About the only downside we can think of when it comes to the proliferation of online entertainment courtesy of companies such as Amazon, Hulu, Netflix and Yahoo is that amazing shows can sometimes get lost in the shuffle! [Read more…]
Archives for April 2015
Get to Know Actor Kaiser Johnson
Kaiser Johnson was born Eric Kaiser Johnson in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Instead of going to high school, Johnson went early to college, and garnered three Kennedy Center acting nominations for roles as diverse as a dying boy in Edwin Sanchez’s “Icarus”, Marc Antony in Julius Caesar, and a brutal murderer in Rashomon. Johnson is being spotlighted as “the next big thing.” You can see him in the upcoming film, “Little Boy” and on television in “So Awkward.”
What made you decide to get into acting?
Johnson: I first got into acting in sixth grade, almost accidentally, when I filled in as the prince in Cinderella for my middle school play after the guy they originally cast dropped out. I loved the whole experience, and wanted to do more. The next year, I saw a production of Romeo and Juliet, where they had a Q&A with the actors afterwards. One of the actors said something in passing like, “well, we’re actors, so this is our job”. As soon as I realized that acting could be a profession, I wanted it to be my profession.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
Johnson: Sure! I grew up in Edina, Minnesota, just outside of Minneapolis, with two sisters and two brothers (and a couple of dogs). Minnesota was a great place to live, with 10,000 lakes for the hot summers (my grandparents had a lake cabin), sledding hills for the snowy winters, real fall colors, beautiful spring, and nice people all year round. My parents homeschooled us for most of our academic careers, but we were also involved in a lot of extracurricular activities. We played baseball, football, and did martial arts (I have a 2nd degree black belt in Karate). And eventually, all of us kids ended up starting college early; I started when I was 16. I finished my degree at the University of Minnesota – Duluth, where I really got into the outdoors, into hiking, rock climbing, and adventuring in general. I spent a year in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) doing theater after college (since I finished early, I figured I could stick around a little while), then I made the move to LA.
It looks like one of your first jobs was a spot on Days of Our Lives. Can you talk about what that experience was like? What did you learn?
Johnson: Working on Days of Our Lives was great, even though it was only one day! Soap operas move so quickly, with 60-90 pages being shot a day, that they really run like a play, which was fun for an actor like me, coming from a theater background. It hit home the importance of being “off-book” (knowing your lines) whenever you’re on set, and adapting constantly to new situations (several actors had lines changed while they were shooting the scene). It was my first job on a real, union set, and a great introduction to the business.
You did a bunch of television and movie spots and then landed a recurring role as Adam/Redmond (various other names) on G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense. Can you talk to me about that role. How did you land it? How would you describe Adam?
Johnson: Well, I’ve actually been on The Apostle of Common Sense for 3 seasons now. I’ve done 29 episodes and played almost as many characters from the writings of G.K. Chesterton, who’s probably most famous for his Father Brown character (currently played by Mark Williams on the BBC show), or for “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and “The Man Who Was Thursday”. I met the writer/producer of the show and hit it off; he ended up asking me if I’d like to audition for the show, since they were looking to fill a couple of roles. I did, booked it, and in my second season got bumped up from recurring to series regular. Adam Wayne was a great first role to play… he’s a character from The Napoleon of Notting Hill, a fierce idealist who fights to save his homeland, even though his homeland is “only” a poor tiny neighborhood in London, and he’s only saving it from having a highway being built through it. But as he says, “That which is large enough for the rich to covet is large enough for the poor to defend.” He’s such a firebrand that he inspired real-life revolutionary Michael Collins to lead the fight for Irish independence.
After that show you had another recurring role on Hipsters Anonymous as ‘X’ — as this point from one of your first roles on Days of Our Lives to Hipsters how had you grown as an actor? What changes did you make in preparation? How did landing this role change the course of your career?
Johnson: I think I had relaxed a lot! I had done more TV, and a number of films, and I remembering feeling much more comfortable in front of a camera than I had when I first started. Having come from theater, acting tended to be bigger, so it took a lot of trust to move to the intimacy of screen, trust that the audience will see what’s really going on for the actor without any hand-holding. And even though Hipsters Anonymous is a comedy, the same rules apply… personally, I’ve always found subtle serious comedy to be the funniest, whether it’s Jason Bateman’s deadpan delivery on Arrested Development or even the over-the-top but dead serious stuff that Leslie Nielsen delivered in Police Squad or Airplane. So, as much as possible, I try to keep my comedy acting straightforward and serious, just serious under stranger circumstances!
