Celebrityscraps

So the 4th chapter of Heroes is now upon us. I watched the first episode of ‘Fugitives’ last week ,and have only just had the chance to write about it.

The whole plot is now revolving around our super powered heroes being rounded up in a Guantanamo Gay type situation (Orange jumpsuits and all!) to keep them away from normal people for public safety.

The whole plot evolution looks better for this chapter. Let hope they don’t include any of the numerous paradoxes that the time-travel aspect brought in on the last season.

When I was at the MCM Expo in London last year I was able to speak to Greg Grunberg about the new chapter. He couldn’t reveal much as but did say that we’ll see a different side to a few of the characters!

Still if you ignore the plot holes in chapters 2 and 3, Heroes is still an awesome watch and in my book one of the best on TV!

Continuing my chronicles at the MCM Expo we’ve already heard what Greg Grunberg had to say, the next member of the Heroes cast I got to quiz at the Expo was Brea Grant.

For those of you who have just been released from 6 months of solitary; Brea is one of the new cast members in Heroes, she plays a thief called Daphne who is a girl who can run very VERY fast.

So the first time I heard the name Brea Grant was in an announcement of the new additions to the Heroes cast many moons ago. Then as the hype for the new season ramped up I started searching the new additions and to my surprise found that Brea is one of the few actors who is fully immersed in online culture. She’s on Facebook, Blogs, Webcasts, and regularly uses Twitter.

This heavy use of social media and level of transparency has made Brea one of the new favourites of the Heroes cast and she’s established a huge fan-base through the many different channels she’s using to promote herself and Heroes. You can tell her fans deeply appreciate the personal touch she brings to them too.

A big shout must also go out to Laura Roeder as well as she is the person responsible for keeping the online world of Brea running as it should.

Anyway… so my first questions to Brea went out to her in the group Q&A.

First she talked a bit about her character:

Brea: “From the moment I walked in they (the Writers) had a very brilliant idea for the character pretty much mapped out for at least the first four or so episodes to see what was going to happen. That’s been amazing just going in…. the writers are geniuses and they are always there for me to talk to them and ask questions like ‘why would Daphne do this?’. My character was pretty much shaped before I even set foot on the set”

Greg jumps in and adds:

Greg: “You usually don’t get an idea of what’s coming until you get the script, but they called me up and said will you come read on some of these final auditions… and so I did. So they did a scene where where we first meet and we (Greg and Brea) had a scene together. It was great to do that cos when we auditioned i was like ‘please…PLEASE…She’s fantastic!’ *point at Brea*”

I then got to ask a 2nd question:

Patrick: “Out of all the Heroes cast you use blogs and online technology quite heavily. Do you find this important to relate to your fans?”

Brea’: “I think it’s important to be able to use my blog to let people know what’s going on. It’s great to be able to get questions from people all over the world and be able to respond. I also think it adds a personal touch and that’s important.”

Patrick: “The people reading your blog seem to think so. I also noticed that you’re a regular user of twitter and that you recently got Greg (Grunberg) involved”

Brea: “Yea… there’s a funny story behind that.. we were stuck at the airport and I set Greg up on Twitter but forgot to disable the email you get when people add you on it.”

*Greg jumps into the conversation*

Greg: “So my email’s got like 1000 emails in it by the time I get off the plane. Which I only discover when I turn on my phone! …and just to make matters worse when I was coming out they asked If I wanted to upgrade my data package and I was like ,…Naaah I’ll be fine… what am I gonna download on my phone while I’m there…” *makes a painful face*

Brea: “I felt bad about that”

I didn’t get any more questions over to Brea in the Q&A session but managed to speak to her just before she was being made shiny and glam by the make-up girls. As it was an informal chat I went with an different line of question:

Patrick: “So Brea.. are you missing your dog?”

*see Brea’s Twitter for cute dog pics*

Brea: “I am… she’s being looked after by a friend at the moment.. although I’m a bit worried… last time I came back and she’d been in a fight with a raccoon.”

Patrick: “Really!? A raccoon?”

Brea: “Yeah she had a bite on her. It’s wasn’t nice”

That was about all I got to ask Brea at the Expo. I did have a bit of a chat with her and Greg at the autograph table later but nothing noteworthy although I must admit I did see something funny transpire. One guy was taking pics of Brea at the autograph table for ages… even the people getting autographs were telling him to stop… so Brea gets out her camera and takes a pic of him… raised a few laughs although you had to be there.

Anyway… Brea Grant the Speedster Semi-Villain (not made up my mind yet) from Heroes.

She’s was lovely to meet, and you should check her blog out at http://www.Breagrant.com

I’m sitting in the corner of a small room located in the press office of the Excel centre in London waiting for the some of the cast of Heroes to arrive for a Q&A session. Looking at the line of chairs up against the wall I can’t help but draw a contrast between what I’m seeing and the classic ‘firing squad’ image… then I relalise that I’m playing the role of the marksman…. too late to back out now… they are arriving….

