Raising Hope Stars Garret Dillahunt and Shannon Woodward: MyFoxDC.com

Syfy’s new hit series Alphas will feature an impressive lineup of special guest stars for its debut season. Garret Dillahunt (Raising Hope), Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Alaina Huffman (Stargate Universe), Rebecca Mader (Lost), Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Lindsay Wagner (The Bionic Woman) and Peter Wingfield (Caprica) will join previously announced recurring guest star Valerie Cruz.

Alphas, airing Monday nights at 10PM ET/PT on Syfy, follows a clandestine group of ordinary people whose unique neurological condition equips them with extraordinary physical abilities. Operating within the U.S. Department of Defense, the Alphas team is led by preeminent neurologist and psychiatrist Dr. Lee Rosen (Emmy Award-winner and Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn (Temple Grandin, Good Night, and Good Luck). The ensemble cast also stars Malik Yoba (New York Undercover, Why Did I Get Married?), Warren Christie (October Road), Azita Ghanizada (Castle), Ryan Cartwright (Mad Men, Bones) and Laura Mennell (Watchmen).

Episode #105 “Never Let Me Go”
Premieres Monday, August 15th at 10PM ET/PT
Guest star: Lindsay Wagner reprises her role as Dr. Vanessa Calder from Warehouse 13.

Episode #106 “Bill and Gary’s Excellent Adventure”
Premieres Monday, August 8th at 10PM ET/PT
Guest Stars: Alaina Huffman and Peter Wingfield

Episode #107 “Catch and Release”
Premieres Monday August 22nd at 10PM ET/PT
Guest star: Summer Glau

Episode #108 “A Short Time in Paradise”
Premieres Monday, August 29th at 10PM ET/PT
Guest star: Garret Dillahunt

Episode #109 “Blind Spot”
Premieres Monday, September 12th at 10:00PM ET/PT
Guest star: Brent Spiner and Rebecca Mader

If you’re not, you can bookmark these links for future reference:

http://soundcloud.com/thrillingadventure
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/thrilling-adventure-hour/id408691897

Several other familiar faces will also make an appearance:

The August 6th show features guest stars Nathan Fillion, Linda Cardellini, Janet Varney, Colin Hanks, AND MORE! Acker & Blacker’s The Thrilling Adventure Hour is a staged comedy production in the style of an old-time radio show that proves radio is still the king of all media!

As for Memphis Beat, episode 2×06 airs tomorrow (Tuesday, 9 pm, TNT), but it’s not called “Body of Evidence,” but “Troubled Water.” Not sure if this is Garret’s episode as I haven’t seen him in the promos.

Troubled Water
Premieres Tuesday, July 19 at 9/8c
Paula calls on Dwight to help one of his oldest friends, who has been arrested in a case involving three gunmen who robbed a party boat. Dwight’s investigation brings him face to face with an old flame and gives him a chance to perform with one of his old band members from his high school days.

And I suppose Martha Plimpton and Cloris Leachman scoring Emmy nominations this week (big congrats to both!) is as good an excuse as any to finally post this clip:

You can also check out a BTS featurette, “The Making of Amigo,” on the film’s Facebook page (you need to be logged in).

The new poster (click to enlarge):

And the trailer:

Garret Dillahunt is set to co-star in the indie “The Boys of Abu Ghraib,” which Luke Moran is directing and producing. Story follows a U.S. soldier at the infamous Iraq prison who befriends a detainee accused of murder. Production is about to start in New Mexico.

The film has an official Facebook page and Moran also created a page on Kickstarter last month that has some more details about the film.

This is a unique and important story that we’re extremely passionate about. Based on the true events that occurred at Abu Ghraib in 2003, the film is about a group of young soldiers thrown into a hellish environment, with little but each other to help them cope with the challenges they face. (…)

This film demonstrates how a deplorable environment can drive a person with good intentions to the breaking point. The story is told from the soldier’s point of view, focusing on the psychological, rather than the political aspects of war.

Cast: Lucas Neff as Jimmy; Martha Plimpton as Virginia; Garret Dillahunt as Burt; Shannon Woodward as Sabrina. Guest Cast: Cloris Leachman as Maw Maw; Kelly Heyer as Teenage Virginia; Cameron Moulene as Teenage Burt; Trace Garcia as 3-Year-Old Jimmy; Ryan Doom as Wyatt; Mason Cook as 8-Year-Old Jimmy; Al Jones as Stunt Driver.

