Articles & Interviews – Page 26

Keri Russell and Gary Oldman Talk DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Filming in New Orleans, the TINKER TAILOR Sequel, and More

Over the past few weeks, we’ve posted an enormous amount of coverage on director Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. We had our set visit (with 45 things to know about the movie), on set interviews with Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, and cinematographer Michael Seresin, new toy images, new movie images and posters, a TV spot, and more. Based on everything I’ve seen and learned, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is going to be a great sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes and it’s going to show how motion capture technology has advanced over the past few years. I really believe Reeves is going to hit a home-run with this film.

At last weekend’s WonderCon, I landed a great video interview with Keri Russell and Gary Oldman. Unlike some interviews that are formal, I was their last interview of the day and they just wanted to have some fun. You’ll understand as you watch the video. They talked about how the film shows both the apes and humans perspectives, what it was like filming in New Orleans, working with Reeves while he was seriously ill with pneumonia, the morality of Oldman’s character, the performance capture technology and shooting in 3D, what happened with the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy sequel Smiley’s People, The Americans season 2 finale, and you can even watch Oldman talking with his son on the phone. It’s a fun interview so check it out after the jump. Continue reading Keri Russell and Gary Oldman Talk DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Filming in New Orleans, the TINKER TAILOR Sequel, and More

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‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’: Keri Russell, Gary Oldman and Andy Serkis promise new drama

It’s humans versus apes in 20th Century Fox’s new film “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” And though, as star Keri Russell points out, the title of the movie doesn’t bode very well for the humans, the actors in the movie make a point of saying this movie is about whether the two warring factions can live harmoniously together.

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” took over WonderCon Anaheim 2014 with new footage that showed off director Matt Reeves’ style of using motion capture and 3D on location. Gary Oldman gushes to reporters that Reeves “changed the game” on the style of moviemaking because of the way the motion captured characters so seamlessly blend into their real surroundings.

“The movie has a completely different feel and a different look to it than anything you’ve seen previously,” Oldman says. “It’s spooky actually how real it looks.”

Master motion capture actor Andy Serkis creates part of that credibility. He reprises his “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” role of Caesar in “Dawn,” which picks up about 10 years later.

“We arrive at the beginning of the movie from ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ with Caesar 10 years on, so he is actually a much older character that is now a leader, a statesman-like figure,” Serkis says. “He has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, and therefore there’s a lot of gravitas in that performance. He’s more physically upright. He’s more human-like, I suppose, in his physicality.” Continue reading ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’: Keri Russell, Gary Oldman and Andy Serkis promise new drama

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Keri Russell wants ‘The Americans’ Season 3 to concentrate on Philip and Elizabeth’s relationship

“The Americans” hasn’t yet completed its second season, but FX already picked up the Cold War spy drama for Season 3. While promoting her new movie “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” at WonderCon Anaheim 2014, star Keri Russell says she’d like to see the series go back to basics in 2015.

“My favorite is when it’s concentrated on the relationship and it’s really a metaphor for marriage. That’s my favorite way,” she tells Zap2it on the red carpet. “I love the spy stuff, I love the way it raises the stakes and complicates the weird relationship, but I like the marriage stuff.”

Between her work on “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and her commitment to “The Americans,” Russell had a busy year. She says she plans to spend the summer relaxing before getting back into character as Elizabeth Jennings.

“I want to just spend the summer not working at all. I want to take my kids to school and pick them up, and I want to travel anywhere, any time, so any friend that’s going somewhere, I want to go, and then work again in the fall,” she says.

“The Americans” Season 2 airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX.

Source: http://www.zap2it.com

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WonderCon 2014: Gary Oldman & Keri Russell on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

I didn’t realize Gary Oldman speaks so slowly. That accounts for the brevity of this interview, but I was indeed speaking with Oldman and Keri Russell at WonderCon for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Hey, I’ll eat up my time listening to Gary Oldman talk. Let’s call it deliberate. As Troy McClure’s agent would say, these acclaimed actors play…. the humans. Ellie (Russell) and Dreyfus (Oldman) are survivors of the epidemic that wiped out most of humanity, and they are about to witness Caesar (Andy Serkis) bring the apes to power.

CraveOnline: Is a harmonious existence between humans and apes out of the question?

Keri Russell: Well, I think that’s the question of this film. No, and I think this moment there’s hope for it. This moment, that’s what we’re asking. Could it happen? Continue reading WonderCon 2014: Gary Oldman & Keri Russell on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

in Articles & Interviews The Americans

‘The Americans’ Renewed for Third Season at FX

FX has given a third-season pickup to “The Americans,” the 1980s-set period spy drama that has become a stylish signature series for cabler.

“We are so delighted and grateful to continue telling the stories of these characters,” said exec producer Joel Fields. FX execs “John Landgraf, Eric Schrier, Nick Grad, and the entire team at FX have been remarkable supporters and creative partners for the show – and we are blessed to have Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, and an awesome ensemble who bring it all so brilliantly to life.”

“Americans” at present is halfway through its second season. Series hails from Amblin TV, FX Prods. and Fox TV Studios.

Source: http://www.tvguide.com/

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FX Boss Promises Americans Renewal, Bets Big on Fargo

Fans of the FX drama The Americans may not have to wait much longer for good news about the show’s future.

