Brett Dalton (‘Grant Ward’) and Chloe Bennet (‘Skye’) were among the cast members who showed up at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con to talk about what could be the most discussed new series of the 2013-2014 television season: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The much-anticipated series will introduce a new batch of Marvel characters as well as bring back a very familiar face to the Marvel universe, Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson. And teamed up to talk about S.H.I.E.L.D., Dalton and Bennet said they’re extremely happy to be a part of the Marvel family and this new ABC series.
“She’s a computer hacker and she finds her way, she stumbles into the S.H.I.E.L.D. world and she definitely stirs it up a bit. She’s got a history and it’s interesting. It’s going to be really cool to watch that unfold throughout the season,” said Bennet when asked to describe her character. “She’s kind of Coulson’s last puzzle piece of putting together this ragtag team of people who’ve never really met, never really interacted, and who have all these different assets but don’t really know how to use it in a team situation.”
As for ‘Grant Ward,’ Dalton says in some ways his character and Bennet’s are the polar opposite. “You do all of your [work] behind a computer and I do all of mine in the field. I feel like Ward is like a Swiss army knife. He has a tool for every situation, but he’s just not used to working with other people. He’s used to being the entire solution. So, it’ll be interesting to see how this Lone Wolf becomes part of a wolf pack.”
(Watch the video embedded above for more of our interview with Chloe Bennet and Brett Dalton.)
It’s too bad this scene didn’t make the cut for season three of HBO’s critically acclaimed series Game of Thrones. It’s packed with symbolism and further explores the true nature of Pycelle (played by Justin Glover). Fortunately, the scene’s not lost and will be a part of the extra features on the season three GoT Blu-ray and DVD coming to stores on February 18th, 2014.
The CW will launch the second season of the one-hour The Vampire Diaries spinoff, The Originals, on October 6, 2014. The spinoff focuses on the Mikaelson clan and stars Joseph Morgan as Klaus and Daniel Gillies as Elijah.
Claire Holt stars as Rebekah, Phoebe Tonkin is Hayley, Charles Michael Davis is Marcel, Daniella Pineda plays Sophie, Leah Pipes is Camille, and Danielle Campbell stars as Davina.
The Synopsis: The first season of The Originals brought the most formidable creature on earth, the Original vampire-werewolf hybrid Klaus Mikaelson (Morgan), back to his former home – the vibrant and supernaturally charged city of New Orleans. When he arrived, his siblings Elijah (Gillies) and Rebekah (Holt) not far behind, he was stunned to learn that werewolf Hayley Marshall (Tonkin) was pregnant with his child. Though Elijah hoped that the news of a baby might help rebuild their fractured family, other forces threatened to destroy it further: namely, Marcel Gerard (Davis), Klaus’ beloved vampire protégé, whom the Originals thought to be long dead, and a dark secret that Marcel and Rebekah held for a century.
The Originals and Hayley soon found themselves caught in a bloody war between vampires and witches, the stakes raised by a vengeful young witch, Davina (Campbell), and by Klaus’ surprising connection to Cami (Pipes), a student with a painful past. Meanwhile, Hayley helped her exiled werewolf family return to the French Quarter, unaware that a ruthless pack of wolves was already lurking in the city, waiting to stage a violent coup on the vampires.
As the first season came to a close, the werewolves decimated the vampire community while the witches made a horrific assassination attempt against Klaus and Hayley’s newborn daughter.
Season two finds our heroes adjusting to a new status quo, with the newly empowered werewolves controlling the city and a myriad of unknown threats lurking. Though Klaus and Hayley have vowed to scorch the earth in order to make New Orleans a safe home for their daughter, Hope, they also have inner demons to battle.
As she adjusts to life as a hybrid, Hayley experiences crippling rage and depression after saying goodbye to her daughter, and Klaus – who needs his strength now more than ever – finds himself regularly weakened as the werewolves use the moonlight rings forged in his blood. Elijah, finding himself isolated from his troubled family, sets out to destroy Francesca (guest star Peta Sergeant) and her traitorous werewolves, connecting with Marcel and his renewed vampire community in the process.
Despite the dangerous climate of the city, Cami recommits to her studies and to pursuing the life she wanted before she met Klaus – but the werewolves in the Quarter aren’t the only enemies preventing New Orleans from any semblance of peace.
