Fox has set its summer 2019 primetime lineup’s premiere dates, kicking off on May 9th with the debut of Paradise Hotel. The new series is a unscripted dating competition show hosted by reality TV personality Kristin Cavallari. Fox plans to air three episodes per week – Mondays at 9pm ET/PT, Wednesdays at 9pm ET/PT, and Thursdays at 8pm ET/PT – over five weeks.
The season three premiere of the musical game show Beat Shazam arrives on Monday, May 20th at 8pm ET/PT. Jamie Foxx returns as host, teaming up with his daughter Corinne to challenge contestants’ music knowledge.
MasterChef season 10 kicks off on May 29th at 8pm ET/PT. Season 10 will air on Wednesdays and Thursdays and has award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay, acclaimed chef Aarón Sánchez, and renowned restaurateur Joe Bastianich reuniting as judges.
The search for America’s favorite dancer begins on Monday, June 10th with the 16th season of So You Think You Can Dance. Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy return as judges and they’ll be joined by Emmy Award nominee Laurieann Gibson (Lady Gaga’s longtime choreographer and creative director) and Emmy Award winner and SYTYCD alum Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval.
Spin the Wheel will make its debut on Fox’s primetime lineup on Thursday, June 20th at 9pm ET/PT. The new game show comes from executive producer Justin Timberlake and has actor/writer/director Dax Shepard as the season one host.
FOX 2019 SUMMER PREMIERE DATES
Thursday, May 9
8:00-10:00 PM PARADISE HOTEL (Series Premiere)
Monday, May 20
8:00-9:00 PM BEAT SHAZAM (Season Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM PARADISE HOTEL (All-New Episode)
Wednesday, May 29
8:00-9:00 PM MASTERCHEF (Season Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM PARADISE HOTEL (All-New Episode)
Monday, June 10
8:00-9:00 PM BEAT SHAZAM (All-New Episode)
9:00-10:00 PM SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (Season Premiere)
Thursday, June 20
8:00-9:00 PM MASTERCHEF (Time Period Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM SPIN THE WHEEL (Series Premiere)
Paradise Hotel Details:Paradise Hotel follows a group of singles who are given the opportunity of a lifetime – to check in to an exclusive tropical resort – and check out with big money. Immersed in a gorgeous setting, these strangers will be surrounded by sun, fun and romance – all cloaked in a wild competition. This paradise won’t last forever…it will take strategy to remain there. Each week, these singles will vote off one of their fellow residents to make room for a new guest. In a new twist, viewers can play along at home, using social media to try and influence what happens on screen, including helping to decide who stays and who goes.
Spin the Wheel Info: A suspenseful, high-energy mix of pop culture trivia, strategy and simple whirling luck, Spin the Wheel pits contestants against a colossal, spinning 40-foot wheel that holds incredible sums of cash prizes in its rotation. With massive prize money on the line, contestants must make sweat-inducing, gut-wrenching decisions: whether to walk away, or risk it all to Spin the Wheel one last time.
Harvey Guillen as Guillermo in ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ (Photo by Matthias Clamer/FX)
It’s not easy being the only human in a house full of vampires. Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) has been a loyal servant for 10 years and all he hears are promises that one day he’ll be turned into a vampire himself. ‘What we do in the shadows’ is lead poor Guillermo on.
FX’s adaptation of the movie What We Do In the Shadows introduces a new house of vampire roommates in New York. Playing the lone human in the group, Harvey Guillén spoke with Showbiz Junkies at FX’s What We Do In The Shadows party for the Television Critics association. The show premieres March 27, 2019 at 10pm ET/PT on FX.
On the panel they said they incorporated the clothes you wore to the audition into the costume. Have you chosen more costumes for later episodes?
Harvey Guillén: “After the pilot, we changed costume designers. Our costume designer came on board and did episode two until the end. She’s been very good about asking me. She’s very clever about the textile or material she chooses and foreshadowing things. It’s a good conversation.”
What funny stuff is coming up for Guillermo?
Harvey Guillén: “A lot of funny stuff. Actually, we’re going to dive into where he comes from and what are his limits. What makes him snap?”
10 years of promises and not being turned isn’t the breaking point?
Harvey Guillén: “You know what it is? I think at the end of the pilot he starts questioning, he’s playing by the book, if it’s worth it to him. That opening of the curtain and realizing he has more power than he gives himself, so it’s kind of a revelation for him.”
If Guillermo could be a vampire but could only be an energy vampire, would that be good enough for him?
Harvey Guillén: “Oh, I don’t think that’s the goal that he had in mind. I think he had the goal of blood and fangs and flying, the things that he grew up watching with Antonio Banderas. Those are the things he idolizes, so I don’t think that would suffice.”
It’s funny he’s so obsessed with Interview with the Vampire. Did you live through that in the’90s with the whole Anne Rice/Tom Cruise controversy?
Harvey Guillén: “I remember watching Interview with the Vampire. Someone asked me, ‘What’s your favorite vampire movie?’ and my first memory of a vampire movie was Interview with the Vampire which is ironic because I come full circle. I think I subconsciously know Guillermo well because I watched it as a child and I said, ‘That’s so cool.’ Not to the extent that I really wanted to be a vampire but ‘how cool is it to be a vampire and fly and what not?’
