NBC’s 2010-2011 Primetime Line-Up – Conspiracies, Spies and Superheroes

Earlier this week, NBC announced its 2010-2011 primetime line-up, which includes conspiracy, espionage and costumed crime fighting. Here are some of those highlights:  

The Event is an emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, The Class), an everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Lelia (Sarah Roemer, Disturbia), and unwittingly beings to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. Sean’s quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including newly elected U.S. President Martinez (Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood, In Treatment), Sophia (Emmy award nominee Laura Innes, ER), who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees, and Sean’s shadowy father-in-law (Scott Patterson, Gilmore Girls). Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind. Ian Anthony Dale (Daybreak) and Emmy winner Zeljko Ivanek (Damages) also star in this ensemble drama. The Event is a production of Universal Media Studios and Steve Stark Productions. Stark (Medium, Facing Kate) serves as executive producer, Nick Wauters (The 4400, Eureka) is creator/co-executive producer and Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights, Trauma) is the director/executive producer. Evan Katz (24) is also an executive producer. Check out http://nbc.com/the-event/ for more information.  

NBC's Undercovers. Photo copyright of NBC

Acclaimed writer/producer/director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Fringe, Lost, Alias) serves as co-writer, executive producer – and also directs – his first direction of a TV series pilot since Lost in Undercovers with executive producer/writer Josh Reims (Brothers and Sisters). Undercovers is a sexy, fun, action-packed spy drama that proves once and for all that marriage is still the world’s most dangerous partnership. Outwardly, Steven Bloom (Boris Kodjoe, Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion, Soul Food, Resident Evil: Afterlife) and his wife, Samantha (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Doctor Who, Bonekickers), are a typical married couple who own a small catering company in Los Angeles and are helped by Samantha’s easily frazzled younger sister, Lizzy (Jessica Parker Kennedy, Smallville). Secretly, the duo were two of the CIA’s best spies until they fell in love on the job five years ago and retired. When fellow spy and friend Nash (Carter MacIntyre, American Heiress) goes missing while on the trail of a Russian arms dealer, the Blooms are reinstated by boss Carlton Shaw (Gerald McRaney, Deadwood) to locate and rescue Nash. The pair is thrust back into the world of espionage as they follow leads that span the globe – and Steven and Samantha realize that this supercharged, undercover lifestyle provides the excitement and romance that their marriage has been missing. Undercovers is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television. The pilot was written by J.J. Abrams and Josh Reims and directed by Abrams. Abrams, Reims and Bryan Burk (Fringe, Lost, Alias) are the executive producers. Check out http://www.nbc.com/undercovers/ for more information.  

NBC's The Cape. Photo copyright of NBC

The Cape is a one-hour drama series starring David Lyons (ER) as Vince Faraday, an honest cop on a corrupt police force, who finds himself framed for a series of murders and presumed dead. He is forced into hiding, leaving behind his wife, Dana (Jennifer Ferrin, Life On Mars) and son, Trip (Ryan Wynott, Flash Forward). Fueled by a desire to reunite with his family and to battle the criminal forces that have overtaken Palm City, Faraday becomes “The Cape,” his son’s favorite comic book superhero – and takes the law into his own hands. Rounding out the cast are James Frain (The Tudors) as billionaire Peter Fleming – The Cape’s nemesis – who moonlights as the twisted killer Chess; Keith David (Death at a Funeral) as Max Malini, the ringleader of a circus gang of bank robbers who mentors Vince Faraday and trains him to be The Cape; Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) as Orwell, an investigative blogger who wages war on crime and corruption in Palm City; and Dorian Missick (Six Degrees) as Marty Voyt, a former police detective and friend to Faraday. The Cape is a Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun production from executive producer/creator Thomas Wheeler (Empire), executive producer/director Simon West (Con Air), the executive producing team of Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun (NBC’s Mercy) and executive producer Gene Stein (Accidentally on Purpose). Check out http://www.nbc.com/the-cape/ for more information.  

As noted above, all photos copyright of NBC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Star Trek’s Leonard Nimoy Talks About Fringe

Leonard Nimoy as Fringe's Dr. William Bell. Photo by Craig Blankenhorn and copyright of Fox

In part two of Fringe‘s second season finale, Over There, Part 2 (airing Thursday, May 20th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST on Fox), sacrifices will be made and both universes may never be the same again after Walter (John Noble) and Olivia (Anna Torv) visit the “other side.” Leonard Nimoy reprises his recurring role as Dr. William Bell in this episode. The actor, who has announced his retirement from both acting and directing, recently spoke with myself along with other journalists about his work on the episode as well as other topics. The following is an edited version of that Q & A. Enjoy! 

I’m wondering what it is that brought you to appear on Fringe. Are you watching this show? Did somebody approach you about being on there? Was there a specific role set up for you? 

LEONARD NIMOY - I had a wonderful time working on the new Star Trek movie with J.J. Abrams, who directed it.  When it was done, he asked me to look into the possibility of playing William Bell on Fringe. I was frankly not terribly aware of what it was all about. I began looking at some episodes that William Bell, the character, had been talked about rather frequently, but had never been seen. I felt that I owed J.J. a favor. He did a great job on the Star Trek movie and treated me extremely well. I’m very happy I did it. The work on Fringe has turned out to be exciting and interesting. It’s a terribly well produced series. The character was a wide open canvas for me to work with. I had a great time doing it. This week’s episode is particularly special for the William Bell character. 

Your character has been a mysterious one; we’re never quite clear of his motives. How much did they tell you beforehand about what he was up to, and if you weren’t quite clear, how did you approach playing him? Is he evil? Is he good? 

LEONARD NIMOY - The ambiguity is the draw of the character. I think all of those questions will be answered this week in the final episode. We are still not quite clear, as of last week, about what his intentions are. He keeps telling Olivia [Anna Torv] that she should trust him, and maybe she has to. I don’t know if she has any choice really, but there will be very strong involvement with Olivia as well as Peter [Joshua Jackson] and particularly Walter [John Noble], which will, I think, answer the questions that you’re asking. Those are the questions that everybody’s asking.  So, what’s it all about with William Bell? We’ll find out this Thursday. 

