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Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Gregory Itzin Talks
Collider: How did Mob City come about for you? Gregory Itzin: This came about while I was shooting Covert Affairs, and I knew I was locked in until the end of the season because they had said as much. My agents got a call and offered me the role. That was pretty exciting! I was [recently] asked about how 24 changed my life, and I get offers now. Not always, but occasionally I do, and this came along that way. They said, “Would you like to play Fletcher Bowron?” I said, “Who?” And then, I was told about who it was and that it was on Frank Darabont’s new series. So, they had to work out the schedule for both things, and I was able to come on board.
Collider: Because it is so stylistic and specific, did this kind of dialogue come easily for you?
Gregory Itzin: No, to be perfectly honest with you. It’s just chatter, but there’s a certain way of saying it. You’ve also gotta get to it. You have to bring it together and dive in. I didn’t come in until they were shooting the body of the show. I had to come in and fill in my stuff in the pilot. I talked to Neal [McDonough] and said, “Is this dialogue hard?,” and he said, “Yeah, but don’t worry about it.” It doesn’t fit well in the mouth until you’ve done it awhile.
Collider: What’s it been like to collaborate with Frank Darabont on this?
Gregory Itzin: I can’t tell you, really. I didn’t, that much. The one scene that I had, that he directed, I could ask him about. But, I don’t know what’s going on in his head, except that he’s a very excitable man. He loves what he does, very much, and that’s always a joy. You can see despots in directors, so to see a man who genuinely enjoys the people he works with and the project, joy rather than fear is a good place to work from.
all interview = www.collider.com
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Sunday, December 29, 2013
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Jeffrey DeMunn Talks
Collider: How did this come about for you? Does Frank Darabont just call you when he has a role that he thinks you’re suited for, and you say, “Yes, of course! I’m in!”?Jeffrey DeMunn: Yes.
Collider: Are you passed the point where you have to read the script before making a decision? Do you just trust him completely?
Jeffrey DeMunn: Absolutely! I was doing Death of a Salesman down in Dallas, and he called me up and said, “Do you want to come to Atlanta and kill zombies?,” and I said, “Sure!” I know that when I’m working with Frank, I’m working with the best and it’s going to be exciting. He surrounds himself with such extraordinary talent that you can trust every department. It’s astounding. So, yeah, it’s a no-brainer for me.
Collider: What’s it been like to work with Jon Bernthal again, on this show?
Jeffrey DeMunn: It was fabulous. In addition, Jon and I became very fast friends on The Walking Dead. Experiences that we both went through on that show brought us very close together, and we’ll be friends for the rest of my time.
Collider: Your character seems like this honest guy, but will that be difficult for him to hang onto?
Jeffrey DeMunn: You’ll have to see. You never know. Everybody has their weaknesses.
Collider: Do you feel like you’ve only just started to scratch the surface with these characters? Would you like to do future seasons of this show?
Jeffrey DeMunn: I think we were half-way through, or three-quarters of the way through shooting this season, and I went to Frank and said, “Okay, I want this show to go on. I want another three seasons of this.” I could feel it in all of us, which was the nice thing. I wasn’t just talking about me. I could feel it in all the people around me. It was taking on a life of its own with this group. If you can get that, you don’t say no. That’s a gift.
all interview = www.collider.com
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Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Alexa Davalos Talks
Collider: Was that part of the appeal of this project, for you?
Alexa: I don’t know if it was part of the appeal, specifically. I fell in love with her, the second Frank came to me with her. I read eight pages that he had put together for me. The interrogation scene was the first material I saw of her, and I just said, “Yes, where do I sign!” I loved her, very much. But, it’s more about the time period. To be able to exist in that time period and be a dame in that time is just something I’ve always wanted to do.
Collider: What was it like to work with such a detailed atmosphere, with the sets, the props and the wardrobe?
Alexa: Jasmine is a photographer, and I’m also a photographer. That was a lot of fun. I was asked to bring in a lot of my black and white photographs. I shoot film. I’ve got a huge film in my garage, full of film. So, there was a lot of my work in Jasmine’s apartment, which felt very special for me.
Collider: What’s it been like to collaborate with Frank Darabont on this?
Alexa: In the beginning, we were talking about developing the character together. I was brought into the writers’ room, and we talked about my take on her, my idea of her backstory, who she is, and where she came from. That was a very collaborative process. Frank is somebody who just lets you go. He’s like, “Okay, she’s yours now,” so you’re alone with the character, which is a real freedom. There’s a real gift in that. And at the same time, he knows exactly what he wants, down to an eyebrow. So, you have this freedom, but you know that he’s there with a very keen eye and he’s seeing everything. It’s an interesting duality to work with. Frank lets you go, but he’s got you right in his clutches.
