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ethanalter · 6 years

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'The X-Files' postmortem: 'Plus One' director Kevin Hooks talks bringing sexy back to the show

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in ‘The X-Files’ (Photo: Shane Harvey/Fox)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the “Plus One” episode of The X-Files.

Phew — is it hot in here or is it just us? This week’s Chris Carter-penned X-Files installment, “Plus One,” was one of the steamiest in the show’s history… even though Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) didn’t do anything more on camera than cuddle. In the midst of an investigation into a strange case of murderous doppelgängers, the paranormal investigators provide an overdue update on their complicated romantic status by sharing an intimate night together in their hotel room. Initially occupying separate beds, an emotionally troubled Scully approaches Mulder with a request: “Can you hold me?”

Once in bed, the duo — who, let’s not forget, have a child together (or do they?) — engage in some sweetly emotional pillow talk about taking care of each other in their old age and the unlikely chances of spawning another rugrat. As Scully turns to face Mulder with a smile on her face, the camera pans subtly away to the left. When we cut back to the room later on, there’s obvious evidence that they’ve gotten hot and heavy beneath the sheets, from his rumpled tank top to her bare shoulders. It’s quite possibly the closest that The X-Files has gotten to a sex scene in 11 seasons — or, at least, close enough to make us want to rechristen the series as The Sexy Files.

“The Sexy Files! That’s pretty funny,” says the hour’s director, Kevin Hooks, with a good-natured chuckle. A former child actor turned veteran director — his past episodic credits include everything from St. Elsewhere and China Beach to Prison Break and Lost — Hooks says he was excited to learn that his first X-Files episode would be such a momentous one for the main characters. “That scene is obviously huge, and when I read the script I was really excited about it. It’s something that X-Files fans have been looking forward to for some time.”

Hooks filled us in on how he brought the sexy back to The X-Files and how he accomplished the difficult task of making a simple game of Hangman seem like the scariest thing ever.

Yahoo Entertainment: David and Gillian obviously have a long history together that they drew on for the more intimate moments in this episode. How did you see your role as the first-time director coming into that relationship? Kevin Hooks: The biggest challenge in doing a show that has the long history that The X-Files has is to gain the trust of the cast, as well as the crew. That’s something that I really tried to invest a lot of thought and energy into, knowing we were going to get to a place of intimacy that hadn’t been explored on the show in a while. Because David and Gillian are so close and so invested in these characters, they brought a lot to it that I couldn’t even have anticipated. They did a lot of work with Chris in terms of how to handle the passage of time and the ages of the characters. I just wanted to impress upon them the trust that I felt in them and that hopefully it would be reciprocated, which I think it was. I wanted to say my piece and get out of the way, because what they brought was going to be rich, and I wanted to make sure they felt comfortable enough to offer that.

The pillow talk sequence is the centerpiece of the episode, and you allow it to unfold in a very relaxed, almost languid way. It’s increasingly rare to see that kind of pacing on network television. How long did the scene take to shoot? We shot most of the hotel material in one or two days. What was paramount for me was to make sure that the scene played as honestly and earnestly as it possibly could. I didn’t want to rush the actors through takes; it was important to let that scene breathe, and I felt it worked well. In an episode that really does have a [fast] pace to it, that scene needed to breathe to be authentic.

As intimate as it is, we never do see Mulder and Scully kiss. Were there versions of the scene where things got more physical? Everybody was in agreement that we didn’t want to sell any body language that would indicate where it was going. The reveal was in the time cut when Mulder gets up to go to the bathroom, and you see bare shoulders. That’s when you realize that something has changed — that they’ve probably gone to another level, to use a euphemism. [Laughs] So we took great care with the body language to ensure that we didn’t ruin that reveal for the audience.

It’s not unlike the way Hollywood films functioned during the Production Code days — you had to hint at things rather than be explicit. Well, that’s the irony of the structure of that sequence, because we were restricted from what we could show for different reasons. We did it to serve the story as opposed to being dictated to by Standards and Practices.

Some lines in that sequence — like Mulder’s comment about Scully having plenty of “scoot in her boot” — sound improvised. Did the actors have leeway to play around that way? As much as Chris wanted to make sure that we got the scripted dialogue, he also trusts David and Gillian to try different things. I don’t remember if “scoot in your boot” was scripted or if it was David, but there’s some improv in there that works really well. When you’ve lived with characters for as long as they have, it becomes instinctive and just adds to the spontaneity of it all.

Anderson and Karin Konoval in ‘The X-Files’ (Photo: Shane Harvey/Fox)

Let’s talk about the other major hurdle you faced in the episode: making a game of Hangman seem frightening, not goofy. How did you approach those particular scenes visually? [Laughs] I knew there were going to be a ton of inserts, but I wanted to make sure that we didn’t rely entirely on them. I always think that camera movement creates drama, so I tried to get some push-ins and camera movements around that material. We also talked a little bit about jump-cutting in the editing patterns. Karin Konoval plays multiple characters in the episode, and one thing we talked a lot about was what grade of lead we’d use in the pencils. I wanted to feel the texture of what was being written on those pages, and Karin decided that she was going to make one of her characters left-handed and the other one right-handed. It was a wonderful idea that worked well with what the whole Hangman game was supposed to be in the episode.

I’ve always liked the conceit of doppelgängers as boogeymen. Did you enjoy playing around with that notion behind the camera? Chris and I talked a lot about designing shots that put characters in the same frame, whether it’s the young man in the car in the beginning of the episode or the fight Mulder has with his doppelgänger. We really wanted to give the audience visuals that felt a little bit more original and a little bit more fun than some of the other stuff where he had to rely on cuts. Putting both characters in the same frame was a wonderful exercise in the doppelgänger of it all.

The last shot of the episode — where Scully opens the adjoining door to their hotel rooms and finds Mulder waiting — is very playfully intimate as well. You can imagine where the scene goes next, even though we don’t see it. It’s very true. This sort of goes to what I was saying about relationships that exist well beyond a director coming in to do one episode in Season 11. There’s a foundation there that they’ve been working from and building on for years, and I just wanted to help bring it out. It was a lot of fun; watching them work together was amazing.

Were you a Mulder and Scully ‘shipper back in the day during the show’s original run? Working as a director and producer in television, you don’t get a chance to watch a lot of the shows being done. And that was before binge-watching! So I can’t say that I was avid a fan as many, but I certainly followed the show and aspired to be part of it. When I first talked to Chris Carter about doing [this episode], I told him that wherever I worked previously in the business, it was almost like “Six Degrees of X-Files.” I always met someone who had worked on the show, and thought they had worked with me on it! [Laughs] Finally, I was able to actually do the show and share the mystique of The X-Files.

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The X-Files airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Fox.

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#_author_id:195cbeb0-638b-11e4-b5fc-5a3a8a9452d9 #The X Files #david duchovny #gillian anderson #fox #chris carter #kevin hooks #news #interviews #_uuid:8787b4aa-e78d-3131-807d-56c7211ea2f2 #_draft:true

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ethanalter · 6 years

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How to make a sexy sea monster and other 'Shape of Water' secrets revealed! (exclusive)

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Guillermo del Toro’s romantic fairy tale The Shape of Water represents a breakthrough in human-fish relations. That’s not just because this lovingly crafted homage to classic ‘50s creature features is up for 13 Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture. It also pushes the envelope well past love stories like Splash and The Little Mermaid, where men and mermaids enjoyed relatively chaste romances. In contrast, The Shape of Water’s lovers — mute janitor, Elisa (Sally Hawkins, a Best Actress nominee) and South American river god (Doug Jones) — get hot and heavy during the course of the film, instantly making them one of the most memorable interspecies couples in movie history.

Del Toro recognized early on in the production process that his love story hinged on audiences finding the Fish-Man as attractive as Elisa does. So, he devoted more than a year — and hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own funds — towards sculpting a version of the creature that was, to put it bluntly, a total stud. “It needed to be very attractive, a creature you could fall in love with,” the director remarks in this exclusive behind-the-scenes clip that Yahoo Entertainment is premiering today. (Watch the video above.) Del Toro handed that challenge off to top creature designer, Mike Hill of Legacy Effects, who built a suit for Jones that was further enhanced in post-production by Dennis Berardi, head of the visual effects company Mr. X, which oversaw the effects work for The Shape of Water.