Unbeknownst to Klaus and Elijah, their ruthlessly devious parents have returned from the dead. Though their father, Mikael (guest star Sebastian Roché), is controlled by Davina’s magic, he remains ever-intent on killing Klaus – even if he has to go through Davina to do it. Elsewhere, their mother, Esther (guest star Alice Evans), inhabiting the body of a teenage witch, is fueled by a consuming and twisted love for her children as she devises a disturbing plan to reunite her fractured family – a plan that involves untold torment not only for the Original siblings, but for any and all of their loved ones.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s back in the non-flattering green and yellow costume playing Kick-Ass in the sequel to the 2010 R-rated action movie. Universal’s releasing Kick-Ass 2 in theaters on August 16, 2013 and in support of its opening, the studio’s provided this interview with the 23-year-old father of two who plays the high school student by day/costumed vigilante by night.
Taylor-Johnson talks about the story, what’s happening with his character this time around, working with the cast and crew, and being directed by Jeff Wadlow.
TV Line broke the news that Connie Nielsen has signed on for a role in the Fox drama The Following. According to the website, Nielsen will be playing the love interest of Ryan Hardy (played by Kevin Bacon) on the series. Nielsen will reportedly be playing an art dealer who connects with Hardy after he helps her out of a jam.
Also joining the cast for the second season will be Dexter‘s Sam Underwood who “might” be one of Joe Carroll’s followers.
Season two of The Following will air in 2014.
Nielsen’s credits include The Devil’s Advocate, Rushmore, Gladiator, Basic, and The Great Raid.
Elizabeth Henstridge stars as ‘Jemma Simmons’ and Iain De Caestecker is ‘Leo Fitz’ in ABC’s new highly anticipated series Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premiering on September 24, 2013. Moviegoers are used to Marvel projects on the big screen but this transition to television is a huge one for the studio, and at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con, De Caestecker and Henstridge discussed their roles in the action drama created by Joss Whedon (The Avengers).
“It’s scary at first but then at the same time there’s a really exciting element to it as well,” said De Caestecker. “And as well when you meet people like Joss and Clark [Gregg] and everyone else, everyone’s really personable. Especially with someone like Clark, he’s kind of been part of that world for a long time, he kind of sets the tone of what it’s like on set. He’s really funny.”
“Yeah, he’s wonderful,” added Henstridge.
“He’s one of the funniest guys you’ll meet, but at the same time he’s all about being serious and working hard when you get on set. He kind of sets the tone for everyone else,” offered De Caestecker.
As for their characters, Henstridge said Jemma is a biochem expert. “She deals with the chemicals, the formula, and the biological side of it. Previous to working with the team she’s just been in the lab working with Fitz. She’s never been out in the field seeing any of the actual real-life stuff that happens. She just kind of gets the formulas and works on them.”
De Caestecker says Fitz specializes in engineering so he’s the guy responsible for all the gadgets in the series. “He’s really good at what he does, but he’s also very aware of how good he is so he’s very quick to tell people how smart he is and how great it was that he solved this problem.”
The self-titled newly released The Civil Wars album has scored the #1 on the Billboard 200 U.S. chart, selling 115,878 units and easily earning their sophomore album their best chart spot to date. In comparison, 2011’s Barton Hollow debuted at #12 by selling 25,000 units.
Recorded in Nashville, the self-titled second album was produced by Charlie Peacock.
Commenting on their #1 spot, Joy Williams posted this message to fans on the group’s official website: “#1. Wow. Thanks to each and every one of you for sending The Civil Wars straight to #1 on the Billboard charts. Your support and continued word of mouth is what did that, and I am so grateful. Here’s to you as we celebrate.”
And John Paul White added: “Thanks for your continued support. It does not go unnoticed.”
The Civil Wars Track Listing:
1. The One That Got Away
2. I Had Me a Girl
3. Same Old Same Old
4. Dust to Dust
5. Eavesdrop
6. Devil’s Backbone
7. From This Valley
8. Tell Mama
9. Oh Henry
10. Disarm
11. Sacred Heart
12. D’Arline
And in addition to thanking fans, Williams provided a track-by-track behind-the-scenes description:
“The One That Got Away”
This song pays homage to regret. Nearly everybody I’ve come across has somebody in their life that they wonder what life would be like if they’d never met that person. It’s that sliding-doors moment–in the blink of an eye everything could change. Either for the positive or the negative.
John Paul and I wrote this song in the screened-in porch of my and Nate’s new home. I remember warm breezes blowing, a mild day. I had recently had my son, Miles, who happened to be asleep with Nate in the living room, right next to the porch. I remember asking John Paul to play quietly so he didn’t wake up the baby.
