Latest news with #Helperbots
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘It keeps me on my toes': ‘St. Denis Medical' star Allison Tolman on walking a fine line between zany and ‘incredibly heartfelt'
'I've always wanted to do a mockumentary,' admits Allison Tolman about what immediately drew her to St. Denis Medical. The self-professed Christopher Guest fan had heard word about the project and told her team to get their hands on the script. Once they did, the premiere episode by Eric Ledgin and Justin Spitzer did not disappoint: 'I was already pretty excited about it just based on the format, but then, read the first script and was like, 'Oh, this is really lovely. The jokes are funny, the characters are interesting, they really know how to make this format sing,'' she recounts. (Watch our full interview above). Tolman plays supervising nurse Alex in the new workplace comedy series, which is set in a regional hospital in Oregon. Though the character struggles with setting work-life boundaries, especially considering that she has two young children at home, Alex serves as the calm-ish center to the goofier characters around her. 'It can be lonely to be the straight man in a comedy like this because you're not the one who gets the big moments or the big jokes or the big set pieces,' the actress says. But the role does have its unique attributes, too. 'I really feel a kinship with the audience and I really feel like the responsibility and the honor of being their touchstone. … The joy of Alex for me is that she's really aware of how all of this is coming off and she's really aware of the fact that she's being observed at all times,' she adds. More from GoldDerby Creating a world for Helperbots: Dane Laffrey on the scenic design of 'Maybe Happy Ending' (exclusive images) 'Duster' divides critics: The 'skillfully executed' J.J. Abrams show is a 'messy delight' akin to an 'R-rated Hot Wheels series' Benito Skinner's 'Overcompensating' revives the college sex comedy for a new generation Tolman is a television veteran whose credits include Fargo, for which she earned an Emmy nomination, Why Women Kill, and Gaslit with Sean Penn and Julia Roberts. "I've been doing this long enough now and I've had enough ups and downs that I don't really trust anything,' says Tolman, adding that she felt passionate about St. Denis Michael, but that 'specialness doesn't always reflect in how things are received and how they're promoted.' She says she felt like 'the skeptic' when other folks on the series were optimistic about the huge prospects of the comedy right out of the gate. Still, her own perception started to change when she saw how supportive NBC was of the show. 'The parents are betting on us,' she describes. SEE Inside the success of 'St. Denis Medical': 'If you're a comedy and you're not trying to make people laugh, I don't think you're doing it right' St. Denis Medical features an ensemble of comedy pros, including David Alan Grier and Wendi McLendon-Covey. Tolman says 'every day is a delight, we really do like each other a lot, we really do have fun.' Despite the incredible improvisation chops amongst the cast, the actress shares, 'We don't break that much, we don't improvise as much as you might expect, but we have a great time between the lines.' The series also deftly balances the zaniness of the storylines with a healthy dose of heart. 'We'll be doing a crazy scene where there's a cat loose and then 30 minutes later, you're doing this incredibly heartfelt talking head that's wrapping up the entire episode,' describes the performer, adding, 'It keeps me on my toes. It reminds me that I can do both things, that I can do comedy and I can do drama.' One of Tolman's standout episodes of St. Denis Medical is the 10th, 'People Just Say Stuff Online,' in which Alex gets severely rankled about a patient review on Yelp that describes nurse Alex as 'snippy.' Desperate to find a different Alex who works in the hospital who the review could be describing, Tolman's Alex finds and flips out at another, quite lovely Alex in the geriatric ward. The actress says she enjoyed getting to play that scene in particular: 'I was really happy that I did have an episode where I got to be the one who was not okay. I was not holding it together well. … She was the unreasonable one and she was the one who was over the top. It was great, it was fun to play, and I thought it looked great when I finally saw it.' Tolman has a few favorite moments from the first season. First, she references '50 cc's of Kindness,' in which 'Matt [Mekki Leeper] and Alex are trying to convince the prisoners that they have a lot in common,' because it 'is so funny and was so much fun to shoot' and was also the first time she felt like she and the show had found its groove. Then she mentions 'Listen to Your Ladybugs' about breast cancer screenings, as well as the season finale, 'This Place Is Our Everything.' Of the latter, she says, 'I'm really proud of the way that the monologue at the end of Season 1 turned out. … That was another day where I got to be, like, vasectomy jokes, stunts, and then dial it in and do this great monologue that Eric had written and do some deep, real scene work.' SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby 'I do think that I burned down the cabin': How 'Yellowjackets' star Steven Krueger pulled off Coach Ben's mental and physical decline 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' star Charles Edwards on his tragic death scene: 'He did single-handedly withstand Sauron' Reality TV roundtable panel: 'American Idol,' 'Queer Eye,' 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,' 'The Traitors' Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' star Charles Edwards on his tragic death scene: ‘He did single-handedly withstand Sauron'
