Latest news with #LaSalle
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Eriq La Salle on developing ‘On Call's' ‘imperfect' hybrid style and returning to acting
Since his time on ER, Eriq La Salle has focused on directing for most of the past two decades, becoming a staple in the Dick Wolf universe. He's worked on Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Chicago P.D. (including serving as an executive producer for five years), Chicago Med, and FBI. So it was no surprise when he got the call for the prolific producer's new drama On Call. "They just called up and said, 'Hey, we've got this cool pilot, we'd love you to do it,'" La Salle tells Gold Derby. "I took a look at it and read it in, I don't know, like, 29 minutes, and said 'yes' in 30 minutes. It was just pretty much a no-brainer." More from GoldDerby Jane Lynch on her 'funny and touching' final scene with Steve Martin on 'Only Murders in the Building' 'Only Murders in the Building' Emmy odds for Selena Gomez, the Martins, and all those guest stars 'Dune: Prophecy' showrunner teases the Fremen and which books Season 2 could cover Signing on in 30 minutes is apt since On Call is Wolf's first half-hour series. The Prime Video police drama follows veteran officer Traci Harmon (Troian Bellisario) training her rookie partner Alex Diaz (Brandon Larracuente) in Long Beach, Calif. Created by Tim Walsh and Elliot Wolf, Wolf's son, On Call was always designed to be a half-hour drama — a rare format nowadays that La Salle would like to see make a comeback. "It's really a throwback to the old dramas back in the '60s that really captured our attention and really held it. And they always felt, in a good way, like they were longer than they were because they had such substance to it and resonated," he says. "You think of, like, Adam-12, Naked City. There were so many cool shows back then, and they were actually half-hours, and we've gotten away from that. And so this really lent itself to return to that format. I just kind of thought like, 'Who better to sort of lead us back there than the Dick Wolf camp?' I think as we're as this industry is struggling with sort of coming up with a new image and a new approach and a new format of how we entertain. I thought this was just right on time." SEE Troian Bellisario on playing a police officer in On Call, reflects on 15th anniversary of Pretty Little Liars La Salle, who also joined as executive producer, directed four episodes of the eight-episode first season, including the pilot — his Emmy submission — in which he established the look of the show. On Call incorporates footage from body cams, dash cams, and cell phones, creating a voyeuristic, cinéma vérité feel. "Part of our training was to do ride-alongs, and we wanted to basically put the audience in and make them feel that they were in the cop car, doing a ride-along, a day in the life of a cop," La Salle says. "You want the unsteadiness of the body cam. You want the imperfect framing. This is not about beauty. It's about the truth and the grit of what is happening in that moment. You sometimes want a little separation. You want a dash cam where we want to pull the audience in and make them feel like they need to look harder to see what's really going on because they can't see everything perfectly." Amazon MGM Studios The three-time Emmy nominee credits the "collaborative effort" between his crew to find the right "alchemy" for the hybrid footage. "I just have to be very clear when I'm explaining my vision and I just love talented people that can take that and run with it," he continues. "Adam Silver, who's our DP, was just so gung-ho about all of it. And we experimented a lot. And then our editor was essential as well because we were still finding the balance the alchemy of all of this, even in post. 'How much is too much?' 'OK, let's cut a little bit of the body cam out.' 'Maybe it's too much. It's not appropriate.' It was a process and it was really cool. But everyone jumped in. I think we got to a point where, like, 'OK, we're close, but wasn't still quite it.' And then we made some more adjustments. And then it was like, 'That's it. That's the right amount. Not too much, not too little.' It was very important to us in honoring what I think is a great script. We never wanted the show in any way to feel gimmicky." La Salle hadn't been onscreen in almost a decade and never intended to act on On Call. His BFF and former ER co-star Michael Beach was cast as Sgt. Lasman but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Other actors were considered before La Salle decided to take on the role