The broadcast and cable networks are once again joining forces to help raise money for cancer research. The 4th Annual Stand Up To Cancer event will take place on September 5, 2014 at 8pm ET/PT, with all of the money raised during the special star-studded primetime event going toward cancer research.
The first three telecasts generated $261 million in pledges and brought together researchers and scientists from “different disciplines across institutions and international boundaries to work collaboratively on promising new treatments that will impact a wide range of cancer types.”
Joel Gallen and Gwyneth Paltrow are returning as executive producers. The celebrities who will be participating in this year’s fundraising event will be announced at a later date.
“We are all in this mission together: to turn cancer patients into cancer survivors. It is an honor to be part of a show and a movement that sets a great challenge and works tirelessly to meet it,” stated Gallen said. “This terrible disease has taken too many loved ones and on this special night, we’re working together to raise awareness and funds for the groundbreaking research that is saving people’s lives. This year, our commitment is stronger than ever — we expect the top names in film, television, and music, to join us on September 5th.”
“Cancer profoundly touched my life when I lost my father to the disease twelve years ago, and Stand Up To Cancer gives me a powerful platform to fight for a cause that I’m passionate about,” said Paltrow. “I am thrilled to join Joel Gallen to executive produce the Stand Up To Cancer telecast again this year, and honored to continue standing up in my father’s memory.”
“When we launched Stand Up To Cancer, our goal was to approach the struggle against cancer in a different way. Just six years into this movement, the incredible generosity of our donors — of every level — has enabled major progress in developing new treatments,” said Katie Couric, a co-founder of SU2C. “This program offers a unique opportunity to share the story of our progress and to remind viewers that each and every individual can play a role in supporting these scientists and their tireless work on behalf of patients,” she added.
“None of SU2C’s groundbreaking research accomplishments would have been possible without the ongoing support of the entertainment industry,” said Sherry Lansing, also a co-founder of SU2C, as well as founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation and chair of the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Board of Directors. “From the network and cable executives donating unprecedented “roadblock” airtime, to the hundreds of stars who volunteer their time and talent to help us engage the public in this effort, we are profoundly grateful to the entire entertainment community and humbled by the impact that is possible when we unite in support of a cause that affects us all,” she said.
Of course it’s creepy…it’s American Horror Story. The teaser clip from the upcoming season of American Horror Story: Freakshow is short but sweet and completely bizarre.
And while he’s not in the teaser, FX has added Wes Bentley to the series for this upcoming season, which debuts this October. Bentley joins a cast of AHS veterans that includes Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, and newcomer Michael Chiklis.
Kathryn Prescott and Alex Saxon in ‘Finding Carter’ (Photo by Sam Urdank 2013 / MTV)
Season one of MTV’s Finding Carter airs on Tuesday nights at 10pm ET/PT with Kathryn Prescott, Cynthia Watros, Alexis Denisof, and Anna Jacoby-Heron in starring roles. The drama series centers around Carter, a 16-year-old girl who has a close, loving relationship with her mom, Lori, until one day that’s yanked out from under her.
Carter learns that Lori isn’t actually her mother but instead, this woman who she has always called mom and who she grew up admiring abducted her when she was just three. Now back with her real family – mom, dad, twin sister, and little brother – Carter has to attempt to start over, knowing that her life up to this point has been based on a huge lie.
Prescott stars as Carter and Watros plays her birth mom, Elizabeth, a police officer who has dealt with the loss of her daughter by closing herself off emotionally. Together in Los Angeles for the 2014 summer Television Critics Association press day, Prescott and Watros discussed the family dynamics and what viewers of this new MTV series can expect from the remainder of season one.
Cynthia Watros and Kathryn Prescott Exclusive Finding Carter Interview
We would assume that with a mother who’s suffered this loss and then gets her child back, the audience would be completely on her side. But from the pilot, she starts doing things where the audience might not be on her side. Was that a challenge to find that angle of this emotional situation?
Cynthia Watros: “I think they wrote it in such a way – and I talked to Terri [Minsky] about this, too – that Elizabeth is in cop mode and Carter is coming from this really loving, affectionate, feely sort of bonded more like sisters [environment] into this family where Elizabeth is so cut off from her feelings. I think basically because her daughter was kidnapped 13 years ago, in cop mode, I sympathize with her because she had to change who she was because of the pain and anger and loss. I don’t think she was always like that. But, yeah, now she is closed and is in cop mode. She has her daughter back and is very protective. I think she’s somewhat controlling. I understand that, but I also understand why people aren’t sympathetic right now.”
Kathryn Prescott: “I will say that the pilot is you’re kind of showing the world through Carter’s point of view. So in the show they’re not going to – in the first episode at least – we don’t see Elizabeth’s side where we see how broken she was by all of that. You just see how Carter sees her which is like, ‘My mom is all warm and lovely and tells me she loves me all the time, and you’re just like being really cold with me but you’re also my mom so why aren’t you…?’ You know what I mean? Like, you see it from Carter’s point of view.”
Do you think for the past 13 years she had to be in this defensive mode just to get by?
Cynthia Watros: “Yes. I think when there’s so much pain, to feel that so much pain for so long it would kill you.”
Kathryn Prescott: “I always say I guess it’s like, but on a much stronger level, when you have a really painful break-up – or I’ve had friends who’ve had really, really painful break-ups and for a while they’re in denial because their brain…it’s their way of protecting them. Maybe they deal with it a bit and then they stop for a bit. Their brain allows them to deal with it in chunks, but this is so painful I almost feel like it must have been where you have to do something to process it and not feel it 100% of the time to always be thinking about it.”