“I Had Me a Girl”
This song always conjures up an image of a glass of whiskey and a lit cigarette. It’s a little brooding. A little dangerous. It smolders. It has swagger and grit. It’s full of innuendo and Southern Gothic tones. I love the feel of this track, and the way this song came together on the record. “I Had Me a Girl” is one of those musical moments that makes me wish I knew how to play electric guitar. Or any guitar, for that matter.
“Same Old Same Old”
This song, to me, represents the ache of monogamy. This isn’t an “I’m leaving you” song. It’s a vulnerable confession of “I don’t want to leave. I want to work on this–with you.” Having said that, someone once told me a story about long-term relationships: to think of them as a continent to explore. I could spend a lifetime backpacking through Africa, and I would still never know all there is to know about that continent. To stay the course, to stay intentional, to stay curious and connected – that’s the heart of it. But it’s so easy to lose track of the trail, to get tired, to want to give up, or to want a new adventure. It can be so easy to lose sight of the goodness and mystery within the person sitting right in front of you. That continent idea inspires me, and makes the ache when it comes hurt a little less. To know that it happens to all of us. What I’m realizing now is that sometimes the “same old same old” can actually be rich, worthwhile and a great adventure.
“Dust to Dust”
This song is an anthem for the lonely. Sometimes you come across somebody who thinks they are hiding their pain, but if we are all honest, nobody is very good at it. “You’re like a mirror, reflecting me. Takes one to know one, so take it from me.” When John Paul and I wrote this late one night in Birmingham, England, we decided to change the pronoun at the end of the song. We wanted to represent that we all experience loneliness in our lives.
“Eavesdrop”
We brought in our producer, Charlie Peacock, on this song. He helped with arrangements and really helped take the song to a totally different place. Sometimes as an artist, you can’t see what needs re-arranging when you’re so “in it.” Charlie brought perspective. Almost like an eavesdrop within an “Eavesdrop.”
Strangely enough, this song always reminds me that my voice has changed since the last album. I have my son to thank for that, truly. When I was first pregnant and performing on the road, I thought something was wrong with my voice. I was having a hard time hitting high notes, while my low notes kept getting deeper and deeper. I did some research with the help of a vocal coach, and learned that hormone levels affect a female singing range. Having a boy, naturally, upped my testosterone levels, making low notes easier to hit and higher notes harder to reach. But the great thing? After having Miles, I regained my high range AND have kept my low range. Pregnancy literally changed the makeup of my vocal cords. There’s a different timbre to it now, and I love that I can hear the story of my son in my singing.
“Devil’s Backbone”
This song is our take on an Americana murder ballad. It’s dark, prickly, anxious. It was fun writing because we just imagined some dust-bowl scenario, a broke-down town, and a man awaiting being hung for something he did in the name of trying to provide for his family. The woman who loves him is watching him standing there on the gallows.
This song always reminds me of when the melody first came to mind. I was doing my makeup in the tiled bathroom upstairs, with my newborn Miles in a yellow rocking bassinet next to me. I started singing, and turned on the voice memo app on my iPhone so I wouldn’t forget it. As I sang, Miles started cooing along with me. Not on pitch, mind you, but I’d move a note, and he’d move a note. I’m never deleting that voice memo. It’s become one of my favorites.
“From This Valley”
That’s our Grand Ole Opry song. A new spiritual. It’s actually the oldest song written on the album. We wrote it before Barton Hollow came out. Even though we didn’t have our own recording of it, we started performing it live and it became a fan favorite. It made sense to finally put it on an album. One of my favorite moments on stage every night was singing the a cappella part together.
“Tell Mama”
We recorded the performance at Fame studio in Muscle Shoals, a place we’d written a few songs before that made it onto Barton Hollow. I always felt the musical ghosts in that studio, one of whom was the great Etta James. We’re a band that’s known for covering songs live in our own way, and we thought it would be fun to take a stab at “Tell Mama.” I found out later that where we recorded was the same room she recorded her version. That might explain why I kept getting goosebumps.
“Oh Henry”
We wrote it one week before Barton Hollow, in the mountains of Salt Lake City during our first Sundance Festival. We conjured up a story about a woman who was married to a philandering man. She is begging her man to level with her, and letting him know she can only take so much, a la “it’s gonna kill me or it’s gonna kill you.”
