The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio
The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio |
| Posted: A new character on True Blood is set to steal audiences' hearts. MOVE over Bill Compton, there is a new man in Sookie Stackhouse's life and he is not going away anytime soon. Joining the often-naked cast of True Blood is British actor Rob Kazinsky, who plays Ben Flynn, a fairy who also happens to be Sookie's latest love interest. Speaking to a group of reporters via tele-conference from Los Angeles recently, 29-year-old Kazinsky turned on his boyish charm as he spoke about his latest gig and more importantly, the nudity it involves. "I've always felt that if the character is getting naked, you should get naked. As a viewer, I always feel that nothing takes you out of the reality of a show than somebody holding a vase in front of their private parts," said Kazinsky with a laugh. True Blood, currently in its sixth season, is notorious for its explicit nude scenes, and Kazinsky – who had buffed up for his role in the movie Pacific Rim – was confident about his looks ... until he met Joe Manganiello who plays werewolf Alcide Herveaux on the show. "I used to think that I was in good shape. I had to put on lots of muscles for Pacific Rim, and I was proud of how I looked. Then I came to set and sat next to Joe on my first day and I had scenes with Ryan Kwanten with his shirt off and I was like 'Well, there's only so much you could do before genetics do everything else'. Of course, Kazinsky was downplaying his looks. He is one of the most good looking people on television right now and was already a heart throb when he played Sean Slater on EastEnders, a popular soap opera on British television. His contract on the show was not renewed in 2009 after a sex scandal, which proved to be a blessing in disguise. Kazinsky packed up for Hollywood and has not looked back since. Although he is a newbie on the True Blood set, Kazinsky said that he doesn't feel like the odd one out when working with the crew. "I knew a few of the guys on the set anyway, I knew Ryan – we run into each other during auditions all the time and have mutual friends with Joe, I knew a lot of the people anyway so it was not like as if I was walking into unknown territory. They were all unbelievably kind and inviting. Kazinsky had not watched any episode of True Blood before the audition and admitted that he had to undergo a two-and-a-half day "crash course" on the series once he got the part. "It's not one of the shows you can have on in the background; you really have to dedicate your time and for that reason I wanted to save up time to watch it." And the wait proved its worth. He loves the show and is now an avid fan. Although his character only made a short appearance on True Blood (at the time of the interview) Kazinsky said that episodes four and five are pivotal for Ben. "You're going to find out a lot more about who he is and why he is (the way he is) and where he comes from." If that's not cryptic enough, Kazinsky also added that there's a reason as to why the producer specifically cast him for the role. "There's a reason why they cast me (a big, masculine guy) and not a 100 pound guy. And Ben also like everybody has a dark side and what True Blood do so well is creating characters of grey of rather than black and white. So there are other sides to him. "I really hope that the audience will get behind him and I really hope that they'll stick around long enough to see him show the other sides to his character as well." Although Kazinsky wouldn't reveal Ben's ulterior motives on the show, he was willing to share his character's development where Sookie is concerned. "I think Ben is the first character that she's met who is a good guy, means well and has a good heart. He's the first chance she has ever had for equality and happiness with somebody who doesn't want to use her. "Obviously Ben's relationships with Sookie's exes are exploited and he does butt heads with Bill and Eric over the course of the season." But who did Kazinsky feel was best suited for Sookie before Ben entered the picture? "I liked Eric for Sookie. There was a balance. Sookie is best for Eric, but Ben is best for Sookie," he said. Playing a fairy is definitely a departure from all the other characters he's portrayed so far, and it isn't exactly the most masculine genus in the supernatural world. However, Kazinsky said that he wouldn't want it any other way. "There's obviously a great attraction in being a werewolf or a vampire but having the opportunity to add more depth to fairies, to make them more appealing, and perhaps make them equally attractive, that's the important part to me. I've always wanted to be a fairy but a fairy who was a raving bad a** at the same time. "If I had told people at 16, that I wanted to be an actor, I would've probably been beaten up but they wouldn't be remotely surprised if I said that I wanted to be a fairy," he said with a chuckle. Well, with a big-budget movie slated to premiere and a role in a hit television series, Kazinsky hopes that this would be his "year". Nevertheless, he is aware of the impact the fame would have on his personal life. "I was a recognisable person in England and I struggled with that for a long time. I didn't not enjoy it. (Fame) is not why you get into the industry, but accept that it's a by-product of," he said. However, he knows that there are ways to put his fame to good use. "Giving a minute of your day to sign autographs or pose for pictures can make somebody's whole day. And that is an unbelievably privileged position to be in and to be able to give a little bit of happiness without doing too much. "And I think the main problem in this entire entertainment industry is that a lot of people treat it as something for themselves – the fame is for their ego. A lot of people forget that the reason we make films and TV shows is to make other people happy, and that is something I will never, ever lose sight of."
