Princess Leia in ‘Star Wars Rebels’Princess Leia will make her Star Wars Rebels debut on the January 20, 2016 episode airing on Disney XD. Leia, who will only appear in one episode this season, will be voiced by Julie Dolan, the voice of the Rebel leader in Disney’s Star Tours attraction. The episode is set three years before A New Hope and introduces Leia as “a young leader on her way to becoming the strong, more resolute character portrayed in the original trilogy.”
“One of the complex challenges of depicting Leia in Star Wars Rebels is that we have to remind the audience that she is part of the Empire at this point,” said executive producer/supervising director Dave Filoni. “She doesn’t believe in the Empire, but she is acting the part, almost as a double agent. The Empire sees her as a privileged princess who runs mercy missions to wayward worlds, but in truth she is much stronger and more dangerous than they imagine.”
Added Filoni, “There really is no other character quite like her. And to quote The Force Awakens’ Lor San Tekka, ‘She’ll always be royalty to me.'”
The January 20th episode plot: An aide to Bail Organa (Princess Leia Organa) is sent to Lothal with ships for the rebel fleet, but an Imperial lockdown forces the rebels to create a new plan to steal the vehicles.
Chadwick Boseman stars in ‘Black Panther’ (Photo: Marvel)
Marvel’s finally confirmed a director for Black Panther, setting Ryan Coogler to take the helm of the comic book-inspired film starring Chadwick Boseman. Coogler earned critical acclaim with his 2013 breakthrough film Fruitvale Station starring Michael B. Jordan and followed that up with Creed, again starring Jordan alongside Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa. And while Stallone forgot to thank his director on his first trip to the stage to accept the Best Supporting Actor award at the Golden Globes (he went back up during the commercial break and corrected that error), Marvel’s acknowledging Coogler’s talent by adding him to the roster of filmmakers who’ve overseen movies based on their material.
Boseman will first appear as Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War opening on May 6. The stand-alone Black Panther film is scheduled to hit theaters on February 16, 2018.
“We are fortunate to have such an esteemed filmmaker join the Marvel family,” stated producer Kevin Feige. “The talents Ryan showcased in his first two films easily made him our top choice to direct Black Panther. Many fans have waited a long time to see Black Panther in his own film, and with Ryan we know we’ve found the perfect director to bring T’Challa’s story to life.”
Marvel’s description of Black Panther: “Black Panther has been an important character in the Marvel universe for 50 years. He is the king of the technologically-advanced nation of Wakanda, and Panther has served as a member of the Avengers in addition to his many solo adventures.”
Bryan Cranston stars in ‘All the Way’ (Photo: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle / HBO)
Bryan Cranston reprises his Tony Award-winning role as President Lyndon B. Johnson in HBO Films’ All the Way premiering this May. Cranston, who also won Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Theater World Awards for his portrayal of LBJ on stage, is joined in the dramatic film directed by Jay Roach (Game Change, Recount) by Anthony Mackie as Martin Luther King, Melissa Leo as Lady Bird Johnson, Bradley Whitford as Hubert Humphrey, and Stephen Root as J. Edgar Hoover.
The All the Way Plot: “All the Way is a riveting behind-the-scenes look at President Lyndon B. Johnson’s tumultuous first year in office as he takes the oath in the wake of President Kennedy’s assassination, navigates the escalation of the Vietnam War and balances opposing interests to launch his landmark civil rights bill and win election to his first full presidential term.”
During the Television Critics Association’s 2016 winter press event, Cranston chatted with a small group of reporters about reprising the role of LBJ in All the Way and whether he’ll ever be ready to return to a regular role on a TV series after Breaking Bad.
Bryan Cranston Interview:
Did you visit Lyndon’s old Texas stomping grounds before you did this character? Where did you go?
Bryan Cranston: “Yes. We went to the ranch, got a full backstage tour of the ranch. Saw his home quarters and his bedrooms and things, and the place where he passed away, where he was frightfully afraid he was going to die of a heart attack and sure enough he did.”
Is it easier to play a leader than somebody who is kind of reticent?
Bryan Cranston: “No, because we’ve certainly been around people who are more reserved and passive and so that’s actually quite a big challenge to be able to say, ‘Okay, you have a certain ambition or desire or secret and now sit on it and let it just settle down. And other characters are going to be the more visible or bigger characters.’ Everything is a challenge. Every time you find something new it’s a challenge.”
Is it pushing it to say there’s a parallel between Walter White and LBJ? LBJ was a bully but he was also sweet and caring.
Bryan Cranston: “I suppose you can find similar qualities with any two people, right? You can say, ‘Well, male, about the same age…,’ but yeah I think ambition is certainly one. In Walter White it was more blind ambition. He didn’t know where he was going. All he knew was where he was running away from. LBJ was a machine. He only wanted politics. He only thought about politics. He only read books on politics. He didn’t care about sports, theatre, music. He didn’t know about anything, only politics, and he knew it really well. He knew it backwards and forwards. He studied spouse names and children’s names so if you came into his office and he wanted something from you, ‘My god, how’s Margery doing? I know she had a little bit of a problem the other day. She alright?’ And all of a sudden you’re back on your heels. You’re like, ‘Oh my god, he knows my wife’s name!’ ‘She’s much better.’ ‘And the two little ones, the twins you have? Are they still playing ball?’ It’s like, ‘Oh my god, he listened! He knew!’ Now he’d go, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what I want to talk to you about,’ and he’d move in on you. All of a sudden you’re in his back pocket and you’re going to do what he wants because he’s putting the Johnson treatment to you.”