Cynthia Watros: “It’s either doing that or jumping off a cliff. She had other kids she needed to take care of, maybe not as best as she could have. I mean, she probably was only ever there 50% of the time. So it was either put up some walls or jump off a cliff.”
Kathryn Prescott: “She made a good choice.”
Cynthia Watros: “Yeah, she did.”
The late night confrontation scene was really powerful. Was that a really intense scene for both of you to play?
Kathryn Prescott: “Yes. When we first started to do it, we did it more like sad and quiet. But Scott [Speer] the director who’s amazing was telling me, ‘It’s like #1, she’s been out drinking. #2, you’ve never seen her lash out at Elizabeth before. #3, Elizabeth has been cold throughout the episode but never actually enforced something on her before in the episode. I think the anger is right.’
Yeah, it was intense. It was intense because I played it a different way than I’d originally pictured it. But I think it was better the way that Scott was suggesting.”
How odd is it for Carter to be so close – only two hours away driving – from her old friends and never actually get to see them?
Kathryn Prescott: “I think she’s very relieved and grateful when Max comes and lives where she’s living because that’s like the one fragment of her old life that she still has intact that was real. It’s some of her memories that were real. There’s a scene on the bench on the carousel where she was like, ‘Why didn’t all of my other friends come and visit me?’ And Max is like, ‘They were freaked out.’ So maybe her old friends weren’t that great, but Max is. Max is the best friend.”
Does Carter have a very different relationship with her father than her mother?
Kathryn Prescott: “I think it changes. But at first I think it’s very different because Carter’s never had a dad before so when she meets David it’s not like he’s coming in and in her mind replacing anyone. For Carter, it’s like more he died almost. […]Not only did she have to get over the loss of her mom, she now has this new woman in her life who’s like, ‘Oh, I’m your mom actually,’ and trying to get in there instead. I think it’s easier for her to form a bond with David than it is with Elizabeth because of that.”
Cynthia Watros: “It almost seems like a betrayal.”
Kathryn Prescott: “Right, exactly. The more she gets close to Elizabeth, the more she’s betraying Lori (played by Milena Govich).”
Which episodes should we look forward to seeing as far as big twists go?
Cynthia Watros: “Well, I think there’s shifts and surprises in almost every episode. I mean, the degrees are different. There is something cool that happens in episode three – we get introduced to a really cool character. I guess I’m just, for right now, I’m looking forward to seeing the next episode and how this character is received. He plays a very pivotal role in the rest of the series, so this is a huge change coming up.”
Is Carter’s new younger brother an ally to her or a problem she’ll have to deal with?
Kathryn Prescott: “No, he’s an ally. Grant, I think, is born into this family and he wasn’t there for the initial trauma so he doesn’t understand it as deeply as everyone else does. But he sees his whole family act cold to each other and they have kind of retracted, and he doesn’t get it. He’s just got this child-like innocence which is wanting to tell each other how you feel. And then Carter comes into it and feels exactly the same way because she comes from Lori who is loving.”
There’s a powerful scene in the series in which Alexis Denisof as David tells you you don’t have to be strong all the time. Does that have a big impact on Elizabeth in letting her guard down more often in the series?
Cynthia Watros: “Oh yes. I think there a number of things that happen to Elizabeth that she slowly is starting to let the wall crumble. I think that really helps. If I had somebody in my life that I love and I was just trying to hide the pain and somebody said that to me, that would be very powerful.”
Did they start with Carter and then build the cast from there? Who was cast first?
Kathryn Prescott: “Was it me? You were cast very soon after me, if it was me. It was me, not by very long.”
Did you come to the States for auditions for television?
Kathryn Prescott: “I used to go back and forth, for like three years. I would come and stay until I ran out of money and then go home and make more and then come back. But when I got the audition for this, I was in England. I just videotaped myself doing it. I sent it to them and they asked me to retape it. I retaped it and then they asked me to come out to LA and test for it, so I did. And then I found out I got the part.”
With the second installment of the reboot of the Apes franchise, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, pulling in huge numbers at the box office, it’s a good time to go back and examine the original Planet of the Apes and the successful movie series it launched.
April 3, 1968 – Planet of the Apes: Two astronauts, led by Captain Taylor (Charlton Heston) as part of a space time travel expedition, crash land on a remote planet in the distant future and discover to their horror that the dominant species is no longer humans but instead is intelligent talking apes who hunt mute humans on this world. Separated from his comrades during the hunt and captured by the apes, Taylor is kept in a cage and studied by two chimpanzees, Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and Zira (Kim Hunter), who begin to realize how advanced Taylor due to his ability to communicate via hand gestures before finally writing his name on a piece of paper (he can’t talk because he was shot in the throat during the hunt). With the head of the scientific ape community, Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans), determined to execute Taylor fearing him as some major threat to the apes way of life, Taylor’s only hope of escaping and surviving lies in the paws of Zira and Cornelius.
Ground-breaking for its time and with a shocking ending, the original Planet of the Apes broke box office records and was considered by most film critics one of the best movies of 1968. The film won an Oscar for John Chambers who created the ape make-up for the actors portraying the different types of apes. And Charlton Heston was not just the lead star of the film but one of the driving forces trying to convince studios to make the now classic science fiction film. The film still ends up on most ‘Best Science fiction Films’ lists today.
