2009 Tony Awards
June 8, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, FEATURED, Michael T Weiss
Last night’s Tony Awards show was a nice surprise. It seems they have finally taken a page from Hollywood and decided to provide "teaser trailers" to the nominated shows, whether it be through extended musical numbers by the original artists or through short film shots from the plays in question.
In this day and age of tight economics, people want an idea ahead of time of whether their money will be well spent. And given last night’s performances, I sure wish I had more money and could take the time off to go to Broadway! Read more
Bill’s Been Killed? – David Carradine Dead in Bangkok
June 4, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS
Sadly, it appears that David Carradine has killed himself. According to news sources in Bangkok, he was found in his hotel room, possibly in the wardrobe, with a curtain cord around his neck. (They also mention the possibility of other cords wrapped on him, but have called this a suicide at this point – no details have been released to protect his family. However, the extra ropes make me wonder about accidental/autoerotic asphyxiation if they don’t think it’s a homicide, but that’s just a supposition on my part.)
Carradine had been in Bangkok filming a new movie when his body was found by a hotel maid on Thursday morning. According to people associated with the production, he had failed to show up for a dinner the night before, but no one had been concerned at that point. (According to reports, he had been dead for approx. 12 hours when he was finally discovered.) He was 72 at the time of his passing.
Even though Carradine had hundreds of movie and TV credits, he will no doubt be best known for his iconic role as Kwai Chang Caine in KUNG FU. And while the character of Caine was envisioned and created in the 1970s by Bruce Lee (who fully expected to play it, but Hollywood had other ideas), Carradine managed to pull off the half-Chinese, half-European West-wanderer for 3 years (and quite a few movies and a 2nd TV series based on the same character 20 years later.) Not bad for a man who had Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, German, Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian and Cherokee ancestry, but not a drop of Asian, eh?
Carradine’s career then faded into a series of B, C (and sometimes Z level movies) and small parts on TV shows, mostly in the martial arts and horror genres. He could never quite capture that movie magic again, that is, until Quentin Tarantino made him "Bill" in 2003. (Even that part was to be someone else’s originally: Warren Beatty was supposedly tapped to play it as a "James Bondesque" assasin, but he bowed out, suggesting Carradine instead.) However, even with that hit, afterwards Carradine still was only offered parts in non-mainstream movies as martial arts villains or supporting roles. He just couldn’t seem to find the fame he sought.
Carradine told the AP in 2004, "There isn’t anything that Anthony Hopkins or Clint Eastwood or Sean Connery or any of those old guys are doing that I couldn’t do," he said. "All that was ever required was somebody with Quentin’s courage to take and put me in the spotlight."
I can’t say he was my favorite actor, but David Carradine was definitely a part of my TV-watching childhood, and I admit I thoroughly enjoyed KUNG FU, watching all the episodes (from both series), and he did Bill justice, not an easy thing to do.
May he rest in peace…
IMPRESSIONISM Play Updates
February 25, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, Michael T Weiss, TV SHOWS, The Pretender
Previews for the Broadway play IMPRESSIONISM, starring Jeremy Irons, Joan Allen, Michael T. Weiss, Marsha Mason and Aaron Lazar among others, start this Saturday, Feb 28th. The play will have an 18-week limited run (due to other obligations for Jeremy Irons, who will go on to another project right after.)
As part of promoting the play, the actors did a Meet and Greet for the press, some of which you can see below:
2009 Screen Actors Guild Awards Announced
January 26, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under House, Hugh Laurie, MOVIES, TV SHOWS
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
SEAN PENN Harvey Milk "MILK" Focus Features
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
MERYL STREEP Sister Aloysius Beauvier "DOUBT" Miramax Films
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
HEATH LEDGER Joker "THE DARK KNIGHT" Warner Bros. Pictures
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
KATE WINSLET Hanna Schmitz "THE READER" The Weinstein Company
Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Motion Picture
"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" Fox Searchlight Pictures
RUBINA ALI Youngest Latika
TANAY HEMANT CHHEDA Middle Jamal
ASHUTOSH LOBO GAJIWALA Middle Salim
AZHARUDDIN MOHAMMED ISMAIL Youngest Salim
ANIL KAPOOR Prem
IRRFAN KHAN Police Inspector
AYUSH MAHESH KHEDEKAR Youngest Jamal
TANVI GANESH LONKAR Middle Latika
MADHUR MITTAL Oldest Salim
DEV PATEL Older Jamal
FREIDA PINTO Older Latika
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
PAUL GIAMATTI John Adams "JOHN ADAMS" HBO
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
LAURA LINNEY Abigail Adams "JOHN ADAMS" HBO