Can you talk about working with Melissa Leo?
Bryan Cranston: “She’s a remarkable actor, #1, and comes about it in a very kind of shy way, saying, ‘I’m not very political and I don’t know. I’ll have to just kind of softly kind of give…’ Every actor approaches a character differently and we just hit it off immediately and embraced the differences of how we approached characters and that sort of thing, much like you would in a marriage. ‘Oh, she does this and I do that,’ thing. You get to know each other. She was wonderful.”
So much wonderful talent came out of daytime television decades ago including you, Melissa Leo, and Julianne Moore. How sad is it that those shows aren’t around anymore?
Bryan Cranston: “Daytime? It was an incredibly learning experience for all of us. Technology killed daytime television. The problem with daytime television wasn’t the talent level, the problem was the quantity, the demand for every single day coming up with a 40-page, 50-page script. You can’t keep quality up doing that, as you know. ‘You have another one tomorrow, and another one, and another one,’ you’d go dry. That’s just human.”
Did Breaking Bad raise the bar so high that you’d never do a series again?
Bryan Cranston: “I love story so if story was on television then I would definitely consider it. I gave myself, and I don’t even know because it’s kind of arbitrary, but I gave myself a three-year moratorium for doing a series regular kind of thing and another show like that because what happened with Breaking Bad and Walter White it was like a snowball effect that became an avalanche. I just sort of realized I had to step away from it and get out of its way as opposed to trying to dismantle it or harness it or something.”
Laura Vandervoort joins the cast of ‘Supergirl’ (Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros Television)
CBS’ popular new superhero series, Supergirl, has added Laura Vandervoort and Jeff Branson to the cast. According to the official announcement, Vandervoort will be joining Supergirl as DC Comics’ character Indigo and Branson has been signed up to recur as Master Jailer. The casting announcement came during the Warner Bros. Television presentation at the Television Critics Association’s winter press event today.
Vandervoort’s no stranger to the world of costumed superheroes, having played Kara/Supergirl on the fan-favorite series Smallville. Indigo is described as “a living, strong-willed supercomputer that was sentenced to Fort Rozz after turning against the people of Krypton. Now on Earth, Indigo will let nothing stand in her way.”
Branson’s credits include The Young and the Restless and guest starring roles in Supernatural, The Mentalist, and NCIS. WBTV offers up this description of Branson’s character Master Jailer: “As the forceful and unrelenting jail guard on Fort Rozz, Master Jailer showed no mercy. Now on Earth, he is hellbent on catching all of the Fort Rozz escapees and brutally bringing them to justice.”
Supergirl airs on Mondays at 8pm ET/PT and stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers/Kara Zor-El/Supergirl, Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen, Chyler Leigh as Alexandra “Alex” Danvers, Jeremy Jordan as Winslow “Winn” Schott, David Harewood as Hank Henshaw/J’onn J’onzz, and Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant. The series is executive produced by Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler, Andrew Kreisberg and Sarah Schechter.
Jeff Branson cast as Master Jailer in ‘Supergirl’ (Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television)
HBO’s Vinyl premieres on Sunday, February 14, 2016 with a pilot episode directed by Oscar-winner Martin Scorsese and starring Bobby Cannavale, Olivia Wilde, and Ray Romano. Scorsese’s latest collaboration with HBO following Boardwalk Empire is set in the 1970s music industry, with Cannavale playing the founder and president of a record company. Wilde stars as his wife, a former model and actress who’s now a mother of two.
HBO presented a Vinyl panel at the Television Critics Association winter 2016 press event and I had the chance to briefly sit down with Wilde to discuss the world in which Vinyl is set and her own music influences.
Olivia Wilde Interview:
What is your relationship to music? As an actor are there ways music affects your performance?
Olivia Wilde: “Yes. I mean, I’ve used music in my work always, whether it’s to reach a certain emotional state or to inspire me to remember sort of different sense memories. I’m very, very connected to music in my own life as well. It’s gotten me through some of my hardest moments. It’s been the soundtrack of some of my best moments. I’m someone who’s deeply connected to music.”
Who is the most recent artist who’s captivated you?
Olivia Wilde: “You know, it’s interesting. It varies from an artist who’s mainstream that I think is really exciting, like The Weeknd – The Weeknd is exciting as an artist, I really like his work – to someone much, much more on the indie world, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I really still listen to a lot of older music. I still listen to the Blues; I still listen to ‘70s rock and R&B. I mean, I listen to a lot of hip-hop. You can catch me listening to Kendrick Lamar on any given day. But I’m sort of eclectic in that way.”
How much music do you actually get to hear on the set?
Olivia Wilde: “A lot. We play music just to kind of get into the right vibe off and on set. Each script is written with the music already established so we can have a chance to kind of, as a group, understand what the rhythm of the script will be, what the rhythm of the scene will be so we can get on the same page with that.”