GRADE: A+
May 26, 1970 – Beneath the Planet of the Apes: Astronaut Brent (James Franciscus) crash lands on the planet of the apes looking to rescue Taylor who never returned. Discovering Nova (Taylor’s female companion) and realizing she knew Taylor, Brent and Nova head into the Forbidden Zone trying to find Taylor. There they discover an underground world with a group of telepathic humans who fear and hate the apes.
The only apes film not to star Roddy McDowall, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is a subpar sequel for the following reasons:
– No Roddy McDowall as Cornelius, and Kim Hunter as Zira has only two brief scenes with James Franciscus as Brent.
– Charlton Heston only agreed to be in the film because he owed the studio’s president at the time (Richard D. Zanuck) for greenlighting and making the original when no other studio would. Thus he is only in the very beginning of the movie and in the last 15 minutes, which means the three most interesting and likable characters from the original film are barely in the sequel.
– Due to other films failing at the box office, 20th Century Fox cut the film’s budget in half resulting in poor quality, cheap apes masks for extras in the crowd scenes.
The best element in Beneath the Planet of the Apes is the hiring of actor James Gregory as the new ape Gorilla General Ursus who hates all humans and wants to exterminate them. It’s an over the top yet scary performance which inspired the ‘human hating gorilla’ ape character that would re-occur in other ape films, including Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. GRADE: C
May 21, 1971 – Escape from the Planet of the Apes: Cornelius and Zira shock 20th century Los Angeles by emerging from Brent’s partially fixed space ship in astronaut outfits. It seems they escaped the Earth just before it was destroyed and traveled back into just a few years after Brent left to rescue Taylor from the future. At first the talking chimps are embraced as celebrities, but when the government and Secret Service start to suspect they could begin the end of mankind being the dominate species, Cornelius and Zira’s lives become threatened.
With the return of Roddy McDowall as Cornelius and Kim Hunter as Zira, Escape from the Planet of the Apes is perhaps the only other film among the five in the original series that’s a worthy and entertaining sequel. The two most likable and interesting apes are front and center, and McDowall and Hunter have solid chemistry as these two intelligent simians trying to find a home in the 20th century. Also, for the first time humor and cultural references are introduced into the franchise to lighten the tone of the movie. GRADE: B-
June 30, 1972 – Conquest of the Planet of the Apes: 20 years after the birth of Cornelius and Zira’s son Caesar (Roddy McDowall), now grown, begins to lead an ape revolt against man who has created and embraced ape slavery using them for simple tasks and replacing dogs and cats – due to a deadly plague which annihilated those animals – as family pets.
With only Roddy McDowall returning from the original cast to portray Cornelius’s son, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes suffers from a lack of character development and again another big reduction in the film’s budget. The only reason to watch this move is for McDowall’s strong performance as Caesar, a much stronger, tougher and more determined chimpanzee than his father or mother ever was. GRADE: C-
June 15, 1973 – Battle for the Planet of the Apes: 10 years after conquering what’s left of Earth, Caesar (Roddy McDowall) wants nothing more than to live in peace with both apes and enslaved humans. But gorilla General Aldo (Claude Akins) has other plans, including overthrowing Caesar and wiping out humans once and for all. Meanwhile, a band of military humans have heard of Ape City and have decided to wage war upon it, hoping to rid the world of ape control.
What could and should have been an exciting and action-packed end to the Apes franchise, Battle for the Planet of the Apes turns out to be a painfully slow and boring film with almost no action until the last 20 minutes. Akins’ performance as the human-hating gorilla comes up short when compared to James Gregory’s Ursus in Beneath which is the obvious inspiration for the character. It should be noted, however, that many of the ideas in this film and plot elements are copied and used much better in the new Apes movie Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, including a gorilla betraying Caesar, Caesar wanting to only live in peace, the battle between the human survivors and the apes, and the law the apes live by: “Ape shall not kill ape.” GRADE: D+
Lucy Griffiths as Liv and Matt Ryan as John Constantine in ‘Constantine’ (Photo by: Quantrell Colbert/NBC)
NBC and Universal Television will be hosting Q&As with fans of The Blacklist, Grimm, Hannibal, Bates Motel, Constantine, and a new series with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) at the San Diego Comic-Con. Among the stars making the trek to San Diego are The Blacklist‘s James Spader, Grimm‘s David Giuntoli, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz, Reggie Lee, Bree Turner, and Claire Coffee, and Constantine cast members Matt Ryan, Harold Perrineau, and Charles Halford.
Hannibal‘s Caroline Dhavernas, Aaron Abrams, and Scott Thompson will be attending the Con, and Bates Motel‘s Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Olivia Cooke, and Nestor Carbonell will be discussing the upcoming seasons.
Here’s the scoop on NBC and Universal Television’s Comic-Con plans:
CONSTANTINE
Based upon the characters from DC Comics, Constantine reflects the lore of the fan-favorite comic, combining noirish storytelling with the evolving mythology of John Constantine (Matt Ryan), a morally challenged character who doesn’t come down on the side of either good or evil … but ultimately might be the only thing defending us against the dark forces from beyond.
There will be a huge presence for Constantine at Comic-Con, including at Gaslamp Square (Thursday-Sunday between the Hard Rock Hotel and the Convention Center) where a 3-D experience will immerse fans in the world of Constantine. Limited edition souvenirs will also be given away.
Comic-Con fans will have a chance to see the world premiere of the Constantine pilot as part of Warner Bros. Television’s annual Preview Night screenings on Wednesday, July 23 at 6 p.m. in Ballroom 20.
