Writer/director Nacho Vigalondo’s new film Open Windows debuted at the SXSW Film Festival and will finally be available on VOD as well as digital download on October 2, 2014. A theatrical release for the thriller starring Elijah Wood and Sasha Grey will follow on November 7, 2014.
“Some years ago, my producers asked me to come up with a movie in which social networks and the language of the Internet would feature heavily. I made a counter-proposal: taking the concept to its limit by writing a film that took place entirely on the desktop of a computer, pushing the envelope of the production to make it a really unique adventure,” explained Vigalondo.
Sasha Grey stars in ‘Open Windows’ (Photo by Jorge Alvarino Photography)
The Plot:
Nick (Wood) is excited to discover that he’s won a dinner date with his favorite actress, Jill Goddard (Grey). But when Jill refuses to honor the contest, her manager Chord (Neil Maskell) makes an offer he can’t refuse: the ability to view Jill secretly via computer. Nick begins watching the unknowing star on her webcam, not realizing that this decision will put both himself and Jill at risk as they enter a terrifying world of cat-and-mouse where nothing-and no one-are as they seem.
Angelica Celaya joined the cast of NBC’s new series Constantine just weeks prior to the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, but by the time she sat down for interviews at the sold-out event she’d already been completely immersed in the world of the DC Comics-inspired series. During our roundtable interview at Comic-Con, Celaya talked about why she was so excited about being a part of Constantine and what viewers can expect from her character, ‘Zed.’
Angelia Celaya Constantine Interview
What was the initial appeal of being a part of Constantine?
Angelica Celaya: “Honestly, the initial appeal is I love the whole dark world between the fight between good and evil. That’s the story since we’ve become a civilization. I love that, and seeing that come to life with DC Comics is amazing. I love Zed. She is someone I can identify with because she is someone who feels more than what she needs to feel from people. And that, to me, I feel myself identity with.
I feel myself sometimes…we don’t want to admit. Maybe some of you guys have had deja vu or something and seen stuff and you don’t want to admit it out loud because people will think you’re weirdos. I’ve had that too, and Zed – I feel myself with her. I feel myself discovering myself within Zed so that to me is extremely appealing.”
So that was your entry into the character?
Angelica Celaya: “Honestly, yeah.”
How does Zed interact with John?
Angelica Celaya: “It’s a tug and push. They don’t want to admit that they need each other. They don’t want to admit that one is fragile, that they need help. So that’s where it is. Zed does need Constantine to show her a couple of things that she doesn’t know about that John knows. It’s like second nature to him, all these things Zed’s barely discovering.”
Zed’s family in the comics has some issues. Are we going to be seeing any of that in the series?
Angelica Celaya: “I can’t say that, but what I can say is there will be a feeling that Zed is running away. She’s not stable; she’s not normal. You can tell she’s running away from something, but we just don’t know quite yet how it is.”
How is it working with this cast? Have you all bonded already?
Angelica Celaya: “Honestly, I bonded with Matt [Ryan] and then writers quick, and then I’m right now [working with] the other cast members. We’re all so into our characters and we love being a part of this kooky family. It’s so much energy, so much fun. Everybody loves their characters so it’s cool.”
Any encounters with comic book fans yet?
Angelica Celaya: “Yeah! We were just out there and even online like on Twitter, they’ll give me some information which is always welcome. If someone has information like, ‘I know that your character did this…,’ bring it on because it only helps. It’s pretty cool.”
Do you feel any pressure trying to live up to the character from the comics or are you trying to put your own spin on it?
Angelica Celaya: “I’m trying to put my own spin. If I put myself to the pressure that I’m trying to live up to the comic, I’m going to fail. If I give it my point of view on who Zed is, then I’m going to present to the world my interpretation of who Zed is and that’s what I want to do. I want to feel Zed is, coming from this person who’s from this part of the world with these issues. That to me is keeping a little bit more true to the character than trying to be the perfect character, which I can’t.”
Lachey siblings Nick and Drew will be starring in a new nonfiction series on A&E tentatively titled Lachey’s Bar. The new series will air in 2015 and feature 10 half-hour episodes of Drew and Nick opening a bar in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Leftfield Pictures is producing the series which will start filming soon in the Lacheys’ hometown. Nick and Drew are executive producers along with Brent Montgomery, David George, Jordana Hochman, Will Nothacker, Jason Hollis, Drew Tappon, Shelly Tatro, Dave Mace, and Sean Gottlieb.
The Plot:Nick and Drew Lachey have recently decided to embark on a lifelong dream of opening a bar together. Despite their lack of knowledge about running a business, these determined brothers are ready to roll up their sleeves and learn the ins and outs of running a place where everybody knows your name. Unfortunately, drinking experience doesn’t necessarily translate into drink-making experience… but they’re ready to learn.
