The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio
The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2011 04:37 AM PDT He was born in the year John F. Kennedy was assassinated. But there's more to Greg Kinnear's uncanny resemblance to and portrayal of the charismatic president of the United States than just that. ACADEMY Award-nominated actor Greg Kinnear has continued to build upon his already impressive resume with roles in the most diverse of projects, from Little Miss Sunshine to Fast Food Nation and As Good As It Gets. This week, Malaysian television audiences will get to see the 48-year-old actor play JFK, the 35th President of the United States, who served from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Indeed he's come a long way from his first starring role as a playboy in Sydney Pollack's remake of Sabrina (opposite Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond); this time Kinnear tackles the role of the Harvard graduate, war hero and beloved US president, earning himself an Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie in the process. The Kennedys, from producer/writer Joel Surnow (of 24 fame), also stars Barry Pepper as Bobby Kennedy, Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy and Tom Wilkinson as Joseph Kennedy Sr and is a sprawling eight-hour miniseries about America's premier political dynasty. It is a story of epic achievements and private failures, about loyalty and love, resentment and betrayal; it skirts family loyalty, of lives built on the deaths of siblings, and of sons bending to the will of their dominant father. In the United States, The Kennedys courted much controversy. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times earlier this year, the History channel decided, in January, to yank the US$30mil miniseries off its schedule, saying it was "not a fit" for the network's brand, and slogged through an embarrassing and heavily publicised quest to find a new home for the project. It finally premiered in the US on ReelzChannel, a little-known, independent cable network. The controversy has not travelled across the seas, thankfully, and Asian viewers will get a chance to watch the show on History this week. Here, Kinnear shares some thoughts about the making of the miniseries. What was it like getting the part to play John F. Kennedy? After I said yes to the role, I felt the weight of responsibility. I admit that it was a very daunting and intimidating role to take on, but also a great one as it was a six-month history class for me. (I was) playing somebody who is deeply resonated in the American consciousness; Jack Kennedy – the 35th President of the country – is still somebody who is deeply admired and revered. I found that he's not just a fascinating person but also had a fascinating legacy as a politician. If you look at Barack Obama today, he has a pretty tough hand to deal with in the world today ... crises come and go in history, and Jack was dealt a very tough hand himself. At that time, if you think of the the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the series of events that took place in his administration, it's kind of overwhelming. Were there any challenging moments playing JFK? Definitely! Getting Kennedy's speaking voice and accent right was one of the big challenges I faced. He had a very fast mind and spoke quickly and clearly. We are all familiar with his strong Boston sound, but only few people realise how often that sound changed. It was different when he was on a platform speaking to 5,000 people, from when he was sitting discussing political options with his cabinet and executives. His sound changed at one-on-one interviews. After filming The Kennedys, tell us a little about John F. Kennedy from what you've learnt. John F. Kennedy was a very complicated person who meant a lot of things to a lot of different people. I have my own interpretation of who he was and what his legacy was but the gist of it is that Kennedy served as President of the United States during an extraordinary period of time and brought us exceptional social and political changes in a short time, in 1,000 days. He gave the country a sense of purpose and enthusiasm which was much needed at that time. When he was a 30-year-old congressman, he was very wooden and awkward in his speeches. But as he matured, he grew into the presidency. He developed confidence and a great ability to communicate to crowds of people and more intimately on television. He was the first president to use television to advance his own platforms. Kennedy worked hard to appear strong and masculine; therefore, he and his staff hid the fact that he suffered from various ailments including Addison's disease. The American public didn't know that John was in absolute acute pain in his lower back most of the time and had been plagued by illness his whole life. How was your experience working with your co-stars? Barry Pepper is, hands down, unbelievable as Bobby Kennedy. His performance is staggering great work. I felt like it when I was doing it. I had a great partnership come out of this with Barry. He is a hardworking guy. He took this role and completely made it his own. I have the highest respect for him. As for Tom Wilkinson, if you asked me one or two years ago whom I would like to work with, he'd be on a very short list of people that I would have said to you. I had worked with Katie Holmes before in The Gift. I was killing her in the woods when I last worked with her. But this was a vastly different thing. Her work in The Gift was really fantastic. Her playing Jackie Kennedy, in a certain way, was the hardest role to take on. I have great respect for her because she worked incredibly hard and really gave a nice performance. ■ Don't miss Greg Kinnear in The Kennedys on History (Astro Ch 555) from tomorrow until Thursday this week, every night at 9pm. At the Emmys, The Kennedys' nominations include one for outstanding miniseries, as well as several more for acting performances; Greg Kinnear and Barry Pepper are up for best actor in a miniseries; and Tom Wilkinson is up for supporting actor. |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2011 04:30 AM PDT JANE Lynch is no longer losing sleep over her Emmy