First off, a really great interview with Alan Sepinwall at Hitfix.com:

You were a regular on “A Minute with Stan Hooper,” but how much comedy have you done in the interim?

Well, I did a lot of comedy pilots and another one that went beside “Stan Hooper” was “Maximum Bob.” Which is a different kind of comedy. It’s funny; I was talking to someone else about this, because they’re like, “Oh, you’re always the bad guy,” but it didn’t used to be that way at all. You know, memories are so short in this business because I used to be the sitcom guy and I couldn’t get an audition for drama and now you’re like the drama guy and they go, “Oh, he can’t do comedy.” It’s just amazing. You‘re constantly reproving yourself.

How did you change that? What was the part that you felt that gave you entrée into drama?

I don’t know. I come from theater, where we did all kinds of different things all the time and different styles. You know, one day you’re the prince, the next day you’re the pauper. But I’m sure “Deadwood” changed a lot of things for me, playing two different parts. Kind of made people think, rightfully or not, that I could do anything. And I kind of feel like that’s what we’re all supposed to do, so I just go lucky there.

Another one with Al Norton at 411mania.com:

Al Norton: Are there shows that you watch that you’d love to appear on?

Garret Dillahunt: I’ve been really digging what I’m seeing for Boardwalk Empire. I’d love to be on that thing. It’s just a monster cast. David Milch talked to me about playing a part on Luck but I’d already signed for Raising Hope so I’m hoping maybe to guest on it. There are a lot of great shows out there. It’d be nice to play a role where I get a girl legitimately, not by force.

Al Norton: Can you name a couple of actors who have been an influence on you and your style?

Garret Dillahunt: It always changes and is frequently about a particular performance than a body of work. Being from theater I came in under the impression that we were all supposed to be able to do everything, or at least to try, so I was always drawn to real chameleon types. When I was a young drama sprout that was people like Gary Oldman, Sean Penn, who does it effortlessly, and Daniel Day Lewis, who I liked because he was the same height as me. Jason Patrick’s performance in After Dark, My Sweet, was really fantastic and I was really jealous of that. I like guys like Viggo Mortensen. I remember seeing him in The Indian Runner on VHS and thinking, “I want to be that guy.” I was thrilled to get to work with him on The Road.

Al Norton: Can you give the readers the quick pitch on Raising Hope.

Garret Dillahunt: Raising Hope is a very funny look at a young single father. It’s more complicated than that because none of the characters were good parents so in a way this baby is another way for all of us to be good parents. It’s a chance for Burt, my character, to be a Dad instead of a best friend, and for Jimmy (the lead character) to find some direction in his life. The scripts just get better and better, too. Martha is so great and she just cracks me up. I don’t know why we never worked together before. I killed her Dad on Deadwood so I would see her on set sometimes. It’s so fun to work with her after all these years.

One that just showed up at TV Overmind:

There’s a story from Homicide: Life on the Street, where actor Erik Todd Dellums said that because he played drug kingpin Luther Mahoney, people actually started avoiding him in public. Has your history of villainy followed you around at all? Does it wear on you after awhile?

There’s been a few like fiancees and girlfriends of friends who don’t want to meet me because they’re scared. They’re kind of smirking when they say it. It’s usually the guys that play the bad guys who are the nice guys. And when you’re a guest star, you’re usually the bad guy. I’m not one of those guys that takes it home too badly. The saving grace for me is I’m such a fan of writers and I’m so interested in doing justice to their work that I get involved in the story as a whole and not just my role.

Do you have a favorite bad guy that you’ve played? I know a lot of people who still remember you from playing Roman Nevikov on NBC’s amazing series Life.

Deadwood remains a high point for me, and [The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford]. I guess [Ed] is kind of a bad guy although he’s kind of an innocent. They’ve all been really complex.

There’s a hilarity here in that you’re one of two actors to legitimately scare the hell out of me, and yet you’ve also played Jesus Christ (in “The Book of Daniel”).

I was, at the same time I was doing Jesse James. I had to go back and forth.

And an article at the Yakima Herald:

People who remember him as the bloodthirsty Wolcott from “Deadwood” may be surprised to hear that Dillahunt will be on television this fall as a young grandfather in a sitcom. But, he has played good guys before, and he’s done sitcoms before. For Dillahunt, who says, “Variety is life; stagnation is death,” disappearing into vastly different characters is the fun part.

