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Talking New Moon With Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:15:50 -0800

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner may be dominating the promotional circuit right now, but they're not the only cast members with something to say about New Moon. I had the opportunity to chat with costars Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene, aka Emmett and Alice Cullen, during their recent stopover in SF. They chatted about their characters, the vampire craze, and what it's like to be a "Twilight celebrity." Here are highlights:

On why so many people are crazy for the Twilight Saga:
Ashley: I think this film in particular is highly relatable. There are a lot of situations that people can relate to. The love story - everyone can relate to being in love or being in lust. You add the vampire, and it adds that next level fantasy. Vampires are mysterious and sensual and dangerous and unattainable. And everyone wants what they can't have. I think on another level that this came together at the perfect time. All the elements just fit, the casting was spot on, and we're in a difficult time right now with our economy. That's why you never have a drop in ticket sales because everyone wants an escape, and this movie is very much an escape from reality.
Kellan: It's a good escape but also it deals with so many situations, on so many positive notes. Just looking at it from the vampire coven to the wolf pack. It just deals with everyday issues just on bigger levels, in a way. And you have Bella as the keystone in many situations. You can just all relate from different countries to issues within the United States. It's easily relatable.

To read a lot more about working with three different directors and why they feel so lucky, just read more.

On how their portrayals of the Cullens are similar or different from the books:
Kellan: We got the jobs because we brought something new to it. You can interpret the characters each their own, but I think it's what we did alongside. Just like Kristen said - she's playing Bella but she's putting her Kristen spin on it, just like all of us are. And I think that's what's making it unique. We're still following the cheat sheets that Stephenie created by making the books, and there's Wikipedia. We have a lot of information to go off of. But I hope it's what I did in my audition that set it apart from the other guys trying out.

Ashley: I think it's mannerisms too. People do fall in love with this book, but I think part of it is that they always want more. You can't write out every human mannerism. You can imagine it, but seeing the emotion in someone's eyes and seeing them be affected it - it was kind of easy to give something to it, because we were just being people. We kinda just got lucky.
On how much more of the Cullens we can expect in the remaining movies:
Kellan: Realistically, we stick pretty close to the books. Obviously us Cullens would love to be in the books a lot more, which would mean we'd be in the movies a lot more. Talking New Moon, the scenes that the Cullens - except for Ashley, playing Alice who gets to go to Italy and be a main lead in the movie - us Cullens, we have to stick really close to the books, and the scenes that we're in are really crucial to the story, as you know - the birthday scene, the voting scene. I don't know, it was kind of a tease. Chris Weitz is such an amazing director, and for us, for myself - I only worked about a week on that movie. And it didn't even seem like I really got a taste for what it was.

