Lee Jones stars in ‘The Bastard Executioner (Photo credit: Ollie Upton / FX)
FX’s new dramatic action series The Bastard Executioner premiered its first official trailer online after Comic-Con, and now the network’s released two clips from the series. The series comes from Sons of Anarchy‘s Kurt Sutter and is set to join the network’s lineup this fall.
Sutter, director Paris Barclay, Brian Grazer, and Francie Calfo executive produce.
Lee Jones leads the cast that includes True Blood‘s Stephen Moyer, Sons of Anarchy‘s Katey Sagal, Flora Spencer-Longhurst, Darren Evans, Danny Sapani, Timothy V. Murphy, Sarah White, Sarah Sweeney, Elen Rhys, Ethan Griffiths, and Sutter. The Americans‘ Matthew Rhys guest stars.
The Bastard Executioner Plot: ‘A period drama, The Bastard Executioner tells the story of a warrior knight in King Edward I’s charge who is broken by the ravages of war and vows to lay down his sword. But when that violence finds him again he is forced to pick up the bloodiest sword of all.”
Jake McDorman and Hill Harper at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Jake McDorman says that what initially drew him to CBS’s Limitless was the fact that the people involved with the feature film, including Bradley Cooper, were involved with the TV series. “If it was something like, ‘Oh, we’re going to remake that movie into series,’ it would have been a little bit of a different situation. I think looking at it saying, ‘Wow, there’s been this great world that’s been created with the film, now the same exact people all the way to Bradley Cooper acting in it,’ everyone now transposing into television with hours and hours of TV in this expanded universe is one of the first things that I was attracted to. Also, Marc Webb directing was awesome,” explained McDorman during our interview at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con.
“I think originally it was supposed to be Neil Burger who directed the movie, so it was down to a T the exact same creative team from the film. And then at the last minute they swapped for Marc which is great – (500) Days of Summer and both Spider-Mans. It’s great. So there’s the creative aspect which puts it in a category you can trust,” added McDorman.
Hill Harper says all you have to do is look at the pedigree of the show to know it’s something worthy of checking out.
“Bradley Cooper’s a huge star who doesn’t have to be involved. That’s a good indication. He decides that he’s not only going to executive produce but also be in the show as his character. That shows you that they’re shooting for top, top, top quality. It’s not just like there can be some projects where some star throws their name on it and says, ‘Send me some tweets that I’m going to copy and paste about it.’ Clearly, that’s not the case in this situation. So everybody is reaching for something great and you can tell by watching is pilot it is so good. Jennifer Carpenter is fantastic. [Jake’s] fantastic. Every character is great. The director is great. The cinematography is great. We hope people are going to watch it but at least we can be proud of what we throw on the screen.”
McDorman says Limitless doesn’t recreate the movie but instead expands on the universe of the 2011 film. It also presented challenges to him as an actor that he couldn’t resist. “Bradley’s pitch to me was, ‘Dude, as an actor, this was one of my favorite things I’ve had to do.’ To play two characters, the duality of who you are before you encounter this pill and who you become after you take this pill,” said McDorman. “It’s a real journey. It seems like it was for him and for anybody who steps into the role.”
McDorman describes playing what feels like two separate characters as part of the fun of the project. “I think they really wanted to get that there would be a similarity between how anyone acts on NZT. No matter your background, whoever you are, when you take that drug, you have a certain level of enlightenment,” explained McDorman. “These are all the notes that Bradley gave me from when he did the movie. You stand up straighter, you talk deliberately. No gesture is wasted, it all has a purpose and there’s a lot of eye contact. Without NZT you can just have fun with it – slouch, be a totally different guy. Someone compared Brian off of NZT is like The Dude in The Big Lebowski, which I thought was awesome. It was challenging but in the best way, and that’s what you hope out of anything that you do that it’s a healthy, creative challenge. You don’t want to just coast through it.”