Now here I am playing a person who idolizes that movie and Antonio Banderas. It’s come full circle for me. I was like, ‘Whoa, this is so great because I love Interview with the Vampire. Guillermo loves it too.’”
Kayvan Novak as Nandor, Harvey Guillen as Guillermo, Matt Berry as Laszlo in ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ (Photo by John P Johnson/FX)
This is only the beginning of the season. Do you see it as a will they/won’t they where you don’t want to turn too soon?
Harvey Guillén: “I thought about that. I thought about the whole idea if he became a vampire, where would we go from there? The possibilities are obviously we could take it somewhere. Then I thought about it more and I was thinking how the storyline could change at any moment. By the cliffhanger for season one, you’ll find a reason why he was longing to be part of that world so bad.”
What if the werewolves offered to turn him? Would that be tempting?
Harvey Guillén: “I don’t think so. No offer would come. If you commit yourself 10 years and your whole life to something and someone came with an offer, unless it surpassed being a vampire, and I don’t think it does for him. I think a werewolf is great but it doesn’t have that Victorian and gothic feel to it that he longs for. He longs for the dramatic. He isn’t getting that in his real life. Sometimes I feel like Guillermo escapes his real life by fantasizing about what his afterlife could be, his eternal life.”
What’s your background in comedy?
Harvey Guillén: “I do improv. I grew up doing Second City, UCB, all that stuff.”
Are you pushing to go off script more?
Harvey Guillén: “I’ve been trained to stay on script because for so long I’ve been punished for going off script. They’re like, ‘Don’t do that. Stay on the book, stay on the book, do the book.’ This is the first time I’ve actually been given liberty so I feel so at ease with this cast and with this production where I don’t fear that if I say something that’s not in the script I’m going to get reprimanded. Sometimes the gold comes out of that.”
IFC Films has released a new official trailer for the dramatic film, Mary Magdalene, along with a new poster promoting the upcoming April theatrical release. Mary Magdalene was one of the films caught up in the mess at The Weinstein Company and is just now heading toward theaters thanks to IFC Films stepping in and snatching it up for distribution.
Rooney Mara handles the titular role and Joaquin Phoenix co-stars as Jesus. The cast also includes Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peter, Tahar Rahim as Judas, Ryan Corr as Joseph, Denis Menochet as Daniel, Ariane Labed as Rachel, and Tawfeek Barhom as James.
Garth Davis (Lion, Top of the Lake) directed from a screenplay by Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett. Davis’ behind the scenes team includes director of photography Greig Fraser, editors Alexandre De Franceschi and Melanie Ann Oliver, production designer Fiona Crombie, and costume designer Jacqueline Durran.
The drama will open in theaters on April 12, 2019 followed by a release on digital and On Demand on April 19th. The MPAA has given Mary Magdalene an R rating for “some bloody and disturbing images.”
The Plot:
“She is one of the most transformative yet misunderstood women in history, alternately vilified as a sinner and canonized as a saint. For the first time, the incredible story of Mary Magdalene is told through her own eyes.
In the first century A.D., the free-spirited Mary (Mara) flees the marriage her family has arranged for her, finding refuge and a sense of purpose in a radical new movement led by the charismatic, rabble-rousing preacher Jesus (Phoenix). The sole woman among his band of disciples, Mary defies the prejudices of a patriarchal society as she undergoes a profound spiritual awakening and finds herself at the center of an earth-shaking historical moment.
Boldly challenging received wisdom, Mary Magdalene is a rapturous, moving account of a miraculous woman who risked everything to follow her faith.”
Poster for ‘Mary Magdalene’ starring Rooney Mara (Photo Credit: IFC Films)
Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley in ‘Downton Abbey’ (Credit: Focus Features)
Focus Features continues to tease fans of the critically acclaimed award-winning drama Downton Abbey with assets from the upcoming film adaptation. The latest Downton Abbey treats to emerge are four gorgeous character posters. The batch of posters features Edith (Laura Carmichael), Mary (Michelle Dockery), Barrow (Robert James-Collier), and Andy (Michael Fox).
The cast of the film inspired by the popular series is led by Hugh Bonneville. In addition to Carmichael, Dockery, James-Collier, and Fox, returning cast members include Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Joanne Froggatt, Matthew Goode, Harry Hadden-Paton, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Penelope Wilton, and two-time Academy-Award winner Maggie Smith (California Suite, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie).
New to the Downton Abbey world are Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Pride), Geraldine James (Anne with an E, Beast), Simon Jones (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Brideshead Revisited), David Haig (Killing Eve, Penny Dreadful), Tuppence Middleton (War and Peace, The Imitation Game), Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, The Crown), and Stephen Campbell Moore (History Boys, Lark Rise to Candleford).
Downton Abbey series creator Julian Fellowes wrote the script and Michael Engler directed the feature film adaptation. Fellowes also serves as a producer along with Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge.
Focus Features and Carnival are targeting a September 20, 2019 theatrical release date.
The Plot:
“The television series Downton Abbey followed the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who worked for them at the turn of the 20th century in an Edwardian English country house. Over its 6 seasons, the series garnered 3 Golden Globe Awards, 15 Primetime Emmy Awards, 69 Emmy nominations in total, making Downton Abbey the most nominated non-US television show in the history of the Emmys – even earning a Special BAFTA award and a Guinness World Record for the highest critically rated TV show along the way.”
Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith Crawley in ‘Downton Abbey’ (Credit: Focus Features)Robert James-Collier as Thomas Barrow in ‘Downton Abbey’ (Credit: Focus Features)Michael Fox as Andy in ‘Downton Abbey’ (Credit: Focus Features)
Poster for ‘The 100’ Season 6 (Photo Credit: The CW)
The CW’s just unveiled the poster for the upcoming sixth season of the sci-fi action/drama, The 100. The colorful poster features two images of Clarke (Eliza Taylor) in profile, facing each other but looking down. In between the two Clarkes, the poster reads: “Face Your Demons.”
In our interview at the New York Comic Con, Bob Morley (“Bellamy”) talked about how the series continues to reinvent itself season after season. “I mean, I think it’s amazing for me. It’s probably a lot of work for Jason (Rothenberg) and the writing team. But, like, being able to explore the actual physical world of what is going on in Jason’s mind is pretty surreal. I hadn’t really thought of it like that until just now, but yeah. It’s tricky for us as actors and it’s tricky for the crew to get used to new sets just because there’s practical reasons that it can be tricky. But in terms of performance and that and going to new worlds – like Mount Weather and Polis – it’s really exciting. It just kind of spices up the seasons and the episodes. I really love it,” said Morley.
Season six will premiere on April 30, 2019 at 9pm ET/PT.
The 100 was created by Jason Rothenberg. In addition to Taylor and Morley, the season six cast includes Marie Avgeropoulos, Richard Harmon, Tasya Teles, Paige Turco, Lindsey Morgan, Lola Flanery, and Shannon Kook.
“After the game-changing season five finale, Clarke and the team make their way down to the new planet. They are left wondering if this planet is suitable for life, and if the human race can finally live in peace? What will they find on this new mysterious home, and what will emerge from Monty’s discovery of the Eligius III mission?”
Natasia Demetriou as Nadja in ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ (Photo by Matthias Clamer/FX)
The movie What We Do in the Shadows has just about everything you could want in a vampire comedy. The one thing it’s missing is a female vampire. The TV adaptation corrected that and Natasia Demetriou plays Nadja, the female roommate in the vampire house.
Nadja turns the young Jenna (Beanie Feldstein) and begins training her new vampire early in the series. She’s also involved in the household squabbles and group outings. We met Natasia Demetriou at FX’s What We Do in the Shadows party for the Television Critics Association and spoke with her about the show, which premieres Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 10pm ET/PT on FX.
How old is Nadja?
Natasia Demetriou: “This is an interesting one. The costume woman, Amanda, the designer who’d been given all the info and stuff, someone told someone that I was 6,000 years old. Then I was like, ‘Wow, that’s old!’ Then according to Jemaine (Clement) and Taika (Waititi), no, I’m not. I’m the oldest in the house. I know that. So I’m going to say 600-700 with amazing skin.”
What funny stuff is coming up for Nadja?
Natasia Demetriou: “I really feel like Nadja is way more prevalent in the later [episodes.] I have bigger things to do in later episodes because I teach Jenna how to be a vampire. There’s much more of a storyline with Gregor. I host an orgy party at the vampire’s house, so there’s lots and lots of stuff coming up.”
Does she make a decision when she’s feeding to either finish Jenna off or make this one her new protege?
Natasia Demetriou: “Oh no, when she’s feeding, she’s feeding. But with Jenna, the thing about Nadja is she’s more clued up than the rest of the other vampires, I think. She loves Laszlo, her husband, played by Matt Berry. She loves him but there’s a slight yearning. Something’s missing. She was never a mother. So I think in Jenna she sees an opportunity to be a mom, be a best friend, be a sister.”
Does that work out well for her?
Natasia Demetriou: “I think, yeah, she absolutely loves it.”
So it’s a good relationship.
Natasia Demetriou: “Yeah, it’s a good relationship, very positive, she loves it. And she adores ‘my sweet little Jenna.'”
Is Nadja able to correct any mistakes she herself made as a young vampire?
Natasia Demetriou: “That’s a good question. I think Nadja was always a vampire. I feel like she was born to be turned into a vampire. So no, she doesn’t make mistakes. Other people make mistakes, she doesn’t.”
With the voice, how did you decide where she’s from and how she talks?
Natasia Demetriou: “My dad’s Cypriot so I borrowed from that and the women in my Greek family. I definitely borrowed a lot from that and just did that wonderful slightly racist generic vampire accent that everyone does.”
Is it difficult to talk with the teeth?
Natasia Demetriou: “They were at first. When I did my first test the teeth fell out, and also absolute nightmare with lipstick. Most of my time is spent on set being checked, opening my mouth and showing the makeup artist my teeth to see if there was lipstick all over them.”
Would that deter you from improvising because it was harder to articulate?
Natasia Demetriou: “No, no, once I’d worn them for a day, I was fine. They’re so well made and comfortable. There’s amazing things happening in the production of fangs, I can tell you. If anyone’s had a invisalign, they’re like two little invisaligns with a fang attached.”
Natasia Demetriou and Matt Berry in ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ (Photo by Byron Cohen/FX)
Do you have to do harnesses and wires to fly?
Natasia Demetriou: “Yeah, I did a lot of harnesses, a lot of wires. I loved that stuff but I would just recommend you wear a gel pad so you can still have children after.”
