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Michelle Trachtenberg Talks About Doing TV Double Duty

BuzzSugar — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:30:08 -0700

She may be stirring up trouble as Georgina on Gossip Girl, but this Fall, Michelle Trachtenberg is getting to show her sweeter side in the new hospital drama Mercy, which premieres tonight on NBC. What's her new role as a nurse on Mercy like? Well, just picture the exact opposite of Georgina: Chloe is a kind, naive nurse who wants to help people, not harm them.

When I caught up with Trachtenberg at the TCAs this Summer, I had to ask about her two very different shows and roles.

On the differences between the two sets:

It's definitely the shoes. We go from Louboutins to nurse clogs. They are more comfortable, definitely. I guess the biggest difference is that there aren't as many young kids. I also can't imagine with Mercy we're all going to have hundreds and hundreds of screaming girls running after all of the boys. There might be a few older ladies running after Tupper, which is still fantastic. They're two completely different experiences. I love my Gossip Girl family. We are all good friends and love each other. I'm excited to start a new family, and family is family - you never leave them.

To hear what Trachtenberg likes about playing her two different characters, whether Georgina will get a love interest, and more, just read more.

Georgina does request Blair Waldorf [as her roommate] and Georgina always gets what she wants. As far as love interest, she is making out with all the boys. Oh wait, that was my request! You'll have to see.

On what she likes about playing very different characters (Georgina = scheming, Chloe = innocent):

I think it's very important as an actress to never peg yourself in a particular hole. You look at Meryl Streep, and I mean, the woman is just so extraordinary and such a chameleon. Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore; all of these women who are constantly changing themselves. Halle Berry was always talking about how they didn't want her for Monster's Ball and how she was like, screw you guys, I'm gonna show you. I think it is very important for an actress to switch it up. Whereas Georgina is malicious and kind of a killer, Chloe isn't, and for me as an actress it's fun to go back and forth. It's a little bit of a split personality.

On whether Mercy starting in the Fall instead of midseason means she'll be on Gossip Girl less:

We definitely had a set schedule for Gossip Girl. The great news is that if Georgina isn't in as many episodes as you would think, you can't kill her. She kind of can't die, ever. So she'll be in and out always.

Michelle Dishes on Gossip Girl Romance, Oprah Sued For $1 Trillion, and a Cookie War Heats Up!

Molly — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:24:35 -0700

We got a chance to chat with Michelle Trachtenberg at last night's TCA party - check out the exclusive video below. Also, Wal-Mart takes on the Girl Scouts and Oprah's ridiculous $1 trillion lawsuit! We're also gearing up for Britney's big show on Sunday and have the latest breaking news on Paula's replacements. Watch it now!

Gossip Girl Countdown: Two Weeks to Go

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:30:51 -0800

My Monday nights have definitely been lacking a certain something since Gossip Girl went into repeats a month ago. But it's starting to seem like we've made it through the worst, as it's just two more weeks till the Upper East Siders are snarking all over my screen again. To celebrate, I've got a quick new look at what's to come, but before that, here's a quick roundup of what we know will be happening when GG finally returns on March 16:

Tamara Feldman will be back as Poppy Lifton, Serena's socialite friend, for four episodes.
She'll factor into Serena's torrid new love affair that may be at least partially inspired by Anne Hathaway's life.
That will also help trigger the return of Georgina Sparks - as a reformed hippie?
Another on the list of returning recurring characters: Carter Baizen (Sebastian Stan).
No Doubt will appear on the show's May 11 episode, otherwise known as the young Lily flashback episode, performing Adam and the Ants' "Stand and Deliver" - though it's unclear if they'll be present-day No Doubt or an '80s throwback.
Oh yeah - and we still have to see some exes kissing (yeah, there be spoilers).

So, let me open this up to you: What do you want to see in the final part of Gossip Girl's season? You can check out a couple of promos if you read more.

Photo courtesy of The CW

Movie Preview: Efron and Perry in 17 Again

BuzzSugar — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 05:30:21 -0700

Sure, 17 Again looks an awful lot like Big in reverse (or one half of Freaky Friday), but you know what? The trailer looks really cute. Matthew Perry plays a down-on-his-luck dad who gets the chance to be 17 years old again (this is where Zac Efron comes in). So, he enrolls in his kids' high school and befriends them. He learns that his daughter is dating a nasty boy and tries to give her advice.

The whole cast is super charming, and I'm actually most impressed with Efron who does funny really well - but without trying too hard or making it awkward. 17 Again opens April 17 (nice date/title match-up there). To check out the trailer, read more.

PaleyFest: The Buffy Cast Reunites!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:30:14 -0700

Buffy, Tara, Spike, and Xander, together again! A large part of the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer took the stage Thursday night at the PaleyFest in Los Angeles, revealing some secrets from their eight years of working on the series and taking questions from appreciative fans who often credited Buffy with shaping their whole lives.

And when I say appreciative, there really should be a capital A. This crowd of more than 800 cheered at everything - from the opening clip of one of Sarah Michelle Gellar's 1994 scenes on All My Children to the introduction of the panel's moderator. (In terms of cast members, James Marsters seemed to get the most applause, but show creator Joss Whedon was the only person to get a standing ovation.)

In attendance: Whedon, writer/producers Marti Noxon and David Greenwalt, and cast members Gellar, Marsters, Amber Benson (Tara), Nicholas Brendon (Xander), Emma Caulfield (Anya), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia), Seth Green (Oz), and Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn). Both Eliza Dushku and Alyson Hannigan were listed in the program, but neither showed - bummer. But the others kept the conversation lively - especially Green, who had a one-liner for everything, for better or worse.

