WonderCon 2012: ALCATRAZ Panel Recap; Jorge Garcia, Sarah Jones and More Talk Season Finale, Their Favorite Prisoners and a Possible Second Season

The cast and creative team behind freshman Fox drama Alcatraz were on hand at WonderCon 2012 to talk about what fans can expect from the season finale. In a mystery/action combination that has drawn parallels to Lost, Alcatraz follows a federal agent (Sam Neill of Jurassic Park) who enlists a police detective and an expert on the history of the island prison to help him track down a group of inmates that disappeared in 1963 and have since returned in present-day San Francisco to continue their criminal activities. The stars present at the panel were Jorge Garcia (Lost), Sarah Jones (Big Love), Parminder Nagra (E.R.), Jonny Coyne (The Bill) and Robert Forster (Heroes). Also present were executive producers Jennifer Johnson and Daniel Pyne, as well as co-creators Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. Hit the jump to check out our panel recap for Alcatraz.

The panel kicked off the event with a high-octane montage that acted as a teaser of sorts for the 2 hour season finale, which airs Monday, March 26th at 8pm EST on Fox. Fans of the show will be happy to know that Detective Rebecca Madsen (Jones) finally comes face-to-face with Tommy Madsen (David Hoflin), the man who killed her partner who just so happens to be her grandfather and an escaped Alcatraz inmate. (Fans of the classic car chase scene from Bullitt will be happy to hear that the showrunners painstakingly recreated the race through the San Francisco streets for Alcatraz’s finale.) Check out what the cast and crew had to say below:

When asked about the inspiration for the show, co-creator Lilien said that he’d wanted to combine mystery and mythology into a show for some time and that the idea of Alcatraz literally came to him in a dream. He liked the twist that the prison closed due to a conspiracy and every one of the inmates disappeared. He took the idea to Wynbrandt and they developed it from there.When asked, “Why Alcatraz?” Wynbrandt responded, “The word itself evokes [something] Gothic and mysterious. Robert Kennedy signed the papers to shut it down. If there’s a Kennedy involved, it has to be a conspiracy.”Garcia quipped that on shows where the secretive plot lines can get a bit confusing (alluding to his time spent on Lost), he said, “Going with the flow is what you learn for these shows.”Johnson commented on the fact that the writing team figures out the world of Alcatraz a little more with each passing inmate and episode.On how Jones got the lead role, she said, “I just kinda fell into it…even though I’m not the Evangeline Lily type.”Since Nagra’s character, Dr. Lucy Banerjee, is currently in the show in the 1960s, she occurs in a lot of flashbacks. Nagra said she thoroughly enjoyed working with the actors who played the inmates. In a potential [SPOILER], Johnson said that they certainly wouldn’t “waste her only in the past.”Johnson spoke briefly about the finale, saying that audiences would meet a character they haven’t seen yet and he (or she) would be working with Warden James (Coyne). The finale will reveal the character behind the Warden’s story. Johnson also said that there was a certain “wink” from the Warden in this week’s episode that clued the audience into a very important scene or person.When asked if his girlfriend Nikki (Jeananne Goossen) on Alcatraz would meet a similar fate to his girlfriend Libby (Cynthia Watros) on Lost, Garcia replied that he’d been “cock-blocked by Kevin Bacon,” owing to the fact that Goossen has a role in an upcoming TV movie starring Bacon.According to Wynbrandt and Johnson, the 63s (the escaped inmates) heal faster and age slower than normal people due to colloidal silver in their blood. Answers surrounding this mysterious source of the blood will be found in next week’s finale.Lilien remarked, “Our criminals are too good-looking on Alcatraz.”Pyne commented that, “There are more of them [inmates] back than we know about.”Coyne talked about the continuing power play between the Warden and Deputy Warden E. B. Tiller (Jason Butler Harner). He says that the tension between them will continue to build.Wynbrandt commented that, “It’s not just what happened to the 63s, it’s what happened to everyone involved,” and the show will eventually reveal how they came together.Johnson stated that the Warden likes to create competition among his staff and stressed that the events of the past will have an influence on the present.[SPOILER] There is an antagonistic scene in the finale between Tommy Madsen and his brother, Ray Archer (Forster), but it is further explored with a touching scene between the two men at an infirmary in 1960, which is also shown in the finale.Jones’ character will drive her Ford Mustang Fastback for the car chase, just like Steve McQueen did in Bullitt. Lilien said that “downstairs” will be opened at the end of the season and they will show people what’s behind the door.Johnson and Pyne teased that there is a big cliffhanger at the end of the finale, because they aren’t sure about the progression into a second season yet. The finale will satisfy a lot of questions for fans, however.Favorite inmates of the cast and crew are as follows: For Jones, it was Sonny Burnett (Theo Rossi); for Nagra and Coyne, it was Ernest Cobb (Joe Egender); Garcia’s favorite was Jeff Pierce’s Jack Sylvane; Lilien’s was actually the first guard, Guy Hastings (Jim Parrack) but he did say that Lucy (Nagra) was their favorite 63; Wynbrandt preferred the Ames Brothers (Graham Shiels and Travis Aaron Wade), but he also mentioned that Kit Nelson (Michael Eklund) frightened all of them; and Forster’s favorite is, of course, his brother Tommy Madsen (Hoflin).As for what fans can expect if there is to be a second season, questions are asked as to what happened to Rebecca’s parents, Doc’s (Garcia) backstory is touched on and if Neill has anything to do with it there will be “more death. He wants less lines and more shooting.”

The season finale of Alcatraz airs at 8pm EST this Monday, March 26th. Just for fun, relive the car chase from Bullitt below before you see it re-enacted on the small screen.