Nick and wife Vanessa split their time between Los Angeles and New York but Drew returned to Ohio years ago. While Nick and his family decide where they want to put roots down, the bar gives them a real reason to make Cincinnati home base. Luckily they already have a house in ‘Cincy,’ right next door to Drew’s, and a built-in group of childhood friends ready to fill their new establishment.
Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Paul Rudd, Corey Stoll and director Peyton Reed attend Marvel’s Hall H Panel for “Ant-Man” during Comic-Con International 2014 (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
After a rough pre-production period in which director Edgar Wright exited the project, filming has now begun on Marvel’s Ant-Man starring Paul Rudd in the title role. Marvel Studios says shooting is currently taking place in San Francisco but that the film’s base will be in Atlanta, Georgia, with Marvel planning a July 17, 2015 theatrical release of the action film.
Bring It On director Peyton Reed is at the helm of the feature film adaptation of the Marvel comic first published in 1962.
In addition to Rudd, the cast features Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Abby Ryder Fortson, Judy Greer, David Dastmalchian, Wood Harris, John Slattery, Gregg Turkington, and T.I.
The Ant-Man Plot:
Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
The Screen Actors Guild will be honoring actress/singer/author Debbie Reynolds with their highest honor, the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment. Reynolds will become the 51st recipient of the prestigious honor during the 2015 Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 25, 2015.
“I’m thrilled that SAG-AFTRA is presenting our Life Achievement Award to Debbie Reynolds,” said SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard. “She is a tremendously talented performer with a diverse body of screen and stage work, live performances, and several hit records. Her generous spirit and unforgettable performances have entertained audiences across the globe, moving us all from laughter to tears and back again. Congratulations, Debbie, on your life achievements.”
Debbie Reynolds Biography, Courtesy of SAG:
Star of more than 50 motion pictures, two Broadway shows, two television series, as well as dozens of television, cabaret, and concert appearances here and abroad, the 82-year-old Reynolds is celebrating her 66th year in show business. Born Mary Frances Reynolds on April 1, 1932, in El Paso, Texas, she moved with her railroad worker father, mother and brother to Burbank, California, in 1939 and as a young teen performed with the Burbank Youth Symphony and in high school plays.
At 16, she entered the Miss Burbank contest in hopes of receiving a free blouse and scarf, and not only won the title, but was seen by talent scouts from Warner Brothers and MGM, who flipped a coin to decide which studio would offer her a screen test. Warner won the toss. Mary Frances gained a studio contract and, courtesy of Jack Warner himself, a new first name.
After an uncredited bit part in June Bride, Reynolds made her official screen debut as June Haver’s younger sister in the 1950 musical The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady. Soon, a successful audition at MGM for the role of “Boop-Boop-A-Doop” girl Helen Kane in the bio-pic Three Little Words, led to a contract for Reynolds at the studio renowned for its glorious movie musicals and earned her the first of five Golden Globe® nominations.
Her subsequent performance in a Busby Berkeley musical Two Weeks with Love, which featured Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter’s million-selling rendition of the 1914 ditty Aba Daba Honeymoon, convinced the legendary Louis B. Mayer to choose her to play ingénue Kathy Selden in what become one of greatest screen musicals of all time, Singin’ in the Rain, opposite star and co-director Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor.
Over the next 10 years, Reynolds made more than 25 films, including The Unsinkable Molly Brown, for which she was nominated an Oscar for her title role performance; the Cinerama epic How the West Was Won, which garnered three Oscars and five nominations; Tammy and the Bachelor, which included the Oscar-nominated title song Tammy, a No. 1 smash hit that earned Reynolds a gold record, The Tender Trap, opposite Frank Sinatra; The Pleasure of His Company, in which she danced with Fred Astaire; the title role the film version of the Broadway hit Mary, Mary; Goodbye Charlie, opposite Tony Curtis and Walter Matthau; Divorce American Style, opposite Dick Van Dyke and Jason Robards; and How Sweet It Is, opposite James Garner.
Reynolds’ first non-musical dramatic role was as a bride-to-be in 1956’s The Catered Affair, starring with Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Barry Fitzgerald and Rod Taylor. Her performance earned Reynolds a Best Supporting Actress Award from the National Board of Review. Reynolds was to show her dramatic chops again some 40 years later as the difficult title character in Albert Brooks’ Mother, for which she was lauded with a Golden Satellite Award, a Golden Globe nomination and an Online Film & Television Award nomination. Maternal roles became more commonplace for Reynolds since the ’90s.