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| Posted: Actor Kim Nam-gil has returned to the small screen in KBS' Don't Look Back: The Legend Of Orpheus after an almost three-year hiatus. Don't Look Back is Kim's first television drama since completing mandatory military service last year in July. "I felt that a lot would have changed during those three years, but while working on Don't Look Back I came to feel that not much had changed at all," said Kim, 32. Of what he learned while away from the camera, Kim said, "You could say my work in The Great Queen Seondeok made me famous and I think there was a moment when I could have let all that go to my head. But during those years of military service, I focused on finding happiness in the little things and returning to that initial feeling of joy of just being able to act." Kim confessed to being concerned about how he would differentiate his new character from that of his previous role. In Don't Look Back, Kim plays an anti-hero out to avenge his father's murder, a role not unlike that of his work on SBS' Bad Boy, where he played a stuntman determined to exact revenge on the family that ruined his life. "You could draw similarities between the characters from Bad Boy and Don't Look Back," Kim said. "The biggest challenge I face is surpassing my role in Bad Boy," he said. "At the moment, I am tackling my role with the goal of being up to par with the quality of work I did in Bad Boy." "In truth, I really do want to play lighthearted roles. I personally think I would be good in a romantic comedy and it is a genre that I like. However, I am drawn to characters that possess emotional scars and have traumatic pasts," said Kim of his tendency to latch onto heroes with bad boy personas. In the drama, Kim's hero, Han Yi-soo, loses his father before narrowly avoiding death himself. Scarred by his past, Han (Kim Nam-gil) carefully plots his revenge, amassing wealth and power as the adopted son of a wealthy and influential businessman in Japan before returning to Korea after 12 years of absence. Co-star Son Ye-jin plays Han Yi-soo's first love, Cho Hae-woo. Believing Han to be long-deceased, Cho, determined to uncover the truth behind his case, eschews her duties as a hotel heiress to become a prosecutor. Like Kim, Son is returning to the small screen after nearly three years to star in the upcoming "mystery and melodrama". "This is our second time working together," Son, 31, revealed, explaining that the first time she met Kim was when they starred in an advertisement together. Co-star Lee Honey puts in her two cents on Kim, saying that unlike his characters Kim was very playful and "really brings life to the set." "Kim Nam-gil is a real joker off duty," said Don't Look Back director Park Chan-hong. "You know, life is long and if you want to have a good time you need someone like him around." |
| Posted: Nathan Fillion shares about working with Joss Whedon and being Canadian. Nathan Fillion is enjoying the best of two worlds. He's the engaging and sexy star of Castle, the hit TV series about a crime novelist who helps the NYPD solve its toughest cases. And he's a cult legend, thanks to his starring role in the 2002 TV series Firefly, which died a quick death but, thanks to fan pressure, was resurrected as the 2005 film Serenity. The 42-year-old Alberta, Canada native, who has a gift for light comedy, has also been a reliable presence in such well-received indie movies as Slither and Waitress. And in Much Ado About Nothing, director Joss Whedon's engaging contemporary version of the Shakespeare play, Fillion is a hoot in the cameo role of Dogberry, a pompous night constable. (Fillion also voices a character in Monsters University, which is now playing in cinemas nationwide.) How long has it been since you performed in a Shakespeare play? I did Shakespeare in high school, and then I did it when we would go to Joss' house for a Shakespeare brunch. He would cast a play, and we would sit in his backyard with brunch and read Shakespeare, and he said "One day, we're gonna film one of these." What was it like, performing in that archaic, flowery language? I'm not a huge Shakespeare fan. I have found it to be a little hoity-toity, a little moody. The secret to Shakespeare is understanding it. Sometimes, when I watch Shakespeare, I see someone who's just speaking it really fast. But Much Ado About Nothing has a lot of meaning, all you have to do is pay attention, and you will understand. It's not a different acting technique. I was looking at my lines getting stressed, and then, I just took a step back and said I wanted to know exactly what I was saying, and that was the key. You seem to have a really light comic touch in most of the things you do. How did you achieve that? That's something I've learnt over the years. It's difficult to make someone laugh, and there's no way to do it without being viewed as if you're trying too hard. I've always found it easier to make someone laugh at you. Don't try to be funny, say things as if they're true, even if it makes you look stupid. You don't know you look stupid. You're one of the many Canadian actors who has moved south to make a living in their trade. Why is that? This is the entertainment capital. If you want to be in this field, this is where the work is. There is work in other countries, but not as much as here. Is it more difficult? Yeah. Y'all don't want us here. Visas, green cards, that's something that's real. And a lot of us have a regional dialect. What about you is most Canadian? It's when I'm in a crowd ... whether it's at a lineup in a bank, in a restaurant, any place where your actions are going to have an effect on the people around you. There is a Canadian consideration; we try to be more considerate. We are aware of the effect we have on other people. You've just wrapped the fifth season of Castle, which has been renewed for a sixth season. To what do you attribute the show's success? It's successful because it's a little lighthearted. We do dramatic episodes, but it's the lighter fare that keeps people coming back. We have got some great jokes going. You're also the beneficiary of the Firefly cult, with a fan base that is as rabid now as it was when the show first came out. What's that like? I've done a lot of different projects that have garnered a lot of different fan bases, but I have never experienced anything like the Firefly fan base. They will seek you out in whatever you are doing. They will see whatever you do, and I am very grateful for that. That's a gift Joss Whedon gave me. He knew all along what was happening, because of the successes he had with Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel. He knew what he was doing; he would say "get ready, buddy". Since you've worked for Whedon in Buffy, Firefly and now Much Ado, you must know what makes him special. What is it? He is a man who is incredibly talented, and it's obvious he loves to tell stories. If you want a successful project, just hand it to Joss and walk away. – Newsday/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
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