The Warner Bros. Television panel for Constantine is set for Saturday, July 26 at 5:15 p.m. in room 6BCF. This will include a screening of the complete pilot, followed by a Q&A with cast members Matt Ryan, Harold Perrineau and Charles Halford, as well as executive producers David S. Goyer and Daniel Cerone. The panel will be moderated by TV Guide magazine’s Michael Schneider.
Additionally, on Saturday, July 26 at 8 p.m. in Hall H, Constantine will be included in the Warner Bros. Television/DC Entertainment three-hour special Comic-Con event, with cast members and executive producers making appearances on the Hall H stage and footage from the pilot being screened.
THE BLACKLIST
To discuss its phenomenal first season, as well as what’s ahead for season two, Raymond “Red” Reddington himself, James Spader, will headline The Blacklist panel on Saturday, July 26 at 1:45 p.m. in room 6A. In addition to Spader, executive producers Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath will participate in the panel, which will be moderated by TV Guide’s Michael Schneider.
The No. 1 new series of the 2013-14 season, The Blacklist will take over Tin Fish Restaurant at Gaslamp Square (Thursday-Sunday). Fans will be able to get on The Blacklist via a custom photo opportunity and also receive Blacklist souvenirs.
GRIMM
Friday night fave Grimm will return to Comic-Con with a panel on Saturday, July 26 at 3 p.m. in Ballroom 20 that will feature an exclusive video. The panel, moderated by Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times, will include cast members David Giuntoli, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz, Reggie Lee, Bree Turner and Claire Coffee, as well as executive producers David Greenwalt, Jim Kouf and Norberto Barba.
HANNIBAL
For the critically beloved drama Hannibal, which Vulture.com says is “unlike anything else on TV or anything that ever has been on TV,” the panel will include cast members Caroline Dhavernas, Aaron Abrams and Scott Thompson, as well as executive producers Bryan Fuller, Martha De Laurentiis, Steve Lightfoot and David Slade. The panel, organized by Gaumont International Television and moderated by U.K. talk show host Jonathan Ross, will take place Thursday, July 24 at 4:45 p.m. in Ballroom 20.
BATES MOTEL
Executive producers Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin will be joined by the cast, including Vera Farmiga in her Emmy Award-nominated role as Norma Bates, Freddie Highmore, Olivia Cooke and Nestor Carbonell to discuss the hit series. Fans will hear firsthand details about what is to come in season three debuting in 2015. The panel will be moderated by Dan Snierson from Entertainment Weekly on Friday, July 25 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 6A.
TRIUMPH THE INSULT COMIC DOG/JACK McBRAYER SITCOM
The beloved Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and fan favorite Jack McBrayer team up to star in a new live-action original comedy series that is set to premiere in 2015 on Adult Swim. Join co-creator and voice of Triumph, Robert Smigel, co-creator Michael Koman and star Jack McBrayer as they discuss the new series Friday, July 25 at 1 p.m. in the Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront.
Clive Owen stars in ‘The Knick’ (Photo: Mary Cybulski / HBO)
Steven Soderbergh’s The Knick hasn’t aired an episode yet, but it’s already received a second season pick-up by HBO. The 10 episode season one premieres on August 8, 2014 at 10pm ET/PT with Clive Owen, Andre Holland, Jeremy Bobb, Juliet Rylance, Eve Hewson, Michael Angarano, Eric Johnson, Chris Sullivan, Cara Seymour, Maya Kazan, David Fierro, Grainger Hines, Leon Addison Brown, and Matt Frewer. Soderbergh directs and executive produces the series, with Jack Amiel and Michael Begler writing. Amiel, Begler, Gregory Jacobs, and Michael Sugar also executive produce.
The Plot:
New York City, 1900: The Knickerbocker Hospital is home to groundbreaking surgeons, nurses and staff who push the boundaries of medicine in a time of astonishingly high mortality rates and zero antibiotics. The newly appointed leader of the surgery staff is the brilliant, arrogant renegade Dr. John Thackery, whose addiction to cocaine and opium is trumped only by his ambition for medical discovery and renown among his peers.
Into the all-white staff and patient hospital comes the equally gifted Harvard graduate Dr. Algernon Edwards, who must fight for respect while trying to navigate the racially charged city. Trying to maintain its reputation for quality care while realizing a profit, the Knickerbocker makes an effort to attract wealthy clientele, while literally struggling to keep the lights on.
The Knick August 2014 Episodes
Episode #1: “Method and Madness”
Debut: FRIDAY, AUG. 8 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Other CINEMAX playdates: Aug. 8 (11:00 p.m., midnight, 2:30 a.m.), 9 (9:00 p.m., 12:05 a.m.), 10 (12:15 p.m.), 11 (8:00 p.m., 12:45 a.m.), 12 (10:00 p.m.), 13 (9:00 p.m.), 20 (8:00 p.m.), 27 (7:00 p.m.), 29 (8:00 p.m.) and 31 (2:30 p.m.)
In 1900, John W. Thackery (Clive Owen), a brilliant yet tortured doctor working at the Knickerbocker Hospital in New York, ascends to the role of chief surgeon after the unexpected departure of his mentor, J.M. Christiansen (Matt Frewer). Though Thackery wants Everett Gallinger (Eric Johnson), his own protégé, to take over the assistant chief position, Cornelia Robertson (Juliet Rylance), daughter of the hospital’s major benefactor, insists he hire Algernon Edwards (André Holland), a talented black doctor who trained in London and Paris. Edwards encounters enmity and resentment on his first day at the Knick, but his desire to remain prevails after joining Thackery, Gallinger, Dr. Bertram “Bertie” Chickering, Jr. (Michael Angarano) and Nurse Lucy Elkins (Eve Hewson) in the operating theater for a daring surgical procedure.
