Monday, 25 October 2010
Scotty confesses (B&S 505)
He is not the saint Scotty anymore. That's good for him.
And more clips from the next episode.
They are fabulous actors. I can't wait the next Sunday.
Sunday, 24 October 2010
An article from The NewYork Times
Career Zigzag, Changing Coasts And Galaxies
Zachary Quinto as Spock in the 2009 “Star Trek” movie.
By DAVID ROONEY
Published: October 21, 2010
Zachary Quinto as Spock in the 2009 “Star Trek” movie.
By DAVID ROONEY
Published: October 21, 2010
IN a contemporary nightmare on YouTube titled “Zachary Quinto Cannot Escape the Swarm of Fans,” a mob of unrelenting Klingons outside a Hollywood event crowd in on the unnerved Mr. Quinto, shoving cameras and photographs in his face, demanding autographs as he struggles to navigate the two blocks to his car.
Such scenes are an inevitable hazard of the popularity he acquired over three seasons as the power-crazed watchmaker turned serial killer, Sylar, on NBC’s “Heroes” and as the intensely introspective Spock in the J. J. Abrams “Star Trek” reboot.
Yet all that seems a galaxy away as he eats breakfast at an unfancy diner on a quiet Midtown block of 11th Avenue, his only camouflage a baseball cap. When he pays the check, and a waiter shyly admits he’s a fan, Mr. Quinto graciously accepts the compliment before heading around the corner to a full day of rehearsals and a preview performance of “Angels in America.”
New York theater has possibly never been a greater magnet for stars of film and television than in recent seasons, but for a young actor whose career is in the crucial ascent phase, joining the ensemble of an Off Broadway revival seems an unconventional move. However, Mr. Quinto, 33, views “Angels,” the Tony Kushner diptych, as a strategic step in his methodical plan.
“This is hopefully a declaration of my intention to have theater be a much more significant part of my career from this point forward,” he said. “I look at the work that I’ve done so far as an investment to that end.”
Mr. Quinto plays Louis Ironson in the Signature Theater Company’s production of “Angels,” which opens Thursday at the Peter Norton Space. The role is in many ways the most challenging in the two plays, “Millennium Approaches” and “Perestroika.”
Louis abandons his lover, who has AIDS, at his time of greatest need and tends to avoid emotional exposure by hiding behind angry political screeds. Yet Mr. Quinto pierces the sympathetic core of a character tormented by his own failings and by the existential agonies of living in Ronald Reagan’s America.
“As I wrestle with how Louis behaves, and I get to know and understand the character more, I see in so many ways how he really is one of the most human representations in this ensemble,” he said.
One key scene in “Millennium Approaches,” in which Louis disgorges a sprawling coffee-shop rant about democracy, liberalism, tolerance, race, power and human rights is probably the hardest stretch of the two plays for an actor. Mr. Quinto not only makes the speech a spontaneous tirade, he also subtly communicates the Beckettian way in which Louis keeps talking in order to avoid facing his fears.
“He’s a very smart and thoughtful reader of text,” Mr. Kushner said. “He’s been ferociously committed to the thing since the first audition. Zach is a very tough Louis — impassioned and sharply aggressive, with a very intense sensuality.”
Michael Greif, who directed the production, agreed that Mr. Quinto is a natural stage animal. “He starts with the most extraordinary instrument for a stage actor, that incredibly expressive voice,” he said. “But he also has this physical dexterity. He expresses everything fully through his body.”
The integrity Mr. Quinto brings to his roles makes him equally convincing as a frightened lover poisoned by self-loathing, a chilling psychopath or an orphaned alien.
“My point of entry for a lot of characters tends to be their shadow,” he said. “I’m a big believer in the notion that our greatest potential lies in our darkest parts. To a certain extent it’s only in facing those parts of ourselves that we can truly grow, and I think that’s true of all of the characters I’ve played, certainly in the past few years.”
While “Angels” is Mr. Quinto’s first New York stage experience, he regards it as a homecoming. Theater has been part of his life since his childhood in Pittsburgh, providing a refuge when, at the age of 7, he lost his father to cancer. “That was obviously a profound disruption in my upbringing, and theater became a place for me to go where my mother knew I was safe and taken care of,” he said.