'I knew I had a finite journey to go on,' admits Charles Edwards of his doomed character in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. But the actor was excited to play out the final arc of Celebrimbor, the elven smith from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth novels who forged the titular rings. In a recent interview (full video above), Edwards discusses how the Prime Video series expands on the deeds of this pivotal figure, and allows Edwards to explore a downfall and death worthy of the greatest tragic heroes. Edwards spends the bulk of Season 2 locked in a deadly dance with Charlie Vickers as Sauron. The Dark Lord appears to Celebrimbor as the ethereal Annatar to convince the prideful elf to craft the rings that will one day oppress Middle-earth. 'Charlie is a very relaxed person, a very gentle person, a very intuitive person,' describes Edwards of his scene partner, 'we connected on that level. We just did it. We just acted it and had a great time doing it and loved doing it. We felt very lucky to be telling this story out of all the Tolkien stories.' More from GoldDerby 'It keeps me on my toes': 'St. Denis Medical' star Allison Tolman on walking a fine line between zany and 'incredibly heartfelt' Creating a world for Helperbots: Dane Laffrey on the scenic design of 'Maybe Happy Ending' (exclusive images) 'Duster' divides critics: The 'skillfully executed' J.J. Abrams show is a 'messy delight' akin to an 'R-rated Hot Wheels series' Celebrimbor is a prime target for Sauron's exploitation because of his desire for greatness. Particularly his wish to outshine his grandfather Feanor, the most talented elven smith that ever lived. So the actor was tickled and inspired by the scenic design saw Feanor's statue hovering outside of Celebrimbor's forge. 'When I arrived on the set and saw that, I thought, 'Oh, that's brilliant,'' exclaims Edwards, 'because he's there, he's looming, he's on my shoulder the whole time.' This ambition is ultimately his downfall. 'The moment Annatar steps forth from the flames, that being in Celebrimbor's forge is essentially a god,' notes Edwards. 'Celebrimbor believes that he's a god and that he's been sent by the Valar to create something wonderful with Celebrimbor.' The elf soon finds himself trapped in an illusion cast by Sauron, only able to focus on crafting the rings. As such, Edwards has to chart Celebrimbor's mad descent into an all-consuming obsession. 'The luck we had with this was to shoot it in order,' says Edwards, noting that this 'quirk of the shooting schedule' helped him chart Celebrimbor's downward spiral. The end of the ordeal with Sauron contains some of Edwards' most emotional work on the series. The illusion broken, Sauron shoots half a dozen arrows into Celebrimbor before stabbing him with a spear. But Celebrimbor, knowing his life is at an end, launches into a speech that terrifies Sauron. 'He has a prophecy to make. He talks about the One Ring in kind of fairly clear terms,' explains Edwards. The ring, he foresees, will turn Sauron into a prisoner instead of a master. In his final words, Celebrimbor becomes the first person to refer to Sauron as 'The Lord of the Rings,' but the title is bestowed as a grim warning of failure. 'It's the classic moment of death, isn't it, of someone saying something that's going to fundamentally change your world,' describes Edwards. 'He feels hugely and horribly betrayed. … Sauron has turned Celebrimbor into a kind of gibbering wreck. And when he looks around his workshop and sees what's become of it, I mean, it's totally total humiliation. And he knows he's going to die and he just has to leave this guy with something that's going to haunt him.' These final moments are a delicious twist on one of Tolkien's descriptions of Celebrimbor's fate. The author writes: 'Celebrimbor, desperate, himself withstood Sauron on the steps of the great door of the Mírdain.' Many readers may read this line and envision a duel with swords, but Edwards believes that the language his character uses in the series is just as powerful of a weapon. 'He did withstand with words,' claims the actor, 'those words were tough to swallow. So I believe he did single-handedly withstand Sauron.' Best of GoldDerby 'I do think that I burned down the cabin': How 'Yellowjackets' star Steven Krueger pulled off Coach Ben's mental and physical decline 'It keeps me on my toes': 'St. Denis Medical' star Allison Tolman on walking a fine line between zany and 'incredibly heartfelt' Reality TV roundtable panel: 'American Idol,' 'Queer Eye,' 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,' 'The Traitors' Click here to read the full article.
