Alice Jester - The Morton Report

A Busy Life After Chuck: Interview with Actor Vik Sahay

2012-04-19T15:50:00Z

Last time I interviewed actor Vik Sahay, the TV show that he had worked on for the last five years, Chuck, was shooting its final episodes and he shared how it was starting to get emotional on the set. He also said he had a lot of promising work coming up, and his schedule never looked busier.

It’s several months later, Chuck has wrapped, the final episodes have aired, but there’s no absence of Sahay’s work out there. If anything, there’s more than ever. Recently he can be seen playing Prateek Duraiswamy, Steve Stifler’s tyrannical boss in American Reunion. He also is in a short film that premiered at the Indian Film Festival in Los Angeles last week, The 5, and recently filmed in Canada the yet to be released picture, My Awkward Sexual Adventure.

In this interview, Vik talks about the ending of Chuck (including the intense strain of hitting those high notes on “Take on Me”), and gives more detail about his recent projects and how there’s no rest on the horizon, which he’s taking to be a very fortunate turn in his career.

You have so much going on. Do you mind though if I spend a couple of minutes to gush over how awesome the ending of Chuck was?

Did you enjoy it?

Did we! You see, our entire family watched Chuck together from beginning to end. My son started watching when he was five and now he’s ten. He’s grown up with the show. As soon as those opening chords of “Take on Me” came on, we were shouting and high-fiving one another. “It’s Jeffster!”

That's so sweet. Wow, what an amazing thing.

You certainly impressed us. We didn’t know you could hit high notes like that.

They didn’t end easy in the singing world for me. It’s like, let’s do this death-defying act. But it was great. I though it was an amazingly appropriate song. It was really beautiful to tackle and I thought it worked very well in the whole show. It was an old school epic in a way.

It’s not just that, but Jeff and Lester got a significant plot in the end. I love that.

Yes we did [laughs]. It was an appropriate way for us to end. Oddly, getting our dreams in the end. Lester is certainly not for all markets, but for the niche German market, absolutely.

It worked for Hasselhoff, why not Lester?

Exactly. The comparisons between Hasselhoff and Lester are endless [laughs].

Photo courtesy of Julijette

While you were doing this, you were trying to film multiple things. What were you filming while you were trying to get through those last episodes of Chuck?

I was filming a couple of things. I was filming a film called My Awkward Sexual Adventure up in Winnipeg, Canada. It was written by this genius writer named Jonas Chernick. I was literally, during the last couple of episodes, flying back and forth, shooting that there and then coming back to sunny California to shoot those last emotional episodes [of Chuck]. I had already shot at that point the short film that’s being shown at the Indian Film Festival in Los Angeles.

That one is The 5. You’re one of the five?

It’s written by this guy named Ravi Kapoor, who was on Crossing Jordan and many other things. It’s kind of based on an ancient epic from India and this guy takes one chapter of it and makes it a world unto itself in modern times. It’s so amazingly strange and sweet. On the surface the characters look like this gang, they’re very cool in their matching suits and all that, and maybe dangerous and maybe up to no good but when you get deeper in you realize there’s some strange ritual in the making because they lost their mom, the matriarch of the family. It’s slightly absurd, it’s amazingly tender, I think that Ravi did a phenomenal job with it. He’s somebody I think as a filmmaker to watch for sure. I can’t wait to see what he does.

It stars, among other people, Samrat Chakrabarti, Parvesh Cheena, Anil Kumar, Sunil Malhotra, and it debuts at the Arclight at the International Indian Film Festival. It was really sweet and special to do for me, despite the insane fatigue of doing many projects at once.

At least that was filmed in Los Angeles.

Yes, that’s right. It was filmed in Los Angeles. To me, that’s a gift at that point.

And then you’ve got American Reunion. I’ll admit I haven’t seen that one yet. Do you have a lot of time in the film?

I have enough time that I feel a part of it. I’m in there enough that I’m routing for it. It’s such a wild thing to be a part of, this huge, beloved franchise with these characters that have been in the culture for over a decade. I got attached to the wild side of that with Stifler, the renegade character of the whole thing. You go with them to this milestone in any North American life, the high school reunion. You celebrate youth and you cling to it and you pretend it never faded and you realize how sad it is that you’re so wrong about it not fading.

The movie is a great universal opportunity for humiliation and disappointment and nostalgia which fits perfectly for common ground for a comedy. I play Stifler’s boss so I’m a part of the very harsh, very, very harsh reality of his grown up life. It was a blast and I’m excited for folks who are getting to see it. I think Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg really saved the best for this series.

That sounds like a plum role — getting to torture a slacker, someone who’s never grown up.

Exactly. Going head to head with that boor that is Seann William Scott, it’s fantastic.

What was it like working with Seann William Scott?

There’s the surreal aspect of it because you know the name Stifler and you read the name Stifler and then you hear Stifler when you’re on the set. Then they call cut and it’s Seann William’s body. He’s the most, humble, nice, welcoming, warm, complimentary guy around. There’s always the possibly of it being pretty daunting because a) they’re movie stars and b) it’s such an established thing and they know each other so well. They couldn’t have been more accommodating and open and willing to hear me, not exactly the shyest about presenting my ideas and thoughts on the scene. They’re very good about going, “Absolutely, let’s work that, that’s a great idea, let’s feel that out, or how about it works like this.” It felt very collaborative at the end and very much like working on anything that people have passion for.

Looking at filming locations, that was filming at Atlanta. You’re doing quite a trek there. When did you film the movie?

We filmed that, I think it’s been about a year. It was around this time [last year] we were in Atlanta shooting.

Atlanta in April isn’t too bad.

It’s beautiful. It’s really beautiful.

So, you’ve had a couple of things that have premiered within a week of each other. So what’s next?

Yes, there is. Something that I was in a very, very fortunate position to have booked a pilot and a film, and then have the incredible fortunate “problem” of having to choose one or the other because they’re done at the same time. I chose the film. It’s a dramatic, darker role that shoots overseas in Europe. I can’t today reveal the name of it because we’re just closing up negotiations, but it’s going to be exciting. I spent a good five years in television interspersed with some film work but this is a nice chance to bite into something a little deeper and darker. Stretch my old school dramatic chops a little bit.

You are open to doing TV again someday?

Sure, absolutely. There was the lure of being on a film set for sure. All this holds a special place in my heart to being on a film it allows for my natural approach to the work as an actor which is full immersion and staying inside character for a few months. It wasn’t just that, it’s looking for material that excites me. The pilot was fantastic, don’t get me wrong, I just decided to take a right turn instead of a left a turn at this particular juncture. It’s about the material, not film vs. TV.

That sounds great! It doesn’t sound like you’re getting a chance to relax after everything.

Really not. Again, I consider myself unbelievably lucky that I’m getting work, getting to work on things that I really love. I’ll relax when I’m dead.

American Reunion is currently running in theaters across the country. Chuck season five will be released on DVD and Blu-ray May 8.

Interview: Chuck Enters Its Final Season, But Can Fans Save This Show?

2011-10-27T17:10:00Z

Friday’s premiere of Chuck’s fifth season is looking to be most bittersweet for avid fans. The show is finally back, but back for its final thirteen episodes. Turns out, it isn’t just the fans feeling the sadness of the looming end.

“We put our heads down and go to work,” said Vik Sahay (Lester) during our phone interview last week about shooting the final episodes of Chuck. “The scenes require a certain amount concentration, a certain amount of focus. That’s obviously the prevalent surface mood. I think as we get closer and closer to finishing the season, more and more are people starting to feel that beautiful heartbreak that is upcoming.”

The announcement came from NBC in May during the upfronts. Their long time running, but low rated fan favorite, Chuck, did make the schedule, once again for thirteen episodes. The FINAL thirteen episodes. Given the constant threat of coming to an abrupt end, this was considered by many NBC’s way of rewarding the loyal fans, even if the show is even playing out its final days by moving from Mondays to Fridays at 8pm, which is considered a TV death slot.

