Trailer: ‘The Wolverine’ starring Hugh Jackman

The Wolverine: Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto, Brian Tee, Will Yun Lee, and Hal Yamanouchi.

Directed by: James Mangold

In Theaters: July 26th Read more

Michael Douglas on ‘Behind the Candelabra’, Steven Soderbergh and the “Guts” of Matt Damon

It’s been a while since Michael Douglas really had a role he could get into.  With Behind the Candelabra, in which he portrays Liberace, Douglas might have his best role in over a dozen years.  He gave a lengthy interview to New York magazine about the HBO film about what was so different about playing such a campy real-life individual and what it was like acting opposite Matt Damon, who portrays Liberace’s young lover Scott Thorson.

Playing the flamboyant Liberace exposed Douglas to a new aspect of acting that his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones is far more familiar with — sitting in the makeup chair and then hours of costuming.  Douglas explains, “I was the girl on this movie! The hair and makeup for Liberace took two and a half hours.  I’ve never done elaborate hair and makeup before. Up until now, my entire career has been contemporary.” Read more

Norbert Leo Butz on His Broadway Success: “The only thread through my career is near-constant employment. That is a huge, rare gift in the theater”

So if you already have gotten two Tony Awards for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, you shouldn’t be getting nervous about taking your next lead role on Broadway, right?  Based on his interview with The St. Louis Dispatch, Norbert Leo Butz would disagree with you.

With the Chicago tryout of Big Fish — a musical adapted from the 2003 Tim Burton film — now wrapped up and heading to Broadway in September, Butz admits he’s feeling nervous about it.  He confesses, “Talk about a tough gig.  I hope somebody will get some inspiration, some positive re-enforcement, from it. This acting thing is not for sissies.  But when I was in college, you couldn’t have told me that I wouldn’t be a working actor.”In fact, he was convinced he would become an actor ever since high school, in which he starred not only in his high school’s plays but also in plays in all-girls schools in his hometown.  He says, “The acting bug bit me before I graduated.  I just fell in love with theater, with a love bordering on the obsessive. I couldn’t get enough.” Read more

Q & A: John Krasinski Talks the End of ‘The Office’, His Audition, Past Commercials and More

On May 16th, The Office will be closing its doors. After an eight-year run, Jim Pam, Dwight and the rest of the gang will be moving on to bigger and better things (hopefully). I’ve watched every episode of the long running series and I’ll definitely be sad to see the show go.

Before getting the role of Jim, John Krasinski was like almost every other actor in New York. He’d work his job as a waiter during the week then run off to an audition when he could. He had booked a few things but “not anything that would allow me to claim that I was a working actor and didn’t need another job,” he said during a conference call. Booking The Office was like winning the lottery, “except with a winning lottery ticket you just get money, and with this you get a whole change of your life.”

If you’re a fan of the show, you’ll love this interview. And honestly, even if you’re not, there’s some great stuff in here about what it’s like to go from hustling for auditions to becoming a star on a major network show. In this interview, John and Executive Producer/Writer Greg Daniels talk about the end of The Office, John’s audition, his past commercials and more. It’s a long one but it’s really great.

The Office airs on Thursdays at 9 on NBC – for only 2 more weeks! Read more

‘Inside The Actors Studio’ Celebrates 250 Episodes with a Two-Hour Special (video)

Inside the Actors Studio, hosted by James Lipton, will celebrate reaching 250 episodes with a special 2-hour show on Wednesday, May 29th at 7p.m.

Lipton sits down for brand new interviews with former guests including Actors Studio alumnus Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Jennifer Lopez, Christopher Walken, Barbara Walters, Dave Chappelle, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Ellen Burstyn and Spike Lee. Read more

The Actor’s Guide to the Twitter-verse

Written by Dallas Travers, CEC

If you’re like me, you’ve realized that Twitter holds a lot of potential for relationship building in the business because of the direct line of communication it offers you.

Everyday, I see more actors, agents, casting directors and filmmakers engage in powerful online communication using Twitter as their tool.

Everyday, I also see a lot of actors waste time tweeting away and wondering why their followers aren’t responding.

Well, there’s a right way and a wrong way to tweet, so let me share two easy tips to help you make the most out of your tweets. Read more

Olga Kurylenko on How She and Terrence Malick Created Her Character in ‘To the Wonder’

Olga Kurylenko is ready to prove she’s more than just a pretty face.  Although she got her start modeling and starred as a Bond girl in Quantum of Solace, she’s hoping to branch out more.

“That’s not what an actor hopes to play,” she said in an interview with The New York Post. “They’ve mostly been dull and just arm candy.”

With her new role in Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder, Kurylenko did as much preparation as possible.  “I had to read three Russian novels: Anna Karenina, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov,” she recalled.  “They were very tiny little novels.  After that it was just discussions about what I drew from the books, how we can compose the character, and what similarities are there between [her character] and the different female characters in those books.” Read more

Q & A: Stephanie Leonidas and Grant Bowler Talk Syfy’s ‘Defiance’

Defiance is one hugely ambitious show because for the first time ever, a TV show and video game will exist concurrently in a shared universe, influencing and impacting one anothers outcome. It all sounds pretty damn cool to me.

Defiance is set in the year 2046. It’s a new Earth and with over thirty different Alien races, it’s also a different Earth. Defiance is now what used to be St. Louis and when the mysterious Nolan (Grant Bowler) and Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas) settle in, things begin to happen that threaten the peacefulness the town has enjoyed for years.

Grant Bowler and Stephanie Leonidas took some time out of their schedule for a really cool Q&A where they talked about all aspects of the show; green screen and the special effects, the extensive makeup and all of the acting challenges they faced while shooting.

Defiance airs on Mondays at 9/8c on Syfy Read more

Nominations for the 2013 Tony Awards!

Sutton Foster and Jesse Tyler Ferguson announced the nominations for the 2013 Tony Awards this morning (way too early for us West Coasters) and with 13 nominations, the musical Kinky Boots is the one to beat.

Right behind it is Matilda the Musical with 12 nominations, Pippin received 10 and Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella got 9.

Tom Hanks (Lucky Guy), Nathan Lane (The Nance) and Holland Taylor (Ann – read our review here) were among the Best Performance nominees.

Check them all out below and then watch Sutton Foster and Jesse Tyler Ferguson make the announcements here! Read more

Yo, Adrian! Rocky is comin’ to Broadway!

Rocky, the new musical based of the classic film that starred Sylvester Stallone, will come to Broadway next February, 2014.

Preview performances begin February and the show will officially open in March at Broadway’s historic Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway, New York, NY). 

The musical received its world premiere last fall in Hamburg, Germany, where it earned unanimous critical raves and continues to play to packed houses.   

“I couldn’t be more proud or more excited about this production and how my original story of Rocky Balboa has been brought to spectacular life onstage,” said Oscar-nominated Rocky screenwriter and star Sylvester Stallone.  “The story of Rocky was very much like my life at the time – starting out with nothing, having to fight for roles and recognition.  So I put those feelings into the body of a boxer and I had no idea there were so many millions of people that felt the same way.   Alex Timbers and the entire creative team have not only honored that original impulse, but have made his story as exciting, heart-breaking, and inspiring as it was when Rocky first went the distance on screen.” Read more

Next Page »