In 1997, she starred as Kevin Kline’s mother in Frank Oz’s In & Out, earned a 2000 Primetime Emmy Outstanding Guest Actress nomination for her recurring role as Debra Messing’s mother in the hit comedy series Will & Grace, played Katherine Heigl’s grandmother in 2012’s One for the Money and, in 2013, portrayed Liberace’s mother Frances (the Liberace family were longtime friends of Reynolds) in the award-winning HBO telefilm Behind the Candelabra.
Reynolds was no stranger to television. She received a 1970 Golden Globe nomination for her work in the eponymous NBC series The Debbie Reynolds Show and headlined ABC’s Aloha Paradise in 1981. She has guest starred in numerous series and variety programs and was one of a quartet of iconic actresses, including Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine and Joan Collins, who starred in the 2001 ABC telefilm These Old Broads, co-written by Reynolds’ daughter, actress and author Carrie Fisher.
Reynolds is also no stranger to live performances. She debuted her first nightclub act at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas in 1960, and over the years it has evolved to include songs and clips from her most popular films, as well as tributes to Katharine Hepburn, Bette, Davis, Jimmy Stewart, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Jimmy Stewart, Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland.
Over the next half-century, she has been a headliner on the casino circuit from Reno to Tahoe to Vegas to Atlantic City to the famed London Palladium, performed in concert in every major American city, touring often on the average of 44 weeks a year. She headlined her own showroom, the Star Theatre, at the Debbie Reynolds Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, which she owned and operated from 1993 to 1998.
In 1973, she took a break from her nightclub appearances to star in the Broadway revival of Irene at the new Minskoff Theatre. Reynolds became the first person to be nominated for a Tony Award before the show officially opened and Irene went on to break all previous records for a Broadway musical. After a successful national tour, Reynolds returned to the musical stage with another hit revival, Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, which like Irene, was directed by Gower Champion.
Reynolds and Champion had previously starred for Reynolds’ Singin’ in the Rain director Stanley Donen in MGM’s 1953 musical Give a Girl a Break, along with Champion’s wife Marge and Bob Fosse, who like Champion became a legendary Broadway choreographer.
In 1993, she returned to Broadway to star in the hit musical Woman of the Year and, in 1989, toured the country in a revival of The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
Animation fans know Reynolds as the voice of the beloved title character in the 1973 animated feature Charlotte’s Web, as Madame in the English version of Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service or as Lulu Pickles in several of the Rugrats movies.
Younger audiences may also identify Reynolds with the series of four Disney Channel films Halloweentown, which debuted between 1998 and 2006, or may have seen her Daytime Emmy-nominated performance in 2000 in Showtime’s A Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story, playing the grandmother whose football-star grandson gave up his promise of a career and his kidney to save her life.
In 1955, Reynolds, along with Jack Haley Jr., Hugh O’Brien and other young stars, founded a charity to fight the stigma of mental illness, calling themselves The Thalians, after the goddess of comedy, Thalia. Over nearly 60 years, The Thalians have raised over $30 million, endowing The Thalians’ Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. With that center’s priorities shifting to other illnesses, The Thalians has shifted its support to UCLA’s Operation Mend, which provides medical and mental health support to returning wounded military personnel.
Reynolds was elected The Thalians’ president in 1957, and for many years alternated between that role and chair of the board with Ruta Lee, and currently serves as the organization’s president emeritus. Reynolds has also been a lifelong supporter and fundraiser for the Girl Scouts.
Reynolds other abiding passion has been the collection and preservation of memorabilia from Hollywood’s first half-century of filmmaking. Beginning with the landmark 1970 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer auction, she amassed thousands of costumes, props and mementos of Hollywood’s studios and their greatest stars, building the largest individual collection of Hollywood memorabilia, including Marilyn Monroe’s white dress from The Seven Year Itch, Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, Elizabeth Taylor’s headdress and Richard Burton’s costume from Cleopatra, and Audrey Hepburn’s Ascot gown from My Fair Lady.
While the collection was showcased at Reynolds’ Las Vegas hotel in the 1990’s, sadly, after numerous attempts over 50 years to establish a Hollywood Motion Picture and Television Museum to give the collection a permanent home, Reynolds sold the memorabilia to private collectors at a series of auctions in between 2011 and 2014.
In 1979, anticipating a retirement from performing that has yet to materialize, Reynolds established the Debbie Reynolds Studio in North Hollywood to provide a comfortable space for dancers to rehearse and attend professional classes, with then-unheard-of amenities such as free parking, a coffee lounge, dressing rooms, showers and spacious rehearsal rooms with pianos. Among the artists who have graced its facilities are Lucille Ball, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bette Midler, Cher, Usher, Mariah Carey and Johnny Depp.