Is it hard to be funny when there’s all that technical stuff?
Natasia Demetriou: “No, I think it was a very intense shoot. We did night shoots but the vibe on set and the atmosphere that was created by the directors and Jemaine and Taika was always so relaxed. I think the style of mockumentary allows you to be really relaxed and you can always do another take. There’s two cameras, so I feel like it was never hard to be funny. Whether I was always funny, that’s for you to decide.
It was like a dream. I’m in this bar that’s made up to look like What We Do in the Shadows. There’s bowls of garlic and I’m losing my sh*t. It’s wild. I can’t believe it. I feel very lucky.”
Were you familiar with the movie?
Natasia Demetriou: “I’ve seen the film and I thought it was rubbish. No, I knew the film and I love Flight of the Conchords, I loved Eagle Vs. Shark.”
What’s your background in comedy?
Natasia Demetriou: “I started out doing live comedy. I was in a sketch group called Oyster Eyes with Phoebe Walsh who’s one of my best friends who’s just written on Four Weddings and a Funeral for Hulu. So. that’s exciting.
So I did live comedy. I did the Edinburgh Festival in England which is a comedy festival, and then I did a double act and I’m writing a sketch show with my double act partner now for the BBC. Me and my brother make a TV show called Stath Lets Flats which is on Channel Four. So I’ve just been a comedy actress and writer for a number of years and then got this audition. Basically I was in a film, I had one line in a film.”
Which movie?
Natasia Demetriou: “Called The Festival, written and directed by Iain Morris and Jemaine’s in that film. One of my best friends, Claudia O’Doherty is in that film so we were all having a dinner, a cast dinner, and very serendipitously I was seated next to Jemaine at this dinner. And I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m sitting next to Jermaine.’ And then he was like, ‘I know who you are.’ I was like, ‘How do you know who I am?’ He was like, ‘I did a podcast called The Adam Buxton Podcast’ – who’s a British comedian – ‘and I really liked it. And you’re Greek. My wife’s Greek.’
So, we had a lot to talk about. Then six months later I got the audition. I messaged him on Twitter being like, ‘I’m so sorry I did such a bad audition.’ He just messaged me back in true Jemaine style being like, ‘It wasn’t bad. It was excellent.’ And then I got a callback and then I got the part. It was very exciting.”
Patricia Arquette and Joey King star in ‘The Act’ (Photo by: CZ Post/Hulu)
Hulu’s original series The Act explores the true crime case of Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Dee Dee was committing Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy on her daughter, Gypsy. Gypsy ultimately met an online boyfriend who killed Dee Dee to help Gypsy escape.
Patricia Arquette plays Dee Dee in season one of The Act opposite Joey King as Gypsy. This comes right after she played the real life Tilly Mitchell in Showtime’s award-winning Escape at Dannemora. Arquette spoke with reporters after the Television Critics Association panel for The Act. New episodes of The Act premiere Wednesdays on Hulu.
Lifetime did a version of this story a few months ago with Marcia Gay Harden.
Patricia Arquette: “I heard. I didn’t get to see it. I really want to see it and I love her as an actress. I want to see it. I think it’s very different from ours. Obviously, we have eight hours to explore, they had two hours.”
After these last two roles do you want to play a really glamorous high society role next?
Patricia Arquette: “Well, I did do a little comedy in between that’s not quite so heavy as all of these things. She’s still like a hippie lady but I don’t know. I just have to shake all this out of my mind. These are intense people and kind of depressed and heavy. Their survival mechanisms are really intense, so I just want to take a break for a minute.”
As a mom is it hard to relate to this mindset of someone who loves their child so much they don’t want to ever let them leave??
Patricia Arquette: “Yeah, I mean, I think it’s a natural instinct to worry about your kid and love them. What was great about this was we started this, I guess, in September. That was right when my daughter was going away to school. So I was like I’m going to put all my crazy missing of my daughter, and then I’m going to expand it by 1,000, all my missing of her, all my worry about her, all my everything about her. So it’s taking I think a natural, normal thing to a distorted level. I really deeply believe this in these moments, the stakes were very high for Dee Dee in these moments.”
How necessary is it for you to relate to characters like this?
Patricia Arquette: “That’s a really interesting question. I have in the past felt like oh, we all have human behavior but we have distortions of human behavior in different ways or different ways of explaining it. Now that you say that, I’d like to play one character once that doesn’t believe it, that doesn’t have a commitment to that.”
Have you spoken to Tilly since Escape at Dannamora came out?
Patricia Arquette: “No, no. I wish her well but she’s very upset and so I understand. I understand.”
Joey King and Patricia Arquette in a scene from season 1 of ‘The Act’ (Photo by: Brownie Harris/Hulu)
Have you paid a price emotionally or mentally to play these two roles so close together?
Patricia Arquette: “I think it is a little bit heavy to carry around emotionally that stuff. I definitely feel like my mind and heart needs a break. Not that I’m crazy. I can leave it at the end of the day, but there is a little residual because when you go home, then you’re working on tomorrow. So it never exactly goes away but physically more than anything.
It’s very hard. There was a point where I thought I was going to have a heart attack from gaining weight, keeping it all this time. We were up in high altitudes and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t breathe great. This is kind of not good.'”
How are you taking care of yourself physically now that you’re done with these roles?