An elementary school teacher encouraged him to audition for a performing group affiliated with the Civic Light Opera, and he made his professional debut in 1988 as a Munchkin in “The Wizard of Oz.” (“At that time I hadn’t quite hit my growth spurt,” he said.) His subsequent studies at the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University pointed toward the New York stage, but Mr. Quinto opted instead to detour via Los Angeles.
“When I got out of the program at Carnegie, it was such a different climate in the real world,” he said. “I saw how many productions were cast with actors who were on hiatus from TV shows or in between movies, and so I identified the value of making my initial investment in Los Angeles rather than New York.”
During the 11 years since then Mr. Quinto steadily built up his television credits. He graduated from guest roles to playing a counterterrorism computer analyst on “24” and then dispensed quips from beneath boy-band hair as Tori Spelling’s gay buddy on her self-satirizing series “so noTORIous.” His breakout role came in “Heroes” as the coldest of killers, who accumulates superpowers by literally stealing them from the skulls of his victims.
But it was his work as Spock that cemented Mr. Quinto’s reputation as an actor of acute intelligence and charisma. He brought out the Shakespearean dimensions of the “Star Trek” universe, lending weight to the brains-brawn dynamic with Chris Pine’s Kirk and soulful vulnerability to Spock’s blossoming romance with Uhura, played by Zoë Saldana.
“An enormous amount of discussion went into the emotional life of a character who is so often perceived as unemotional,” Mr. Abrams said in a phone interview. “Zachary was the first person we cast, and he appreciated the opportunity to take something so galvanized in public consciousness and say without fear, ‘Let’s do it again our way.’ ”
Mr. Quinto is booked to shoot the “Star Trek” sequel next summer. But he intends to establish a second home in New York while pursuing a diversified career in which film, television and theater will all be part of the equation, along with producing.
Shooting wrapped in July on “Margin Call,” the first feature from his production company, Before the Door Pictures. Mr. Quinto appears in the drama, about the 2008 collapse of the financial institutions, alongside Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci and Demi Moore.
While Mr. Quinto accepts the occasional fan ambush as part of the movie and television stardom package, he chooses to keep his distance from what he regards as mindless celebrity-gossip culture. “I’m grateful that celebrity or notoriety wasn’t thrust upon me when I was in my 20s, because I think I would have buckled under the weight of it, as so many people do,” he said. “But I’ve come to realize through experience that ultimately I really do have a lot of power in terms of the way I relate to the public or to people outside of my intimate circle of friends and family. Boundaries are very important to me.”
Despite Mr. Quinto’s efforts to keep his private life private, the blogosphere is rife with speculation about his sexuality, no doubt fueled by his support for gay rights and organizations like the Trevor Project. He prefers not to feed that rumor mill with either substantiation or dismissal. He speaks passionately about gay marriage, about “don’t ask, don’t tell” and about the recent wave of gay bullying and suicides.
“The fact that these things are such hot-button issues right now, socially and politically, I would much rather talk about that than talk about who I sleep with,” Mr. Quinto said. “I would love to be a voice in this maelstrom of chaos and obsessive celebrity infatuation that says, ‘Let’s talk about something that matters,’ ” he added.
That sense of social accountability is a quality Mr. Quinto shares with Louis, who rails against the hatred lurking beneath the surface of so-called tolerance. “To return to the theater is one thing,” he said. “But to return to the theater doing a play of this import and resonance — it’s beyond thrilling.”
[source]An article from SX News
Glam Rock & Roll: Adam Lambert
Written by Garrett Bithell
18 October 2010
Written by Garrett Bithell
18 October 2010
From Idol runner-up to global music sensation, it's been a meteoric rise for Adam Lambert. And, thanks to the media, there's been plenty of controversy and hoopla along the way. Garrett Bithell caught up with the pop star on the eve of his Australian tour.
Adam Lambert clearly struck a chord when he was last in the country for this year's Mardi Gras festival. When news dropped that his Glam Nation tour would hit the east coast, the majority of tickets were snapped up pre-sale. Then last month it was announced that due to overwhelming demand, both the Sydney and Melbourne shows are moving to bigger venues, and the tour will now include a stop in New Zealand.