You’ve talked recently about how you’re retiring from acting.  After William Bell on Fringe, did you feel like you’d played every character you wanted to play, or is it just a time and place that you just don’t feel like acting is going to open any more opportunities for you? Some thoughts on why this show is going to be your last? 

LEONARD NIMOY - It’s really coincidental. It wasn’t anything about the Fringe job or the character of William Bell that made me decide I didn’t want to do this anymore. It’s a coincidence. I’ve been at this for 60 years. My first professional work in film was in 1950.  So 60 years, I think, is long enough. I had decided several years ago not to do anymore acting or directing.  In the meantime, I was called back to work to do the Star Trek movie, which was very attractive. I thought it was going to be a wonderful film. I read the script and it did a great job of handling the Spock character and introducing a wonderful new actor to play him. Then, J.J. Abrams, who is the executive producer of Fringe,asked me to do the William Bell character. I thought I owed him that, and I’m very glad that I did it because it was an exciting project. It’s just coincidental that I decided some time ago that I really didn’t want to do this [acting]anymore. I just did this last job as a favor to J.J. I think we’ll see an exciting episode this week; it’s a very good note to go out on. 

Even though you’ve had a lot of exotic material over the years that you’ve done, it seems like Fringe takes us to another level here because we’re into things like alternate existences and people being in two different places at the same time, etc.  Are there times where it takes you a while to wrap your head around some of the Fringe material, or that make you stop and think, “Whoa!  This is stronger than anything in Star Trek”? 

LEONARD NIMOY - The best answer I can give you is that the Fringe television series is extremely well produced. The production is far more sophisticated than anything I was ever involved with [before] in television. That previous work was much more simplistic, production-wise, and these [Fringe] scripts are extremely complicated, very nuanced and intelligent. I’m intrigued with how well they do these shows, not only in the concept, but in the execution, particularly this week’s episode. I had a chance to be involved in some major production scenes, the likes of which I had never experienced in television. You’re right. The stories are unusually complex, but fascinating for an audience. I’ve become a great fan of the show. 

I just wanted to follow-up a little more on the announcement of your retirement; there were some online reports that you might actually be in the next Star Trek film. Doesn’t sound like that’s going to happen, but any word on maybe whether or not your good friend, William Shatner, might be? 

LEONARD NIMOY - I have no idea about the next film regarding Bill Shatner, but I think I can be definitive about the fact that I will not be in it. I have said that I think it’s time for me to get off the stage and make some room for Zachary Quinto, who’s the new Spock and a wonderful actor who looks a lot like me. I’m very flattered that the character will be continued by an actor of that caliber. He’s very well-trained and very talented. I have no expectations whatsoever even being asked to be in the next Star Trek film. I cannot speak for J.J. Abrams or Bill Shatner. If they have a common interest, I hope it works out. 

Obviously, you can’t reveal too much about the Fringe season finale, but can you give us maybe a few more hints?  Also, can you tell us do you expect to be on next season at all? 

LEONARD NIMOY - No, I don’t expect to be on next season. I have announced my retirement. I will not be doing anymore television or movie acting or directing. I can tell you that I feel very fulfilled with the work that was given to me to do in this final episode, coming up next week. I admire all of the people on this show: Anna Torv, Josh Jackson, John Noble and all the rest. I had some wonderful scenes to play with John Noble who I think is a wonderful actor. I’m excited and looking forward to seeing it [the episode] edited. I have not seen the edited version, but the work that we did on the soundstage and on the streets of Vancouver felt really creative and productive. I’m happy that I did it. 

Tell me a little bit about what you’re doing after acting.  I understand you do a lot of photography these days and have other interests.  Is it hard to say goodbye?  What’s next? 

LEONARD NIMOY - No, it’s not hard to say goodbye. I’ve had 60 years of working in films and television; I’m very grateful for all the great opportunities that I’ve had and all the people who I’ve met and worked with, including the Fringe company. I said on my final day of shooting that they were as good as any company I’ve ever worked with in my 60 years of experience. What I’m working on now is making the prints for an exhibition of my photography, which will open on July 31st as the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. I’m excited about it because it’s my first solo exhibition in a major museum. It’s a show called “Secret Selves,” which is about lost, hidden or secret identities and I’m excited about it. If one cares to see what some of the images look like, you can go to my website, which is leonardnimoyphotography.com and go to “Secret Selves.” 

I was wondering what you could tell me about this week’s episode in terms of your scenes with John Noble.  I assume there will be some Walter-William showdowns I can look forward to? 

LEONARD NIMOY - Yes, there will be some very strong scenes between Walter and William. I’d say that’s at the heart of the episode. It was a great pleasure for me to do those scenes. I admire John; I call him, “Noble John.” His name is John Noble, of course, but I call him, “Noble John.”  He’s a wonderful actor. I’m also am an admirer of the rest of the Fringe cast. I got to do some interesting work with Anna Torv, who I think is a wonderful actress, too.  Yes, there’s a very strong relationship resolution between Walter and William this Thursday night. 

What do you think is the most interesting aspect of William Bell’s character? 

LEONARD NIMOY - I think it’s the fact that he’s disarmingly unpredictable. He keeps saying, “Trust me,” but then you’re not quite sure if you should. That is probably the most interesting thing about him. He’s obviously a man of great intelligence and a powerful figure, but most intriguing is what his intentions are. What is his agenda? What is he really after? What’s he trying to accomplish? We’ll find out more about that on Thursday. 

Could you perhaps tell us what has made a career in this industry rewarding for you after all these years? 