When everyone gathered for Chuck’s farewell at Comic Con in July, hope still lingered that the show could be saved. After all, this is a fandom that has constantly pulled off miracles for their favorite show before. “I’m not convinced that this will be the end, I’m just not,” said Adam Baldwin (John Casey) during the Chuck press session.

“We started off with a show that probably shouldn’t have made it past the first thirteen episodes,” said Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike). “Because of the fans, we’re still here going into our fifth season.”

Yet in talking with Sahay last week, they are currently shooting episode nine and the fans still have yet to see a single episode. With only four more episodes to shoot before the end, the chances of being saved are getting slimmer. “I suppose in the past I’ve said the chance seems slim and it’s happened and maybe there was a glimmer of something that I thought more possible than I do this season. I’m not sure. I think we’re all certainly operating like it’s our last few episodes. If something miraculous happens then something miraculous happens. With the show and the show’s history there’s always that possibility but right now I gotta go (with) we’re closing shop soon.”

Sigh. Massive sad face. I’m already tasting the bittersweet.

Season Five

The season four finale was a game changer. Chuck was no longer the intersect, but now Morgan is the one with the computer in his brain.

“The show is still Chuck and still going to be based heavily around Chuck,” said Josh Gomez (Morgan). “It’s just a new obstacle to be thrown at Chuck. Basically now, his friend has this thing in his head. He knows the pitfalls of that, he knows what his friend is in for.”

One thing is sure in this new twist, Chuck does not have intersect envy. “I’ve flashed enough, I’ve flashed a lot,” said Zachary Levi (Chuck). “The intersect is one of the coolest things, obviously I’m biased, but one of the coolest things that I’ve ever seen on a television show. It’s a really fun thing. You can go anywhere and do anything and you can be a regular guy who does that. So I was really blessed to get to play with that thing for four years as it changed from information to physical abilities. I’m really excited for Josh have that same kind of fun. And delighted to watch him go through the challenges and obstacles of learning five lines of Korean in a day. Cause it’s fun.”

Chuck and Sarah are now married, out of the CIA, and struggling to start a new private spy business. Part of that involves owning the Buy More too, which means the madness of Buymoria will continue. “The show is different. It’s still the Chuck show,” said Executive Producer Chris Fedak. “We’re still going to have fun, comedy, action, adventure. But a lot of things have changed. Part of the season is about getting Carmichael Industries up and running. They’re gonna have competition, they’re gonna have Verbanski Corp out there. We have a lot of fun with the idea that they have to pay the bills. They’re going to work with people that are on the nefarious side of things.”

As with previous seasons, the cast have been very tight lipped with spoilers. I tried to get something, even asking Vik Sahay will the infamous Jeffster perform at least one more time. "I'm gonna plead the fifth," he answered.

Chuck’s lists of esteemed guest stars will continue. Carrie Ann Moss (The Matrix) plays rival Gertrude Verbanski and a potential love interest for Casey. Others include Craig Kilborn, Jeff Fahey, Beau Garrett, Justin Hartley, Stan Lee, Cheryl Ladd, Bo Derek, and geeks everywhere will be treated to the dream appearance of Mark Hamill. What was Levi’s reaction when he heard that Luke Skywalker would be on the show? “You ever hear a man scream like a woman?”

The first three episodes have already been sent out for pre-screening by critics, and so far the reviews have been very positive. They consensus is the show is back to it’s original form and fans will be very pleased. “Season five is going to open with an incredible episode,” said Sahay. “This is a really special, particularly well written and well crafted season. I think it’s riveting quite honestly from reading the scripts. It’s gonna be great.

A Love Letter To The Loyal Fans

“I think our fans have re-invented what it is to be a fan and have a fan base,” said Ryan McPartlin (Captain Awesome).

There’s no doubt this fifth season is happening purely because of the dedication of these most extraordinary fans. After all, fans of Chuck have been avidly fighting for their show for years. They’ve targeted advertisers to show them that Nielsen numbers fail to measure a level of fan loyalty and appreciation. While facing cancellation at the end of season two, Chuck fans appealed to sponsor Subway by flocking to their stores and buying sandwiches. The campaign got enough attention where show star Zachary Levi even visited a Subway in London, England and started making sandwiches for people.

“Now they’re doing stuff like using Twitter to say, ‘I’m not a Nielsen viewer,’” explained McPartlin. “(They’re) tweeting that to all these sponsors of all the commercials they see on Chuck. To let them get all these tweets of hundreds of thousands of people saying, ‘I’m going to buy your product because you’re advertising on Chuck and I want my viewership to still count.’ Who would have thought that up?”

“As far as I’m concerned, they all might as well be executive producers for our show,” said Levi. “We’ve only been able to exist and continue to exist because they’ve cared enough to fight for us and stay with us and buy sandwiches or go online or send letters and phone calls and everything they could possibly do. That’s a lot of time and money and everything and that was all toward believing in us and what we do together.”

One constant obstacle through Chuck’s run is that NBC has only given it thirteen episode orders most seasons and then added more as the season progressed. As a result, the show has had to be constantly written as though it was coming to an end, but open enough so the story could be continued. “We’ve done it over and over again on our show,” explained Fedak. “We’ve adjusted the premise of the show. we’ve changed the premise. And we’ve done it aggressively. We gave Chuck abilities, we put Sarah and Chuck together as a couple. All those decisions are really scary things, but the thing about us we’ve never felt like we’ve been able to sit back and not tell an aggressive story because of the fact we’ve never known when our end is.”

After all the attention, wouldn’t a network like NBC want to keep a show like Chuck going, if anything for the pure publicity of having a show on their schedule with such an avid fan base? There are several reasons why Chuck has faced so many battles at NBC. First there’s the stigma of the traditional Nielsen rating system. Chuck appeals to a younger demographic (especially males) and that’s a hard group to track. They aren’t live viewers. While waiting for a more accurate rating system to come into place that measures DVR activity, online viewing, iTunes sales and live ratings, it’s hard to know for sure how many people actually watch Chuck. Compared to NBC’s other shows, the live rating has always been borderline between hit and cancellation. Of course it’s been on Mondays at 8pm, which is a very competitive time slot.

Second, the uniqueness of the show that triggers such fan loyalty is tough for NBC to sell to their general viewership. The people who watch shows like Law and Order: SVU aren’t exactly Chuck viewers. Over the years Chuck has failed to retain viewers for Heroes, The Event, and The Cape. Of course on the flip side, those shows weren’t exactly quality material for the high scrutiny sci-fi audiences, so it’s questionable if Chuck can be blamed for not being a strong lead-in.

Third, Chuck is not an expensive show to make, but it’s made by Warner Brothers, a third party distributor. It is not an in-house show for NBC, so the corporate parent Comcast doesn’t reap the rewards of the international distribution and DVD sales. While some advertisers like Subway are attracted to the loyal viewership, it’s not enough for the network to recoup costs on license fees. That is especially true now that the show is on Friday nights, where ad rates historically tend to be lower. The plus though is the show comes with a built in audience that will follow Chuck anywhere, so that could be an attraction for Friday advertisements.

NBC president Bob Greenblatt still maintains it’ll all end this season at 13 and there’s little hope of more episodes. “Unless suddenly we have 10 million viewers watching it on Friday night, then it would.”

As for Vik Sahay, he’s already got other projects lined up. He just finished filming two films, Afghan Luke and American Reunion, and he starts shooting another film in Canada (his home country) in November while Chuck finishes filming it’s final episodes. “Other work is beginning to show up and has been showing up so I feel very lucky in that way. If for no other reason than it’s a nice distraction from the immense crying I’m going to do when the show ends.”

What about Chris Fedak and his infamous cliffhangers? How does he plan on ending Chuck? “Don’t take away my cliffhanger,” he joked before giving the honest answer. “We are treating it as the end.”

Until Chuck’s season five finishes though, there’s always hope. “You never know what happens,” said Mark Christopher Lawrence. “We’re moving to Friday nights now. If we come out here and our numbers jump to 7 or 11 million and all of a sudden who’s going to say ‘You guys need to go.‘ Hopefully our fans will get behind it and launch a ‘Jump on the Bandwagon’ campaign.”

You’ll probably see this avid Chuck fan chasing a few wagons this fall.

