Rose Byrne

FX’s ‘Damages’ Adds New Cast Members For Third Season

BrianTT — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:58:58 -0600

CHICAGO – FX’s award-winning legal thriller “Damages” is adding four new actors, Campbell Scott (“Royal Pains”), Martin Short (“Primetime Glick”), Lily Tomlin (“Desperate Housewives”) and Keith Carradine (“Dexter”), to the cast for the upcoming season which premiers in January. Production on the series 13-episode season begins in New York tomorrow.

Glenn Close in Damages.
Photo credit: FX

Scott, Short, Tomlin and Carradine join series stars Close, Rose Byrne and Tate Donovan on the hit series. Other actors appearing in the upcoming third season will include Ebon Moss-Bachrach (“John Adams”), Michael Gaston (“Fringe”) and Darren Goldstein will reprise his role as Chris Sharp.

For a second year, “Damages” received seven Emmy Award nominations, with Glen Close winning her second Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role of ruthless attorney Patty Hewes. Byrne received her first Emmy nomination this year for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama series for her role of Patty’s protégé Ellen Parsons.

Close is the first actress from a basic cable series to win the Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama. Zeljko Ivanek became the first actor from a basic cable series to take home an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor for a Drama Series and “Damages” was the first basic cable series to take home the Emmy for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series. “Damages” earned the most Golden Globe nominations of any series during the show’s first season.

During the past two seasons, “Damages” featured the most impressive cast members and co-stars out of any series on television - Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Tate Donovan, Ted Danson, Zeljko Ivanek, Anastasia Griffith, Noah Bean, Tom Aldrege, Philip Bosco, Nichael Nouri, Peter Facinelli, Peter Reigert, Mario Von Peebles, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Timothy Olyphant, John Doman, Clarke Peters, Kevin Corrigan, Paige Turco, Tom Noonan, and Garret Dillahunt.

By ANGIE RENTMEESTER
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 25 Passes to ‘Adam’ in Chicago With Rose Byrne, Hugh Dancy

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:52:56 -0600

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two run-of-engagement passes up for grabs to the new film “Adam” in Chicago.

“Adam” stars Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, John Rothman, Terry Walters, Susan Porro, Maddie Corman and Jeff Hiller from writer and director Max Mayer. To win your free pass to “Adam” in Chicago courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is tell us your love story in this Web-based submission form. That’s it!

The free pass will be good at Landmark Century Centre Cinema in Chicago for the duration of the film’s run. “Adam” opens on Aug. 7, 2009 in Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The movie poster for “Adam” with Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne.
Image credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Here is plot description for “Adam”:

Romance can be risky, perplexing and filled with the perils of miscommunication – and that’s if you aren’t Adam for whom life itself is this way.

In this heartfelt romantic comedy, Hugh Dancy (“The Jane Austen Book Club,” “Confessions of a Shopaholic”) stars as Adam: a handsome but intriguing young man who has all his life led a sheltered existence until he meets his new neighbor, Beth (Rose Byrne) (“Damages,” “28 Weeks Later,” “Knowing”).

Beth is a beautiful, cosmopolitan young woman who pulls him into the outside world with funny, touching and entirely unexpected results. Their implausible and enigmatic relationship reveals just how far two people from different realities can stretch in search of an extraordinary connection.

To secure your free “Adam” pass, you must be logged into your HollywoodChicago.com Web site account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having a free Web site account with a valid e-mail address is required to win this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup.

Next, simply tell us your story of the most you’ve ever done for love. You must submit your answer using this confidential, Web-based submission form. Please do not comment in this Hookup. Your entry will be invalid if you only comment here and don’t submit into our Web-based form. Please only submit your answer using this submission form.

You must include your first and last name, e-mail address and physical mailing address in your submission. Your personal information will be kept strictly confidential and is only for awarding winning entries. Your personal information will not be sold or shared.

Tell us the most you’ve done for love now!

This HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film is simple: 25 HollywoodChicago.com readers will be randomly selected as the winners of our “Adam” Hookup! The winners will be mailed the passes at our expense. Good luck!

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: Alex Proyas, Director of ‘Knowing’ With Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne

BrianTT — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:57:37 -0600

CHICAGO – “I want to make movies that touch people in unique ways and affect people in unique ways. And, you know, that’s what I’ve tried to do with this film.”