Watch the full interview for more on Limitless with Jake McDorman and Hill Harper:
Also, director Marc Webb and executive producers Craig Sweeny, Alex Kurtzman, and Heather Kadin discuss the series, the world of the film, and adapting that story for a network show:
Wentworth Miller at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Wentworth Miller says he finds the shades of grey characters the most interesting which is why he’s enjoyed taking on Leonard Snart/Captain Cold first in The CW’s The Flash and now in Legends of Tomorrow. “What I love about Snart is that Snart is Snart 24/7. He’s never not Captain Cold so if you ask him who he is, he’ll tell you. There is honesty and authenticity there. Whereas you have some other characters running around in masks who are wrestling with secret selves and hidden identities who, if you ask them who they are they might in fact lie to you which is not quite heroic in the traditional sense,” explained Miller during our 2015 San Diego Comic-Con roundtable interview. “I think there is something in Snart that is kind of admirable and in alignment. It’s always in alignment with himself and I really respect that.”
Legends of Tomorrow finds villains teaming up, but Miller says that won’t necessarily mean they’ll all of a sudden get along. “Well, my hope is that it’s not easy at all. There’s lots of conflict, fireworks, and Captain Cold is used to calling the shots. He’s used to ‘the guy,’ and now that has to change,” said Miller. “I think that will be a problem for him and therein is hopefully some great drama.”
“Hopefully they’re not going to get along. It is a bunch of heroes and villains who have to work together toward a common goal, which is to take on this mega-villain. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to be a happy family in route. As an audience member, I don’t want to tune in to watch a show where everybody is getting along. That doesn’t sound particularly interesting to me. I think the purpose of Snart and Heat Wave and Katie’s character is to sort of keep things edgy and interesting.”
Miller admits he thought he would be in a couple of episodes of The Flash and never anticipated he’d be playing Snart/Captain Cold in a spin-off series. “I had no idea of this potential,” acknowledged Miller. “It was just a guest star at Greg Berlanti’s invitation, and I have a lot of respect for him and what he’s achieved in this business and so of course I was intrigued and said yes. And the fact that it’s become what it’s become and now there’s this show and there’s a doll that’s really cute, it’s extraordinary.”
Miller’s actually only played the character four times and shooting on Legends of Tomorrow – other than the teaser trailer – hasn’t yet begun. Nevertheless, he already has a good idea of Snart’s personality. “I think he’s got his pride, and I think he does what he does well. There are reasons why he does what he does and we’ll find out more about that. But I don’t see him ever becoming a full-on good guy which the other characters potentially speak to. I think we’ve seen The Flash try and speak to Stark’s sense of honor, such as it is,” explained Miller. “But my hope is that he stays a baddie even though he’s pursuing positive things.”
Speaking of pursuing positive things, Heat Wave (played by Miller’s Prison Break co-star Dominic Purcell) isn’t likely to turn into a hero anytime soon. Asked if he believes Captain Cold will be his brother’s keeper, Miller responded, “I feel like at this point, Captain Cold is the one person that Heat Wave potentially listens to some of the time. Heat Wave, I think of as a full-on baddie. I’m not sure there is anything redeeming there. Maybe I’ll be surprised. So as Snart gradually moves toward more heroic aspects, I think his relationship with Heat Wave could become more problematic because I don’t see Heat Wave taking the same journey.”
Watch the full interview with Wentworth Miller on Legends of Tomorrow:
Robin Lord Taylor at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Robin Lord Taylor says that in season two of Fox’s Gotham the relationship between Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin has turned from potential friendship (at least from Oswald’s perspective) between the two characters on opposite sides of the law to Oswald hurt by Jim’s actions and no longer believing they can be friends. “I think that because of what went down in the finale, the fact that Jim was up until the last second was just going to let Oswald die, you know like he did in the hospital chained to a radiator… I think he was actually really personally hurt by that, so the honeymoon is over. I think it’s just much more cold and calculated,” explained Taylor during our roundtable interviews at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. “We shot the first episode and I have a really good moment with Jim in that first episode, and, yeah, it’s much more challenged, there’s much more at stake. And also Oswald is not the simpering person he was in the first season.”
