Jim Caviezel stars in AMC's 'The Prisoner'
Although Mad Men ends its season this Sunday on AMC, its departure makes way for the miniseries event The Prisoner, a reimagining of the classic 1960s British series that airs six hours over three nights beginning Sunday, Nov. 15. The miniseries stars movie actor Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ) as Six, a man who finds himself mysteriously trapped in a place called The Village where the residents (led by the enigmatic Two, played by Ian McKellen) are known as numbers and are under constant surveillance. Our Brian Truitt talked with Caviezel way back in July for a piece in this weekend's magazine, but read below for Caviezel's thoughts on a motorcycle accident that happened just a week before the interview and how it ties into the premise of The Prisoner. Also, for more on the miniseries, download this digital comic and check out a clip from the miniseries.
October 30, 2009
Spencer Grammer on Monday's midseason finale of 'Greek'
Monday night brings the mid-season finale of the college-centric ABC Family show Greek, and it will be of much interest to longtime viewers because the end of this week’s episode featured a long-awaited kiss between two of the show’s main characters. Former lovers Casey — the bubbly, driven sorority girl played by Spencer Grammer (daughter of Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer) — and Cappie, Scott M. Foster’s witty slacker frat guy, have been on and off friends so far in the show’s three seasons, but many fans have wanted to see them back together for a while now. Our Brian Truitt talked with Grammer, 26, who’s just as effusive as her character, just after she finished up an archery lesson for an upcoming episode (“It really hurts when you hit yourself with the bow, just so you know,” she quips), so read below for their conversation and check out a clip featuring Grammer and Foster from Monday's Greek.
Photos courtesy of ABC Family
October 22, 2009
Kristen Bell talks 'Astro Boy,' 'Burlesque' and being an 'It girl'
Kristen Bell will be much seen and heard in the next few months, with her new romantic comedy Couple’s Retreat in theaters now, When in Rome beginning in January and the new cartoon Astro Boy, out tomorrow. The former Veronica Mars actress (and voice of the unseen narrator in Gossip Girl) stars in the animated family adventure with Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Charlize Theron and Freddie Highmore, who voices the pint-sized title hero. Our Brian Truitt caught up with Bell on the day after she signed on for the new movie Burlesque, co-starring Christina Aguilera, so read below for their conversation and check out this clip from Astro Boy.
Photos courtesy of USA Today, Summit Entertainment
October 21, 2009
Matt Bomer talks about his new 'White Collar' gig
Matt Bomer — that handsome guy pictured right — says his stint on NBC's Chuck as super-spy Bryce Larkin directly led to his starring role as ace con artist Neal Caffrey on the new series White Collar, premiering Friday night on the USA Network (check out a clip below). “Bryce is how I learned to play cool under pressure,” says the 32-year-old Houston native. “What’s fun about both those characters is they’re sort of on the fringe – they don’t really subscribe to a standard set of rules. They like to operate on their own and be self-sufficient, and there’s something about that that’s probably hard for other characters to trust.” One of those "other characters" in White Collar is FBI agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) who is teamed with Neal, his old enemy, to bust elusive bad guys. Our Brian Truitt talked with Bomer for a piece in my Who's News column running next month. But you can read below now for the actor’s take on his new character, growing up in Texas and what he misses out on being a series regular.
Photos courtesy of USA Network
October 19, 2009
George Wendt reflects on beer-filled days in 'Drinking With George'
Say what you will about George Wendt, the Second City comedy legend and beloved Cheers star who once had a 0.0 semester GPA at the University of Notre Dame, the man knows his beer. His book Drinking With George (in stores tomorrow) intersperses his love for the suds with stories from when he was a kid growing up in Chicago, his bohemian adventures during and after college, and tales from his later stints on screen, most notably as fan-favorite bar patron Norm Peterson. Currently, Wendt, who turned 61 on Saturday, admits that he’s learning how to be an author on the fly. “This is all very new to me. I don’t think I ever wrote a term paper, let alone a book.” Our Brian Truitt caught up with Wendt recently when he was New York City promoting his beer-filled tome so read below for the Q&A, click here for an excerpt from the book, and check out a classic clip from Wendt’s time on the NBC hit Cheers.
