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The Lucky One's Taylor Schilling Talks Love Scenes With Zac Efron: "Not a Bad Day to Come to Work"

Shannon Vestal — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:56:22 PDT

Zac Efron's The Lucky One costar Taylor Schilling is the lucky one, indeed - the actress plays his love interest in the drama, and when I visited the set of the film, I got to chat with her and a few other reporters about her dreamy leading man. Schilling also joked about shooting their love scenes, and gave us some insight into her character Beth.

Is it tough shooting the love scenes with Zac?
Taylor Schilling: I mean, I don't know. I don't think so. I wonder what he’ll say. . . [it's] not a bad day to come to work and do that. But you know, it’s not as exciting as you would think it is either; it’s a day that’s very technical when you have to do that in front of a camera.

What were your expectations of Zac?
TS: The thing is, honestly, I didn't know much of anything about Zac before I got this because I'd never seen those High School Musical movies - which at this point, I can't wait to see them when we're done shooting because I'm excited to see what he did before. But I did not really have much of an expectation about him. I knew that he's incredibly famous, but in terms of his work as an actor, I didn't really know. So I really got to know Zac when I tested for this film with him and he was just such an incredibly charming, down-to-earth guy - for me, coming in and having never done a studio film before - he made me so comfortable at that test, and he was so generous and so wonderful, and was also so interested in the work. He was so engaged in the scenes and was so good. So good. So talented. It's just been wonderful to work with someone I really feel has my back as a scene partner. There's some really vulnerable stuff in this movie, and I feel like I could trust Zac with anything I got. He's a special guy, a good guy.

To find out what else Schilling talked about, just keep reading.

Zac Efron Talks About His Tattoos and Physical Transformation For The Lucky One

Shannon Vestal — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 05:30:00 PDT

When I visited the Louisiana set of The Lucky One, which is out April 20, I had a chance to chat with star Zac Efron about the Nicholas Sparks adaptation with a few other reporters. Efron plays Logan, who falls for a girl (Taylor Schilling) he finds after first seeing her in a photo, so when we sat down with the actor, he talked about being able to relate to that kind of romantic gesture. His character is also a former Marine, prompting Efron to put on weight and a slew of tattoos to look the part. Read on to see what Efron had to say about the fake tattoos, why meeting real Marines was so awkward for him, and why he was so impressed with his leading lady.

Logan walks across the country to find a woman; would you ever do something like that?
ZE: I guess this is my chance to do it without actually having to do it. I like the idea of this guy, I wish I was like him. So I figured I wanted to play him.

What did you to do to prep to play a former Marine?
ZE: I found this channel on TV, the Military Channel. That's probably one of the coolest things that I stumbled upon. It was a total accident, I walked into my room, and it was a Navy SEAL, their boot camp, that they were going through. And it was really in depth, watching them go through just the most basic training. There was always a part of me deep down that thought, if it came down to it, I could pass. I could make it through basic training, I could do it. And after watching these things I realized there's no way I could do it . . . subject myself to that. They're a different caliber of man than me.

Find out what else Efron had to say about The Lucky One after the jump.

Set Diary: My Day as an Extra on Fringe

Lauren Bradshaw — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 08:30:00 PDT

That's me! Right there in front of John Noble (AKA Walter Bishop) on the set of Fringe. I don't usually wear my hair in an updo like that, and I don't normally seem so studious. But dare I say, I actually look like a real member of Massive Dynamic.

I visited Fringe's Vancouver location back in August, and although I've shared my cast interviews (check out my chats with Joshua Jackson and the other actors), I haven't dished on how awesome it was to be an extra. My TV debut actually airs tonight, so set your DVR, and then keep reading for how the entire experience went down.

Live (or Almost Live) From the Set of Glee!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:30:45 PDT

If I was excited for Glee after just a few clips and the first episode, I'd say that excitement has now reached DEFCON 1 after visiting the set. I traveled to LA on Wednesday to hang out with the cast of this upcoming Fox comedy from Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy - and lucky for me it was a performance day.

All the actors playing glee club members were on hand to perform their routine to a Queen song (over and over again - oh, the life of an actor). The performance, as you might expect, included a lot of choreographed dance movies, and let me tell you: it is heaven. You'd think that after watching the same routine performed at least eight times, I would be a little jaded, but I'm not. I'm just even more excited for you all to see this show, and I can't believe nobody thought of this idea before.