View the original article here

Maggie Grace talks LOCKOUT, Working With Luc Besson and Guy Pearce, DECODING ANNIE PARKER and More at WonderCon 2012

At this weekend’s WonderCon, I was able to sit down with Maggie Grace (Lost) for an extended interview.  The reason she was attending the con was to promote Luc Besson‘s high-octane outer space thriller Lockout that also stars Guy Pearce.   In the film, Pearce plays Snow, a man wrongly accused of conspiracy to commit espionage. His one chance at a pardon comes when he is tasked with rescuing the president’s daughter from a maximum security outer space prison facility when the inmates take control.  Lockout is the feature directorial debut of James Mather and Stephen St. Leger and it opens April 13th.  For more on the film, here’s a five minute clip and our recap of the WonderCon panel.

During my interview with Grace, we talked about how she got cast, how Lockout is more of a throwback sci-fi movie, what it’s like to work for Luc Besson and with Guy Pearce, if it was more fun playing Liam Neeson‘s daughter in Taken or the President’s daughter in Lockout, and more.  In addition, Grace talks about Decoding Annie Parker (which comes out later this year) and how she’s currently filming something in Atlanta but can’t reveal what it is yet.  Hit the jump to watch.

And if you missed the first part of this interview where Grace talked about Taken 2 and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, click here.

Maggie Grace Time Index

Talks about her guest spot on Law and Order: SVU before Lost.1:00 – She is thinking about “Easy” by The Commodores or “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac for her go-to karaoke song.2:20 – Luc Besson sent Grace the script, and she thought it was “hysterical.”3:00 – Lockout is a throwback sci-fi movie.3:30 – Is it more fun playing Liam Neeson’s daughter in Taken or the president’s daughter in Lockout?4:30 – Some things changed from the initial script, but mostly just figuring out plot details.5:30 – She prefers to do more takes, but the timing of the Lockout shoot didn’t always allow for many takes.6:40 – Describes Guy Pearce as a “chameleon” and says he does great with the action and one-liners.7:50 – Grace has saved a few wardrobe items, but not as many props.8:40 – Talks about her character in Decoding Annie Parker, which she thinks comes out later this year.9:20 – She’s filming something in Atlanta that she can’t name that required her to be covered in blood, which caused problems at airport security.

View the original article here

WonderCon 2012: ALCATRAZ Panel Recap; Jorge Garcia, Sarah Jones and More Talk Season Finale, Their Favorite Prisoners and a Possible Second Season

The cast and creative team behind freshman Fox drama Alcatraz were on hand at WonderCon 2012 to talk about what fans can expect from the season finale. In a mystery/action combination that has drawn parallels to Lost, Alcatraz follows a federal agent (Sam Neill of Jurassic Park) who enlists a police detective and an expert on the history of the island prison to help him track down a group of inmates that disappeared in 1963 and have since returned in present-day San Francisco to continue their criminal activities. The stars present at the panel were Jorge Garcia (Lost), Sarah Jones (Big Love), Parminder Nagra (E.R.), Jonny Coyne (The Bill) and Robert Forster (Heroes). Also present were executive producers Jennifer Johnson and Daniel Pyne, as well as co-creators Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. Hit the jump to check out our panel recap for Alcatraz.

The panel kicked off the event with a high-octane montage that acted as a teaser of sorts for the 2 hour season finale, which airs Monday, March 26th at 8pm EST on Fox. Fans of the show will be happy to know that Detective Rebecca Madsen (Jones) finally comes face-to-face with Tommy Madsen (David Hoflin), the man who killed her partner who just so happens to be her grandfather and an escaped Alcatraz inmate. (Fans of the classic car chase scene from Bullitt will be happy to hear that the showrunners painstakingly recreated the race through the San Francisco streets for Alcatraz’s finale.) Check out what the cast and crew had to say below:

When asked about the inspiration for the show, co-creator Lilien said that he’d wanted to combine mystery and mythology into a show for some time and that the idea of Alcatraz literally came to him in a dream. He liked the twist that the prison closed due to a conspiracy and every one of the inmates disappeared. He took the idea to Wynbrandt and they developed it from there.When asked, “Why Alcatraz?” Wynbrandt responded, “The word itself evokes [something] Gothic and mysterious. Robert Kennedy signed the papers to shut it down. If there’s a Kennedy involved, it has to be a conspiracy.”Garcia quipped that on shows where the secretive plot lines can get a bit confusing (alluding to his time spent on Lost), he said, “Going with the flow is what you learn for these shows.”Johnson commented on the fact that the writing team figures out the world of Alcatraz a little more with each passing inmate and episode.On how Jones got the lead role, she said, “I just kinda fell into it…even though I’m not the Evangeline Lily type.”Since Nagra’s character, Dr. Lucy Banerjee, is currently in the show in the 1960s, she occurs in a lot of flashbacks. Nagra said she thoroughly enjoyed working with the actors who played the inmates. In a potential [SPOILER], Johnson said that they certainly wouldn’t “waste her only in the past.”Johnson spoke briefly about the finale, saying that audiences would meet a character they haven’t seen yet and he (or she) would be working with Warden James (Coyne). The finale will reveal the character behind the Warden’s story. Johnson also said that there was a certain “wink” from the Warden in this week’s episode that clued the audience into a very important scene or person.When asked if his girlfriend Nikki (Jeananne Goossen) on Alcatraz would meet a similar fate to his girlfriend Libby (Cynthia Watros) on Lost, Garcia replied that he’d been “cock-blocked by Kevin Bacon,” owing to the fact that Goossen has a role in an upcoming TV movie starring Bacon.According to Wynbrandt and Johnson, the 63s (the escaped inmates) heal faster and age slower than normal people due to colloidal silver in their blood. Answers surrounding this mysterious source of the blood will be found in next week’s finale.Lilien remarked, “Our criminals are too good-looking on Alcatraz.”Pyne commented that, “There are more of them [inmates] back than we know about.”Coyne talked about the continuing power play between the Warden and Deputy Warden E. B. Tiller (Jason Butler Harner). He says that the tension between them will continue to build.Wynbrandt commented that, “It’s not just what happened to the 63s, it’s what happened to everyone involved,” and the show will eventually reveal how they came together.Johnson stated that the Warden likes to create competition among his staff and stressed that the events of the past will have an influence on the present.[SPOILER] There is an antagonistic scene in the finale between Tommy Madsen and his brother, Ray Archer (Forster), but it is further explored with a touching scene between the two men at an infirmary in 1960, which is also shown in the finale.Jones’ character will drive her Ford Mustang Fastback for the car chase, just like Steve McQueen did in Bullitt. Lilien said that “downstairs” will be opened at the end of the season and they will show people what’s behind the door.Johnson and Pyne teased that there is a big cliffhanger at the end of the finale, because they aren’t sure about the progression into a second season yet. The finale will satisfy a lot of questions for fans, however.Favorite inmates of the cast and crew are as follows: For Jones, it was Sonny Burnett (Theo Rossi); for Nagra and Coyne, it was Ernest Cobb (Joe Egender); Garcia’s favorite was Jeff Pierce’s Jack Sylvane; Lilien’s was actually the first guard, Guy Hastings (Jim Parrack) but he did say that Lucy (Nagra) was their favorite 63; Wynbrandt preferred the Ames Brothers (Graham Shiels and Travis Aaron Wade), but he also mentioned that Kit Nelson (Michael Eklund) frightened all of them; and Forster’s favorite is, of course, his brother Tommy Madsen (Hoflin).As for what fans can expect if there is to be a second season, questions are asked as to what happened to Rebecca’s parents, Doc’s (Garcia) backstory is touched on and if Neill has anything to do with it there will be “more death. He wants less lines and more shooting.”