Chuck returns for its fifth and final season on October 28th at 8pm on NBC.

The Walking Dead Season Two Preview

2011-10-12T23:15:00Z

Zombies done right. That’s what I think of when describing The Walking Dead on AMC. I’ve seen too many of the bad zombie low budget flicks on basic cable at late hours (although I think the best zombie film ever made was Shaun of The Dead), so I was originally turned off by the idea of a TV series. After seeing this high quality production, my mind has easily changed.

I got my early Halloween present last week, receiving a two-episode preview and full color promotional kit for season two of The Walking Dead. I first met this great cast and top notch set of producers at Comic-Con in July during the press session for the show. I’ve never met a more enthusiastic and dedicated group of people when it comes to their project. They are like one big family, putting in all sorts of crazy hours in the sweltering heat of Atlanta for their craft. So what drives them to do more than an average TV show?

“There’s nothing television about what we’re doing,” said co-executive producer Greg Nicotero. “Every episode is a movie. No one treats it like TV. We’re doing things on TV that they don’t even do in movies that often anymore. I’ve often said it’s mini movies we’re making.”

Also in the room was then-showrunner and creator Frank Darabont. He may have stepped down as showrunner five days later, but his influence and impact is still very much seen in every aspect of this show. All the cast members were signing his praises.

“I don’t think it’s an accident when it comes to Frank. He didn’t just cast people, he vetted them,” said Sarah Wayne Callies, who plays Lori Grimes. “I know he called up folks that he worked with. There’s such a thing as good actors that are no good to work with. I think he was very careful to assemble. I think it really matters to him to create a culture on the set that encourages everyone to do their best work as opposed to a place where egos are nurtured to the point where everyone is competing with one another. It makes such an enormous difference.”

Co-star Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) couldn’t agree more. “When we go to work, it doesn’t get any better than this. In my limited experience it doesn’t. I’ve never been on a set that’s felt so safe, so exciting, and so energized.”

“[Frank] works with the best people, he works with really nice people, people that you can get along with, good human beings,” said cast member Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale Horvath). “That combination of talent and decent personality, of course I want to be there.”

What about the hard work and all those grueling hours in the heat?

“I kind of feel like a boy,” said Laurie Holden (Andrea). “It’s the strangest thing to go to work and work really hard and get bruises. Sometimes you get really hurt. You walk away and you’re like ‘Yeah, that was a really good day.’ It’s like a good day at the office. It’s almost like if you didn’t get those bruises fighting the zombies than you didn’t really earn it.”

Frank Darabont is still listed prominently in the credits in season two and the first two episodes certainly don’t reflect his absence. So what is it like having 13 episodes to tell the story this time as opposed to the six in season one? Turns out not a lot is going to change.

“I thought, ‘Oh boy, we’ll have 13 this season I won’t feel like we’ll have to compress narrative so much like we did in the first six,’” said Darabont. “There’s so many great layers to the ideas that we were dealing with. I thought, ‘Oh, we’ll have twice as much.’ It’s the same thing. We’re still doing the exact same thing.”

Season One: A Big Success

Season one was wildly successful, going on to become the number one rated show on AMC. The season finale drew six million viewers and four million in the 18-49 demographic after the premiere drew 5.3 million, the most watched premiere on AMC.

The show has drawn many critical accolades, and even recently won the Creative Arts Emmy this year for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series. All the credit for that, though, goes to Greg Nicotero, the FX master who was brought onto this project by close friend and frequent collaborator Frank Darabont. The goal is to make each zombie their own.

“When we have one of our big zombie days they bring in ten people at a time and you literally look at them and go, ‘Okay, I’ll be right back,’” said Nicotero. “And you go in the back trailer and you grab all the pieces and put it together. A lot of them is attributed to the artists on my crew because every person that comes in is a fresh canvas and we can take the same face three different days and make them look three different ways.”

All this success has been rather gratifying for those involved. The Walking Dead is an adaptation of the popular graphic novel series of the same name created by Robert Kirkman (who is executive producer on the show now). There were years of frustration and rejection by the bigger networks before this show came to be on AMC.

“It happened early on, like 2005,” said Kirkman. “Frank [Darabont] got in touch with my manager and called me on the phone and was like, ‘Hey I read your comic and I think it’d make a good TV show.’ We ended up talking to NBC for a while and it almost got into pilot order at NBC then it fell apart.”

Darabont certainly remembered that encounter with NBC. “Hollywood is a fantastically frustrating place because there are entire cadres of people to say no, especially if you’re trying to pitch something that’s outside their wheelhouse of thought. They all pay lip service to ‘we want something new, different,’ but, like NBC, as soon as you hand it to them they go, ‘We can’t do this. This is not something we understand.’”

Kirkman admitted that he thought the project was dead, and was perfectly happy to sit in Kentucky and work on his comic series. Still, Darabont wouldn’t give up. “Frank always stayed in the mix. I’d see him every year at Comic-Con and he’d say ‘Buddy, we’re going to do this show, don’t you worry, I’m going to do it.’ I’d be like ‘It’s been three years, you don’t have to tell me this. I appreciate you still talking to me but it’s not going to happen.’”

So how did the show work its way to AMC? Enter Gale Anne Hurd (executive producer) who, after reading the comic book, believed it would be perfect for a TV show. She found out her dear friend Frank Darabont owned the rights and had heard about his frustrations with NBC and getting the project sold elsewhere. She decided to help. “As they know, don’t say no to me, I will make it happen. At the same time we’d been having discussions with AMC and they said they wanted a genre show. It turned out to be a perfect marriage with a network that makes Mad Men to now making zombies.”

I had to smile at the idea of Jon Hamm as a zombie. I think he’d make an awesome one.

Season Two

Season two will kick off this Sunday, October 16, at 9 pm on AMC.

Everything picks up right where season one left off, with the survivors leaving Atlanta after the standoff at the CDC. The road to Fort Bragg is 120 some miles, and the path there will not be easy. Episode one delivers some unexpected surprises, as a tense search for someone gone missing happens. Episode two brings some team members to an unexpected safe haven, the Hershel farm.

The new characters introduced are all part of the Hershel farm. Hershel is played by veteran actor Scott Wilson (In Cold Blood, Pearl Harbor, CSI, Dead Man Walking). His daughter is played by Lauren Cohan (Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, Chuck), who is no stranger to genre shows. Pruitt Taylor Vance is Otis, Jane McNeil is Patricia, Otis’s girlfriend, Emily Kinney is Hershel’s youngest daughter Beth, and James Allen McCune is Jimmy, Beth’s boyfriend.

The character of Hershel is captivating from the word go, treating a crisis that strikes with calm and reverence. He’s a rock in this environment of madness. He is a man of faith, and everyone’s faith is tested well in these two episodes. He tells Rick, “Mankind’s been fighting plagues form the start. We get our behinds kicked a while, then we bounce back.” That’s something the embattled sheriff has a hard time believing.

“What Lies Ahead” and “Bloodletting” are two captivating hours of television. The pace is often breathtakingly slow, suspenseful, and very intense, for the Walkers are often nearby. There’s a satisfying amount of zombie skull-bashing happening and one scene even has a nice, gross zombie autopsy. There’s plenty of tension among the group, and loyalties are questioned multiple times. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger, and even with the preview, I was screaming at the end, "When will I get to see episode three?"

The Cast

The following is the official cast list and character descriptions as provided by AMC. They give a great description of where each character’s head space is for the first few episodes. Everyone is indeed struggling with more than the enemy outside the group.

ANDREW LINCOLN (Rick Grimes)

With the group dynamic shattered by one of Rick’s decisions, he feels the weight of the responsibility to keep the group safe and together. Everyone is creating different loyalties, becoming more fragmented. It is one immediate crisis after another. Breakable, Rick does not get any breaks, with the exception of a farm owner named Hershel. But it is not the break it appears to be.

JON BERNTHAL (Shane Walsh)

The reality of his situation now that Rick is back sets in. Still in love with Lori and Carl, Shane is conflicted about whether he should stay or leave the group. The torment leads to unusual behavior and self-distancing, ridding himself of human emotion no longer useful in this un-human world. He begins to question Rick’s decisions and starts to take matters into his own hands.