Ashley: In the third film, you'll see a lot more of the Cullens because it's all of us collaborating and then getting ready to fight this war that's coming up. In the second one, my character got a much larger role because Alice is the Cullen, other than Edward, that really embraces Bella and they end up becoming best friends. In the beginning, you see her throw this huge party for Bella, and then Alice is the one who does, in fact, come back for Bella when everyone else decides to skip town. Alice is responsible for dragging Bella over to Italy, and she and I the whole time are fighting to save my brother's life. And then of course we get held up by the Volturi and stuff like that. My character got to grow a lot, which is really cool. You get to actually see the relationship develop between Bella and Alice, where in the first one you didn't. The first one was very much about the romance and showing the audience why these two people are willing to die for each other.
On working with a different director on each film:
Ashley: Each director is going to be very different. They're artists as well, and I don't think any of them are quite the same. The books, when you read them, all have very, very, different tones. So I think it's highly appropriate that we switch directors each go. The first one is very much a romance and is a very scenic, beautiful film. And Catherine's really, really great at capturing that. She's very high energy and works well in chaos and stuff like that. And it was fantastic because we didn't quite know what we were getting ourselves into, and so it was nice to have her to guide us when we were freaking out a little bit. She was just so high energy, and it was really contagious. We were sad to lose her and move on to the second film, but then we got Chris Weitz and he's the complete opposite! But great as well. He's so giving and caring and collaborative and created this atmosphere that was kind of a safe haven for us. And it was really nice because we didn't know, switching directors, if they were gonna embrace us or if they had a completely different vision than what we created in the first one. It was nice that he was right there on the same page with us. And the second one is a warmer film, even from the color scheme. The first one is very blue tones, and the second one is much richer and warmer and I think he did a great job at capturing that. And we just finished shooting with David Slade, and I think he's highly appropriate as well. He just finished shooting 30 Days of Night and Hard Candy, and they're both very dark, edgy films. And Eclipse is very much that. It's all centered around the anticipation and us getting ready to fight this huge war. We just finished filming, we haven't gotten to see much of it, but I think it's gonna be fantastic. He is, technically, the most advanced director. The angles that he shot and how he knows that tweaking something can affect a whole scene and the lenses. He was really nice to work with.
On coping with the fan effect and being a "Twilight celebrity"
Kellan: That's what blows my mind, 'cause I feel like it's really unearned in a way. The fans are making our careers. Without them, we wouldn't be working and doing the saga. There's so many times that trilogy books become a movie and the first one bombs, and then that's it. And you're always hopeful that you get to do them all. Especially since we're all in love with our characters. I love Emmett Cullen to death, he's my favorite character I've ever played. It's just so cool to have made it this far, and I think we all hope that we get to finish this series and do Breaking Dawn. This is such a blessing, it's every actor's dream to be part of something like this. It's not terribly hard either. We don't shoot halfway around the world; we don't shoot for a year of our lives. I know a lot of us have homes, we have pets, we have family. And it's really nice to shoot on the West Coast, either Portland or Vancouver, and have the chance to fly down if we need to. But it's definitely amazing to be part of something like this. And I don't think any of us knew how crazy it would be and how exhilarating it would turn out to be. Going to the premiere, really just, wow. I don't even remember it because I was really just starstruck by how many fans and signs and cameras. It felt like I was just walking through a strobe light room. It's amazing.

Ashley: I still think we can't really wrap our heads around what's going on and what's happening. We're still in the midst of filming and kept very busy from one film until the next. It's only these brief moments where you sit back and are actually able to take a breath where you go "Whoa. Wow. This is crazy." I mean, the amount of tickets they've already sold for New Moon - I'm pretty sure I can't even get a ticket if I tried to see my film in Jacksonville and it's mind boggling. We're just very lucky. I went into this film thinking "Oh my gosh, I got a job" and the it turned into the biggest break of my life. I think we all feel very blessed to be a part of this.
On how it feels to be part of Twilight fan fiction:
Kellan: It's an escape, in a way. We do live in a trivial time period right now. There's so much depression that it's kinda cool to be a part of something where people use it to be an escape. In a way that's kinda what Stephenie did -she had a dream and just elaborated on it. It became a huge success and it's really encouraging that people are doing the same and just making up this journey.

Ashley: That's why people love it so much I think. You can take it and make what you want of it. Before the demographic was teenage girls, but now it's women of every age and guys are starting to get into it, too. It's because there is that element of fantasy. If you're 8 years old you look at it one way; if you're 80 years old you look at it another. I think it's fantastic that we can draw such a huge crowd. The other thing is - it blows my mind but people are making connections over this film and over this book. there are mothers and daughters and grandmas who can all sit and talk about the same story and all fantasize about it and I think that's a really cool thing. I think it's rare.

To see all of our Twilight and New Moon coverage, check out TwilightSugar!

Buzz Interview With the Cast of Precious, Part 3: Gabourey Sidibe

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:30:00 -0800

Precious begins rolling out in theaters this Friday, and we'll finally see if it lives up to its Oscar hype. One performance that the Academy will definitely be talking about comes from newcomer Gabby Sidibe, who carries the film as the title character.

Playing an abused, pregnant teen is the sort of responsibility and heavy subject matter that could make even pros crack under pressure - so how is she coping with her big screen debut? I've already showed you my interviews with Paula Patton and director Lee Daniels, but for this third installment in my Precious series, check out my chat with the actress who already has Oprah and the rest of Hollywood buzzing.