LEONARD NIMOY - Well, I set out to be an actor when I was 17 or 18 years old. I left Boston and traveled to California to try to build a career. My very first efforts were very humble. I worked in a Saturday afternoon serial called Zombies of the Stratosphere. It was very primitive and very crude, but I was eager to do the work and happy to get it. It’s been exciting to me to work on soundstages and on locations all around the world. I’ve worked with some great, great talents. I worked with a number of Academy Award winners and a number of Emmy winners, with wonderful, talented people. The Star Trek character, Mr. Spock, has been a blessing to me because I find it a very dignified and a positive character and a great role model for a lot of people. I am one very, very grateful guy.  Ever since Star Trek went on the air 1966, I have never even had to concern myself with whether or not I’d work again. There was always work available to me. So it’s all about gratitude for me these days. Thanks for the question. 

What was it like for you on the last day of filming on the set of Fringe since this was the season finale? 

LEONARD NIMOY - It was very moving. I had the same experience on the last day of filming on the Star Trek movie about a year-and-a-half ago. This was a very moving experience. It was a night scene, a very brief scene. In fact, the last night, the last work that I did was the scene that was on last week between myself and Anna Torv. I had mixed feelings about it. I didn’t want it to end because the experience had been such a positive one, but of course, we had to get it done. When it was done, the entire company gathered around. There was a lot of love exchanged. I said to them, “I’ve been at this for 60 years. I have never worked with a better company.” I meant it. They do an amazing job on the Fringe series. It just feels really good to know that I’m saying goodbye to the work on a very positive, good note. I feel very good about the work that was done. I’m looking forward to it being on the air next Thursday. That’s a lovely question. I appreciate your thought. Thank you. 

 As you’ve said, you’ve spent 60 years in film and TV.  How has the job changed for you from Zombies of the Stratosphere to Fringe, or has it been all the same once the cameras began rolling? 

LEONARD NIMOY - The work is the work, of course. When they yell, “Action,” it’s time to deliver the goods. My position in the industry, of course, has changed drastically. When I came on the set of Fringe, I got a sense that people who said, “Uh, oh, here he comes, the old timer is coming.” When I first started out, I was in awe of the people who had great stories to tell about different locations they’d been to and different directors they’d worked with, different actors they’ve worked with and so forth. Now, I discovered I was the guy doing that, telling the stories about directors I worked with 40 years ago. It’s time to get off the stage; I think we’ve had our run. Thank you very much. 

What excited you the most about how William Bell has developed over the season? 

 LEONARD NIMOY - Well, there’s always been the question of what are his intentions. The writers have done a very good job of keeping the answer to that rather obscure. I’ve tried to make him disarming. I’ve tried to play him ambiguously so that, although he keeps saying, “Trust me,” you’re still not quite sure if you should. Even in last week’s episode, he said to Olivia, “I know that you have reason not to trust me, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to.” I think we’ll find out whether or not he’s telling her the truth in this week’s episode. It’s going to be a very exciting one and extremely well-produced. The performances by all of the actors that I got to work with are wonderful. I had a great time doing it. I’m looking forward to seeing it air on Thursday. 

As noted above, photo is by Craig Blankenhorn and copyright of Fox Television, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Fox Renews Fringe For A Third Season

Joshua Jackson, John Noble and Anna Tova in the season two Fringe episode "Johari Window." Photo copyright of Fox TV

FOX has renewed Fringe, the critically acclaimed thrilling drama, for a third season, it was announced on Monday, March 8th by Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company. “Fringe tapped into a deep creative mine this year that built momentum throughout the season and helped give us our first real foothold on TV’s most competitive night,” said Reilly. “The entire Fringe team – from the producers and writers to the cast and crew – has taken smart storytelling and top production quality to a while new level. The rest of this season is mind-blowing, and we can’t wait to get started on the third installment of this amazing journey. 

Said Fringe co-creator and executive producer J.J. Abrams, “We could not be more excited to continue the wild ride of Fringe. We are grateful to Fox, and our viewers, for allowing this fun, mind-bending adventure to go on.” 

Series showrunners and executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman added, “This early renewal comes at a great time and adds to the cast and crew’s energy and excitement as we head into production on this season’s revealing final two episodes. We have so many stories to tell, so this is awesome that we have another season to explore the worlds of Fringe.” 

The second season of Fringe resumes with eight all-new and uninterrupted episodes beginning Thursday, April 1st (9:00 p.m. – 1o:00 p.m. EST/PST) on Fox. In Peter, the Spring premiere episode, Walter (John Noble) flashes back to 1985 while explaining Peter’s (Joshua Jackson) otherworldly origins to Olivia (Anna Torv). Also, Peter’s mother (guest-star Orla Brady) is introduced and details of the neighboring world reaffirm that there is more than one of everything. 

As noted above, photo is copyright of Fox Television, so please no copying or  duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Neville Page – Creature Feature

Martian 8 - A personal project of creature/character designer Neville Page. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Like many Sci-Fi fans, creature/character designer Neville Page sat in a darkened movie theater when he was a child and watched in anticipation as the opening credits for the original Star Wars feature film began to roll. Having seen the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca, his mind wandered in a direction that would forever change his life.

“I began to wonder what people did in order to make a movie like that,” recalls Page. “I didn’t understand that they went to school to learn how to be creature designers, sculptors or artists for that matter, and could then go work in films. Then, however, I began to collect all sorts of Star Wars magazines – I was really addicted to the film – and in one of the magazines there was this article on [make-up artist] Rick Baker. When I saw a picture of him with a lump of clay and a sculpting tool, it suddenly occurred to me that, ‘OK, people actually do this stuff,’ and that’s where my interest [in the craft] first began.”

When he was 17, Page moved to Hollywood and, after trying his hand at acting and stand-up comedy, enrolled in the Art Center College of Design where he studied industrial design. “I did that for several years, but all along I craved to work in films,” says the designer. “The more seasoned I became as an industrial designer, it became more apparent that if I wanted to make monsters and do animatronics, it would require a huge career and lifestyle change.