With the death of so many of Gotham’s mob bosses in season one, Penguin’s position will shift in season two. “He’s running the show. He set out to accomplish that in the first season and got it,” said Taylor. “He’s the king of Gotham, in terms of the underworld at the moment. Falcone’s gone, obviously, Maroni is dead. Fish is out of the picture. We’ll see how long he holds onto it.”
Penguin’s new power position will be challenged in the upcoming season, according to Taylor. “Well, I can’t give away too much but we’re introducing some new characters this season that let’s just say they have contrary ideas to Oswald. They really come to blows. It’s really going to be insane,” revealed Taylor.
Season two’s Penguin will not be pushed around or made to feel like a second-class villain. He’s on the path to becoming a major villain, and season two helps set up Penguin’s ultimate position. “It’s like establishing himself as a person of power in Gotham City. That was the first step toward becoming a superhero villain. Also, not to tease too much, but some stuff is going to happen to him in this season in particular which is just…it’s going to get a lot darker for him. As if he wasn’t ruthless before, there’s really no sympathy left inside of him. That’s one of the changes from this next season.”
Asked if there’s anyone he’s really looking forward to working with in season two, Taylor said, “Well, I mean, it’s probably been pretty obvious. We had that one little scene in season one, but Mr. Cory Michael Smith who I’m personally a big fan of – we had so much fun shooting that tiny thing. I have a feeling their lives are going to intersect in a major way this next season. I’m thrilled about it.
And that also being said, we know that Barbara has taken a turn to the dark side, and so I personally would like – I know nothing about what’s going to happen, but I really want her and Oswald to get together not romantically per se because nothing would piss off Jim more than that. After he sold me out at the end of last season I just want to get him!”
Watch the interview with Robin Lord Taylor on Gotham season two:
Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con (Photos by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
USA Network’s Colony will make its debut this October with Lost‘s Josh Holloway and The Walking Dead‘s Sarah Wayne Callies in starring roles. The sci-fi action drama takes place in the near future in Los Angeles after an invasion. Callies and Holloway play a married couple whose middle son went missing during the invasion and who will stop at nothing to try and get him back.
Paired up for interviews at the San Diego Comic-Con, Holloway said it was the storytelling that attracted him to Colony and made him want to be involved in another series.
“Ultimately, that’s what I look for as an artist is does it move me? Is it an involuntary choice? And that’s basically, I’m compelled to do something that moves me so much. I read the script and right away I was like, ‘Wow, okay. This is storytelling.’ I love the patience that they have of unfolding in a world where everything is in your face, instant, all the time. To have a story that’s paced and it unfolds is refreshing.”
“I thought it was a really courageous story to be telling,” explained Callies. “I think some of the best science fiction creates this whole exterior world in which we can examine our own culture. One of my favorite seasons of television was the first season of Battlestar Galactica. It was this treatise on the Patriot Act. It was absolutely brilliant. I think one of the questions that we’re asking in Colony is what’s the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter? And, at what point have you compromised so many of your ethics in service of your values that those values are worthless when you get there? There are quite literally no good guys and no bad guys in this world and I think that’s a level of moral complexity that I believe.
I think that’s honest, and I think to be looking at questions of what constitutes terrorism, what generates terrorism, what is it like to be an occupied United States, those are really interesting questions. Carlton [Cuse] and Ryan [Condal] are viciously smart, and so they’re not raising them in the pilot because they think they’re buzzwords and then they go away and we just run around with guns. They’re using this as an opportunity to ask complicated questions with more than one answer.”
“Yes, from varied perspectives,” added Holloway. “What would you do for your loved one? How far would you go? Who comes first?”
“Who comes first? That’s a good question,” said Callies.