On landing the role: "When I got hired, I was pretty sure it was just a joke. I wasn't an actress - I was a receptionist before this. I was like, there's no way they're interested in me. Since then, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop, but this joke has gone pretty far!"
On how she handled the first-time pressure: "I was sure I would look like a complete novice, like I didn't belong there, or that I didn't fit in, but once I got there and saw all the people involved - grips, electric, camera operators - I thought, okay, there are a lot of people whose paychecks are on my back, so I can't spaz out. So immediately all of my nervousness fell away from me, and I had a job to do."

To hear more from Gabby (including her thoughts on Mariah Carey and the Best Actress gossip), read more.

On the award buzz: "It's weird, because I have no idea what it is to be a part of an Oscar-winning film or any kind of accolade-winning film, because this is my first go-around. So I just take every day as a gift! I'm thankful that anyone sees the film and feels something - and if the awards come, they come, or if they don't, they don't. But what I've done so far, I'm absolutely proud of myself."
On working with Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz: "It was insane. They're all people that I absolutely idolize. The first time Lenny Kravitz came on set, I was standing very, very still, and I knew he was around, and I couldn't wait for him to come upstairs. Then he did, and it was like, well, there is Lenny Kravitz. There was nothing to be scared about, because he was very cool. And Mariah, I met her the night before we started shooting. She was like the last to be hired, so we had done most of the movie. I kind of felt like a veteran - Mariah is stepping on to my turf. [laughs]"

On her next project: "It's a Sundance Lab Film [Yelling to the Sky], and it stars Zoe Kravitz. I play a girl who is really loud and obnoxious, the queen of the school. It's really fun because it's so far from Precious - I like playing the bad girl! And the film has a first-time director, Victoria Mahoney, who's a lady. The DP is a female, the camera operator is female, so it's all females. It's empowering in a weird way. I've never been all super feminist, but it's really cool."
On her new career: "It's so weird to have a 'Hollywood career.' I just want to do things that make me happy. There are so many people that I look up to as far as actresses go, but I just want to go as far as I can."

Love her! I'll be keeping a close eye on Gabby when the film opens, especially once award nominations start flowing in. Will you be checking out Precious?

Photos courtesy of Lionsgate and Source

Buzz Interview With the Cast of Precious, Part 2: Lee Daniels

BuzzSugar — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:30:17 -0700

Last week I shared with you my interview with Precious actress Paula Patton, but now it's time to hear from the director himself, Lee Daniels. I asked the Sundance-award winner - the film took home the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize - how it feels to hear Oscar buzz, and what it's like when Oprah is on your speed dial. Plus, he opened up to me about how the movie helped him overcome from his own dark past. Ready for his incredibly candid responses?

On all the hype surrounding Mo'Nique's performance: I'm not the least bit surprised. It's magic onset. People are talking about this buzz, but she and I laugh it off, because we got a movie made, and there were no arrests! Seriously, the cops came, but they didn't shut us down. They said, 'OK, we'll give you five minutes.' There were no arrests, and no one got in any trouble, so for us, the win was finishing the film.

To hear more from Daniels, read more.

On how he felt when Oprah and Tyler Perry jumped on as producers: Tyler calls and says, "Hey, it's Tyler." Huh?! Oprah calls, "Heeeey." It's crazy! It gave me hope that people would see the film.
On the Oscar buzz: Why do people say that? What happens if you don't?! Then your feelings are so hurt. You teeter on wanting so desperately for it, but dare not dreaming for it, because your feelings are so crushed if it doesn't happen.

On why he wanted to make Precious: To heal. Some horrific things have happened to me [in my past], not only at home, but outside of my home life, [like] being openly gay. Being gay is nothing like it was when i was a kid - back in my day, you were literally stoned, a dislocated arm, teeth knocked out. So I try to see the light often. It's hard, because we all have hard lives, and some of us have it harder. What I like to find is people who have had lives just a little harder than mine [like Precious] so I can feel that mine wasn't as bad as it was.
On what he learned from making the film: I look at [the film] as a process. This was not a beautiful journey, because I learned so much about myself. I had been holding on to so much anger from the past, and it was making me an ugly person. It was making me judge people like Precious, because of who I was. How sad was that to find out at 50, that I would've lived such a better life if I had just let go of the hostility. [But once I let go] it felt beeautiful! Liberating!