“At that point I thought, ‘Well, that dream is dead,’ but the very next day, literally, something happened that changed my mind. Colleen Atwood, who’s a major costume designer, was working next door to my studio on the Steven Spielberg film Minority Report. A buddy of mine had left his keys there and she stopped by my studio to drop them off. Colleen noticed that my business partner, Scott Robertson, and I do industrial design, including helmets, and she needed a helmet for a police costume. That’s when she asked, ‘Hey, do you guys want to work on some film stuff?’ and I haven’t stopped since. You can’t plan something like that. It’s like sitting at a cafe and being ‘discovered.’ You can only hope you’re in the right place at the right time, and mine was my buddy forgetting his keys.

Squidleyflat - a personal project of Neville Page. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

X2, The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, The Hulk, Cloverfield and James Cameron’s Avatar are just a few of the big screen projects that Page has worked on. “With Avatar I was kind of stretching my skills at creature design,” he says. “James Cameron is a very specific guy and you can just imagine how many portfolios were being thrown his way when it came to his movie. Four people were selected, myself being one of them, and I thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s a mistake here, because I don’t have much of a portfolio.’ I had a lot of industrial design stuff, but I guess that’s what Jim wanted. He wanted a very different take on a creature design and I’ve told him many times since then how incredibly grateful and indebted I am to him because he allowed me almost a year to become educated in what he needed to be the best, well-thought out creatures in film. So he afforded us the time to really do it right.

“I’m a huge fan of doing the research and understanding the subject matter, which includes buying animal bones and things of that nature to better understand a creatures’ physiology, and Jim really dug that we were coming in fully armed with all this knowledge. You can’t pull the wool over his eyes. He’s bright on all levels, and it was our goal to help crack the design nut. There were occasions where I would present an anatomical solution to a problem that would genuinely impress Jim. That’s a good day at work! Jim is a strong man who knows what he wants, and if you’re strong enough to survive that, you come out a better person and definitely a better designer, that’s for sure.”

While still working on Avatar, the designer took on yet another new creature challenge in J.J. Abrams’ Cloverfield. “When I met with [producers] J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles to discuss Cloverfield, I knew nothing about the project other than J.J. said, ‘I want to make a monster movie,’” says Page. “They explained to me that this film was a big experiment as far as how they were going to shoot  it, with handheld cameras and not a whole bunch of other cameras set up for secondary or tertiary shots. They also explained that the overall budget was next to nothing.

“For whatever reason, J.J. won me over because of his passion for the work and his loveable personality. I thought, ‘I don’t know quite what it [the film] is either, J.J., but sign me up.’ The hardest part of  Cloverfield, though, was that I was also in my last five or six months of Avatar, and the last months of any project are the toughest because you have to deliver all the final elements. I told myself, ‘I’m working with James Cameron and J.J. Abrams simultaneously. Am I the luckiest man in the world or what? You’ve got to make this work, Neville, no matter what.’”

Up close and personal with the Cloverfield creature. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Another angle of the Cloverfield creature. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Clearly, Abrams was pleased with Page’s contribution to Cloverfield because he subsequently asked him to provide creature effects and much more for the new Star Trek film. “I was tasked with two creatures right out of the gate, which were the ones on the ice planet Delta Vega,” notes the designer. “J.J. was very specific about what he wanted; he wanted one of the creatures to be red because it would look cool and be a great contrast to the white snow. The second thing he wanted was for it to have several eyes just so it was kind of freaky and scary. J.J. also wanted the creature to have a month that was extremely off-putting, not because you’d be afraid of being bitten by it, but that it might touch or dribble on you.

“If you study enough about biology and animals you can kind of reverse engineer a number of things into a plausible organism. That’s where it’s helpful to have a pretty broad understanding of several different animals as well as zoology and physics, because you’ll be able to take some really wacky concept and make it work by having all these other reference points. So I didn’t have much trouble with the color of the red creature because there are plenty of things in the ocean that are red, such as crabs, lobsters and the Humboldt squid. The creature is actually a cross between a crab and a squid, and it wasn’t necessarily that I thought of that as a means to hybridize something, but this thing just evolved to a point where it started to look like that. So I thought, ‘I can reference those two animals and tap into a little bit more of their physiology.’

“There are those who question the red color, but the important thing to remember is that this creature is most comfortable in the water, much like a squid would be. It only breaks through the ice for the occasional desperate feeding. That was my rationale, and it actually does make sense; animals do occasionally breach or leave their normal habitat when they’re incredibly hungry. However, there have been a lot of fans of the film that really objected to the fact that it was red, but when you know what its origins are, then it potentially makes sense.

“The fact that this creature doesn’t have fur is also another [deliberate] choice. A lot of whales don’t have fur, but rather excess blubber. It might sound as if I’m justifying things, but I’m trying to explain the fact that it’s an alien planet, so anything should go. But we have a critical Earth audience looking at the movie, some of whom saying, ‘I don’t know if I’d buy that [creature] because it’s red, doesn’t have fur and it’s skinny.’ Well, crabs somehow get away with it, and so do lobsters. There’s no fur on a lobster, so who’s to say that this creature isn’t some sort of hybrid endo-exo-skeletal thing. The most important thing for J.J. is that he just wants it to be cool for the moment so people enjoy the ride. My job is to make sure that it [the creature] is viable enough so fans and other people who may scrutinize it don’t feel insulted or gypped. But I must ask, why does no one question the survivability of the passengers on a ship that leaps instantly to warp speed? It’s all simply entertainment.”

The Polarilla creature from Star Trek XI. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Those who saw the Star Trek film and also, coincidentally, have an aversion to insects, probably had to look away when Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) is tortured for tactical data by Captain Nero (Eric Bana) of the Romulan mining ship Narada, and forced to swallow the mind-controlling bug. Page was the brains behind the look of that particular creepy crawly.