Greg Grunberg rolls into the room followed by Brea Grant, David H Lawrence, Ken Lally and Andre Royo. Within seconds Greg has already destroyed a camera stand. A grin creeps across my face as I realise this is not going to be the standard rigid press affair I choose to tolerate.

After the rest of the group has asked their questions and the press Q&A starts to wrap up I decide now is my time to corner ‘Grunny’ for a decent chat.

My first question was obviously… “Do you think you’re death in the film Hollow Man could have been better?”

Greg rolls into this one with ease:

“Man so much more could have been done with that film. The guy goes invisible and what’s the first thing he does?… goes and feels up a bunch of women, then goes crazy and kills people. So much more could have been done with that film. When he’s driving and scares the kids in the other car *Greg imitates the scene*, that’s the type of stuff that we should have been doing!…. and I’d have loved to be in the sequel too… but … oh… wait…. that’s right I’m dead!”

Suddenly my chat with Greg is cut short by one of the events personnel whisking him off to the main press office. I follow and after some ninja like sneakery I’m back to talking to Greg in the press office while the events staff work out how to get him out of there without getting mobbed by 30,000 fans.

So next we get chatting about his celebrity band. For any of you who don’t know Greg’s band is called “Band from TV” and all of the members are actors from various TV Shows.

The band’s members are Greg Grunberg (Drums), James Denton (Guitar), Jesse Spencer (Violin), Bonnie Sommerville (Vocals), Bob Guiney (Vocals), Teri Hatcher (vocals), Adrian Pasdar (Guitar) and Hugh Laurie (Keyboards).

I ask Greg if he’s planning to do any gigs in the UK, he replies: “Man we really wanna get that happening. Hugh was saying he wants to do a few performances in the UK… we’re working on it.”

At this point I committed to plugging the band on this blog (again) so as a man of my word - ALL OF YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT BAND FROM TV’S ALBUM “HOGGIN ALL THE COVERS“. IT’S FOR CHARITY SO IF YOU DON’T BUY IT I’LL BE POSTING YOUR NAMES TO GREG AND YOU WILL BE ‘ON HIS LIST‘.

Ok so now that I’ve plugged the band we can get back to the interview/chat. So we’re talking about the band and Brea comes down to get herself made up by the lovely make-up girls (who had been up since 4am - unlucky girls). Our conversation then goes a bit like this:

Patrick: “Hey man you should get Brea in on the band action”
Greg: “yeah I just found out she’s a drummer… she plays drums!”
Patrick: “You’re a drummer!”
Greg: “You know it’d be great to get her in for a song… like she comes on and sits on the drums and I sing a song that’d be huge”
Patrick: “Yeah or you could be on the drums and get her on the Bongos or something”
Greg: “Definatly!.. watch this space”

So there you have it.. now all Greg has to do is get Brea to agree… but I doubt that’ll be hard for him.

We then move on to the subject of mind reading… I ask him where he got the inspiration for the unique look on his face when he’s reading minds on Heroes. His response “Yea… cos if someone came up to you and did it *makes the face* you’d be like - what are you looking at?”

He then proceeds to fill me in on a few Heroes season 3 spoilers which I’m not gonna publish. Sorry peeps!

We then briefly move on to the subject of Twitter. Greg has gone Twitter mad since he was introduced to it last thursday and he loves the fact he can keep all his fans up to date with all his movements. Check Greg’s Twitter: HERE

So that’s it. Greg Grunberg at the MCM Expo and what a nice guy he is too! Again.. buy “Band from TV’s album!” It’s for charity!

COMING SOON: What Brea Grant has to say on Blogging, Auditions and raccoon attacks.

I’m recovering from my grueling weekend of madness. On Saturday I covered the MCM Expo (UK’s version of ComicCon) and caught up with Greg Grunberg and Brea Grant from ‘Heroes‘, Michael Hogan from ‘Battlestar Galactica‘, and also spoke to the cast and production staff for ‘Primeval‘ and new series ‘Demons’. The event was huge and even caught the attention of the police who turned up in force when they noticed the huge queue of 30,000 attendees snaking it’s way round the Excel centre in London.

On Sunday I rambled over to Wembley Stadium to check out the NFL International match between the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers…. and it was a cracker!

Keep a keen eye out as I’ll be posting my adventures at both throughout the week.

Brea’s Twitter cottoned me on to Greg Grunberg from Heroes/Alias/Felicity joining Twitter last night while stuck at the airport.

This was a read that made me chuckle but also piped me into something that hasn’t reached my UK based ears.

Our good man “Grunny” frontlines a celebrity cover band called “Band from TV”. The group donates all it’s profits to charity and so is a great cause.

I’m ordering a copy of their DVD as we speak so will let you know whether Grunny’s drumming is up to scratch!

So please go and buy a copy as it’s for charity!

oh P.S. Grunny… you now owe Brea a pint.