How do you get into a woman of the ‘70s? You also starred in Rush which was set in that time period. Did that help you get into that era for Vinyl?
Olivia Wilde: “Yeah, it did. I did a huge amount of research for Rush of the London fashion and music world, and the racing world of that time. [It was] a different environment than Vinyl, but certainly that research helped with this research. Really, I’ve been obsessed with the ‘70s for so long that I was ready for both roles.”
The Vinyl Plot: This new drama series is set in 1970s New York City. A ride through the sex- and drug-addled music business at the dawn of punk, disco, and hip-hop, the show is seen through the eyes of a record label president, Richie Finestra, played by Bobby Cannavale, who is trying to save his company and his soul without destroying everyone in his path.
Vinyl is executive produced by Scorsese, Mick Jagger, Terence Winter, Rick Yorn, Victoria Pearman, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, John Melfi, Allen Coulter and George Mastras.
Harry Shum Jr. as Magnus Bane in ‘Shadowhunters’ (Photo by Bob D’Amico / ABC)
Glee‘s Harry Shum Jr. returns to series TV with a starring role in Freeform’s Shadowhunters, based on Cassandra Clare’sThe Mortal Instruments bestselling book series. The Mortal Instruments books and Shadowhunters series center around Clary Fray (played by Katherine McNamara), an 18-year-old who learns there are demons on earth and that human-angel hybrids known as Shadowhunters are charged with hunting them down. Harry Shum Jr plays Magnus Bane, a powerful warlock who’s well-versed in this supernatural world and very cunning.
Freeform will premiere Shadowhunters on January 12, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT and while promoting the series at the Television Critics Association event in Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to speak with Shum Jr. about his new series and how he approached playing Magnus Bane.
Harry Shum Jr. Interview
Does Magnus have to explain a lot of the mythology in the show?
Harry Shum Jr: “Magnus, obviously he’s the wise one. He’s seen it all so I wouldn’t really call it exposition in the sense that he does have to explain these things to people who haven’t been alive to see what’s happened, what caused Valentine to be the person that he is. And also what happened to Clary’s mom – he’s known Clary’s mom for a while. So we see a little bit of that in the pilot and I think we’re going to see more of that unfold in the future.”
Were you ready to do another series as soon as Glee ended?
Harry Shum Jr: “I had some time off. I wind down after the fourth season and [after that] I was making a couple of appearances on Glee. I had some time to do some films and this was something that I really wanted to be a part of, to go back to television.”
Was the idea that this was only a 13-episode season appealing?
Harry Shum Jr: “I mean, yeah. You hope that there’s enough to tell the story. But I think with the way that TV is going, you can tell a lot in 10 or 13 episodes. For me it is because it frees you up to still explore and to give your all to the show you’re working on.”
What was one thing that you read in the books that really helped you play Magnus?
Harry Shum Jr: “For me, it was the relationships. The Ragnor relationships, how he was with Ragnor. How he was when he was a detective. You saw the compassionate side of him and to me that was what was really interesting because we always see him as a hedonistic, party, rock star guy that wears makeup and has his hard-shell exterior. But seeing the compassionate side of him, that was really fun when I was reading the Bane Chronicles.”
What questions did you have about Magnus for Cassandra Clare?
Harry Shum Jr: When I first met her my question was, ‘How old is he really?’ And even she wouldn’t give me the right answer because I think at the end of the day, even Magnus Bane doesn’t know how old he really is.”
How old do you think he is?
Harry Shum Jr: “I think it’s in a range of four to five hundred years old. It could be anything in between that. He likes to lie about it; he doesn’t like to give a straight answer. And, I’m doing the same.”
What was a scene from the book that you were most excited to film?
Harry Shum Jr: “There’s a quote in there when he talks about the Dead Sea and you can see the sassiness coming from him, the sarcasm. It was also my audition piece as well so it was really fun to shoot it and finally put it on film.”
What does Magnus think of letting Simon and Clary into this world?
Harry Shum Jr: “Well I think with Clary he has a soft spot for her. He has a really soft spot for Clary and he wants to help her even though he’s not wanting to give in fully to the idea of helping a Shadowhunter. But with her he has a special connection because he did something to her that caused this to happen, to cause this whole thing of her losing her mother and trying to find her and possibly something to do with the Mortal Cup. I think he wants to hold back, but at the end of the day he feels he has to fix his wrongs.”
Is there any scene from the next books that you hope to get to film in later seasons?
Harry Shum Jr: “There’s so many. I think what the writers have been doing a job of is bringing in elements of the series, of the seven book series, and bringing a lot of things in from the Bane Chronicles. We have a lot of the relationships that came in from Bane Chronicles. Ragnor makes an appearance in the future which I think fans will really love because he’s a really fun character that really explains why Magnus is the way he is.”
Does your dance background help you with the fight scenes?
Harry Shum Jr: “Absolutely. He’s dancing with his hands, he’s dancing with his magic, he’s dancing with his tongue, and for me it was infusing fluidity to every move that he makes. I think we capture that on screen.”
Was there any song you never got to sing on Glee that you really wanted to?