Over her more than six decades in show business, Reynolds has received numerous accolades for her performing and charitable endeavors. Among them, the Costume Designers Guild honored her with its Presidents Award in 2005 for her collection and conservation of classic Hollywood costumes. She has received Lifetime Achievement honors from the American Comedy Awards in 1996 and 1997, the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 1999, the Savannah Film and Video Festival in 2002, and Chapman University in 2006. In 2007, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Fans can view her stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Palm Springs Walk of Stars as well as her hand and footprints at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Her philanthropic activities have earned her national honors from the Girl Scouts, a City of Hope Award, The Thalians’ Ms. Wonderful award, the National Film Society’s Humanitarian Award and a Spirit of Hope medallion from the USO for entertaining the troops during the Korean War.
In 1987, Reynolds published her first memoir, Debbie: My Life, and in 2013 brought her personal and professional story up to date and shared anecdotes about the making of her extensive filmography in Unsinkable: A Memoir. Reynolds is proud of her two children, actor and author Carrie Fisher (Star Wars, Postcards from the Edge) and producer Todd Fisher. Reynolds is devoted to Carrie’s daughter and her granddaughter, Billie Catherine Lourd.
Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire (Photo Credit: BBC One)
Award-winning playwright Sally Wainwright’s Happy Valley will be back for a second season. BBC One has renewed the dramatic series starring Sarah Lancashire for season two following its season one six-episode run in which 8 million viewers on average tuned in. Filming on season two will take place in 2015 with BBC One aiming for a 2015 premiere.
Announcing the renewal, RED Production Company’s founder and executive producer Nicola Shindler said, “Sally created a truly magnificent series with very real, complex characters, an engaging plot, and breathtaking storyline. I am delighted that we will be able to delve deeper into Catherine’s world in series two.”
“Sally Wainwright’s sensational series gripped the nation. Visceral, emotional and provocative from beginning to end, it was fantastic to see our audience on tenterhooks, begging for more,” added Charlotte Moore, Controller, BBC One. “The series is testimony to the creative ambition, quality, and breadth of original British drama on BBC One and I can’t wait for the second series to begin.”
The Plot of Season One:
Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) is the sergeant on duty when flustered and nervous accountant Kevin Weatherill (Steve Pemberton) comes into her West Yorkshire police station to report a crime. He’s reticent about the details and Kevin loses his nerve. The crime he was trying to report was Kevin’s own brain-child, a plot to kidnap his boss’s daughter and keep enough of the ransom to put his kids through private school.
And now local drug king-pin Ashley Cowgill (Joe Armstrong) has put the plan into action, and Kevin’s fantasy has become a grim and dangerous reality. The botched kidnapping of Ann Gallagher (Charlie Murphy) and its fallout unfolds…
Catherine is used to picking up the pieces of everyone else’s lives, but the hunt for Ann Gallagher will get right under her skin. Catherine becomes convinced that only by finding Ann alive and bringing her captors to justice can she avenge the death of her daughter.
The new posters for Dumb and Dumber To take their cue from the poster for Lucy starring Scarlett Johansson. Lucy‘s tagline was: “The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity. Imagine what she could do with 100%.” The Dumb and Dumber To posters change it up to reflect Harry and Lloyd’s intelligence with: “The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity. Imagine what he could do with 1%.”
Dumb and Dumber To opens in theaters on November 14, 2014.
The Plot:
Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels reprise their signature roles as Lloyd and Harry in the sequel to the smash hit that took the physical comedy and kicked it in the nuts: Dumb and Dumber To. The original film’s directors, Peter and Bobby Farrelly, take Lloyd and Harry on a road trip to find a child Harry never knew he had and the responsibility neither should ever, ever be given.
Season 13 of Fox’s popular cooking series Hell’s Kitchen premieres on September 10, 2014 at 8pm with a two hour episode featuring 18 chefs vying for a shot at being the head chef at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. The new season’s first hour kicks off with the chefs having to cook their signature dishes in front of a live audience. The second hour sends the teams searching for clams before having to recreate Chef Ramsay’s Geoduck sashimi.