“I expect we’ll have a formal Season 3 order announcement soon,” FX Networks CEO John Landgraf told reporters at an upfront news conference in New York Wednesday. “We look forward to it being on our schedule for quite some time.”

Although the show’s ratings are small (and have declined since the Season 2 premiere), Landgraf says the show’s audience increases as much as 400 percent when factoring in DVR users. “That’s a stunning level of DVR usage, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” he says. “It literally changes the equation. You wake up the next morning and get your Nielsen report card — it doesn’t mean very much. Everything’s gotten more complicated … which makes it interesting, but it isn’t the good old days where you can just pick the fruit right off the tree.”

Source: http://www.tvguide.com/

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‘The Americans’: Hair department spills 8 tidbits about the show’s outrageous ’80s wig

One of the best parts of watching FX’s rollicking spy drama The Americans is getting to see just what Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell wear next — on their heads, that is.

Peg Schierholz, who leads the show’s hair department, has plenty to say about the fun that goes into creating the gorgeous 1980s styles that adorn Phillip, Elizabeth, and the rest of their Russian-American spy friends. And in fact, that’s why their hair is so big: it’s full of secrets.

Read on for eight little factoids we learned from Schierholz in anticipation of Wednesday night’s episode, which might answer a few questions fans have about one character’s locks in particular.

1. The show’s first season used around 27 wigs, which Schierholz says is above average for your standard non-Game of Thrones, non-fantasy show. Rented from two wig houses in London — Campbell Young and Alex Rouse — Schierholz receives shipments of 10 or so and holds sessions with the actors for both fitting and brainstorming, “if a certain wig gives us any ideas.” By the 10th episode of season 2, production had already surpassed the first season’s wig count. Continue reading ‘The Americans’: Hair department spills 8 tidbits about the show’s outrageous ’80s wig

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Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys Play Spies in Our Midst

Current events notwithstanding, the Cold War is in full swing on “The Americans,” FX’s Reagan-era spy drama.

The television series, filmed in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood and on-location throughout New York, follows two K.G.B. agents posing as an American couple in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys play Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, who ferret out U.S. secrets while running a travel agency and raising two children.

As it inches toward the Season Two midpoint, the show has sharpened its focus on the nebulous balance between espionage and domesticity.

Before “The Americans,” Ms. Russell, 38 years old, was best known for playing the title character in the college TV drama “Felicity.” Mr. Rhys, 39, is from Wales, and has become adept at concealing his accent in both this role and his former one, as Kevin Walker on the ABC series “Brothers and Sisters,” which ended in 2011.

Taking a break at the Russian Tea Room, the two actors discussed the show’s depiction of how spies raise children and filming through New York’s never-ending winter. Edited excerpts follow. Continue reading Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys Play Spies in Our Midst

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Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys Are a Couple

They’ve dodged relationship rumors for months. But now – unlike their spy characters on The Americans – the secret (love) life of Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys has been revealed.

PEOPLE has learned that Russell, 38, and Rhys, 39, are a couple.

The two stepped out for date night on March 27, stopping into New York’s The Public Theater, where they watched the Steven Soderbergh-directed play The Library. They sat together and theatergoers spotted Russell stroking Rhys’s hair and the two whispering before they left together.

When asked about his rumored relationship with Russell, Rhys told PEOPLE last month, “That’s the best [rumor] I love.” He stopped short of confirming the relationship, but said his mother even asks about the rumors. “I tell her, ‘You have to take off your Google alerts,’ ” he said.

The couple’s recent theater date wasn’t the first time they were seen getting close. Earlier this year the two took a stroll through Brooklyn Heights. “They were walking super close together and laughing, even stopped to look at some furniture on the street,” an onlooker said of the pair at the time. “They looked very much like a couple.”

The new romance comes after Russell’s announcement last December that she and Shane Deary, her husband of nearly 7 years, were separating. The former couple have a son River, 6, and a daughter Willa, 2. The actress’s rep told PEOPLE at the time, “The separation is amicable and their focus is on their children.”

Source: http://www.people.com

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How Keri Russell Got in Fighting Shape for The Americans

In order to play a fierce, fearless KGB agent on her hit FX series The Americans, actress Keri Russell trained with Avital Zeisler, a self-defense and hand-to-hand combat expert who consults for private security companies. Zeisler is also the founder of the Soteria Method™, an exclusive method of self defense for women. And her expertise in krav maga—the skill Russell learned to perfect her super-tough character—made her the perfect trainer for the job.

Zeisler worked with the star three days a week for a few hours a session for a month, focusing on the fundamentals of self defense. As a survivor of sexual assault in her teens, Zeisler is on a mission to empower women everywhere, in and out of Hollywood. “I’m working really hard to redefine self defense and shine a positive light on it. It’s about letting your emotional guard down to create the best life possible but still learning how to defend yourself,” she says. “I figured out a way to get the body I want as a woman while being able to fight like a man.”

And Russell can attest to the workouts: “I did get a bloody lip, which I am sort of proud about, in the training. You should see the other guy though,” she has joked. “Working out this way makes you feel fierce. I tend to be internal—getting on the subway and keeping my eyes down. But I would leave those workouts looking people in the eye like, ‘sup?'” Continue reading How Keri Russell Got in Fighting Shape for The Americans