Written by Jack Amiel & Michael Begler; directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Episode #2: “Mr. Paris Shoes”
Debut: FRIDAY, AUG. 15 (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Other CINEMAX playdates: Aug. 15 (11:00 p.m., 1:15 a.m.), 16 (9:00 p.m., midnight), 17 (12:50 p.m.), 18 (8:00 p.m., 12:30 a.m.), 19 (10:00 p.m.), 20 (9:00 p.m.), 27 (8:00 p.m.), 29 (9:00 p.m.) and 31 (3:30 p.m.)
Already fuming over the hospital’s faulty new electrical system, Thackery tasks Herman Barrow (Jeremy Bobb), the Knick’s crooked superintendent, to deliver more cadavers so that he and his team can test out novel surgical procedures. With more patients dying, Edwards offers to share a procedure he learned in France, but is rebuffed by Thackery and Gallinger. Robertson addresses a typhoid-fever outbreak; Elkins is taken into Thackery’s confidence; Sister Harriet (Cara Seymour) breaks a taboo. Edwards finds an alternative way to perform his duties.
Written by Jack Amiel & Michael Begler; directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Episode #3: “The Busy Flea”
Debut: FRIDAY, AUG. 22 (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Other CINEMAX playdates: Aug. 22 (11:00 p.m., 1:40 a.m.), 23 (9:00 p.m., 12:10 a.m.), 24 (2:40 p.m.), 25 (8:00 p.m., 1:40 a.m.), 26 (10:00 p.m.), 27 (8:50 p.m.), 29 (9:50 p.m.) and 31 (4:20 p.m.)
Thackery weighs performing surgery on a former flame, and orders Gallinger and Chickering to experiment on pigs. Barrow goes to extremes in order to pay off a debt and recover a missing tooth. After a bad day at work, Edwards takes out his frustrations at a local bar. Robertson is relieved when her pleas about treating a patient with typhoid fever are finally heard.
Written by Jack Amiel & Michael Begler; directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Anna Jacoby-Heron as “Taylor” in ‘Finding Carter (Photo Courtesy of MTV)
Anna Jacoby-Heron is basically a newcomer to acting and now she’s one of the stars of MTV’s new dramatic series, Finding Carter. The series premiered on July 8, 2014 and follows a teenage girl named Carter (played by Kathryn Prescott) who finds out that the woman she has grown up believing is her mother actually kidnapped her as a toddler.
Carter’s life is turned upside down when she’s reunited with her biological family and learns she has a twin sister, Taylor. Jacoby-Heron plays Taylor, and at the Television Critics Association press day, I had the chance to chat with the enthusiastic young actress about her role in the series.
Anna Jacoby-Heron Finding Carter Exclusive Interview
You’re supposed to be twins, so how did the audition process work?
Anna Jacoby-Heron: “We went in to do chemistry reads and they had basically like three blondes and three brunettes. Three brunettes for Carter and three blondes for Taylor, and I don’t know if they were matching the look so much as the connection. When Kathryn and I went into the chemistry read, they said that we both sat down at the same time and we both crossed our legs at the same time. We did the same things with our hands and they were like, ‘Wow, that’s really weird.’ So I think it just came across naturally.”
What is your character’s relationship with her mother up to this point?
Anna Jacoby-Heron: “Up to this point I think her mother’s a huge part of making her the very sheltered individual that she is. I think that after her sister is kidnapped, she kind of drilled it into Taylor to be careful and to be the sheltered person that she became. I think that put a lot of fear into her about living. But she doesn’t resent it, at the time. I think once Carter comes home, Taylor’s kind of more questioning of how Elizabeth has handled their relationship. Her whole life it’s kind of been about Carter.
Even though Carter wasn’t there, Elizabeth was looking for Carter and thinking about Carter the whole time. But Taylor’s not one who would really talk to her mom and be like, ‘Mom, I’m having an issue with how our relationship is.’ She keeps to herself and just does what she needs to do to make her family happy.”
Is Carter’s coming back the first time Taylor’s questioned the way she lives?
Anna Jacoby-Heron: “Yes. Definitely.”
How much further does she go in that regard as the season goes on?
Anna Jacoby-Heron: “Pretty far. She kind of does a 360 as the person that she is. She changes a lot which is one of the reasons that I really love playing her is because she just changes completely.”
How does she change?
Anna Jacoby-Heron: “It’s not like a crazy party girl change; it’s not like she’s a crazy drinker. She’s pretty tame in that regard. In regards to her opinions and how she reacts to things and how she handles herself, it’s definitely in a more ‘what I have to say matters’ way. She makes things known and doesn’t sit back and let things happen.”
Does Taylor remember having a sister before she was three?
Anna Jacoby-Heron: “No, I don’t think so. I don’t think Taylor has any… I’m feeling like she may have random memories that come up out of the middle of nowhere. You know when you have those weird childhood memories when you’re older? So maybe that, but I think it’s a shock when she meets her finally.”
What can viewers expect from the rest of the season?