The season finale of Alcatraz airs at 8pm EST this Monday, March 26th. Just for fun, relive the car chase from Bullitt below before you see it re-enacted on the small screen.

View the original article here

WonderCon 2012: ALCATRAZ Panel Recap; Jorge Garcia, Sarah Jones and More Talk Season Finale, Their Favorite Prisoners and a Possible Second Season

The cast and creative team behind freshman Fox drama Alcatraz were on hand at WonderCon 2012 to talk about what fans can expect from the season finale. In a mystery/action combination that has drawn parallels to Lost, Alcatraz follows a federal agent (Sam Neill of Jurassic Park) who enlists a police detective and an expert on the history of the island prison to help him track down a group of inmates that disappeared in 1963 and have since returned in present-day San Francisco to continue their criminal activities. The stars present at the panel were Jorge Garcia (Lost), Sarah Jones (Big Love), Parminder Nagra (E.R.), Jonny Coyne (The Bill) and Robert Forster (Heroes). Also present were executive producers Jennifer Johnson and Daniel Pyne, as well as co-creators Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. Hit the jump to check out our panel recap for Alcatraz.

The panel kicked off the event with a high-octane montage that acted as a teaser of sorts for the 2 hour season finale, which airs Monday, March 26th at 8pm EST on Fox. Fans of the show will be happy to know that Detective Rebecca Madsen (Jones) finally comes face-to-face with Tommy Madsen (David Hoflin), the man who killed her partner who just so happens to be her grandfather and an escaped Alcatraz inmate. (Fans of the classic car chase scene from Bullitt will be happy to hear that the showrunners painstakingly recreated the race through the San Francisco streets for Alcatraz’s finale.) Check out what the cast and crew had to say below:

When asked about the inspiration for the show, co-creator Lilien said that he’d wanted to combine mystery and mythology into a show for some time and that the idea of Alcatraz literally came to him in a dream. He liked the twist that the prison closed due to a conspiracy and every one of the inmates disappeared. He took the idea to Wynbrandt and they developed it from there.When asked, “Why Alcatraz?” Wynbrandt responded, “The word itself evokes [something] Gothic and mysterious. Robert Kennedy signed the papers to shut it down. If there’s a Kennedy involved, it has to be a conspiracy.”Garcia quipped that on shows where the secretive plot lines can get a bit confusing (alluding to his time spent on Lost), he said, “Going with the flow is what you learn for these shows.”Johnson commented on the fact that the writing team figures out the world of Alcatraz a little more with each passing inmate and episode.On how Jones got the lead role, she said, “I just kinda fell into it…even though I’m not the Evangeline Lily type.”Since Nagra’s character, Dr. Lucy Banerjee, is currently in the show in the 1960s, she occurs in a lot of flashbacks. Nagra said she thoroughly enjoyed working with the actors who played the inmates. In a potential [SPOILER], Johnson said that they certainly wouldn’t “waste her only in the past.”Johnson spoke briefly about the finale, saying that audiences would meet a character they haven’t seen yet and he (or she) would be working with Warden James (Coyne). The finale will reveal the character behind the Warden’s story. Johnson also said that there was a certain “wink” from the Warden in this week’s episode that clued the audience into a very important scene or person.When asked if his girlfriend Nikki (Jeananne Goossen) on Alcatraz would meet a similar fate to his girlfriend Libby (Cynthia Watros) on Lost, Garcia replied that he’d been “cock-blocked by Kevin Bacon,” owing to the fact that Goossen has a role in an upcoming TV movie starring Bacon.According to Wynbrandt and Johnson, the 63s (the escaped inmates) heal faster and age slower than normal people due to colloidal silver in their blood. Answers surrounding this mysterious source of the blood will be found in next week’s finale.Lilien remarked, “Our criminals are too good-looking on Alcatraz.”Pyne commented that, “There are more of them [inmates] back than we know about.”Coyne talked about the continuing power play between the Warden and Deputy Warden E. B. Tiller (Jason Butler Harner). He says that the tension between them will continue to build.Wynbrandt commented that, “It’s not just what happened to the 63s, it’s what happened to everyone involved,” and the show will eventually reveal how they came together.Johnson stated that the Warden likes to create competition among his staff and stressed that the events of the past will have an influence on the present.[SPOILER] There is an antagonistic scene in the finale between Tommy Madsen and his brother, Ray Archer (Forster), but it is further explored with a touching scene between the two men at an infirmary in 1960, which is also shown in the finale.Jones’ character will drive her Ford Mustang Fastback for the car chase, just like Steve McQueen did in Bullitt. Lilien said that “downstairs” will be opened at the end of the season and they will show people what’s behind the door.Johnson and Pyne teased that there is a big cliffhanger at the end of the finale, because they aren’t sure about the progression into a second season yet. The finale will satisfy a lot of questions for fans, however.Favorite inmates of the cast and crew are as follows: For Jones, it was Sonny Burnett (Theo Rossi); for Nagra and Coyne, it was Ernest Cobb (Joe Egender); Garcia’s favorite was Jeff Pierce’s Jack Sylvane; Lilien’s was actually the first guard, Guy Hastings (Jim Parrack) but he did say that Lucy (Nagra) was their favorite 63; Wynbrandt preferred the Ames Brothers (Graham Shiels and Travis Aaron Wade), but he also mentioned that Kit Nelson (Michael Eklund) frightened all of them; and Forster’s favorite is, of course, his brother Tommy Madsen (Hoflin).As for what fans can expect if there is to be a second season, questions are asked as to what happened to Rebecca’s parents, Doc’s (Garcia) backstory is touched on and if Neill has anything to do with it there will be “more death. He wants less lines and more shooting.”