Recently, you completed a role as Cpl. Peter Stuff on Little Boy. Can you tell us what it’s about?
Johnson: Yeah, Little Boy is a family film set in WWII where a boy believes he has the power to end the war and bring his dad back home, if only his will and faith are strong enough. I got to play Corporal Peter Stouff, the CO of the little boy’s dad’s (played by Michael Rapaport) platoon. What a ton of fun… after a “boot camp” and weapons training with the 2nd unit director and stunt coordinator (the incredible Garrett Warren) we spent the next 3 days tramping around in the jungle with guns and gear, a bunch of talented stunt guys, and a number of actors I really respect and loved working with.
You worked with some serious actors on that set. What was that like?
Johnson: Over the course of the shoot, I got to work with Michael Rapaport and Sean Astin, and had a brief scene with Emily Watson and David Henrie… all really talented actors, and all really different actors. Seeing the way they prepared for their scenes and got emotionally ready to shoot was incredible. Michael would go from joking with the cast and crew to getting very serious and intense, Sean always came in knowing exactly what he wanted to do, and was so friendly and welcoming, David would stay “in the zone” over the whole course of the day, and Emily was friendly, but always kept herself very emotionally available for the scene. Such an inspiration to be on the same set as all these folks!
When does Little Boy come out?
Johnson: Little Boy comes out on April 24th! Go see it at a theater near you!
What are your next upcoming projects? What are you working on now?
Johnson: I just finished shooting “Bigger Than the Beatles” (which should come out later this year), the true story of the relationship of Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, and Charles Manson, the cult leader. I play Tex Watson, the nice guy who’s new to town and ends up murdering 7 people on Manson’s orders. It was a great, complex role, and everyone on the cast turned in incredible performances. Also, it’s a bizarre story that very few people know.
I also just finished writing a pilot with a good friend of mine… I can’t give a lot of details, but it’s a fun, crime/revenge dramedy, like White Collar, or Suits, with great characters and super-relevant subjects! Stay tuned on that one…
You have such a huge fan following. Do you think that helps you when going into auditions or working on tv/movie sets?
Johnson: You know, it’s helped me get connected with people in the first place, where they might not otherwise have thought of me, but I think in the end, what happens in the room and on set demonstrates the work you do and the talent you bring. But (and I guess this leads into the next question) the fans are awesome, and I can’t say enough how much I appreciate all the support I get! It’s great to have all that love, and it makes dealing with the occasional troll (or are we calling them haters now?) a lot easier!
You are so interactive with your fans on social media. How important is your fan base to you — and is there anything you would like to say to them?
Johnson: I know how much it has always meant to me to have someone I care about show an interest in my life… and I think social media gives us the opportunity to be so much more accessible and to make a difference or shine a little light into someone else’s life each day. I’m so grateful to have such supportive, funny, kind friends and fans… I feel incredibly lucky and appreciate all of you so much. Thank you!
Anything you would like to add?
Johnson: Go see Little Boy on April 24th, and say hi on twitter or facebook, I always love hearing from fans!
Photo Courtesy of: Prime Entertainment Publicity, LLC
We Shine the Spotlight on CASTLE Star Seamus Dever
Seamus Dever plays homicide Detective Kevin Ryan on ABC’s beloved, CASTLE. Through the years we’ve watched his character work alongside Castle and Beckett to help solve some of New York’s most interesting and dangerous homicide cases. I caught up with Dever about his initial reaction to reading the Pilot, his favorite scenes over the years, and what we can look forward to when Castle returns with new episodes on April 20th.
What was your initial reaction to reading the Pilot? What do you remember about those early stages of the show?
Seamus Dever: The circumstances when I got on the show were that the show already got picked up and that they had already shot a presentation Pilot, which was like a 32-minute version of the Pilot of CASTLE. The show was very committed to being on the air, so for me, knowing this was there was even better because you don’t have to go through that whole silly process of waiting for it to get picked up and all of those things that happen in Hollywood. (Laughs) We basically finished all ten of our episodes for the first season before we ever aired, so the idea of are we going to be a hit and are we going to premiere that was still very nerve wracking, because we did it and now we have ten of them. (Laughs)
Looking back at those early seasons with Beckett (Stana Katic) and Castle, (Nathan Fillion) did you think they would end up where they are today?
Yeah, didn’t everybody! (Laughs) I mean that’s where they where headed it was just a matter of how long would it take. I think everyone thought they were headed in that direction.
How was shooting the dance number with Jon (Huertas)?