Sally Hawkins and Doug Jones as the lovers in ‘The Shape of Water’ (Photo: Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection)

The technique was pure hybrid,” Berardi explains to Yahoo Entertainment in a separate interview. “Generally speaking, when you see the body and head movements of the Fish Man—or the asset as we called him — that’s Doug Jones in a suit. But whenever you see him underwater, then he’s animated. I would also say that every single shot where you have the creature onscreen, the eyes and brow area are digital, because the way the mask worked, the eyes were a thick resin plug that didn’t articulate. Our methodology was to work from the eyes out, preserving as much of Doug’s performance as possible. But every single shot has varying degrees of visual effects in it, from micro-expressions like eye blinks to full-body animation.”

Unfortunately for Berardi, visual effects was one of the few Oscar categories in which The Shape of Water missed out on a nomination, with nods instead going to Blade Runner 2049, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, Kong: Skull Island, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and War for the Planet of the Apes. But he and his team absolutely share a role in the movie’s success, infusing the creature’s costume design (which is up for an Oscar) with additional life. Having collaborated with Del Toro on both Pacific Rim and Crimson Peak, Berardi has regularly enjoyed a front-row seat to the director’s creative process. Read on for additional trade secrets behind The Shape of Water and its strapping Fish-Man.

It started with a sketch. Berardi’s first glimpse of The Shape of Water‘s aquatic heartthrob was as a two-dimensional sketch in one of the notebooks that Del Toro always has on hand to jot down ideas and images as they pop into his brain. (Some of those notebooks have been published in anthology collections.) “He showed me a sketch of their embrace,” the effects supervisor remembers, referring to an early version of the clinch between Elisa and the “asset” that appears on the movie’s poster. “It was such a romantic image, and he told me, ‘This is a movie that’s in love with love.’ You had a creature that had to be a leading man that Elisa had to fall in love with and that the audience had to fall in love with. He told us right at the beginning that this wasn’t a monster — it’s an intelligent being with a soul, and eyes that had to be soulful and deep.”

The creature also had to be a top-notch swimmer whose movements read as pure poetry in the water. To aid with that, Berardi had his team study Olympians like Michael Phelps as a starting point. “Those guys are powerful and swim somewhat gracefully, but nothing as graceful as what Guillermo really wanted. So then we looked at dolphins, sea lions, otters and seals, and settled on this hybrid of a humanoid swimming, with a bit of a dolphin kick. Seals actually became a lot of inspiration as well, because they move slipstream through the water very gracefully.”

Junk in the trunk In one of The Shape of Water‘s standout sequences, Elisa and her lover act consummate their powerful attraction in a bathroom that she transforms into a makeshift water tank. It’s an erotically-charged moment and del Toro takes full advantage of his R-rating, allowing the two to see, and touch, each other’s naked bodies like any homosapien couple would. Boundary-pushing as this scene may be, it stops just short of the final frontier: merman genitalia. And that’s just fine for Berardi, who would have been responsible for helping imagine what the creature’s junk might look like. “Guillermo’s got too much taste for that,” Berardi remarks with a laugh, pointing out that Elisa and her friend Zelda (Octavia Spencer) instead discuss her lover’s size after their intimate encounter. “His inspiration for the movie was when he was six years old watching Creature from the Black Lagoon and hoping that the creature gets the girl.”

That’s a note that del Toro passed along to Hill as well. “This thing has to be attractive to a woman,” the creature designer remarks in the above clip. “My directive was that I wanted to make him handsome.” For his part, Jones clearly appreciated the matinee idol physique that Hill crafted for his aquatic alter ego. “My lips are a little fuller, there’s a strong jawline and the body they sculpted on me is very athletic. He’s handsome in a fish-like way.”

Hawkins and Jones in an embrace in The Shape of Water (Photo: Fox Searchlight/Everett Collection)

The shape of (digital) water If the Fish-Man was a hybrid of practical and digital effects, the water he calls home is almost entirely digital with one notable exception — the aforementioned love scene in Elisa’s bathroom. “That’s the only scene where we had the actors in water, ever,” Berardi reveals. “We had a water tank that we built and submerged the bathroom set, with the actors, in the tank. It was done in such a safe way that they could just be hovering around the surface with footholds and handholds. They’d film for 20 or 30 seconds, and then come back up easily because the water level was just above their heads. Sally and Doug were both game.” Everywhere else, though, the H20 was all CGI, and even with all the advancements that have been made since The Perfect Storm — the movie that Berardi cites as a breakthrough for digital water effects — simulating water is still one of the most difficult jobs for an effects house.

Interestingly, the most challenging shot involved another tank of sorts, the iron lung capsule that serves as the creature’s prison as he’s transported from South America to the Baltimore research facility where the film’s events unfold. “There was no water in that capsule,” Berardi says. “It would have been way too unsafe to have Doug in there. But we had to see water sloshing around through the glass while the asset is in there. The creature also had to slam his hand on the glass, so his digital hand would have to come through the digital water and hit the glass. All of that is 3D and volumetrically rendered. That was the shot that kept me up at night.”

Richard Jenkins and Jones in The Shape of Water (Photo: Fox Searchlight/Everett Collection)

Here kitty, kitty Cat fanciers will be happy to hear that no real felines were harmed in the making of The Shape of Water. The same can’t be said for the computer-generated cat that the creature chows down on while hiding out with Elisa and her friend, Giles (Richard Jenkins). And the Fish-Man is a messy eater, too, getting blood all over the floor and himself. That may sound like a big turnoff, but del Toro felt it was crucial to showcase his hero in his less glamorous moments. “Guillermo didn’t want to make a traditional Beauty and the Beast-type story where the beast can’t really be himself. He’s eloquent, strong and heroic, yes, but he also needs protein!”

For the first part of the scene, Jones worked with an on-set cat wrangler to provoke a flesh-and-blood feline into a hissing fit. When the time came for the creature to open the cat’s head like a Pez dispenser, Berardi’s team took over. “We put a green sock puppet in Doug’s hands, replaced that with a digital cat and then severed the head. We went through about 25 iterations about what the cross section of the neck needed to look like, and showed Guillermo the grossest ones we could devise — anatomically correct with the spinal cord, nerve endings and all that stuff. We totally went there with it. That was also a moment where we took over Doug’s head and did it digitally: we fluttered the gills and had water spray off of them. That was probably one of the most fun things for us to animate.”

The Shape of Water is currently playing in theaters and available on digital services. The film arrives on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 13.

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ethanalter · 6 years

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Ouchie! 'The Greatest Showman' stars reveal their greatest on-set gaffes

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You might think that a performer would have to be naturally graceful to perform song-and-dance routines in a major movie musical. But Hugh Jackman scored the title role in The Greatest Showman despite being, by his own admission, spectacularly clumsy. Chatting with Yahoo Entertainment about the stylish, tuneful take on the life of legendary circus ringmaster P.T. Barnum, the Australian actor recalled one particular occasion where he belly-flopped in very public fashion. “I had to half-run to get off-camera, and I tripped on hay,” he recalls. Falling to the ground, his head went right through a Papier-mâché obelisk. “Everyone’s singing and dancing, and I’m trying to get my head out of this thing!”

Jackman’s co-stars Zendaya and Zac Efron had their own accidents while filming the aerial ballet that accompanied their big musical number, though none as comical as getting stuck in Papier-mâché. “We’d get a perfect one in the bag and be so ready to level up for the next take,” Efron remarks. “And then the next time, we’d be just a little bit off and [collide]! They’d have to lower us down.” Fortunately, all that pain translated into a show-stopping setpiece. “You can’t shoot something like that and be flawless all the time,” says Zendaya, chuckling. “But It’s worth it after get to see the finished product.”