The season finale of Alcatraz airs at 8pm EST this Monday, March 26th. Just for fun, relive the car chase from Bullitt below before you see it re-enacted on the small screen.

View the original article here

WonderCon 2012: ALCATRAZ Panel Recap; Jorge Garcia, Sarah Jones and More Talk Season Finale, Their Favorite Prisoners and a Possible Second Season

The cast and creative team behind freshman Fox drama Alcatraz were on hand at WonderCon 2012 to talk about what fans can expect from the season finale. In a mystery/action combination that has drawn parallels to Lost, Alcatraz follows a federal agent (Sam Neill of Jurassic Park) who enlists a police detective and an expert on the history of the island prison to help him track down a group of inmates that disappeared in 1963 and have since returned in present-day San Francisco to continue their criminal activities. The stars present at the panel were Jorge Garcia (Lost), Sarah Jones (Big Love), Parminder Nagra (E.R.), Jonny Coyne (The Bill) and Robert Forster (Heroes). Also present were executive producers Jennifer Johnson and Daniel Pyne, as well as co-creators Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. Hit the jump to check out our panel recap for Alcatraz.

The panel kicked off the event with a high-octane montage that acted as a teaser of sorts for the 2 hour season finale, which airs Monday, March 26th at 8pm EST on Fox. Fans of the show will be happy to know that Detective Rebecca Madsen (Jones) finally comes face-to-face with Tommy Madsen (David Hoflin), the man who killed her partner who just so happens to be her grandfather and an escaped Alcatraz inmate. (Fans of the classic car chase scene from Bullitt will be happy to hear that the showrunners painstakingly recreated the race through the San Francisco streets for Alcatraz’s finale.) Check out what the cast and crew had to say below:

When asked about the inspiration for the show, co-creator Lilien said that he’d wanted to combine mystery and mythology into a show for some time and that the idea of Alcatraz literally came to him in a dream. He liked the twist that the prison closed due to a conspiracy and every one of the inmates disappeared. He took the idea to Wynbrandt and they developed it from there.When asked, “Why Alcatraz?” Wynbrandt responded, “The word itself evokes [something] Gothic and mysterious. Robert Kennedy signed the papers to shut it down. If there’s a Kennedy involved, it has to be a conspiracy.”Garcia quipped that on shows where the secretive plot lines can get a bit confusing (alluding to his time spent on Lost), he said, “Going with the flow is what you learn for these shows.”Johnson commented on the fact that the writing team figures out the world of Alcatraz a little more with each passing inmate and episode.On how Jones got the lead role, she said, “I just kinda fell into it…even though I’m not the Evangeline Lily type.”Since Nagra’s character, Dr. Lucy Banerjee, is currently in the show in the 1960s, she occurs in a lot of flashbacks. Nagra said she thoroughly enjoyed working with the actors who played the inmates. In a potential [SPOILER], Johnson said that they certainly wouldn’t “waste her only in the past.”Johnson spoke briefly about the finale, saying that audiences would meet a character they haven’t seen yet and he (or she) would be working with Warden James (Coyne). The finale will reveal the character behind the Warden’s story. Johnson also said that there was a certain “wink” from the Warden in this week’s episode that clued the audience into a very important scene or person.When asked if his girlfriend Nikki (Jeananne Goossen) on Alcatraz would meet a similar fate to his girlfriend Libby (Cynthia Watros) on Lost, Garcia replied that he’d been “cock-blocked by Kevin Bacon,” owing to the fact that Goossen has a role in an upcoming TV movie starring Bacon.According to Wynbrandt and Johnson, the 63s (the escaped inmates) heal faster and age slower than normal people due to colloidal silver in their blood. Answers surrounding this mysterious source of the blood will be found in next week’s finale.Lilien remarked, “Our criminals are too good-looking on Alcatraz.”Pyne commented that, “There are more of them [inmates] back than we know about.”Coyne talked about the continuing power play between the Warden and Deputy Warden E. B. Tiller (Jason Butler Harner). He says that the tension between them will continue to build.Wynbrandt commented that, “It’s not just what happened to the 63s, it’s what happened to everyone involved,” and the show will eventually reveal how they came together.Johnson stated that the Warden likes to create competition among his staff and stressed that the events of the past will have an influence on the present.[SPOILER] There is an antagonistic scene in the finale between Tommy Madsen and his brother, Ray Archer (Forster), but it is further explored with a touching scene between the two men at an infirmary in 1960, which is also shown in the finale.Jones’ character will drive her Ford Mustang Fastback for the car chase, just like Steve McQueen did in Bullitt. Lilien said that “downstairs” will be opened at the end of the season and they will show people what’s behind the door.Johnson and Pyne teased that there is a big cliffhanger at the end of the finale, because they aren’t sure about the progression into a second season yet. The finale will satisfy a lot of questions for fans, however.Favorite inmates of the cast and crew are as follows: For Jones, it was Sonny Burnett (Theo Rossi); for Nagra and Coyne, it was Ernest Cobb (Joe Egender); Garcia’s favorite was Jeff Pierce’s Jack Sylvane; Lilien’s was actually the first guard, Guy Hastings (Jim Parrack) but he did say that Lucy (Nagra) was their favorite 63; Wynbrandt preferred the Ames Brothers (Graham Shiels and Travis Aaron Wade), but he also mentioned that Kit Nelson (Michael Eklund) frightened all of them; and Forster’s favorite is, of course, his brother Tommy Madsen (Hoflin).As for what fans can expect if there is to be a second season, questions are asked as to what happened to Rebecca’s parents, Doc’s (Garcia) backstory is touched on and if Neill has anything to do with it there will be “more death. He wants less lines and more shooting.”