Photos courtesy of Simon & Schuster, Sony
October 16, 2009
Top TV stars promote Make A Difference Day
Some of your favorite TV shows this week will be
sending the message that volunteering is cool, but if you’re a USA WEEKEND
follower you already know that. Still, we realize the power of celebrity and we want to make next Saturday the biggest Make A Difference Day yet, so we asked four popular stars from some of the hottest shows on TV to pose for this weekend’s cover and inspire you with tales of their own charitable work.
CSI: N.Y.'s Hill Harper, Castle's Nathan Fillion, Dollhouse's Eliza Dushku and
Heroes' Hayden Panettiere all took the time to have some fun at our photo shoot, as well as talk about why and how they support their own
volunteer efforts.
Read about them all below. If you want to find a Make A Difference Day effort near you, click here, or go to makeadifferenceday.com.
October 14, 2009
'NCIS' soundtrack coming
NCIS, the most-watched scripted show on TV, will release a second volume of its official soundtrack on Nov. 3. I'm an NCIS fan but somehow I missed that first soundtrack. Anyway, the new one has new and unreleased tracks from big names like Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow and Bob Dylan. The latter contributes a song, California, from a never-before-released session. (I just heard an NPR segment on Dylan this morning in which they talked about his new Christmas album and played him delivering a raspy carol. But I digress.) Michael Weatherly (left) — who plays Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo on NCIS— also is featured on the coming soundtrack. How did I not know that DiNozzo could sing? If you have an NCIS fan on your holiday list, this could be just the thing.
Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS
October 08, 2009
With 'Fierce Style,' Christian Siriano keeps you from being a hot mess
New York Fashion Week may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still look to the top designers for fashion tips. Christian Siriano, the charismatic fourth-season winner of Project Runway, is taking his passion to the masses with the new book, Fierce Style: How to Be Your Most Fabulous Self, in stores this week. “It’s very light-hearted, very kitschy, very fashion. It’s for that younger aspiring artist and fan,” says the 23-year-old Maryland native, who got Runway mentor Tim Gunn to write the foreward for his book. As for being a published author, Siriano says, “it’s a lot of people’s dream and aspiration. I didn’t take it so seriously – it’s not a novel.” He’s currently on a book tour and has stops coming up in New York, California, Minnesota and Washington, D.C. “I’ll have more of a chance to see the people and see what their lifestyle is like and definitely get a little fashion trend about where everyone shops and how they dress,” Siriano says. You can check out some exclusive fall fashion tips from him, current Project Runway contestant Christopher Straub and other Runway alums here.
Photo courtesy of Grand Central Publishing
Jim Parsons heads up the 'Big Bang Theory' geek squad
The CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory has been having its best ratings ever the past few weeks, and Jim Parsons has to be behind some of that success. A recent Emmy nominee, Parsons is spot-on as uber-genius scientist Sheldon, with his trademark game Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock and penchant for lovably alienating everyone around him. This past Monday, Sheldon spent much of the episode trying to train next-door neighbor Penny (Kaley Cuoco), girlfriend of Sheldon’s pal and roommate Leonard (Johnny Galecki), using Pavlovian methods and a box of chocolates. (Check out a clip featuring those three below.) I talked with Parsons, who’s as witty as his superhero-loving character, for an upcoming piece in the magazine, but read below for his thoughts on his home state and how he’d feel if Sheldon ever got a girlfriend.
Photos courtesy of CBS
October 07, 2009
'True Blood' boosts Charlaine Harris' starpower
Even if you’ve faithfully watched both seasons of HBO’s hit vampire series True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels, you’ve only seen a glimpse into the writer's colorful world. And keen TV watchers finally got to see the author on screen with her creations — she had a cameo in a bar scene during True Blood’s season finale last month. Long before Anna Paquin put on the Merlotte’s waitress uniform as the on-screen Sookie, Harris introduced the spunky Louisiana telepath in the 2001 novel Dead Until Dark. Many vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters and a fairy godmother later, her series is going strong, with a new short-story compilation A Touch of Dead in stores this week and the 11th Sookie novel, Dead in the Family, scheduled for a May release. In addition, the fourth book in her Harper Connelly Mysteries series, Grave Secret, comes out next month (read the first chapter here), and later this month Harris, 58, will be the official queen of New Orleans’ annual Vampire Ball. I caught up with the Arkansas-based author recently for an upcoming cover story about vampires, but read below about how Harris got into writing about the supernatural and what she thinks the next big thing involving the undead will be.
Photos courtesy of HBO, Ace Publishing