Hell’s Kitchen Season 13 Chefs
ASHLEY SHERMAN Age: 29
Hometown: Bethlehem, PA Occupation: Lead Line Cook
Signature Dish: Chipotle Chicken and Chorizo Deconstructed “Taco”
DENINE GIORDANO Age: 23
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA Occupation: Culinary Student
Signature Dish: Chicken Parmesan
JANAI SIMPSON Age: 24
Hometown: La Grange, GA Occupation: Chef de Partie
Signature Dish: Lobster-Stuffed Lamb Rack
JENNIFER SALHOFF Age: 33
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA Occupation: Private Chef
Signature Dish: Pan Roasted Striped Bass Succotash of Crab with Wild Mushrooms, Bacon, Fava Beans and Corn in a Spicy Charred Corn and Tomato Saffron Broth
KALEN MORGENSTERN Age: 32
Hometown: River Oak, TX Occupation: Sous Chef
Signature Dish: Seared Sea Scallops with Corn Purée, Pickled Onions and Tomato Sauce
KATIE McKEOWN Age: 23
Hometown: Dallas, TX Occupation: Line Cook
Signature Dish: Pan Seared Halibut with Jicama-Mango Slaw
Charisma Carpenter hosts ‘Surviving Evil’ (Photo by David Johnson/Investigation Discovery)
Surviving Evil hosted by Charisma Carpenter returns for a second season on September 3, 2014 on Investigation Discovery. Season two will consist of 10 episodes airing on Wednesday nights at 9pm ET/PT and featuring the harrowing stories of women who survived encounters with cold-blooded criminals.
Carpenter, a survivor of a violent, near-fatal attack, makes for a perfect host as she speaks from experience about surviving against all odds.
“In their darkest hour, when waiting for rescue was not an option, these extraordinary women found the will to stay alive – their compelling and powerful stories becoming a testament to the strength of the human spirit,” stated Kevin Bennett, executive vice president and general manager, Investigation Discovery. “Their courage is shared by Surviving Evil‘s host, Charisma, whose own survival story began with the will to live but continues on through her commitment to inspire strength in others.”
“Through Surviving Evil, I have learned I am not alone. I am touched by the strength of these survivors and their capacity to endure the unfathomable yet walk away infinitely stronger,” said Carpenter. “Being able to share these very personal stories of triumph is a gift.”
Surviving Evil Season 2 Episode Guide:
“Betrayal of Trust” – Stories of Keri Reynolds (Ellenville, NY) and Patricia Wenskunas (Irvine, CA) Premieres Wednesday, September 3 at 9/8c
A hard-working nurse at an isolated drug rehab center in upstate New York, Keri Reynolds has no idea that several of its residents have violent histories. That is, until one night when she arrives late for her midnight shift. One of the clinic’s patients, Richard Giga has just murdered the security guard on duty with a kitchen knife. And with his hands still covered in blood, the killer kidnaps Keri at knife point and forces her to drive him away.
Patricia Wenskunas, a single mom battling an eating disorder, is ready to make a fresh start in California. And she’s convinced that personal trainer Jeffrey Kelavos can help get her life back on track. After all, he’s a trainer, life skills coach, and nutritionist all rolled into one. But falling under his influence has near-fatal consequences, because Kelavos is a monster, and when he suddenly betrays her trust, Patricia Wenskunas finds herself face to face with a killer.
“The Girl in the Box” – Story of Anita Wooldridge (Kokomo, IN)
Premieres Wednesday, September 10 at 9/8c
It’s an early summer morning when evil comes calling in Kokomo, Indiana. A recent college graduate with a bright future, 21-year-old Anita Wooldridge, answers the door without hesitation. After all, the man is a member of the fitness club where she once worked and he’s only asking for a glass of water. But that’s when things go horribly wrong – what starts out as a robbery soon takes on a more sinister twist. Anita’s attacker ties her up, locks her in the trunk of her own car, and drives off.
Hundreds of miles from home, she is imprisoned in a metal cabinet and is repeatedly raped as her kidnapper plays out his violent sexual fantasies. Anita must keep herself alive until police can find her but, with only the suspect’s name to go on, law enforcement agents have their work cut out for them.
“Nightmare Before Christmas” – Story of Tricia (Tiede) Copenhaver & Linae (Tiede) Coats (Summit County, UT)
Premieres Wednesday, September 17 at 9/8c
It’s 1990 and the Tiede family has been preparing the ultimate Christmas getaway at their mountain cabin in Summit County, Utah. But when they arrive, their dream holiday quickly turns into a nightmare. Two violent criminals-Von Taylor, a Satan worshipper, and Edward Deli, a convicted arsonist-have ransacked the home. And now they’re lurking in the shadows prepared to unleash unimaginable violence.
At gunpoint, they hold the traumatized Tiede family hostage, and it’s not long before they kill the family’s mother and grandmother, and leave dad for dead. After setting the cabin on fire, the killers then abduct the Tiede sisters, Tricia and Linae, taking them first by snowmobile and then in their father’s car, on a terrifying and desperate flight into the unknown. But the sisters aren’t ready to give up on each other, and miraculously, neither is their father.