Harry Shum Jr: “I begged Ryan Murphy to do a Justin Timberlake song because the combination of dance, singing, and just swag that Justin had I really wanted to do. But, hey, I don’t know, maybe I’ll be able to do it some time, some way.”
Did anyone do a Justin Timberlake song?
Harry Shum Jr: “No one did.”
Was it just too expensive?
Harry Shum Jr: “It came at a time where Justin was about to come out with music and he didn’t want anyone licensing his music, so it was a little hard to get his music at the time. When his album came out, the show was winding down already.”
Filmmaker J.J. Abrams was on hand at the Television Critics Association’s winter event promoting HULU’s new event series 11.22.63. from Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions. The series stars James Franco, Sarah Gadon, Daniel Webber, and Chris Cooper, and was executive produced by Abrams, Stephen King, writer Bridget Carpenter, and director Kevin Macdonald. Based on Stephen King’s novel, the nine-episode series will premiere on Presidents Day, February 15, 2016.
In addition to discussing 11.22.63., Abrams graciously answered a few questions on Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Person of Interest during an interview with a few members of the press at the TCAs.
J.J. Abrams Interview:
Showing the first two hours at Sundance, is that a validation of 11.22.63. even before most people have seen it?
J.J. Abrams: “Honestly, I’m not even sure how that came about except it’s a fun way to get this out into the world. I know that everyone here is excited we’re doing it. But I’m just grateful that they would do it.”
How much were you actually able to be involved with 11.22.63. given your involvement with Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the same time?
J.J. Abrams: “My involvement in this was mostly about when Stephen King reached out and asked me if I wanted to be involved. I loved the book so much and he knew that, and he’d already sent me a copy of the book – signed copies – because I’d already told him how much I loved it. This is about a year or so later he sent me an email and asked if we should do this together. I was so excited about it and part of it was my responsibility, as the prep on Star Wars was heating up, was figuring out who was the right person to do this with. We’d wanted to work with Bridget [Carpenter] for a long time; we were very lucky to get to do it on this. And then as it went along it was mostly about reading scripts and giving notes. Obviously I had a day job when I was shooting the movie, it was a little bit easier in editorial, in post, to get to look at the dailies or cuts. But Bridget, luckily, doesn’t need to be babysat or handheld. She was a wonderful partner to work with.”
How do you wrap your head around a billion-dollar domestic take for Star Wars: The Force Awakens? J.J. Abrams: “I’m grateful to anyone who’s gone to see the movie and when I hear anecdotally people have gone seven, eight times, I just want to apologize to, I’m guessing, their parents. [Laughing] No, honestly, I’m just very grateful and I can’t believe that it’s done. It was three years of very intense work by a lot of people so I’m just so happy that all the work that everyone did, even the people who you don’t even see in the movie – the puppeteers who were painted out – I watched them in 125-degree heat in Abu Dhabi and then we mercifully painted them out of the movie. I’m just so glad that people get to see all the work that this amazing crew and cast did. And so whatever the numbers are, I’m just so grateful the movie’s out there and has been well received.”
What would you say to someone who saw it for the ninth time last night?
J.J. Abrams: “I would say you’ve seen it more than I have.”
Will Westworld be ready for this summer and does the series have the opportunity to explore other worlds in that robotic theme?
J.J. Abrams: “I was such a fan of the original Westworld and I can’t wait for you to see what Jonah [Nolan] and Lisa [Joy] are doing on this one. But, it’s still being worked on so it’s one thing at a time. It’s something that’s worth waiting for. It’s going to be great.”
How are you finding the experience of working with streaming and cable networks?
J.J. Abrams: “I feel lucky that every partner is different and we’ve been incredibly lucky to get to work with the right partners for the right projects. I feel like we’re in that situation with HULU on this one.”
Are you hoping for Oscar nominations on Thursday? Do you think about that?
J.J. Abrams: “I’m only hoping that there are certain people that I know deserve it desperately and it would be wonderful if they got it. The gift of working on that film is such that I don’t need any further validation than the movie being out there and people liking the movie. But there are people that I will be disappointed if they don’t get nominated because I think that the work that they did was so really exemplary.”
Is there anyone, in particular, you can say you’d like to see nominated?
J.J. Abrams: “No, because if I mention eight people, the ninth person would be like, ‘Thanks!’ But honestly, it feels sort of obvious to me who deserves that kind of recognition. They might not even care. This may be something where they’re like, ‘Oh, please.’ But I feel like I saw how hard some of these artists’ work and I feel like they’re deserving. But they probably don’t.”
Like BB-8?
J.J. Abrams: [Laughing] “I’m hoping for a new category.”
In an era where so many shows are being rebooted, do you ever consider bringing back any of your old shows in new formats or as continuations?
J.J. Abrams: “I haven’t and I don’t. I do feel like I’ve been working on a number of reboots or sequels enough so that I really feel like I’ve had my share of those and I really look forward to telling new stories and producing new characters. I’m sort of hungry for that.”
So no Felicity follow-up then?
J.J. Abrams: “Not yet. But I’ve got to tell you I did love doing that show so much and I loved working with those people. I know it was a different time and everyone was just starting in that way, but that was such a special time working with that cast and that crew. I do miss that feeling of doing a show that is a romantic and smaller drama/comedy. I would love to do that. So, not necessarily a Felicity reboot but yeah.”