Anna Jacoby-Heron: “Taylor’s going to meet some new people and hang out with some new people. She’s going to change a lot, but in a really natural, authentic way. Like, I’ve known girls like Taylor who were really goodie two shoes in high school and then they get to their first year of college and they go absolutely crazy because it’s like a whole world has opened up for them. Taylor’s going to experience that.”
Will we see Taylor and Carter going to school together?
Anna Jacoby-Heron: “Yeah. There’s a not of ton of school time. But they start hanging out with the same people. They kind of have this friend group that’s really fun.”
Have you gotten any feedback after the first episode aired?
Anna Jacoby-Heron: “Yes, there’s been really, really positive feedback. It was trending on Twitter which is a big thing! And the reviews were really good. People seem to enjoy it.”
In this new one minute video from Guardians of the Galaxy, Zoe Saldana provides the scoop on her fierce character, Gamora. Coming to theaters on August 1, 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy was directed by James Gunn and stars Saldana, Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper’s voice, Vin Diesel as a tree, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio del Toro, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Karen Gillan, Gregg Henry, and Michael Rooker.
The Plot:
From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team—the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe.
To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits—Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand—with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.
Starz just made Outlander fans extremely happy with the news that the premiere episode will be available online and on TV beginning August 2, 2014 ahead of its scheduled August 9th premiere. Outlander, based on Diana Gabaldon’s captivating book series, is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) and stars Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan. The first episode titled “Sassenach” (meaning Outlander or foreigner; more specifically an English person) is officially scheduled to premiere on Starz on August 9, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT following its release across various platforms in a move prompted by the response of Outlander fans to the series. You can check out the first episode as of August 2nd at Starz.com/Outlander, the Starz YouTube page, Starz Outlander Facebook Page and the free STARZ PLAY app.
“We’ve heard from fans the world over who are anxiously awaiting to see how we’ve brought Claire and Jamie to life in what may possibly be the most highly anticipated series in Starz history,” commented Starz CEO Chris Albrecht. “Our Outlander sampling strategy serves the dual purpose of giving early access to the series premiere for those fans thirsting to watch it as soon as possible, as well as providing a vehicle that introduces the STARZ experience to prospective new subscribers who are eager to learn all about this great new series.”
Starz also announced they’ll be splitting season one into two parts. The first eight episodes will air on consecutive Sundays through September 27th. The last eight episodes of season one will air in early 2015.
And for those who’ve read the books and wondered how you actually pronounce the unfamiliar words sprinkled throughout, Starz has provided a Gaelic Expert feature on the Starz YouTube page. Cast members on the set in Scotland help you pronounce 12 of the key words and phrases that populate Gabaldon’s books including “Sassenach,” “Sàinte Mhath!” “Je Suis Prest” and “Craigh na Dun.”
The Plot:
The Outlander series spans the genres of romance, science fiction, history, and adventure in one epic tale. The series, adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books by Ronald D. Moore, follows the story of Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), a married combat nurse from 1945, who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743. Upon her arrival, she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. But when she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate relationship is ignited. Now, Claire’s heart is torn between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow (Photo Credit: John P. Johnson / HBO)Why did HBO decide to bring back The Comeback from creators/executive producers Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King for a second season nine years after the first season ended? As HBO’s Executive Vice President of Programming Casey Bloys explained during the summer Television Critics Association press event, the series was one that was always well thought of at the network and now just seemed like the right time to revisit it. “I think that HBO’s in a different place than it was nine years ago, and we had the room to bring it back. The future of the network does not depend on the show, and these guys weren’t able to do it for a long time,” said Bloys. “I’m not even sure how we did it this time, but we did. I mean, everybody was just ready. It just felt like the right time for us and for these guys.”
“And whether ‘Valerie’ [Kudrow’s character] has evolved or not, we both sort of wanted to take it to a different place as writers too. So we, oddly enough, liked the gap between the last season and this offering. It actually added to our grist to write with, I think,” explained King.
Together at the TCA event in Los Angeles, Kudrow and King teamed up to discuss what fans of The Comeback can expect from the second season when it arrives in November.
Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King Interview
Who came up with the idea to bring it back first?
Michael Patrick King: “Lisa and I would meet over the years socially because I’m no fool and it’s fun to be around Lisa. And every now and then it would drift to an idea of, ‘I wonder what Valerie would be doing now?’ But it was too much of a thing to even say we would come back. We never said it, did we?”
Lisa Kudrow: “No. Too much of an emotional risk…”
Michael Patrick King: “…to even say it. And then we got a call from HBO and they asked us to come back and talk about The Comeback. And then we started talking about it because it was no longer a risk emotionally, it was creatively.”
How close will you remain to the original sort of documentary format and how do you feel that format has changed in 10 years?
Lisa Kudrow: “It’s still the show is the same as it was nine years ago.”
Michael Patrick King: “The DNA is the same. We’re picking up the show nine years – 10 years by the time you see it – later. The DNA that we’ve liked about Valerie is her in front of a camera. I’m editing. So we tried to reflect, like we did the last time, what was happening the last time in television seemed to be the birth of reality television and an actress’s need to be in front of the camera. And this time, we found a different way to get her in front of the camera because we wanted to evolve the character and also where we are in TV. What we have now is we have her in front of a behind-the-scenes crew rather than a reality crew. Reality TV is not where we land; it is where Valerie starts trying to land, and then she goes someplace else when she gets cast in a show on HBO.”
Are you happy to be back? Do you feel like there’s a lot of fans that wanted you back? Do you feel a little bit of closure perhaps?