It was great, I feel a little bummed because the audience didn’t get to see the entire routine, they did some tricky editing where they show a little bit here and there. The whole thing was about a minute and ten seconds and it was good. It was fun to do and Jon had a good point, when we finished it he said, “How many one hour shows are there with guys our age who could have pulled that off?” So we felt pretty proud of the fact that we did something kind of cool. It was tough; it was not easy and had been quite a while since I’ve done any kind of dance. It was fun and I’m glad we did it.
You and Jon have so many great scenes together, what have been some of your favorite to shoot?
There are so many of them! The doughnut-wrestling scene was pretty good. There was a great scene that we did in the café in “The Wild Rover.” Originally Stana was supposed to be in it but she was sick that day and couldn’t film and so we did this whole thing where we turned it into a scene that was just me and Jon. We made it work and it actually turned out a little bit cooler than if it was the three of us, so many scenes. I was watching all of the stuff that we did with the 70’s episode, the little scenes with Jon Polito were pretty damn good.
What can you tell us about CASTLE’s April 20th return?
I think we finally find out about where Castle was. It’s revealed a little bit more what Castle was doing and why we haven’t heard about it. It’s very interesting, the audience is going to keep guessing the entire time and they are not going to know where it’s going, I think they’re going to be surprised. I was surprised; I was like, “What? Really?!?” That always happens in CASTLE, there’s a lot of twists and turns and this episode is no exception.
If you could put Kevin on any other show on ABC what show would you put him on?
(Laughs) I would put him on MODERN FAMILY. Maybe he’s a neighbor that moved in next to Steve Zahn’s character and maybe he’s a cop who catches him dealing pot. I don’t know, we’ll see. (Laughs)
Catch Seamus on CASTLE at 10PM EST on ABC. New episodes return April 20th
Morning Static: GAME OF THRONES, BLOODLINE, OUTLANDER & More!
• Start Your Week Off Right! Winter Is Coming To ‘Sesame Street’ In This Cute ‘Game Of Thrones’ Parody
• Post-mortem: 5 questions from the ‘Shameless’ finale that we need answered ASAP
• Funny Business: ‘American Dad’ Episodes That Show The Evolution Of Stan Smith
• What the What!? David Lynch leaves Twin Peaks remake
• The Beginning of the End: ‘Mad Men’ Returns With Familiar Faces And New Dilemmas
• Reddit Rant: I want to send a shout out to Netflix’s Bloodline, a refreshing dramatic mystery series.
• Scoop: ‘The Flash’ Trailer Teases Felicity & ATOM Appearance
• Funny Business: The 15 funniest ‘Key and Peele’ sketches you’ll watch over and over
• Are the Characters on ‘Girls’ Even Friends? In Comparison to ‘Broad City,’ It Certainly Doesn’t Look Like It
• ‘Salem’ co-creator Adam Simon: Season 2 is going to get ‘darker’ and sexier’
• Yes Yes Yes! Downton Abbey fans rejoice as Fellowes hints at TV return for a young dowager
• Time Machine: Family Guy – Original Pilot
• Sling TV Says It Dropped the Ball During March Madness. When Will Web TV Be Ready for Primetime?
• Must Read TV: John Oliver Makes Edward Snowden Squirm on ‘Last Week Tonight’
• HA! CIA Tweets ‘Good Riddance’ to Homeland Character
• The Show Must Go On: Doctor Who will go on at least 5 more years
• The Woman Behind Gogglebox: An interview with Tania Alexander
• Must Read TV: “Outlander” is the Rare Show Where Women Aren’t an Afterthought
• The Family Noir: Introducing TV’s Newest Trend
• Post-Mortem: ‘Shameless’ Boss on Ian and Mickey’s Heartbreak, Future; Debbie and Fiona’s Decisions
On TV Tonight: Monday April 6, 2015
Emma Kenney Preview’s Tonight’s SHAMELESS Season Finale Shocker, Reflects on Debbie’s Biggest Season Yet
Emma Kenney has had quite the season playing Debbie Gallagher on Showtime’s addictive, over-the-top, comedy, SHAMELESS. We’ve seen her character grow so much this season, whether it’s embracing her independence or having her first real relationship, our little Gallagher is growing up. I chatted with the talented young actress about her character’s growth this season, Bianca and Sammie joining the show, and what we can look forward to in tonight’s season finale.
Debbie’s changed a lot over the years. How has that been for you?
It’s kind of like how we are in life, we are constantly changing and experiencing new things that make us change as people. It’s been fun to play Debbie like that and really get to see her as more of an older teenager with different kinds of responsibilities and focuses in her life besides her family, like we’ve seen in previous seasons.
Do you like Debbie’s relationship with Derek? (Luca Oriel) Do you think he’s a good match for her?