What are you hearing about Person of Interest and when it might be back? There’s a lot of speculation this is the final season.
J.J. Abrams: “My guess is it is the final season. The only heartbreak there is how much and how good the story is, how much good story there was to come if it continued. But Jonah and Greg Plageman have done such an amazing job on that show and I know what these episodes are that they’ve done wrapping it up. We don’t yet have a schedule but I know they will see the light of day. People will get to see these episodes. I know the power of that story. Again, to have a show that goes on as many as that has, it’s very hard to complain. It’s a miracle to get a show on the air and to have it last that long is something that you should be grateful for. But, I do love that show and I would love to have seen it continue.”
Will there be a series finale? Are you planning for that episode?
J.J. Abrams: “Yes, that’s sort of the goal. But obviously things can be valuable and adjust based on I suppose a miraculous performance of this thing. But I think the idea is essentially that this would be the finale.”
Do you pay attention to any of the social media memes?
J.J. Abrams: “I think like anyone you’re either forwarded things or you discover things yourself. I know that there are probably a vast majority that I’m unaware of, but there are some that sometimes you stumble upon and some are funnier than others. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.”
Season three of Starz’ high seas pirate adventure Black Sails kicks off on January 23, 2016 with Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) still reeling from the devastating events in the season two finale and prepared to wage a campaign of terror. During Starz’ Television Critics Association’s winter 2016 press event, Stephens revealed details on Captain Flint’s state of mind in season three.
“I mean, it is what happens at the back end of season two that propels him into this particularly nihilistic phase,” said Stephens. “But I think that what is great about the journey of this character, and it is really a journey, is that although he goes to these depths of trying to negate his human side, he can’t really escape it. His struggle is really with himself and his own humanity and that trying to remove [himself], trying to isolate that from himself, he can’t do it. He’s constantly reminded that he is a human being. And I think it’s far more interesting than just playing somebody who is relentlessly dark. It’s got to be a struggle. I think this particular series is really him finding his purpose again. That’s the story for his arc, but particularly for Flint.”
Black Sails’ showrunner/executive producer Jonathan E. Steinberg expanded on Stephens‘ description, saying, ”I think if season two was about, at least in terms of Flint’s story, a guy who was at war with himself and trying to figure out which of these two identities that both inhabit him is the one he wants to identify with and then you reach this endpoint where he decides, ‘I’m just going to be the monster everyone thinks I am.’ We wanted to tell the story about how his humanity was going to resist that and that, at the end of the day, is part of what I think makes Captain Flint this tragic figure is that he is seen as a monster by everyone but himself and that there is this war going on for him to reconcile that and try to find a place for his humanity in it.”
I think as we got through what became structured as an odyssey for him through the third season of a guy who went off to war and couldn’t find his way home, it became a story about him locating that humanity through people he loves, who are not with him anymore, and, then, finding a place to point it. And I think part of part of this is about trying to, for him, find meaning in the violence and meaning in the sacrifice he’s made and a way to stand up against civilization and not have it just be nihilism. To try to find a way to, sort of, apply that.”
Steinberg continued, “I think underlying all of this story is this idea that when they were just thieves, everyone tolerated it, and it was just factored into the way you did business in that world. When they start talking about wanting to unwind the social order and it starts to stick, that’s when people get scared and when London gets scared and when somebody has to step in and do something about it. And so I think both of those stories are on a collision course, you know, Flint and Teach [Ray Stevenson] and Vane [Zach McGowan] on one side and the new character of Woodes Rogers [Luke Roberts] on the other of this governor who is coming in to finally stamp this down and try to make it go away and push the frontier back a little bit further.”
The sets, costumes, and special effects on Black Sails are first-rate and at the TCAs Stephens was asked about being on the set and acting knowing much of what’s happening in a scene will be added in later. “I think it’s probably an act of faith because, you know, you can see the storyboards, but you don’t know what it’s going to be like when it’s fully rendered,” explained Stephens. “But having worked on various other seasons of this, particularly season two, for example, where there was a lot more special effects, you kind of know that it’s going to be of a very high standard. But it is a bit of an act of faith. You have to work in all of the stuff that’s happening into your performance without it actually being there to a certain extent, although, for example, in the storm sequence, it was pretty easy to do that because you had jet engines propelling water sideways at us at about a hundred miles an hour. So that didn’t take much imagination. But some of the other stuff, you have to kind of figure that in. But I was extremely proud and impressed by the end result,”
Dominic Sherwood, Katherine McNamara, and Alberto Rosende in ‘Shadowhunters’ (Photo: ABC Family / John Medland)
Author Cassandra Clare’s bestselling book series The Mortal Instruments makes the leap to the small screen as the new TV series Shadowhunters, premiering on January 12, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT on Freeform. Clare’s first book of the series was made into a feature film in 2013, however, the television series will allow the complex world of demons and Shadowhunters a better chance to unfold over the course of 13 episodes.
At the Television Critics Association’s winter 2016 press event, I had the opportunity to learn more about Shadowhunters from series star Katherine McNamara who plays Clary Fray, the teenager at the heart of Clare’s novels.