“Killer Smile” – Story of Sandie Bellows (Niagara Falls, Ontario)
Premieres Wednesday, September 24 at 9/8c
Though it will take several weeks before authorities can connect the dots, Peter John Peters is a deadly sociopath on a killing spree. He’s already left two bodies in his wake, and now he’s parked outside a bank where he abducts 28-year-old Sandie Bellows at knifepoint. A ruthless career criminal, Peters says he’s taking Sandie to an undisclosed destination and promises he will let her go when they get there. But when they drive off the highway and deep into the woods, he repeatedly rapes her. And when she tries to run, he stabs her over and over again and then disappears. Meanwhile, Peters’ murderous trajectory has kicked off a massive manhunt and law enforcement agents are on the move.
“Coke-Crazed Killer” – Story of Andrea Tafolla (Weslaco, TX)
Premieres Wednesday, October 1 at 9/8c
When a neighbor knocks at her door one evening, hardworking single mom Andrea Tafolla has no idea she’s come face to face with a coke-crazed killer. But after stabbing his wife and her young sister to death in his garage, 24-year-old Raul Garza is on a drug-fuelled rampage in a small Texas-border town. He’s locked his three children in a bedroom to go on the prowl for his next victim, and now he’s set his sights on Andrea.
Violent and remorseless, Garza threatens to kill Andrea’s two daughters if she doesn’t cooperate. And before long, she finds herself behind the wheel of her car-with a blood-stained knife pointed at her-on a terrifying road trip to nowhere. Andrea is desperate to keep the killer calm and determined to save her children, even if it means sacrificing her own life.
“Bullet Proof” – Stories of Bridget Kelly (Killeen, TX) and Megan Paterson (Ottawa, Canada)
Premieres Wednesday, October 8 at 9/8c
An ambitious 20-something Texas schoolteacher, Bridget Kelly is enjoying the beginning of summer vacation when a gun-toting stranger breaks down her door in the middle of the night and takes her hostage. As they drive through the darkness, a terrorized Bridget strategizes and prays for the courage she will need to survive. In the meantime, her abductor is hatching a twisted fantasy of ultimate control, and drives her into the middle of an abandoned field…
In Ottawa, Canada, 27-year-old Megan Paterson is casually dating after her recent divorce. At first, Eric seems like a great guy. But, when she decides to end the relationship, he won’t take no for an answer. The rejection causes him to unravel and a week later, he shows up at her door with a gun and a deadly promise.
Matthew Lillard as Daniel Frye in ‘The Bridge’ (Photo by: Kurt Iswarienko/FX Networks)
Matthew Lillard’s character in FX’s The Bridge, ‘Daniel Frye,’ wasn’t supposed to survive past episode six of season one. Thankfully for fans of the popular series, the writers decided to save Lillard’s character and to continue exploring the partnership between Daniel and Adriana Mendez (played by Emily Rios).
And while Lillard isn’t sure how long his character will ultimately stick around, he’s just happy to be part of a critically acclaimed program that’s provided him with the opportunity to portray a well-written, complicated – and flawed – character.
In season two, Daniel’s still trying to stay sober while pursuing the biggest story of his career. Participating in a conference call in support of The Bridge, Lillard talked about how he got into the character and what motivates Daniel.
Matthew Lillard The Bridge Interview
Could you talk about how you got involved in the project?
Matthew Lillard: “Like most of my jobs, I auditioned for it. There actually is a fun story behind it. I got a phone call one day from Annabeth Gish, who I’d done a movie with years ago, and she said, ‘You should go in and audition for this character on the show called The Bridge.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know what it is, what is it?’ She said, ‘It’s Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir and it’s this adaptation of the Swedish show.’
I immediately called my agent and said, ‘What’s the deal with this gig? Why isn’t it in my world?’ They said, ‘Well, they basically have no money and it’s only six episodes.’ The character dies after six episodes. I’m like, ‘Well, I’m not doing anything so some money is better than no money.’ [Laughing] An agent’s idea of no money and my idea of no money are usually quite different. I said, ‘Why don’t you send me the script? If it’s not something I want to do…just let me see it anyway.’
They sent it to me and I read it. It’s one of those scripts [where] the pilot was unbelievably well read. You kind of fly through it, and you get to the last scene in the pilot and you’re like, ‘Oh my, God, what an amazing scene.’ The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that I’d rather do something than not do something. I had never been on TV and I said—this is one of those things that actors sometimes struggle with because I was like, ‘All right. I’d love to do this even if it is no money. Why don’t you see if they’ll have me?’ expecting some kind of offer. They were like, ‘Yes, they like you. They want you to come in and audition for it.’