But this is not unusual for Lambert, whose trajectory to pop stardom began less than two short years ago when he was the runner up on the eighth season of American Idol. Proving that the winner does not necessarily take it all, he has been steamrolling glitter and leather into the music industry like a neo-glam Valkyrie ever since. His vocal virtuosity - he has the falsetto extension of Freddie Mercury - and ballsy theatricality reminiscent of Lady Gaga or Scissor Sisters sent the American populace into a spin.
The lofty calibre of music-industry luminaries that leapt at the chance to collaborate with Lambert on his debut album For Your Entertainment, which was released here in March, is perhaps the best indication of this. Pink gave him her song 'Whataya Want From Me'; Lady Gaga co-wrote 'Fever'; Matthew Bellamy from Muse penned 'Stoke'; and Justin Hawkins from the Darkness is behind 'Music Again'.
Shortly after American Idol finished, Lambert came out on the cover of Rolling Stone. It wasn't exactly a shock, but he then landed in a hotbed of controversy after a live performance on the American Music Awards, during which he passionately kissed his male keyboardist and simulated oral sex with one of his male dancers, who he led around the stage on a leash. Complaints poured in, and his appearance on the ABC network the next day was cancelled. Indeed, even now, Lambert is still trying to strike a balance between his artistic integrity and commercial sensibility.
"There's definitely a line," he tells SX. "Ultimately I want to be accepted and I want to entertain people - and there is a point where you can push them too far over the edge and you end up alienating your audience, which is something I don't want. I definitely won't back down from my major principles - I have my integrity there - but there is a point to which you can push those principles.
"I don't have an ulterior motive or agenda besides the fact I want to entertain people, but it just so happens that I'm a pretty sexual person. And to me, that's half of what pop-rock music is - it's about romance, heartbreak and sex. So I want to keep it real when I'm up on stage, and if I want to express my sexuality, it's going to be homosexuality!"
Lambert admits to having a fairly turbulent relationship with the media. "I have a love-hate relationship with them," he says. "It's a double-edged sword. I've had a lot of great, positive interactions with the media, and then I've had certain interviews where they've taken something out of context and exploited and sensationalised it, and turned it into a headline. And they sometimes just give complete misinformation.
"I actually saw something the other day that I found quite funny - there was a headline that just said: 'Adam Lambert already tired on tour'. What is that?! So I clicked on it, and someone had asked me if I ever get tired, and all I said was 'yeah I get tired sometimes'. And now that's the headline! Oh Jesus."
Indeed it's funny following how America's frigid media organisations report on Lambert. They often just don't get it. Ever since that cheeky pash with his keyboardist at the American Music Awards, reporters have been following his tour closely, frantically trying to piece together a fantasy romance narrative. Headlines such as 'Adam Lambert's guitarist kisses his sweaty shoulder' are almost de rigueur.
"That whole thing with him is just really funny," Lambert laughs. "We're just good friends, and we get a kick out of getting a rise out of the females in the audience. He's straight, and he's gotten so much action from all this!"
And the media is so easy to bait, Lambert insists. "I get a little cheeky from time to time," he says. "I don't think I've ever straight out lied about anything - I'm a pretty honest person – but I definitely like to push buttons back. It's only fair, right?"
Meanwhile, Lambert is gearing up for some Aussie action. "I had so much fun last time," he says. "What I love about Australia is that it's so liberal, so open - people really tend to just live and let live. I'm an idealist by nature and I would hope that some day certain areas of my country could get to that level of progression.
"I actually even made a couple of friends while I was there, so hopefully we can hang out a bit."
[source]Tuesday, 12 October 2010
George Michael released from jail
11 October 2010 Last updated at 13:55 GMT
George Michael emerged from his home earlier to speak with reporters
Pop star George Michael has said he "just wants to start again" following his release from prison in Suffolk after serving a sentence for drug driving.
The 47-year-old said it was "fantastic" to be free on "a beautiful day".
"I just want to say thank you for everybody who has supported me in there," the singer told reporters outside his north London home.
Michael served half of an eight-week sentence in jail for crashing his car while under the influence of cannabis.
He was arrested in July after being found slumped at the wheel of his Land Rover in Hampstead, north London.