Patricia Arquette: “We just wrapped two days ago so I’m going to go into this more healthy program of just going back to healthy eating, vegetables.”
If The Act comes back with a different story, would you stay in the company?
Patricia Arquette: “I thought that was a very interesting concept but I really can’t even think of anything right now other than just downloading, figure out who I am, who are they.”
Is this better than network television which you’ve also done?
Patricia Arquette: “I think so. On a network show, 22 episodes, you’re constantly working but you’re also having to tie every story up every episode. With this, you’re doing more in depth discovery of the characters and I do like that.”
What female character on TV really inspires you?
Patricia Arquette: “I’m actually behind. I’m really behind, just trying to catch up on movies and everything.”
How about of the past?
Patricia Arquette: “There’s a lot of them. I’m a Game of Thrones maniac so I’m excited they’re back. Elisabeth Moss in Handmaid’s Tale, that’s obviously a great part. I love Westworld.”
How’s the food at awards shows?
Patricia Arquette: Food? It’s okay but okay, it takes a long time to get through the red carpet. I think it’s the Golden Globes, they take away all the plates if you don’t eat before the show starts. So all the talent gets there and then there’s no food. There’s just a bunch of champagne so that’s why Melissa McCarthy smuggled in a bunch of sandwiches, sent them to everyone’s table.”
The 100 returns to The CW’s primetime lineup on April 30, 2019 and will once again be changing up the world that greets the survivors. Season five ended with Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and Bellamy (Bob Morley) waking after spending 125 years in cryosleep. Monty and Harper stayed awake to monitor their journey and ultimately discovered a new planet that could be the group’s home because the Earth was no longer an option. Both Monty and Harper have died, however their son, Jordan, is already awake and along with videos explains what happened while those on board ship slept.
The 100 season six will pick up with Bellamy, Clarke, and the survivors making their way down to this new planet.
In our interview at the New York Comic Con, Bob Morley talked about what fans of The 100 can expect from the new season, the status of Bellamy and Clarke’s relationship, and how Bellamy has matured and changed over the seasons. He also discussed making his directorial debut with an episode of season six.
Do you like the fact The 100 constantly reinvents itself?
Bob Morley: “I mean, I think it’s amazing for me. It’s probably a lot of work for Jason (Rothenberg) and the writing team. But, like, being able to explore the actual physical world of what is going on in Jason’s mind is pretty surreal. I hadn’t really thought of it like that until just now, but yeah. It’s tricky for us as actors and it’s tricky for the crew to get used to new sets just because there’s practical reasons that it can be tricky. But in terms of performance and that and going to new worlds – like Mount Weather and Polis – it’s really exciting. It just kind of spices up the seasons and the episodes. I really love it.”
And it throws a new Bellamy into the mix because you have to transform for each new season, right?
Bob Morley: “Yeah. He definitely changed a lot last season, season five, into a much more, I guess, mature leader. Trying to use his head and his heart. I’ve always enjoyed playing Bellamy as the hothead which he hasn’t really been for a little while now. So, there’s part of me that’s kind of hoping that will come back for a bit, you know?
But it’s going to take a lot for him to turn back to being the bad guy because he’s gone through so much and he’s dealt with a lot. He thought Clarke was dead for six years and that made him be like, ‘Okay, I need to be a stronger leader with my head and my heart.’ It’s hard for him to just revert back to old ways after six years of trying to be a better man, I guess. (Laughing) There are no good guys or better people, so yeah.”
Will Bellamy and Clarke be co-leaders again?
Bob Morley: “I think that both of them… It’s pretty tricky to say. A lot of water’s passed under the bridge, but they’ve still got to mend that bridge. I think they take on what Monty has said about being the good guys and doing better than what we did on the other planet, which is going to be easy considering we blew up the last planet.”
The bar is pretty low.
Bob Morley: “Yeah, we’ve set the bar very low. I think that they want to respect Monty’s wishes to try and do better and work as a team. I mean, there’s a reason he woke up the two of them. I think that he thinks those two work better when they’re working together. To respect Monty and Harper’s wishes, I think that’s something they need to do. I think they’re aware of that.”
Did your injury affect shooting?
Bob Morley: “Yes. It’s better now. I had a lot of different doubles come in and run and walk for me. There’s a lot of Bellamy scenes where he’s sitting down. (Laughing) Having an injury sucks. I like to be physically active and all that stuff. To not be able to walk since July 20 until (September) is pretty frustrating. So, it affected me in a big way…and maybe a little bit of the show. They pushed shooting a week for me. (Laughing) It doesn’t hurt but mentally the scarring will never end.”
No matter the season, Bellarke fans remain interested in the relationship. Are there any sweet moments this season?
Bob Morley: “Yeah. No, absolutely. The chemistry that Eliza (Taylor) and I have working I’ve never really had with anyone else. It’s such an easy, comfortable thing.
I think it comes back to season one, this is just in terms of sweet moments and working with Eliza. We’re both from the same city in Australia. It’s both our first American gig. I think we intrinsically just trusted each other. I’m really glad that we get to do that. Even if the characters were at odds, I think that we can still find moments that the truth of Bellamy and Clarke is still there. They are two people who need each other and rely on each other. So, yeah, there will be sweet moments. There will be bad ones and sweet ones.”
Is there a direction you wanted season six to go for Bellamy?