A few other tidbits from my set visit:

The actors don't perform the songs live, which means they're not only learning their lines and up to three dance routines an episode, but they're also booking studio time to record their songs. It's a lot of work, but they all seem to be loving it.
I asked anyone who would listen if a soundtrack was on the way, and most responded it was definitely something they're thinking about. I'm really going to want these arrangements after they air.
The super-cool Jane Lynch invited a group of us into her trailer. She's the tallest woman I've ever met. She also gets to wear many colorful track suits when in character as the surly cheerleading coach, which is hilarious.

I have so much more to share with you, so check back over the coming weeks for my interviews with the stars of Glee!

Photo courtesy of Fox

A Visit to the Scrumptious Set of Pushing Daisies

BuzzSugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:30:27 PDT

By far, my favorite moment of the TCA press tour this Summer was getting to wander around the set of Pushing Daisies, which returns tonight for its second season. As lovely and fanciful as the Daisies world looks on television, it's even more wonderful in person, filling up two full sound stages on the Warner Bros. lot. The entire set wasn't open, but I did get to slide into a Pie Hole booth, check out the aunts' stuffy living room, and see the confessional in the nunnery where Olive will be starting the new season. To hear what the insanely detailed rooms looked like up close, just read on:

The Pie Hole
It makes total sense that the Pie Hole set doesn't have a top; how else would they get the cameras in for those overhead shots? But it was still funny to see this huge, looming pie crust edge with nothing in the middle, like a Gorg had come along and scooped out a bite. Inside, it's a surprisingly roomy restaurant, with cushy booths, lights shaped like giant cherries, and a spacious kitchen with a walk-in fridge (no bodies this time; I checked).

In one corner, candy jars and waffle cones are piled high; in another, there's an antique mirror where diners can check their hair on the way out. If you want a slice of pie at the Pie Hole, it'll cost you $5.95, but there's a pretty wide range of choices (four berry, Dutch apple, strawberry rhubarb, lemon meringue, sweet potato, three plum, peach, and derby). And if for some reason pie's not your thing, their butter pecan ice cream is apparently also world-famous.

To read about Emerson's office, the nunnery, and the aunts' place, just

Emerson Cod's Office
With its hardwood floors, big metal safe, and framed artwork, Emerson's office looks ornate at first . . . until you notice all the knitting. There's a basket stuffed with yarn and needles just to one side of his desk chair, and he's clearly put it to use - on his desk, there's a knit cozy for his tissue box and another for his coffee mug. The man does love his money: a frame on the wall holds several old bills. In another frame, there's a certificate of proficiency from the Small Arms Firing School.

The Aunts' House
Here's one rule for Lily and Vivian's house: If it can be covered with fabric, it is, and the more layers the better. This was the tiniest and most crowded set we visited, stuffed with furniture upholstered heavily in velvet and brocade. It's the sort of place that always feels dusty no matter how clean it is, and there's barely room for two people to move around, much less a full cast and camera crew (one production guy saw us emerge and said, "Now you know why every time we shoot in there, the characters are sitting down"). Outside, there's a garden hose and blooming flowers; inside, it's just as dingy as it looks on screen, but purposefully so. Knick-knacks and birdcages are stacked everywhere - or, rather, everywhere there's not already furniture, as they've somehow crammed three couches, six armchairs, and a daybed into the tiny space.

The Roof
I didn't actually get to climb up onto Chuck's beekeeping roof, but it was one of my favorite corners of the whole set, with a sweeping blue screen representing the sky taking up the better part of two walls. A dozen gold beehives take up most of the rooftop, interspersed with pink, purple, and orange flowers. A bunch of old TV antennas loom over the roof, artfully tangled.

The Nunnery
We haven't actually seen this set in action yet, but just know this: It's spectacular. It's the largest of all the rooms I saw on the set, with several components: a large, monk-like dining hall with spartan tables, wooden chairs, and religious paintings lining the walls; a cavernous sanctuary with huge banks of candles along the wall (and several melting at the altar); and a confessional booth draped with thick, red, velvet curtains. The whole thing is decorated in shades of orange, red, gold, and gray, with a fleur de lis theme. I can't wait to see how it pops on screen.

