Q & A: Jim Rash Talks Writing His First Episode of ‘Community’

If you have an Oscar-winning screenwriter as an actor on your show, why wouldn’t you ask that actor to pitch you a few ideas?

That’s exactly what happened with Jim Rash. After winning an Oscar for The Descendants (which he shares with his co-writer, Nat Faxon), Community producers asked Rash if he had any story ideas he’d like to pitch. He pitched a few, one landed and now we have tonight’s episode, “Basic Human Anatomy”.

Rash said even though the script came out to about 30 pages, it doesn’t “decrease the challenge,” he said. But, since he’s lived with the characters for so long, he knows their voices which made it “fun.”

In the interview, Rash talks about writing the episode, writing dialogue for himself, the behind the scenes turmoil of the firing of Dan Harmon and if he was cool with the cast changing his words.

Community airs on Thursdays at 8/7c  on NBC Read more

Review: ‘Graceland’

I’m not the biggest fan of foreign films and usually try and avoid them. I’m not really sure what my apprehension is… maybe because I think it’s like going back to school and that’ll it’ll be like homework? It’s honestly a stupid mental block I have against them and I definitely need to get over it because of the few foreign films I watch each year, I always end up liking them.

As is the case in Graceland.

Written and directed by Ron Morales, Graceland is billed as a thriller but I’d also add mystery into the mix. It’s about a family man named Marlon (Arnold Reyes). He works for Chango (Menggie Cobarrubias), a corrupt politician, doing everything from the mundane (driving the daughter to school) to the sick (cleaning up after his boss’ escapades with underage girls). When Marlon, his daughter and Chango’s daughter are kidnapped, things go from bad to worse. Chango’s daughter is accidentally killed and the kidnappers take Marlon’s daughter and hold her for ransom. Desperate, Marlon now must lie to Chango and the police about what really happened in order to get his daughter back. Read more

‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’ Sets Date for its Final Performance

After 27 previews and 478 regular performances at the Imperial Theatre, the producers of the Tony Award-winning musical comedy Nice Work If You Can Get It have announced that the Broadway production will play its final performance on Saturday, June 15th.

The production began performances on March 29th, 2012 and opened on Apr 24th, 2012. A national tour will be launched in the 2014-2015 season.

For most of the cast who have been with the show since the beginning, it was definitely nice work.

The production stars two-time Tony Award-winner Matthew Broderick, Tony Award nominee Jessie Mueller, two-time Tony Award-winner Judy Kaye as Estonia Dulworth, Emmy and Tony Award winner Blythe Danner as Millicent Winter, Tony Award winner Michael McGrath as Cookie McGee, Tony Award nominee Jennifer Laura Thompson as Eileen Evergreen, Chris Sullivan as Duke Mahoney, Robyn Hurder as Jeannie Muldoon, John Treacy Egan as Chief Berry, Conrad John Schuck as Senator Max Evergreen. Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons returns to the role of Millicent Winter on Tuesday, April 30^th. Read more

Interview: Matt Bomer talks ‘Superman: Unbound’ and How Voice Acting is a “Different Beast”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:47 — 4.7MB)

I’ve always liked Matt Bomer and love him in USA’s White Collar. But, I guess I never really knew how popular he was till I tweeted a picture I took of him when I was at WonderCon. It was the most re-tweets I’d ever gotten on anything ever. I stopped counting after 100. It was crazy!

So, yeah. People love Matt Bomer.

And what’s not to like. The guy is incredibly handsome, smart, funny and a great actor. Now, he can add playing the Man of Steel as something else he’s good at. That’s right, he’s voicing Clark Kent and his alter ego, Superman, in the new DC animated film, Superman: Unbound, which also stars Castle‘s Molly C. Quinn.

I talked to Matt in a roundtable interview and it went by quick. I think we only got like 6 or 7 minutes with him. He was very cool and I hope one day I can talk with him longer and ask him some more in-depth questions. In the interview, he talks about doing voice work and how it’s “almost harder” then being on-screen, why he found playing Superman challenging and how the part has been circling his career “pretty heavily.”

Superman: Unbound will be released on May 7th on DVD & Blu-Ray

For the full interview, click the audio link above or download it from iTunes  Read more

Interview: Molly C. Quinn on Voicing Supergirl in ‘Superman: Unbound’

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:28 — 5.2MB)

Castle‘s Molly C. Quinn is taking up residence in Smallville. In the new DC animated film, Superman: Unbound, she play’s the Man of Steel’s cousin, Kara. Better known as Supergirl.

I talked to Molly at WonderCon where she talked about voice work, preparing the script beforehand and what superhero she’d love to play in a live-action film.

Superman: Unbound will be released on May 7th on DVD & Blu-Ray

For the full interview, click the audio link above or download it from iTunes 

So how do you feel about Supergirl as a character and the experience of voicing her?