hosting duties. "I'm okay," the Glee star affirmed with a smile last Wednesday after rolling out the red carpet in front of the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. "I actually slept okay last night for the first time in about a week. I've been having some anxiety issues." Lynch has been hard at work backstage on the show with longtime pals Jill and Faith Soloway from Chicago. The trio previously worked together on Annoyance Theatre's The Real Live Brady Bunch in the 1990s. (Lynch played matriarch Carol Brady.) The first-time host promised that the Chi-Town ladies would bring "kind of a Chicago feel" to today's 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. "Jane is certainly going to be central to our experience," said Academy of Television Arts and Sciences chairman John Shaffner. "I think the host of a programme like this is the best friend who sits on the sofa and tells you great stories as the evening goes on and comments on the work. She's here to keep us engaged in that way as a best friend." Lynch has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance as Sue Sylvester on Glee and is up for another Emmy this year. She was the first choice of executive producer Mark Burnett to host this year's show. The Apprentice and Survivor mastermind said he voted for the 50-year-old actress to lead the show even before clearing it with his alliance. "My only choice I wanted was Jane Lynch," said Burnett. "I had not yet gotten permission to ask her from the Academy or Fox. I ran into Jane on a plane. We were both coming back from the upfronts in New York. I just went over to her and said, 'I have no permission right now, but if I can get permission, would you host the Emmys for me?"' – AP |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2011 04:28 AM PDT Carell, Hamm, Laurie: Emmy also-rans yet again? IT'S hard to picture TV stars such as Steve Carell, Jon Hamm and Hugh Laurie as perennial also-rans. But that's what they've been in recent years at Emmy time, as rival nominees hog the golden statuettes. Will any of the threesome shed his also-ran status this year? That question is on Emmy-watchers' minds as awards night draws near. – Here's Carell, nominated as outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for his fifth and final year starring on The Office – and already snubbed four years running. – Here's Hamm, who has seen his series, Mad Men, reap best-drama Emmys all three of its seasons while best-actor nominee Hamm got shut out. – And up against Hamm, here's Hugh Laurie, a six-time nominee (and, up to now, annual washout) on the medical drama House, about to start its last season. Mind you, there's no disgrace in a series star being stuck with an also-ran streak. Among actor nominees, the beloved Angela Lansbury wears the crown as all-time Emmy loser. She was rebuffed a dozen times for Murder, She Wrote and has lodged six more losses for other nominated TV performances. Fellow unanointed actors include five-time loser Jackie Gleason (even as Art Carney picked up six Emmys for his work with "the Great One"), and Andy Griffith, who was never nominated as Sheriff Andy Taylor, while his goofy sidekick, Don Knotts, raked in five trophies. And let's not forget (though Emmy judges long have) Bill Maher, who has yet to win an Emmy after 26 bids stretching back to 1995. His current series, Real Time With Bill Maher, has earned him 11 nods: producing (six); writing (four); and hosting (one). Real Time is nominated again this year for best variety, music or comedy series - but it faces The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, which has won the past eight years straight. Handicappers think Hamm has a good shot this year for best actor in a drama. One hopeful sign: Bryan Cranston, the actor who has made Hamm an also-ran by winning for Breaking Bad the past three years, is out of action this year. Breaking Bad didn't air in the qualifying period. Besides Laurie, Hamm is facing Steve Buscemi, Michael C. Hall, Kyle Chandler and Timothy Olyphant – none of them slouches. Still, you can't overstate the impact of an Emmy nemesis such as Cranston – or his welcome absence. Recall how, in 1996, Candice Bergen withdrew from consideration as a nominee for her starring role in the sitcom Murphy Brown. Having collected five Emmys by then, she said she wanted to give other actresses a chance. With Bergen out of contention, Helen Hunt won for Mad About You annually until its end four years later. For the three years before Bergen bowed out, Hunt had been a jilted nominee. "I think it's finally Jon Hamm's time to win," says Tom O'Neil, editor of the award websites goldderby.com and theenvelope.com. Short of peeking inside the sealed envelopes, O'Neil may have the sharpest insight of anyone as to who the winners will be. So consider his analysis: First, Mad Men this year submitted a doozie of an episode to spotlight Hamm's range as 1960s ad man Don Draper. Among Emmy's actor categories, a jury considers just one sample episode per nominee, so it better be persuasive. (Angela Lansbury's Murder role as a writer-detective always put her in the service of each episode's crime-solving, while, in the process, denying her the sort of Emmy-worthy actorly scene she could have handled with ease.) O'Neil thinks this year Mad Men got it right by submitting the episode called The Suitcase. "It's a big acting showcase for Hamm," says O'Neil. "He gets every emotion: He cries; he's drunk; he's confessional; he's humble; he's boisterous and bawdy." By contrast, Laurie could continue to suffer from a problem endemic to his role on House: "He plays an unlikable character," says O'Neil. "You don't want to hug crusty, cranky Dr House. I think that has backfired on Hugh Laurie." A similar problem may have plagued Steve Carell: Michael Scott, the paper-company branch manager he played on The Office, is "creepy," O'Neil sums up. This year, Carell may have overcome that character deficit by submitting as his entry his farewell appearance on the series. That episode, O'Neil notes, "has a sense of history, and heart-tugging moments." Maybe so. But who can say if it's enough to make an also-ran a winner? – AP |
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