Lisa Kudrow: “Yeah, I do. I mean, speaking for myself, I’m just – and I think Michael too – we’re just really grateful that we get to pick it up again and just keep people up to date on what’s happening and just to do it again. There was so much. I mean, whatever. It didn’t get picked up nine years ago, whatever. We just loved doing it so very much that that was the bad part, you know? It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, that was so hard and awful, but, shoot, my feelings are hurt.’ That wasn’t it. We just loved doing it so much that I think we were both just so thrilled, overjoyed. You know, Michael’s already overworked and said, ‘Well, we have to because we can’t not have this experience again.'”
Michael Patrick King: “I think we’re both thrilled to be back at HBO because the reason it was polarizing, I think, is because it was allowed to be this original thing that really couldn’t be fit in a box 10 years ago, maybe. That was only because it was on HBO, and then here we are back where it was born and it feels very right. And our experience with HBO this time has been doubly creative.”
Will we catch up on what Valerie’s been doing for the last 10 years?
Michael Patrick King: “It was our job to let people who have never seen The Comeback figure out where she’s been for 10 years and introduce her, but also for fans there’s a little bit of, I would call it a ‘crack cocaine’ opening, where you get to see – if you’re a Comeback fan – Valerie in a lot of different versions of where she’s been for nine years.”
Are any of the characters from the first run of The Comeback like Malin Akerman and Kellan Lutz going to appear again?
Lisa Kudrow: “Yes.”
Michael Patrick King: “We got to tell a story, and we got to bring back all of the characters that we thought were essential. And over the nine years, odd things have happened. Like Malin, who was unknown, and Kellan, who was unknown, became bigger stars and did movies, and so we’re bringing them back in a sort of metaversion of themselves as bigger stars, those characters as bigger stars.”
Will Paulie G be back?
Lisa Kudrow: “Oh, yes.”
Michael Patrick King: “Yeah. Paulie G is a nemesis, and he plays a big part in this version.”
Lisa Kudrow: “That felt like unfinished business to me from the first season, didn’t it?”
Michael Patrick King: “Yeah, to me it felt like, ‘What was that? Why did they hate each other? Why does he hate her? What is that dynamite combustion between them?’ So it was really Lance [Barber] who was one of the first persons we checked on availability to make sure that we could have Paulie back because it’s big part of the protagonist in all that.”
Is there a chance there could be more if these six episodes do spectacularly well? Is there a chance that there could be yet another season and Valerie could evolve again and how would you fit that into each of your schedules?
Michael Patrick King: “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yeah. Look, we tried even when we did the first season, we ended it like this is contained and we thought we were coming back. This one has a beginning, middle, and an end. Every movement should. So we ended it, and Valerie is…I’ll tell you something about Valerie. Lisa and I, when we were writing these, it was amazing because Lisa and I were in an office slugging it out and figuring out what Valerie would be doing and improvising and writing and writing and writing. And then we did the hair and makeup test right before we started, and when Lisa walked in as Valerie, I got like really shy. I was like, ‘I haven’t seen you in nine years. Hello.’ I mean, Valerie is a powerful being and she doesn’t go away. She might power down, and then maybe you see her again if you’re lucky.
And if we’re lucky, maybe you’ll see her again. If not, we had a great time. This felt like a very full experience, and it’s just done. We’re still like we just finished it. We’re like almost two weeks ago.”
Were any of the original ideas for season two incorporated into this version? Or has too much time passed?
Lisa Kudrow: “Oh, well, we had sort of vague ideas about what would happen, but because it’s nine years later, we’ve just sort of burned through those in sort of like the update we include in the first episode. But, it takes off from a whole other place.”
Michael Patrick King: “There is one emotional moment that I saw in the very last episode of the first season that we sort of thought was interesting which is Valerie says she’s given up show business, and then after Leno, she’s signing autographs and happy again. There’s a shot of her husband looking concerned like, ‘What is that?’ So the idea of a husband dealing with somebody’s success or how much of your personal relationship you’re giving over to success was something that we pulled through. Like, what does a career do to a marriage? And it doesn’t have to be an actress. It can be anybody who’s obsessed with their career.”
As writers, you have to feel incredibly challenged because in this camera everywhere society, everything is so over the top. Is that your big competition, what’s really going on?
Michael Patrick King: “It’s interesting.”
Lisa Kudrow: “That’s funny. Yeah, that was one of the sort of things that made me nervous before we started, which was what we did nine years ago was so tame compared to what’s actually going on. And, you know, there are a lot of shows where people are sort of referencing a documentary crew somewhere doing something, but then the stories and the situations, it took over, and it was just bigger than it was before. And things happen after nine years to human beings to make them slightly different and make the stakes a little different and make their reaction to things a little different, and that took over. Then the way it’s shot, I forgot, doesn’t look like anything else still, I think.”
Michael Patrick King: “I mean, it’s big. When we did the first series we thought it would be so great if Valerie went into therapy with reality cameras, and we went, ‘That’s too far. That would never happen. Get a grip. We can’t do that.’ And now it’s like a go-to…that and a bikini wax is on every reality show you have to see. So the fact that reality is our life, or at one point, Valerie says, ‘I forgot everything is on camera,’ we’re trying to incorporate the fact that everything’s very accessible.
There’s a youth element in the show, how kids process stuff versus how older people process stuff. It’s really we tried to mash up everything that we see and is happening right now in television and in life and put it in a comedy.”
Do you think there’s an opportunity for more people to get it than got it the first time around? Did that impact organically your tone in writing it, that more people are actually going to get it from the get-go and maybe less explanation is going to be required?
