Michelle Forbes: True Blood asks us about our beliefsDante Gabriel Rossetti, 'The Day Dream', 1880.
Michelle Forbes is a beautiful woman who resembles her characters. She punctuates her sentences with an attentive and patient smile, but it can not dissipate the intensity of her gaze. She smiles and speaks in a deep voice, husky and warm, which she modulates at will and without effort. She smiles and looks at you with her dark eyes, shining with a dusty glaze. We imagine her slipping easily into the skin of Salome and demand the head of John the Baptist from Herod Antipas. Because she carries an element of mystery that one may construe her as a femme fatale. The role of Maryann Forrester in Season 2 of True Blood fits her like a tunic a Greek god.
Before that, she was the wife of Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne) in the first season of In Treatment. She was also an enigmatic and tortured mother in Season 2 of the excellent but little-known Canadian series Durham County. The time of three episodes, she was Admiral Helena Cain on Battlestar Galactica, but also among other things Dr. Julianna Cox in seasons 5 and 6 of Homicide: Life on the Street set for NBC by David Simon, the father of The Wire.
The actress was visiting Paris for the launch of Season 2 of True Blood which starts broadcasting on Tuesday, 1 December on Orange cinema series.
How important is the role of Maryann Forrester in your career?
My first important role on television was that of Julianna Cox in Homicide: Life on the Street, which is certainly one of the best crime series that has ever been filmed. In Treatment has also been a role I enjoyed playing. At the same time I turned to True Blood. Maryann is certainly the most flamboyant character I had ever embodied. But Helena Cain on Battlestar was so iconic that people remember me most for this character than the one I played in True Blood.
In hindsight, how do you see her?
It was only last week that I really realized what was the character of Maryann. It is a cliché to say that, but all the actors agree and that's true that you can not see a character that you embody as absolutely evil. When Maryann makes Eggs and Tara eat the soufflé, she really believes in giving them a gift. She is sincere in her whole approach. She is really convinced that it gives them freedom. And she really wants to get closer to the God. When she prepares the dish for them, she does so as a mother would do in preparing gifts for her children. For me, it was love.Season 2 revolves around several different stories.
In this second season of True Blood, there are actually three distinct parts. The first season tells of a wretched little village, and we learn to know the people who live and work there. During the second season, three stories are pursued simultaneously. It is the journey that Bill takes to Dallas, there is the story of the Fellowship of the Sun, which for me was the funniest one to watch, and then there is the story of Maryann and the people of Bon Temps. What I like about this season is that it clearly addresses the question of our belief system. The purpose of Maryann is to challenge the moral beliefs and ideals of each of us. At the same time, the entire section on Fellowship of the Sun denounces the belief systems that require blind adherence from its followers. With regard to vampires, the question is about being judged, being regarded as different, and this questions our beliefs on the status of minorities. This forces us to ask us questions about our willingness to lead ourselves in a sheep-like manner, to follow a leader, one who can be very disruptive.
Music plays an important role in True Blood.
Yes. It is an essential element. What was amazing during the shooting was that we had one of the best sound engineers, Nathan Barr. In the series, the music is extremely important for Maryann but also for all of us. And the music was already included in the script when it was received. Each week we downloaded music from the episode that we will be filming next. This gave the impression that we had a sort of a soundtrack. And that immediately put us into the mood of the episode. I could not remember the B 52's, I had completely forgotten and when I downloaded the song, I said 'damn, it's really good'. "
To prepare for filming, I read about the maenads on Dionysus and Greek mythology, but what is interesting with Alan Ball and Charlaine Harris is that you can carry out all the searches you want, when you end up with the script in hand and you read that you'll need to dance to the B 52's, you try to understand how two things can agree with each other. And finally, you let yourself be guided by the text.
Working on HBO is a particular experience?
This may sound strange but I tend to work better when you're in a somewhat military environment. It is very difficult for an actor to find a series in which they believe. And when I discovered HBO, I almost felt too weak. They have a philosophy so strongly marked, they have such determination and at the same time such humanity. They really want to tell stories and they support their creators, they maintain their projects and they do not throw them out if they do not seem to work immediately. I am really impressed by their willingness to produce stories. This is not about money, it is like family to me. Perhaps I do embellish things a bit, but the more I worked with them the more I discovered on a personal level and I'm still admiring them.
What are you going to do now?
It has been almost two years since I have been shooting without interruption and I need to take some time for myself. I love gardening and I can not take care of my garden when I'm not in Montreal. I would also like to learn the joy of reading without having to memorize the text. I'll take the opportunity to cultivate my garden, in both senses of the word.