SARAH WAYNE CALLIES (Lori Grimes)

Each time Lori loosens her tight grip on her family, they suffer greatly. She starts to question the value of life, all the while, keeping a life-changing secret from Rick, who has a secret of his own. She is tormented by the presence of Shane, yet can’t sever a tie to one of the few people left who knew, and has memories of, her previous life before the apocalypse.

LAURIE HOLDEN (Andrea)

Still suicidal, Andrea is full of grief and guilt that her sister was attacked before her very eyes. She is also raging mad at Dale for taking her choice to die gracefully away from her. She only fled the CDC with Dale so his death would not be at her hands as well. Without forgiveness, she gradually accepts she must live in this world, but it will be on her terms, period.

JEFFREY DEMUNN (Dale)

Dale keeps his cards close to his vest, knowing he has more control over each situation than he lets on. Yet Dale struggles with the distance Andrea puts between them because of her anger at him for saving her life at the CDC. Having lost his wife, Dale did not want to lose the one person who got him to care again. He tries to come to terms with the fact that Andrea’s choice to stay or go was not his decision to make.

STEVEN YEUN (Glenn)

Always the optimist with an insatiable desire to be valued by all, Glenn exudes hope, but just how much can he internalize? He slowly becomes more and more aware he is being taken for granted, only being asked to help when others do not want the menial or maniacal task. Then he meets Maggie, Hershel’s daughter, and his world is changed again. While still driven by his moral compass, his priorities shift. He is no longer content to be in the background, but he is not quite sure if he’s ready to be in the spotlight.

CHANDLER RIGGS (Carl Grimes)

Carl feels the pressure his father Rick is under and wants to be brave, while still a child. He is confused as to why Shane is treating him differently. He sees the group breaking apart and wants to step up to protect his family and disappearing extended family.

NORMAN REEDUS (Daryl Dixon)

Still volatile over how Merle was left for dead, Daryl is on a road of self-discovery now that he is out of his big brother’s shadow. He’s a tracker. He’s observant. And he is fully capable of surviving on his own. However, he is appreciating the concept of family from afar, perhaps for the first time in his life. He slowly starts to develop individual relationships, all the while fighting his instinct to be distant, yet feeding his need for emotional connection like a child.

ROBERT ‘IronE’ SINGLETON (T-Dog)

Struggling with the guilt of leaving Merle behind on the rooftop, T- Dog feels the need to continually prove his worth to the group. But he is rendered useless and vulnerable. Finding new found trust in Dale, T-Dog confides in him and discloses a better plan for survival.

MELISSA McBRIDE (Carol)

With the death of her abusive husband Ed, Carol finds additional inner strength and some peace of mind that the main threat to her and her daughter Sophia now only comes from outside the group. But her nightmare is just beginning.

MADISON LINTZ (Sophia)

The daughter of Carol and the now deceased Ed, Sophia further withdraws. She takes solace in her friendship with Carl. They are truly each other’s best friends. Worried her mother will be the next one to die, Sophia becomes un-nerved as the Walkers appear to organize.

Watch the 90-minute premiere of season two of The Walking Dead on AMC October 16, 2011 at 9 pm, kicking off AMC’s Fearfest. Six one-hour episodes will air in the weeks following. The final episodes of the season begin on Sunday, February 12 at 9pm.

Meet Luke Schroder: Lead Acting Debut in A Mile in His Shoes

2011-09-22T16:40:00Z

Meet Luke Schroder. Sure, he’s not a complete stranger to the Hollywood scene, having been spotted a few times at movie premieres and other events throughout the years alongside his famous acting dad, Rick(y) Schroder. Now Luke is 18 and he’s decided it’s time to get into the family business.

“Growing up and having seen my Dad act, I’ve always been interested and always wanted to get my feet wet and see if I liked it,” said Luke Schroder when I asked him why he chose acting for his career. “Considering it was such a big part of his life I wanted to see what it’s like to act and be in front in the camera. I have that creative blood in me, why not use it?”

Why not indeed, especially since Schroder has just scored his first starring role. His debut will be in the TV film A Mile In His Shoes, starring opposite veteran actor Dean Cain. Needless to say, he‘s pretty excited about the upcoming premiere this Sunday, September 25th on the GMC network, even though he has yet to see the film. “I’m definitely a little nervous to see what it exactly looks like. I know I did a good job and I trust the director a lot so I’m not too worried. I think it’s going be great.”

So what exactly is A Mile In His Shoes about? It’s based on the book, The Legend of Mickey Tussler by Frank Nappi. Schroder plays Mickey Tussler, a 17 year old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism.

“He’s a little bit different than most kids his age but he’s also really smart at the same time and a talented baseball player,” explained Schroder.

Mickey’s discovered by Arthur Murphy (played by Cain), who gives him a chance to play semi-pro baseball.

A Mile in His Shoes doesn’t exactly follow the book to the letter. The book takes place in 1948 with the then minor league team Milwaukee Brewers, the farm team of the Boston Braves.

The film takes place in a more modern 2002 in Ohio with a fictional team, the River Rats. The similarities lie in the core theme; the story of a handicapped underdog overcoming intolerance from many people over his condition with determination and resiliency. It’s all depicted through a relatable national pastime, baseball.

Schroder had to learn the finer points of baseball to prepare for this role, getting a lot of help from his co-star. “Dean Cain such a good guy. I can’t find one bad thing to say about him. He’s really good at baseball too so he really helped me progress with my game so I could look as good as possible for the camera.”

Schroder said he had played baseball before, but nothing outside of little league, so the extra help he got was most appreciated.

The movie was also shot in Vancouver, which ended up working out for this young actor nicely. “I’m actually a dual Canadian citizen because my mom is from Canada, so I was able to be hired as a Canadian.” He also had the opportunity to work with director William Dear (Angels in The Outfield), who he credited with helping him get adjusted to his first time in front of the camera.

The First Break

Even with his famous father fully behind him, breaking into acting is a task that Luke Schroder hasn’t taken lightly. He’s fully aware of the challenges in this highly competitive business, but being exposed to that life his entire upbringing has helped him keep perspective.

For one, he’s not limiting his interests to one genre. “I’d like to branch out to anything if I could. My first two roles have been family projects which I think are good to start out. They’ve been pretty positive and simple, no huge leaps. I’d really like to branch out to anything. Action, comedy, romance, I’m ready to try it all.”

Schroder’s also drawing inspiration from his Dad, choosing to follow his career accomplishments as an example. He was surprised when recently watching his dad’s earlier work on Silver Spoons (something he admitted to not watching while he was growing up).

“I thought it was the funniest show ever. I thought it was entertaining and my Dad was a pretty talented, young kid. Here’s this kid that’s a lot younger than me with this huge stage presence and a huge talent that I want to find and see if I have in myself. The most inspiring thing about my Dad is how much success he had at a young age and how he’s been able to continue that through his life.”

In going through Schroder’s bio, there are a few interesting tidbits about this young man that stand out. First, he’s been making a living recently as a camera operator. He just finished filming a reality series in Washington for six weeks as the assistant camera operator.

Another interesting skill, he’s a Shakespearian trained actor. How did that come about? “I took a year and a half of weekly Shakespeare classes with my brother. We worked with this guy who’s been studying Shakespeare his whole life and knows every little detail about everything Shakespeare has ever written. I was able to learn a lot about acting and voice and presentation and stage presence.”

(Photos by Larissa Underwood)

In his younger years, Schroder took advantage of his good looks by doing some modeling. He’s done work for outlets like JCPenney and Sears, and but has also gotten to do a fashion shows in Barcelona and Paris when he spent a year with his family in Spain. When he’s not working, Schroder is one avid surfer, snowboarder, skier, and ice skater.

Schroder recently though got to experience first hand what being a headlining actor is all about. He had his “coming out” party so to speak at the TCAs in Hollywood. While attending the TCAs is nothing new to him, this recent experience was a bit surreal. “That was weird. I’m used to going with my dad to those things. I’m not used being the one that they need there. It’s was really cool. I love promoting the movie, I love promoting what I work so hard doing. It’s a no brainer to just go and be my best.”