“It’s a nice return,” he says. “I like to change it up. I really like to — probably to my detriment — take 90-degree turns.”

Plus, he says, “Raising Hope” has been a fun show to work on, reuniting him with old friend Martha Plimpton in a cast that also includes Cloris Leachman, Lucas Neff and Shannon Woodward. And, though the shows are completely different, Dillahunt says his experience with Milch on the “Deadwood” set taught him lessons he still uses, lessons about creating a dynamic between actors and carving out space from which to be creative.

“There’s little doubt, however, that the film boasts an impressive undercurrent of suspense, as one is never entirely sure if the whole thing is meant to come off as a subtle character study or as something just a little more sinister (ie what is Sherman up to, exactly?)

Dillahunt’s remarkably subtle performance certainly goes a long way towards holding the viewer’s interest, yet it’s worth nothing that the narrative is occasionally just a little bit more predictable than one might’ve liked (ie when Sherman offers to carry two plates of hot dogs, you just know something is going to go horribly wrong).

And while this does ensure that the movie is often more effective as an actor’s showcase than as a fully realized cinematic experience, Oliver Sherman is certainly never dull and it’s also worth noting that the expectedly low-key finale does pack far more of an emotional punch than one might’ve anticipated.” [Reelfilm]

“These sorts of domestic thrillers were quite popular in American cinema back in the early ’90s, with movies like Unlawful Entry and Pacific Heights ushering in Christian anxieties about cultural change negatively affecting the traditional family unit. But this particular film is Canadian, and first-time feature writer/director Ryan Redford isn’t interested in employing cheap thrills to sell his narrative. He takes his time with the characters, building conflict organically and allowing the tension to come from quiet, passive-aggressive remarks and escalating pseudo-threats.

Resultantly, while occasionally awkward in editing and scene composition, this xenophobic parable shows a maturity and acuity beyond most character-based psychological thrillers, taking a highbrow approach to the subject. What’s more, it shows a new talent in the Canadian filmmaking scene, being one of the more assured debuts to come from English-speaking Canada in quite some time.” [Exclaim]

Good Film Guide: What first attracted you to Burning Bright?

Garret: They just approached me, and I thought it was a cool concept. It’s very bizarre, and I thought I’d like to see if I could help make it work.

Good Film Guide: And getting to work with Meat Loaf must have been a bonus?

Garret: That was really cool, but it was actually a reshoot done later in L.A., something that we added to help clarify the story. It was only a one day shoot, one very long day. He’s very down to earth though, and it was great hearing all his stories about musical theatre, because he started there first and then went on to rock music, I always thought he’d done it the other way round.

Good Film Guide: So how long was the shoot altogether?

Garret: Five weeks in total I think, but for me it was only three or four days… I was working on another project at the same time and this fit in nicely, it was five days at most for me.

Good Film Guide: And what was it like working with a real tiger?

Garret: I wish we did more more of that; and I liked the fact that they used real ones; there’s real old school special effects on this movie; they’d have the tiger in the house and have it chase around a green chicken which they could edit out later, then we’d go in on an empty set, film our pieces, and they would meld the two together, seamlessly I think. [Good Film Guide]

Looking at your two outings in the horror genre – Krug in the remake of The Last House on the Left, and your character in Burning Bright – you seem to be getting a reputation for playing bastards, really evil characters…

Oh yeah, absolutely! They’re bad guys that’s for sure.

Is that something you look for in a script? Or is it just how things have happened?

I like change and I’m looking to play lots of different characters and different types of characters, both good and bad. In the case of Last House [on the Left], I really wanted to do a horror film, to try a different genre than I usually do. It’s a lot different from say, the character I played in No Country for Old Men or Jesse James, or more sympathetic characters. I wanted to see if I could pull off a new interpretation of Krug, which was difficult – there’s some things I’d like to differently in that, but there’s some things I’m really proud of and I think we made a good film for the most part.

As for Burning Bright, I like the complexity of the guy, I think if he had won the lottery or something, we wouldn’t have a movie because he wouldn’t have considered killing his children for the insurance.

Just to go back to Last House… Now the furore around remaking such a classic has died down, the film seemed to have been hailed as one of the better remakes in recent years. Is that something you’ve heard from fans etc.?

