Tag Archives: Spartacus

Lesley-Ann Brandt to Appear on Upcoming “The Walking Dead” Spinoff

Posted on by
Reply

Lesley-Ann Brandt has landed a walking challenge… 

The 41-year-old part-Spanish actress and former Lucifer star has landed a key recurring role in upcoming The Walking Dead spinoff starring Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira as iconic TWD characters Rick Grimes and Michonne.

Lesley-Ann BrandtBrandt will play Pearl Thorne in the six-episode series. Character details are being kept under wraps.

Production recently got underway in New Jersey.

The latest TWD spinoff will wrap up the story arcs for the Rick Grimes and Michonne characters.

The synopsis: The series presents an epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world. Kept apart by distance. By an unstoppable power. By the ghosts of who they were. Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead… And ultimately, a war against the living. Can they find each other and who they were in a place and situation unlike any they’ve ever known before? Are they enemies? Lovers? Victims? Victors? Without each other, are they even alive — or will they find that they, too, are the Walking Dead?

Lincoln’s character is a sheriff who led the show’s pack of survivors for its first nine seasons. He’s presumed dead by members of his clan as of Season 9’s fifth episode, “What Comes After,” after blowing up a bridge with dynamite to stave off hordes of walkers. While he subsequently disappears, we eventually learn that he has, in fact, survived, as he helicopters off with Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh) and her allies.

Gurira’s Michonne is a katana-wielding survivor first introduced in Season 3 who joins Grimes’ group and eventually falls for him, becoming a surrogate mother to his kids. The character last appeared in Season 10, setting off to find Rick after learning he may have survived his near-fatal Season 9 injury.

Both characters returned for the final moments of the series finale, each in separate places and apparently separate times. They were connected through images of campfires and the sounds of their voices reciting words they were each writing in a journal.

The spinoff is slated to premiere in 2024.

Brandt played Maze, a demon from Hell and loveable anti-hero, on all six seasons of Netlix’s Lucifer. She’s also known for her role as Naevia in Steven S. DeKnight’s Spartacus franchise.

Her other television credits include Gotham and The Librarians, among others.

Bardem to Portray Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes on the Big Screen?

Posted on by
Reply

Javier Bardem could soon be experiencing Montezuma’s revenge…

The 44-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actor has reportedly expressed interest in starring as Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernan Cortes, the man who caused the fall of the Aztec Empire, in the film Montezuma.

Javier Bardem

The film, one of Hollywood’s fabled projects that Steven Spielberg hopes to direct, will be rewritten and produced by Steve Zaillian, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Montezuma, explores the complicated relationship between Cortes and the Aztec emperor Montezuma.

Hernan Cortes

The original script was written in the 1960s by Dalton Trumbo, the screenwriter who was part of the Hollywood Ten and was blacklisted in the 1950s. It was intended to reteam the writer with star Kirk Douglas, who starred in Trumbo’s classic Spartacus.

The project fell by the wayside but now has found a home, decades later, with DreamWorks.

Spielberg has been looking for a project to direct since shelving Robopocalypse last year. He had intended to direct Bradley Cooper in American Sniper but parted ways with Warner Bros. over budgetary differences. (Clint Eastwood is now on board to direct that project, which should shoot this year.)

Spielberg is notorious for developing, some might even say overdeveloping, projects but not pulling the trigger. But Zaillian and Spielberg have a long history, and the two made Schindler’s List into a Oscar-winning hit. It is, however, unclear what other projects Spielberg is developing in addition to Montezuma that might vie for his attention.

Also unclear is where the project will ultimately land. DreamWorks has a first-look deal with Disney and its movies are released under the Touchstone label. Disney will get first crack at the project and if it passes, Fox could be a possible home as Zaillian and his shingle, Film Rites, have their first-look there.

Ramirez Promoted to Series Regular on CBS’ “Blue Bloods”

Posted on by
Reply

It’s a blue day for Marisa Ramirez…

The 35-year-old Latina actress has been promoted to series regular on CBS’ Blue Bloods, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Marisa Ramirez on Blue Bloods

Ramirez, who had a recurring arc on the police drama at the end of season three, replaces actress Jennifer Esposito.

Ramirez will stay on as Detective Maria Baez, the former and now full-time partner for Donnie Wahlberg‘s character Detective Danny Reagan.

Marisa Ramirez on Blue Bloods

“It all still feels a bit surreal,” Ramirez tells THR. “From the first day, everyone was so welcoming. Working with Donnie and the cast and crew of Blue Bloods can spoil a girl.  Total pros, each and every one, and all so supportive. I just enjoyed every minute. Truly, I never dreamed I would be coming back as a regular. To say I am grateful is an understatement.”

Ramirez’s promotion comes after CBS tried three different female leads opposite Wahlberg last season. Megan Ketch had a four-episode trial and Megan Boone filled in for three.

The void was created when series regular Esposito was put on an indefinite medical leave by the show’s producer CBS Television Studios.

Esposito, who has Celiac disease, was put on medical leave and ultimately parted ways with the drama

Ramirez’s credits include ABC‘s Body of Proof, Against the Wall, Spartacus and The Young and the Restless.

Blue Bloods returns Fridays in the fall on CBS.