Alex Neustaedter, Isabella Crovetti-Cramp, Sarah Wayne Callies, and Josh Holloway in ‘Colony’ (Photo by Paul Drinkwater / USA Network)
Their answers led me to ask if the married couple they’re playing in the series will be on the same page in answering those questions. “No,” replied Callies, immediately and emphatically. “No,” responded Holloway, adding, “But what’s wonderful about this relationship is this is a couple who found true love. They’ve been together a long time. They’ve experienced this long-term relationship, marriage, children, the loss of a child. They’re damaged, they’re complex, and yet they’re fighting for their union because it’s true love. That’s weirdly sexy in a great way.”
“I think there’s another question, which is at what point does a divergent ideology in a marriage become an infidelity. Do you know what I mean? These are two people who believe very different things and are taking different courses of action,” explained Callies. “I haven’t read to the end of the season yet and we certainly haven’t shot it, but I think it’s possible that by the time they get to the end of that first season it’s going to be far worse than an affair. That kind of a dissidence in their philosophical approach.”
But Holloway’s not too sure about that. “I don’t know because their core love keeps bringing that back. At core, they’re together. They may have different ideas and different feeling about it, but they’re together. So, it’s tough. Tension’s great.”
Not knowing what’s coming up for his character is something Holloway’s used to after spending six seasons on Lost. “I prefer it that way,” revealed Holloway. “Just give me what’s going on now.”
“That’s life,” said Callies.
The Plot:Colony centers on one family’s struggle to survive and bring liberty back to the people of an occupied Los Angeles. SAG winner Josh Holloway stars as former FBI agent Will Bowman and Satellite Award winner Sarah Wayne Callies stars as his wife, Katie, in the series which takes place in a dangerous world of divided ideologies. While some choose to collaborate with the occupation and benefit from the new order, others rebel and suffer the consequences.
After being separated from their middle son during the invasion, Will and Katie are willing to do whatever is necessary to be reunited with him. Thus, when the powerful Proxy Snyder (Peter Jacobson, “House”) offers Will a chance to get his son back if he will collaborate with the occupational government, Will and Katie find themselves faced with the toughest decision of their lives. They will have to go beyond whatever they thought possible, risking their lives and their relationship to protect their family.
Executive producers Carlton Cuse and Ryan Condal also discuss the series, the inspiration, the invasion, and why Colony is set in Los Angeles:
Jared Padalecki at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Supernatural‘s coming up on its 11th season and once again the show’s stars Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, and Mark Sheppard presented a panel at the San Diego Comic Con. The Supernatural panel is always packed with diehard fans, and this year was no exception. The cast also took time to sit down for interviews at the Con, answering questions about the upcoming season and about one specific episode featuring Dean’s beloved Chevy Impala.
Although Padalecki was told the episode was a secret, the cat was out of the bag by the time he sat down. “I’m stoked about it. Did you see Locke, the movie with Tom Hardy? It all takes place in a car. I loved it. He’s driving across the state or something and it all takes place in his car. And so the episode is called ‘Baby’ and the Impala apparently is going to be in every single shot of the episode. We’re either in the Impala, on the Impala… It’s this cool story that’s told where, we’ve done it before where the stories are told with cameras and so it doesn’t look so produced,” explained Padalecki. “We’re so blessed with a fandom and very inventive writers is that we can do all these crazy, strange things. I’ve played a soulless guy. I’ve played Jared Padalecki on Supernatural. so we’re able to do these fun stories and tell these cool things, and to really embrace our number three on the call sheet – the ’67 Impala. I’m stoked.”
Padalecki also promised this upcoming season would get back to basics and back to focusing on the brothers’ relationship and how much they love each other. “That’s big for me. I am a brother. Jensen is a brother, too. He also feels like my brother in real life. I have two sons that are brothers. For years one of the things that I really meshed with was the idea of these guys – it could be a guy and a girl, a guy and a guy – fighting through all this shit in life with somebody by your side. Whether it’s a band you love, or a TV show, but something to help you get through the day. That something for Sam was Dean and something for Dean was Sam, and then they split apart for so long. So I don’t know what’s going to happen this season… I mean, the darkness is pre-Biblical and we have no one to turn to because no one really knows anything. But I know that Sam and Dean will be side by side. That’s f*cking cool.”