I like to think [it is]. But it’s certaintly a polarising film. There’s people who will never see the film, they love the original and think it should not have been remade – they have a case. To my shame, I guess, I was not even aware of the original and didn’t even know about it until I was offered a part in the remake and started doing research. I even spoke with David Hess a bit to make sure it was alright – turns out he’s a really cool guy and liked him a lot.

But we knew that the Vietnam-related scenes in the original wouldn’t quite translate into today, but I think it’s interesting, and the audience reaction is kind of telling, in the original there’s a very thin line between the good guys and the bad guys and that had to lead you into this feeling of horror. But in the new version there’s a real glee in the vengeance – a righteous American sense of justice, the “eye for an eye” [concept] is very much alive and well in the US. It’s almost like a sense of self-realisation, as you catch yourself cheering at these people’s demise, wanting it to be even worse.

It’s a polarising fim, but all horror films are. As it stands our film seems to be one of the better reviewed horror films in a while. I could have done without the last scene personally, but it had to be put in.

What about your future projects? I know Winter’s Bone is getting good reviews out festival screenings. But what else have you got lined up?

I have a couple of films at Toronto [International Film Festival] next month which I’m excited to go see. John Sayles’ new movie, Amigo, about the Philippine-American war; and another indie film called Oliver Sherman, about soldiers returning home from Afghanistan, that I think is really good. And I’m on a series that starts shooting Monday called Raising Hope, it’s a comedy by the people behind My Name Is Earl – I play a young grandfather, basically a not-very-skilled parent.

Talking of TV, you’ve guest starred on one of my favourite shows, Burn Notice. What was it like working with that crew?

I just did my second [episode] which aired here in the States last night. Florida’s really hot, that’s the worst thing about it, but it’s a tight run ship. I just kinda ship in, do a few scenes and ship out, it’s a great job to have. I really like Matt Nix, the creator of the show, a lot, and I like that they decided to keep [my character] Simon alive so he can come back every once in a while because he’s a fun character. [Blogomatic 3000]

FS: That was one of the things that I mentioned in my review. That it would have been really easy for that character to have been a by-the-numbers wicked step-father. But I thought what you did was clever, in that you side stepped that and did something quite interesting. I even found myself empathising with your character a little bit, even though he’s doing something so terrible.

GD: Yeah. He’s just stupid, you know? He’s sad and lonely and broke and stupid. He makes a really horrible decision about how he’s going to get some money and it’s a shame.

FS: Speaking of the horrible decision (where he buys a tiger from Meat Loaf) what was it like to work with Meat Loaf?

GD: He’s great, he’s a little teddy bear! He’s real sweet and we talked about… ‘cause I grew up listening to Bat Out Of Hell and thought this is cooool, you know, in my little farming community. So I was a little tongue-tied at first, but he’s a real warm person and no spring chicken anymore either! So we talked about the old days and it was fun.

FS: Oh cool. How close did you actually ever get to the tiger? Was it tame or…

GD: I’m so glad everyone’s asking this question! It must look really good! Because we were never on set at the same time! Never. I saw them in their truck outside, lounging in their cage, but that was the closest we ever got.

FS: Talking about remakes… You played Krug in the Last House remake and I was wondering… if you could play any part in a remake of anything, what would that be?

GD: Aw jeez… You know, and I think this’ll be greeted with even more derision than Last House was – I’d love to be Josey Wales. I love a good western.

FS: Wow, what a cool choice! I know lots of people are really against the idea of remakes, which you just touched on there, but what’s your opinion on them?

GD: Well, I guess it depends. It’s a tough call, I feel the same way about favourite novels being turned into movies and sometimes they don’t hold up. It’s like listening to a cover of a great song, why not just listen to the original? It’s much better. But in the case of Last House, it brought a lot of attention to the original. To people that weren’t even aware of it. So I don’t think it was an awful thing even for fans of the original. I thought, having a European director, we brought kind of an art house feel to it, for the most part. You know the last scene we shot was the microwave scene and we all fought against it the entire time. You know some people love it, some people hate it, but we thought we’d made a better movie than that. It was kind of a remnant from an earlier version of the script.

FS: My last question has to be a Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles question. I was a massive fan. What was it like getting to play one character, yet so many variations of him, within the same show?

