hollywood q&a
By Adam Thomlison
TV Media
Q: I just finished watching
HBO’s “Chernobyl” series,
and I’m wondering why I
recognize the actor who
played Boris, the Soviet
bureaucrat at the center of
the show.
A: You recognize him be-
cause he’s Stellan Skarsgård,
Hollywood’s favorite pan-
European.
He’s Ukrainian in HBO’s
hit historical drama “Cher-
nobyl,” but he was a Russian
in 2016’s “Our Kind of Traitor”
and 1990’s “The Hunt for Red
October,” a Norwegian in the
first two Thor movies and the
second Avengers movie, a his-
torical Anglo-Saxon in 2004’s
“King Arthur” and a Swede in
the two Mamma Mia movies
(2008 and 2018).
He also played undefined
Euro-types in 1997’s “Good Will
Hunting” and a couple of the
Pirates of the Caribbean movies
(2006 and 2007).
In reality, Skarsgård is Swed-
ish, and he actually splits his
time between doing American
films and Scandinavian ones.
His sweet spot is the work of
Danish art-house director Lars
Von Trier — he’s done a number
of his films, which are generally
popular in Europe and North
America (among film nerds, at
least).
Q: How much are the par-
ticipants in “90 Day Fiance”
and “Married at First Sight”
paid?
A: Reports differ a little, but
they all amount to the same
thing: not as much as you’d
think.
These are two pretty surreal
reality shows. TLC’s “90 Day
Fiance” follows Americans
planning to marry foreign
citizens as they meet their fi-
ances and, as per the U.S. visa
process, must decide within
90 days whether to go ahead
with the marriage. “Married
at First Sight” is similar —
this Lifetime series follows
strangers who are matched by
relationship experts, get mar-
ried when they meet, and then
have a few weeks to decide
whether to stay married or get
divorced.
12 | Screentime
The appeal of the shows,
generally, is that these are nor-
mal people with normal lives
but are doing this one really
incredible/bizarre thing. And
this aspect is key to the salary
structure. Because these people
are leading their regular lives,
the compensation for being on
the show is seen as a stipend,
to supplement the salary they
get from their regular jobs. That
means, of course, it’s meager.
“Married at First Sight” pro-
ducer Chris Coelen told Reality-
Blurred.com that cast members
receive “a nothing stipend.
We did not want people who
were motivated by the wrong
things.”
There are differing accounts
of exactly how much “nothing”
means in this case, but it hovers
somewhere around $1,500 per
episode.
That roughly matches what
the “90 Day Fiance” cast re-
portedly gets paid — at least
the American members. As
for the ones coming into the
U.S., an unnamed source told
the gossip site RadarOnline.
com that they don’t get paid at
all. “They can’t even get paid
because they have to wait for a
work permit. It’s of course dif-
ferent if filming takes place in
their country.”
Q: Are there any plans to
adapt Mick Herron’s novels
for film or TV? They seem
suited to it.
A: There were plans, but they
seem to have expired (which is
what happens to plans in Hol-
lywood).
There was some buzz two
years ago that spy novelist Mick
Herron’s Jackson Lamb books
were being turned into a TV
series. Over here, the buzz was
a little muted because it was
all taking place in Herron’s na-
tive Britain, but it started when
See-Saw Films — a major U.K.
house behind massive hits such
as 2010’s “The King’s Speech”
and the prestige drama series
“Top of the Lake” — optioned
Herron’s first novel, “Slow
Horses.”
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July 17, 2019 | East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald
STREAMING THIS WEEK
“Preacher” — to the screen. “Supernatural” creator Eric Kripke joins
them as showrunner for the extremely R-rated series, which flips the
traditional superhero genre on its head. The show’s team of shiny,
attractive superheroes may put on a good show for the public eye,
but they’re far from the noble do-gooders they appear to be. Enter
Karl Urban (“Star Trek,” 2009) as Billy Butcher, who leads a vengeful
Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid, “The Hunger Games,” 2012) and a
team of gritty vigilantes on a hard-knocked mission to take down the
corrupt superheroes who use their power and celebrity to do, well,
whatever the heck they want. Elisabeth Shue (“CSI: Crime Scene In-
vestigation”), Jennifer Esposito (“Blue Bloods”), Erin Moriarty (“Jes-
sica Jones”) and Chace Crawford (“Gossip Girl”) also star, and you
can watch starting Friday, July 26.