I was so moved to hear Daniels talk about his own healing through the film - hopefully, it will have the same effect on others when it arrives in theaters next week.

Before the release, I'll be running my interview with Gabourey Sidibe, the newcomer that's making headlines for her Precious performance. Be sure to check back for that later - you're going to love her.

Photos courtesy of Lionsgate and Source

Buzz Interview: Sonya Walger Talks Pulling Double Duty For FlashForward and Lost

BuzzSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:30:00 -0700

I've been hooked on FlashForward since I saw the pilot back at the TCA, thanks to the intriguing premise and action-packed episodes. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to chat with Sonya Walger, who stars as Olivia and also plays Penny on Lost. While she made sure not to reveal any spoilers, Sonya talked about her character, the comparisons between shows, and more.

On how her friends and family have responded to the show: They've been completely thrilled. It was fun, I was in London just last week. I had a few days off so nipped home to see my mom. It's so fun to have the show airing simultaneously there, in a real time experience. Everyone's excited about it. It's really exciting.
On having a new TV family: It's lovely. It's lovely to have a place to belong to and come to every week. The scripts are so fun to get. They're really exciting. Week after week it's just a treat to come home and find them on your doorstep.
On her hopes for Olivia and Mark's relationship: You hope for Olivia's sake and for their little girl's sake that they can stay together; but at the same time I wouldn't wish Olivia to stay in a relationship that was miserable and making her and the three of them unhappy. You just want the best for your character, really.

To see what else Sonya had to say about Lost, Halloween, and her other favorite show of the Fall, just read more.

Would she take an opportunity to see a flashforward of her own? No, I'd hate it. I would turn it down, I wouldn't want anything to do with it.
On the comparisons between Lost and FlashForward: I feel the comparisons are inevitable, to be honest. Any time you've got a big show with an ensemble cast and they're all reacting to the same big event, then of course you're going to get Lost comparisons - particularly when you've got two cast members who are from the old show. I think and hope that quite quickly the comparisons will turn off. I think the shows are radically different; I think the way they unfold, the story lines, the scope of them, there's not that deep embedded mythology of Lost, we don't have that. We have big payoffs that happen in every single episode so you're not forced to wait for six seasons to find out what's going on. There are reveals that happen constantly. I think FlashForward will prove a much less daunting show to join. I think that one of the things about Lost is that the last season is starting and I can't imagine viewers will want to be joining it now when they've never seen it before, whereas I think that FlashForward is much more accessible. If you haven't seen the first five episodes you could easily join in and know exactly what's going on.
Other favorite shows of the Fall season?: I love Modern Family, I think it's a really smart, clever show.
On her Halloween plans: I'm going to be on a plane flying to Melbourne. So short of spooking the pilot, I don't have any plans.

Seth Rogen Talks Monsters, Aliens, and Halloween

BuzzSugar — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:30:00 -0700

Tonight, NBC is airing a Halloween-themed follow up to last Summer's animated hit Monsters Vs. Aliens, Monsters Vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space. Seth Rogen, who voices the gelatinous jokester B.O.B. in the half-hour special, chatted on the phone with a few reporters about reprising his role. He talked animated films, Halloween, and even a little bit of the upcoming adaptation of The Green Hornet that he's currently filming with Michel Gondry.

On why he enjoys voicing B.O.B.: I enjoy it because, I mean, this is the stupidest answer - I enjoy it because it's fun. The character is funny and the directors are cool and the story is funny; to me it's like a very fun format to kind of improvise, and try to discover a character in a different way than physically doing it, you know. You've got to do it all with your voice, and I really enjoy that.
On dressing up for Halloween: I have a girlfriend now and I've entered the unfortunate world of paired costuming. It's not fun. I don’t recommend it. I always end up being the lamer half - it's like she's a dog and I'm a fire hydrant or something like that. It's never fun. So maybe I'm dodging a bullet this year.