Los Angeles Times
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Inside ‘Maybe Happy Ending,' the revolutionary robot musical that has Broadway audiences aglow
A line in 'Maybe Happy Ending' describes the lives of fireflies, the once-ubiquitous insects that magically produce their own light. 'They only live for two months. But what a beautiful two months.' The same was nearly said of the stage show itself. Of all the new musicals debuting on Broadway this season, 'Maybe Happy Ending' is the sole entry not based on true events, archival music or any other existing material, making it a box office underdog when it opened last November. Its unabashed originality has since become its biggest boon. Set in Seoul circa 2064, the one-act adventure centers on two retired Helperbots who set aside their solitude and head to Jeju Island; Oliver, optimistic by design, hopes to reunite with his former owner, and Claire, cynical from experience, wants to witness the fireflies' glow before her own obsoletion. Along the way, these robots fall in love, their narrative needle dropped by jazz standards of a bygone era. This intimate spectacle — already a hit title in Asia for years, before the isolation of the pandemic and the existential threat of AI — is a singular exploration of human connection and the beauty of being alive, even though the only living thing in their apartments is a potted plant named HwaBoon. The Times spoke separately with members of the musical's cast and creative team about developing the standout show in Asia, witnessing its remarkable rise to Broadway acclaim and pulling off an ending that fascinates audiences to the tune of repeat viewing. Hue Park (lyricist, book writer): In 2014, I was in a coffee shop, and a song played in the background: 'Everyday Robots' by Damon Albarn. The lyrics start with, 'We are everyday robots on our phones / in the process of getting home.' I immediately thought of an intimate love story, but the protagonists are robots. Will Aronson (composer, lyricist, book writer): His pitch was, 'Two robots in the future in Korea, but one plays trombone alone late at night in the garage beneath their apartment.' There was already a strong emotional color because of this aspect of loneliness and isolation. Park: I had just gotten out of a long-term relationship and lost a close friend to cancer, and in the back of my head for a long time was hikikomori, the Japanese phenomenon [of severe social withdrawal] that is also in Korea. It made me wonder: Loving someone can be a heartbreaking thing, so why do we do it? Do I really want to pursue another deep connection with someone new, or do I want to be by myself, which is more comforting in many ways? Aronson: We thought about the reasons for that isolated state and formed our two Helperbots: Oliver has found a routine, and there's a real draw to stay in that room and never leave it, even if it means not experiencing anything. Claire is on the other side: I've seen it and I don't want it, I'm not going to engage with any of it. Michael Arden (director): The music was so fresh. I felt like I was listening to some love child of Sufjan Stevens, Richard Rodgers and Mr. Rogers, because something about it made me incredibly nostalgic. Then I got to the script — robots in the future? What the hell is this? Any new musical is a hard sell to investors, but especially one with an elevator pitch that's slightly odd. But by the time I finished reading it, I was in tears. It's about robots, but it's really about life. Park: There was a specific style and sound that I wanted us to try: In this futuristic Korea, we have this extremely acoustic, chamber sound, with jazz as a big element. I found that contrast exciting; to make everything electronic would be so obvious. Dez Duron (actor, Gil Brentley): These gorgeous jazz standards feel like hits from the '40s and '50s — songs that Oliver would still be listening to on a record player, over a hundred years later. If these songs existed when Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and all those crooners were alive, they would've beat down Will and Hue's door to let them sing them first. Clint Ramos (costume designer): Theater fans [in Asia] have been talking about this musical for years. It's interesting — to a non-Asian audience, it's an amazing love story, but to Asian folks, it hits all these different things. For example, between the robots, there's no lust, there's no sex. There's a lot of holding back emotions, and a touch or a look is so charged with energy — that's like a classic relationship, but it's also very Asian in a lot of ways. Park: [Bringing it to America in 2020,] we