The Plot: “Based on the bestselling young adult fantasy book series The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters follows Clary Fray, who finds out on her birthday that she is not who she thinks she is but rather comes from a long line of Shadowhunters – human-angel hybrids who hunt down demons. Now thrown into the world of demon hunting after her mother is kidnapped, Clary must rely on the mysterious Jace and his fellow Shadowhunters Isabelle and Alec to navigate this new dark world. With her best friend, Simon, in tow, Clary must now live among faeries, warlocks, vampires, and werewolves to find answers that could help her find her mother.
Nothing is as it seems, including her close family friend Luke, who knows more than he is letting on, as well as the enigmatic warlock Magnus Bane, who could hold the key to unlocking Clary’s past.”
Katherine McNamara Shadowhunters Interview
Why is this fantasy world so popular?
Katherine McNamara: “Something that I found early on and meeting the fans and seeing everything that’s gone on is that these fans are drawn to these books not necessarily because it’s a world of fantasy, but because these characters are relatable. That’s especially true of The Mortal Instruments series which is what Shadowhunters is based on. Yes, we may have warlocks and demons and werewolves and vampires, but they’re kids. They’re still growing up and falling in love for the first time. They’re learning things, what their place is in the world, and who they love and what that means for who they are as people.”
Did you read those kind of books when you were growing up?
Katherine McNamara: “Absolutely. I love those kind of books. I read them voraciously.”
What did you geek out on?
Katherine McNamara: “All of them. I’m a huge fan of The Maze Runner series, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Mortal Instruments – all of the above. There’s so many elements that just take you away to other worlds and they can really make you just feel something different and feel powerful when you’re a kid.”
And then to be in one, what’s that like?
Katherine McNamara: “It’s very exciting. It’s so exciting because so many kids have fallen in love with these characters and grown up with them, and they’ve become their heroes. And to be tasked with bringing them to life is so exciting. You feel that love and that support, and it’s also a huge responsibility because these characters mean so much to these people. You just want to do it justice. You just want to do right by the story.”
Would you like to keep your hair this way or are you done with it?
Katherine McNamara: “I think for me personally it’s become such an iconic part of Clary that I wouldn’t want to do the exact same color for another character because it is such a big part of who she is. It just wouldn’t feel right. But I would absolutely do red; I would do a different shade. Naturally I’m a strawberry blonde. I’m a ginger at heart. But I’ve been blonde, I’ve had brunette wigs, I’ve done a myriad of colors. I just love changing things up. I’m a chameleon. I’m an actor and I like to think of myself as a blank slate.”
How did the finished effects in the pilot measure up to what you imagined when you were shooting it?
Katherine McNamara: “I was actually really pleased by how it turned out. I had no idea what the special effects were really going to look like. I had no sort of concept of what everything was going to be when it all came together because we did so many reshoots and little things here and there. They’ve been tweaking things for months and when I finally saw it it came together in such a way that I think really accomplished what we set out to do. No pilot is perfect; there’s still a long way to go, but I think it’s a good starting point and a good way to introduce the audience to our world and to these characters and kind of pull them into our journey. Whether people have read the books and know the story or whether they’re new to our world, it gives us a chance to let us draw them into this world and take them on this journey. They will not regret it.”
Can you see being in this for a long period of time?
Katherine McNamara: “Absolutely, and that’s something that really attracted me to the project initially is that Clary is a character – all of these characters really because they’re based on such a rich wealth of books – they are so developed fully developed and they’re so invested in the journey for each character. The way the relationships change and the way the characters evolve over the course of the story is such a vast difference. Where Clary is starts at the beginning of book one and where she ends up at the end of book six is a completely different character.”
Had you read the books before you got the part?
Katherine McNamara: “No. I read most of the first book during the casting process, and then I read a lot about it online. But I’m just finishing the sixth book this week.”
Do you see yourself in her at all?
Katherine McNamara: “I do. And obviously because I started reading the book during the audition process, I was hoping. But now that I’ve known all these people for a long time – I practically lived with them for six months – we’ve become such a family and I know them so well. It’s amazing to read the book and hear their voices and see their faces. It makes it so much more visceral and much more special for me.”
Are you happy you had the luxury of a season to do this book?
Katherine McNamara: “Yes. That’s why I think television is such a good medium for this story because there is such a rich world and such a rich mythology behind this world that with television we have 13 hours essentially to not only explain this world and how it all works, but also to keep the story moving simultaneously. So it’s kind of the perfect storm for this story to be put on to the screen.”
When you got cast did you immediately hear from the fans?
Katherine McNamara: “I did and it’s a funny story. They announced on Twitter that they were going to announce who Clary was. They said, ‘We’re going to announce Clary in two hours,’ and I still hadn’t heard anything, so I assumed it wasn’t me. I knew it was between me and one other girl. I got a call from my team saying, ‘Hold up, they haven’t said anything yet, just wait.’ So I’m waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. I’m at the gym trying to work things out so I don’t lose my mind and I get a call 10 minutes before they’re going to announce it. And of course Twitter’s going berserk, and I get a call 10 minutes before they announce saying, ‘Congratulations, you got the part. And, oh, by the way your phone’s about to blow up.’”
And did it?