Yeah, I definitely do! I remember when I read the first episode with Derek she was kind of playing hard to get in sort of a mean way. I remember thinking “he kind of seems like a jerk and I don’t think they are going to be good together.” But we really get to see that Derek has a soft spot for Debbie and he’s really sweet together, and he definitely treats her well, I really like them together.
How do you feel about Bianca’s (Bojana Novakovic) storyline with Frank (William H. Macy) this season?
I love that storyline! It’s kind of interesting and really nice to see Frank genuinely in love. We’ve seen him with Monica (Chloe Webb) but I almost don’t think that’s love in a way, he’s infatuated with Bianca and we kind of see a sparkle in his eye. Bill Macy is playing that storyline beautifully and obviously so is Bojana. It’s a nice difference, it shows that Frank doesn’t just care about himself and that he is putting all of his energy and worries into someone other than himself, and not worries like how much alcohol he has or when he’s going to get drunk, he’s showing responsibility, which is nice.
How do you think Sammie has shaken up the Gallagher household this season?
I love Emily Bergl so much as a person, but I hate Sammie the character. That just means Emily is playing her well because that’s the point. I think it’s kind of interesting to see, ever since Sammie joined the show and joined becoming a Gallagher last season I’ve noticed the Gallagher’s don’t like change and we changed a lot this season with Carl especially and Debbie too, everybody really. Imagine adding someone to your family, that’s just weird for anybody, especially the Gallagher’s who are a tight-knit group. It’s weird to see Sammie in the Gallagher house because she is sort of breaking the cycle.
How will we see Debbie react to the news that Sammie isn’t dead?
Well you’ll have to just watch and see! The storyline with Mickey (Noel Fisher) and Debbie where they plan to kill Sammie was one of my favorite storylines to do. Working with Noel Fisher is amazing; you instantly become a better actor whenever you’re around his presence because he is so talented. He’s also so nice and so fun to work with; he’s such a positive, good person. We were dying and cracking up filming those scenes. The part in the scene where Debbie is in her bed explaining to Mickey her whole dream sequence. They had the cameras rolling for fifteen minutes improvising and we were doing all of these facial expressions and we kept laughing. It was really great!
What shows are you loving on TV right now?
I don’t really watch TV, I just watch Netflix. GOSSIP GIRL is my all time favorite show, and I’ve been watching BATES MOTEL on Netflix and it’s really good. Psycho is one of my all time favorite movies and Alfred Hitchcock was my favorite director.
What can you tell us about tonight’s finale?
For my character at least there is such a shocking scene, I don’t even know how it’s going to play out. There’s a lot of suspense for sure, I think every season finale that SHAMELESS has ever had has had a big cliffhanger and this season one of the bigger cliffhangers is involving my character. So I’m really excited about that!
You can watch Emma on the season finale of SHAMELESS tonight on Showtime.
On TV Tonight: Sunday April 5, 2015
NET | 8PM | 8:30PM | 9PM | 9:30PM | 10PM | 10:30PM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | The Ten Commandments | |||||
CBS | Madam Secretary | The Good Wife | Battle Creek | |||
FOX | The Simpsons (R) | Family Guy (R) | The Last Man on Earth (R) | |||
HBO | Sinatra: All or Nothing at All | |||||
NBC | Dateline: Bible Stories | A.D. The Bible Continues | American Odyssey | |||
MISC | If There Be Thorns (Lifetime) | Mad Men (AMC) Salem (WGN America) The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (Lifetime) Wolf Hall (PBS) | ||||
SHO | Shameless | Happyish |
BONES Redux: Our Top 5 Moments From “The Teacher in the Books”
Hey, Bones fans. We start out once again in the B and B kitchen, with Brennan grumbling about pandering to the masses.
Brennan on Twitter!
Clearly Brennan’s publisher has lost their mind if they want Brennan to start a Twitter account. This woman says whatever is in her head. Within five minutes she’d be ticking off religious groups. Booth disagrees with me. You’ll see.
The COTW was found in an abandoned book store, but forget about the dead body. Brennan is torn up about the books strewn about, particularly when she finds her book in the clearance section. She’s so upset, it’s the last push she needs to get on Twitter.
But lucky for everyone, she’s out to prove how online sociological behavior is destroying interpersonal relationships. Angela and Cam both have the appropriate horrified expression when they find out. The first tweet is a link to a two-hundred page article. Squintern Warren, the most annoying one of the bunch, and that’s saying something, reminds Brennan that on Twitter, pithiness is key.