were stubborn — we're not changing the location, we're not doing stunt casting, the actors should really match the characters. Luckily, the show was already running for multiple years in Korea and Japan and China, and everyone was respectful of what was already done, so we were able to stick to the authenticity of the material. Aronson: At one point, we had Denée Benton playing Claire, Corey Cott as Oliver and Jon Jon Briones as both [Oliver's former owner] James and the jazz singer. Then, our thinking was: They're robots, so they could technically be any background, but if the audience only has a few moments to define the setting, it helps that the protagonists are cast Asian. Helen J Shen (actor, Claire): Talking to people at the stage door, there are so many Asian faces — people who have followed the production since Korea, people trying to do musical theater, people who are excited to see either themselves reflected onstage or just something that doesn't fit what we've become accustomed to seeing. Me embodying this character and standing in this building [on Broadway] is a revolution in and of itself; I feel the weight of that all the time, and it's easy for that to feel a little paralyzing. But the other day, Baayork Lee held my hands and told me, 'You're representing us — it's a lot of pressure, but you're doing it.' Those surreal 'pinch me' moments make me reevaluate growing up and not seeing faces that look like me, or seeing the few that do play characters who weren't well-rounded. I hold that person when I perform this. Darren Criss (actor, Oliver): Let's call a spade a spade here — I'm the white-passing Asian of our group, but it is my identity. The AAPI community in the arts is a smaller, if not marginalized, group, so to be up there, I feel that excitement and encouragement from the community at large. It's important, and I hope this show can continue to have that legacy and be an inspiring call to action in other artistic spheres. Marcus Choi (actor, James/Junseo): The American version has a deeper narrative between James and his estranged son, Junseo. I appreciate it because, growing up as a second-generation Korean American, I had some cultural difficulties when it came to my father — something I think a lot of Asian American families can relate to. Playing both roles has been therapeutic; it's been an opportunity to voice my frustrations as a son while also sympathizing with the father character. Justin Scribner (production stage manager): I'm excited for Asian artists to see themselves in a piece that's not about Asian trauma, of which there's so much in the musical theater canon, like 'Miss Saigon' and 'The King and I.' That takes its toll. To have roles for Asian artists that just happen to be in Korea, built by Asian creatives in Asia — it all feels like a possible beginning of something. Arden: The challenge throughout this whole process was never letting the complexity of the design overwhelm the simplicity of the story. We frame everything in these boxes that open and close, which is inspired by how we read manga — you see an image, and then you move to the next one, and the scenes are brought to you like a conveyor belt — as well as how we absorb media on our phones. Our whole first movement is presented in a vertical rectangle, like you're watching an Instagram Reel. It feels familiar but also somewhat unhuman. Dane Laffrey (scenic designer): The Helperbots' units are inspired by the Nakagin Capsule Tower, which was built in the '70s as part of a transient architecture scheme: There'd be many of these towers in every major city, and your apartment could go with you from city to city. It was utopian and idealistic, and the pods were designed with modular furniture built into the walls. But no other tower was ever built, so these futuristic cubes stayed there, started to decay and became obsolete. Michael and I were briefly in Tokyo before the building was torn down [in 2022], and it was extraordinary to see from the outside how much of it was being held together with plastic and tape, with extension cords coming out of the windows. It was sad and amazing and inevitable, all in a way that felt connected to our story. Ramos: In Asia, the aesthetic that Westerners perceive as 'cute' also translates to nonthreatening. So Oliver's costume is maxed out in that aspect — he's put together in a kind of uniform, with clean lines and sharp angles, but it also resembles that of a doll. There's no hardware, no belt; it's a look that'd make a person feel safe. Claire's costume had to be modest; we didn't want a K-pop or schoolgirl vibe. And because she's a more advanced model, her look