Lisa Kudrow: “Yes, I think so. My experience has been that younger audiences, younger people already know about it and have already seen it and fully appreciate it. There’s no question mark for them about, ‘What is this?’ And they didn’t see it nine years ago.”
Michael Patrick King: “The other thing is one of the weird thoughts that came at us nine years ago is that they’ve never seen a female character doing this to herself in front of a camera. People are like, ‘I don’t know what is happening?’ and since then there’s been the Real Housewives. Our first poster, which Lisa and I designed, was Valerie standing in a meat grinder, happy.”
Lisa Kudrow: “Happily throwing herself in.”
Michael Patrick King: “Then she’s grinding herself up to make television, and then we’ve seen that that has really happened on every single [show]. So people we will not have to explain a woman who doesn’t have financial problems putting herself in front of a camera and putting herself in harm’s way. That’s already in the world. What we do with it from there is our sort of swing at storytelling to make it be a beginning, middle, and end of Valerie and her life.”
One of the sources of comedy in the first season was the show within a show. So when you go to make another show within a show now in a sort of HBO series, how much of that are we going to see within the context of this season?
Michael Patrick King: “You will see it. We are doing the show within the show. It’s a dramedy, an HBO dramedy, so how we sort of depicted a sitcom, a network sitcom that wasn’t doing well, we’ll do our very best to reflect Valerie’s experience if she got lucky enough to be cast on an HBO dramedy, which through plot twists which I won’t get into here now hopefully you’ll believe.”
Is the process of writing it the same as it was before? Is there the same amount of improvisation or has it changed?
Lisa Kudrow: “Well, you know, nine years ago it was scripted. So there was not improvisation really and the same this time.”
Michael Patrick King: “Every single word that Lisa says – and that’s what’s so amazing about her as an actor – we wrote. This time, we got together and figured out as writers, the story and then within the scenes, really hammered out what Valerie would do. But Lisa does become possessed by Valerie. It’s the great tool she has as a writer that we can actually say, ‘Oh, that’s how Valerie would say it.’ And I take a swing at that every now and then too.”
Does the show this time poke fun at the fact that a lot of reality shows are scripted to some extent?
Michael Patrick King: “Yes, that’s interesting. Reality shows are scripted. We recently heard about a reality show where we were going to film the actors leaving the restaurant three times. Leaving, coming back, leaving, coming back, leaving, coming back. Oddly, Valerie is virginal in that way. What you’re seeing is not scripted. It is sort of raw in front of the camera as much as she’d like to control it.
The other great thing in theory about Valerie this time around versus last time and where we are in the world is people are used to cameras now. Nine years ago, she was hyper-aware of the camera. And in this series, she gets a little bit more used to the camera and just like you see those reality shows, people actually start to behave sort of like themselves in moments. But this is not about reality TV as much as it is about a career and taking risks and somebody’s need to be in the spotlight again.”
Lisa Kudrow: “Well, one of the things that I liked about it then and now is there’s one thing that’s kind of still the same which is who are you to yourself and what are you presenting to the world? I think that’s still very, very, very much a part of this one.”
April 3, 1968 – Planet of the Apes: Two astronauts, led by Captain Taylor (Charlton Heston) as part of a space time travel expedition, crash land on a remote planet in the distant future and discover to their horror that the dominant species is no longer humans but instead is intelligent talking apes who hunt mute humans on this world. Separated from his comrades during the hunt and captured by the apes, Taylor is kept in a cage and studied by two chimpanzees, Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and Zira (Kim Hunter), who begin to realize how advanced Taylor due to his ability to communicate via hand gestures before finally writing his name on a piece of paper (he can’t talk because he was shot in the throat during the hunt). With the head of the scientific ape community, Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans), determined to execute Taylor fearing him as some major threat to the apes way of life, Taylor’s only hope of escaping and surviving lies in the paws of Zira and Cornelius.
May 26, 1970 – Beneath the Planet of the Apes: Astronaut Brent (James Franciscus) crash lands on the planet of the apes looking to rescue Taylor who never returned. Discovering Nova (Taylor’s female companion) and realizing she knew Taylor, Brent and Nova head into the Forbidden Zone trying to find Taylor. There they discover an underground world with a group of telepathic humans who fear and hate the apes.
May 21, 1971 – Escape from the Planet of the Apes: Cornelius and Zira shock 20th century Los Angeles by emerging from Brent’s partially fixed space ship in astronaut outfits. It seems they escaped the Earth just before it was destroyed and traveled back into just a few years after Brent left to rescue Taylor from the future. At first the talking chimps are embraced as celebrities, but when the government and Secret Service start to suspect they could begin the end of mankind being the dominate species, Cornelius and Zira’s lives become threatened.
June 30, 1972 – Conquest of the Planet of the Apes: 20 years after the birth of Cornelius and Zira’s son Caesar (Roddy McDowall), now grown, begins to lead an ape revolt against man who has created and embraced ape slavery using them for simple tasks and replacing dogs and cats – due to a deadly plague which annihilated those animals – as family pets.
June 15, 1973 – Battle for the Planet of the Apes: 10 years after conquering what’s left of Earth, Caesar (Roddy McDowall) wants nothing more than to live in peace with both apes and enslaved humans. But gorilla General Aldo (Claude Akins) has other plans, including overthrowing Caesar and wiping out humans once and for all. Meanwhile, a band of military humans have heard of Ape City and have decided to wage war upon it, hoping to rid the world of ape control.