NEW ON HULU:
“Veronica Mars” Season 4
Taylor Schilling in “Orange Is the New Black”
By Jacqueline Spendlove
TV Media
NEW ON NETFLIX:
“Orange Is the New Black” Season 7
The seventh and final season of one of Netflix’s first and most-
watched original series drops Friday, July 29, and fans are eager to
see how things will finally pan out for their favorite group of inmates.
In last season’s finale, Piper (Taylor Schilling, “The Lucky One,” 2012)
was granted early release, and this season sees her struggling to re-
adjust to life on the outside. With far bigger problems on their plates,
Taystee (Danielle Brooks, “Master of None”) has been convicted of
a murder she didn’t commit, and Blanca (Laura Gómez, “Show Me a
Hero”), thinking she was getting early release as well, was instead
transported to an immigrant detention center (consider my guts
wrenched). There are loads of other characters who deserve a satisfy-
ing conclusion to their stories, so the writers really had their work cut
out for them this season. And take heart — there’s already talk float-
ing around of a potential sequel somewhere down the line.
“Another Life”
Sci-fi fans may recognize Katee Sackhoff, who played Starbuck in
“Battlestar Galactica,” as the star of this new space-set drama start-
ing Thursday, July 25. The series follows a space crew, led by astronaut
Niko Breckinridge (Sackhoff), on a mission to locate the source of an
enormous alien artifact that mysteriously appeared on Earth. Things
go south for the team as they search for the alien species responsible
in the hopes of making contact, and the dangers and horrors they
face could mean that some — or all — of the crew never make it
home. Selma Blair (“Anger Management”), Tyler Hoechlin (“Road to
Perdition,” 2002), Justin Chatwin (“Shameless”), Jessica Camacho
(“Taken”) and Samuel Anderson (“Emmerdale”) join Sackhoff as
some of the crew members aboard the Salvare.
“Veronica Mars” is the latest lucky recipient of a post-cancellation
revival. The CW series that made Kristen Bell (“The Good Place”) big
ended in 2007 and got a Kickstarter-funded feature film in 2014, and
now a fourth season is available to stream on Friday, July 26. It serves
as a continuation of both the series and the movie and takes place in
the present day with teen sleuth Veronica Mars (Bell) — now adult
sleuth Veronica Mars — back in her hometown of Neptune, Califor-
nia, and on the case of a serial killer who’s murdering spring breakers.
Bell told Entertainment Weekly that the new series is “darker and
bigger and more cinematic” than “Veronica Mars” of yore, but there
are many familiar faces from the original series, including Enrico
Colantoni (“Person of Interest”) as her dad, Keith Mars, and Jason
Dohring (“Deep Impact,” 1998) as main squeeze Logan Echolls. Oh,
and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is on the writing team. Do you need any
more reasons to watch?
“Light as a Feather” Season 2
If you were ever a teenage girl and attended a sleepover, you almost
certainly played “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” but it probably
didn’t end as badly for you as it does for the luckless participants in
this supernatural thriller. The series follows five girls who are met
with lethal consequences after playing the game, as they start drop-
ping like flies in the exact ways that were predicted. Having survived
Season 1, McKenna (Liana Liberato, “If I Stay,” 2014”) is dismayed
to learn that she’s inherited the game’s curse and, fighting the evil
force’s compulsion to play another round, she turns to Violet (Haley
Ramm, “Disconnect,” 2012), the one person who can help her. The
eerie series returns Friday, July 26.
“Workin’ Moms” Season 2
The second season of this Canadian sitcom is available to stream
Thursday, July 25. It follows a group of young moms as they venture
back into the workplace after maternity leave and juggle the many
challenges that go hand in hand with being a working mother. In
Season 2, Kate (Catherine Reitman, “Black-ish”), Frankie (Juno Rin-
aldi, “5ive Days to Midnight”), Anne (Dani Kind, “Wynonna Earp”)
and Jenny (Jessalyn Wanlim, “Orphan Black”) contend with the daily
struggle of parenting toddlers while holding down a job, maintaining
a healthy relationship and trying to have a social life. Their lives are
ones with which any working parent can sympathize, infused with
refreshing and much-needed humor.
NEW ON AMAZON PRIME:
“The Boys”
Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen have teamed up again to bring an-
other of Garth Ennis’s comic book series — the last one being AMC’s
Jack Quaid and Karl Urban in a scene from “The Boys”