The singer served the initial days of his sentence in Pentonville Prison before being transferred to Highpoint Prison in Suffolk.
While serving his time in jail, Michael - real name Georgios Panayiotou - issued a statement to say he had received "no special treatment of any kind".
The star, who had a previous conviction for a similar offence, was told there was no option apart from a custodial sentence when he appeared at Highbury Magistrates Court last month.
Following his release on Monday, Michael left his home to tell reporters he was "going to try to stop running away from you guys".
"I'm coming out here on my own so that you'll realise I just want to start again," he said, adding they would "see him about".
"By the way, I've just thought of a really good idea for a song," he added. "It's going to be nothing to do with prison."
Michael first shot to fame as half of pop duo Wham! before embarking on a successful career as a solo artist.
Start Quote
End Quote
[source]
LONDON – George Michael has regained his freedom.
The wayward singer was released from jail Monday after serving almost four weeks for driving under the influence of drugs.
Michael thanked those who had supported him while he was jailed and said outside his north London home: "I just want to start again."
The former Wham! singer received an eight-week sentence on Sept. 14 for crashing his car into a London photo shop in July while high on prescription drugs and marijuana.
The judge ordered Michael to serve four weeks of the sentence in prison and the rest on parole.
The musician, whose hits include "Faith" and "Freedom," also received a 1,250 pound (about $2,000) fine and lost his driver's license for five years. [source]
AP – British singer George Michael outside his house in Highgate, London, after being released from prison, …
Free George Michael 'wants to start again'
George Michael emerged from his home earlier to speak with reporters
Pop star George Michael has said he "just wants to start again" following his release from prison in Suffolk after serving a sentence for drug driving.
The 47-year-old said it was "fantastic" to be free on "a beautiful day".
"I just want to say thank you for everybody who has supported me in there," the singer told reporters outside his north London home.
Michael served half of an eight-week sentence in jail for crashing his car while under the influence of cannabis.
He was arrested in July after being found slumped at the wheel of his Land Rover in Hampstead, north London.
The singer served the initial days of his sentence in Pentonville Prison before being transferred to Highpoint Prison in Suffolk.
While serving his time in jail, Michael - real name Georgios Panayiotou - issued a statement to say he had received "no special treatment of any kind".
The star, who had a previous conviction for a similar offence, was told there was no option apart from a custodial sentence when he appeared at Highbury Magistrates Court last month.
Following his release on Monday, Michael left his home to tell reporters he was "going to try to stop running away from you guys".
"I'm coming out here on my own so that you'll realise I just want to start again," he said, adding they would "see him about".
"By the way, I've just thought of a really good idea for a song," he added. "It's going to be nothing to do with prison."
Michael first shot to fame as half of pop duo Wham! before embarking on a successful career as a solo artist.
Start Quote
I'm coming out here on my own so that you'll realise I just want to start again
George Michael
End Quote
[source]
George Michael released from jail after 4 weeks
LONDON – George Michael has regained his freedom.
The wayward singer was released from jail Monday after serving almost four weeks for driving under the influence of drugs.
Michael thanked those who had supported him while he was jailed and said outside his north London home: "I just want to start again."
The former Wham! singer received an eight-week sentence on Sept. 14 for crashing his car into a London photo shop in July while high on prescription drugs and marijuana.
The judge ordered Michael to serve four weeks of the sentence in prison and the rest on parole.
The musician, whose hits include "Faith" and "Freedom," also received a 1,250 pound (about $2,000) fine and lost his driver's license for five years. [source]
AP – British singer George Michael outside his house in Highgate, London, after being released from prison, …
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Digital Spy Interview
Marc Silcock (Jackson Walsh, 'Emmerdale')
Wednesday, October 6 2010, 20:02 BST By Ryan Love, Entertainment Reporter
So there we have it. Alone in his van, reaching for his mobile - a night out for Jackson Walsh ended in disaster. After a special screening of the dramatic episode, I sat down for a quick chat with Emmerdale's Marc Silcock to find out his reaction to the plot and what fans can expect in the months ahead. Despite Marc having recently extended his contract with the soap, things are not getting any easier for Jackson and Aaron...
How did you feel when you heard about the crash?