Asked who he’d like to see come back for season 11, Padalecki would love to have his wife, actress Genevieve Padalecki, back. “In all honesty I would like to see Mitch Pileggi come back. I would love to see Chuck Shurley come back. Especially now that we’re dealing with the darkness and it’s pre-Biblical and nobody really knows anything about it, I’d love to see God come back. So those two guys for sure. I’d always love to see Richard Speight come back.”
Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell in ‘True Detective’ season 2 episode 5 (Photo: HBO)
“You and me need to talk,” says Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell) to his boss, Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn), standing outside Frank’s new downgraded house after learning Frank deceived him about the rape of his wife in HBO’s dramatic crime series True Detective.
True Detective season two episode five begins two months after the terrible shoot-out that led to the death of Amarilla and his men who were the main suspects in the murder of Caspere, the Vinci City Manager. Ray quit the force and now works for Frank full time as a consultant/security expert and his new assignment, besides collecting rent from the run-down apartments Frank owns, is to tail Semyon’s lieutenant, Blake (Christopher James Baker). Frank wants to know where he goes, what he does, who he sees, etc. This leads Ray to discover a connection between Blake and the psychiatrist Ani (Rachel McAdams) and Ray had interrogated about treating Caspere and prostitutes.
Meanwhile, Frank and his wife, Jordan (Kelly Reilly), spend most of the episode going back and forth arguing about having a baby and about Frank going back into the corrupt life he was almost out of. Finally, both realize what they really need is some quality couple time together.
Ani has taken most of the blame for the shoot-out gone wrong and has been demoted to logging evidence and ordered to attend sexual harassment meetings regarding the complaint against her from one of her co-officers. She decides to reach out to the woman who told her earlier about her daughter going missing. It turns out she went missing the day before Caspere’s death. Ani doesn’t believe it’s just a coincidence.
Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch) has been transferred to investigating insurance fraud and isn’t happy about it. He yearns to be back in the field. His personnel life isn’t much better when he discovers that the life savings he left in a bag hidden at his mother’s place has been spent by his trailer-trash mother who feels she deserved it for carrying him for nine months.
Ani and Ray meet at the bar Velcoro usually meets Frank at to have a drink or two and catch up. She asks him if he really believes Amarilla was the killer of Caspere. Ray reminds her he’s not a cop anymore and that she isn’t a detective. They talk about Paul being reassigned to insurance fraud and Ani says she reached out to him and that he’s not happy. Disgusted with how the departments are treating Ani and Paul, Ray suggests they quit and get out, telling Ani she’s too good for them.
The next day Ray meets with Ani, Paul, and Ani’s boss at the State Attorney’s office. She wants to hire all three of them (off the books) to find out who really murdered Caspere and why. It seems her boss, who only days after declaring the case closed and solved, put his hat in the ring for the Governor’s race. It’s all too neat and tidy and reeks of a cover-up.
At first, Ray wants nothing to do with the secret investigation, but when Ani’s boss tells Ray she can make sure he doesn’t lose his kid – his fight with his ex-wife over custody isn’t going Ray’s way – Ray tells her, “You let me keep my kid, I’m in.” Ray also asks why she wants him involved since she seemed to believe he was the worst of the worst in Vinci. She tells him that since the rumor about him killing the man who raped his wife was wrong, she figured maybe the rest was too. Confused, Ray asks what she’s talking about and she tells him the man who raped his wife years ago was just recently arrested. His DNA matched six unsolved rapes including Ray’s wife.
The following night Ray pays a visit to the psychiatrist who used to treat Caspere and beats the living hell out of him while questioning him about the setup with Blake, the young girls, and Caspere’s involvement. It appears it just might be a big blackmail ring Ray and Ani have come across.
The next day Ani visits her kid sister, the one who went to one of those weird parties and asks her to reach out to some of the girls she knows to try to get an invite to one of the parties so that Ani can go in undercover. At first Ani’s sister doesn’t want to, being out of that life and not being comfortable getting in touch with those girls. She tells Ani they are not trustworthy, but Ani pushes, telling her she’s trying to find a missing girl and this is a lead she has to follow.