A Heart-Pounding Trip to the Set of ER

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:30:34 PDT

The second we walk through the hospital doors, my palms start to sweat. Then I see the table stacked high with boxes of alcohol swabs, and then the rubber glove dispensers hanging from the walls, and then the blue-cloth-covered gurneys, and I swear my heart skips a beat. "This is definitely County General," someone says. And it is: I'm on the set of ER, hearing about the show's 15th and final season as part of the TCA press tour. But I might as well be in a real hospital, considering how anxious and uncomfortable I feel.

It's a testament to the show's property master - but also more than a little creepy - that the County General set on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank feels exactly like a somewhat run-down county hospital in the Midwest. The floor tile is all pink linoleum; the walls and blinds are pale blue and seafoam green. The ceiling is low (low enough to make me feel claustrophobic, anyway), the plastic chairs in the waiting room look just as hard and unforgiving as real hospital chairs, and even the lighting tiles above my head are yellowed and flickering convincingly with age.

After 15 years of filming on the set, "it doesn't take a lot to make it look like crap," says Christopher Chulack, one of the show's executive producers, as a heart monitor flashes in the background and a half-filled bag of saline dangles from an IV pole over his shoulder. "It's worn out pretty good. We put a lot of effort into that - we take pride in keeping it aged."

To hear more about what County General looks like up close, and to see pictures of the ER cast from the past 14 years, just

The County General world we see on TV, from the sliding curtains between the hospital beds to the long hallway that countless residents have urgently pushed gurneys through, is an exact replica of the hospital in East LA where John Wells and his crew shot the ER pilot back in 1994. When the pilot became a series, everything from that hospital had to be matched exactly on the set, from the color of the linens to the placement of the beds. (The only change: The hallways are two feet wider for easier filming.) And, except for the introduction of some new medical equipment (slowly - since it's a county hospital, "we get to pick up the technology two or three years after it comes into the marketplace," Wells says), it's stayed that way ever since.

Up close, it's insanely detailed, from the colorful stickers on the individual containers holding various medical implements to the post-it notes hanging from the big, translucent case board that features prominently in so many episodes. (One reads "CBC" - perhaps a reminder for some actor who somehow doesn't have the hang of yelling "CBC, chem 7, STAT!!" by now?) I spy a few members of the press team trying out the hospital beds, but no way am I going anywhere near them; it's a short leap from there to Dr. Tony Gates shooting me up with a syringe full of something. (Now, if you could get Clooney . . . )

What's going to happen to all the medical equipment when the show wraps up its run this coming season?

"I'm opening up my own clinic over in East LA, behind the laundromat," quips property master Rick Kerns. "You want an ultrasound?"

Does it work?

"Sure!" he replies, grinning. I feel my heart skip again.

View 14 Photos ›

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Television

Hints at What's Next on "Heroes"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:00:00 PDT

The Bennets' new home wasn't the only spot I got to tour on the set of "Heroes" at the TCA press tour. As I wandered through Isaac's studio, Mohinder's apartment, and an Irish pub, cast members - including my tour guides, Hayden Panettiere and Zachary Quinto - delivered a few hints about what's going to happen when season two begins in September. To hear what they had to say,