Katherine McNamara: “It did. My phone quit working because there were tweets, instagrams, text messages, phone calls, emails…everything was all happening at once. I had to put my phone down for the rest of the day. I couldn’t do anything. I had to put my phone down for the rest of the day. I couldn’t call anyone and I couldn’t do anything.”
Do you have to watch what you put on social media now?
Katherine McNamara: “I’ve been working for a few years in different projects and so I learned that I don’t really ever put too many personal things on social media because you have to be so careful. I use social media more as a marketing tool. It’s a way of including the fans in the work process, to drive them to things that will excite them about the project. That’s what it’s all about and kind of including them in the process of making the show or the film.”
What was one scene from the book you couldn’t wait to film?
Katherine McNamara: “Oh, there’s so many. Probably the first scene were Jace and Clary meet. The two of them have such an instant connection. And the whole sequence at Pandemonium because that so sets up the story and the world of what Shadowhunters are and how badass they are, and Jace and Clary’s connection is kind of the catalyst for the whole story. That was very exciting to shoot.”
What was one thing from Cassandra Clare’s books that really helped you figure out who Clary is and helped you get into the character?
Katherine McNamara: “There’s little things. She includes these little details and little reactions, little nuances of who these people really are that open a door and shed a lot of light onto who they are on the inside. There’s a lot of that. She creates such a rich world and these relationships and these characters are so well-developed that you can’t help but be drawn.”
When you met Cassandra Clare, what did you ask her about Clary?
Katherine McNamara: “I asked her a lot of things. I wanted to know if Clary cries, how she reacts in these situations, if she was this, how strong she was and how she felt about certain things and about her background – what happened before the books that really isn’t included. There were a lot of questions that I had for her, but Cassandra’s books are kind of our starting point. They’re our blueprint because we’re this new interpretation. We’re not a carbon copy of the book. It’s this new interpretation of the story that we’re excited to share with the fans.”
Does Clary cry?
Katherine McNamara: “Sometimes. At the beginning of the story she’s so thrown off her game, her whole world is destroyed so it takes her a minute to get her bearings. But once she does, she rocks through it and does what she can not to let that side show.”
Is there a scene from the next books you can’t wait to film, if you get more seasons?
Katherine McNamara: “There’s so many. I would love to film, for book fans, the end of book three. It’s probably my favorite thing. There’s a huge finale to book three I would love to shoot.”
When you got into acting was action hero something you’ve always wanted to do?
Katherine McNamara: “Absolutely. I want to do everything. I want to do every genre, every kind of role, everything. I’m a chameleon; I want to do it all.”
Ricky Gervais hosts the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards (Photo by: Paul Drinkwater/NBC)
There were upsets galore at the 2016 Golden Globes, with Rachel Bloom from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend seemingly coming out of nowhere to snag the best actress in a comedy series award in a category that included Jamie Lee Curtis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Gina Rodriguez, and Lily Tomlin. Bloom’s award was one of the first of the evening and set up a night of surprises that included Mozart in the Jungle earning the best comedy series award, Oscar Isaac winning for Show Me a Hero, and Lady Gaga winning the best actress in a limited series over Kirsten Dunst, Felicity Huffman, Queen Latifah, and Sarah Hay.
Two films that aren’t comedies – The Martian and Joy – won in comedy movie categories, and Aaron Sorkin’s win for the Steve Jobs screenplay was a shocker. Less shocking was The Revenant‘s win in three categories: Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Director, and Best Actor, Drama. Leonardo DiCaprio’s odds of winning an Oscar just improved and after delivering a thank you speech recalling the amount of work that went into The Revenant and thanking his director and co-stars (in particular Tom Hardy), DiCaprio finished up by recognizing the First Nations people represented in the film. “It is time that we recognize your history and that we protect your indigenous lands from corporate interests and people that are out there to exploit them. It is time that we heard your voice and protected this planet for future generations.”
Host Ricky Gervais was missing for a good deal of the broadcast, but did get in some pretty wicked zingers in his limited time on stage. Gervais kicked off the Golden Globes shushing the star-studded crowd, calling them disgusting, pill-popping sexual deviants. His monologue also included calling out Caitlin Jenner’s driving, Jeffrey Tambor’s large testicles, NBC’s lack of nominations, and Jennifer Lawrence’s campaign for equal pay for women. Gervais pointed out that the Globes really don’t mean a thing and that no one but the winners actually care about these awards. Not shying away from the biting the hand that feeds him, Gervais said the Globes are decided upon by nice old confused journalists who like to meet celebrities so that they can take selfies with them.