The Greatest Showman is currently playing in theaters.

Watch Hugh Jackman lay out a potential Wolverine musical:

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ethanalter · 6 years

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The stars of 'The Greatest Showman' on why P.T. Barnum is still relevant today

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When the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed its doors this past May, it marked the end of a form of live entertainment made popular by master 19th century showman P.T. Barnum. Were the ringmaster behind the circus boom to be reborn in the 21st century, though, he probably wouldn’t be fooling around with lions and tigers and bears. At least, that’s the opinion of Hugh Jackman, who plays Barnum in the new movie musical The Greatest Showman and received a Golden Globe nomination for his spirited song-and-dance routine. “If Barnum were around today, I don’t think he’d be pitching a tent somewhere,” the actor tells Yahoo Entertainment. “I think he’d be in Silicon Valley and into virtual reality. He has a way now through the internet to connect to everyone on the planet; I don’t think he’d be in theater.”

To Jackman’s mind, what made Barnum the world’s greatest showman was the way he innately understood show business. And the film follows his lead, using history as the jumping off point for a lavish, tuneful spectacle that hews to the legend, rather than the facts. In that way, The Greatest Showman is the kind of movie Barnum would likely have made about his own story had he lived to witness the birth of cinema. (The entrepreneur died in 1891, four years before the first movie theaters opened.) This film, says Jackman’s co-star Zendaya, who plays an aerialist in Barnum’s circus, “is supposed to transport us into this fantastical world where a moon can sit on a rooftop. That’s the beauty of a musical — that creativity to just go wherever your mind takes you.”

The Greatest Showman opens in theaters today.

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ethanalter · 6 years

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Hugh Jackman talks up a possible 'Wolverine' musical: 'I don't see kick lines'

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During the Logan press tour, Hugh Jackman was adamant about hanging up his claws as the feral mutant Wolverine. With the Australian actor making the rounds for his new movie musical, The Greatest Showman, Yahoo Entertainment couldn’t help but ask if he’d be tempted to return to the X-Men universe if Logan had the opportunity to break into song. “No more Wolverine, I can tell you right now,” Jackman replied. That said, he did leave the door slightly ajar provided the score was right. “It would be in the Blues Brothers world. Think chicken wire and people throwing beer bottles and him slicing them in half. I don’t see kick lines!”

Informed of Jackman’s ultra-specific musical preference, The Greatest Showman‘s powerhousesongwriting team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul immediately set about trying to come up with the right lyrics for a Blues Brothers–inspired number that Wolverine could croon in between beer bottle-slicing. “We’d have to do some wordplay,” said Paul, who shared an Oscar with Pasek earlier this year for their work on La La Land, as well as a Tony for their Broadway blockbuster, Dear Evan Hansen. “Like ‘morals clause,’ but oh, claws! See what we did there?” Hey, there’s our title: Claws! Look out Hamilton: Wolvie’s coming for ya.

The Greatest Showman is playing in theaters now.

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ethanalter · 7 years

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'Novitiate': Margaret Qualley's nun suffers a crisis of faith in exclusive clip

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As Bob Dylan noted, the times they were a-changin’ in the early ’60s. And that change was certainly felt within the Catholic Church as the centuries-old institution found itself in the midst of the Second Vatican Council, an intensive three-year self-examination intended to reconcile its practices with the modern world. Margaret Betts’s new drama, Novitiate, depicts the sweeping effects of Vatican II — and the divisive reaction it inspired — from within the walls of a Tennessee-based Catholic school overseen by an ultra-stern Reverend Mother (Melissa Leo). In this exclusive clip from the film, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in January, Leo is informed in no uncertain terms by the local Archbishop (Denis O’Hare) that her school will follow the new rules laid out by Vatican City. “If we were to truly embrace all these changes, it will ruin the very institution of Catholic nuns as we know it,” she responds forcefully. (Watch the clip above.)

It goes with out saying that not everyone shares the Reverend Mother’s opinion. Inside the school, several of the nuns in training feel that change is exactly what the Church as an institution needs. The film’s central character, Sister Cathleen (Margaret Qualley), for example, chafes under the strict tutelage handed down by the older nuns and enforced by the Reverend Mother. Instead of making her more devoted to the faith she’s chosen to embrace, it leads her to question whether or not to return to the secular world where her estranged mother (Julianne Nicholson) is waiting for her to come home. See how her thoughts a-change when Novitiate arrives in general release on Oct. 27.

Novitiate opens in theaters on Oct. 27.

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ethanalter · 7 years

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'Despicable Me 3': Watch Gru's pet piranha-dog get a star turn in new mini-movie (exclusive)

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When the summer animated blockbuster Despicable Me 3 arrives for home viewing on Tuesday, an all-new mini-movie will appear alongside the main feature. The titular star of The Secret Life of Kyle is Gru’s pint-sized, sharp-toothed cross-breed of a piranha and a dog. Yahoo Entertainment is premiering an exclusive clip from the short, which illustrates the surprisingly large amount of mischief that this tiny mutt causes. (Watch the clip above.)

Not that Kyle gets into trouble on purpose, of course. He’s just trying to deliver a gift to a charming poodle he has a crush on. Unfortunately, he has a rival in the form of a larger, meaner dog who engineers a humiliating entrance for the would-be Romeo en route to seeing his Juliet. That sets off some Looney Tunes-inspired mayhem that disturbs the peaceful suburban neighborhood that Kyle calls home. Check out the full mini-movie to see how Kyle strikes back and defeats his even more despicable opponent.

Despicable Me 3 will be available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday.

Watch: Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig field ‘Despicable Me’ questions from adorable kids:

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ethanalter · 6 years

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Toast of 2017: Sam Richardson on how Richard stays the nicest guy on 'Veep'

Sam Richardson as Richard Splett in ‘Veep’ (Photo: Colleen Hayes/HBO)

The conventional wisdom when it comes to long-running shows tends to be, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But Veep tossed convention out the Oval Office window in its sixth year, when the writers ejected Veep-turned-POTUS Selina Meyer and her semi-competent staff from the White House, forcing them to become political elites in exile. Along with that change of scenery came a shake-up in the established ensemble, with the different characters going their different ways. Dan Egan (Reid Scott), for example, left politics behind for a disastrous career in morning television. Meanwhile, strategists Kent Davison (Gary Cole) and Ben Cafferty (Kevin Dunn) went from advising Selina to (temporarily) advising a new Congressman, Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simons). Jonah also said goodbye to his longtime aide, Richard Splett (Sam Richardson), who traded the U.S. Capitol building for Selina’s South Bronx office as her Chief of Staff.

Far from breaking the show, Veep‘s major and minor changes gave it new life. And Richardson, in particular, swam rather than sank in his character’s new surroundings. Always a reliable source of humor, Richard emerged from Season 6 as an invaluable fixture in the Veep universe — largely because he’s the only genuinely nice person on the series. “I was a little nervous,” the actor admits to Yahoo Entertainment about returning to a very different Veep between Seasons 5 and 6. “But I had so much fun. We all know each other pretty well and speak each other’s languages, so it didn’t take a long time for us to gel. Otherwise, the episodes wouldn’t get until Episode 8! I also feel like I know this character enough where I can make him work with anyone. He’s such a jovial person, and part of the fun is pairing him up with someone who hates everything, because he’s so overly optimistic. It’s also fun to be paired with someone who loves everything, because they’d be like two puppies in a playpen.”

If anything, Richardson is even nicer than his Veep alter ego. How nice is he? So nice that he called us on a rare sick day while recuperating from a cold, and happily answered all of our questions about Richard’s crazy backstory, and what it would sound like if he were to — gasp! — insult somebody.

