An observant critic while watching the trailer for Starz' "Camelot" at TCA noticed that James Purefoy is in the show. And, sure enough, showrunner Chris Chibnall confirms the actor, who was so fantastic in HBO's "Rome," has joined the cast. Purefoy will play King Lot, who's described as not a very nice guy, and is also not a series regular.*
The trailer (which won't be available online for awhile) looks gritty and earthy, violent and sexy, as you might expect. Also, far more naturalistic and not as extreme as "Spartacus."
Star Joseph Fiennes, who plays the ancient wizard Merlin, says that while the series will contain magic elements, it won't be a driving element in the story.
"The magic lies in the political essences of the piece," Fiennes said. "Yes, there will be in dark arts -- you'll see things disappearing and changing shape, but it's really about the birth of a legend. It's [a land where] power is given to the wrong individuals, a country split by war and greed … and the assent of a pure king and noble minds."
Fiennes said he has pictures of Obi Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker on the wall of his dressing room to remind him of the relationship between Merlin and young Arthur, along with a pic of Willy Wonka.
"Merlin is a cross between Obi Wan Kenobi and Donald Rumsfeld," he said.
As for how much ground the show will cover in the first season, "We have a grand plan," Chibnall said. "We're starting right from the birth of Arthur ... we're doing our version of the sword in the stone this week … and it's not like any other version you've seen."
Fiennes was asked about the demise of his last series, ABC's "FlashForward," which had a long midseason hiatus that some blamed for the show having trouble finding its footing with viewers.
"It's like I went through a series of blackouts," Fiennes said, drawing laughs, "and ended up in a Celtic countyside. It's a topsy turvey world, isn't it? It was hugely ambitious and it's sad about it being taken off air for so long … We didn't pull it off. There's an upside working with Starz -- I'm loving that there's no commercial breaks, and you have to do that thing [gives a suspenseful look] right before you break and have to hold that closeup ... you dont have to interrupted or patronized with commercial breaks."
Showing posts with label Camelot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Camelot. Show all posts
Saturday, August 7, 2010
James Purefoy joins Starz’ ‘Camelot’
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Fancast Big Tease 6/29/10
I have my doubts about Cary working for the State’s Attorney’s Office on ‘The Good Wife,’ that they can make the story work longer than a few episodes. I don’t want them to drop Matt Czuchry after half of the season. Do you have any information? – Jess_No10 via Twitter
This Matt urges you not to fret about the other Matt. “Czuchry’s fans have nothing to worry about,” a source at the show tells me. “His storyline is going to really heat up this season.”
Got any ‘Psych‘ spoilers? – legendsinlove via Twitter
And how! Check out this peek at the July 13 season premiere, straight from series boss Steve Franks: “Shawn goes deep into a Chinese triad gang war, and shooting the episode was more fun than we should be allowed to have. I’ve always wanted to do some sort of Jackie Chan-style action and we hit the jackpot here. After that, Shawn won’t have much time to catch his breath as he has fast cars to race and UFO landings to investigate.”
Is Sosie Bacon coming back to ‘The Closer‘? I loved her last season! – Mooshki via Facebook
I loved her too – a real natural, and such a resemblance to her folks, Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon. As of right now, however, I am told there are no plans for Brenda’s niece Charlie to pay a return visit.
Can’t CBS just not do the ‘Criminal Minds‘ spin-off and use that money to keep A.J. Cook around? We don’t need a carbon copy of the show anyway. – Lauri
A lot of viewers have had that thought, but that’s not how it works – the two shows don’t share a pool of money. And ‘Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior’ (as it apparently will stay titled) won’t simply be a replica of the original. Rather, measures are being taken to give it a distinct feel, a la ‘CSI’ and ‘CSI: Miami,’ or ‘NCIS’/'NCIS: LA.’ Bringing on Janeane Garofalo is just (admittedly curious) one step in that direction.
The room that Patrick Jane went into at the end of the ‘Mentalist‘ season finale – was that his wife/daughter’s old room, someplace new, or…? – jmorgue via Twitter
We’ve seen that room on occasion. It’s one at his home that he keeps to remind himself about what happened with Red John.
I saw this tweet from Bryan Adams: “Message to Ryan Murphy/Glee: Please stop telling the press I rejected your show, when we’ve NEVER spoken. Be polite and pick up the phone.” Can you find out the real story? – Kimberley via Facebook
Thanks for the heads-up, Kimbers; I do need to Follow more Canadians on Twitter. I invited Fox to offer clarification on this ‘Glee’ Said/He Said dispute – seeing as Murphy is on record as saying, “My favorite rejection was Bryan Adams” – but they are declining to comment. My theory? Poutine.
Can you let us know your thoughts on the new season of ‘Entourage,’ without revealing too much? – Jeff via Facebook
By now, you’ve seen the premiere, which IMO was a bit thin. The good word is that Episode 2 has a lot more going on, including Ari in blockbuster deal mode, which is always one of my favorite elements of the show. P.S. How much fun does the show’s casting director have choosing the female extras? I am so in the wrong line of work.
Let me know how you like ‘Outsourced.’ The promo (watch it here) looks funny, but sometimes all the funny scenes are in the promo. – MarkyMarc70 via Twitter
I’ll say this for the NBC comedy: Few pilots have ever been as efficient in establishing their premise. Seriously, it’s like Whoosh-Bam! Middle American dude gets plopped in his company’s call center in India. The pilot was “fine,” but this show can only be assessed once it gets the painfully obvious culture clash jokes out of its system and starts exploring the characters in a real way. On a related note, check out our First Looks at the pilots for ‘Mike & Molly,’ ‘Nikita‘ and ‘Hawaii Five-O.’
I was wondering if you could clear something up for me. Is the new ‘Camelot’ series on Starz ongoing or is it a mini-series? – Scott
I double-checked for you, and ‘Camelot’ – starring ‘FlashForward’s Joseph Fiennes (as Merlin), Eva Green (Morgana), Jamie Campbell Bower (Arthur) and Tamsin Egerton (Guinevere) – is a closed-end, 10-episode series, set to premiere in early 2011.
I cannot wait for USA Network’s ‘Covert Affairs‘ to premiere. I love me some Chris Gorham! Is there any scoop to be had yet? – Daphne
How about this: Liane Balaban, who starred opposite Joshua Jackson in ‘One Week,’ has landed the guest star role of Natasha Petrovna, a beautiful, Saint Petersburg-bred hacker who happens to be the ex-girlfriend of Gorham’s CIA agent character, Auggie. Awk. Ward.
Any idea when the DVD for Season 4 of ‘Big Love‘ will come out? I’m getting really anxious! – Diana
Sit tight. An exact release date has not yet been set, but HBO tells me it won’t be until the end of the year/early 2011.
Do you have any scoop on ‘Bones‘? – Nera
Only that “The Gorilla In The Room” – as tweeted by show boss Hart Hanson – is not for certain locked in as the title of the season premiere, despite reports you may have seen elsewhere.
Did you see the ‘Chase‘ ad in the new Entertainment Weekly? It spelled Kelli Giddish’s name wrong. Who do we punish for this transgression? – Tara
I’m getting the name of someone in NBC marketing for ya, Tara. In the meantime, you get Kelli and her ‘Chase’ character’s ish-kickers at the ready. (After all, there’s a very good reason they call her “Boots” on the show.)