Despite the excitement over his debut film making it to air, it’s back to the grind for Luke Schroder. He’s recently come back to Hollywood and is looking for new projects. While he enjoys being a camera operator, his new direction is clear. “I love all areas of production. They’re all different and they’re all hard in their own ways. ”Being in the front of the camera is my favorite area of production so far.”

I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of Luke Schroder in front of the camera in years to come.

Watch the premiere of A Mile in His Shoes, September 25th on the GMC channel. Check your local listings for times.

Nikita Season Two Preview

2011-09-19T18:05:00Z

“When Showrunners Get Bored.” No, that’s not a reality show. It is a darn good description, though, of why Nikita had such a furiously paced first season.

“That’s just the way I break stories,” executive producer Craig Silverstein said when I asked him about the fully loaded first season scripts at the Comic-Con press session. “We start out wanting to make it simple and I get bored. I want to see something happen.”

Something most certainly did happen. Nikita in its first season made its mark on the television landscape as a thrill ride adventure, with more twists than a...um...twisty turny thing. Aside from being the only current show to star a female minority lead, its wild pace and complex story lines have both thrilled and exhausted audiences that tuned in every week. It’s certainly done a number on its actors, but they know they’re part of something extraordinary.

“The two shows that I have done before, Once Again and ER, they were based on drama and relationships that built over time,” said Shane West, who plays Michael. “[Nikita] is action packed, so fast, so many things happen in one episode that could have been a season finale for anything else, that I’m not used to going at that fast pace. It’s a lot of fun but it’s different.”

“Just the speed that we shoot at is probably the most challenging,” said Lyndsy Fonseca, who plays Alex. “It’s not like filming a film where you have three weeks on one part of your character and storyline. We’re really fast. To keep up with it all is probably the hardest part. But that’s why Craig’s amazing.”

Series star Maggie Q (Nikita) is constantly shocked over how she’s kept guessing each week by the man she calls a genius. “The ending ends up being something very different, he’s so freaking good at that. I don’t understand how he pulls that off every time. Sometimes I worry a little bit. Is he moving too fast, are we going to have enough material? Season one turned out okay, so I’m thinking I’ll trust Craig.”

Season Two

Season one was a success for Nikita, but renewal for season two wasn’t a slam dunk. While Nikita brought a decent amount of viewers to The CW, it wasn’t an adequate pairing with its top show The Vampire Diaries. Nikita had more male viewers and an older skewing audience that its vampire counterpart. The decision was made in the spring to move it to Friday nights instead, pairing it with veteran series Supernatural.

“I think that Supernatural has a more similar audience, it’s just a better fit,” explained Silverstein when I asked him if he was worried about his new day and time. “I think the kind of people who watch Supernatural will watch Nikita. I was hoping for this kind of thing halfway through last season.”

So what’s in store for season two? If you remember in the finale of season one, Michael and Nikita started a life on the run, Percy had been deposed by Amanda at Division, a new group called Oversight was revealed to be Division’s boss, and Alex, while free of Division, has been given a tempting new offer by Oversight.

Season two is going to pick up right where they left off. There will be a new female and male character. Silverstein was specific about one of them. “There’s a new character introduced named Sean (Dillion Casey) who is the man of Oversight. He is sent in to supervise Amanda, who is now running Division. He’s a character who you really don’t know if he’s good or bad.” Silverstein also said some people are returning from season one like Owen and Ryan.

An interesting new twist will be the strange working relationship between Alex and her season one torturer Amanda (Melinda Clarke). “They’re testing the waters to see if they can trust each other,” said Fonseca. According to her, this will be a relationship more out of mutual need than respect. Silverstein also admitted that there would have been more of Amanda’s plan to take over Division shown in the season one finale if the network hadn’t intervened. They preferred he save some of that for the season two opener. “She’s scary,” he said with a smile.

Percy (Xander Berkeley), although no longer part of Division, is still out there with a plan. Everyone was secretive about Percy’s upcoming role in season two though. “I really don’t want to give anything away about Xander’s character because it’s so good. I don’t want to be the one to ruin it,” said Fonseca. Shane West actually gave us the most information and that was dodgy at best. “Percy may be out of the picture for now but not really because he’s still there.”

As for Alex, her main purpose will be to find those who killed her father. This means she will be working with Division, but not for them. She needs them, and they need her to help find the four remaining black boxes out of the seven. “They’re the Horcruxes,” joked Silverstein. Alex will also have a new romance with a new character. It’ll be a slow building romance though, since they won’t exactly like each other at first. She’ll also continue to struggle with her internal good girl/bad girl. “That’s a question as an actress I always I ask myself, balancing that line,” said Fonseca. “No one is just evil and no one is just good. There’s both in all of us.”

It’s Silverstein’s gutsiest move of season one though that will have the largest impact on season two. The pairing of Michael and Nikita, although planned eventually, happened way sooner than many had anticipated. Silverstein had good reason. “They got together faster than we had planned. It started to feel like something had to happen to define Michael, he had to pick a side.”

Just like with any new couple, the adjustment will get a little bumpy, especially given the circumstances surrounding Michael and Nikita. They aren’t exactly getting a McMansion in the 'burbs and starting a family anytime soon. “We’re going to see more of the hardships between them being together and being kind of different in how they handle things. Having to have those relationship fights while trying to save the world,” said West.

Maggie Q said despite the difficulties, Michael will be the one to bring out the caring woman through the tough facade of her kick-ass female persona. “The tough exterior is a survival tactic. It’s something that she’s had to do. Now she’s got this man that she loves. If you’re in a good relationship, normally that person allows you to soften. You’re going to see that with them this season and it’s going to be nice.”

And what about Michael and Nikita when they cross paths again with Alex? "We’re going to run into each other for sure," said West. "We do almost immediately, I can say that. They’re trying to make it like she stabbed us in the back."

Their shooting location of Toronto too opens up possibilities for new countries in season two. “We’re going to do Colombia,” said Silverstein. “Toronto for Colombia, we’re going to make it work while the weather is good.” Once the weather turns bad, expect more trips to Russia, just like the first season.

Anything else we should know about the second season? Maggie Q did tell us this: “I’ve read the third episode already and from the first episode to the third episode I’m like 'Really, wow?' It’s a completely different dynamic. It’s amazing.” Sounds like the trademark furious pace will continue.

How long can Craig Silverstein keep this momentum going? He admitted that the outline isn’t endless, but anything can change. “I’ve got it planned through season three. Past that, I’m hoping that whatever happens in season three will give me an idea of how to keep going or one of I’ll make one of the other writers figure it out and I’ll leave.”

The writing staff in the meantime are having fun with their boss and his overactive imagination. “They bought me a big detonator, a plunger, just because I keep blowing up the stories. So I actually have a detonator in the writers room now, with the title ‘TNT.’”

No wonder this show is so explosive (dodges flying tomatoes)! If blowing up the stories keeps us coming back every week, then Nikita is going to have one very good season and beyond.

Nikita season two premieres on Friday, September 23 at 8:00 pm on The CW, followed by its new Friday night partner, Supernatural, at 9:00 pm.

The Secret Circle Preview: Are Witches the New Vampires?

2011-09-07T12:55:00Z

Who do you think of when you hear witches? Elizabeth Montgomery, Alyssa Milano or Melissa Joan Hart? Or are you like me and don’t take much to the pop culture versions, thinking more about old hags with crooked noses and warts in black hats cackling spells over their cauldrons?

Meet the new modern witches, 2011 style.

The CW’s number one show, The Vampire Diaries, gets a new companion September 15th and 9 pm is going to the witches. The Secret Circle is based on LJ Smith’s book trilogy, which came out in 1992, shortly after her other successful trilogy, The Vampire Diaries. So it’s only natural The Secret Circle would eventually follow its companion in TV Land. It’s a match made in supernatural heaven, right?

