above, photo courtesy of Gary Miereanu and copyright of Warner Home Video, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Sci-Fi Blast From The Past - Adam Baldwin (Day Break)

 
Chad Shelten (Adam Baldwin) in Day Break. Photo copyright of ABC.

In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, hunky AdamBaldwin talks about his role of Chad Shelten in the short-lived ABC series Day Break.

The phrase “having a bad day” takes on an entirely new meaning in the upcoming ABC series Day Break. When Detective Brett Hopper is framed for the murder of Assistant District Attorney Alberto Garza, he goes on the run, and in doing so discovers that the lives of those he cares about most are also in danger. Hopper then wakes up and relives the same day over and over again. In order to break this cycle, he must find out who framed him and piece together the mystery surrounding Garza’s death. Among those caught up with him in this recurring day from hell is Chad Shelten, played by Adam Baldwin.

“In the pilot episode of Day Break we first meet my character of Shelten while he’s interviewing Hopper [Taye Diggs] about a situation involving him and his partner that’s a bit shady,” explains Baldwin. “While that’s going on, Hopper is accused of killing the assistant DA, and Chad is basically giving him crap for that.

“So my character is introduced as kind of a wise guy, but there’s more to him than that. Chad is an internal affairs investigator for the LAPD [Los Angeles Police Department], and he’s also Hopper’s ex-partner as well as Hopper’s girlfriend Rita Shelten’s [Moon Bloodgood] ex-husband. We’re painting him as a guy who graduated from Notre Dame and whose hobbies include things such as scientific theories of quantum mechanics. Chad is someone who very much plays by the book. He’s logical and practical, but he’s got a bit of an ego that sometimes gets in the way.”

Among Sci-Fi fans, Baldwin is probably best known as Jayne Cobb in Joss Whedon’s short-lived but critically-acclaimed TV series Firefly. The actor recently reprised the role in the feature film Serenity. His other genre work includes guest-spots on Stargate SG-1, The Outer Limits and VR.5 as well as recurring roles on The Visitor, The X-Files and Angel, in which Baldwin played Marcus Hamilton.

“Angel was a real blessing and I’m extremely grateful to Joss for that,” says the actor. “Firefly was cancelled right before Christmas of 2002 and then 2003 turned out to be a tough one for me work-wise. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a pilot, so it was a bit of a scramble for the whole year, but you scrape by. When Angel came along it was like, ‘Great, some really good work,’ and that allowed me to then have a few weeks off to train before starting Serenity.

“I absolutely loved playing the Marcus character on Angel. Joss originally described him to me as a well-dressed, well-spoken Jayne Cobb, and I thought, ‘OK, cool. I’ll shave, put on a nice suit, and off I go.’ Again, the way that Marcus was written, I could have fallen into the trap of playing him as negative and a jerk. However, I think Josh trusted me to approach the part with a positive attitude and bring to Marcus that kind of wry little smile where he’s like, ‘Yes, I’m killing you now, but I’m doing you a favor, ha, ha, ha.’” So that was a blast.”

It was earlier this year while making the rounds for pilot season in Los Angeles that Baldwin first became aware of Day Break. He received the script, liked the Chad Shelten character and decided to audition. “I just went in and did my thing,” says the actor. “I met with the producers, read a couple of scenes and they seemed to like what I did. Following that I had a callback where I read for the studio and the network, which in this case is Touchstone and ABC. They both responded positively and subsequently offered me the job.

“One of the things I found especially interesting is the research we did prior to filming the pilot,” continues Baldwin. “We had the opportunity to meet with several representatives from the LAPD such as detectives, sergeants and internal affairs people. In doing so, I learnt that with this type of job you have two career tracks. Everyone basically starts out together in boot camp at the police academy, and after graduating you go out on the street in uniform. Then after a few years you decide whether you’re going to veer off into training where you become a sergeant in the field, or take more of a promotional track that allows you to climb higher up the ladder into supervisory roles. With the latter you’re less tactical and more of a bureaucrat.