GD: Well, I think I’ve been lucky since Deadwood, where I got to play two characters in the same show. Well in Terminator I was the Cromartie guy and the guy that Cromartie stole his body from – the asshole B actor. Then they showed some of that actor’s old films so I got to be in Beast Wizard, which was hilarious.

FS: Oh god, I’d forgotten about Beast Wizard – that was awesome!

GD: That cracked me up, and then John Henry. So I got to play four characters in that thing and I was just so… You know that just makes you feel good, when they trust you that much.

FS: Really quickly, I don’t suppose there’s the slightest chance of there ever being a one-off TV movie or something to finish the amazing ending of Series 2?

GD: I haven’t heard anything about that. I was excited too. You know John Henry would be loose, and in the future and a resistance fighter with everyone – which I thought would be a lot of fun. [FilmShaft]

Do you feel you’re doing good now?

I am happy. I’m certainly a bit of a reminiscer, if that’s a word. I have to work a lot but I’m really happy now. I love the movies I get to do. I’ve got two movies I’m very proud of at the Toronto film festival and I’m producing another, and we’re getting close with it I think. I like having those projects to work towards. I met John Sayles at Toronto and he’s a personal hero of mine in the way he lives his life and making the projects he wants to make. The film I’m trying to produce is just with a few folks. It’s a civil war tale about an Arkansas traveller and I’m just so proud of it, it’s some of the most fun I’ve ever had on a set. We’ve only set 10 minutes of it, but it’s achieved its purpose, and it’s some of the finest times I’ve had as a professional.

There seems to be a real vein of elemental Americana in many of the films you’ve appeared in. They seem to be quintessentially ‘about’ the notion of America. I’m thinking of No Country for Old Men, The Road, The Assassination of Jesse James and to an extent Burning Bright as well.

Most of those films are based on books that I was a huge fan of. I collect books. I don’t get caught up around other actors or showbiz people, but I do get real girly around authors that I’m a fan of. That’s probably because I’m a failed writer myself. I get real tongue tied and shuffly and stone-kicky. And most of those films you recited; Jesse James, No Country and The Road, they are some of my favourite authors. I planned to make Jesse James myself one day and I thought I’d be Jesse James. I thought no-one knew about this book, but of course everyone knew, and Brad Pitt owned the rights. [Little White Lies]

The Cinéfest site says that the film will be screened there on Sept. 25. They have a nice new pic from the film too.

Here is the poster (click twice for full size):

Daily Motion has the first one:

Oliver Sherman

And the second one is on YouTube:

The film will be shown at the Toronto Film Festival on September 13 and 17, then at the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival (Sept. 18 – 26), and if you’re in North Bay, you can catch this screening on October 16.

Here is a longer description from the TIFF site (if you hit the link, they also have a couple of pics):

Does saving someone else’s life make you responsible for them? This is the central question of this penetrating film about existential angst, which is grounded in subtle oppositions: friendship and duties, innocence and manipulation, past and present.

Seven years have passed since Franklin Page (Donal Logue) saved the life of fellow soldier Sherman Oliver (Garret Dillahunt) on the battlefield. It feels like it’s been a long time for earnest and hard-working Franklin, who has since moved to the countryside with his wife, Irene (Molly Parker), and their two children. But seven years seems a mere heartbeat for solitary vet pensioner Sherman, who still bears the scars of the horrors he survived. When Sherman pays a surprise visit to Franklin, who hasn’t seen or heard from him since they left the army, it sets off a chain of events that first time feature director Ryan Redford skilfully crafts into a poignant and meaningful story.

Lost and shy, Sherman is a welcome guest in the Page home. He reconnects with his old friend over beers on the porch and during nights on the town. But when he overstays his welcome, the seemingly placid countenance of this veteran starts to crack, and he lashes out in outbursts of aggressiveness and resentment toward Irene. Drawn from a short story by Rachel Ingalls, the film plunges from quiet character study into psychological thriller.

As Sherman, Dillahunt (of Deadwood fame, and starring in John Sayles’s Amigo, also screening in the Festival) is nothing less than splendid. He conveys the hurt of a lost soldier, and hints at an emotional time bomb ticking beneath the surface of a calm exterior. Parker, who previously acted alongside Dillahunt in Deadwood, is equally compelling as the warm and understanding wife of a no-nonsense man. Franklin is embodied to subtle perfection by Logue. These fine performances buoy a gripping and memorable film.