The season finale of Alcatraz airs at 8pm EST this Monday, March 26th. Just for fun, relive the car chase from Bullitt below before you see it re-enacted on the small screen.

View the original article here

Ben Walker Talks ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER and Stephen Frears’ MUHAMMAD ALI’S GREATEST FIGHT at WonderCon 2012

At this past weekend’s WonderCon, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter director Timur Bekmambetov, star Ben Walker and writer Seth Grahame-Smith showed off a new trailer and an extended section of a big action set piece that featured all the principal cast.  If you missed Dave’s recap of the panel, click here.  You can also watch the new trailer here.

Shortly before the panel, I got to sit down with Walker for an extended interview.  We talked about his reaction to the footage he’s seen, what it was like to work with Bekmambetov, what kind of research he did to play Abraham Lincoln, how the 3D be used, and he talks about a particularly gory reshoot and his favorite action scene in the movie.  In addition, with Walker getting ready to film Stephen Frears’ Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, he revealed who he plays and how excited he is to work his Christopher Plummer.  Hit the jump to watch.

Benjamin Walker Time Index

0:25 – Benjamin Walker talks about his reaction to his film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. 0:35 – They’re currently doing ADR (dialogue replacement) and Walker mentions his thoughts on the rough cut he’s seen.0:55 – Walker talks about director Timur Bekmambetov’s vision managing to surpass his initial high hopes for the picture.1:35 – Walker talks about a particularly gory reshoot and his favorite action scene to film in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.2:35 – According to Walker, Homeland Security doesn’t let you take axes on planes.2:55 – Walker talks about the level of research they did to prepare for his role as Abraham Lincoln, especially for the voice of the 16th President of the United States.4:00 – The 3D effects will be used as “a tool, not a gimmick” according to Walker. He talks about how Bekmambetov used the tool to interact with the audience.4:55 – In terms of minimal or repetitive takes for a shot, Walker discusses which method he prefers and which director Bekmambetov resembles.5:55 – Walker talks about an upcoming project with Stephen Frears (High Fidelity) and Christopher Plummer titled Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight.7:05 – As a fan of movies and technology, Walker reveals what he hopes to see at WonderCon.

View the original article here

Maggie Grace talks LOCKOUT, Working With Luc Besson and Guy Pearce, DECODING ANNIE PARKER and More at WonderCon 2012

At this weekend’s WonderCon, I was able to sit down with Maggie Grace (Lost) for an extended interview.  The reason she was attending the con was to promote Luc Besson‘s high-octane outer space thriller Lockout that also stars Guy Pearce.   In the film, Pearce plays Snow, a man wrongly accused of conspiracy to commit espionage. His one chance at a pardon comes when he is tasked with rescuing the president’s daughter from a maximum security outer space prison facility when the inmates take control.  Lockout is the feature directorial debut of James Mather and Stephen St. Leger and it opens April 13th.  For more on the film, here’s a five minute clip and our recap of the WonderCon panel.

During my interview with Grace, we talked about how she got cast, how Lockout is more of a throwback sci-fi movie, what it’s like to work for Luc Besson and with Guy Pearce, if it was more fun playing Liam Neeson‘s daughter in Taken or the President’s daughter in Lockout, and more.  In addition, Grace talks about Decoding Annie Parker (which comes out later this year) and how she’s currently filming something in Atlanta but can’t reveal what it is yet.  Hit the jump to watch.

And if you missed the first part of this interview where Grace talked about Taken 2 and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, click here.

Maggie Grace Time Index

Talks about her guest spot on Law and Order: SVU before Lost.1:00 – She is thinking about “Easy” by The Commodores or “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac for her go-to karaoke song.2:20 – Luc Besson sent Grace the script, and she thought it was “hysterical.”3:00 – Lockout is a throwback sci-fi movie.3:30 – Is it more fun playing Liam Neeson’s daughter in Taken or the president’s daughter in Lockout?4:30 – Some things changed from the initial script, but mostly just figuring out plot details.5:30 – She prefers to do more takes, but the timing of the Lockout shoot didn’t always allow for many takes.6:40 – Describes Guy Pearce as a “chameleon” and says he does great with the action and one-liners.7:50 – Grace has saved a few wardrobe items, but not as many props.8:40 – Talks about her character in Decoding Annie Parker, which she thinks comes out later this year.9:20 – She’s filming something in Atlanta that she can’t name that required her to be covered in blood, which caused problems at airport security.

View the original article here

Ben Walker Talks ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER and Stephen Frears’ MUHAMMAD ALI’S GREATEST FIGHT at WonderCon 2012

At this past weekend’s WonderCon, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter director Timur Bekmambetov, star Ben Walker and writer Seth Grahame-Smith showed off a new trailer and an extended section of a big action set piece that featured all the principal cast.  If you missed Dave’s recap of the panel, click here.  You can also watch the new trailer here.