“My character of Chad is more on the bureaucrat track, whereas Taye Diggs’ character is focused on the tactical one. As an internal affairs agent, Chad investigates cops when they break the rules, so his and Hopper’s relationship can occasionally be adversarial. Conversely, they’re both trying to catch the bad guys and keep the system going. Sometimes the rules are bent out of necessity. Ideally, if you want to catch a criminal and it’s just a matter of bending one stupid rule in order to get him, well, OK. So there are definitely shades of gray in their profession, even though you have the black and white of the law on the page, do you see what I mean? So it’s up to internal affairs to look at each individual case and decide, ‘Do I have to bust him [this officer] down for this, even though he got his man, or can I let him off this time,’ It’s a fascinating moral struggle to play.”  

Having previously been a regular on TV shows, the filming of Day Break is very much routine for Baldwin, but no less demanding. “The challenge of a TV series, at least as far as I’m concerned, is maintaining a positive attitude as well as outlook,” notes the actor. “By that I mean over time in the production of a TV show you run out of time. Early on you get scripts ahead of time and have days, sometimes weeks, to prep for the scenes you’ll be shooting for the first episode or two.

“Once you get into the run of a show, the schedule becomes tighter and tighter. When that starts to happen, you have to make sure to keep playing the positive and not indicate any anger, panic desperation, etc. That’s the trap that some actors can sometimes fall into if they don’t have enough prep time or if they haven’t had the years, hopefully, of confidence building that allows you to play that positive. Bottom line, what you have to do is buckle down and tell yourself, Right, this is my job,’ and just face things head-on.”

Born and raised in Chicago, Baldwin took an acting class in fifth grade but back then never saw it as a viable profession. “I actually fell into it [acting] during the summer of ‘79,” he says. “That’s when the production company for the movie My Bodyguard came to town and ‘found me.’ Then along came a small part in Ordinary People, and that’s when I thought, ‘Oh, God, now I have to really learn how to act.’ So I moved to New York to study for a while, failed, went broke, then I was cast in a couple of little movies here and there, and I’ve been plugging away for the past couple of decades. Acting has been very good to me, and I feel very lucky to still be in the game.”

Steve Eramo

As noted above, photo copyright of ABC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Decadent And Dangerous - Epic Period Drama Port Royal Announced

Graham King’s GK-tv and Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla Entertainment are proud to announce they are partnering with FX Productions and Fox International Channels (FIC) on the development of the one-hour drama series, Port Royal, based on the original idea by Hurd (The Walking Dead, Aliens).

The series will be produced by GK-tv, Hurd’s Valhalla Entertainment, FX Productions and Fox International Channels (FIC).  

“We are delighted to be partnered with a network that never shies away from provocative storytelling which is ideally suited to the decadent and dangerous world of Port Royal,” said Craig Cegielski, President, GK-tv.

“I’ve long been a fan of FX’s original programming, and I’m thrilled Port Royal has found a home with them,” said creator, Gale Anne Hurd. “I’m looking forward to working with FX to make the show I’ve envisioned, and one that fits in perfectly with their incredible slate. I couldn’t be more excited to be working with Fox International Channels again after our unbelievable success with The Walking Dead.”

Set in the late 17th century on the island of Jamaica, Port Royal will chronicle the namesake port’s notorious rise as the “richest and wickedest city” in the new world, and as a self-governing safe haven for cutthroat pirates, corrupt politicians, and ruthless merchants. 

Joining Hurd as Executive Producers are GK-tv’s Graham King, Tim Headington and Craig Cegielski. Valhalla’s Kris Henigman and Ben Roberts will be the company’s creative executives on the series. 

Starz Releases First Footage Of Torchwood: Miracle Day

 

Click on the link below to view the first footage ever seen from the highly anticipated STARZ original series Torchwood: Miracle Day, premiering Friday, July 8th @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST. The 10-episode, hour-long series stars Torchwood alumni John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Kai Owen along with new headliners, Mekhi Phifer, Bill Pullman and Alexa Havins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVktcOQD1zA&feature=youtu.be

The above logo copyright of STARZ, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!