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Ralph Fiennes: “I carry a flag for Shakespeare’s verse. It was the reason I became an actor, because I was moved and excited by Shakespeare’s language and Shakespeare’s stories”

January 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Ralph Fiennes might be known to millions of moviegoers as Lord Voldemort, but the Oscar-nominated actor began his career as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. 

He returned to his Shakespeare roots by both starring and directing — his directorial debut — in Coriolanus.  Speaking to NPR, Fiennes talks about his affinity for Shakespeare and the challenge of directing himself.

Fiennes also co-wrote the script, but he left the language of Shakespeare largely intact.  Fiennes admits that he did so because of his loyalty to Shakespeare, saying, “Some producers and people did ask me would I rewrite the project.   I carry a flag for Shakespeare’s verse. It was the reason I became an actor, because I was moved and excited by Shakespeare’s language and Shakespeare’s stories.”

Because Fiennes was directing for the first time, but starring in the film too made him pay closer attention to his work.  He admits, “You are confronted with all kinds of facial takes, vocal mannerism, things that make you embarrassed, recoil.  That was painful and I still feel slightly awkward when I see myself up there, but I felt I learned a lot about acting.”  Continue »

Anne Heche Posed As a Stripper in Preparation for Her ‘Carlito’s Way’ Audition

January 27, 2012 | 1 Comment

Long time actress Anne Heche has revealed to SF Gate, that she daringly went to a strip club and danced in preparation for an audition for the 1993 film Carlito’s Way, starring Al Pacino. 

“I had to strip for the screen test because there’s this scene where he comes into the strip club and so the last thing I did before my screen test was I went into a strip club and asked if I could audition,” Heche shared.

Stepping into the risque world of adult entertainment during her 20′s, Heche detailed her visit to an unknown club, doing a little research for the role. 

“I walked in completely as an unknown.  I went to where the strippers get their outfits and I had a wig and I did a shot of scotch that was in my hotel bar. I was scared to death. I stripped that night and they offered me the job at the club!,” she said. “I was very, very shy about my body and it was so wild. I didn’t go completely nude; I had pasties and a G-string on, but to have the experience of being on stage and the feeling of the control of entertaining the men there was surprisingly liberating.  That’s how I knew I could go and do the screen test and not worry about being truthful as a stripper.”  Continue »

‘The Artist’ Blooper Reel

January 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Check out this blooper reel from the Academy Award nominated film, The Artist.

My favorite parts are the ones with Uggie. That dog is one temperamental actor!

Continue »

Elizabeth Banks Loved “Running Around Chasing Bad Guys” for ‘Hunger Games’ Role

January 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment

As she told New York Magazine during a recent interview, The Hunger Games actress Elizabeth Banks was so thrilled to be a part of the big-screen adaptation of the popular novel of the same name that feeling pressure to live up to the book, one of her personal favorites, never even entered her head.

“I was really excited to run around with a gun and chase bad guys,” said the 37-year-old actress, who plays a pink-haired girl named Effie Trinket in the science fiction drama, which arrives in the theaters March 23. “If I could remove myself from the situation, I would be really excited by my portrayal of Effie.”

Those who know Banks as Jack Donaghy’s kidnapped wide on NBC comedy 30 Rock might be thrown for a loop when they see her in Hunger Games, but that’s pretty much par for the course. Over the course of her 14-year career, Banks has appeared in everything from comedies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Zach and Miri Make a Porno to more serious fare such as Man on a Ledge and W.  Continue »

Q & A: Adam Baldwin Talks ‘Chuck’, the Last Days on Set and Playing a Character for 5 Years

January 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:05 — 15.2MB)

Fans of Chuck will soon be saying goodbye to their much loved series. Over the past 5 years, as Chuck Bartowski has been learning to use and hone his newfound spy-secrets, he’s been protected by the NSA’s John Casey.

The great Adam Baldwin plays Casey and he said in a conference call that he loved his time on the show. Why? “They gave me a lot of fun shit to do,” he said.

I remember first watching Baldwin in My Bodyguard and have been a fan ever since. From Full Metal Jacket, Serenity/Firefly and the over 60 film and TV appearances, it’s always fun to watch him on the screen.

I talked to Adam and Series Co-Creator Chris Fedak about what is was like to work on the show, playing a character for 5 years and what’s next for the prolific actor.

For more Chuck, check out our interviews with Joshua Gomez and Mark Christopher Lawrence

It’s been a fun show to watch and it looks like it’s been a lot of fun to make over the years. What do you guys take away from this series?

Adam Baldwin: What I take away from Chuck first of all, a five-year run on any show these days is a true blessing and to have been able to go through it with people who are nice and creative and funny and hardworking and just lovable. I mean, we’re gypsies really in this business — we’re circus players — and we travel from town to town it seems like and we travel from family to family on different projects. So to land on one for five years has been a joy and, you know, it’s sad to see it go. But at least we have those five years together and we appreciated it while it was happening. So I just feel blessed and honored to have been a part of it.  Continue »

Rebecca Hall on Her Role in ‘Lay The Favorite’: “I thought, I love this part, I would kill to do it. But I don’t believe that anyone is going to cast me in it”

January 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Rebecca Hall has appeared in a number of award winning movies, including Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon, The Town and The Prestige.  While those credits are impressive enough for the twenty-nine year old actress, Hall had not starred in any comedies. 