“That little bug was kind of an homage to the earwig that was in [the second Star Trek film] The Wrath of Khan, in that something bug-like is being put inside you that’s going to mess with your mind,” he says. “I felt it would have been far creepier to put it into an orifice that you wouldn’t normally put something in, but we were limited to orifices that were PG [rated],” jokes Page. “So ears and nostrils would have been it. I just thought that putting it in the mouth was, maybe, more like eating it, and not as unnerving.

“We did our level best to make it look upsetting, but I think most people are so bug-phobic that just having a bug near someone’s mouth was frightening enough. I really did want this one to be more like an earwig, which is why I made the tail earwig-like. J.J. was very specific, though, about wanting these claws and little tentacles that would make it look as if it has the capacity, once inside the body, to engage with the spinal cord or lower brainstem.

“So the design challenge was partially just arriving at the appropriate esthetic, but on top of that, we knew that we didn’t have the funds to do a full digital effect and that it had to be a practical on-set one. That meant we had to have something we could actually control animatronically, and that dictated a certain kind of body mass to fit the electronics into. A Japanese gentleman, in fact, made a robot that was tiny enough, or should I say microscopic enough, to go inside a rubber version of our bug. That’s what you see on-screen, this little remote-controlled bug on the end of barbecue tongs. It was quite incredible.”

Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation are well aware that its Klingons as well as Romulans looked very different from those seen in the classic Star Trek series. An effort was made in Star Trek: Enterprise to explain the change in the Klingons’ appearance, and the same thing was done in the new Star Trek movie with regard to the Romulans, including Eric Bana’s Nero.

“The Next Generation Romulans had the V-shaped prosthetic on their forehead, but in the original show, they had absolutely no prosthetics,” explains Page. “So we had to come up with a way to justify how it is that over time, some of them developed the V and others did not. For that, I worked with Joel Harlow, who did a lot of the make-up for Pirates of the Caribbean, and was the head make-up artist for the Romulans specifically. The idea I had involved a bald head and therefore shaving it completely, but in order to convince Eric Bana of this, we needed to do a make-up test first. We didn’t have the budget to hire another actor or a model for this, so I ‘donated’ my head to the cause. We would shave my head, Joel would then do the make-up test on me, and if J.J. liked it, we would move forward and create the look for Eric.

“As far as the concept of getting that V-shape to work, I went with tribal scarification,” continues the designer. “If you scar yourself over and over again in the same place, over time it turns into a keloid mass. I thought it would be interesting if we could use that to create the natural V justification. So we put together an array of designs that Harlow sculpted to replicate that look, and we had a number of tattoo and hair ideas as well. In the end, what you see in the movie is not unlike the basic concept that I wore in our presentation to J.J. The final design, however, has more character nuances in it; there’s a scar on Nero’s face, because I always liked the idea of chopping his ear off to make it look like he’s even half of the Romulan he used to be. Ultimately, J.J. decided to make it more of a bite that Nero probably got while he was imprisoned with the Klingons.”

The original scarring went through a bit of a metamorphosis before filming began, but Abrams liked the design that Page first tested, so much so that he asked him if he would like to play a Romulan in the film. The designer wasted no time in accepting the offer. “I joke with people that that was my plan all along as a child, that I wanted to be a movie star. However, I had a whole different way of achieving that. It would be through the backdoor. I’d study design for years and work and work and then finally get my break while testing the make-up. It was a very strategic and circuitous path,” he says with a laugh, “but now that I am a huge celebrity, wasn’t it all worth it? Although J.J. did say, ‘Keep your day job.’ What could he have meant?

“Seriously, the best part about doing it was two-fold. I had to go through the make-up process many times, including having to wear full scleral contact lenses. They aren’t just the small lenses that cover the iris, but the ones that extend over the eye in all directions. I can’t stand the idea of contact lenses, but I thought, ‘If I’m going to be designing this stuff for people, I should at least know what I’m asking them to subject themselves to.’

“So seeing the sculptors interpreting my designs and then seeing the make-up applied step-by-step was, for me, not only fun, but also a wonderful education in the hope that I do more work like it. The other get part was getting to be on the other side of the camera. I’ve been around long enough to know what that’s like as a designer, but being ‘an actor’ on-set and watching them direct me and everyone else was another amazing learning experience.”

Caudal luring - a personal project of Neville Page. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Carnivor glow - a Mattel concept illustration. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page

Besides Star Trek, Page’s other recent work includes Watchmen and Tron 2.0, the sequel to the 1982 Sci-Fi film Tron. “I started off designing a bit of everything [for Tron 2.0] with everyone else, but I quickly gravitated towards the costumes,” he says. “From there, I ended up moving from the art department to costumes and developing the hero and specialty costumes. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but it’s a hard thing to break into because it’s a totally different department.

“I recently came back from Vancouver where I watched some of the shooting [for Tron 2.0] and, my God, it looks really good. From the last script I read, I think it’s going to be an interesting film with some neat twists, and aesthetically it’s looking phenomenal. It’s right up there with James Cameron’s Avatar in terms of delivering really fresh and new imagery on-screen. If you watch the original Tron now, it’s important to note what a major achievement that it was then, and at the helm of it all was Steve Lisberger. He was the original director and conceiver of Tron and one of the producers for the new movie. Lisberger is very involved in the production and it was cool to see him and the new director, Joe Kosinski, brainstorming. It’s one of the more exciting projects I’ve ever been on.”

While some people who work in film and/or TV might take it for granted, Page sees his involvement in the business as very much the opposite. He is also happy for the chance to give back something to audiences. “When I sat watching Star Wars as a kid, my parents were going through a divorce, and the movie was an amazing escape for me,” he says. “It’s sad to say that R2D2 was my therapist at age 12. Having said that, whenever I meet someone who is moved by something I’ve done in the same way I was moved by Joe Johnston [Star Wars effects illustrator/designer] and Ralph McQuarrie [Star Wars production illustrator], that’s when it really hits home that what you do is relevant. And it’s such a priviledge to be able to do that.”