Collider: There’s a very interesting relationship between Jasmine and Joe Teague. Will viewers get to learn more and more about that?
Alexa: That is a work in progress, yes.
Collider: Were those questions about who she is, where she’s coming from, and what her motives are things you wanted the answers to ahead of time, or are you okay with not having those answers?
Alexa: I’m easygoing, that way. In certain situations, you want to know. In other situations, it’s okay not to know. We don’t know her future. In the moment that I’m filming, I don’t know her future, and that’s okay. But, where she’s come from is crucial. I really miss her! I keep saying, “When can I get back to filming?” Fingers crossed, that I can get back into my Jasmine shoes.
all interview = www.collider.com
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Friday, December 20, 2013
Milo Ventimiglia Talks
Collider: How did you come to be a part of this show?MILO VENTIMIGLIA: Deb Aquila, the casting director, brought me in to go on tape for Frank [Darabont]. And as I understand it, he said, “Who the fuck is this guy?!” And then, by a very nice coincidence, Mike De Luca, who’s producing, is a personal friend of mine and we’ve also developed shows together, so he knew me. So, when Frank said to De Luca, “Who’s this guy?,” Du Luca went, “Oh, this is who he is!” It was a very quick journey to get to the end. I was looking at a lot of different shows, but this was the one that I read that made me think, “Oh, this is so beautiful. I want to be a part of this.”
Collider: Because it is so stylistic and specific, did this kind of dialogue come easily for you?
VENTIMIGLIA: Not at first. It was tough. The first really long scene that I had, it took a minute to get the cadence of that, as Frank wrote it. We all knew it was very important to him, and I knew it was important, so I wanted to honor the words that he’d written, in the way that he wrote them. So, it took me a minute, but then, right when that switch happened, and I was sitting there in the clothes and in the moment with a cigarette in my hand, talking about things of the era, it just all made sense and it became so easy. More than 50% of the actor’s work are the words. If the words are there, then it makes our job so much easier. So, it took a minute, but when it settled in, it was very easy.
Collider: What’s it like to work with Frank Darabont?
VENTIMIGLIA: It’s scary, at first. I’m a fanboy. The Shawshank Redemption is one of my Top 5 favorite movies with Goodfellas and The Godfather I and II, and a couple that I know people would hate me for, like Armageddon and Miami Vice. It’s just one of those movies where you’re like, “Man, this guy is such an artist with his words and his cinematic vision.” So, it was a little terrifying. The fan in me was like, “Wow, I hope he likes me. I hope I fit in. I hope he’s a nice guy.” And what I found, being on set and spending more and more time with him, was that he really, really gave a shit about all of us, gave a shit about the work, and he was, at moments, scared himself, but it never showed. I think every artist, no matter what the medium is – whether you’re a painter, a musician or an actor – you question yourself. There are always those moments.
When Frank would hand over the script, he’d wait to see what we thought. I’d be like, “Frank, this is amazing!,” and he’d say, “Oh, you liked it?” And I’d be like, “Yeah, motherfucker, I loved it!” I really got to know Frank and see that he was just as excited about what we were all doing together, even though it was his inception. He’s the first one with the material and with the characters, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t let us take ownership, as well. That was a nice, refreshing change. I was able to discover the character and bring things to him and say, “Frank, I think that this is maybe who the guy is and where he comes from.” And he’d be like, “That’s a great idea,” and then expand on it. It was better than I could have expected.
Collider: Does Ned Stax fall in the grey area, or is he in too deep, at this point?
VENTIMIGLIA: I made an assumption, but I had to actually ask Frank, “Just how grey is Ned Stax?” He’s a dark shade of grey. He’s a guy that is more in league with his bosses in the crime syndicate, but yet he has this history of brotherhood with Joe Teague (Jon Bernthal), given what they went through in the war together. I’ve always enjoyed playing a darker character than a lighter character or a hopeful character, but there was a good balance of both of those in who this guy is, even though he leans toward the bad side.
Collider: Will you get into how Ned Stax ended up in the position that he’s in?
VENTIMIGLIA: Not yet. But Frank has said that, going into a second season, we’d explore that a lot more. There’s a little nod to it, by Episode 6. If you catch it, you’ll know where he comes from. If you miss it, then you’ll have to wait until we spell it out for you. Ned’s a slow burn. In the pilot, he’s a shadow. He’s a tie. He’s a pair of flashy shoes. That’s what he is. And then, at the very end, it’s revealed, “Oh, this is the guy who orchestrated all of that. He’s the reason why the blackmailer found the cop, the cop did this, and that happened. It’s all because this guy set it in motion for his bosses. This guy was the one that orchestrated everything.” That’s what I like about it. There’s always a big question mark about Ned Stax.
www.collider.com
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Thursday, December 19, 2013
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Frank Darabont Talks
comicbook: I know this is based on true events, but I was wondering how did you sort of frame it; I’m sure some of it isn’t. It’s fictionalized for drama, and I was wondering, you know, what’s true and what’s not?