“Knowing” director Alex Proyas has defied categorization throughout his career. Sure, all of his movies are what could be called “dark” and there’s a sci-fi edge to most of them but there’s such a variety of scope in his films. From the massive budget of a film like “I, Robot” to a more personal project like “Garage Days” to the beloved cult flicks “The Crow” and “Dark City”. His newest work is “Knowing,” starring Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne, opening on Friday, March 20th, 2009.

Proyas recently sat down for a conference call to talk about his new blockbuster film, why he chose to write it, the trend of disaster-driven films, the spiritual side of his work, casting Nicolas Cage, and much more.

Director Alex Proyas on the set of Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Image credit: Summit/Vince Valitutti

Getting an Oscar-winning actor in Nicolas Cage and a rising star like “Damages“‘s Rose Byrne for your film instantly raises its profile. Proyas revealed that he had always wanted to work with Cage and that they almost had several times in the past but schedules couldn’t be worked out. Nick reportedly read the script for “Knowing” and loved it, making this the perfect match.

“I think [Nick is] an incredibly versatile actor,” says Proyas. “That’s really why I’m such a fan of his work because he’s always different. He really embraces his characters and runs with them. And this is no different in that respect. I mean he’s created a very strong character, I think. And it’s not about Nick Cage, it’s about the character. And that’s really important I think. It’s an incredibly important thing for a director to know also that your leading actor understands what you’re trying to do in terms of the movie and is a collaborator with you. And we’re telling a story together which I think Nick was so great at.

“From a very early point when he first read the script he embraced this story and he really made it his own. He really felt it spoke to him as an individual. Just as I felt. We felt compelled to tell the story together and I think that really shows in the movie.”

“With Rose Byrne, Rosie is someone that I’ve known a very long time. We’re quite good friends and we’ve - because we both come from Sydney in Australia so we’ve known each other for awhile now. And she’s, again, someone that I’ve wanted to work with. And, you know, the character seemed perfect for her. And I was delighted that she was also available.”

Proyas wrote “Knowing,” something he likes doing because it makes him a deeper part of the process. “I like going into a movie with something that I feel is as well crafted as we can make it,” Proyas said. “And that’s often a result of ripping it apart and putting it back together again repeatedly. Because it’s much easier to work stuff out at the script stage obviously than in the cutting room when you realize you’ve got, you know, structural problems or character issues or whatever can come up at that stage.”

Director Alex Proyas on the set of Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Image credit: Summit/Vince Valitutti

“So I get as involved as I possibly can. I mean, the process is always different every film. Some projects I initiate, others I come in at a later stage, like in the case of Knowing, and rewrite substantially. So it really every time is different. But I do certainly like to have as much involvement with the script as possible. I like to have as much involvement with every aspect of the movie process really. I think I wanted to have a sort of unique voice and it’s got to come from someone so it might as well be me.”

“Knowing” is about past and future tragedies and disasters. Naturally, the subject of 9/11 came up pretty quickly, but Proyas says that this script was written before those tragic events occurred.

But “Knowing” does follow a post-9/11 trend of disaster-driven movies, something that Proyas is keenly aware of with this project. He says, “I think when people live in uncertain times I guess it’s something that we dwell upon and there’s obviously something. We all know what the current potential doom scenarios are for our civilization. And I think everyone’s genuinely concerned and movies are a reflection of that - a way of analyzing the situation in whatever dramatic form and helping us perhaps find a solution. Or at worse, prepare ourselves. So I think it really is a sign of the times.”

Science fiction cinema has come a long way in just the time that Proyas has been making movies. The technology of special effects improves with each project. With “Knowing,” it was the first time that Proyas shot a movie digitally. He had always tested the latest digital cameras but always went back to film.

Slideshow: 22-Image Gallery From ‘Knowing’ With Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne

BrianTT — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:52:40 -0600

CHICAGO – This 22-image slideshow contains the available press images for Summit Entertainment’s “Knowing,” starring Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Chandler Canterbury, and Lara Robinson. The film, written by Alex Proyas, Stuart Hazeldine (“Riverworld”), Ryne Douglas Pearson (Mercury Rising), Juliet Snowden & Stiles White (The Need, Boogeyman) and Richard Kelly (Southland Tales, Donnie Darko), and directed by Proyas, opens on Friday, March 20th, 2009.

Synopsis: “Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Leaving Las Vegas) stars in Knowing, a gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions about the future and sets out to prevent them from coming true.