To hear what Rogen said about The Green Hornet and what he loves about Halloween TV, just read more.

On his Halloween TV faves: I always liked The Simpsons' Halloween specials, personally. They were always amazing. I always looked forward to that on Halloween. And I watched TGIF sitcoms growing up because I was a nerd and had nothing to do on Friday nights, and whenever the sitcoms would do their Halloween episode, I always enjoyed that for some reason. That always spawned some good comedy.
On the pressure of making The Green Hornet: I will blame Gondry if it sucks. No, I'm just joking. No, we are all in it, you know. I will say, I take a huge amount of the pressure. I understand that. I understand that. I understand that it's my face on it, you know, when it literally comes out even if it sucks for another reason, people will blame me and that's why I have to be so involved - to try to make sure that it doesn't suck. But there's a lot of pressure. I understand that. I've been talking about this movie for years, and if it sucks, then no one will be more disappointed than me, believe me.
On improvising as a voice actor: You can actually improvise a lot as a voice actor. I mean, real people I think don't - and I didn't - understand how animation works really. The time consuming part is really creating the characters and the sets and the worlds. And aside from that it's not that entirely different than shooting a live action movie; the characters mouths are quite easy to manipulate once all the information is built into the computer. So you can improvise a lot and it doesn't matter really how far along they are in the process; they can just make the character say something different. Almost more than in a live action movie because of how slow the process is.
On whether he'll do more voice acting in the future: I really enjoy it and I mean, I've always been a fan of animation - yes, I would like to.

Buzz Interview With the Cast of Precious, Part 1: Paula Patton

BuzzSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:30:27 -0700

The buzz about Precious has been building ever since it swept awards at this year's Sundance Film Festival. (I even put it on my list of Fall movie picks.) Now with its release around the corner and Oscar whispers beginning, I sat down with some of the stars and the director himself. The film is based on the novel, Push, which follows a pregnant sixteen-year old living with her abusive mother. Despite the film's dark subject matter, every cast member I spoke to brought up the story's healing and feel-good power.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be bringing you their interviews. First up: Paula Patton, who plays Precious's teacher and mentor, Ms. Rain.

On the film's unexpected success: "We thought it’d maybe be on Netflix or in my mother’s living room! And then Lee called me in the beginning of the year and said, 'We’re going to Sundance.' That was it for me. That was an award to be able to go and be part of the selection, and then it just steam-rolled.”

For more of what Patton had to say, read more.

On her response to those who think the film is going to be depressing: "I understand saying, 'I want to see it, but I don’t want to see it right now, because I don’t want to go there.' It’s not like that. I say it’s like buying a ticket to a roller coaster ride. You laugh, you cry, you scream, and at the end of the ride, you’re left shaken, but with your heart more open. What’s beautiful about this film is that it breeds love."
On what she learned from Precious: “I think we’ve all judged a Precious. What this movie tells you is, don’t judge, because you don’t know their story. I think when we made this film we all had to admit our own racist feelings, our own prejudices, and deal with them head on.”

On newcomer Gabourey Sidibe: “So many actors will have worked their whole life and never achieve what [Gabby] achieves in this film. It’s remarkable. She’s not Precious. She’s like, ‘Paula, oh my god, did you see The Hills?' She’s such a girly-girl and loves to be happy. It's a difficult thing when you have a character that’s talked about the way she’s talked about - you're fat, you're ugly, you're stupid - that it took someone as smart and as confident as Gabby to play her and not be affected by it.”
On the inspiration for her character: "[My mother] was a public school teacher for 35 years, and she was one of these teachers that went above and beyond the call of duty. She would bring students back to the house, help them pay for books, and be supportive. When I decided to do this role, I was like, this is for my mother and for all the teachers out there who are like her.”
On what's next for her: “I just finished a comedy with Queen Latifah. I went from [a character] who has dedicated her life to helping others to someone who is the most selfish human being on the planet. I call her a gold-digger with a heart of gold. It was so much fun to explore a different character and flex those comedic chops!”