Anna Chlumsky, Richardson, Matt Walsh, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Tony Hale in ‘Veep’ (Photo: Colleen Hayes/HBO)

I was the stage manager for an improv group in college, and I remember that one of the big rules they emphasized was the importance of listening to each other and choosing your moment. I see you doing that in Veep: you’re always aware of the conversation happening around you, and pick the right moment to slip in your line. Yeah, it’s kind of like comedy double-dutch. There’s so much going on and it really is like a game! You want your joke to land, but you don’t want it to be at the expense of anything else. It also goes to the way that Richard’s wavelength works. He’s like a coat of paint over what’s going on. It’s a different tone to whatever else is happening in the scene: he’s always a few degrees off from what they’re talking about, but he’s still part of the conversation, you know?

I enjoy how much of Richard’s history is revealed through your off-the-cuff asides. He’s got a bizarre backstory — how much of that is your own invention? I get Richard’s backstory through jokes from the writers, and over the years, they’ve built this history where he was adopted by his grandmother, and his family is heavily into basketball and also heavily religious. Or, you know, him knowing all about jug bands! Maybe down the line, there’s a jug band thing that Richard will be a part of. I never got a character background sheet explaining all that stuff; they’ve all been splattered in there. And there are little details that may be improvised that also go to the canon of the character. I can’t think of one right now — shame on me!

Do you ever worry about keeping his mythology consistent or introducing a bit of backstory that’s contradictory? I never really worry about that. I will bring it up [with the writers]: “Oh, he can’t do that, because he’s already said this was the case.” Again, I can’t think of any specific moments. I’m just the worst interview, I apologize. [Laughs]

In your defense, you are under the weather! I do try and keep track of the history of Richard, because who’s tracking him more than me? Maybe there are some big-time Richard fans out there who follow every reference, but for the most part, I think I know him. So if there are little details that don’t match, like a joke that says Richard went to a different college when we know he went to Yale, I’ll speak up. I want to keep everything as true as possible for him.

(Photo: Justin M. Lubin/HBO)

You’ve often pointed out that Richard is one of the few characters in the Veep universe who’s not motivated by selfishness or greed. Was that something you brought to the role or was it already part of the character? I think it’s a twist that I kind of brought to it — that he’s maybe the only well-meaning person in Washington who is truly guileless. That was the angle I took to kind of round him out and make him real. What if he was a regular person who watched Veep and was then put in Veep, and is also the nicest person in the world? He’s out of his element, but still really competent.

What’s your take on why he hasn’t been corrupted yet, especially since he’s surrounded by selfishness? He’s just super-positive at processing it, because he’s an incredibly smart guy. He knows so much about veterinary medicine and law, but he doesn’t want to push that advantage. He just likes the process of learning and being part of the government, because he has this belief that government is ultimately there to do good. So when he encounters a negative attack, he can twist it in his mind and go, “There’s gotta be some kind of positivity in this!” In his mind, he thinks that all people intend to do good and he can make anything fit that narrative.

What would an angry Richard look like? An angry Richard would probably bring up something so true, but also not something you would think of as an insult. Like, “You’re a poor decorator, meaning you probably have color blindness!” Or he’d be half-complimentary. Like, “This turkey is pretty dry. What kind of oven do you have? Can I suggest a GE?” People would be like, “Thanks? Should I be insulted?” [Laughs]

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I did enjoy how attentive he was to Catherine and Marjorie this season during Catherine’s pregnancy. No one else seemed at all concerned for her. Yup, although that’s not him being entirely altruistic because he’s the father of the child. It’s supposed to be a surrogate situation, but he’s like, “No, I’m going to be the dad.” He couldn’t separate that idea, so to him it’s like, “I’m part of this family right here.” It’s also compassion; everybody else can ignore her, but that’s not part of his DNA.

I’m sure you can’t spoil anything for Season 7, but will those fatherly feelings be an issue? I’ll have to be very careful with my words: it’s not even like it’s a huge spoiler, but I don’t want to be the one! [Laughs] I think Richard one-hundred percent believes that he’s got a son. So moving forward, I can’t imagine that he’d be completely uninvolved in the child’s life. Whether they like it or not, he’s going to be around.

When did the cast know that Season 7 was going to be the last year? We knew before we started the table reads. It’s definitely bittersweet, because you want these things to end on a high note, but it’s also a show that I love doing. I want to do this show for 40 years!

Did you have any input for how Richard’s character arc wraps up? Without spoiling, I’m personally going to be satisfied with his end. It’s a nice finish. [Veep showrunner] Dave Mandel and the writers arc out the whole season and told me. I don’t think I could improve on anything. I’m happy and excited to be a part of it.

2 of my darling Bozos (love them so much) psyche me up for 3rd chemo today. And guess what? It worked! I’m psyched AF. @SamRichardson @mrmattwalsh pic.twitter.com/OuwR5hvHlf

— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) November 9, 2017

When did Julia Louis-Dreyfus tell the cast about her breast cancer diagnosis? She told us prior to the table reads. It was definitely a gut punch. She’s my friend, and I love her dearly. But we’re also work friends, so you don’t want to overstep your boundaries. We did whatever positive things we could do: send cards and text messages and videos. I’m scared for her, but at the same time I know she’s so strong and positive. The first thing she did was bring attention to health care, which is amazing. What person immediately thinks of someone else when they’re going through the hardest thing imaginable?

Has it been hard for the cast to hurl insults at her in the world of the show considering what’s going on in her real life? Well, we’re still in table reads — we haven’t started shooting yet. But I think we have the ability to disassociate ourselves from these characters. Otherwise, my goodness! The amount of vitriol that flies out of mouths at each other would be unfathomable. For Jonah alone! The list of insults that guy gets, come on. [Laughs] That’s the thing, too: You have to separate yourself from it, but it’s still based on you, you know what I mean? I don’t put on a suit and become Richard, and Timothy [Simons] doesn’t put on stilts to become Jonah. That’s us — they’re writing insults about us. But somehow you just get a thick skin and it works.

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You have a lot more creative control over Detroiters, the Comedy Central series you co-created and star in. How has being part of Veep helped you make that show? Honestly, so much, even just from following Julia’s lead on how she leads a series. She sets the tone of being very even-keeled and positive the whole time. She’s always there to do her best and be the best, and you learn from that. Also the notes process, in terms of getting notes on your performance and the script. You spend a lot of time writing scenes and, on paper, you’re like, “This is hilarious!” But then you’re on set and it’s not clicking the way you like. Instead of letting it sit, you can massage it and mold it and find what works. Being on the set of Veep gave me the confidence to do that on a level that I’m proud of.

Detroiters is coming back for another season next year. What can you tease about what’s coming up? I feel the second season, dare I say it, is head and shoulders above the first season. We kinda knew what we were doing this time, and were able to scale back on the things that we didn’t like from Season 1 and ramp up the things that we did like. You’re always trying to learn the language of a show, what works and what doesn’t work, and I think the second season really benefits from that.

Has Veep changed the kinds of opportunities that come your way as an actor? I don’t know — I consider myself new to the game still. I’ve only been in L.A. for six years. It does affect it, but I’m certainly going to be playing a guy who’s nice. That seems to be the way it goes. And I don’t mind; I know how to do that. At my core, that’s who I am, but I wonder if people can’t picture me as anyone else. Which my friends know otherwise! Just kidding. [Laughs]

So is your dream role to play a bad guy or a more darkly comic character? Oh yeah. I play a computer terrorist in a new movie called Game Over, Man from the Workaholics guys. But I want to play an evil person who has fun with being evil, like a comic book villain. I want to play my Joker. Not the Joker, but my Joker. Somebody who can have fun doing wrong.

You should write that role for yourself! I’m trying to figure that out right now. We’ll see — hopefully that’s something that will pop in the coming year.