At the start of the season, there will be two parallel time lines: one four months after the outer space explosion that ended the first season and one 400 years before. According to Masi Oka, Hiro is sent back in time, and his story line for "a handful of episodes" will take place in feudal Japan.
Dania Ramirez is joining the cast as Maya Herrera, who - according to an NBC press release - is "plagued by a threatening ability" that drives both her and her twin brother (played by Shalim Ortiz) to cross from the Dominican Republic to the United States in search of help. When the season begins, Maya's story will be picked up as she's on the run from the cops in Central America.
One of the show's standing sets is an Irish pub, complete with a fire roaring in the hearth and display cases with advertisements for McFarlane ale and McCourt Whiskey. This will most likely tie into the storyline of new cast member Holt McCallany who plays Ricky, the leader of a group of Irish thugs.
Is it true that Ali Larter's character, Niki, won't be conjuring her alter ego by looking in mirrors anymore? "I hear that too," Larter said, "but again, you never know with this show." Last season, she said, "we kind of indulged ourselves in being able to explore those two different characters, and now it's time for me to kind of focus on one and the development of my powers." She said Niki's story would be moving away from her family dynamic and become more linked with the larger plot of the show.
Speaking of Niki, Leonard Roberts, who plays D.L., wasn't on the panel, and his bio wasn't included in the packet NBC gave reporters. Nonetheless, creator Tim Kring said we shouldn't read too much into that and wouldn't say whether Niki would be a widow next season.
Isaac may be dead, but we haven't necessarily seen all we'll see of his artwork. Artist Tim Sale, who created Isaac's paintings, confirmed that he is doing work for season two.
In the four episodes the cast had filmed at the time of the set tour, Mohinder had already been in three countries, Sendhil Ramamurthy said. And presumably, none of them are the United States, as he said he's yet to be in a scene with Hayden Panettiere.
Hayden, meanwhile, was mum on the subject of Claire's new boyfriend, though she did offer that the whole season would be about "what happens when extraordinary people try to be ordinary."
I completely missed this, but some eagle-eyed reporters spotted what looked like a young girl's living space inside the set of Mohinder's apartment. Is that the new home of Molly? Nobody would say for sure.

Source

Inside the Bennets' Home with HRG

BuzzSugar — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:30:03 PDT

It would have been exciting enough to wander alone through Claire's new home on the "Heroes" set. But it was far better for my tour guide to be Jack Coleman, aka Mr. Bennet, aka HRG. He led a group of reporters through the airy, spacious, well-decorated house during a set visit at the TCA press tour, artfully dodging questions about where exactly we were.

"Let's just say it's not where the old house was," Coleman said.

OK, then. Is it in a different time zone?

"A different time zone is very possible."

A sunny climate?

"You're killing me."

All we know for sure is that the Bennets have indeed relocated since, you know, that whole episode when Ted-the-radioactive-guy kinda ruined the Bennets' Texas home and made Claire's face melt temporarily. The new home, decorated almost entirely in shades of blue, brown and black, has a large triangular window, potted trees in the corners, glass jars of rice and lentils in the kitchen, and a walk-up pathway lined with slightly trampled Astroturf. There are fewer pictures of Mr. Muggles in this house, though Coleman assured us the dog has not been forgotten. And though we're not quite sure what Mr. Bennet's plans are for the season, even Coleman had to admit that the home looks pretty permanent.

One reporter pointed triumphantly at the flowering bougainvillea in the back yard - yes, there was a back yard, complete with patio furniture - as a dead giveaway that the Bennets were in California (and that's what a little bit of casting news indicated to us, too).

"I don't know," Coleman teased back. "We might be in the Mediterranean."

Source

Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman Stick Close From Coast to Coast

Lauren Turner — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:09:28 PDT

Anne Hathaway's fiancé, Adam Shulman, was right behind her as they arrived at LAX yesterday. The couple hopped on a flight to NYC after visiting with friends on the West Coast. Anne's on a break from filming Les Misérables in London, where she hit the set with costar Hugh Jackman in April. She took advantage of the downtime to escape to Miami earlier this month. Anne wore a black bikini for a dip in the ocean with her mom Kathleen during the getaway, which came just before Mother's Day.

Anne may still be sporting cropped hair for her character in Les Mis, but she'll soon be switching gears to another project. The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters in July and Anne will be traveling to promote the latest installment in the Batman franchise.

Eva Longoria and Eduardo Cruz Take Their Love on the Go

Michelle Manning — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:00:35 PDT

Things appear to be going smoothly for on-again couple Eva Longoria and Eduardo Cruz, who were spotted catching a train together in Spain earlier today. The pair were all smiles and laughing while rolling their luggage through the depot. They're fresh off a stop in Cannes, where Eva was on hand to check out this year's film festival and chat with press as one of L'Oréal's brand ambassadors.

Eva and Eduardo are among the jet-setting celebrities who love to travel during the Summer. The pair visited his friends and family in Spain last year and even hung out with his sister Penelope, brother-in-law Javier Bardem, and nephew Leo. The end of Desperate Housewives gives Eva a break in her schedule, but she'll be back in the States soon enough to continue raising awareness for the upcoming presidential election.