The episode ends with Ray going to Frank’s home to confront him about giving him the wrong name years ago.
Slow and fairly uneventful, True Detective season two episode five titled “Other Lives” is by far the least exciting – and boring – episode of the series thus far. All the main characters in this episode seem to be playing catch-up on what is really going down. It’s clear all three know in their guts that Amarilla and his thugs were not Caspere’s killers and that they are the convenient fall guys for something much bigger. Finally, they’re catching up to what the audience already knows.
The performances from the cast are solid, but there’s not much electricity or fire in the air or on the screen. Vince Vaughn and Kelly Reilly have a few nice scenes together as a husband and wife coming to the realization they’re not going to have a family after all but find the time to get close again. Their storyline here feels more like a nighttime soap opera than a crime drama.
Colin Farrell by far gives the standout performance in this episode, especially in the scene when Ray realizes Frank lied and used him years ago by giving him the wrong name of the rapist and the fact that he killed the wrong man, perhaps a completely innocent man. The horror, anger, and self-loathing he expresses without saying a word is mesmerizing. Here’s hoping his performance is remembered come Emmy nominations next year.
With Ray and Frank about to have what looks to be a stand-off in Frank’s kitchen, and Ani going deep undercover as a party girl to try to get close to the conspiracy/blackmail ring, episode six should have much more going on to keep the viewers interested.
Emily Bett Rickards at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Emily Bett Rickards plays fan-favorite Felicity Smoak on The CW’s Arrow, and at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con she talked about what it’s like to take on such a popular character.
“My life has changed a lot because of her. I’ve learned so much from her,” said Rickards. “Also, she’s become a fan favorite – and I’m a fan of her. I’m happy that people are able to relate to her because I find that when you can relate to something when you can escape into your role, you’re learning something about yourself and helping with yourself in your own life. I hope that’s what she’s potentially doing, to a certain aspect. But, yeah, it’s shocking, it’s interesting, it’s rewarding. It really is.”
Sitting down to discuss the series during roundtable interviews, Rickards reflected on “Olicity,” the fan’s nickname for the relationship between Felicity and Oliver [played by Stephen Amell], and how that relationship stood at the end of season three. “I think that it’s awesome that someone can recognize that they’re happy,” said Rickards in answer to a question about Oliver finally seeing the light. “I don’t find that that’s something people actually say. Like, ‘Oh, I’m happy.’ ‘Are you? Oh, good.’ But I think that acknowledgment for himself, finding out that he is happy and possibly grounded more than he has been in the last 10 years because now he’s safe and more secure with people he loves, I think is really important and a big life hurdle for Oliver.”
Rickard’s Felicity plays a big part in the flash-overs between Arrow and The Flash, bringing the two worlds together seamlessly in her own way. “I find that she has a really important role in connecting the worlds because she’s so easily willing to make friends. I don’t think she makes…she’s not very great with people all the time. But, she’s always willing to help people, and she’s generous, and that bridges the gap between any turmoil or torturing.”
As for the tone of the show in season four, Rickards acknowledges season three was a very heavy one for Felicity, but she’s hopeful there will be a little more humor or light moments in the upcoming season. “Her emotional security is stronger than it was. I think this whole push-pull thing with Oliver and Ray [played by Brandon Routh] on top of the secret life is a little bit too taxing on her sense of self, hence why she was crying a lot,” explained Rickards.
“I believe that she’s a really strong and independent woman. I feel that she’s caring and she’s generous, and I feel that that is her innate ability. But you also need to be able to pump yourself up, and I feel like she was really taxing herself and accepting scenarios that weren’t exactly giving her energy; they were taking a lot of it away, and she wasn’t aware of it, which we are.”