The thing was, like, ‘There’s no money, the guy dies in episode 6, and he’s barely in the pilot. I have to audition for it?’ Then it just feels like you’re fighting for something that somebody doesn’t really want you in. The more I dug into it, the more I realized they had tested a bunch of guys for it and none of the guys had gotten the job. Now I’m just rambling… The point was that I went in and auditioned for it and the audition went great. Then, Elwood called me into his office and said, ‘There’s no money and he dies in episode 6.’ I was like, ‘Yes, but look at this part and look at how amazing this scene is. I get to do this scene. I’d love to do it.’ So I did it.
On episode 6 I lived and in episode 10 I was supposed to die and they re-wrote it after I fell off the bridge, and I made it to season 2, which is the longest story I’ll tell this entire conference. [Laughing] I’m sorry it was so long.”
The Bridge is a very heavy dramatic project but you always seem to provide some kind of comic relief in your roles. Do you seek out those roles or do you try to inject a little bit of extra humor at times on the page that’s not already there?
Matthew Lillard: “I definitely bring an energy that’s different than other people on the show. I don’t really have a lot of jokes. It’s not like Elwood and our incredible writing staff, it’s not like they give me a lot of jokes. I certainly get to say more funny things on the show than anyone else. I think what I bring is energy and, yes, I generally find opportunities to be funny in really high stakes. Scream is a great example of that. When you’re running for your life and you’re at the end of your rope and the stakes are really high, to be able to make people laugh in that little sweet spot – I like doing that.
I think that it’s a combination. I think that the writers and Elwood have found a great way to use me in the show. I think that Emily and I do a lot of solving the case, but on top of it, we can add a little levity to a world that’s so ripe with drama. Yes, I think it’s a combination of both. I think that they lean into me for that, and I tend to find it on the day.”
Can you give us any teasers about what’s in store for Daniel in the upcoming episodes?
Matthew Lillard: “Yes. I think that leading into the first episode of the season, the idea of having a two beer rule or two beer limit is pretty rife with drama. He doesn’t really hold onto that rule very well. He struggles with his sobriety. One of the great things that I love about playing the character is that he’s this incredibly tortured soul, and he happens to be a reporter. He struggles with his sobriety, and as he’s on this journey and he may fall into that pit somewhere along the line.”
Daniel has his eye on the prize with this big story he’s pursuing. What is he willing to do to find the truth and solve the case? Does he ever go too far?
Matthew Lillard: “Daniel has no scruples. I feel like there’s no end to what he’ll do and where he’ll go. This season, I don’t think he really gets to that end. The great thing about playing this guy is that he doesn’t really care. At the end of the day it’s all about the story. He’s got a great line, I think, in episode 4 where he says, ‘All I care about is how to fix the story. I don’t care if the guy blew his brains out.’ That kind of drive to him, that kind of single-mindedness, that’s fun to play. This season he stays relatively within the bounds.”
How is it working with Emily Rios? You’re really good together onscreen.
Matthew Lillard: “Oh, thanks, man. She’s great. I think that we’re a little bit of the wonder twins. She and I are very simpatico in how we approach the work. On set, we have developed over the last few years great shorthand. Together, we work on scenes before we ever get to set. We’ll bring scripts to set. I think that together we have a rhythm in terms of how we work. I love her to pieces, and I think that she feels the same way about me. We’re great friends. Between having the same approach to the work, and caring deeply for her and loving the woman, it makes work a real joy.
On top of that, I think that we both are really proud to be on the show. You can’t always say that on every show you’re on or every piece of movie you do. I have been in god knows some horrible films, and when you’re doing those movies there’s a lot of that. You understand that you’re just trying to make your rent and feed your kids. This is a show that I think that we both appreciate every day we’re on set, and are having fun doing it. I think that that comes out in the work we’re doing, and I think it’s translating to the writers room and I think that they like writing for us. All in all, I can’t imagine a better situation to be in as an actor. That’s how goo-goo, gaa-gaa I am over her and what’s happening with us on the show.”
Did you channel any particular journalists that have interviewed you in the past or are there any Hunter S. Thompson aspects of the character that you’re using? How’d you put Daniel together?
Matthew Lillard: “I just dip into my own angry bitterness that I possess, and I created it from a wealth of anger that lives within me. [Laughing] You know, not really. It’s not built on anyone specifically, so to speak. There’s an aspect of the drug use and alcoholism and being an addict that there’s somebody that I’ve drawn on in my life in terms of how they acted, and I’m very clear as to who that person is when I get into that kind of a state. In terms of the journalist, no, I trust the words of Elwood and the writers.