The night really got going with a screening of the musical episode "Once More with Feeling" (not a sing-along, sadly). The episode proved to be a perfect starting point for talking about what's made Buffy so enduring, so for the scoop (update: here's part two of my report), just read more.

Noxon introduced the episode screening by saying that, frankly, the writers had some doubts about whether Whedon could actually pull off a musical: "We were - not nervous, we just hadn't ever seen him write a song before," she explained. For his part, Whedon said he was actually more terrified to put together "Hush," the mostly silent episode.
One theme that kept coming up was the way Buffy consistently pushed the envelope, whether by shifting the formats of its episodes, killing off beloved characters, or even taking Buffy herself into a deep, dark hole during the sixth season. Gellar cited the opening shot of "The Body," which was done in one long take, as another example. "We were constantly doing things that had never been done," she said. "We were constantly doing things that challenged both the audience and ourselves.
This is probably not news to anyone who's ever been to a Buffy event, but Nicholas Brendan talks so much like Xander, it's creepy.
Gellar on the initial reaction to getting the role of Buffy: "All of my friends felt sorry for me because I'm on a midseason replacement on a network nobody had heard of, based on a movie that wasn't all that."
Marsters had a great description of what went into the writing of Buffy, saying the writers took the worst things that happened to them in high school and "put fangs on it." Whedon said he and Greenwalt used to call Gellar "Jimmy Stewart" because she picked up his baton of having to deal with tremendous pain on film.
One of the biggest bursts of applause in the entire evening was when the moderator (TV Guide's Matt Roush) mentioned that the Spike/Buffy sex scene had recently been named the steamiest TV scene of all time by his magazine. Gellar noted that the way Buffy shows up on those lists, and the way the fan community has reacted to the show over the years, means way more to her than any Emmys the show could have won.
Gellar said she had no idea until five minutes before the panel took the stage that Buffy had gotten it on with slayer Satsu in the latest comic book. Trachtenberg also had no idea what had happened to Dawn in the comic series. "If these guys were real nerds," Whedon said, "we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Click here for more, including video highlights.

Source

Buzz News Roundup, 3/19

BuzzSugar — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:29:33 -0700

TV Guide reports that Michelle Trachtenberg will head to Gossip Girl to play a nemesis from Serena's past.
The Sci-Fi Channel has signed Rosario Dawson to develop True Believer, the pilot for a proposed series based on a comic book she co-created, Variety reports.
Billboard reports that the Dave Matthews Band and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers will headline the first Mile High Music Festival in July in Commerce City, Colorado.
ComingSoon reports on the all-star cast - including Gerard Butler, America Ferrera and Jonah Hill, among others - set to provide voices for the 3-D animated movie How to Train Your Dragon.
Anton Yelchin will play Kyle Reese in the next Terminator movie, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
Ellen DeGeneres will return for a second year as host of Idol Gives Back, Broadcasting & Cable reports.
Snoop Dogg's latest album had his lowest first-week sales total ever, finishing at No. 3 on the charts and being beaten by Miami rapper Rick Ross and a NOW compilation, Billboard reports.
The Hollywood Reporter has news on the cast set up so far for the gay wedding comedy For Better or for Worse, which includes Janeane Garofalo, Rebecca Gayheart and new mom Soleil Moon Frye.
3:10 to Yuma director James Mangold will helm a Cyclops movie, ComingSoon reports.

Source

Buzz News Roundup, 12/3

BuzzSugar — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:31:33 -0800

TV Guide reports that Tom Petty has been picked for the Super Bowl halftime show.
Christian Bale is in talks to play John Connor in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, reports Variety.
Amy Sedaris, Chris Kattan, and Tom Everett Scott will star in Tanner Hall, an indie film set at a boarding school that started its life as a failed UPN pilot, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
Rosie Thomas, Califone, and Mark Kozelek are among the musicians pitching in on a new compilation with songs about every U.S. president, Pitchfork reports.
Ratatouille leads the field with 13 nominations for the Annie Awards, which recognize achievements in animation, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
NBC is buying blocks of reality and "adventure" programming from the producers of Ice Road Truckers, reports The New York Times.
Michelle Trachtenberg and Melora Hardin (Jan from The Office) will join Zac Efron and Matthew Perry in the movie 17, writes Zap2It.

Source

The Results Are In: Recast "Roseanne"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:28:43 -0700

Every Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I post a Recast challenge, where I ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. The reader who submits the best cast wins a BuzzSugar t-shirt!

I loved all the lists submitted for this week's recast, especially your picks for Roseanne and Darlene, one of my favorite mother-daughter combos on TV. A couple of you - ailene and Macmeggy - picked Kelly Osbourne for Darlene, and I especially loved sweetheart_450's choice of Alia Shawkat, aka Maeby from "Arrested Development." Comedian Lisa Lampanelli was an unexpected Roseanne pick from Loz2Hi and LesleyP825. And several of you had the brilliant idea of casting Joan Cusack as Jackie.

It was a tough call, but my overall favorite list this week came from CaterpillarGirl! To see her cast list and a new cast photo, read more

CaterpillarGirl's cast:
Roseanne - Janeane Garofalo
Dan - Jack Black
DJ - Grant Rosenmeyer
Darlene - Michelle Trachtenberg
Becky - Amanda Seyfried
Jackie - Kathy Griffin