Shortly before the panel, I got to sit down with Walker for an extended interview.  We talked about his reaction to the footage he’s seen, what it was like to work with Bekmambetov, what kind of research he did to play Abraham Lincoln, how the 3D be used, and he talks about a particularly gory reshoot and his favorite action scene in the movie.  In addition, with Walker getting ready to film Stephen Frears’ Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, he revealed who he plays and how excited he is to work his Christopher Plummer.  Hit the jump to watch.

Benjamin Walker Time Index

0:25 – Benjamin Walker talks about his reaction to his film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. 0:35 – They’re currently doing ADR (dialogue replacement) and Walker mentions his thoughts on the rough cut he’s seen.0:55 – Walker talks about director Timur Bekmambetov’s vision managing to surpass his initial high hopes for the picture.1:35 – Walker talks about a particularly gory reshoot and his favorite action scene to film in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.2:35 – According to Walker, Homeland Security doesn’t let you take axes on planes.2:55 – Walker talks about the level of research they did to prepare for his role as Abraham Lincoln, especially for the voice of the 16th President of the United States.4:00 – The 3D effects will be used as “a tool, not a gimmick” according to Walker. He talks about how Bekmambetov used the tool to interact with the audience.4:55 – In terms of minimal or repetitive takes for a shot, Walker discusses which method he prefers and which director Bekmambetov resembles.5:55 – Walker talks about an upcoming project with Stephen Frears (High Fidelity) and Christopher Plummer titled Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight.7:05 – As a fan of movies and technology, Walker reveals what he hopes to see at WonderCon.

View the original article here

Brit Marling and Director Zal Batmanglij Talk SOUND OF MY VOICE at WonderCon 2012

Sound of My Voice, directed and co-written by Zal Batmanglij and opening in theaters on April 27th, is a haunting tale that delves into the underworld of a cult. At the center of the group is an enigmatic young woman named Maggie (co-writer Brit Marling), who never leaves her basement chamber and has her members grow her food, obsessively sanitize the house, and give her their own blood for transfusions. Although a young couple smuggles in hidden cameras, with the intention of exposing her as a charlatan and freeing the members from her spell, they quickly find themselves falling prey to her mind games.

After their panel presentation at WonderCon 2012, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij talked to the press about what makes their film distinctive from past films about time travel, what gave them the initial idea, how they’re trying to keep spoilers from happening, what they’re doing for viral marketing, the challenges of making such a low-budget movie, and what their process was like, when they were writing. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Question: The idea of time travel, as a genre, is very well-explored in literature, films and television series. What do you bring to the table that makes your film distinctive from past films about this subject?

ZAL BATMANGLIJ: That’s a provocative question and a good question. Terminator is one of my favorite films, and so is Terminator 2. What we bring to the table that’s different is that, for us, time travel is synonymous for the belief in all the things that are not seen, and also for the most outlandish claim that you could possibly make. To say that you’re a time traveler is weirder than saying you’re an alien. It’s really strange to sit down in a basement and be face-to-face with someone who claims to be a real time traveler. So, for us, it was about the nuts and bolts of what it would be like, if you were face-to-face with someone who claimed to be from the future.

BRIT MARLING: And it was about figuring out the real practicalities of that. Usually in science fiction, the concept is so big that it’s hard to come down to earth for the micro-movements. If you came from the future and you arrived here, what would you be like? Would your immune system be depressed from that travel? Would you be well? Would you be ill? Would you be affected by micro-organisms of the time period and be hiding out in a basement? How would it all work, practically?

BATMANGLIJ: And if you were a very sophisticated con artist, what would you do to convince people that you were from the future? What benefits would that give you? For us, it’s also a question of, “Is she or isn’t she?” That’s really a major part of the movie.

With Twitter and everything else, how do you keep spoilers away from people?

MARLING: That’s such a good question. I feel like, when the audience connects with something, they enjoy the experience so much that they want other people to go have it. They’re like, “Don’t talk about it. Don’t tell. Just go!” It’s a nice feeling to have people coming around it that way, protecting the ideas in it, so that everyone can see it for themselves.

BATMANGLIJ: Maybe it’s a bit of a bummer that the trailer gives away more than one would like, but the film has so many ups and downs, and is such a thrill ride. The film is actually really fun and has a lot of integrity, in and of itself. It’s fun, no matter what you know.

What have you been doing online, as far as viral marketing?

BATMANGLIJ: We released the first 12 minutes, which has interactive hot spots in it that take you to other videos. Other cult members have made their own videos. They have meetings in L.A. As we get closer to release, you’ll start seeing meetings pop up in other places.

MARLING: People are learning the handshake and are posting it.

How much of the other cult members are explored? Will audiences see their story and their point of view, as to their belief or trust in the main character?

BATMANGLIJ: It’s very strictly Peter’s POV that we tell the story in. I think that’s very important, especially in telling low-budget stories. It really ups your production value when you have one person that you can use as your avatar through a story, but I think everyone gets their moment in time. That other couple definitely has their moment too, and they have to make some tough decisions.

MARLING: I think you get to see, through the different cult members, why people are attracted to a group like this. Everyone is there for a different reason and from a different background. That was part of what was interesting for us, in researching cults and exploring it. A lot of this happens in California. It seems to be this hot-bed for these ideas and bringing these groups together. You find that the one thing that everybody has in common, whether they’re a teenager who has run away from his parents, or a divorcee who lost her husband, is that they all have in common this feeling of searching for a meaning in their lives, that Maggie seems to offer. She’s like, “Dress in white, follow this diet, come to these meetings and do these things, and I’m going to give you a prescription for how to live and tell you what the future will be like. You will be a chosen one to be a survivor and be part of some experience.” That seems so compelling to everyone.

Isn’t a cult also like finding a surrogate family?

BATMANGLIJ: 100%.

MARLING: Totally.

Was the initial interest in the idea of cults something that you both were interested in, before making the film?

BATMANGLIJ: It was the idea of connecting as a surrogate family. I think we’re really hungry for family in America, especially when I feel like people are really pulled apart from their families. So, we were interested in the idea of what the extreme version of that would be.