Steve Eramo

As noted above, all photos courtesy of and copyright of Neville Page, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Fringe’s Leonard Nimoy – For Whom The Bell Tolls

Leonard Nimoy as Fringe's William Bell. Photo copyright of Fox Television

IN the original Star Trek series, Leonard Nimoy’s character of Mr. Spock had to figure out a way to help his fellow crewmates get back from an alternate universe in the second season episode Mirror, Mirror. Now, years later, the actor is playing another character, Fringe‘s William Bell, who apparently has information about a parallel universe. Introduced in the season one finale, There’s More Than One of Everything, Bell returned in the recently telecast year two episode Momentum Deferred, which shed some light on Agent Olivia Dunham’s (Anna Torv) past and her alternate-reality encounter. Nimoy has already reprised his role for an upcoming episode, which will hopefully reveal more of Bell’s true motives.

Earlier this month, Mr. Nimoy joined me and other journalists on a conference call to discuss his work on Fringe as well as his acting career in general. An edited version of that Q & A follows. Enjoy!

Did you have any reservations about taking on another role with the potential of such a fanatic following?

LEONARD NIMOY - I love this question. I can’t help but laugh because you’re absolutely right. It’s an interesting set of circumstances. What attracted me to it were several things – J.J. Abrams, Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who I worked with on the Star Trek movie. I admire their talents and the work that they do. The series is at the very least to say intriguing. The character of William Bell was somewhat of a blank slate, but we began talking about it, and it was attractive to me because there was an opportunity to build an interesting and unpredictable character. I’m enjoying it a lot.

So lately it seems as if you’re J.J. Abrams’ muse of sorts. Can you tell us a little bit more about your relationship with him?

LN - Well, I first met him, I guess about three years ago when he first contacted me about the possibility of working together, and I went to a meeting with him, Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman as well as some of his production staff. They told me a very good, strong and touching story about their feelings surrounding Star Trek and, specifically, the Spock character. And that gave me a sense of validation after all these years. I had been out of it [Trek] for some time, as you’re probably aware. There were several Star Trek TV series and movies in which I was not involved, so this was a re-validation of the work we’d done on the original Star Trek. I felt very good about it and went to work for them. I had a great time doing the [Star Trek X1] movie. I think they did a brilliant job, and the audience response shows that that was the case and has reinvigorated the franchise. So when they contacted me about doing Fringe – with the same creative team and attitude - it was very enticing.

Had you seen Fringe? Were you a fan of the show prior to that?

LN - I watched it periodically and think it’s extremely well-done. It’s very nuanced and complex. It’s a mixture of Science and Science-Fiction in an interesting and intelligent way. It tells a terribly compelling story, and the character that I was offered was potentially an extremely intriguing, controversial and fascinating one, which is very inviting for an actor.

I was wondering how you felt about the current state of Science-Fiction on TV and film?

LN - Well, I’m concerned about the positioning of story in terms of importance. When I see a lot of explosions and chases, I’m not terribly impressed. I think there are three important elements that must be given priority in Science-Fiction as well as any other kind of drama. The first is story, the second is story, and the third is story. Story, story, story, story, story. If the story is compelling and interesting, I think the rest will find its place. We have great technology in our industry, and that technology can be overused at the expense of story. That’s a problem for me, but when the story is in place, I think the special effects can find their proper place as well. Fringe uses the technology brilliantly and in the service of excellent storytelling.

Are there any other projects you’re currently involved with?

LN - I’m doing a lot of photography work. That’s one of my major creative outlets right now. I have an exhibition, Secret Selves, which is opening at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art next year and I’m really excited about that. Check out my website – LeonardNimoyPhotography.com

You had not been acting for a while, and then you’ve done Star Trek and Fringe pretty recently together. Having stepped away for a while and then returned, are your feelings about acting what they were, or have they changed?

LN - Well, I’m enjoying it. I’m very comfortable in the two offers that I’ve accepted. The Star Trek movie was a joy to do. I admire the production team that made the film, and I admire the new cast, too. Zachary Quinto, I thought, was a great choice for the new Spock and it was a pleasure to work with him and all the other people on the project. The Fringe character was intriguing because, as I’ve mentioned, it was kind of a blank slate and we had some very interesting and intense conversations about what we might or might not learn from him, and what we might or might not trust about him. These are fascinating opportunities for an actor, and they came from a group of people I had respect for. They piqued my interest and I went back to work. Frankly, I did not expect to be acting so much at this time in my life. My concentration was on my photography, but I’m having a wonderful time doing it.

After your role on Star Trek, your projects weighed heavily towards the Sci-Fi genre. Were you always a big fan of Sci-Fi?

LN - Well, it’s a good thing if you can find your niche as an actor and be able to support a family. Very early on – I’m talking many, many years ago, probably 1950 or 51 – I acted in my first Science-Fiction project, and I’ve since acted in Science-Fiction over the years. That first project is probably not terribly well-know. I thought it was going to rocket me to stardom, if you’ll pardon the expression. It didn’t quite work. It was a great project called Zombies of the Stratosphere, and I was the third of a group of zombies that came to Earth to take over its orbit. It’s funny as I think about it now, but it was a way of making a living. Science-Fiction seems to be a fertile ground for the kind of work that I do, the kind of presence that I offer, and I’m grateful for it and the niche it’s given me.

Have they mentioned anything about their needs for you on an upcoming Star Trek movie?

LN - My understanding is that they’re working on a script right now. I expect there’s going to be some time before they know exactly who and what they need. I frankly doubt, though, that I will be called upon again. I think I was useful in the last film to help bridge the gap between the original characters, the original actors, and the new cast. They have a wonderful new cast in place now and I’m sure they’ll move ahead with them. So I don’t see why they would need me in the next film, although if they called me, I’d be happy to have a conversation about it.

Your character of William Bell believes the world has “soft spots” – do you believe in this as well?