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So I’ve been speaking to a few bloggers in the US and it seems that they are experiencing the same influx of continuing television series as we are here in the UK.

So far my week is consisting of Work…. inter-spaced with Heroes, Prison Break, Supernatural, The Unit, Fringe, Dexter and the New Knight Rider series. So most of my evenings are either spent on social or TV.

With the upcoming release of the new season of Battlestar Galactica and the TV film 24:Redemption there’s certainly a lot to contend with.

StillIi guess this is all making up for the long and painful WGA strike.



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Heroes star Ali Larter is engaged to marry actor Hayes MacArthur.

“They got engaged this weekend,” Larter’s rep told Usmagazine.com. “They’re overjoyed!”

This will be the first marriage for both MacArthur, 30, and Larter, 31, a former fashion model.

In July, Larter told Usmagazine.com: “Things are amazing. I feel so blessed to be on a show where I’m creatively stimulated, to be in a relationship where I feel stimulated! It’s amazing. It’s a nice time in my life.”

Congratz Ali… don’t forget my wedding invitation!

Well lets face it… when you have the ability to turn yourself into a nuke at will you’re gonna come out on top.. no amount of body tattoos are gonna help you there…
I’d have like to say that Prison Break would have won as i’m a big fan of it… but Heroes has a Cooler bag guy and a hot chearleader…. what more do you need….

HEROES WINS!

Heroes is an American science fiction drama television series, created by Tim Kring, which premiered on NBC on September 25, 2006. The show tells the story of several people who “thought they were like everyone else… until they realized they have incredible abilities” such as telepathy, time travel, flight and spontaneous regeneration. These people soon realize they have a role in preventing a catastrophe and saving mankind. The series emulates the writing style of American comic books with short, multi-episode story arcs that build upon a larger, more encompassing arc. Kring said “we have talked about where the show goes up to five seasons.”

When the series premiered in the United States, it was the night’s most-watched program among adults aged 18–49, attracting 14.3 million viewers overall and receiving the highest rating for any NBC drama premiere in five years. The second season of Heroes will consist of 24 episodes, and the first season of a new spinoff, Heroes: Origins, will include six episodes. The second season premiered on September 24, 2007 with Heroes: Origins expected to air in April and May of 2008.

So that’s the back story and a few facts, but what about the show itself?? I like the idea of one superhero who inherits the abilities of every other “Hero” he comes into contact with. It leaves the possibility of an Uber Hero who never gets boring. To be honest though they need to do something extra special with Season 2 as in my opinion the end of season 1 was a huge anticlimax with a very lame fight at the end.

Prison Break was premiered in the US by the “Fox” Broadcasting Company on August 29, 2005. The story revolves around a man who was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit and his brother’s elaborate plan to help him escape his death sentence. Created by Paul Scheuring, the show is produced by Adelstein-Parouse Productions in association with Original Television and 20th Century Fox Television. The current executive producers are Paul Scheuring, Matt Olmstead, Kevin Hooks, Marty Adelstein, Dawn Parouse, Neal Moritz and Brett Ratner. Its theme music is composed by Ramin Djawadi, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2006.

Currently, two seasons of the show have been fully aired. Due to its immense popularity in its key demographics, the show was renewed by Fox for a third season (currently being aired at the moment), even though it was originally conceived to have only two seasons. The uniqueness of Prison Break is attributed to its serialized story structure, a similar format used by Lost and 24, and to its setting, as very few television series were primarily set and filmed in a prison. Its success and recognition as a prison drama revived interest in the genre.

The original concept of Prison Break—a man deliberately getting himself sent to prison in order to help someone else escape—was suggested to Paul Scheuring by producer Dawn Parouse, who wanted to produce an action-oriented series. Although Scheuring thought it was a good idea, he was initially stumped as to why someone would embark on such a mission or how he could develop it into a viable television show. He came up with the story of the wrongfully accused brother, and began working on the plot outline and devising the characters. In 2003, he pitched the idea to the Fox Broadcasting Company but was turned down as Fox felt nervous about the long-term possibilities of such a series. He subsequently showed the concept to other channels but was also turned down as it was thought to be more suited for a film project than a television series. Prison Break was later considered as a possible 14-part miniseries, which drew the interest of Steven Spielberg before his departure due to his involvement with War of the Worlds. Thus, the miniseries never materialized. Following the huge popularity of serialized prime time television series such as Lost and 24, the Fox Network had a change of heart and backed the production in 2004. The pilot episode was filmed a year after Scheuring wrote the script and five months later, the show was picked up as a series.

I’m a huge fan of Prison Break… more so than Heroes as the program seems to keep going down different directions and always seems to deliver that OMG! factor that few shows are able to recreate.. this is also something I feel Heroes has done to some level but not to the degree that Prison Break succeeds.

So what would happen if we pit Peter Petrelli and Co. VS the best problem solving mind (Michael Schofield) in the US and a ragtag group of ciminals…….???? FIGHT!