evokes an individuality, a sense that she and her owner could kiki about fashion and try on those black suede boots. In comparison to Oliver's, Claire's outfit has more curves, textures and room for her more complex movements. George Reeve (video projection designer): I love how, in Oliver and Claire's memories, the humans are represented digitally while the robots are played by people. Ben Stanton (lighting designer): For those memories, we fly in a hologauze, a scrim that's so fine it's almost invisible but reflects light back so successfully that, when projecting video onto that surface and then lighting the actors behind it, we have a hologram effect. We drain all the color from the stage so it's all monochrome, and it suddenly feels like a different reality. Scribner: We have over 50 automated elements, including the turntable, lifts, firefly hatches in the deck — they're individually programmable pieces, but they're run by operators who press buttons rhythmically and in the right order. Altogether, we have 19 crew members, and they're busy every second, working very fast in very small spaces. When Oliver's apartment disappears for 13½ seconds and comes back all packed up, that's seven crew members precisely choreographed to grab certain things, hand them to each other and get out of there — all in the dark. Reeve: This whole time, we're watching Oliver and Claire travel to see these fireflies, and because that moment is actually quite quick, it had to land. It needed to be abstract yet theatrical, joyful but also makes you cry. There was such a discussion about how a firefly flashes — How many seconds? Are ours twinkly enough? — but those details make it all click. Stanton: There are hundreds of fireflies in the background, on the video screens, upstage and scattered throughout the house. We get this real sense of depth and dimension; this scene of robots in nature feels magical because it's tangible. And then a single firefly flies out over the house, which is lovely. Scribner: The string quartet plays from an empty dressing room for most of the show. During the quietest scene, they tiptoe upstairs, put on in-ear monitors and tune their second set of instruments until the last second. They're led onstage and, once they all nod, an electrician blasts the space with fog, and suddenly they're on a turntable, playing expressively from memory. We had a lot of rehearsals to make sure all the musicians were comfortable — it's not the usual gig! — but they're excited to be a part of it. They understand how special the thing is that we're doing. Criss: After a few previews, we noticed that audiences had conflicting ideas about the ending and would ask us for answers. We told Michael, and he said defiantly, 'No, that's not the play we're doing. This is what happens, make sure you tell that story.' Shy of any eye flutters, we're doing that same directive every night. Shen: People come back and absolutely see different things because this show can hold something different each time you see it. Whenever anyone asks me, I love turning it back on them and hearing how they're reflecting their own existence into that moment. Criss: Even though we're trying to be definitive, people want to see things and need the ending to be one way or the other, maybe because of taste or life experiences. It just speaks to the investment people put into these characters and the story. Aronson: I actually interpret the title more as: Even if the facts are clear, is it a happy ending or not? Scribner: In the beginning, it was scary; it felt like we were giving away tickets. I was like, Is this gonna be the greatest thing I ever worked on and no one got to see it? But to then have all of the reviews be so positive, and speak to the storytelling's depth and layers, changed the game. I stopped getting texts asking for free tickets and instead got texts asking how to get any tickets at all. Park: That these audiences became our biggest supporters is the best thing in the world. I found it sad that, because we didn't base this on anything famous, we weren't selling enough tickets in advance. We're creating a new show, a new story — that's our job. And to be sustainable, it shouldn't be original? Aronson: I get it — with tickets this expensive, people want a safe choice. We were asking people to take a risk, especially before anyone knew what it was about or what the experience would be. Am I really going to go see robots in love? Park: But it's like Oliver opening his door to Claire when she knocks. You don't have to answer, but if you do, it could be really rewarding, even life-changing. I hope we are not too cynical to open that door.