“Disarm”
Again, we’re the band who loves to do covers. Both John Paul and I have always been huge Smashing Pumpkins fans. Nate mentioned it might be a cool cover, and we actually wound up working it out the same day that we wrote “Oh Henry” up in Salt Lake City for Sundance. It turned into another on-stage staple that people asked for every night. We found out later from his then-manager that Billy dug it.
“Sacred Heart”
We wrote this song in a flat in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower in full view on a cold night. Tall windows, Victorian furniture, and somehow the atmosphere of all of that seeped into the song. Nate and our friends were there in the room as we wrote, all of us drinking wine together. I also loved getting to try out my flawed French. I wrote what words I knew in French, and then had a Parisian friend named Renata Pepper (yes, that’s her real name) look it over later and help me translate. When we recorded the song for the album, I called in a French professor from Vanderbilt named Becky Peterson, who has now become a good friend.
“D’Arline”
We wrote this song in the studio behind my house in Nashville, on a warm summer day, with the windows and doors open. This song is a sweet lament, of loss and the belief that you’ll never be able to love anybody else again. I stumbled across “Letters of Note” on Twitter, and was struck by the title of a letter written by a famous physicist named Richard Feynman: “I love my wife. My wife is dead.” A little over a year after her death, he wrote his wife a love letter and sealed it. It was written in 1946, and wasn’t opened until after his death in 1988. He ended his note to his long-lost wife with “Please excuse my not mailing this – but I don’t know your new address.”
Another aside to this song: While we were recording the song together, John Paul and I could hear crows cawing in the background that I’ve since named Edgar, Allen and Poe. This recording and performance of the song is the first and only in existence, a work tape recorded simply on my iPhone.
Tom Mison leads the cast of Fox’s one-hour primetime mystery drama, Sleepy Hollow. The new addition to the network’s lineup is set to premiere on September 16, 2013.
Tom Mison stars as Ichabod Crane, Nicole Beharie is Abbie Mills, Orlando Jones plays Frank Irving, Katia Winter is Katrina Crane, Clancy Brown plays Sheriff August Corbin, and John Cho is Andy Dunn.
The Plot: What if you suddenly woke up from the throes of death 250 years in the future to find the world is on the brink of destruction, caused by unimaginable events, and you are humanity’s last hope? Welcome to Sleepy Hollow, the thrilling new mystery-adventure drama from Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. In this modern-day retelling of Washington Irving’s classic, ICHABOD CRANE (Mison) is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the founding fathers.
Revived alongside Ichabod is the infamous Headless Horseman who is on a murderous rampage in present-day Sleepy Hollow. Bound to the Headless Horseman by a blood spell cast on the battlefield of the American Revolution, Ichabod quickly realizes that stopping Headless is just the beginning, as the resurrected rider is but the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
As this re-invented Ichabod finds himself in present-day Sleepy Hollow, he discovers a town and a world he no longer recognizes. All that is brutally familiar are Headless and Ichabod’s determination to annihilate this immortal being. It’s a mission he must complete quickly, as Headless already has viciously slain Sheriff AUGUST CORBIN (guest star Clancy Brown). Grey served both as mentor and father figure to Detective ABBIE MILLS (Beharie), a young cop whose own supernatural experiences help her form an unlikely bond with Ichabod.
But Sleepy Hollow’s head of police, Captain FRANK IRVING (Jones), isn’t buying any of this. In fact, the only person who is on Abbie’s side is Ichabod. His extensive first-hand knowledge of our secret American history, coupled with her superior profiling and modern threat assessment skills, will make them a formidable duo as they work together to triumph over evil.
The complex pasts of Ichabod and Abbie, from Ichabod’s inclusion in the powerful and secretive Freemasons Society and the ghostly appearance of his late wife, KATRINA (Winter), to Abbie’s childhood visions, will help them solve the intricate puzzles of Sleepy Hollow in order to protect its future. As history repeats itself, the oddly-linked pair will draw on the real stories and hallowed secrets this nation was founded on in their quest to stop an increasingly vicious cycle of evil.
Kacey Musgraves (Photo Credit: Kelly Christine Musgraves)
It was one of those nights at the Grand Ole Opry that promised satisfaction for Country traditionalists. One after the other, Del McCoury, Ricky Skaggs, and Dailey & Vincent filed out and fired up some sizzling bluegrass.
