Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss on the Evolution of Peggy

Elisabeth Moss has gotten to do some growing along with her character, Peggy Olson, as Mad Men has progressed over the years. 

In an interview with AMCTV.com, Moss said, “I’ve known Peggy for six years.  What’s great about that is when I started out I was 23 and now I’m 29, so I’ve changed a lot in six years.  So the sort of melding and blending of you changing and you growing up and the character changing and melding and growing is not an opportunity that you always get…We’ve never made [Peggy] really different from season to season or been like, oh, now she’s wearing pantsuits and bossing everyone around.  I think she’s changed enormously in the past five seasons.  But it’s also been realistic.” Read more

Watch Tom Hiddleston Do a Monologue From Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’ and Be Jealous of How Good He Is

Great. I already have enough man-crushes that my girlfriend may start questioning me.

After watching Tom Hiddleston perform this speech from Henry V though, I have to add another one to my list. 

Hiddleston, who is tearing it up as Loki in The Avengers, recently appeared on the talk show Hoppus on Music to plug the film. When the host asked him to perform a monologue from Shakespeare’s Henry V, which he just wrapped, he jumped up, got in front of a camera and went to town.

“Once more under the breach, dear friends….”

Check it out below! Read more

The Cast of ‘Spartacus’ Heads to Boot Camp Before Season 3

Each year, the cast and stunt performers of the Spartacus get together a month before shooting and begins their brutal weeks of boot camp.

They have to get themselves into Gladiator shape, prepare for the extensive action sequences and get camera ready for their, you know, nude scenes.

“Spartacus Boot Camps are famous now for pushing you to your absolute limits,” says star Liam McIntyre. “This year they found a new level with military inspired training. I’ve never been so fit in my whole life. This boot camp will kick your ass. This year it kicked it twice.”

“Meticulous choreographing is necessary to ensure the safety of the actors performing the stunts,” says stunt coordinator Allan Poppleton, who has overseen each of the “Spartacus” boot camps. “For four weeks, we work the cast to the point of exhaustion, combining cross training elements- everything from cardio, basic gymnastics, foot and movement work, unarmed combat, body awareness, reactions, weaponry, and functional cross fit circuits.” Read more

Benedict Cumberbatch on His Acting Parents, His Legal Beginnings and How He’s Most Like ‘Sherlock’

Though Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is the son of two actors, he didn’t come around to deciding to become an actor until his college years. 

In an interview with NPR, Cumberbatch talks about how he began to pursue acting and the influence his parents had on his career choice.

Cumberbatch’s parents are both actors, and they had enough success to pay the bills but not enough to encourage their son to pursue a career in acting.  He reveals, “My mum and dad had worked incredibly hard to afford me an education.  I had the privilege of being able to choose, or at least have the opportunity to work at, being anything but an actor.” 

In fact, Cumberbatch initially studied to become a lawyer.  But Cumberbatch, who dreamed of becoming an actor, soon discovered that succeeding in the legal profession hinged on luck to the same degree that acting does.  He explains, “As I was learning to be a barrister and choosing my levels around potentially doing Oxbridge and … all the rest of it, I just encountered loads of other people on the same course who said it’s so much down to chance and luck. And I thought, ‘Well, why am I giving up on my primary dream to work doubly hard to do something as an alternative to what I really still want to do?’” Read more

Professional Voice Over Actors Facing Increased Competition from A-List Stars and Amateurs

You’ve probably noticed that an increasing number of big-name actors and actresses are doing commercial voice-over work.  Whether it’s Jeff Bridges pitching for Hyundai or Robert Downey Jr. pitching for Nissan, major Hollywood stars are much more willing to do voice overs for commercials than they were even a few years ago. 

For audiences, it allows them to connect a recognizable voice with a product, so it seems like a win-win for the company and the consumer.  Of course, there are some who don’t like the new trend: voice over actors.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, a number of veteran voice over actors speak about how the new trend affects them.  Some of the actors point out that the Hollywood stars’ voices aren’t distinctive enough to warrant the extra expense for the company and the loss of work for them.  Read more

Megan Hilty on Channeling Marilyn Monroe in ‘Smash’ and ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’

As if playing an actress playing Marilyn Monroe on TV’s Smash wasn’t enough, Megan Hilty is now taking her Monroe association a step further. 

Hilty has been cast in the role of Lorelei Lee in the New York City Center production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a role that Monroe herself starred in for the 1953 film adaptation. 

Hilty spoke to the New York Post about her Monroe connection and how she manages stepping into roles made famous by beloved actresses.

Hilty points out that she didn’t take on the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes role out of a Monroe obsession, saying, “I don’t know who came up with the idea [of casting me], but it was offered a few months ago.  And I was totally onboard because it’s one of my favorite musicals.” 

In fact, Hilty indicates that there’s a significant different between the two roles, adding, “The two roles are very different because in Smash I’m playing Ivy Lynn playing Marilyn, and in this one, I’m playing Lorelei Lee, who was played by Marilyn.” Read more

Video: Jon Hamm, Vincent Kartheiser & Jessica Pare Discuss Last Week’s Episode of ‘Mad Men’

Last Sunday’s episode of Mad Men was another in a long line of great episodes. I even just listened to The Beatles song, ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, from the show because I couldn’t get it out of my head.

In this video, Jon Hamm, Vincent Kartheiser, Jessica Pare and creator Matthew Weiner, talk in depth about the episode and the characters.

Check it out below! Read more

Chris Colfer Talks ‘Glee’ and His Screenwriting Debut in ‘Struck by Lightning’

Actor Chris Colfer is famous for playing openly gay high school student, Kurt Hummel, on FOX’s Glee.  But it turns out the 21-year-old is not just good at belting out show tunes.  Colfer’s new film, Struck by Lightning, just premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.  He not only stars in the movie, but he also wrote the script about a teenager who starts a literary magazine to impress Northwestern University, and then blackmails his classmates in order to get submissions.

In an interview with NPR, Colfer admitted that he does share some similarities with his character.  He said, “When I was in high school, we had this thing called the senior project where one senior was selected every year to have their own show…All the seniors before me always just did an SNL-like format with a bunch of skits and gags and songs, and I was the only student that ever was like, ‘Nope, I’m going to write a show, and we’re going to do a full production.’” Read more

The Cast of ‘Mad Men’ to Appear on ‘Inside the Actors Studio’ (with video)

Inside the Actors Studio and host James Lipton welcome the cast and creator Mad Men to the show, which premieres Monday, May 14th. 

Jon Hamm, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery, Vincent Kartheiser, Jared Harris, Kiernan Shipka and creator Matt Weiner will all be there as they talk about Hamm’s troubled youth, the origin of January Jones’ name and Kiernan Shipka’s secret talents.

Check out some of clips below! Read more

How Does Chris Parnell Choose His Roles?

Fresh from 30 Rock‘s live show and The Five Year Engagement, The Hollywood Reporter asked former Saturday Night Live star Chris Parnell how he chooses his roles.

It’s all about the character, he said. And since he usually has to audition, if it feels like he can do it well and bring something to the role, he’ll take it.

Check it out below! Read more

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