Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Angel Coulby

A trend in films and tv series has been what some call "Smallvillization", revamping a concept by doing the characters as teenagers / young adults, before they grow into the better-known adult versions.
Since in most cases, we already know what will eventually happen to them, it offers the chance to see how they became the iconic characters we know! (Occasionally taking startlingly-different turns from what we thought we knew!)
Sometimes it works (Smallville, Star Trek[2009])
Sometimes it's so-so (Robin Hood[2006-08], Young Hercules)
Sometimes it hurls chunks (Flash Gordon[2007], Lone Ranger [2003])
One of the good things to come out of this has been "color-blind" re-casting of supporting characters, such as Asian-Canadian Kristen Kreuk as the usually red-headed Lana Lang.
In the case of Merlin, a BBC series retelling the legend of Camelot, which had a summer run on NBC and is currenly running new eps on SyFy, it introduced Americans to a talented, beautiful actress in the role of Guinevere, the future queen of Camelot--Angel Coulby!
Interestingly, all the listings I've found have listed her ancestry as "mixed", so I don't know if I should call her "African-Anglo" "Caribbean-Anglo" or whatever!
(For the record, I'm "German-Irish-American".)

Beyond a quick appearance on an episode of Doctor Who, we Colonials haven't seen anything of the lovely lady. Hopefully, this series will give her the American attention she deserves...
Genre appearances include...
Merlin[2008-Present] (Guinevere aka Gwen)
Doctor Who"Girl in the Fireplace" (Katherine)
M.I.T. Murder Investigation Team "Episode 2.1'
Check out...
Angel Coulby Online (FanSite)
May 2010 Interview with Angel on SpinOff Online
Interview with Angel Coulby on BBC website
Other actresses to play Guinevere include...
There's almost four dozen of them including Keira Knightley, Lena Headley, Vanessa Redgrave, Julie Andrews, and Ava Gardner listed on the Internet Movie DataBase!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Monday, May 17, 2010

Jasika Nicole IS Astrid Farnsworth...BOTH of Them!

I'm hooked on JJ Abrams' Fringe!
One of the best-written and acted shows of the past decade.
John Noble as Walter Bishop is an absolute delight to watch in action. Never a dull moment with that guy!
And the season finales with the alternate universe...WOW!
(JJ does have a thing for alternate realities. Think he's gonna tie in Star Trek and LOST into a potential multiverse?)
But there's a mystery even more elusive than ZFT!
Why doesn't Agent Astrid Farnsworth get MORE screen time in Season One?
Jasika Nicole is an extremely-talented actress who easily holds her own on-screen with Noble, Joshua Jackson, and Anna Torv!
C'mon Abrams, give her some time outside the lab!
At least let her shoot somebody! :-)
Well, Season Two did get her out of the lab, and with the intro of Alternate Astrid,
things are developing for Jasika in Season Three! Yay!

Trivia: She's an amazingly-talented illustrator as well, as you'll see when you go to her homepage.
The previous tv series she was a regular cast member of, Return of Jezebel James, was canceled after only three episodes aired. The four remaining episodes were released on iTunes in 2008.
Genre appearances include...
Fringe
(Agent Astrid Farnsworth / Alternate Astrid Farnsworth)
Law & Order: Criminal Intent/Law & Order: Criminal Intent[VG] (Gisella)

Check out...
SpinOff Online Interview about Season 2 finale and Season 3!
Jasika's HomePage
TV Guide Interview
Fringe FanSite's Jasika section

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Charlotte Lewis

(1986)
Teen model turned actress Charlotte Lewis made her film debut in Roman Polanski's 1985 film Pirates! at the age of 16.
What was not known at the time was that the director may have molested the then-underage girl before filming began!
She's had an on-again, off-again film-tv career, working for several years straight, doing other things for several years, then returning to show business, then disappearing again.
She also posed for Playboy in 1993.
(Pirates, 1985)

Interestingly, almost all her film / tv work has been genre! (out of 27 projects, over 20 were genre!)
She hasn't appeared onscreen since 2003.
Trivia: Dated Mickey Rourke, Eric Clapton, and Charlie Sheen while appearing in movie or video projects with them!
Genre appearances include
Men of War (Loki)
Renegade "Pipeline"
Viper "White Fire"
Highlander: the Raven "Frame"
Red Shoe Diaries "Midnight Bells"
Navajo Blues (Elizabeth Wyako)
Glass Cage (Jacqueline)
Decoy (Katya)
Lipstick Camera (Roberta Dailey)
Nosferatu Diaries: Embrace of the Vampire (Sarah)
Excessive Force (Anna Gilmore)
StoryVille (Lee Tran)
Sketch Artist (Leese)
TripWire (Trudy)
Crime Story "Femme Fatale"
Golden Child (Kee Nang)
Roman Polanski's Pirates!
(María-Dolores de la Jenya de la Calde)

Check out...
UnOfficial Charlotte Lewis Page (FanPage)
NOTE: Google searches tend to confuse the actress with the same-named character played by Rebecca Mader from the tv series LOST.
Charlotte, the actress, has not appeared on LOST.
(with Charlie Sheen, 1986)
Decoy [VHS]

Friday, May 7, 2010

Marina Sirtis (Lamper)

With several minor film roles under her belt (when she bothered to wear any clothing on-screen), Marina auditioned in 1986 for the role of Security Chief Macha Hernadez on the then-new Star Trek the Next Generation series while fellow actress Denise Crosby auditioned for Counselor Deanna Troi.
Gene Roddenberry liked the performers, but felt they didn't fit the roles they auditioned for, and switched them around, renaming the now-blonde Security Chief "Tasha Yar."
The rest, as they say, is future history...
Genre appearances include...
Young Justice (Queen Bee)
Green Street Hooligans 2 aka Green Street 2: Stand Your Ground
(Veronica)
DoomsDay [2009] (Paxton)
Grudge 3 (Gretchen)
Inalienable (Crystal Barry)
The Deep Below (Sarah)
Grendel (Queen Wealhtheow)
Family Guy"Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" "Peter's Got Woods" (Herself)
Lesser of Three Evils aka Blood Money aka Fist of the Warrior (Mary)
Spectres aka Soul Survivor (Laura Lee)
Threat Matrix "Doctor Germ"
StarGate SG-1 "WaterGate"
Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict "The Cloister"
Outer Limits [1999] "The Grell"
GadgetMan (Detective Inspector Walker)
WaxWork II: Lost in Time (Gloria)
Star Trek the Next Generation /
Star Trek Generations /
Star Trek Generations the Video Game /
Star Trek First Contact /
Star Trek Insurrection /
Star Trek Nemesis /
Star Trek Voyager /
Star Trek Enterprise /
Star Trek: A Final Unity
(Counselor Deanna Troi)
Gargoyles (Demona)
Return of Sherlock Holmes "Six Napoleons"
Blind Date [1984] aka Deadly Seduction (Hooker)
Check out...
Marina's Official Site