Rose Byrne (Troy, “Damages”), Chandler Canterbury (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Repossession Mambo) and Lara Robinson (“Saved”) also star in director Alex Proyas’ (I, Robot) riveting feature about a father’s desperate battle to save his child—and the world.

In 1958, as part of the dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, a group of students is asked to draw pictures of what they think the future will look like. Their drawings will be sealed into a time capsule and stored for 50 years. But one mysterious girl fills her paper with rows of apparently random numbers, which she says are being whispered to her by unseen people.

A half-century later, a new generation of students examines the capsule’s contents and the girl’s cryptic message ends up in the hands of young Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury), but it’s Caleb’s father, astrophysics professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage), who makes a startling discovery: the encoded message predicts the dates, death tolls and coordinates of every major disaster of the past 50 years with pinpoint accuracy. As he further unravels the document’s secrets, John discovers that it foretells three additional catastrophes—the last of which hints at destruction on a global scale.

John’s efforts to alert the authorities about the impending catastrophes fall on deaf ears and his fears intensify with the realization that Caleb is somehow connected to the mystery. Enlisting the help of Diana Whelan (Rose Byrne) and Abby (Lara Robinson), the daughter and granddaughter of the prophetic message’s author, he embarks on a heart-pounding race against time to prevent the ultimate disaster.”

You can click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All photos are credited to Vince Valitutti and Summit Entertainment. All rights reserved.

Knowing_01: Nicolas Cage stars in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_02: Nicolas Cage and Chandler Canterbury star in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_03: Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne star in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_04: Nicolas Cage stars in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_05: Nicolas Cage stars in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_06: Nicolas Cage (far right) stars in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_07: Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne star in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_08: Rose Byrne and Nicolas Cage star in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_09: Rose Byrne and Nicolas Cage star in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_10: Nicolas Cage stars in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_11: Lara Robinson stars in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_12: Lara Robinson stars in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_13: Chandler Canterbury stars in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_14: Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_15: (Left to right) Chandler Canterbury and Lara Robinson star in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_16: Rose Byrne (left) and Lara Robinson star in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_17: Rose Byrne stars in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_18: Rose Byrne stars in Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_19: Director Alex Proyas on the set of Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_20: Director Alex Proyas on the set of Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_21: DP Simon Dugan (center left) and director Alex Proyas (center right) on the set of Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.
Knowing_22: Lara Robinson (left) with director Alex Proyas (center) and Chandler Canterbury (right) on the set of Knowing, a Summit Entertainment release.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Video: DVD Trailer For Nicolas Cage’s ‘Knowing’

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:12:45 -0700

CHICAGO – The studio for the new Nicolas Cage film “Knowing” has provided to HollywoodChicago.com the DVD trailer for the movie, which also stars Rose Byrne, Chandler Canterbury, Ben Mendelsohn, Nadia Townsend and Adrienne Pickering.

The film, which is directed by Alex Proyas (“I, Robot,” “The Crow”), opens nationwide on March 20, 2009. The “Knowing” DVD trailer can be watched below.

Here is the plot description for “Knowing” (source):

A teacher (Nicolas Cage) opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son’s elementary school. In it are some chilling predictions – some that have already occurred and others that are about to – that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.

Nicolas Cage (left) and Rose Byrne in “Knowing”.
Image credit: Summit Entertainment

A second trailer for “Knowing” can be watched below.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Damages’ Returns With Intense, Riveting Start to Season Two

BrianTT — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:39:51 -0700

CHICAGO – The complex, twisted world of FX’s excellent “Damages” returns this week with a spectacular set-up for what promises to be another riveting season of twists and turns down the alleys of legal ethics and questionable moral behavior with an even more impressive ensemble than the one that won Emmys for its highly lauded first season.

The character played by Zeljko Ivanek, Emmy winner for Supporting Actor, may be dead and gone, but the rest of the cast, including Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Tate Donovan, and even Ted Danson, are back, joined by three of the better actors that you will find on TV this season - Oscar winner William Hurt, Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden, and Timothy Olyphant (“Deadwood,” “Go”). Hurt should clear his mantle now for an Emmy this summer and Close probably needs to make room for number two but they’re far from alone. “Damages” is a clear frontrunner for the best ensemble on television. Most films over the next few months won’t feature acting this impressive.