"[I was] ecstatic, really. It wasn't to me a storyline in itself, more of a switch that starts a new storyline, a new chapter in their relationship and kick-starts Jackson's own storyline in a way. It was a big thumbs-up from everybody upstairs - all the bosses and the producer Gavin Blyth saying, 'We've enjoyed you for the past six months and let's see what you can do'. It's brilliant!"
It's been mentioned that the storyline will continue well into next year, will you be sticking around?
"At the moment, I know I'm there until early next year. I'm there for the first couple of months of 2011 which will be great as it will see me through a year. What happens after that is completely up to the bosses but all I know is that."
Is it true that we are going to be meeting Jackson's father soon?
"Yes! Michael J. Jackson comes in and plays my father Jerry. This is a big key to understanding why Jackson is like he is, why he is so understanding of Aaron and why the relationship is as it is. We understand that a lot seeing his father and seeing the interaction between Pauline Quirke (Hazel) and Michael. We will understand a lot of Jackson's background."
So is it a strained relationship Jackson has with Jerry?
"Very strained! Jerry was not very open to Jackson's sexuality so it is very strained and we'll see the outcome of that in future episodes. What the two characters went through together, and I think the crash and what Jackson has to go through, is a huge strain on Jerry - but that just makes him hold on tighter to Jackson, rather than let him go."
Will Jackson blame Aaron for what has happened?
"I think for a long time Jackson is just glad to be awake. I think there's an empty blame there, a hope that if he was to blame somebody else it would take a little bit of the pain away from him and the situation. However, I think he quickly comes to terms with the fact that what's happened has happened and that he has to focus on where he wants to be and what he wants to do. Blaming everybody and anybody doesn't take any of the blame away. Jackson answered the phone, Jackson was driving the van - nobody else. There's a lot to come to terms with and a lot of strain and strife to get through the fact that there is nobody else to blame. It's on him. This is his life and this is what he has to go through."
How would Aaron cope if Jackson was to die?
"I don't know, really. Aaron is his own character and would have reacted in a number of different ways. I think, with his relationship with Jackson, it would either have gone one way or another. It would have been a case of, my personal opinion on the character of Aaron, I think he would have allowed him to blame himself and his sexuality. With the self-loathing storyline, the way it's gone, I think it would have given Aaron a chance to self-implode again. To be honest, I don't know the way Aaron would have reacted but I think there would be a huge difference in Aaron if Jackson were to die in the crash."
What has the fan reaction been like for yourself and the character of Jackson?
"It's been fantastic! When I first came into Emmerdale I was part of the storyline and now I've become entwined with the storyline. It's brilliant. People don't see it anymore as a gay relationship, just as a relationship - which is brilliant and what we wanted to get to. The whole storyline is about being comfortable with yourself and when fans become comfortable with the relationship and not seeing it as two men together, it makes you realise that it's worked."
Have you had any negative feedback about the plot?
"99.9% of the fans [that] come up to you, from teenagers to 70-year-olds, don't mention the fact that it's a gay relationship. They just go, 'You and Aaron', or, 'Aaron and Jackson', or, 'You two are great together', and it makes you realise that what you are doing is now not a gay relationship - it's about the emotions after and trying to portray what a real relationship is like. Obviously you get the 0.1% people that aren't appreciative, but everyone is entitled to their opinions. Everybody is entitled to express what they want to express in their own way. Although, that is drowned out vastly by the positive reaction and feedback that we get. The response from the audience and the response from the producers; well, we wouldn't be getting these storylines and we wouldn't be getting the response from everybody [otherwise]. Danny [Miller] wouldn't be winning awards if these people didn't like it."
Absolutely - and he now has two Inside Soap Awards to his name...
"His performances have been unbelievable! Those awards are the realisation that it is time for Danny to get some recognition for what he has been doing. It took a while, and it was unbelievable that it took that long, but it's been fantastic to finally see him win the awards that he should have won a long time ago. Now, being in the storyline, it's not as easy as everyone thinks it looks. Danny's obviously worked extremely hard for it and it only helps everybody else get their game up a little bit. When you look at it and you're facing that and the cameras are watching you, and Danny's doing what he is doing - what he is being awarded for - it just makes you want to fight a little bit harder and box at your weight. It just lifts the whole cast and the storyline. That's why the storyline is so popular, because people believe in the characters and the performances."