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
HUGH LAURIE Gregory House "HOUSE" FOX
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
SALLY FIELD Nora Walker "BROTHERS & SISTERS" ABC
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
ALEC BALDWIN Jack Donaghy "30 ROCK" NBC
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
TINA FEY Liz Lemon "30 ROCK" NBC
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
"30 ROCK" NBC
SCOTT ADSIT Pete Hornberger
ALEC BALDWIN Jack Donaghy
KATRINA BOWDEN Cerie
TINA FEY Liz Lemon
JUDAH FRIEDLANDER Frank Rossitano
JANE KRAKOWSKI Jenna Maroney
JACK McBRAYER Kenneth Parcell
TRACY MORGAN Tracy Jordan
MAULIK PANCHOLY Jonathan
KEITH POWELL Toofer
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
"MAD MEN" AMC
BRYAN BATT Salvatore Romano
ALISON BRIE Trudy Campbell
MICHAEL GLADIS Paul Kinsey
JON HAMM Don Draper
AARON HART Bobby Draper
CHRISTINA HENDRICKS Joan Holloway
JANUARY JONES Betty Draper
VINCENT KARTHEISER Pete Campbell
ROBERT MORSE Bertram Cooper
MARK MOSES Herman “Duck” Phillips
ELISABETH MOSS Peggy Olson
KIERNAN SHIPKA Sally Draper
JOHN SLATTERY Roger Sterling
RICH SOMMER Harry Crane
AARON STATON Ken Cosgrove
(Amazing – some of my favorites/picks actually won something! Hooray for Hugh Laurie, Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney, Kate Winslet , Heath Ledger, Robert Morse, and Vincent Kartheiser, just to name a few…)
81st Annual Academy Award Nominees
January 23, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, Angelina Jolie, MOVIES
According to the official website of the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the nominees for this year’s Oscars are as follows: Read more
A Little Willow is On The Way
January 21, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, TV SHOWS
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Alyson Hannigan (Willow on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) and her husband, Alexis Denisof (Wesley on ANGEL), are expecting their first child this spring.
They originally met on the set of BUFFY during the 1999-2000. Hannigan also did some crossover guest appearances on ANGEL. She later went on to do big screen roles, most notably as band geek Michelle opposite Jason Biggs in the American Pie trilogy, but then went back to do series TV with HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. Read more
It’s Official – The 11th Doctor is Who?
January 6, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, David Tennant, Doctor Who, TV SHOWS
The BBC has done an about face in its search and picked an almost virtual unknown to be the 11th Doctor for DOCTOR WHO (Series 5):
Matt Smith (PARTY ANIMALS, THE SHADOW IN THE NORTH) will take over the reins of the longest running sci fi character on TV from David Tennant who will be leaving the series after the 2009 season. Smith, age 26, will be the youngest actor to ever play The Doctor to date. (Peter Davison previously held the record – he was 29 at the time he played the part.) Read more
NOBEL SON & DOLLHOUSE – Eliza Dushku in 2 New Projects
December 6, 2008 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, Eliza Dushku, MOVIES
Eliza Dushku (TRU CALLING, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) takes on 2 new roles: a character named City Hall (no, that’s not a typo) in the upcoming indie film NOBEL SON and as Echo in TV’s DOLLHOUSE.
NOBEL SON stars Alan Rickman, Bryan Greenburg, Mary Steenburgen, Bill Pullman, Danny DeVito, Ted Danson, Ernie Hudson and Eliza Dushku. According to the official website synopsis, Read more
Michael T. Weiss in IMPRESSIONISM on Broadway
December 4, 2008 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, Michael T Weiss
Michael T. Weiss (THE PRETENDER, JEFFREY) will be on Broadway in 2009 in IMPRESSIONISM, starring Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons. Also joining them onstage at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre will be Marsha Mason, André De Shields, Aaron Lazar and Margarita Levieva. (No word yet on who Michael’s character will be.)
Previews will start on February 28th with a March 12th opening night. It is listed in Playbill as an open-ended performance. (Hopefully, that means it will have a nice long run!) Ticket sale information is not currently available/to be announced.
Directed by Jack O’Brien, IMPRESSIONISM was written by Michael Jacobs, who also wrote CHEATERS as well as produced the movie QUIZ SHOW. IMPRESSIONISM tells the story of "a globe-trotting photojournalist and New York gallery owner [who] discover that there may be an art to repairing lives."
Michael T. Weiss was last on stage in OF EQUAL MEASURE in Los Angeles (Culver City) at the Kirk Douglas Theater and in SCARCITY at the off-Broadway Atlantic Theater Company – Linda Gross Theater.
Now That Obama’s President, Will the Next Doctor Be Black?
November 9, 2008 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, Doctor Who, TV SHOWS
Ever since David Tennant has said he’ll be passing the reins of The Doctor on to another actor after 2009, speculation has been rife as to who the next Doctor might be. In the wake of Barack Obama’s election to the highest office in America, will it now be time to have a black actor take over one of the most beloved sci fi roles in Britain (and the world)?