Last question: is there a secret part of Richard’s history that you want to explore in Veep‘s final season? I’d like to incorporate maybe Richard’s love life or something. Some specific spin that you wouldn’t expect from him. Because we know he’s never masturbated! That’s ripe for a solid twist. [Laughs]

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Veep is currently streaming on HBO Go and HBO Now. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Toast of 2017: ‘Master of None’ writer Lena Waithe looks back at her groundbreaking Emmy win

Toast of 2017: Pearl Mackie on telling Bill Potts’s story in ‘Doctor Who’

Toast of 2017: Kyle MacLachlan shares the secrets of ‘Twin Peaks: The Return’

Toast of 2017: ’13 Reasons Why’ star Katherine Langford reflects on the teen drama’s big impact

#_author_id:195cbeb0-638b-11e4-b5fc-5a3a8a9452d9 #news #interviews #holidays #toast of 2017 #veep #sam richardson #hbo #detroiters #comedy central #Julia Louis Dreyfus #timothy simons #dave mandel #_uuid:555193b3-783a-3c33-a397-9ede125b9a3f #_draft:true

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ethanalter · 7 years

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Throwback Thors-day: How Eric Allan Kramer became the first live-action Thor

The Incredible Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) meets the Mighty Thor (Eric Allan Kramer) for the first time in live-action form in The Incredible Hulk Returns (Photo: Everett Collection)

As the mightiest members of the super-team uniting Earth’s mightiest heroes, Avengers Thor and the Incredible Hulk have long had a love-hate relationship. As in: they love fighting each other to prove their strength, and hate being the one to lose. Marvel Studios’ latest blockbuster, Thor: Ragnarok, gives the Asgardian warrior (Chris Hemsworth) and the mean, green smashing machine (Mark Ruffalo) by way of performance capture) one more chance to punch each other into oblivion with a centerpiece sequence set in an alien gladiatorial arena. We won’t spoil who wins, but suffice it to say it’s not an entirely clean victory, which means only one thing: Rematch!

Two decades before this current clash of champions, Hulk and Thor tangled on television in the 1988 TV movie, The Incredible Hulk Returns, the first of three sequels to the popular series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno as scientist David Banner and his growling alter ego, respectively. Picking up two years after the events of the show, the plot brings Banner into contact with former student Donald Blake (Steve Levitt) who regales him with a whopper of a story: while on a fact-finding mission to Norway, the diminutive Blake came across an ancient hammer that awakened the Norse legend, the Mighty Thor, played by Eric Allan Kramer in his first big role. And Thor is none too happy about being stranded on Earth with only a nerdy researcher for company. In their first encounter, the Thunder God’s fury rouses the Hulk-ish side of Banner’s personality, leading to an epic wrestling match.

Thor vs. Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok (Photo: Marvel Studios)

In classic Marvel fashion, this fight eventually turns into a team-up, with Hulk and Thor uniting their powers to take down a crime syndicate. And as Kramer reveals to Yahoo Entertainment, that inaugural adventure was supposed to lead to more derring-do for Thor. “The Incredible Hulk Returns was really a backdoor pilot for a Thor series,” the now-55-year-old actor says, adding that it would have been more of an Odd Couple scenario than The Incredible Hulk, with his Thor and Levitt’s Blake working together to outsmart and outfight criminals. But those plans were scuttled in the wake of the famously lengthy 1988 Writers Guild of America strike that took a heavy toll on existing shows, as well as those still in the works. “Any chances for a series were shattered [by the strike],” Kramer remembers. “Obviously, you’re disappointed when it doesn’t go, but you come to learn fairly quickly that’s the business.”

It didn’t take Kramer long to find gainful employment outside of Marvel anyway. A working character actor for three decades now, he’s since graced such TV shows as Down Home, Good Luck Charlie and AMC’s upcoming series, Lodge 49, as well as feature films like Robin Hood: Men in Tights and American Wedding. (Contrary to IMDb rumors, though, he’s never made a return visit to Asgard. For a while, his filmography included a cameo in 2011’s Thor that Kramer confirms never happened. “I think the only people that didn’t realize I could have had a cameo in that movie were my agents,” he jokes.) This Thor-sday, we reminisced with Kramer about being the first live-action Thor (not counting Vincent D’Onofrio) and facing off against the muscled mountain that was Lou Ferrigno.

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Yahoo Entertainment: How did the role of Thor come your way? Eric Allan Kramer: It was literally one of the first things I auditioned for when I first came to Los Angeles. I think it was as much as a surprise to my agent as it was to me when it all came around. I was completely green to the whole process of auditioning and castings so it was a great learning experience, on top of being very exciting. I was big into comic books growing up, and I was a huge Spider-Man fan. So I was well versed in that whole universe.

Since you were familiar with Thor from the comics, you clearly knew that the version of the character we see in The Incredible Hulk Returns looks substantially different. How did you feel about that as a comic book fan? I liked the idea of making the character a little more gritty, and a little more where he would actually be from. I also liked that the armor was pretty much real; there wasn’t anything plastic about it. Unfortunately for my stunt double, it led to a few stitches; he kept catching his chin on the chest plate. The helmet was also as heavy as anything. The big joke was that it kept sliding down the front of my head. In the running scenes, I was always fighting to keep that helmet up.

Was it heavier than the hammer you had to carry? I would say they were pretty close! The whole outfit was metal and leather; it was a serious costume.

Did you miss having a cape? I think a cape would have only added to my somewhat uncoordinated tendencies. As it was it, it was hard enough to move around in that thing; adding a cape would have been one obstacle too many.

Is that your real hair we see on camera or did you have a wig? My hair was actually fairly long at that time, and I was blond, but it was just too thin, so that was all wigs. And the wig actually made me realize that my hairline was receding! I went in to get it made, and the hairstylist made this skull cap as the base for the wig. A couple of producers were there, and she asked them, “Where do you want his hairline? Where it is now or where it used to be?” Then she said to me, “Would you like to see where your hairline used to be?” She took a red marker, had me scrunch my head up, and drew a line that I swear was about an inch below where my hairline was! You live with yourself every day, but that was the first real sign that things were changing on top of my head.

Kramer in a 2015 episode of Good Luck Charlie (Photo: Ron Tom/Disney Channel/Courtesy: Everett Collection)

Speaking to the gritty depiction of the character, your Thor doesn’t talk in the kind of flowerly Asgardian language present in the comics. I think that Nick [Corea, the screenwriter] wrote a character that loved life, and wanted to taste everything life had to offer after being locked away for so long. That was pretty much where the character was coming from. The idea was to make him accessible and trying to find that line of being from somewhere very magical and landing in the real world.

Unlike Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno, who were rarely in the same frame together, you frequently interacted with Thor’s alter ego, Donald Blake, played by Steve Levitt. What discussions did you have about dramatizing that relationship? They’re weirdly connected in the fact that they’re tied at the hip. Each character got to share something from the other character, and learn and grow and do all of that. Because everything came together so quickly, a lot of the play between Steve and I happened on set. We would certainly get together to talk things out and toss ideas back and forth. In fact, I remember when I tested with him; I’d already been cast and they were casting his role. Steve came in and went off-script, just throwing things at me that I threw back at him. It just worked.

Who did you film your first scenes with: the Hulk or David Banner? The first stuff we shot was in the lab, so it was pretty much everyone — Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, and the whole crew. They were both great; Bill was exactly who you thought and wanted him to be — just one of the nicest, gracious, most giving people I’ve ever met on set. Lou was terrific. I believe he said that he was the biggest he’d ever been when he came back for that movie. He was just a mountain!

Did you feel any pressure to be as big as Ferrigno? I was in shape, but not certainly in shape by today’s standards, you know what I mean? This was 1988, and the superhero build had not come in yet. The minute you get a role like this where you know your shirt is going to be off, the first thing you do is get in the gym and try to cram years of body neglect into a couple of weeks, hitting it hard every day. One day, we were doing publicity stills for the movie and Lou walks in, looking phenomenal. He caught me drinking a Gatorade and gave me crap for it, because of all the salt that’s in it. So we’re standing together, and I was feeling okay about how I looked. Then Lou goes, “So… do you work out?” [Laughs] Like I had done nothing! I laughed and said, “I’m trying, Lou. I’m trying.”