Bob Morley: “Look, I don’t want Bellamy to be a dog towards Echo. I want Bellamy and Clarke to be working together as a team. In terms of romance and stuff like that, obviously it comes up a lot and the fans rightly feel that way about it because the two of them work really well together. But I only think about it, really, if Jason throws it up there. Then it’s something that I have to consider because I do believe that Bellamy’s a good man in terms of that kind of stuff, in terms of relationships and that. I do believe that he wants to make it work with Echo.”
Is there anyone you pushed for him to have more scenes with?
Bob Morley: “I always push to work with Richard Harmon. He’s like my best mate so any time we’re on set together it’s a lot of fun. Maybe a little too much fun. Maybe that’s why they don’t let us work together. We muck around too much. Yeah, always want to work with Richard.”
And you’re directing this season?
Bob Morley: “Yes.”
Which episode?
Bob Morley: “I think I’ll be directing episode 11.”
This is your first time directing?
Bob Morley: “I wouldn’t want to do it anywhere else, first-time directing. I’ve been on this show for six years, known this crew for six years, and the cast are like some of my best friends. I can’t imagine a better place for me to kind of try and achieve those goals. Everyone is very supportive. It’s very heartwarming to know that Jason and the writing team has set up a way for me to do it. It’s definitely not easy and it’s definitely terrifying. We’re such a family there – we kind of have to be with the amount of stuff we’ve all gone through, you know? I couldn’t imagine a better place to do it, to be honest.”
At the end of The CW’s Roswell, New Mexico season one episode nine we learned there’s another alien living among the citizens of Roswell. And not only is there a fourth alien hiding out in the town, this unknown alien is apparently a serial killer who’s murdered at least a dozen people.
Season one episode 10 begins with Max (Nathan Dean Parsons) reaching into Isobel’s pod and pulling her out. Her memories are intact, and Liz (Jeanine Mason) immediately injects her with what she hopes is the cure.
Flash-forward a few weeks and Isobel (Lily Cowles) is doing much better. Liz isn’t sure what the side effects will be, but so far everything seems stable. After Liz leaves the house, Isobel goodnaturedly makes fun of Max’s newfound happiness with Liz.
Max races out to say goodbye before Liz takes off. She’s fine being around him, but she’s still not sure how to accept being around Isobel since they still believe she killed Rosa.
Jenna (Riley Voelkel) arrives and Liz heads off to work. Jenna’s still hunting an alien killer and shows Max her research on the 14 dead people. Max wants to discuss the elephant in the room, and she accepts his apology for lying to her about being an alien all this time.
Meanwhile, Alex (Tyler Blackburn) pumps Michael (Michael Vlamis) for answers. He wants to know all about Max, Liz, and Michael’s relationship. Michael explains how he was passed around as a kid, while Max and Liz ended up with great adopted parents. Michael reveals he’s glad he ultimately ended up reuniting with his siblings.
Michael allows Alex to see his alien artifacts, confessing that if anyone is going to destroy him it might as well be Alex. He then uncovers the ship’s broken console which he’s never shown anyone before. Michael believes it’s the key to everything.
Michael explains he’s trying to find all the missing pieces, and Alex realizes Michael’s trying to find a way to return to his planet. Alex abruptly says he has to leave and after taking a seat in his truck, he pulls out the item he found at Kyle’s dad’s cabin. It’s definitely a missing piece of the console.
Next, Kyle confronts his mom about his dad’s death. Kyle knows his father didn’t die from cancer but instead considers the death suspicious. His mom still believes it was cancer and cries as she admits she wished she could have done something to save him. They also discuss Rosa, and Kyle breaks the news that Rosa Ortecho was his dad’s daughter. Kyle’s mom hands over her husband’s letters, hoping Kyle can make sense of his drawings.
Jenna and Max show up at the bar and ask Maria (Heather Hemmens) about her door stamp being on the murder victims’ arms. They only stamp on Ranchero Night, a special night that helps addicts and the disenfranchised. Ranchero Night happens twice a month. She suggests they check out racist Hank Gibbons whose band always plays on Ranchero Night for free because they’re terrible.
Jenna and Max question Hank about what he did last Cinco de Mayo. He asks if it’s about Carla, and he admits she was talking to some guy. Hank got jealous, got wasted, and wound up with a drunk and disorderly charge. Hank fought the guy, describing him as off. There was something about his eyes.
Isobel’s back at home and she adjusts her makeup, preparing for her reunion with Noah. When he arrives, she tells him there are things he needs to know. Noah pulls out a gun, confessing he saw her in an egg. He bought it because he was freaked out he’s married to an egg person. Isobel asks him to put down the gun. “I come in peace,” she says, which is what we’ve come to expect an alien to declare in order to lure you into a false sense of security.
Isobel goes over her story and Noah (Karan Oberoi) attempts to absorb it all. She admits she doesn’t know where they’re from. Noah demands to know if Isobel got into his head and made him love her. She claims she’s never used her abilities on him and that she truly, honestly loves him.
Noah, apparently deciding his wife is still his wife even if she’s an alien, says he loves her, and they kiss. Relationship sort of repaired, they prepare a picnic basket. Holding a bottle of wine brings up the memory of sitting with Rosa as she drew on a pavilion in a park. They didn’t know each other at the time, but both admit they’re sick of being who they are thought to be. Rosa doesn’t care what the town thinks of her. To prove she’s also not who people think, Isobel also draws on the pavilion. It’s the same design Max has been asking about.