Molly C. Quinn: I felt very similar to her, to be honest. She’s very headstrong and when she wants something, she’s gonna get it. When she wants to get something done, she’s gonna get it done. And she doesn’t need anybody else to tell her how to get it done or anything like that. She knows that she’s capable and she’s gonna do it. So that’s what I tried to bring to her and that’s what I connected with her about and that’s definitely what I took from her. Read more

Interview: Voice Casting Director Andrea Romano talks Casting ‘Superman: Unbound’, Telephone Auditions and Going to Bat for “Rank and File” Actors

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:45 — 8.8MB)

Andrea Romano is one of the top voice casting directors around. From SpongeBob Squarepants to Animaniacs, The Smurfs to Batman, she’s cast dozens of animated shows and films since the mid-80′s.

Lately, she’s been casting the DC animated films (Justice League and Green Lantern to name a few) and her current film, Superman: Unbound, was one of the featured panels at WonderCon. 

Andrea is also the voice director on the film that stars Molly C. Quinn as Supergirl, Stana Katic as Lois Lane and Matt Bomer as Superman. She said in a roundtable interview that that means she’s listening to the actor’s work and helping them round out their performance, sometimes even giving the actors line readings after they’ve done 5 or 6 takes.

Andrea was very cool and you’re definitely going to like this interview. She talks about voice casting and finding the right voices, not caring if the actors are known or not, auditioning over the phone, and getting that right “Ahh’s” and “Arghs!”

Superman: Unbound will be released on May 7th on DVD & Blu-Ray

For the full interview, click the audio link above or download it from iTunes 

Read more

Proof That Michael Shannon is Awesome: Watch Him Read the Delta Gamma Sorority Letter

Last week, there was a crazy letter going around from the Sorority President of Delta Gamma, Rebecca Martinson, to her fellow sisters.  In it she went bat-sh*t nuts calling out her sisters about how awful they were.

Now, Funny or Die gives us Michael Shannon reading that letter as only he could.

And it’ll be the best thing you see all day.

Check it out below! Read more

Biography: Christopher Meloni

Christopher Meloni, already one of Hollywood’s most successful television actors, solidifies his leading man status with a number of much-anticipated feature films. He will next be seen in Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel,” opening in June. Meloni then stars in “Small Time,” with Bridget Moynahan and Dean Norris, due for a limited release later this summer.

In October, he co-stars with Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green, and Mickey Rourke in “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” the sequel to 2005’s screen adaptation of Frank Miller’s highly regarded graphic novel. Currently, Meloni is co-starring in the indie comedy “Awful Nice,” which premiered to great reviews at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival in Austin. He also has two other films awaiting release dates for 2013/2014: “They Came Together,” directed by David Wain and also starring Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, and Ed Helms; and “White Bird in a Blizzard,” based on the book of the same name by Laura Kasischke, with Shailene Woodley and Eva Green.

The Washington, D.C. native studied acting at the University of Colorado – Boulder before graduating with a degree in History. He worked in construction and as a bouncer before breaking into acting, studying his craft in New York with legendary teacher Sanford Meisner. Early on, he landed a number of small film roles and short-lived TV series, including “The Fanelli Boys,” before his breakout part on “NYPD Blue,” opposite Kim Delaney. That led to him winning a series regular role on HBO’s gritty series “Oz,” playing the psychotic, bisexual murderer Chris Keller, in an ensemble cast that also included J.K. Simmons, Lee Tergesen and Rita Moreno. Read more

Biography: Hamish Linklater

Hamish Linklater starred for five seasons on the CBS comedy “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” playing the brother of Julia-Louis Dreyfus’s title character. On the big screen, he recently co-starred with Liam Neeson and Alexander Skarsgård in Peter Berg’s 2012 action adventure “Battleship.”

An accomplished stage actor, Linklater most recently starred opposite Alan Rickman in the Broadway play “Seminar,” marking his Broadway debut. In 2011, he won an Obie Award for his performance off-Broadway in “The School for Lies.” He earned a Drama Desk Award nomination in 2010 for his work in the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park production of “Twelfth Night.” Earlier this year, he made his playwriting debut with “Vandal,” which just premiered off-Broadway.

Born in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, Linklater began acting at the age of eight as part of an acting troupe called Shakespeare & Company, founded by his mother, Columbia University drama professor and noted vocal coach Kristin Linklater. After attending Amherst College, he left school to pursue his career. Read more

Biography: Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford has starred in some of the most successful and acclaimed films in cinema history, including the landmark “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises and a total of eight Best Picture Oscar®-nominated movies. Ford earned an Academy Award® nomination for his compelling portrayal of Detective John Book in Peter Weir’s 1985 Oscar®-nominated hit “Witness,” for which he also received Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations, all for Best Actor. Ford subsequently garnered three more Best Actor Golden Globe nominations: for his performances in Weir’s 1986 drama “The Mosquito Coast”; the 1994 Oscar®-nominated blockbuster “The Fugitive,” for director Andrew Davis; and Sydney Pollack’s 1996 remake of “Sabrina.”

Over the course of his illustrious career, Ford has also been repeatedly honored for his contributions to the film industry, including the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Award, in 2002, and the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2000. In 1994, the National Association of Theater Owners named him the Box Office Star of the Century. Read more

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