The CW is riding on it. Even though last year’s Nikita did well in the overall ratings, it lost a lot of the young 18-34 demographic that watched The Vampire Diaries. The hope is this series will share and retain the same advertiser rich audiences. Judging from the official synopsis from The CW, the plot seems to fit:

Cassie Blake was a happy, normal teenage girl - until her mother Amelia dies in what appears to be a tragic accidental fire. Orphaned and deeply saddened, Cassie moves in with her warm and loving grandmother Jane in the beautiful small town of Chance Harbor, Washington - the town her mother left so many years before - where the residents seem to know more about Cassie than she does about herself. As Cassie gets to know her high school classmates, including sweet-natured Diana and her handsome boyfriend Adam, brooding loner Nick, mean-girl Faye and her sidekick Melissa, strange and frightening things begin to happen.

Keep in mind, this is no spinoff. During my chat with the cast and producers during the press session at Comic Con, the words “companion series” were used more than once. That still didn’t prevent the comparisons of the two series. After all, both have witches, and they both have the same Executive Producer. That’s where the similarities end though.

“This world is witches,” explained Executive Producer Kevin Williamson, who was brought onto this project because of his success creating The Vampire Diaries. “We don’t have vampires and werewolves in this world. There’s other things but there’s not vampires and werewolves.” Williamson tried to be sly about what those things were, but admitted that if they were in the books, they’ll probably be in the TV show too.

“We’re just trying to redefine our version of witchcraft,” said Executive Producer Andrew Miller, who’s been with the project since the very beginning and handles a lot of the show running duties. “It’s a bit more nature based and we deal with the elements a lot. Water, fire, air and earth. We’re trying to take the all star team of magic from different cultures and times and try to put it together and create something that’s a little fresh and modern.”

Just like with The Vampire Diaries though, there are some deviations from the books. The most obvious is the death of Cassie’s mother, who is alive and well in the novels. Why was the decision made to kill her? Williamson didn’t see the logic in Cassie’s mother returning to the same town years later with her daughter knowing what she knows. He also thought the town’s name and location didn’t make much sense. “Why is the town called New Salem when it’s about a bunch of witches that were trying to hide? Thank you LJ Smith. So we changed all that.”

The location from the books, New Salem, is now Chance Harbor, Washington. The hope is the location change to another part of the country will give this show it’s own look and feel. “We are shooting in Vancouver and the idea of witchcraft and using elements is so huge there,” said Miller. “It seemed a fit to take that Pacific Northwest feel. There’s some great cultural stuff there from natives and it’s a more frontier kind of place. Instead of just doing something like Salem or Virginia like The Vampire Diaries we could make it new for us there.”

Miller further explained that when beginning a TV series based on novels, they will start with characters and the core relationships, as well as the bulk of the mythology. Once that’s done though, it’s anything goes. “The books go to a specific end that we can’t. For the characters we unfortunately had to reduce the circle a little bit. Things like that are just practical issues in terms in creating the show. We all so love the heart of the books and the idea and the characters so we’ll stick with that pretty closely.”

Also, don’t look for any typical network stunts, like Damon and Stefan Salvatore dropping in for a surprise visit. “Every show has it’s own world,” said series star Thomas Dekkar. “Every one is wondering if we’ll ever do a cross over episode type deal. I don’t think that will happen. We’re really trying to assert ourselves as our own circle.”

Of the cast members that I got to talk to at Comic Con, they all seemed to have a perfect grasp of their roles and what this new style of witchcraft means for their characters.

Phoebe Tonkin

I have to admit, when Phoebe Tonkin sat at our table, I had a major “HITG” moment. Once she spoke with her native Australian accent, it all came to me. She played a mermaid in the Australian series H20: Just Add Water, a show my kids took to watching on Nickelodeon regularly.

Now she plays Faye Chamberlain, who’s characterized as “mean-girl Faye.” Phoebe knows what makes her character tick. “She’s just kind of bored. Instead of going out and partying, she wants to do really bad magic. That’s kind of her vibe.”

This is Phoebe’s first major role in the United States. She told us that as soon as she read this script, she really wanted to be part of this project. What happened when she found out? “I was at a juice bar and screamed. I was so excited because I genuinely wanted this role so badly."

As for her character, what sort of struggles does she see for the circle? “Witches can do anything. That’s where the moral dilemma comes in. If we have this incredible power, how far do we take it? Do we use it for good or do we use it for bad?”

Phoebe must be in the right role, for she knows her genre references too. When asked, “Evil Willow Rosenberg or Faye?” she had the easy answer. Definitely Faye.

Thomas Dekker

Thomas Dekker also got a few of us recalling where we’d seen him before. One easily popped in our heads, John Conner on Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. I also remember him from Heroes and one of my favorite House episodes. Now he plays Adam Conant, one of the male witches in the circle.

What’s it like being a male witch on a show with lots of female witches? “To play with witchcraft you’re automatically playing with nature and spirituality, the things you associate with women. I don’t think witches are just for women. I don’t think werewolves should just be for men.”

What’s his philosophy for the circle? “In witchcraft the age old rule is to go light or dark. Two options. It doesn’t come down to the magic being light or dark, it’s the heart of the witch. It depends as we go along and as the powers intensify who’s going to slip to which side, which gives us a lot of places to go.”

Thomas is also very aware that Adam is different in the show compared to his book counterpart. As someone gave him a long description of Adam from the book, he found the comparison quite humorous. “Basically you’re saying, ‘You’re not the character at all I know,” he joked. “Why are you at the table? You’re supposed to be Rupert Grint.” That’s a wizard actually, but we weren’t saying anything.

Britt Robertson

Britt has the most impressive CW credit in the room, coming off of her two season lead role as Lux Cassidy in Life Unexpected. She’s actually counting on their companion show to boost theirs. “A lot of the people that who are excited about our show are fans of The Vampire Diaries.”

Why does she think witches are so popular? “Genre has become such a huge thing. With witches there’s so many cool things that entail that world that we can dive into. This show specifically, you get to watch real people that ordinary people can relate to, but they get to do extraordinary powers that are exciting to watch.”

What about her character? The pilot shows Cassie to be a reluctant member of the circle. Will that change? “It comes back to her mother at the end of the day and this is her heritage, a part who she is. Being a 16 year girl and constantly being influenced by the outside world that can be a very overwhelming thing. The only choice eventually is to break it.”

Who’s her favorite all time witch? “When I was younger I was a big fan of TGIF on ABC and Sabrina The Teen Witch came on. I loved Melissa Joan Hart.” I do wish we had time left to ask her who would win in a Evil Willow/Sabrina death match.

Natasha Henstridge

Natasha came to our table with the longest resume. She’s been on many shows, but the recent one I remember is Eli Stone. Scanning through her IMDB page, movies The Whole Nine Yards and The Whole Ten Yards stand out, but the one that made me smile was “Job Applicant” in a Saturday Night Live skit in 1998. What a credit!

Natasha’s role is unique since she’s playing Dawn Chamberlain, Faye’s mother, who has no powers but a hidden agenda. “She really believes she’s using her daughter for the greater good. Like they say, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, I think she’s got her eye on the prize and probably thinks she’s doing the right thing. Whether the things she does to that endpoint maybe dark and twisted and horrible I don’t think she genuinely wants to hurt her own daughter.”

How does her character play into the circle? “The generation that I’m in has lost their power. But there maybe devices and things enable her to have power briefly. She wants the full circle together so she can have all the power.”

Still, this show is very different to what she’s done in the past. What drew her to a youth skewing show like this? “It’s great to join a show that’s young and hip. I’ve done some great shows that didn’t have that young audience and ‘bye bye.’ Nobody wants to work where nobody’s watching the show.”

As you can tell, this is a cast with a fantastic sense of humor.

Other cast members include Shelly Henning (Days of Our Lives) as Diana, Louis Hunter (Out of the Blue) as Nick, Jessica Parker Kennedy (Smallville, Lie to Me) as Melissa, and Ashley Crow (Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy) as Jane Blake.

On a final note, I was very pleased to find during my recent visit to Vancouver that most of the crew from Smallville now have jobs on The Secret Circle, and even two of their writers, Don Whitehead and Holly Hendersen, are also with the show. Another scoop? Director Guy Norman Bee (Supernatural, Criminal Minds, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) is helming episode six.