Watch the full interview with Emily Bett Rickards on Arrow‘s fourth season:
Connor Weil, Willa Fitzgerard, Amadeus Serafini, John Karna and Bella Thorne (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
MTV’s Scream is currently airing season one on Tuesdays at 10pm ET/PT, with the death count piling up each episode. Based on the ever-popular Scream films, the new series centers around an attractive group of high school students who are being targeted by a masked killer.
Cast members from Scream made it to San Diego where they answered questions from fans and participated in roundtable interviews in support of the first season. One of the questions most asked of the cast was who they think is the killer. If they follow the lead of the original Scream (released in 1996), then the killer is a member of their circle of friends.
Connor Weil fielded the question during our interview but didn’t give away any spoilers. “There are so many theories – I can’t even tell you. The writers don’t tell us anyway,” said Weil. “We’re on the ride with you guys.”
That said, Weil thinks it would be cool if his character, Will Belmont, turned out to be the guy behind the mask. If that turns out to be the case, he’d like an early heads-up from the writers. “I would, that way I can prep it in the scenes leading up to it. We’ll see. Hopefully, they tell me something if I’m him,” said Weil.
On a lighter note, Weil’s fully aware of Scream fans campaigning for his character to be with Emma. “There’s Team Kieran and there’s Team Will, and it’s gone as far as giving us names,” said Weil, laughing. “I’m going to be honest, most of the online fans are Team Kieran. That’s okay. I understand. We’ll see how that plays out.”
Weil’s co-star John Karna plays Noah, the voice of reason in the series, and the actor says he not only loves his character but also the way the series has expanded the world of the Scream films. As Noah, Karna delivered a monologue in the first episode that pretty much set up the series and how it will approach the genre.
“I think even before I got the part and I was auditioning for the show, reading the script it was that monologue that kind of made me super excited about the project. It became this thing where we really could break new ground in the slasher genre. To not only have a slasher movie where you really genuinely want to know what happens not just whether they’re going to live or die but whether these characters are actually going to connect and how they’re going to create relationships and how roles are going to change and flip, I just think that’s really exciting to see if we can complete that kind of change.”
Watch the full interviews for more from John Karna and Connor Weil on Scream season one:
Katie O’Brien, Cate Freedman, Caitlin Barlow, Katie Thomas, Katy Colloton and Kate Lambert in ‘Teachers’ (Photo by Michael Schwartz / TV Land)
Six women whose names are all derived from Katherine make up The Katydids and together the improv group writes and stars in the upcoming TV Land series Teachers, premiering in January 2016. Katie O’Brien and Katy Colloton, two of the Katies from The Katydids, sat down to discuss the show while at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. Teachers began as a web series about teachers which TV Land saw and suggested become a half-hour comedy show.
“We had to have a written script, but in the writers room we would improvise a little bit,” said Katy Colloton, explaining the process of collaborating on the scripts and filming the episodes. “On set, we had the script and we would make sure we’d get that locked, but then we would play a little bit. Usually the last take or the last few takes they’d say, ‘Have fun,’ and now that we’re editing right now, those are the takes that we’ll use a lot of the times. The dialogue isn’t that different. When you’re just improvising it, it adds a little spark that makes it so much fun.”
The teachers in the show teach elementary school kids, and the kid actors actually come up with some of the best-improvised lines. “We discovered during the web series that kids improvising can come up with things much more funny than what we could ever have written,” said O’Brien. “We have this really fun episode called ‘Seal’s Face’ where Miss Feldman puts up a photo of Seal the singer and says, ‘If anybody can tell me what happened to Seal’s face, you get an A for the rest of the semester.’ We just let the kids improvise and a couple of them were like, ‘Maybe he got scratched by a tiger.’ We kind of discovered that we started to give kids lines but as the season went on, we’re like, ‘We should just let them improvise and capture whatever we can.'”
Watch the full interview with Katy Colloton and Katie O’Brien for more on season one of Teachers:
The Plot: “Teachers revolves around six elementary school teachers who are trying to mold the minds and lives of America’s youth, even though they don’t really seem to have their own lives together at all.”