MARLING: When you come out to L.A. to make movies or to do this kind of work, everybody is coming out on their own and you leave your tribe behind. Then, it’s a question of, that was your tribe by blood, and now, what is the tribe that you’re making by choice or by what you think is important? I think we were having that experience, so somehow the cult world seemed really compelling.

There seems to be allegorical elements of religion in all of this. Is that what your ultimate aim is, with the exploration of forming a new religion and these characters representing some kind of religious figure?

BATMANGLIJ: We’re not trying to form a new religion. I think that all the powerful religions are pretty much the same. People like to pretend they are very different, but they are not. They are really about believing in something bigger than yourself, something that’s unseen, and about having some faith. That’s not such a bad thing to have in the world, right now. I don’t know if any specific religion is the one to subscribe to. I’m not saying, one way or the other. I don’t want to get involved in that. But, I think having faith in this experience we are having as a group of people on Earth helps a lot.

MARLING: Yeah, I think it’s less to do with divine or not divine. Maggie never claims that. But, it has something to do with having belief in a human future and what that human future is. What is the future of humanity? How does this whole experiment not self-destruct with the environment and everything else going on?

You two were talking about the challenges you had to face making this, filming on an airplane and playing it off like you weren’t actually shooting on an airplane. Were there more scenarios like that, when you were filming on the L.A. bridge, in making sure the cops weren’t around?

BATMANGLIJ: Tons. We were such a small crew that we weren’t worried about the cops on the L.A. bridge, but we had no money. We had an iMac that we bought, that we would have to return every 13 days because otherwise we’d have to pay for it. We couldn’t afford even a computer to edit the movie on. We returned it three times.

MARLING: And that gets heavy. You have to box it up and carry it. I would park the car with the emergency lights on, and Zal would run in. We would all take turns, turning in this computer. It was a lot of work.

What’s the process like, when you work together as writers?

MARLING: We have so much fun. We come to it every day with a set of hours, like, “This is our chunk of time that we have together,” and we just play. Sometimes we act things out. We come up with scenes. Between us, we have played every character in Sound of My Voice. Sometimes I’m Klaus and he’s Joanne, and then he’s Peter and I’m Lorna. We have the fights.

BATMANGLIJ: Sometimes she’s Peter and I’m Lorna. For example, with the driving scene, we sat in two chairs, put our chairs together, and said, “What if she is?”

MARLING: That willingness to play has been really helpful.

BATMANGLIJ: We do that for awhile.

Do you record it, the whole time?

BATMANGLIJ: We sometimes do.

MARLING: We write it down, if it’s been a particularly good one.

BATMANGLIJ: Brit writes a lot of that. I stay away from the writing part because I think that if it sticks, it sticks. You just know it. The stuff that doesn’t stick, goes away. The stuff that propels you forward, you can see it in your partner’s eyes. You could be telling a part of the story, saying, “Maggie wakes up in a bathtub in a crack den,” and either the person will light up or they will be like, “Try again.” I think that works for us. We crack the story, and then the actual writing part happens really quickly. We can do that, once we know the story well.

MARLING: Once you play with these scenes and you’re outlining it, again and again, and telling each other the narrative, and telling it to people you know, trying to make sure that the mathematics of the story work, you feel that those are in place, and the actual writing and final draft doesn’t take as long.

BATMANGLIJ: It’s very important for us because we are viewers, first and foremost. We view more than we make. For us, it’s important that the viewing experience is fun and thrilling and exciting and fresh and different. Those are our goals when we are writing something. When you watch it in the theatre, which I hope you will, how will you have the best experience possible? That’s really important to us, and is the most thrilling.

MARLING: Well said!

View the original article here

Brit Marling and Director Zal Batmanglij Talk SOUND OF MY VOICE at WonderCon 2012

Sound of My Voice, directed and co-written by Zal Batmanglij and opening in theaters on April 27th, is a haunting tale that delves into the underworld of a cult. At the center of the group is an enigmatic young woman named Maggie (co-writer Brit Marling), who never leaves her basement chamber and has her members grow her food, obsessively sanitize the house, and give her their own blood for transfusions. Although a young couple smuggles in hidden cameras, with the intention of exposing her as a charlatan and freeing the members from her spell, they quickly find themselves falling prey to her mind games.

After their panel presentation at WonderCon 2012, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij talked to the press about what makes their film distinctive from past films about time travel, what gave them the initial idea, how they’re trying to keep spoilers from happening, what they’re doing for viral marketing, the challenges of making such a low-budget movie, and what their process was like, when they were writing. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Question: The idea of time travel, as a genre, is very well-explored in literature, films and television series. What do you bring to the table that makes your film distinctive from past films about this subject?

ZAL BATMANGLIJ: That’s a provocative question and a good question. Terminator is one of my favorite films, and so is Terminator 2. What we bring to the table that’s different is that, for us, time travel is synonymous for the belief in all the things that are not seen, and also for the most outlandish claim that you could possibly make. To say that you’re a time traveler is weirder than saying you’re an alien. It’s really strange to sit down in a basement and be face-to-face with someone who claims to be a real time traveler. So, for us, it was about the nuts and bolts of what it would be like, if you were face-to-face with someone who claimed to be from the future.

BRIT MARLING: And it was about figuring out the real practicalities of that. Usually in science fiction, the concept is so big that it’s hard to come down to earth for the micro-movements. If you came from the future and you arrived here, what would you be like? Would your immune system be depressed from that travel? Would you be well? Would you be ill? Would you be affected by micro-organisms of the time period and be hiding out in a basement? How would it all work, practically?

BATMANGLIJ: And if you were a very sophisticated con artist, what would you do to convince people that you were from the future? What benefits would that give you? For us, it’s also a question of, “Is she or isn’t she?” That’s really a major part of the movie.

With Twitter and everything else, how do you keep spoilers away from people?