Frank Darabont: It’s an excellent, excellent question because this is honestly the loosest adaptation I’ve ever done. It’s not in any way to disregard John Buntin’s book because it really is the inspiration for everything. It’s really a good book, definitely our touchstone. I gave myself license very early on to just make up as much of I felt we needed to make up to tell the most entertaining, good sort of meaty, you know, mob story, good, pulpy, good, noir stuff.
I mean that’s the promise that I wanted to deliver on, and not turn it into sort of the, you know, the Masterpiece Theater docudrama version of events. So, yeah we’ve thrown caution to the wind on this one. Bless his heart John is abundant; he seems to be definitely enjoying the fact that we’ve done that. So we’re weaving fictional elements very much into the non-fictional historical elements and having a blast doing it. Hello? I hope I didn’t lose this call.
comicbook: I wanted to ask about Jon. He’s a great choice, but I’m seeing it after the fact and recognizing how great a choice. What was it that made you know beforehand that he’d be so right for this?
Darabont: You know, when I first started working with Jon some years ago, the first time I worked with him I had the thought in my head, if I ever get to do a Noir project, I’m going to want him to play my Noir hero. I’m going to want him to play my lead, because he’s got that very period feel to me. He doesn’t come off as like, you know, like a contemporary guy.
Plus, he’s got this tremendously quiet, masculine, it’s not forced; it’s not, you know, showboat, but he’s got this very testosterone kind of masculinity that’s quiet, and it’s genuine and it feels like such a throwback to me to Robert Mitchum and John Garfield.
You know, an earlier era of actor, of actor, of men who came up in tougher circumstances during the great depression, and fought in those wars, and just had to go out, you know, get through life as best they could without making a big deal out of it. You know, it’s just such a throwback aspect to it. He so reminds me of those guys and those generations.
So for me it was, you know, just a self-evident marriage of, you know, a certain kind of story that I wanted to tell. This actor who would be so, you know, perfect to tell that story.
all interiew = www.comicbook.com
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Monday, December 16, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Robert Knepper: 'Sid Rothman will never die'
Zap2it: Your new drama is the creation of Frank Darabont, who also created AMC's "The Walking Dead," which stars your former "Prison Break" co-star Sarah Wayne Callies. Has this connection benefited you?
Robert Knepper: Frank's a huge fan of "Prison Break." He loved me on "Prison Break." He actually called Sarah and said, "What's he like to work with?" She helped me get the job, I think. She gave me a glowing report.
Zap2it: What does it mean to have former co-stars say nice things about you?
Robert Knepper: I was kicking around as an actor for 25 years before "Prison Break." People kept saying, "I need a name; I need a name for this." I thought, "I'm that no-name actor that people respect and like and nobody else knows about, except the people I work with." I just had my good name. It's always been important to me to get along with people.
Zap2it: At this point, a few episodes into production, what can you tell me about your character, hit man and mob capo Sid Rothman?
Robert Knepper: The first thing I did when we started the series and I knew my name was Sid Rothman, I Googled him and said, "Where's Sid Rothman? I can't find him anywhere. He must be a famous gangster." And he's not. He's made up. So there are all these things we can do. We're not tied into history. We'll see if Frank still believes this, but at one point he said, "Sid Rothman will never die." So we'll see.
www.zap2it.com
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Saturday, December 14, 2013
Louis Lombardi Talks ‘Mob City’, ’24′, and More
TVWise: How did you get involved with TNT’s Mob City?
Louis Lombardi: Frank Darabont was a fan of mine from my time working on 24. He called me up and said we are going to give you a role in the show. We don’t know exactly what role yet. It turned out that my role is one of the main guys in the series. So, Frank being a fan of 24 helped me land the role.
TVWise: Can you tell us about your character Stucky?
Louis Lombardi: I play Micky Cohen’s bodyguard. Micky is played by Jeremy Luke who is a friend of mine, so it worked out well.
TVWise: Why do you think there is such a fascination with that time period and gangsters?
Louis Lombardi: I don’t think it’s just the time period, I think people are fascinated with gangsters in general. Look at The Sopranos which is a modern day gangster story. It’s probably the greatest television show ever. The Godfather is like the number one movie ever. I think people from every walk of life relate to that criminal element. People just love gangsters.
all Interview = www.tvwise.co.uk
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Thursday, December 12, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Sunday, December 8, 2013
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