When Booth discovers Brennan has only ten followers, he tells her to consult Warren. Uh…be quiet, Booth. To my dismay, Brennan takes his advice. The end result is a selfie of the two of them, complete with a hashtag, which Warren retweets and says Brennan will now be a Twitter sensation. (In your words, “Ego much?) Though I admit it’s better than tweet 1, tweet 2. I like Brennan’s idea of taking a selfie with the skull better.
Though Brennan is ratcheting up the followers, I’m pleased to say Angela gives Warren a verbal smackdown about Brennan’s competitiveness and how she’d want more Twitter followers than anyone, and how it’s better to just let Brennan be Brennan. YES!
The Corpse of the Week!
Mia, twenty-two. She was part of United Teaching Fellows, where college graduates teach at underperforming schools. Boyfriend Hunter was on a “Coffeehouse tour,” since he’s a musician. Is there such a thing? Making the bf look super guilty is that Mia had a trust fund, and she put the fancy apartment in both of their names.
Caroline! Weeee! I’ve missed ya. Where have you been hiding? Anyway, she has a message for Booth: Be extra careful with the Mia case. Caroline is on the board of United Teaching Fellows. She doesn’t want word getting out that it’s dangerous. She gives Booth the name of the principal of the school and reminds him how she had to claw and scrape to get her education. Booth and I both remind her how awesome she is now.
The Case!
Booth and Aubrey arrive just in time to see Mia’s fellow teacher, Shane’s, Smart Car being hand-towed by the students. He sees it as a bonding experience and just drives it off the front lawn at the end of the day. Shane brings B and A to Mia’s classroom, where principal Anne Franklin is waiting. This woman puts up with zero crap.
In Mia’s desk, Booth finds a note with MM on it, standing for Marcellus Miller, one of Mia’s students, along with 187 Bitch. That would be the police code for homicide, so Booth seems to doubt how much of a success story he is. During interrogation, Marcellus comes off like a sweet, scared kid, but his legal guardian and brother, Keith, only nineteen, tries to get the word b*tch past Caroline. As expected, she hands him his ass.
Poor Mia was shoved in a locker, and the three-pronged hook bashed into her skull. Brennan is familiar with this mark, because she used to be shoved into lockers. Said bloody locker was unassigned, but the dog also goes crazy on the janitor, who has a shady past but is innocent. She gave him a watch. He liked her. Next!
Mia had a Twitter, but it was only to follow students. Her last tweet talked about how it sucked to be so wrong about someone. Ah, the good ol’ subtweet.
Angela’s investigation finds that Hunter was clearing the browser every day, because he was cheating, and his coffeehouse tour was cancelled. When Hunter tries to prove he was with a girl at the time Mia was killed, he gets the “Get Lost” hotline. HA!
Turns out a month previous, someone stabbed Mia in the hand. Only not. It’s Keith’s knife. Mia believes Keith forced Marcellus to get a job, so she picked up the knife by the blade and threatened that if Marcellus missed more school, she’d say Keith attacked her. But Keith won’t tell where he was when Mia was murdered. Marcellus does tell Aubrey that Keith was stealing food. Aubrey promises he won’t arrest Keith. It’s a sweet scene.
Solving the Case!
It’s time for Brennan’s big epiphany. Mia’s spine and knees were all smashed up postmortem. It’s because the killer had to put her body in the passenger seat of his car to move her, since his trunk was too small. No, this isn’t a new carpooling strategy. Hmmm…who has a really tiny car? Yes, it’s Shane. Who changed all of the answers on the standardized tests to make him look better than Mia. Important interview with Dept. of Education, he tried to grab the tests from her hand, she screamed, he strangled. It’s a good thing Caroline isn’t in the room when he says he wanted to get out of the school, because the kids weren’t going to amount to anything.
Caroline is Made of Awesome!
I love her so much. Anyway, at a diner with Marcellus and Keith, Caroline vows to tutor both of them. She wants Marcellus to finish his education and Keith to get his GED. She gives them her patented don’t mess with me look and asks if she’s going to be wasting her time, but these kids know when Lady Luck has shined down on them. She gets them pie. I tear up.
In the end, Brennan has three-thousand followers. She tweets about the teaching program and realizes social media isn’t only about selfies.
Bring back Caroline more often, show. She classes up the place.
On TV Tonight: Friday April 3, 2015
Celebrate the End of Droughtlander with Our OUTLANDER DVD Giveaway
With OUTLANDER returning to Showcase in Canada (Starz in the US) this Sunday April 5th, theTVaddict.com has teamed up with Showcase to celebrate the end of droughtlander in style. [Read more…]