How does Hazel deal with events?
"Hazel's character is bright and chirpy and always looking on the bright side of life. For the very first time, we see that crust crack a little bit. This isn't something that can be laughed off. This isn't something that a cup of hot chocolate is going to make better. She's going to really struggle now, not only with the arrival of her estranged husband and how that affects Jackson and their relationship, but she's now got to worry about Jackson. Not about Jackson and Aaron and how they are doing or how she's doing - she's got to focus on Jackson now and it's a heavy weight for Pauline to go through. You have to believe that you are losing a son or that your son is going through this and I know Pauline has a son and she's been fantastic. Some of the stuff that I've been in the room for that she has been doing has been unbelievable. All the stuff after Jackson wakes up with himself and Aaron, himself and Jerry and Pauline - it's just been unbelievable to be a part of. It's been brilliant."
How do you feel when you're called a role model?
"It's a bit strange! I personally don't see myself as a role model but I do see the relationship as one. And I see the way that Aaron has come to terms with his relationship to everybody else as a role model for how it should be. Obviously that is not real life - people react in different ways and people have different families and different opinions but I don't consider myself as much of a role model as I do the relationship that's now been formed."
As a couple, Aaron and Jackson have a strong fanbase which has many hopes for their future. Where do you see the relationship going?
"I think when the storyline [was] set out there was always going to be an end for it. There was never going to be a fairytale ending because the two characters are polar opposites. Although there is an attraction, it's very difficult for two people like that to come together and mesh. I'm ecstatic that the fans are worried about the characters. Again it shows a great relationship between the characters on screen and the fans off it. I think it's very difficult in the situation that the characters are finding themselves in to pluck at that silver lining. It would be very difficult for any relationship to survive the struggles that everybody is going to go through over the coming months."
[source]
Wednesday, October 6 2010, 20:02 BST By Ryan Love, Entertainment Reporter
So there we have it. Alone in his van, reaching for his mobile - a night out for Jackson Walsh ended in disaster. After a special screening of the dramatic episode, I sat down for a quick chat with Emmerdale's Marc Silcock to find out his reaction to the plot and what fans can expect in the months ahead. Despite Marc having recently extended his contract with the soap, things are not getting any easier for Jackson and Aaron...
How did you feel when you heard about the crash?
"[I was] ecstatic, really. It wasn't to me a storyline in itself, more of a switch that starts a new storyline, a new chapter in their relationship and kick-starts Jackson's own storyline in a way. It was a big thumbs-up from everybody upstairs - all the bosses and the producer Gavin Blyth saying, 'We've enjoyed you for the past six months and let's see what you can do'. It's brilliant!"
It's been mentioned that the storyline will continue well into next year, will you be sticking around?
"At the moment, I know I'm there until early next year. I'm there for the first couple of months of 2011 which will be great as it will see me through a year. What happens after that is completely up to the bosses but all I know is that."
Is it true that we are going to be meeting Jackson's father soon?"Yes! Michael J. Jackson comes in and plays my father Jerry. This is a big key to understanding why Jackson is like he is, why he is so understanding of Aaron and why the relationship is as it is. We understand that a lot seeing his father and seeing the interaction between Pauline Quirke (Hazel) and Michael. We will understand a lot of Jackson's background."
So is it a strained relationship Jackson has with Jerry?
"Very strained! Jerry was not very open to Jackson's sexuality so it is very strained and we'll see the outcome of that in future episodes. What the two characters went through together, and I think the crash and what Jackson has to go through, is a huge strain on Jerry - but that just makes him hold on tighter to Jackson, rather than let him go."
Will Jackson blame Aaron for what has happened?
"I think for a long time Jackson is just glad to be awake. I think there's an empty blame there, a hope that if he was to blame somebody else it would take a little bit of the pain away from him and the situation. However, I think he quickly comes to terms with the fact that what's happened has happened and that he has to focus on where he wants to be and what he wants to do. Blaming everybody and anybody doesn't take any of the blame away. Jackson answered the phone, Jackson was driving the van - nobody else. There's a lot to come to terms with and a lot of strain and strife to get through the fact that there is nobody else to blame. It's on him. This is his life and this is what he has to go through."