Isobel tells Noah she now remembers being friends with Rosa Ortecho.
The picnic’s off (there’s snow covering the ground anyway) and Isobel accompanies his wife to the medical center to see Liz. Protesters stand outside the building and Isobel uses her alien powers to part the crowd and quiet them so they can enter the building in peace.
Isobel describes her friendship with Rosa to Liz, and Liz thinks parts of her brain that had gone dark are regenerating. That’s why she’s regaining her memories. Isobel wants to use more of the antidote so she’ll remember what she did. When Liz refuses, Isobel reminds her she could just jump into her mind and make her do it. She’s not going to resort to that because she knows how much Max cares for Liz.
Liz reluctantly agrees to give her another small dose to help kick-start her brain. As Liz is about to inject Isobel, the siren goes off and an announcement over the speakers instructs everyone to evacuate. Liz thinks it’s just an active shooter drill but then shots ring out before they can leave the lab. Noah’s hit and the trio are forced to hide behind a counter.
It’s Alex’s turn to visit Maria at the bar. He claims he’s having a standard run-of-the-mill boy problem, and Maria gets the feeling he’s hopeful again. She jokes that it’s not like he’s hooking up with Wyatt Long or Michael Guerin, and Alex is forced into admitting it’s Michael. Maria touches the spot on her neck where her necklace should lie and tries to assure Alex her hookup with Michael was nothing more than a drunken one-night stand. Even that wouldn’t have happened if she’d known Alex was into Michael.
Alex’s next stop is to reunite with Kyle to go over his dad’s letters. Alex shows off the fragment of the UFO Kyle’s dad left in the cabin. The symbols on the fragment match the symbols on Kyle’s dad’s letters. They think maybe it’s a coded message. Alex scans it into the computer and it’s determined part of the message reads: “Hi Magoo I love you.” Magoo is Kyle’s nickname. The scan continues, finding more letters as another message appears.
Sheriff Valenti and her officers help evacuate the building as Max and Jenna arrive. Max doesn’t wait for the SWAT team to determine it’s safe and instead heads inside.
The bullet only grazed Noah and the sound of someone attempting to get in the room quiets the trio. When the lights flicker, Isobel realizes it’s Max who’s trying to enter the locked room. She lets him in and then Max leads the group outside before heading back in to locate the shooter.
The shooter trashes Liz’s lab before setting it on fire.
Max follows bloody handprints and a trail of blood through the building.
Outside, Noah’s treated by the paramedics and he’s going to be fine. Isobel admits she’s not sure Liz administered a large enough dose to revive her memories before the shooter interrupted them.
Liz is frantic because Max is still in the building, and Jenna confirms he’s not answering his radio. Liz spots smoke rising from the research wing and mutters in Spanish which Isobel overhears. It jogs her memory of being on the roof of the café with Rosa when she was fuming about how the town treated her family.
Isobel also dredges up the memory of Rosa confronting her about acting as though she doesn’t know her. Isobel apologized and admitted she wanted to be who she was with her all the time. She then recalls seeing Rosa upset about having her car graffitied.
She returns to present day and Michael rushes up, giving her a hug. He asks if she and Max are okay and learns Max is still inside the hospital.
Speaking of Max, he continues to track the blood trail warning whoever’s leaving the blood that he’s armed. He finally finds a man with a gun but with no idea why he’s got it or how he got inside the building. He remembers being outside with his Invasion of the Baby Snatchers poster but doesn’t recall entering the building or why he has a weapon. Max continues to warn him to set the gun done, and finally he does.
He claims he doesn’t like guns. He then begins convulsing.
Later, the forensic team collects evidence inside the hospital. Jenna tells Max the guy they arrested works as a barista. He draws UFOs in the foam and wouldn’t do anything like this, and Max admits the guy doesn’t remember anything. Jenna then tells Max Liz was really scared for his safety.
Isobel’s over at Michael’s place confessing she has memories of Rosa and that she believes she wanted her. Michael welcomes her to the bisexual alien party. Isobel really wants her memories back and fortunately Michael happens to have swiped some of Liz’s antidote. “Liz isn’t so bad, but I don’t trust anyone. If she’s got an alien poison, I’m going to squirrel away the antidote,” explains Michael.
Isobel drinks some and Michael stops her before she can down the whole container. Isobel’s ready to leave to go home to Noah, but Michael’s not sure that’s a wise idea given that she has this antidote inside her that will trigger suppressed murder memories. Isobel’s response: “He loves me.”
Back at the station Kyle asks his mom if Caufield means anything to her. Apparently, it’s mentioned repeatedly in his dad’s letters. It’s a prison 100 miles north of Roswell that’s been shut down for decades. It’s where Kyle’s grandfather started his career.
The bar’s closed when Michael shows up with Maria’s necklace. He fixed the clasp and wants free booze to celebrate. Maria confesses she wouldn’t have slept with him if she’d known he and Alex had a history. She sends him off without pouring a drink.