Are you looking forward to Precious? I'm dying to see it and Patton's film with Queen Latifah now!

Photos courtesy of Lionsgate and Source

Exclusive Buzz Interview: Clive Owen Dishes About His Latest Movie!

BuzzSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:30:00 -0700

I had the good fortune of interviewing Clive Owen on the red carpet at the Mill Valley Film Festival last Friday, where he was being honored with the award for excellence in cinema. I know what you're thinking, so let me start by saying that yes, the man is just as good looking in person. (Swoon).

But you know, I'm a professional, so I put away my schoolgirl giddiness and got down to the nitty-gritty of his current film, The Boys Are Back. I reviewed the movie last week and told you what a huge departure it is for the actor, so I asked Clive to explain himself (and a few other things).

On why he wanted to do such a sweet and sensitive film: It was a beautifully written script, really lovely script, very touching, very moving. It was a subject I hadn't really explored before in films. You know, parenting is a very big part of my life - I have two girls - but I've always considered it separate from making movies. I make movies and then I go home and I'm a dad. It was a script that beautifully explored parenting.

To see what else Clive had to say about his parenting style and what's next, just read more.

On if his parenting style is the same as his character's: [The character has] a very radical way of parenting. It never gets that bad with me, but it's based on a real memoir. [Author] Simon Carr, I think at the time he felt that he needed a radical approach, because him and his young six-year-old boy had just lost his mother, and it was kind of a reaction to that. It was like a drastic bonding exercise in a way, and he still says today that however irresponsible some of the parenting might have looked, the kid had some of the most joyful times of his life during that period.
On the challenges of working with kids for a change: The young Nicholas who is only six is a huge part of the film, and he's really good in the film. When you're working with a kid at that age, you can't be too prepared, because they're so immediate and raw and natural, you've got to go with them really.
On what's up for him next: I'm not 100% sure. There are a few things floating around, but I haven't confirmed anything really!

Come on, Clive, nothing lined up yet?! Please come back to the big screen soon!

Five Minutes With Accidentally on Purpose's Ashley Jensen

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:00:41 -0700

New sitcom Accidentally on Purpose premieres tonight on CBS, with Jenna Elfman in the lead role as a San Francisco movie critic who becomes pregnant after a one-night stand (Elfman went totally Method: she just announced her real-life pregnancy). Playing her best friend? British actress Ashley Jensen. Jensen has struck comedy gold on both sides of the Atlantic, earning an Emmy nomination for her work alongside Ricky Gervais in Extras and making a splash as Betty's best friend (and Wilhelmina's surrogate) in Ugly Betty. Jensen and I chatted at the CBS/CW party at the TCA press tour about how she landed the role (after getting horribly lost on the way to her audition) and how she'll play a party girl despite being pregnant in real life. Here are highlights:

On her character, Olivia: "She's a party animal girl, sort of the cheeky, sassy, witty one who kind of is independent and doesn't need to be tied down. She seems to have a boyfriend in every place that she works . . . which is good fun to play!"
On playing pregnant on Ugly Betty and now being pregnant: "I've been pregnant for over two years! This [belly]'s a little bit more difficult because I can't remove it at lunchtime. I said to someone earlier, 'If I'd realized what it was like to be pregnant and wearing four-inch heels, I may have walked a little bit different in the last season of Ugly Betty.' I was just strutting about!"

To hear her Ugly Betty highlights, how she stumbled into meeting Ted Danson and how she feels about using her own accent on TV, just read more.