Yet it was an idiosyncratic new artist that brought the audience to its feet. Wrapped in a tight, blazing-red outfit, Kacey Musgraves teetered out in heels. Smiling a little shyly, she spoke two words — “Hello, Opry!” — and then drifted into “It Is What It Is” (written by Musgraves, Luke Laird and Brandy Clark), surely one of the most wistful and resigned songs ever to open a set on that stage. As she finished, cameras flashed all over the main floor and balcony as Musgraves allowed herself a short rumination.
“No matter what side of the coin you’re on, gay or straight, black or white, somebody is gonna have a problem with it,” she said. “So I think everybody should just do what they do.”
That, and the bouncy beat of “Follow Your Arrow” (Musgraves, Clark, and Shane McAnally), both from her debut album Same Trailer Different Park, set off the crowd again. The same folks who clapped to Skaggs’ “You Can’t Hurt Ham” now sang along to a song that suggested kissing lots of boys — or girls — and maybe lighting up a joint now and then won’t bring the Republic to its knees.
The success of Kacey Musgraves may signify a sea change in what mainstream Country is ready to accommodate.
“I love conversational music,” she explained. “I hate when I feel like someone is singing at me. The message of the song is the most important thing.”
Plenty of people have seen potential in this young East Texan, ever since she left Austin at 18 to join other hopefuls in the 2007 season of “Nashville Star.” After settling in Nashville a few years later, she took a few day jobs, including a gig that involved wearing costumes and entertaining kids at birthday parties. But singing demos provided steadier income and helped point her toward a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell.
In that position, Musgraves wrote a number of songs that were picked up by major Country artists. “My first was by Lee Ann Womack,” she recalled. “It was a song I wrote with a guy named Travis Meadows, called ‘There’s a Person There.’ It’s about this older lady who lived in the apartment above me when I moved to town. Unfortunately, it never saw the light of day. But when I figured out that I could make a living by putting things that came out of my brain onto a piece of paper, I really fell in love with that.
She wanted to perform too. Offers came in from folks who misidentified her as a candidate for stardom according to the prevailing industry model. Wisely, she opted to wait for an opportunity she could fully embrace.
“It wasn’t that people were trying to push me into anything,” Musgraves said. “It was more that the material was OK but it didn’t really come from a different point of view. It was like, ‘Oh, this could be a hit. Let’s do this.’ I had the sense to be patient with all that, because I thought that if I’ve got one shot to say something, it better mean something.”
After a promising moment with Lost Highway before the label was shuttered, Musgraves found someone who could give her that shot. “Kacey doesn’t project the typical, middle-of-the-road image that we expect from our female artists,” said Mike Dungan, who began working with the newly signed artist when he became Chairman/CEO, Universal Music Nashville. “Our radio format is crying for something different. This was a new perspective and fresh delivery that was so high-quality that we were confident it would work, given the right plan.
“Her presentation is a bit understated when you compare her to some of the arena artists. So we made sure she was presented in intimate settings. But mainly, we took our lead from the press. The minute they heard her music, the response from all areas was phenomenal.”
Much of that had to do with the overlay of acoustic timbres, accessible tunes, ironic humor and songs that tell narrative stories, in the often touted but rarely practiced Country tradition. Musgraves explained, “I just wanted to create an album with concise character, not just, ‘Here’s a song! This could be a hit! Look what I can do!’ A lot of records nowadays are like that.
“My favorite songs are simple,” Musgraves added. “It’s not that sometimes a song can’t be really intricate, but I never wanted the production to smack you in the face. There has to be space because that makes the idea stronger than loading it up with too many things. It’s never about how many licks somebody can play or solos they can shred. I just want it to feel good. I do love having songs that people can sing along to. I love that pop sensibility as much as a Radiohead song. If you can walk the line between having both, then you’ve nailed it.”
If that means testing Country audiences a little by playing on words like “whore” in “Follow Your Arrow,” or embracing the ennui of a listless affair in “It Is What It Is,” so be it. “Times have changed,” Dungan insisted. “If people give it a shot, they’ll hear that she’s not saying, ‘Go out and do this.’ She’s saying, ‘Just live your life and be happy.’”
The Giving Tree has had it with all this taking and no giving back and is ready for revenge in this The Giving Tree parody trailer. The classic Shel Silverstein children’s book gets the horror movie treatment courtesy of Funny or Die and Teen Wolf‘s Tyler Posey.
Trees have never seemed so menacing or deadly as they do in this twisted version of Silverstein’s tale.
Stumble It! 
The self-titled newly released 