How would Aaron cope if Jackson was to die?
"I don't know, really. Aaron is his own character and would have reacted in a number of different ways. I think, with his relationship with Jackson, it would either have gone one way or another. It would have been a case of, my personal opinion on the character of Aaron, I think he would have allowed him to blame himself and his sexuality. With the self-loathing storyline, the way it's gone, I think it would have given Aaron a chance to self-implode again. To be honest, I don't know the way Aaron would have reacted but I think there would be a huge difference in Aaron if Jackson were to die in the crash."
What has the fan reaction been like for yourself and the character of Jackson?"It's been fantastic! When I first came into Emmerdale I was part of the storyline and now I've become entwined with the storyline. It's brilliant. People don't see it anymore as a gay relationship, just as a relationship - which is brilliant and what we wanted to get to. The whole storyline is about being comfortable with yourself and when fans become comfortable with the relationship and not seeing it as two men together, it makes you realise that it's worked."
Have you had any negative feedback about the plot?
"99.9% of the fans [that] come up to you, from teenagers to 70-year-olds, don't mention the fact that it's a gay relationship. They just go, 'You and Aaron', or, 'Aaron and Jackson', or, 'You two are great together', and it makes you realise that what you are doing is now not a gay relationship - it's about the emotions after and trying to portray what a real relationship is like. Obviously you get the 0.1% people that aren't appreciative, but everyone is entitled to their opinions. Everybody is entitled to express what they want to express in their own way. Although, that is drowned out vastly by the positive reaction and feedback that we get. The response from the audience and the response from the producers; well, we wouldn't be getting these storylines and we wouldn't be getting the response from everybody [otherwise]. Danny [Miller] wouldn't be winning awards if these people didn't like it."
Absolutely - and he now has two Inside Soap Awards to his name...
"His performances have been unbelievable! Those awards are the realisation that it is time for Danny to get some recognition for what he has been doing. It took a while, and it was unbelievable that it took that long, but it's been fantastic to finally see him win the awards that he should have won a long time ago. Now, being in the storyline, it's not as easy as everyone thinks it looks. Danny's obviously worked extremely hard for it and it only helps everybody else get their game up a little bit. When you look at it and you're facing that and the cameras are watching you, and Danny's doing what he is doing - what he is being awarded for - it just makes you want to fight a little bit harder and box at your weight. It just lifts the whole cast and the storyline. That's why the storyline is so popular, because people believe in the characters and the performances."
How does Hazel deal with events?"Hazel's character is bright and chirpy and always looking on the bright side of life. For the very first time, we see that crust crack a little bit. This isn't something that can be laughed off. This isn't something that a cup of hot chocolate is going to make better. She's going to really struggle now, not only with the arrival of her estranged husband and how that affects Jackson and their relationship, but she's now got to worry about Jackson. Not about Jackson and Aaron and how they are doing or how she's doing - she's got to focus on Jackson now and it's a heavy weight for Pauline to go through. You have to believe that you are losing a son or that your son is going through this and I know Pauline has a son and she's been fantastic. Some of the stuff that I've been in the room for that she has been doing has been unbelievable. All the stuff after Jackson wakes up with himself and Aaron, himself and Jerry and Pauline - it's just been unbelievable to be a part of. It's been brilliant."
How do you feel when you're called a role model?
"It's a bit strange! I personally don't see myself as a role model but I do see the relationship as one. And I see the way that Aaron has come to terms with his relationship to everybody else as a role model for how it should be. Obviously that is not real life - people react in different ways and people have different families and different opinions but I don't consider myself as much of a role model as I do the relationship that's now been formed."
As a couple, Aaron and Jackson have a strong fanbase which has many hopes for their future. Where do you see the relationship going?
"I think when the storyline [was] set out there was always going to be an end for it. There was never going to be a fairytale ending because the two characters are polar opposites. Although there is an attraction, it's very difficult for two people like that to come together and mesh. I'm ecstatic that the fans are worried about the characters. Again it shows a great relationship between the characters on screen and the fans off it. I think it's very difficult in the situation that the characters are finding themselves in to pluck at that silver lining. It would be very difficult for any relationship to survive the struggles that everybody is going to go through over the coming months."
[source]
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
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