On the highlights of her time on Ugly Betty: "Going to the Golden Globes at the beginning was quite exciting. We'd done maybe 10 episodes. . . . To find myself suddenly on a red carpet wearing dresses and diamonds and having people doing my hair, I'd never had all that before. So that was all incredibly new, and that was amazing, and for the show to have such an impact so immediately was very exiting. And going back to New York [last season] was exciting - I think that gave it an extra wee bit of like, 'Ooh!' Because I never went to New York [full-time] - I commuted. I found that quite exotic. I was like, 'Oh yes, I have to fly to New York for five and a half hours for my work.'"
On her best New York to LA flight experience: "I got to fly with Ted Danson one day, which was quite exciting. It was the day after the Emmys, actually, after I'd been nominated for Extras. And the [flight attendant] was like, 'Oh, you looked lovely last night!' And I was like, 'Oh, thanks,' and she was like, 'It's such a shame you never won,' and I could see Ted Danson going, 'Who's this?' And then I sat down beside him, and he was like, 'Were you there last night?' and I said 'Yes I was,' and he went, 'Sorry for being really ignorant - what were you in?' and I said it was Extras and he was like, 'Oh my God!' So Ted and I sat down, shared a bit of breakfast, watched a little movie, had a little sleep, exchanged restaurants in New York, and it was fleeting but beautiful. That was a highlight, going to sleep with Ted Danson."
On being one of the few UK actors to use her natural accent here: "The two jobs that I've done, I've gone in and used an American accent, and they go, 'Do it in your own.' And then they go, 'It's funnier. It's funnier in that strange little accent that you have.' I think it adds color to shows, doesn't it, when there's another accent in there. . . . I think comedy is easier in your own accent, as well - I've lived with this accent all my life, and I know the rhythms and the pauses that make it funny, so I think that absolutely helps."

Five Minutes With Jessica Lucas

BuzzSugar — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:45:13 -0700

Jessica Lucas seems to be the go-to girl for the CW's soapy remakes. After appearing on the big screen in Cloverfield, Lucas turned up on 90210 as an undercover cop posing as a transfer student. Now she's staying in the Aaron Spelling reboot family as newly engaged elementary school teacher Riley in the new Melrose Place. At the TCA press tour, Lucas had a few things to say about her new job:

On whether Riley's relationship with Jonah (Michael Rady) will last: "They're definitely going to be tested a lot. I think the environment they're in is very harsh.They're under a lot of financial stress. So I don't know how long they're going to be able to work things out. And I think, you know, Riley's really at a crossroads. I don't think she really knows if she wants to get married."
On whether her character is as good as she appears: "Like anybody in real life, she has flaws, and those flaws are going to start to come out a lot in the first few episodes. I think the main thing with her is, she is really nervous about getting married, and she doesn't know if she wants to, and that's going to cause her to maybe stray a little bit."
On how this show differs from the original: "I saw a few episodes of the fourth season [of original Melrose] and it was insane - like, people were blowing up the courtyard. I think we're going to try to keep ours a little more grounded. It's heightened reality, but it's very gritty, it's very dark. And I think it shows that really dark side of LA and how it can affect people and define who they are and change who they are."

To find out what Lucas thinks of the show's mystery twist and whether she'd ever do another Cloverfield, just read more.

On how much she knows about the show's murder mystery: "Every time we read a script, we get a little bit more of a piece of a puzzle. But I have no idea who did it. Not too many details are emerging yet. . . . I think the chances of Riley murdering Sydney are slim to none."
On whether she thinks there could be a sequel to Cloverfield: "I think JJ [Abrams] talks about it every once in a while, but I think it's important to him if he wants to do a sequel that it be for a good reason and that it's for a good story, and I don't know if he's thought of something unique enough yet. . . . I think maybe an origin story about how that monster got there would be really cool. It would be so fun to do a sequel to that."

Kevin Williamson on Bringing Vampires to The CW

BuzzSugar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:30:06 -0700

Kevin Williamson's Dawson's Creek helped make the WB into a buzzworthy network. Now, can The Vampire Diaries do the same for The CW? Williamson and writing partner Julie Plec will be bringing that other vampire book series to the small screen on the show's premiere tonight, and at the TCA press tour, he talked to me about what it's like to launch a new vampire show in a post-Twilight world.