Liz finally gets a look around her trashed lab and it’s pretty much destroyed. Max joins her and she gives him a hug, glad that he seems perfectly fine. He agrees he’s okay if she’s okay. Max believes the lab was targeted because it’s the only section of the hospital that burned. Max explains a pacifist who likes doing latte art was responsible, but he doesn’t remember anything. Max believes his story that he doesn’t recall what happened.
Liz thinks the attack took place to get her serum and antidote, which are missing, and not in response to the other research that’s drawn the protesters to the building. She also believes Wyatt’s attack at the storage facility and this one by the coffee dude were perpetrated by the fourth alien getting into their minds. Both attacks occurred when the attackers were blacked out – one from drinking, the other from seizures as a result of epilepsy. Even Isobel has a history of blackouts, so one murderous mind-influencer could be behind all of this.
Liz now believes Isobel isn’t responsible for Rosa’s death. There’s someone else pulling the strings and making people do his/her bidding.
Isobel’s preparing to go to bed when she has a vision of the night Rosa died. Rosa was in the cave looking for her ticket so she could leave town. In the vision Isobel doesn’t sound like herself when she tells Rosa she doesn’t have to leave and that she took care of it. Isobel asks Rosa to come with her and then says, ‘This isn’t me, Rosa. This isn’t my body. I can be anything you want me to be.”
Whoever is in control of Isobel’s body tells Rosa he’s not Isobel. It calls itself a man, saying he wants to protect Rosa and will never leave her. The alien controlling Isobel’s body then admits he killed Rosa’s two former friends just for Rosa. Rosa tries to run from Isobel’s body and Isobel’s hand burns bright red across Rosa’s face. Saying, “Everything was for you,” Isobel tosses Rosa to the ground. Michael arrives as it happens, and Isobel’s manipulator says, “She couldn’t be trusted,” before passing out.
Mark Proksch as Colin in ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ (Photo by John P Johnson/FX)
FX’s comedy What We Do In The Shadows not only introduces all new vampire characters, but it also introduces new kinds of vampires. In the TV adaptation of the film, Mark Proksch plays Colin Robinson, an energy vampire. We all have coworkers or friends who keep talking to us and drain our energy. Well, Colin’s powers are literally supernatural.
Energy vampires can drain both humans and vampires, so it’ s a recipe for comedy when Colin lives with the other vampires. Proksch did not drain our energy when we spoke to him at FX’s What We Do In the Shadows party for the Television Critics Association. Meet Colin when the show premieres Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 10pm ET/PT on FX.
When they told you this role was an energy vampire, did you consider that a legitimate vampire?
Mark Proksch: “Yes and no. Anyone who’s worked in an office has met one or two of these people that come up to you and just corner you and drain your energy by talking about their health issues or their family issues or company politics. It legitimately takes a little bit of energy out of you, so I just found it very clever when Jemaine (Clement) and Taika (Waititi) came up with that character. The supernatural side of it is very new. I don’t think anyone’s ever done that idea. That gave me a little bit of room to put my own stamp on the character.”
And it’s like who could be deadly to another vampire? An energy vampire.
Mark Proksch: “An energy vampire, which I find very funny that I can take these vampires that everyone’s so terrified of and simply by talking to them, I could kill them essentially. But at the same time, I want friends. I feel like he wants to be friends with these people because they are kind of a family in this house, as odd as that sounds. They all live together and they don’t have friends outside of this house so it’s kind of this weird dichotomy of him wanting to be friends but unable to be friends.”
Energy vampires in real life usually aren’t self-aware, are they?
Mark Proksch: “No. The ones I know have never been, not at all. So that’s another interesting angle is that my character, Colin, knows that he is this being. I would like to see him take on a non supernatural energy vampire. Maybe I’ll pitch that for next season.”
He’s doing it on purpose, unlike the ones we know.
Mark Proksch: “Yes, he has to. Otherwise he dies. So, just like we eat to survive, he has to talk to these people and drain their energy. Now the difference is is he doesn’t kill them. He just takes enough to move onto the next person.”
Mark Proksch as Colin Robinson in ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ (Photo by Matthias Clamer/FX)
What funny stuff is coming up for Colin?
Mark Proksch: “I think it only gets better and I’m being sincere about that. You’re really gonna see the world grow and move beyond the house, move beyond just the mansion and my office. You’ll see us out and about in the real world and I think that’ll be a big area for stories.”
How does an energy vampire face off against a werewolf?
Mark Proksch: “I don’t know. I’m not scared of werewolves for whatever reasons, Colin. The other vampires hate the werewolves and I end up not too sure about it. I think that’s another area that can be explored in further episodes.”
Does Colin have a favorite roommate whose energy he likes the most?
Mark Proksch: “That’s a great question. Probably Laszlo because Laszlo is the easiest to annoy. If I can annoy Laszlo, that’s like a quick snap. That’s going to the cupboard and getting an Oreo, whereas with Nadja or Nandor, I have to work a little bit to get their energy.”
What’s your background in comedy?
Mark Proksch: “I started on The Office and after that, a lot of guest starring roles on like New Girl. I did some stuff on Better Call Saul, a few episodes. Before that I didn’t really do improv comedy or any training. I have no theater background or anything. I just got lucky, I think.”
Do you think there’s more comedy in your future?
Mark Proksch: “Oh yeah. I’ll always stick with comedy. I love being a character actor and I think that’s where I’ll stay. I love to do a little bit of drama but I haven’t dipped my toe too deeply in that yet.”