The Secret Circle premieres on The CW Thursday, September 15th at 9 pm.

The CW's Supernatural Season 7 Preview: "No More Noir"

2011-08-30T17:40:00Z

Supernatural season seven. Has a nice ring to it, huh?

For a die hard fan like me another season is very exciting. While heading to San Diego Comic Con this year, though, I realized I was still dealing with how season six left me a little perplexed. I didn’t hate it by any means, but the tonal change, it was just... different. Just like with other seasons, I came away from it with more questions than answers. I went into the Supernatural press room and panel hoping to get some of those answers.

This time last year everyone proudly touted a series reinvention for Supernatural. After all, they had just ended the demons and angels myth-arc that dominated the first five seasons. Season six was going to be a bold new chapter with new themes. Particularly noir.

Everything would pick up a year later. Dean would be still retired and living with Lisa and Ben, and Sam would be out of hell hunting without telling Dean. Castiel was fighting a civil war in heaven and monsters would be coming to the forefront. Oh, and they had a new theme. Did I mention the noir?

Here it is, one year later, and season six, if anything, proved to be ambitious. It was hard to imagine things getting worse for Sam and Dean, especially the way season five ended with Sam falling into Lucifer’s cage in Hell and an overwrought with grief Dean going to live with Lisa and Ben, but they did. Sam spent the first half of the season soulless and dangerous, and the second half dealing with an unstable “wall” in his head protecting him from all the damage done by his soul burning in hell.

Poor Dean had way too much to juggle. He had to deal with a sociopathic brother that harmed others (including him), the constant pressure of keeping Lisa and Ben safe while trying to maintain a relationship with them (which imploded by episode five), and then the struggle to get Sam’s soul back.

Once he managed that, he had to deal with Sam’s delicate condition only to find out along the way his BFF angel Castiel had a secret deal with new King of Hell, Crowley, behind his back. In the process, Castiel gained enough power to proclaim himself the new God.

Got all that? And that was me scratching the surface.

I did learn one thing. I’m not a big fan of noir. Consulting Producer Ben Edlund explained to us how noir makes a crappy date movie. “Last season was actually a very dark season. That was a ride that people had to go through. Everyone had murky character shit going on. I think it’s a description of someone’s preference in taste but I think it’s pretty sad sometimes. They’ve had a horrible hard life. I don’t know, I think that Supernatural is about catharsis and vicarious torment. You watch them and there’s no happy time.”

So, will season seven be less... oh what’s the word, depressing? “It’s a tough ride. I think this season for people who felt last season was maybe too depressing, it’s going to be depressing also but it’s not noir. Last season was noir and that’s a whole commitment to a certain kind of mirth. Very few noirs are uplifting.”

Got it. No noir. Okay, what will season seven be all about then? That’s when I learned something else. Everyone in that room was an incredible tap dancer. Most questions asked about what’s happening in season seven never earned a direct answer.

Take for example the big question of the day: What’s going to happen to Castiel? How could such a fan favorite turn so dark so fast?

“I’ve been getting that question every minute of every day for the last year about the change and Castiel,” said Executive Producer Sera Gamble in the panel. “The reality is that we want to tell you everything we can tell you about Misha because we love Misha as much as you do, and we want to tell you everything we can about Castiel because we adore the character as you do. But, you saw the cliffhanger and it’s very cliffhangery. We want you to tune in and be anticipatory and we can’t say past what you know which is he’s due to be in the first couple of episodes. So watch those and we can do it again and can tell you a little more.”

“Well, that was really informative,” Jensen Ackles (Dean) joked.

Misha Collins (Castiel) certainly had his sharp witted yet vague answers ready, but that’s what makes him a fan favorite. “To be perfectly honest with you, I have been as an actor surprised that no one has written a God role for me yet in my career. It seems like such a natural fit and obviously in getting to know me Sera saw that and just rolled it into the story. It kind of fit.”

Ben Edlund offered this great dodge. “The first piece for Cas is obviously he’s our new God. His story is about stabilizing his God complex. I can’t really talk too much about it because the cliffhanger is so about Cas and so about where his character is going to go and the ramifications of what he’s done. In a sense I almost feel like the beginning of the season, the first episode of the next season, is almost the 23rd episode of last season. It’s another crescendo thing. So we can’t really talk about it because it’s another big set of shoes dropping. There’s like eight shoes dropping in that one. I just have to be evasive. Ha!”

What about Crowley and his shaky alliance with Castiel? “I’m in season seven?” Mark Sheppard asked jokingly.

My favorite answer about Castiel’s fate though came from Jim Beaver (Bobby). When I asked him about Castiel’s impact on his character (after he told me that he felt secure about Bobby surviving) he had this to say. “I can’t...The question about how long Bobby’s going be around, if I answered this question I can tell you how long he’ll be around. About another ten minutes.”

Alright, Castiel will remain a mystery until the season seven premiere. So who are they up against this year? “I can tell you what I know, not a lot,” said Jared Padalecki (Sam).

“Supernatural has a habit of having what we call our Big Bad. First it was yellow-eyed demon, then it was Lilith, then Ruby and then it was Crowley. So each and every year we have some ultimate bad guy, or it can be a bad girl, it’s usually a bad thing. We’re going to encounter another big bad creature, or set of creatures, I don’t know exactly what they’re going to do. But we obviously have a Big Bad. Of course I’m trying to dance my way around saying what it’s called,” said Padalecki.

Okay, marking down “unknown Big Bad.” What about the brothers then? How about “things keep going from bad to worse” Sam Winchester? He did not look very good in the season six finale after Castiel took down his “hell wall” and he woke up from his coma in time to help Dean and Bobby with Crowley and Castiel. I went to Sera Gamble for that answer.

“He will start to see what that really means, that the wall is down," she said. "We were pretty specific what the repercussions of that wall coming down would be. Cas listed the terrible list, basically like you’re going to be a drooling mess, hallucinations, things cannot be fixed and Death also (warned) don’t even scratch the wall. We’re not going to let him off scot free of course and it becomes a pretty major story line. What’s wrong with Sam’s head?”

As any fan knows, Sam strife usually has a bad effect on Dean. Sera Gamble had a good answer for that too. “Something that Dean points out when it starts to happen is that this is like not being attacked by a witch or something. This is a true break in Sam’s psyche and maybe it’s something that cannot be fixed. So it’s a different sort of problem than the boys have faced before. [It’s] the thing that Sam has now earned in a certain way over years and years of being pummeled with more than pretty much any other human being on earth.”

Pummeled or not, Jared Padalecki certainly likes his character’s new challenges. “There’s a lot that Sam has seen and can see again now that the wall has fallen. I for my part am really excited about playing Sam that doesn’t know which reality he’s in. For those that haven’t watched the show Sam had some hard times last season. Now we get to play with Sam’s healing.”

Then there’s Dean, who was devastated at the end of last season when he had Castiel wipe all memories of him from Lisa and Ben’s minds. “I think that goodbye to Ben and Lisa, tough as it was on Dean, it was a necessity,” said Jensen Ackles. “He comes to the realization that’s never going to be his life, no matter how much he dreams about it, no matter how much he’d love it to be, he’s a hunter and he’ll always be a hunter and that’s the way it’s going to be. That was a must and it happened and it was a tough scene to shoot for me as Dean. It was a sad goodbye but now we’ve got a bigger problem on our hands.”

Sera Gamble revealed that Dean is up for some reality checks. “Dean has suffered an enormous amount of loss this season. If he wasn’t running and gunning to try to save the world at all moments he would just collapse under the weight of it... We find him in place where he’s got a lot of soul searching to do and he has to ask himself why does he do what he does.”

Wow, I’m starting to get what Ben Edlund meant about “depressing.” From the other comments I’d gotten throughout the session, it definitely sounds like there will be a continued pattern of things going from bad to worse for the Winchesters. “A lot of things that Sam and Dean and Bobby have counted on, a lot of things that the audience have counted on, are going to get reshuffled,” said Jim Beaver. “A lot of what the guys have counted on in the past isn’t going to work the same way. They’re gonna have a lot of figuring out something new that does work.”