Here's the question I'm sure everyone is asking: Why vampires? Why are they so big now?
It's all cyclical. I remember when I was growing up we had those Lost Boys, and then there were a few shows after that. . . . I'm sure there's some psychological ramification to the psyche of America and culture at the moment and politics and the state of the world. I'm sure we could go analyze it till the cows come home. But I think they're cool, they're fun, they're sexy, and they took off. Julie's the one who coined the phrase "They're the new James Dean," and she's got a point. They're the new version of a bad boy, and for a whole new generation.

With so many other vampires out there, what will make this show stand out?
I read the first book and was like, "This is Twilight. This is just like Twilight." . . . I was like, "No way." And then Julie was three books ahead of me and she was going, "Keep reading. Keep reading." And then I kept reading and was like, "Oh, OK, I get it." This is a different show. This is a story about a town. This is a story about a family. . . . The premise is the same but the themes are different. It goes beyond just a love story and really goes into everything that goes bump in the night. It's more sort of a Dark Shadows. This town has a lot going on in it, and we just start with the vampires.

Is it easier or harder to be the new vampire show right now?
It's really tough. We were just saying there's a hundred reasons that are working against us. And one of them is my favorite show, True Blood. . . . Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? I personally have room for one more vampire show in my lineup. It's a coming of age story, it's a drama show, I get to have a little fun with the humor of it, I'm trying to put our characters in the real world. They're in the world of it - these are high school girls who actually read Twilight. We just wrote the scene where one of the girls finds out Ian Somerhalder's a vampire, and her first comment is, "Why don't you sparkle?"

To hear about how Williamson cast the roles and how much of the books will turn up on TV, just read more.

You don't have a big main cast at the start - it's really just Elena and the two brothers. So I imagine casting was really key.
It was so hard to cast these roles. We had to play with the ages and stuff. We're getting away with it with the two vampires, cause they're 145 years old. So OK, they don't look 16? But Nina [Dobrev, who plays Elena] - Nina came in for us one day to audition. She was sick, she had the flu, worst audition ever. We didn't even look at her a second time. And she went home, went back to Canada, and she was just miserable. She's like, "I was sick, I was just awful, I can do better than that." So she put herself on videotape and she sent that tape through and we put it in and we were like, "Who's that?" "Oh, she came in and auditioned." "No, she didn't." "Oh, the sick girl?" She was a totally different girl, totally. And so we took it to Warner Bros., to Peter Roth, and we said, "Look, we have all these actresses out in the hallway, or you can watch this." I had such luck with that with Katie Holmes back in the day, with videotapes, and so I said, "Let's see if we can get lucky again."

Have you given your vampires a distinctive look?
They're hot and sexy. We're not doing the pale thing. They look like they look. Paul Wesley comes with that olive skin, so he kind of has that vampire look anyway. Since the pilot he's been getting into vampire mode, which means he's been just working out. He looks great. And Ian is just a rock. They look really, really good. What we're doing differently is when they turn into a vampire . . . we're going with the philosophy that once they get engorged the blood starts racing to their body. They're angry - any sort of hot emotion, anger, love, sex, anything that's really heightened - and so the blood rushes to the eyes. You see the blood rush into the eyes, and then the teeth come out.

It seems like a pro and a con that the books come with a built-in fan base that's very passionate about the work. How are you dealing with that?
We've had to make some hard choices, and we've made some changes. But what I loved so much about what LJ Smith did was she created a world and a mythology that is a writer's dream. That is the hardest thing to do, is come up with the backstory. She's laying that there for me - she's there as a mine that I can just go to every week. We're going to keep the essence of her books, the themes of her books about friendship and betrayal and deception and redemption. All of those themes that were so prevalent in the first three or four books will 100 percent be on there. And yes, some of the plots will change and the Founder's Day ball may not happen exactly where it did [in the books], it may happen in episode three, you know, and the Halloween episode may be sixth and in the book it was reversed. We're plotting it out for longevity and we're plotting out all of the character arcs. If your character doesn't resemble the one that it did in the book, maybe we backed it up and started it somewhere else so maybe they can grow into that character, because we're a series and we have to tell a story every week.

Photos courtesy of Getty and The CW