2016 Golden Globes – The Nominees and Winners:
BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
CAROL
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD WINNER: THE REVENANT
ROOM
SPOTLIGHT
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
CATE BLANCHETT – CAROL WINNER: BRIE LARSON – ROOM
ROONEY MARA – CAROL
SAOIRSE RONAN – BROOKLYN
ALICIA VIKANDER – THE DANISH GIRL
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
BRYAN CRANSTON – TRUMBO WINNER: LEONARDO DICAPRIO – THE REVENANT
MICHAEL FASSBENDER – STEVE JOBS
EDDIE REDMAYNE – THE DANISH GIRL
WILL SMITH – CONCUSSION
BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE BIG SHORT
JOY WINNER: THE MARTIAN
SPY
TRAINWRECK
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY WINNER: JENNIFER LAWRENCE – JOY
MELISSA MCCARTHY – SPY
AMY SCHUMER – TRAINWRECK
MAGGIE SMITH – THE LADY IN THE VAN
LILY TOMLIN – GRANDMA
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
CHRISTIAN BALE – THE BIG SHORT
STEVE CARELL – THE BIG SHORT WINNER: MATT DAMON – THE MARTIAN
AL PACINO – DANNY COLLINS
MARK RUFFALO – INFINITELY POLAR BEAR
BEST MOTION PICTURE – ANIMATED
ANOMALISA
THE GOOD DINOSAUR WINNER: INSIDE OUT
THE PEANUTS MOVIE
SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE
BEST MOTION PICTURE – FOREIGN LANGUAGE
THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT (BELGIUM / FRANCE / LUXEMBOURG)
THE CLUB (CHILE)
THE FENCER (FINLAND / GERMANY / ESTONIA)
MUSTANG (FRANCE) WINNER: SON OF SAUL (HUNGARY)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE
JANE FONDA – YOUTH
JENNIFER JASON LEIGH – THE HATEFUL EIGHT
HELEN MIRREN – TRUMBO
ALICIA VIKANDER – EX MACHINA WINNER: KATE WINSLET – STEVE JOBS
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE
PAUL DANO – LOVE & MERCY
IDRIS ELBA – BEASTS OF NO NATION
MARK RYLANCE – BRIDGE OF SPIES
MICHAEL SHANNON – 99 HOMES WINNER: SYLVESTER STALLONE – CREED
BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
TODD HAYNES – CAROL WINNER: ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU – THE REVENANT
TOM MCCARTHY – SPOTLIGHT
GEORGE MILLER – MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
RIDLEY SCOTT – THE MARTIAN
BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
EMMA DONOGHUE – ROOM
TOM MCCARTHY, JOSH SINGER – SPOTLIGHT
CHARLES RANDOLPH, ADAM MCKAY – THE BIG SHORT WINNER: AARON SORKIN – STEVE JOBS
QUENTIN TARANTINO – THE HATEFUL EIGHT
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
CARTER BURWELL – CAROL
ALEXANDRE DESPLAT – THE DANISH GIRL WINNER: ENNIO MORRICONE – THE HATEFUL EIGHT
DANIEL PEMBERTON – STEVE JOBS
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, ALVA NOTO – THE REVENANT
BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
“LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO” — FIFTY SHADES OF GREY
“ONE KIND OF LOVE” — LOVE & MERCY
“SEE YOU AGAIN” — FURIOUS 7
“SIMPLE SONG #3” — YOUTH WINNER: “WRITING’S ON THE WALL” — SPECTRE
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
EMPIRE
GAME OF THRONES WINNER: MR. ROBOT
NARCOS
OUTLANDER
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
CAITRIONA BALFE – OUTLANDER
VIOLA DAVIS – HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
EVA GREEN – PENNY DREADFUL WINNER: TARAJI P. HENSON – EMPIRE
ROBIN WRIGHT – HOUSE OF CARDS
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA WINNER: JON HAMM – MAD MEN
RAMI MALEK – MR. ROBOT
WAGNER MOURA – NARCOS
BOB ODENKIRK – BETTER CALL SAUL
LIEV SCHREIBER – RAY DONOVAN
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
CASUAL WINNER: MOZART IN THE JUNGLE
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
SILICON VALLEY
TRANSPARENT
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY WINNER: RACHEL BLOOM – CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND
JAMIE LEE CURTIS – SCREAM QUEENS
JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS – VEEP
GINA RODRIGUEZ – JANE THE VIRGIN
LILY TOMLIN – GRACE AND FRANKIE
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
AZIZ ANSARI – MASTER OF NONE WINNER: GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL – MOZART IN THE JUNGLE
ROB LOWE – THE GRINDER
PATRICK STEWART – BLUNT TALK
JEFFREY TAMBOR – TRANSPARENT
BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
AMERICAN CRIME
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL
FARGO
FLESH & BONE WINNER: WOLF HALL
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
KIRSTEN DUNST – FARGO WINNER: LADY GAGA – AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL
SARAH HAY – FLESH & BONE
FELICITY HUFFMAN – AMERICAN CRIME
QUEEN LATIFAH – BESSIE
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
IDRIS ELBA – LUTHER WINNER: OSCAR ISAAC – SHOW ME A HERO
DAVID OYELOWO – NIGHTINGALE
MARK RYLANCE – WOLF HALL
PATRICK WILSON – FARGO
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
UZO ADUBA – ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
JOANNE FROGGATT – DOWNTON ABBEY
REGINA KING – AMERICAN CRIME
JUDITH LIGHT – TRANSPARENT WINNER: MAURA TIERNEY – THE AFFAIR
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
ALAN CUMMING – THE GOOD WIFE
DAMIAN LEWIS – WOLF HALL
BEN MENDELSOHN – BLOODLINE
TOBIAS MENZIES – OUTLANDER WINNER: CHRISTIAN SLATER – MR. ROBOT