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Let’s talk about the Thor vs. Hulk fight scene. How was that choreographed? And did Ferrigno break character between takes or did he only grunt at you throughout shooting? [Laughs] He was on and off. Every once in awhile, he’d crack a joke about something. Those were some long days in armor being thrown around the set. Back in the days before CGI was common, we’d use the trick of blurring in and out of scenes. But we were going at it like a regular stage fight; it was all the real deal. The guy doubling Lou had to jump off the building. I forget how many stories up he was, but he had a huge fall down to the mat. The guy doubling me was hanging from helicopters and being thrown through windows and all the rest of it. He took some punishment. I was there for all the big moves, but I was taken out of the stuff that would have halted production if I had gotten hurt.

Did you also chug that whole glass of beer on camera when Thor and Donald go to the biker bar? I remember I drank a lot! I didn’t drink the whole thing, but I drank most of it. It was all near-beer, like O’Doul’s, which I’ve actually sort of grown to love over the years. That whole scene was just a blast to shoot. In fact, I used it on my demo reel for a good couple of years afterwards.

The other great beer-related gag is Thor stabbing cans of beer with a kitchen knife. Yeah, I think that sent waves of panic through most of the crew, who were thinking I was going to cut my fingers off. Me, too, actually. It wasn’t until you actually did it that you realize, “This was a really good idea in my head, but it that could have gone seriously wrong.” One slip, and it’s a whole different scene. We only did it the one time, because it just freaked everybody out.

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Do you like to tell people that you were the first live-action Thor? I don’t know if I like to make it known, but I’m definitely proud of it. It was my first big thing, and it’s something that a lot of people really enjoyed. I’m glad I have a very small slice of the Marvel universe that I can call my own. It’s funny how often I still get recognized for that. I think it all depends on when it reruns. And, of course, when the movies start coming around, suddenly people get a little nostalgic and they go back and take a look.

Are you a fan of Chris Hemsworth’s take on the character? Oh my God, yes! He’s fantastic. He’s got the look, the sound and he’s funny. I see all of the Marvel movies, and I’m blown away by what movies can do now. It would have been nice to maybe get some CGI abs back in the day! [Laughs]

Thor: Ragnarok features another epic Hulk vs. Thor smackdown. Why do viewers like watching these two heroes fight? And did you advocate for your Thor to win a round? They’re perfect combatants. One is so completely primal, and the other is so mythological. But I was just a guest in his house, man. You want to pummel me, I’m fine with that!

Had the Hulk appeared on the Thor series, though, you would have won that fight. Yeah, if he’s on my turf, then maybe I get to win that one. [Laughs]

The Incredible Hulk Returns is available to rent or purchase on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes and Vudu. Thor: Ragnarok opens in theaters Friday.

Watch: Director Taika Waititi talks gratuitous shirtless Chris Hemsworth in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’:

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Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

‘Thor: Ragnarok’: Jaimie Alexander explains why Lady Sif is MIA

International ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ trailer features Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange

Mark Ruffalo leaks video from all-star Marvel reunion

#_author_id:195cbeb0-638b-11e4-b5fc-5a3a8a9452d9 #thor #hulk #movie:thor-ragnarok #lou ferrigno #thor raganarok #interviews #exclusives #news #_uuid:12158491-c30b-3f71-b971-239f773836e8 #_draft:true

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ethanalter · 7 years

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'Stranger Things' postmortem: Sean Astin reveals the secrets behind Bob Newby

#JusticeforBarb is so 2016. After binging on Season 2 of Stranger Things, the battle cry we’re rallying around is #JusticeforBob. That would be Bob Newby, the ultra-nerdy, ultra-normal Radio Shack manager played by geek icon Sean Astin of The Goonies and Lord of the Rings fame. Introduced as Joyce’s new beau in the first episode of the second season, good ol’ Bob quickly endeared himself to us with his “aw shucks” attitude and obvious affection for his trauma-plagued girlfriend (Winona Ryder) and her two kids, Will (Noah Schnapp) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). Even his name — Bob — speaks to his personality as the ultimate square-jawed nice guy dropped in the middle of a crazy situation.

Unfortunately, that name also hinted at his ultimate fate. “I think the Duffer Brothers named him Bob because it started with a ‘B’ like Barb,” Astin tells Yahoo Entertainment. “And if you weren’t 100 percent sure about it, they finish it up with ‘Newby.’ I’ve never asked them, but the comparison is not lost on me. Bob kind of plays the role that Barb played [last season], but Bob lasts a lot longer!” In fact, Bob lasts all the way until Season 2’s penultimate episode, when he’s finally fed to the Demodogs as the love of his too-short life escapes. It’s a heroic fate that’s already earned him lovingly-penned “In Memoriams” and Twitter tributes like the following:

You grew on me so quickly. A true hero. #JusticeForBob pic.twitter.com/rLyqoYk8Ux

— Clay (@claytoon253) October 29, 2017

HE DID NOT DESERVE IT !!!#justiceforBob #StrangerThingsS2 pic.twitter.com/NyAdFuKL46

— Mary (@SpicyInternet_) October 27, 2017

when you get to the penultimate episode of #StrangerThings #justiceforBob pic.twitter.com/wslL1fBprD

— Karen Esperanza (@karenesperanza_) October 29, 2017

For his part, Astin feels that Bob’s seemingly bitter end couldn’t be sweeter. “His death is heroic and satisfying for me as a performer,” he says. “Bob doesn’t need justice — he just needs a nice salute for a soldier doing his job.” We spoke with Astin about his big death scene, and why he’s a Joyce/Hopper ‘shipper at heart.

I have to admit, up until his last episode, I kept waiting for Bob to reveal that he was a bad guy all along. He just seemed too nice! I guess I see that. I stepped into the role when they hadn’t 100 percent decided what they were going to do with Bob, so I guess that possibility could have happened. Who could possibly be that nice, right? [Laughs.] But I think Bob serves a function for the show in that he’s the one person in Hawkins who isn’t in the middle of all that stuff. It’s flattering that you’re glad I didn’t turn evil because the other option is that I could have turned bad and lived! Would I rather be alive and bad or dead and heroic? I think it went down exactly as I would have liked.

So Bob’s fate wasn’t completely decided when you initially joined the show? The Duffer Brothers had a lot to think about, so it wasn’t like figuring out Bob was the most important task. The earliest hints were, “You’re not going to last long!” But they liked what I was doing and Winona [Ryder] liked it, and they saw there was a vibe between us. I think you could feel the energy that suggested there was something special that Bob could contribute. The only thing I said out loud to them was: “I would love it if Bob did something heroic.” And that was at a time where they didn’t know what the heck Bob was going to do! They may well have gone there anyway, but that’s what I was advocating for.

Was there a version of the season where Bob died even earlier? I think so. I mean, I say that without having been in the writers’ room or inside the Duffer brothers’ head. They may have been committed to killing him sooner, but I think they were open to seeing where it went. That was part of the fun for them with that character; he’ s not on the spine of the plot, so they didn’t really need to figure it out 100 percent. They wanted to see what Bob did for Joyce and Will [as characters]. There’s that great scene [in episode 3] where Bob tells Will how to get through his nightmares and ends up almost getting him killed. You’re just like, “Oh, Bob.” With friends like that, who needs enemies? [Laughs.]

What are the Duffer Brothers like as collaborators? When I would ask them a question or throw out an idea, it was incredible to see them think about it and give an answer. It’s highly entertaining to watch them feel their way through this stuff. They’re like puppy dogs: They look so young and yet they have all this responsibility. And yet, you have absolute confidence that they know where the story is going, and that they’re confident enough in their storytelling instruments. I never saw them have any self doubt even though I’m sure they did because otherwise, they wouldn’t be human beings! Hopefully, the audience will continue to embrace the show, and give them a chance. I want to see what happens in the third season! It’s not over for me in my mind even though I’m over [in the show], and that’s the sign of great storytelling.