Source: Le Monde des Series (translated from French by me)
The dialogue
"Yes...
Yes!
Eureka!
You!
No. No!
Stay away!
Stop!
So let me get this straight, Miss Dragonfly.
Your father's missing and you want me to find him.
Yes, Mr. Roach. Please, you must help me.
The buzz is that you're the best private dick in the business and I won't settle for less.
You see, my father is a brilliant scientist who's invented a cure for insectigen.
I see.
You have heard of insectigen, haven't you, Al?
Yeah. First you get a
Nasty rash.
Next thing
Hallucinating.
An hour later you're
Belly up.
Mmmmm.
Deadly stuff.
Will you handle my case?
Nothing would give me more pleasure.
But I'm afraid I might get in too deep.
Sorry.
(Cries)
Get out of my way.
What's buggin' her?
Daddy's missing.
Well with a thorax like that, she shouldn't have trouble finding a replacement.
Anyway, Wormer Brothers sent over those passes for the big premiere tonight.
They said we should get there early.
We?
You promised, Al.
Besides, I already went and pulled my fancy dress out of moth balls.
That's some moth.
Wha...?
Where are you going?
Nature calls.
I hope it's collect. Rent's overdue.
Again?
Why didn't you take her case, Al?
We could really use the dough.
Drop it, Betty.
Uh oh, looks like somebody got bit by the lovebug.
That's all I need, another dame gettin' under my skin like a tick
Last queen bee who stole my heart ended up gettin' me in trouble with the mafia.
Ow.
Betty. What stung me?
Insectigen. You got the rash.
Oh.
Al, maybe you shouldn't -
Where are you going?
You need to rest.
If I don't find that dame's father,
that's all I'll be doing.
I turned the town upside down
looking for that dame and her dad.
At least I think I did.
The insectigen was starting to play tricks on my mind.
I was feeling weak.
The rash was spreading fast.
I started seeing stars.
Not just the ones on the sidewalk.
I needed help, I knew it.
There was only one place to turn.
Yeah yeah, I saw the whole thing.
The old man's in room nine at the Motel Ticks up in Silverfish Lake.
Thanks pal. You never cease to amaze me.
Heh heh heh, they don't call me the Fly On The Wall for nothing.
Now give me some sugar, handsome.
Please, don't kill me.
You can have the antidote.
What the -
Thank you, Mr. Roach.
I knew you'd make a beeline to the serum
once you were infected.
Please, keep her away from me.
She's been trying to kill me.
You and me both, pal.
Well guess what, I'm through trying.
Now say goodnight fellas.
The bed bugs are about to bite.
Not so fast, sister.
Bitch!
Name's Betty. Bitch is waiting for you in the state fly trap.
Cuff her, boys.
So it turns out the old man wasn't even her father?
They'd never even met.
Then why all the buggabaloo?
She was the owner of the big pharmaceutical outfit
that makes all the drugs used to treat insectigen.
I get it, once the old man's cure goes up for sale, her company's profits go down the tubes.
Bingo.
What a louse.
You don't use drugs, do you, Betty?
I've got the only drug I need, Al.
You and a good movie.
You're a good egg, Betty."
Global Frequency originates as a 12-issue comic series from Wildstorm Productions, consisting of a series of single-issue, standalone stories. Written by Ellis, with covers by Brian Wood, each stand-alone story in the series featured artwork by a different artist. Whilst separate, each of the stories centered around The Global Frequency, an independent, covert intelligence organization headed by a former intelligence agent who uses the alias of Miranda Zero. There are reportedly 1,001 people on the Global Frequency, forming an active smart mob communicating by specially modified video mobile phones through a central dispatch system coordinated by a young woman code-named Aleph.The purpose of the organization is to protect and rescue the world from the consequences of the various secret projects that the governments of the world have established, which are unknown to the public at large. The people on the Global Frequency are chosen and called on for their specialized skills in a variety of areas, from military personnel, intelligence agents, police detectives to scientific researchers, academics, athletes, former criminals and assassins. These threats that the organization deals with are equally varied and usually world-threatening, ranging from rogue military operations and paranormal phenomena to terrorist attacks and religious cults.
If this news is true, this would be the second attempt by The CW (formally The WB) network to adapt the Wildstorm comic into a TV series, with the first attempt being in 2005, when they produced a pilot episode that was based heavily on the first issue of the comic. However, they never aired this pilot, and did not commission the series.