MARLING: That’s such a good question. I feel like, when the audience connects with something, they enjoy the experience so much that they want other people to go have it. They’re like, “Don’t talk about it. Don’t tell. Just go!” It’s a nice feeling to have people coming around it that way, protecting the ideas in it, so that everyone can see it for themselves.

BATMANGLIJ: Maybe it’s a bit of a bummer that the trailer gives away more than one would like, but the film has so many ups and downs, and is such a thrill ride. The film is actually really fun and has a lot of integrity, in and of itself. It’s fun, no matter what you know.

What have you been doing online, as far as viral marketing?

BATMANGLIJ: We released the first 12 minutes, which has interactive hot spots in it that take you to other videos. Other cult members have made their own videos. They have meetings in L.A. As we get closer to release, you’ll start seeing meetings pop up in other places.

MARLING: People are learning the handshake and are posting it.

How much of the other cult members are explored? Will audiences see their story and their point of view, as to their belief or trust in the main character?

BATMANGLIJ: It’s very strictly Peter’s POV that we tell the story in. I think that’s very important, especially in telling low-budget stories. It really ups your production value when you have one person that you can use as your avatar through a story, but I think everyone gets their moment in time. That other couple definitely has their moment too, and they have to make some tough decisions.

MARLING: I think you get to see, through the different cult members, why people are attracted to a group like this. Everyone is there for a different reason and from a different background. That was part of what was interesting for us, in researching cults and exploring it. A lot of this happens in California. It seems to be this hot-bed for these ideas and bringing these groups together. You find that the one thing that everybody has in common, whether they’re a teenager who has run away from his parents, or a divorcee who lost her husband, is that they all have in common this feeling of searching for a meaning in their lives, that Maggie seems to offer. She’s like, “Dress in white, follow this diet, come to these meetings and do these things, and I’m going to give you a prescription for how to live and tell you what the future will be like. You will be a chosen one to be a survivor and be part of some experience.” That seems so compelling to everyone.

Isn’t a cult also like finding a surrogate family?

BATMANGLIJ: 100%.

MARLING: Totally.

Was the initial interest in the idea of cults something that you both were interested in, before making the film?

BATMANGLIJ: It was the idea of connecting as a surrogate family. I think we’re really hungry for family in America, especially when I feel like people are really pulled apart from their families. So, we were interested in the idea of what the extreme version of that would be.

MARLING: When you come out to L.A. to make movies or to do this kind of work, everybody is coming out on their own and you leave your tribe behind. Then, it’s a question of, that was your tribe by blood, and now, what is the tribe that you’re making by choice or by what you think is important? I think we were having that experience, so somehow the cult world seemed really compelling.

There seems to be allegorical elements of religion in all of this. Is that what your ultimate aim is, with the exploration of forming a new religion and these characters representing some kind of religious figure?

BATMANGLIJ: We’re not trying to form a new religion. I think that all the powerful religions are pretty much the same. People like to pretend they are very different, but they are not. They are really about believing in something bigger than yourself, something that’s unseen, and about having some faith. That’s not such a bad thing to have in the world, right now. I don’t know if any specific religion is the one to subscribe to. I’m not saying, one way or the other. I don’t want to get involved in that. But, I think having faith in this experience we are having as a group of people on Earth helps a lot.

MARLING: Yeah, I think it’s less to do with divine or not divine. Maggie never claims that. But, it has something to do with having belief in a human future and what that human future is. What is the future of humanity? How does this whole experiment not self-destruct with the environment and everything else going on?

You two were talking about the challenges you had to face making this, filming on an airplane and playing it off like you weren’t actually shooting on an airplane. Were there more scenarios like that, when you were filming on the L.A. bridge, in making sure the cops weren’t around?

BATMANGLIJ: Tons. We were such a small crew that we weren’t worried about the cops on the L.A. bridge, but we had no money. We had an iMac that we bought, that we would have to return every 13 days because otherwise we’d have to pay for it. We couldn’t afford even a computer to edit the movie on. We returned it three times.

MARLING: And that gets heavy. You have to box it up and carry it. I would park the car with the emergency lights on, and Zal would run in. We would all take turns, turning in this computer. It was a lot of work.

What’s the process like, when you work together as writers?

MARLING: We have so much fun. We come to it every day with a set of hours, like, “This is our chunk of time that we have together,” and we just play. Sometimes we act things out. We come up with scenes. Between us, we have played every character in Sound of My Voice. Sometimes I’m Klaus and he’s Joanne, and then he’s Peter and I’m Lorna. We have the fights.

BATMANGLIJ: Sometimes she’s Peter and I’m Lorna. For example, with the driving scene, we sat in two chairs, put our chairs together, and said, “What if she is?”

MARLING: That willingness to play has been really helpful.

BATMANGLIJ: We do that for awhile.

Do you record it, the whole time?

BATMANGLIJ: We sometimes do.

MARLING: We write it down, if it’s been a particularly good one.

BATMANGLIJ: Brit writes a lot of that. I stay away from the writing part because I think that if it sticks, it sticks. You just know it. The stuff that doesn’t stick, goes away. The stuff that propels you forward, you can see it in your partner’s eyes. You could be telling a part of the story, saying, “Maggie wakes up in a bathtub in a crack den,” and either the person will light up or they will be like, “Try again.” I think that works for us. We crack the story, and then the actual writing part happens really quickly. We can do that, once we know the story well.

MARLING: Once you play with these scenes and you’re outlining it, again and again, and telling each other the narrative, and telling it to people you know, trying to make sure that the mathematics of the story work, you feel that those are in place, and the actual writing and final draft doesn’t take as long.

BATMANGLIJ: It’s very important for us because we are viewers, first and foremost. We view more than we make. For us, it’s important that the viewing experience is fun and thrilling and exciting and fresh and different. Those are our goals when we are writing something. When you watch it in the theatre, which I hope you will, how will you have the best experience possible? That’s really important to us, and is the most thrilling.

MARLING: Well said!

View the original article here