Let’s talk about your death scene in the eighth episode where the Demodogs make a meal out of you. What was it like shooting that sequence? The Duffers luxuriate in their storytelling, building suspense and creating those jump out of your skin moments. For the running stuff, I’d either chase a golf cart down the hall or the golf cart would chase me, with a camera rig on the side. To watch it [on set] you’d just think, “Oh, it’s just a guy and a golf cart.” But when you’d look through the monitor, it would look so cool! The magic is in the cinematography; Tim Ives [the director of photography] is as much a character in the show as Eleven. The biting scene was exhausting for everybody. It took a long time to shoot, and there was a lot of screaming and writhing on the ground. They put dots all over you, and at one point one of the writers got on top of me and I writhed with them so that my clothes would crinkle up. They painted them out so all you can see is me. Then they brought in this crane thing for the blood spurting out of the mouth. It was a big sequence to do, and a heck of a send-off. I remember hoping that if I got killed off the show, it would be memorable. I think there’s a chance that people will look back at Season 2 and go, “Oh right — Bob’s the guy who got eaten by the dogs!”

Since you have Paul Reiser in that scene telling Bob where to go, I half-expected him to die like Reiser dies in Aliens: cornered in a confined space. Since being on the show, I’ve changed my profile description on Twitter to read: “I guess I’m meta.” I love Paul and I love Aliens, which is one of the greatest horror/action movies ever made. To have Paul Reiser in my ear telling me which way to turn while running down hallways with a gun like I’m Ripley… I guess I’m meta! [Laughs.]

It’s also great that, before his death, Bob saves the group with the power of BASIC. Were you a coder back in the ’80s? In 1984, when the season is set, I was shooting The Goonies and was more of a “run around the neighborhood” kind of kid. But my brother Tom had a big career writing code and software. If I’m just doing a scene about a guy writing code, I can survive, but not doing it myself.

As an ’80s kid myself, it kind of blew my mind to see Mikey from The Goonies in a relationship with Lydia from Beetlejuice. Did you and Winona Ryder reminisce about the old days? I don’t think there’s any difference between Bob hugging Joyce and Sean hugging Winona. It’s the same thing. We have such affection for each other, and we relied on that shared experience. Some people have high school reunions, but visiting with her feels like visiting with my childhood.

Had Bob lived, do you think he would have convinced Joyce to come away with him to Maine? You know, I was a fan before doing the show, and I was always rooting for Joyce and Hopper. So when I got cast as Joyce’s boyfriend, I was like, “I don’t know if I’m rooting for myself or not!” [Laughs.] I don’t know that I ever reached a moment where I thought that Joyce would be better off with Bob. There are certain moments, like when they’re dancing on Halloween night or when he’s offering to move with her to Maine. Maybe in real life that’s what should have happened; it would certainly be in Joyce’s best interest! But I don’t know if that’s what should have happened on the show.

I love that you didn’t want your own character to come between Joyce and Hopper! There’s that moment [in episode 5] where we rescue Hopper in the tunnels. He gets his knife, stands up, looks over at me and goes, “Hey Bob.” I don’t know if it comes through in the show, but with just those two words, all of a sudden I was back in the AV club in high school and he’s gonna get the girl because he’s so a tall and powerful guy. And she’s on the other side of me, so I’m not even next to her! I felt bad for me there.

This season is set in 1984; if they jump ahead to 1985 in Season 3, are you hoping for some Goonies cosplay like we got with Ghostbusters this year? I hadn’t thought of that, but now that you mention it would be an outrage if they didn’t do it! [Laughs.] Or at least hear the Cindy Lauper song in the background! The Duffers told me after they hired me that they had a conversation questioning whether they should hire me. When they saw my audition, they were like, “That’s our Bob.” But they also thought, “It’s also Sean Astin, which is maybe too much.” The wanted me to know they hired me for who I am in this moment, that Bob was deserving of a casting hire that wasn’t just a stunt. Hopefully, it all fits!

They did avoid any overt references like having the kids say something like, “This is our time!” Yeah, but they weren’t afraid to have me point to the X on Will’s map and go, “Hey, is that a pirate treasure map?” [Laughs.] So I don’t think they went over the line, but they went right up to it.

Stranger Things is currently streaming on Netflix.

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Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

• ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter One recap: Return that frown to the Upside Down • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Two recap: Going crazy together • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Three recap: Reunited and it feels so slimy • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Four recap: What happened to Baby Jane? • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Five recap: Tangled and Strangled • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Six recap: They’re heeeere • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Seven recap: Baby’s day out • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Eight recap: Blackout forever • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Nine recap: Ward and savior

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ethanalter · 6 years

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'Krypton' just dropped some scandalous news about Superman's granddad

Cameron Cuffe plays Superman’s grandfather, Seg-El in ‘Krypton.’ (Photo: Gavin Bond/Syfy)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the premiere episode of Krypton.

For obvious reasons, the Last Son of Krypton isn’t a character in Krypton, the new Syfy prequel series set two centuries before baby Kal-El rocketed away from his exploding homeworld, bound for Earth and his future as Superman. But the Man of Steel’s presence is very much felt in the series premiere, which explicitly ties the events of Krypton’s past to his future existence. In a Back to the Future-style plot twist that’s dropped at the end of the pilot, Kal-El’s grandfather, Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe), learns that he has to thwart a plot overseen by frequent Superman nemesis Branianc to change history, thus erasing Earth’s mightiest hero from the timestream. The importance of this mission is driven home via a cameo from Superman’s iconic red cape, which slowly dissolves as Brainiac’s plan inches closer to success.

The cape is Krypton‘s most recognizable nod in the direction of Superman lore, but references to the Man of Steel’s various comic book and cinematic incarnations abound throughout the episode. Here are some of the biggest Easter eggs we spotted in the pilot.

Seg-El and Lyta Zod (Georgina Campbell) carry on a secret affair in ‘Krypton.’ (Photo: Gavin Bond/Syfy)

Zod and El, sitting in a tree

General Zod and Superman have been enemies going back to the ’60s comic books, a rivalry that’s carried over into filmdom as well. For example, one of the main reasons that Superman II soars higher than the first Superman movie is the fact that it pits Superman against a returned and revitalized Zod, as opposed to a Lex Luthor-caused earthquake. It’s a battle so epic that Zack Snyder felt compelled to re-stage it for his 2013 reboot Man of Steel — swapping in Henry Cavill and Michael Shannon for Christopher Reeve and Terence Stamp, respectively — to considerably lesser effect. Krypton reveals that Zod and Kal-El’s ancestors were, in fact, lovers rather than fighters. As disclosed early on in the pilot, Seg-El and Lyta Zod (Georgina Campbell) are carrying on a torrid affair that would totally gross out their combative grandkids if they learned about it.

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Back to Brando

The first voice we hear in Krypton is Seg-El informing his grandson about the story we’re all about to see unfold. Superman is no stranger to hearing his ancestors lecturing him on the subject of Kryptonian history, of course. Throughout his journey to Earth in Richard Donner’s groundbreaking, trend-setting 1978 comic book blockbuster, Superman: The Movie, baby Kal-El is filled in on his heritage via voiceover provided by his father, Jor-El, played by Hollywood icon Marlon Brando. And Seg-El’s narration definitely strains to echo Brando’s distinctive cadence. In fact, the entire first sequence in Krypton mirrors the first sequence in the earlier film, with a trial in which the planet’s governing body decides the fate of a perceived criminal. In the movie, the Council exiles General Zod and his sidekicks to the Phantom Zone. In the series, Seg-El’s granddad, Val-El (Ian McElhinney), is found guilty of treason by the Voice of Rao and plunges to his death.

The many-faced Voice of Rao claims to be the link between Krypton’s people and its deity. (Photo: Syfy)

Oh, merciful Rao!

In the 80-year-and-counting history of the Superman comics, “Rao” has been a star, an emphatic exclamation — when surprised, Superman defaults to “Great Rao!” instead of “Holy crap!” — and a deity. Krypton runs with the latter option, introducing us to the Voice of Rao, who functions as the physical intermediary between the people of Krypton and their god. Thanks to that golden mask he wears, he’s also got the most memorable face(s) on the show.