The original series proposal was prepared by Mark Burnett with Michelle Forbes as Miranda Zero, Josh Hopkins as Sean Flynn, Jenni Baird as Dr. Katrina Finch and Aimee Garcia as Aleph. The characters of Sean Flynn, an ex-policeman who accidentally stumbled on a Global Frequency mission and Katrina Finch, a brilliant scientist with expertise in multiple fields, were created especially for the series.
Unlike the comic book, which had an ever-changing cast of field agents, Flynn and Finch were to be regulars along with Zero and Aleph, with other Frequency members coming in as and when necessary in supporting roles. This would allow for the character continuity expected of a television series and yet allow other characters to be killed off as in the comic book.
John Rogers was the principal creative force behind the television incarnation, writing the pilot episode, with Ellis credited as producer and creator. Other writers waiting to come on board included David Slack, Ben Edlund and Diego Gutierrez. The pilot was directed by Nelson McCormick.
The unaired pilot was leaked onto the Internet in June 2005 and continues to be downloaded and shared, primarily via BitTorrent and other P2P networks. Although it was popular and critically acclaimed, according to Ellis himself the leaking of the pilot annoyed Warner Brothers to the extent that they killed the project.
Source:hypergeek.ca
I actually managed to somehow see said mystery pilot and freaking loved it. I thought Michelle Forbes was absolutely perfect as Miranda Zero and was hoping to see more. But it was never to be.
Whenever I see her in other stuff (BSG, In Treatment) I always exclaim 'Yes! It's Miranda Zero!' She owns that role. 
"Warren Ellis' "Global Frequency" is making another run at the small screen, as The CW Network is allegedly trying to adapt the comic book series once again.
According to Production Weekly's Twitter feed, a second adaptation of "Global Frequency" is in the works courtesy of The CW and writer Scott Nimerfro. The news was further touched upon by Ellis himself, who wrote on his personal website that he hadn't "been cleared to comment yet" by the network.
"Shouldn't say any more until I get the nod from the studio," said Ellis. "But yes."
For some context, "Global Frequency" was previously attempted as a television series for The WB Network — the initial form of The CW — back in 2005. The project went as far as the pilot phase, with "True Blood" and "Battlestar Galactica" actress Michelle Forbes assuming the role of Miranda Zero, the leader of the Global Frequency, an organization of roughly 1,001 people with specialized skill sets that are used to resolve top secret crises. The pilot never made it to the network, despite support from fans that managed to watch a leaked version online.
After "Global Frequency" made our recent list of five Warren Ellis comics we want to see adapted, the CW will now give the series a second chance with Nimerfro working on the script — and Ellis said that he's already spoken with the writer about the project.
"I've spoken briefly to Scott Nimerfro — by which I mean I threatened to have him stabbed, and he thanked me and told me a funny story about how he's had worse threats — and he is Okay," Ellis described.
The writer also spoke towards John Rogers, the creative force behind the initial "Global Frequency" attempt. Rogers seemingly won't be involved in the new pilot due to his own TNT television series "Leverage," though he apparently "wishes [Ellis] luck."
Source: mtv.com
Soirée Promotion TRUE BLOOD saison 2 @ Paris from flexgraph on Vimeo.
"One of the BBC's prestige shows, Messiah perfectly balances the quiet character moments it needs with scenes of pure Grand Guignol horror and jet black humour [..] Stott as DCI Metcalfe is a unique hero for this kind of story, a man who is calm, rational, well balanced and happily married. He's relentlessly intelligent and punishes himself constantly for not quite being clever enough. The way in which he and his wife (a superb performance by Michelle Forbes) deal with this is contrasted to great effect with the break up of Reid's relationship with his wife and Beauchamp's budding romance with a colleague."
Source: videovista.net
" 'Messiah', which is based on a novel by Boris Starling, is an exemplar of efficiency, a demonstration of just how much story can be put across using layered sound, scrupulous close-ups, broad atmospherics, visual shorthand, a few flashbacks and simple dialogue [...] most striking here are the performances: the pale British faces of all the lead actors, who, with their baggy undereyes untouched by surgery or Botox, look plainly sad and afraid. Those faces tell a story, swiftly."
Source: nytimes.com
"Ein Thriller, der nicht einfach die inzwischen gängige Serienkiller-Routine abspult, sondern seine Handlung mit intelligent konstruierten Nebenhandlungen und lebendig gezeichneten Figuren so gut unterfüttert, dass sich die Geschichte neben dem reinen Krimiplot noch weitergehenden Fragen zuwenden kann: Schuld und Sühne, Verdrängung, Reue und der oft qualvollen Konfrontation mit sich selbst. Nicht umsonst wurde "Messias" in Kommentaren häufig mit David Finchers Genre-Highlight "Seven" verglichen."
Source: zdf.de