LN - What the show deals with in this wonderfully intriguing way is a question of an alternate universe through which one can slip through from one universe to another. I’ve been involved in stories of this kind before. I did a series called In Search Of…some years ago in which we dealt with subject matter like this. In terms of whether it’s scientifically accurate, I think that’s a question you’d have to ask people like Stephen Hawking.I’m not a scientist, and I can’t really tell you whether or not there is a soft spot where you could slip through to another world, but I think the Fringe series deals with that idea in a very intriguing way.

Do you believe William Bell is good or evil?

LN - That’s a really wonderful question. Time will tell.

What sort of acting challenges have you found playing the William Bell character?

LN - Well, the first thing was some wonderful and creative conversations that I had with J. J. Abrams, Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman as well as Jeff Pinkner, who’s the show runner, to try to create from scratch a character that’s never been seen before, but only been referred to. There are certain things that were a given, including that he’s a power figure and a very wealthy and obviously terribly intelligent man with a scientific background. But in terms of characteristics, we started from scratch, and I think in the episode that recently aired [Momentum Deferred], a lot more of those characteristics were made evident. It’s great fun to be building the character from scratch, with certain givens, but so much to be developed as well in terms of the way he talks, walks, idiosyncracies, his tastes, is he difficult, is he gruff, is he charming, is he a nice guy, what are his real intentions? All of these are great exploration for an actor.

Can you talk a little bit about your love of photography and where that comes from?

LN - I became enamored of photography when I was about 13 or 14 years old and I’ve been at it ever since. I studied seriously in the 70′s and have a Masters degree in photography as a fine art. I would call my work primarily conceptual. I don’t carry cameras with me where I go. I get an idea of a subject matter I want to deal with and then I pull out my cameras. I have published two books – one is called Shekhina about the feminine aspect of God, and the second is called The Full Body Project, which deals with body images in our society.

You had your scene with Olivia (Anna Torv) in the recent episode; did you get a chance to meet any of the other actors and, if so, did you form an opinion of them?

LN - No, I have not worked with the others, only Anna so far. I think she does a wonderful job in the show, they all do, and I’m looking forward to meeting and working with the rest of the cast. They’re all very talented people and I admire the work they do.

What do you think of Anna Torv as an actor and a person?

LN - I think she’s really excellent in the role. We spent a bit of time working together and I was impressed with the way she works. I’ve seen quite a bit of her work on the screen. I think she handles a wide range of activities, from internalized psychological questions to all sorts of physical stuff, quite well. She’s extremely competent and interesting to watch. I think she’s terrific.

Have you found that there’s anything different in the way TV is done these days or what it requires of you as an actor, or is that aspect of the work still pretty much the same?

LN - I think it’s safe to say that what an audience is seeing today onscreen in a TV episode is far more complex than what we were doing when, for example, making the original Star Trek series in the 60′s. We were very heavy on pages and pages of dialogue and very little special effects, but because the technology has advanced so greatly, it’s possible to do some very complex, exciting and very useful technical stuff on a show these days. So we don’t have to rely quite as much on the story being told by the actors speaking. On the other hand, there’s a danger, as I mentioned earlier, of going too far with the special effects at the expense of the story. However, if the story is well done, if the story is in place strongly, the special effects can be enormously helpful to the actors, far more so than they were years ago when we were doing Star Trek. Delivering exposition is the toughest part of the job, and if it can be done visually and physically, it’s a big help.

Looking to the future, do you have any goals in mind, any invisible timeline where you just want to get out of the spotlight and retire, focus on photography, etc.

LN - I thought I had reached that point some years ago. I like to think about myself as an oceanliner that’s been going full speed for a long distance, and the captain pulls the throttle back all the way to “stop,” but the ship doesn’t stop immediately, does it? It has its own momentum and keeps on going, and I’m very flattered that people are still finding me useful. I try to pick my spots so that I have a balance between the work and my personal life, which I enjoy very much. I don’t know that I would actually any longer say, ‘No, I’m going to stop, 10, 12, 15 months or two years from now.’ I don’t know. I still feel strong and healthy and active, and as long as there’s interesting work to do, I’ll probably keep on doing it.

As noted above, photo is copright of Fox Television, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Sonita Henry – The Doctor Is In

The smart, witty, talented and beautiful Sonita Henry. Photo courtesy of and copyright of JSquared Photography

Most people have at one time or another received a phone call that has changed their lives, hopefully for the better. That is definitely true for actress Sonita Henry, who can be seen in U.S. movie theaters this Friday in the highly-anticipated Star Trek feature film. “About a half-hour or so before I found out that I’d be auditioning for Star Trek, I was talking on the phone with a friend of mine,” recalls Henry. “I said to my friend, ‘If I could just meet J.J. Abrams [Trek director/producer], everything would work out,’ and then I got a call telling me I had an audition for what was then known as ‘the untitled J.J. Abrams project.’

“When I arrived at Paramount Studios there were a number of people who were there to read as well – men and women, all ages, sizes and races. We were each handed exactly the same scene to read, which involved one of the ship’s crew giving out basic instructions. You had between 10 and 15 minutes to look at the material before auditioning. They put us on tape, and from there it’s usually a matter of whether or not you get a callback. If you do, then you go back and do it all over again.

“In this case, though, they [the film's producers and casting director, April Webster] made their decisions right from the tapes and then called whoever they wanted to book. What a terrific call to get. The thing is, though, being a working actor, when you receive a call like that, you don’t really hear the words ‘Star Trek‘ at first, but just that they want to book you. You think, ‘Cool, I’ve got another job.’ Then it dawns on you weeks later, or for me it was my first day on-set that I thought, ‘Oh, my God, this is Star Trek!”’

In Star Trek, Henry plays a doctor, but not just any futuristic medical practitioner. Her character is, in fact, the physician who delivers James Tiberius Kirk (portrayed in the movie by Chris Pine, but first made famous by William Shatner) into the world. That, however, is about all the actress knows about her Trek alter ego.