So while Hall desperately wanted to star as Las Vegas stripper Beth Raymer in an adaptation of her book Lay The Favorite, a humorous memoir of her past in sports gambling, alongside Bruce Willis and Vince Vaughn, which debuted at Sundance.  Though Hall eventually got the role, she admits to Reuters that it was a challenge just to convince the director that she could pull it off.

Vaughn is well-known for his comedy roles and Willis has done a number of comedies before, but Hall realized that without any experience in comedy being cast in the film would be difficult.   She says, “I had not shown that kind of range.  I thought, I love this part, I would kill to do it. But I don’t believe that anyone is going to cast me in it.”  Continue »

Q & A: The Cast of ‘Spartacus: Vengeance’

January 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Are you ready to return to the arena?

Then you’re in luck because Spartacus is back and this time, with a vengeance.

Spartacus: Vengeance picks up where Blood and Sand left off as the gladiator rebellion continues and they begin to strike fear into the heart of the Roman Empire.

Liam McIntyre takes over the lead role of Spartacus from Andy Whitfield who, before his untimely death, told the cast and crew that he wanted the show to continue. Whitfield even gave the thumbs up to McIntyre, saying that he wanted him to have the role. As McIntyre said in the conference call, “To know that the person who made it so wonderful was on your side, as it were, especially considering all the harrowing personal experience he had to survive at the time. That means more to an actor than you can possibly imagine.”

I talked to the cast – McIntyre, Lucy Lawless, Viva Bianca and Peter Mensah – about the upcoming season, the costumes (or lack thereof) and acting in the mud.

Spartacus: Vengeance airs on Fridays at 10pm on Starz

Liam, you played a character that was obviously played by Andy Whitfield. I was wondering, how did you manage to carry on the character that Andy had built, but also leave your own mark as an actor?

Liam McIntyre: Well, I mean I’m very lucky in that I – the writing team is absolutely sensational, and that Starz is really supportive. So Starz early on said, you know, make the character your own, treat it as your own character. You know, that they didn’t expect me to copy anything. I did watch all of Andy’s amazing work. And so I don’t know if any parts was osmosis or kind of like a kind of influenced me in any way. I can’t be sure, but I mean hopefully because he was sensational.

But I mean realistically I just tried to be true to the character which, you know, essentially stays the same. Because the writing is the same and all of that lovely humanity and those difficult choices and all that. Then that struggle that Spartacus goes through, it’s still there this season. So I didn’t get the honor of being able to treat that with respect and truth. And hopefully you have a character that feels the same as the great character that Andy portrayed.  Continue »

George Clooney to Appear on ‘Inside the Actors Studio’

January 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio returns for its 18th season with George Clooney. 

In the two-hour season premiere, Clooney discusses his life from his early days as Dr. Doug Ross on ER to his recently acclaimed role as Matt King in The Descendants, for which he has just received an Oscar® nomination.

When talking about The Descendants, he said to host James Lipton that, “I enjoyed the fact that I was allowed to dip my toe into an area that I am very uncomfortable with.”

He also talks about  Batman Returns – “Coming off of [Batman Returns] I suddenly realized I was going to have to pick better projects” – and committing adultery…. in second grade. “I thought it meant acting like an adult, I didn’t know what the hell it meant,” he said.

The show airs on Tuesday, January 31 at 7pm et/pt.

Check out the preview below!  Continue »

Liam Neeson on Shooting ‘The Grey’: “We had lines to memorize and our brains were freezing and all we could think about was how to stay warm”

January 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Though mostly known throughout the 1990s as a dramatic actor, Liam Neeson has surprisingly become something of an action hero as he approaches his sixtieth birthday. 

In Neeson’s next action film, the action thriller The Grey, he is a member of an Alaskan oil drilling team whose plane crash-lands in the wild.  But filming a movie that takes place in the tundra has a number of physical demands that made the shoot challenging.

In fact, even though he was drawn to the role, Neeson had concerns about his physical ability for the role. 

He confesses,  “The Grey triggered something very primal inside of me.  When I read the script, I was 57 years old, and the little boy inside me thought it would be great to take on such a demanding role.  I wanted audiences to say ‘Wow, how did you guys do that?’  At the same time, I was thinking, ‘Jeez, can I physically do this?’”

Neeson’s concerns were certainly valid: the film was shot in in Smithers,  British Columbia, which is a 12-hour drive north of Vancouver.  The cast and crew had to contend with frigid temperatures and equipment failures.  Neeson recalls, “It was just a physically impossible time during the first few days.  We had lines to memorize and our brains were freezing and all we could think about was how to stay warm.”  Continue »

Australian Politician Steals a Speech from Michael Douglas in ‘The American President’

January 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment

A lawmaker from Australia was accused of stealing a portion of dialogue from the movie The American President while giving a speech to journalists in Canberra on Wednesday. 

The New York Post has reported that the Federal Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, plagiarized the 1995 movie starring Michael Douglas and Annette Bening.

In the movie, Douglas’ character, Andrew Shepherd, says, “We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious men to solve them.”  While speaking to the National Press Club, Albanese said, “In Australia, we have serious challenges to solve, and we need serious people to solve them.”

In an additionally suspect coincidence, the movie contains lines criticizing the opposition: “And whatever your particular problem is, friend, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it.  He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who’s to blame for it.”  Continue »