Less than zero

While the Council and the Voice of Rao are the dominant forces in Kryptonian life, not everyone is satisfied with the status quo. Under the noses of the powers that be, an underground movement known as Black Zero is coalescing, billing themselves as freedom fighters even as the ruling class tries to paint them as terrorists. Black Zero has had several identities in the comic book pages. In the ’60s and ’70s, it was the name of a planet-destroying supervillain with his eyes on Earth. In the ’80s, John Byrne penned the World of Krypton series that reconfigured Black Zero as an entire group rather than a single entity. Since then, it’s also been a self-aware computer virus, a spaceship, and an alternate version of Superboy.

Shaun Sipos as time and space traveler Adam Strange in ‘Krypton.’ (Photo: Gavin Bond/Syfy)

Strange, Adam Strange

If you’re not up to speed on your DC Comics history, you’ll be as surprised as Seg-El when he’s approached by a strange time-traveler with an equally strange name spinning a strange yarn about his yet-to-be born superheroic grandson. Meet Adam Strange, who made his first comic book appearance exactly six decades ago this year in the pages of Showcase #17. Born on Earth, Adam was zapped to the stars via Zeta-Beam and has been bouncing back and forth ever since. His travels through time and space have brought him into contact with all manner of DC heroes, from Green Lantern to Swamp Thing. No wonder Superman trusted him with this vital “save the past, save the future” mission.

Making babies, Kryptonian style

The other problem with Seg-El and Lyta’s romance is that they’ve technically been paired off with other people. Lyta is promised to a fellow cadet in Krypton’s military force, while Seg-El procreates with Nyssa-Vex (Wallis Day), the daughter of duplicitous Council member Daron-Vex (Elliot Cowan). We should note that Kryptonian procreation happens in the least sexy way possible: Seg and Daron pay a visit to the birthing matrix — a concept first introduced in John Byrne’s Man of Steel miniseries in the 1980s, and brought to the screen in Snyder’s film of the same name — where their blood mingles to create a child. A computerized Oracle then fills them in on their baby’s entire existence, from his gender (male) and name (Car-Vex) to his profession (lawyer) and lifespan (173 cycles). It’s also worth noting that, in this case anyway, the oracle isn’t the most accurate predictor. In the comic books, Car-Vex is a female Kryptonian who works to further General Zod’s cause on New Earth in the disguise of an officer in the Science Police. For Man of Steel, Zack Snyder put Car-Vex (played by Apollonia Vanova) in Kryptonian armor and had her square off against a novice Superman in the climactic (and cataclysmic) Battle of Metropolis.

These statues inside the Fortress of Solitude on ‘Krypton’ have their roots in the ‘Superman’ comic books. (Photo: Syfy)

Enter the fortress

A refuge from the world and his Kryptonian home away from home, the Fortress of Solitude has been a key part of every Superman incarnation going back to the 1950s. To this day, the most memorable incarnation remains the ice palace that rose from beneath the Arctic tundra in the 1978 movie after Clark Kent flings a glowing green rock into the frozen landscape. Turns out that the Man of Steel can credit his great-great-great-grandfather, Val-El, as the architect. In Krypton, Sag-El discovers that his granddad built the Fortress in secret in an icy part of the planet and, once again, uses a green stone key to open the front door. (Just to drive home the connection between Val-El and Kal-El, John Williams’s classic Superman theme is heard as Seg-El approaches the Fortress.) Inside, there’s at least one decorative element that has its roots in comic books rather than cinema: statues of two Kryptonians holding aloft a planet. When Superman takes ownership of the Fortress, those statues are of his parents Jor-El and Lara. It’s unclear, as of yet, who Val-El chose to memorialize in stone.

Krypton airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Syfy.

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ethanalter · 6 years

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Forget Wonder Woman: 'I Kill Giants' reveals new kind of superhero in exclusive trailer

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Forget iron suits or Wakandan tech: all you need to take on an army of invading giants is a pair of bunny ears and a little ingenuity. At least, that’s the battle plan followed by young giant slayer Barbara (Madison Wolfe) in the upcoming film I Kill Giants, adapted from the popular 2008 graphic novel by Joe Kelly and J.M. Ken Niimura. Yahoo Entertainment is exclusively premiering the trailer for the Andres Walter-directed film, which opens in theaters on March 23 following its premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival where it made our “Best of Fest” list. (Watch the trailer above.) “Most films based on comic books tend to be based on plot, unless it’s a small film like Ghost World,” Walter explained to us at TIFF. “I wanted to do something that had a strong theme, and the courage to deal with something really important.”

In that way, I Kill Giants represents something of a missing link between superhero cinema and more grown-up comic-book movie fare like A History of Violence or American Splendor. It’s a film that indulges kids’ love of fantasy and role-playing, while also asking them to consider how they would confront demons of their own making. As the story unfolds, we see Barbara repeatedly seek to escape the real issues she’s facing at home and school, and meet the people trying to help her, including her older sister Karen (Imogen Poots) and the new guidance counselor (Zoe Saldana). And if your children like what you see onscreen, make sure they seek out the original graphic novel, which should spark their interest in comic book heroes that aren’t named Wonder Woman or Captain America.

I Kill Giants opens in theaters on March 23.

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ethanalter · 6 years

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Zachary Levi previews action-packed 'Tangled: The Series' season finale

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Most actors would consider themselves fortunate to be either a Marvel hero, a DC titan, or a Disney prince. Zachary Levi is in the privileged position of enjoying all three roles, and don’t think he takes it for granted. “These are the things we sit around dreaming about when we’re kids,” the actor tells Yahoo Entertainment. “I think about my career sometimes and go, ‘What did I do to deserve the incredible stuff I’ve gotten to do?‘”

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Levi fought alongside fellow Asgardian Thor as Fandral, until his untimely death in Thor: Ragnarok. Fortunately, he’ll soon rise again — this time in the DC Extended Universe — as Shazam, the costumed crimefighter that bursts into existence whenever young Billy Batson utters the titular magic word. Being a superhero sounds like an enviable position. But Levi says his own envy is reserved for his animated Disney doppelgänger, Flynn Rider a.k.a. Eugene Fitzherbert, sidekick and boyfriend to Tangled: The Series‘s long-haired heroine, Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore).

In both the 2010 feature film, and the Disney Channel sequel series it inspired, Eugene gets to participate in gravity-defying stunts, as well as physics-defying fisticuffs, that no flesh-and-blood actor would have any chance of surviving. For example, in the Season 1 finale of Tangled: The Series — which airs Jan. 13 — the lovable rogue is launched via catapult to the top of Corona’s palace to free Rapunzel, who is currently on a lockdown ordered by her own overprotective father. (Eugene confronts him in our exclusive sneak peek above.) “I’ve been jealous of cartoons since I was a kid,” Levi admits. “They get to do all the fun stuff, because there’s not actual consequences! Who wouldn’t want to get shot from a catapult?”

Of course, the Tangled season finale isn’t all cartoon derring-do; it’s also the timely story of a young woman asserting her own voice, even if it conflicts with what her parents, not to mention her kingdom, expect from her. By the time the hour-long episode ends, a newly independent Rapunzel is poised to embark on new adventures in the show’s sophomore year — with Eugene still at her side, of course. “Chris Sonnenburg [Tangled‘s co-creator] has two daughters, and every single episode is laced with some great lesson-learning,” Levi says. “In the beginning of the season, Rapunzel was feeling so trapped, so it’s definitely a huge step for her to say, ‘This is my life, and I’ve got to make decisions for myself.'”

Another reason why Eugene continues to hold a special place in the actor’s heart is because the character is his gateway to crooning songs penned by Disney maestro Alan Menken. The Oscar-winning composer contributed two new tunes to the finale, though neither, sadly, features a vocal part for Levi. “I’m just biding my time,” teases Levi, who previously sang “I’ve Got a Dream” and “I See the Light” in the feature film. “Now that Alan’s able to give us his time on the series, I feel like I’m going to be able to chime in here and there with some songs. He’s our generation’s Disney genius when it comes to music.”

The season finale of Tangled airs Saturday, Jan. 13 at 8 a.m. on Disney.

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