We also have a New York Times writer on our staff. Early, in both seasons, last season and this season, I sat with him and I got a chance to…he covers all of South America for the New York Times. He and I sat down a couple times and talked about what it’s like to be on that drive, to be on the hunt of a story trying to figure out where the passion is, what is the motor that drives that person, because I didn’t really get it. Is it winning the Pulitzer Prize? Is it showing the world that you can write? What is that thing that motivates that guy?
Daniel’s been great to give me that insight as to what it means to him, and I’m just extrapolating what he’s said and what he’s given me has helped. I guess, let me revise my answer. Yes, I have. I’ve built around this guy who’s on our staff, his name is [Damien Cave]. He’s in South America so I’ve only seen him twice, but both times having a conversation with him, and digging into what motivates him has been fantastic. Does that help?
What’s your favorite aspect of Daniel and how does he compare to your own personality?
Matthew Lillard: “I think my favorite aspect of the personality is that I like the fact that he’s tragically flawed. I like the fact that a modern television and modern drama on cable even has characters that are really intricate and deep and have multiple layers. I love the fact that he is a character that is tragically flawed and is continually trying to rise up and do his best; that he hasn’t given up, and he’s not living in a hotel room in Juarez just getting drunk and high all day every day. He’s still on this pursuit of redemption and that’s what I love about the character is that he’s incredibly broken and still trying to get back. There’s a resiliency that I love.
I think that that is the part that I can relate to as a man, and as an actor in this industry, being resilient. Look, there are a lot of people in ‘90s films that just never came back. Having been a guy that didn’t work for a year and didn’t have a job and downsized his life and sold his house and his cars and just tried to figure out what the heck I was going to do if I never had a chance to come back, looking into that kind of abyss of being cooked in this industry and sticking with it and finding myself in the place I am now, which is a place I’m, again, proud of my work and proud of where I’m at and on a great show, I think that that resilience I understand in a really great way.”
You were talking about having a rhythm with Emily. What have you enjoyed about the Daniel/Adriana partnership this season and where is it heading in the remaining episodes?
Matthew Lillard: “Well, the thing I like about it is that the writers trust us, and they know that we’re going to be around. A lot of the problems were last season, so like they were beholden to what was happening in the Swedish show and they weren’t creating their own story. Last year, I don’t feel like they had a clear sense of what they were doing with us.
The thing I like about us this season is that the writers are using us in a really great way to help solve the case. Diane, Marco and Sonya are off doing their thing, and I think that one of the great things is Emily and I can help piece together the story, and they’re different trajectories. They’re working on their story; we’re working on our story. The great thing is that I think we’re more active this year in the main storyline.
Sometimes if you’re third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh on the call sheet you get relegated to one or two scenes, and I feel like towards the end of the season we start to get more work, and we start to answer that riddle a lot for the writers. The writers like writing for us, and that’s one of the great things I like, is that they like putting words in our mouth, so we get great words and we great opportunities to do good stuff.
Where we’re going, I think that we get connected to the case, and we start to help solve it. Not to give away spoilers, but we’re in the last episode and we’re part of answering part of a big riddle of the season. As it expands, we expand with it instead of getting left behind so that’s been pretty great.”
Do you ever get to sit down and speak to the writers about how you would like them to develop your character?
Matthew Lillard: “No, I do not do that. What I do do is, I go in and say, ‘Why are you doing this to my character?’ I think that was one of the things, and Elwood said this is the past, is that he is an open door. I believe in the idea of being an advocate for your character. It does not happen on every show, I know that for a fact, but his door is open and I’m one of the guys that uses it to walk in and say, ‘Why is this happening? Why are you doing this?’
I definitely don’t tell them what to do with my character, but I certainly help shape what’s happening to the character in the moment. I have strong opinions; they’re not always listened to. There’s some times that I go in and pitch something or ask to change something and it doesn’t happen, and there are a lot of times that they listen to what I’m saying. One of the things is that look, I walk and I talk and breathe and I walk in that skin of Daniel Frye in every episode. I know him better than anyone.
Our writers come in and they have to service 20 different voices, and all I do is service one. I have a clear sense of who he is, and the decisions I’ve made about being an addict and trying to rise from that and finding strength in that and being the smartest guy in the room. There are all these choices that I’ve made, so they write something that’s completely contrary to who he is I’ll go in and say, ‘How does this track with Episode 4 of Season 1? It doesn’t make sense.’ Together, we’ll try to find a good way to bridge that gap that sometimes happens between the writers and Daniel Frye.
The best way I would describe me is being an advocate for my character. I’m really lucky that we have a writer whom and a show runner who is gracious enough and humble enough to say, ‘Okay,’ and will at least listen.”
