Mackenzie Crook on his Career and ‘Tintin’: “It was frustrating to be in the motion-capture environment”

Mackenzie Crook might not be as well known as Rainn Wilson is in the United States, but Wilson’s character Dwight on the U.S. version of The Office owes everything to Gareth Keenan, the character Crook played in the original U.K. series of The Office. 

While Crook has appeared in such films as the Merchant of Venice, Finding Neverland, The Brothers Grimm, and the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies and has appeared on stage in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Seagull, and Jerusalem (in which he was nominated for a Tony Award), the scrawny actor doesn’t seem to be satisfied.  As he explains to The Independent, he still yearns for that elusive leading role. 

There’s a sense of frustration from Crook, who seems to want to be a bit more than Gareth from The Office or a supporting actor in various films and television series.  He suggests, “I could play a lead, but it’d have to be a skinny lead. I think I’m a character actor. I’m happy with the quirky character roles. If lead roles come along, I’d love to do them.”  He returns to the topic later, arguing, “If I can prove myself with some weighty or serious roles, that would be something I would like to explore.  If it doesn’t happen, if I just continue this way, then I have a blessed life. I have no complaints.”   Read more

Trailer: ‘Shame’ starring Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan

Shame: Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his wayward younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment stirring memories of their shared painful past, Brandon’s insular life spirals out of control.

Director: Steve McQueen

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan

Writers: Steve McQueen, Abi Morgan

In Theaters: December 2nd, 2011
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Colin Hanks’ ‘Dexter’ Role: “Completely Different from Anything Else I’ve Done”

Like father, like son. While Tom Hanks’ eldest son Colin got his start in teen comedies like Orange County and Whatever It Takes, he’s since moved into more dramatic (and religious) fare. Following an impressive stint as a priest on AMC’s ‘60s drama Mad Men, he’s currently starring as a God-fearing serial-killer-in-training on Showtime’s Dexter.

“I guess maybe someone at Dexter saw the Mad Men stuff and thought, ‘He can do this.’ To be quite honest, I’m not religious. So for me Mad Men was kind of hard for me to wrap my head around. The Dexter stuff is very different because it’s coming from such a different point of view,” he told the Los Angeles Times in a recent interview. “More than anything it was hard to go to work sometimes, waking up in the morning knowing that I’m going to have to be in a very dark place for the next 12 hours and I’m going to be pretending to hurt people.”

Watching the younger Hanks as a high school senior worrying about getting into college in 2002’s Orange County, you wouldn’t think the 33-year-old would be believable as a murderous antagonist. However, his character is one of the creepiest in the history of the show, which follows the life of its titular blood spatter analyst who moonlights as a vigilante serial killer.   Read more

Trailer: ‘American Reunion’ starring Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Eugene Levy

American Reunion: It was summer 1999 when four small-town Michigan boys began a quest to lose their virginity. In the years that have passed, Jim and Michelle married while Kevin and Vicky said goodbye. Oz and Heather grew apart, but Finch still longs for Stifler’s mom. Now these lifelong friends have come home as adults to reminisce about — and get inspired by — the hormonal teens they once were.

Starring: Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Katrina Bowden, Shannon Elizabeth, Natasha Lyonne, John Cho

Directed by: Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg

In Theaters: April 6, 2012   Read more

Glee’s Dot-Marie Jones: “This overnight success 20 years later is working pretty well for me. It was the longest night of my life, but I’ll take it.”

A 15-time world arm wrestling champion and former juvenile detention center worker, Glee’s Dot-Marie Jones isn’t your average primetime comedy actress. However, the actress is enjoying a change of pace with Fox’s hit musical series, on which she plays a touch-girl football coach who also enjoys belting out a tune every once in a while.

“Over the last 20 years, I’ve played every tough-chick role imaginable,” she told USA Today during a recent interview. “And to still get to play that big, tough chick and a character with such heart and vulnerability is fantastic for me. It lets people see that I do have a range outside of the big tough chick.”

Jones was originally cast as a transgender in Glee showrunner Ryan Murphy’s 2008 pilot, Pretty/Handsome. However, that show didn’t get picked up by FX, but Murphy eventually found a place for Jones on Glee, as coach Shannon Beiste.

“He says, ‘Well, can you sing?’ I said, ‘I’m no Mariah Carey, but I can carry a tune.’ Two months later, I got a call with Ryan wanting to know what his schedule was like,” recalled Jones, who also appears in And They’re Off, which arrived in theaters last week. “When I signed my contract, it didn’t even have a character name — just two quotation marks. I said, ‘I don’t care. I know I’ll do it.’”   Read more

Hayden Panettiere: ‘Heroes’ Kept Me Out of Trouble

Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere recently discussed her movie Fireflies in the Garden, and her long run as that famous cheerleader in the sci-fi series with Parade Magazine.  The twenty-two year old, who co-starred alongside Pretty Woman’s Julia Roberts plays the young Jane Lawrence in the Robert Frost adapted poem that zones in on the Taylor family and a tragic event that changed their world.

Happy about the films turnout, Panettiere called the Dennis Lee directed film “difficult to turn down” due in part to the “great cast.  It was my first film since I did Heroes. [It was shot] in the middle of the first and second season. It was fun for me to go from such a huge production to a small, independent, very character-driven film. It was great to be able to spread my wings a little bit.”

An avid animal rights activist, Panettiere also shared that “Heroes wasn’t just a show, it was a massive, massive production that was ten months out of the year and definitely monopolized my life. At that period of time, it was probably a godsend for me. It kept me busy, kept me out of trouble. It was steady. It was a great place for me to be at that point in my life.”   Read more

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