“We don’t know if she’s human or alien. They didn’t really tell me,” says Henry. “I pretty much look like me, although I have freckles, which they covered with make-up. Then they drew dots on my face so that a computer could register those and play with my features [in post-production].

“The biggest challenge I had with playing this character was keeping my energy level up, because the scenes I’m in are very high-energy. Even though the set might be perfectly quiet, you had to imagine in the back of your mind that things were exploding around you and people could be dying. So you had to try your best to live that moment even thought it was deadly silent on-set.

“And the thing is, we were never given a complete script, but just the sides [dialogue] for the days that we were shooting, and every morning we had to sign them out and every evening sign them back in. So you never really knew where you were within the context of the story. That was a little bit confusing, but because J.J. Abrams is such a talented and gifted director, he’d sit with us and explain what was happening in a scene and what was going to happen right afterwards. That was a huge help as it at least gave you a sense of the timeline.” 

Sonita Henry. Photo courtesy of and copyright of JSquared Photography

Looking back at Henry’s inaugural day on the Trek set, it was all-go for her. “We were shooting out at Long Beach Power Station, and there was myself, Jennifer Morrison, who plays Winona Kirk, KelvinYu, who plays one of the med techs, and another actor, whose name escapes me at the moment, I’m afraid, playing a second med tech,” says the actress. “We were basically running full-speed down a corridor, stunt people running in the opposite direction, with things exploding and sparks flying everywhere. I had so much [styling] product in my hair and all I could think was, ‘Oh, no, my first day working with J.J. Abrams and I’m going to go up in flames, I just know it,’” jokes Henry.

“We did a number of takes, and during one of them the timing was totally off. We left too late, so did the stunt people, and one of the biggest stuntmen ran full-speed right into Kelvin, who went flying into the air. Of course, there was that moment of, ‘Oh,crap,’ and everyone came running up to Kelvin to make sure that he was all right, which he was, thank goodness.

“What I remember most about the entire shoot was being nervous and wanting to do a good job. There was also the secrecy surrounding the film. We wore these over-sized trench coats and were driven around in golf carts covered with little tents so that people couldn’t see us. On the second day, the paparazzi managed to find us, which was amusing. Someone must have tipped them off because you just don’t turn up at Long Beach Power Station hoping to find actors filming a movie or whatever.”

The actress chuckles when talking about the actual “birthing” scene she shot with Jennifer Morrison. “I’m sure it’s not as uncomfortable as having to do a love scene, but it’s right up there,” muses Henry. “That was an interesting day and, I think, the same day that Leonard Nimoy [Spock] visited the set along with Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth, the Australian actor who plays Kirk’s father [George]. They hadn’t started shooting yet, but you could feel the energy and excitement about being involved in this amazing project.”

Having a mom who was a huge fan of old Hollywood movies, Henry was brought up watching Audrey Hepburn films until, according to the actress, she could quote them by the age of seven. Not surprisingly, Henry longed to one day work in the industry, but her dreams had to be postponed for a bit. “I grew up in a very small town in England, and you just didn’t do that [act] for a living,” she says. “You did community theater, and that’s fine on the weekends, but otherwise you had a ‘real’ job.

Sonita Henry. Photo courtesy of and copyright of JSquared Photography

“So I put acting in the back of my mind and figured that I’d be an English teacher. Then, however, I went to college and graduated with a degree in journalism and media studies, which encompassed film, so I thought I’d try to get a job as a journalist. I moved to New York and interviewed with newspapers as well as [TV] networks, but one day I decided, ‘I really had fun doing The Fifth Element; I think I’m going to become an actor.’ Having made up my mind, I threw myself into acting school and began studying, and I’m still studying. You never stop. There’s always something to learn. So from English teacher to journalist to actor, and here I am today.”

It was while still in college that Henry made her professional debut playing the President’s Aide in the aforementioned 1997 Sci-Fi movie The Fifth Element. “I had done a tiny bit of modeling and really didn’t enjoy it,” notes the actress. “Then one day I found this ad in a magazine saying that [writer/director] Luc Besson was looking for people for his latest movie.

“I’d studied Luc Besson’s work in film class and thought he was a genius. Funnily enough, it was my Mom who sent my picture to him and I ended up getting a call from the casting director asking me to come in for an audition. So I went down to London, met with the casting director, and a couple of weeks later I was told that Luc Besson wanted to meet me. We met at Pinewood Studios and he offered me the role while I was there. Of course, that’s not how you typically get an acting job, but in my mind it was. I took two weeks off from college, shot the movie, then returned to school and finished getting my degree. I enjoyed doing the film, but didn’t think any more of it until I had moved to New York, and you know what happened next.”

Besides Star Trek, Henry is also working on a video game, the specifics of which she has to keep under wraps for the moment. “I would love to tell you all about it because it’s going to be so much fun,” she enthuses. “I get to do motion capture work, which I’ve never done before, where you wear the suit with all the weird dots on it. So my character is going to look like me, move like me and sound like me. It’s not anything to do with Star Trek, but it is Sci-Fi and a really well-known video game.”

Sonita Henry. Photo courtesy of and copyright of JSquared Photography

Although the actress is new to the Trek world, she has already received a warm response from the franchise’s many fans. “Before any details about my character were revealed, people were trying to guess who I was, and that was a neat thread to read on the [Internet] forums,” says the actress. “The overall response so far from fans about the movie seems to be 50/50. Some of them don’t think it should have been made, while others are really looking forward to it.

“So I’m sure it’s an interesting time for J.J. Abrams, but I know he’s trying to reach as broad an audience as possible. I’m hoping the fans will be happy and that they’ll be curious about my character, especially because of the fact that she’s the first one to hold, touch, whatever you want to call it, James T. Kirk. I just think that’s pretty cool in the arc of Captain Kirk and the Star Trek lore.”

Steve Eramo

As noted above, all photographs courtesy of and copyright of JSquared Photography, so please no copying or unauthorized duplicating of any form. Thanks!