Rose Byrne (L) and Glenn Close (R) in Damages premiering Wednesday, Jan. 7 (10 PM ET/PT) on FX.
Photo credit: Craig Blankenhorne/FX

It may have been a year and a half since “Damages” was on the air, but in the world of Hewes & Associates, it’s only been a month since the disastrous end of the Arthur Frobisher case. In case you don’t remember the flurry of activity that ended season one, cutthroat attorney Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) watched her opponent in the courtroom Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek) take his own life in front of her eyes. The problem for Patty (besides the emotional trauma) was that she was blackmailing the closeted defenseman, so she needed Ellen (Rose Byrne) to help clean up the evidence before the police arrived. Fearing that Ellen knew enough to ruin her life forever, Patty sent someone to kill the woman that she had grown close to professionally and personally.

Rose Byrne as Ellen Parsons on the season premiere of Damages airing on Wednesday, Jan. 7 (10 pm e/p) on FX.
Photo credit: Mark Seliger/FX

Ellen survived the attack on her life, but her fiance wasn’t so lucky, getting killed on the same night by nefarious businessman Arthur Frobisher’s (Ted Danson) people. With a dead husband-to-be and the knowledge that her boss tried to kill her, Ellen was approached by the FBI and tasked with taking down Patty Hewes from the inside. And that’s the very brief version of a labyrynthine season that became one of the first basic cable shows nominated for a Best Drama Series Emmy (“Mad Men” was also nominated giving them the joint honor of being the “first”).

The structure of the first season was essentially a flashback. The show opened with a bloodied Ellen running from a building and being arrested for the death of her fiance. The series then worked back to that moment, detailing how the new attorney went from wide-eyed rookie to bitter veteran over the course of one case.

One of many questions answered by the premiere of season two is would the show followed a similar structure? Yes. The new episode opens with a monologue by Ellen in close-up to someone unseen. Only at the end of the scene, do we realize that sweet Ellen is holding a gun. It’s going to be a different Ellen in year two.

Flash back six months to just one month after the end of the Frobisher case. Arthur survived getting shot in the gut and is recovering in a hospital. Ellen is undercover and being handed a fake case by the FBI to try and entrap Patty into doing something illegal. And Patty is being approached by someone from her past, Daniel Purcell (William Hurt), a potential whistle blower about to destroy a major company. Meanwhile, Ellen meets someone intriguing (Timothy Olyphant) in her anger management class. Marcia Gay Harden joins the supporting cast in the second episode as an attorney caught up between Daniel and Patty.

What is the link between Patty and Purcell? Will Tom (Tate Donovan) get caught up in Ellen’s web with the FBI? Is the new guy in Ellen’s life a genuine love interest or a vengeful nut job? Will the fact that Patty is guilty of conspiracy to commit murder be a part of the fabric of the show until its end? How can they ever drop it?

Glenn Close as stars as Patty Hewes on Damages airing on Wednesday, Jan. 14 (10 pm e/p) on FX.
Photo credit: Craig Blankenhorne/FX

The first episode of the second season of “Damages” - “I Lied, Too” - is a little cluttered, answering some questions from the last season and setting up new ones, but the show quickly settles into an interesting groove in the second episode and especially the excellent third episode. It’s great to see the focus of the show switch and easily survive the transition from the Frobisher case to the Purcell one. How many series could survive the loss of its Best Supporting Actor winner (Ivanek) and the switch of focus away from his fellow nominee (Danson) and not only feel as good but arguably better? It’s a testament to the writing team at “Damages,” one of the best on television and one that clearly drew in actors as talented as Hurt, Harden, and Olyphant.

Like a lot of shows that succeed in their first season, the second chapter of “Damages” feels even more consistent and confident than the first. The team has figured out the shows strengths, the cast has grown accustomed to the unusual impromptu writing process (even the writers don’t know how a season will end when they start a new one), and the pace and energy of the show has been set in stone. Close was nearly perfect from episode one of “Damages,” but even she seems like a more interesting, well-rounded character in season two and Byrne is clearly having a blast playing “tough and bitter Ellen” as opposed to “naive and worried Ellen” from season one.

FX has forged a niche in original programming based on morally challenged, complex characters like Vic Mackey on “The Shield,” Tommy Gavin on “Rescue Me”, Sean McNamara & Christian Troy on “Nip/Tuck,” and, the Queen of them all, Patty Hewes on “Damages”. You won’t find a more interesting character on television and she’s surrounded by an even better supporting team than in the award-winning first season. Don’t miss “Damages”.

‘Damages,’ which airs on FX, stars Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Tate Donovan, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Timothy Olyphant, and Ted Danson. The premiere of season two airs on January 7th, 2009 at 9PM CST.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com