After all the horrible things that have happened to the brothers in the last six years, season seven could also just be another day at the office. “This season is about challenging them as hunters,” said Edlund. “Previous seasons have often been about challenging them as brothers or as humans or as men. They’re going to have some professional difficulties because the world is going to try and eat them again. Well that happens every season.”

Jared Padalecki offered a different analogy. “Sam and Dean are kind of going Thelma and Louise, I guess Butch and Sundance is probably better, can we cut the Thelma and Louise part and say Butch and Sundance? (laughs). So we’re off on our own again.”

Just like prior seasons, too, the comedy and offbeat episodes will continue. Last season had some real strong ones with “Clap Your Hands if You Believe,” “The French Mistake,” and the western themed “Frontierland.”

Who better to go to for information than the master of the screwball script himself, Ben Edlund? “I don’t that have that one yet that we’ve gone, ‘We’re definitely doing that,’ but I’d like to start one here so that people hear about it and then I go ‘Oh yeah, I started that I think we should do it.’ We’ve got to put them on a spaceship this year.”

Once the laughter died down at the table, Edlund made it clear they weren’t going to stop the traditional comedy episodes. “I want to make sure we keep doing bizarre things.”

All in all, this years visit turned out to be productive, despite the amusing game of dodgeball everyone played. They’re setting up season seven to be full of surprises. Oh, the agony! God, I love my show.

Supernatural season seven premieres on September 23rd at 9pm on The CW.

CW's The Vampire Diaries Season 3 Preview

2011-08-29T17:45:00Z

The CW's teen hit Vampire Diaries returns for its third steamy season in just over two weeks with "The Birthday" episode.

“In the first episode Damon dies and he’s off the show forever.”

Got your attention? That little “foiler” came courtesy of Vampire Diaries showrunner and executive producer Kevin Williamson, who decided to have some fun with the media during our roundtable discussion in the press room at San Diego Comic Con.

If The Vampire Diaries in its two seasons has become known for anything, it’s their gift for keeping audiences hanging. The end of season two was definitely no exception. Sure Damon and Elena shared a steamy kiss when they thought he was dying and Stefan is royally screwed now that he’s back to his evil vampire ways while under control of Klaus, but the real gotcha went to Jeremy.

He died, came back, and thanks to his witch girlfriend Bonnie, can see dead people. Okay, his dead girlfriends. Oops, Bonnie might have a little trouble living that one down.

“It’s going to have both a great supernatural genre element to it but also a really strong emotional element to it which I think is one of the reasons why we wanted to do it,” said Executive Producer Julie Plec about this ghostly plot twist. “His first two loves of his life are now popping around. Not only will it be cool and creepy (it’ll) also play a little warm and yummy too.”

This teen skewing program has certainly earned a reputation for being both creepy and yummy, which is a main reason why it’s The CW’s number one show. Jeremy’s latest developments seem like par for the course compared to all the other action going on. Another big question in the “yummy” territory is what’s going to happen now that Damon and Elena have shared a passionate moment together and Stefan has left town with Klaus?

“People keep talking about this steamy kiss,” said Ian Somerhalder, who plays Damon. “I don’t know if anyone was really paying attention but Damon was pale, sweating, and bleeding profusely, so I’m not sure how passionate it was but he definitely remembers it. Ultimately, he’s pretty pissed off. For two seasons he tried to get his brother what he wanted him to be, to eat and destroy everything in their paths, which would have been fun.

"Now Stefan is running around with Klaus, a dude that Damon absolutely hates, he tried to kill him, doing all those fun things that he was trying to get his brother to do. Damon is stuck in Mystic Falls with this girl that he loves that’s 150 years younger than he is, who a) doesn’t want him and b) it's his brother’s girl so he can’t ultimately do that, so I think he’s really not happy with the way things have turned out.”

Nina Dobrev (Elena) also downplayed the possible pairing. “You’ll see in the first episode she may not necessarily be skewing toward Damon. Just because he’s there and Stefan’s not doesn’t mean that she’s going to fall into his arms. I think she realized that she was in big trouble once she found out that Damon was going to survive after she kissed him.”

Oh, but there will be struggles. Just like the books that this series is based on, Elena will continue to find herself torn between both Salvatore brothers. “We’re trying to tell the story that we started the show wanting to tell,” explained Plec. “It’s a girl has lost a lot of people in her life who finds a warmth and comfort and solace in one brother and then ultimately finds herself the object of affection for another brother.”

Kevin Williamson was a bit more specific about Elena’s upcoming struggles in the third season. “It will be Elena’s search for Stefan and how their relationship changes. At the end of season two Katherine (says) “It’s okay to love both of them.” We’re going to see that play out and what does that mean? It meant one thing for Katherine, what does it mean for Elena?”

Despite all the love struggles at home, the third season primarily is kicking off with Klaus and Stefan. Klaus has an agenda, but it’s going to be a long, unfolding storyline. “There are 22 episodes so it doesn’t all come out in the first episode, but you wake up to it,” said Williamson. “You know us, we get it out there and then we do it some more. It’s a big story so it has a different bunch of beats to it. The first episode will kick it right off.”

If you all remember at the end of season two, Stefan gave into his brutal vampire urges before leaving with Klaus, doing so in order to save Damon from death by werewolf bite. So what does this new journey mean for him? “It’s going to be a season that has a lot of torment and heartbreak,” said Paul Wesley, who’s been given the challenging task of taking his character Stefan into dangerous new territory. “He loses himself but he always has that good soul that remains and I think it’s going to be one of those things we just hope any minute he regains it. For me it’s important to not completely forget the good guy, the soul that he has, that Stefan we all know for two years.”

How bad is it going to get for Stefan though? “Bad,” Julie Plec answered definitely. “Yeah, he’s got it in him. He’s pretty hard core when he falls off the edge. It’s not going to be just one and done with him. We wanted our hero to go down a really dark road and we’re gonna take him down that dark road for a while. They’ll be levels of bad that I think Paul Wesley’s ready to explore.”

Somewhere in the backdrop of all this other drama lies the other love triangle of Caroline, Tyler, and Matt. What’s going to be new for them, especially now that Matt is aware of the supernatural elements happening in his town? “For Matt it’s not going so well,” said Plec. “But one of the last things we saw at the end of the season of course is his sister Vicki making an appearance to Jeremy. That’s not going to stay Jeremy’s story line for very long. I think that Matt, having lost his sister, that’s a big deal. We might get to see that play out for him.”

“I personally love him as a human character,” said Williamson about Matt. “I want to also show that relationship of how he views the supernatural world. Because Mystic Falls clearly has got something wrong with it that it attracts paranormal activity. It’s going to be interesting to watch our one standing human character a) See how long he’ll survive and b) what’s his response to the relationships all the people around him, and the lies, and the betrayal, and all the stuff that’s happening.”

It sounds like Tyler the werewolf will be staying in town too, and with Matt no longer showing interest in Caroline that could open the door for him. “Caroline and Tyler, they’ve got wonderful chemistry those two and the characters have been through so much together,” said Plec showing some excitement over the possibilities. “Tyler’s been exposed to his core and she’s been right there holding his hair back proverbially. We’ll see where that friendship lasts and how long it just stays friends. It’s kind of inevitable there’s going to be some naked action happening there eventually,”

Also revealed through our conversations is that Alaric will be struggling over his new role of guardian for the Gilberts now that Jenna is gone, Caroline and her mother will see their relationship strengthen despite mom’s lifelong bias against vampires, and we have definitely not seen the last of Elijah (Daniel Gillies), who Plec calls her favorite character. For now though, he will likely be limited to flashbacks. That will be important though, since some backstory about the original family of vampires will be revealed.

All in all, we were treated to a lot of teasers and fun, but nothing that gave away much about what will happen when season three returns. Kevin Williamson put it this way. “We like to torture our audiences as much as we torture our characters. It’s fun.”

The Vampire Diaries’ season three premieres on September 15th at 8pm on The CW.