himself, inspired by another actor-director-producer on one series. "I have a lot of admiration and respect for what Jason Bateman did with Ozark. And obviously he did it on a much larger scale than what I did. He was the lead. He was in pretty much every scene, all of that, but I just thought he did such a fantastic job," he says. "I strive to be sort of in the very small class of multi-hyphenates. There are endless numbers of actors, there are tons of directors, there are tons of producers. It's much smaller a scale for people that do all of that." SEE ER alum Eriq La Salle looks back on the Benton-Carter rehab moment 25 years later: 'If you have to go to hell, I'm coming to hell with you' La Salle, who's also an award-winning novelist, "absolutely" felt rusty getting back in front of the camera. He relied a lot on Bellisario, with whom he shared his most intense scenes as their characters frequently clashed. "She has a very easy way about her. She has, and more importantly — or equally important, I should say — a very honest way about how she approaches the craft. And so when part of my brain is over here thinking about the directing, and part of it is over here, thinking about the overall production — I just leaned on her more. There was just something about me locking eyes with her, and maybe with maybe she saw the pleading in my eyes," he says with a laugh. "I thought we had fantastic chemistry, but I felt everyone had great chemistry. ... By the end of the shoot, I started feeling much more comfortable. But yeah, there were some times in the beginning I was like, 'Oh man, I am rusty. I haven't hit that note in a long time.'" Prime Video canceled On Call last month, but the show is being shopped to other platforms, including Peacock, which streams Wolf's NBC projects. "Everyone would love to [do a second season]," La Salle says. "It's a great, great cast and crew. We became very close. We'd love that, but it's up to the powers that be." On Call is streaming on Prime Video. Best of GoldDerby Jane Lynch on her 'funny and touching' final scene with Steve Martin on 'Only Murders in the Building' Chloë Sevigny on Kitty Menendez and 'Monsters' fascination: 'People are endlessly curious about those who have privilege and abuse it' Jason Isaacs relives filming 'The White Lotus' piña colada scene: 'It was one of the reasons I was worried about taking the job' Click here to read the full article.
CTV News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
LaSalle's Strawberry Festival to take place this weekend
The LaSalle Strawberry Festival seen ahead of its opening on June 4, 2025 in LaSalle, Ont. (Gary Archibald/CTV News Windsor) LaSalle's 37th Strawberry Festival is set to take place this weekend. The event kicks off Thursday, running until Sunday. In 2024, 30,000 people flocked to the festival for rides, games, food, and of course, strawberries. The berries are all grown locally at Raymont's Berries, sold with ice cream. 'On there (the website), we have our entertainment schedule,' said Jordyn Rafuse, supervisor of recreation for the Town of LaSalle. 'We also have the ticket pricing for the carnival itself, then the hours of operation.'
CTV News
a day ago
- General
- CTV News
Safe cyclists getting rewarded in LaSalle
The LaSalle Police Service is kicking off its 16th Annual Summer Safe Cycling Program with some incentives for young cyclists. Youths seen by officers riding their bicycles safely including following rules of the road and wearing a properly fitted helmet will receive a positive ticket – an ice cream coupon to McDonald's and a raffle ticket for a new bicycle. Police are thanking McDonald's Canada for donating the coupons and LaSalle Towing for the bicycle donation.
GMA Network
a day ago
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
PBA: Phoenix spoils Calvin Abueva's NorthPort debut as Jason Perkins waxes hot
Jason Perkins got hot right in the payoff period as he guided Phoenix to a morale-boosting 118-107 win against NorthPort in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup on Wednesday at the PhilSports Arena. The veteran big man scored 13 of his total output in the fourth, including three booming three-pointers that basically sealed the victory for the Fuel Masters. With the win, Phoenix halted a four-game slide to improve to 3-7 while the Batang Pier slipped to 1-8. In a battle of two also-ran squads, Phoenix still left it all out on the court and took command of the match almost all game long before NorthPort made a desperate run to end the third down by just two, 82-80. Perkins, alongside Ken Tuffin, had an exchange of points with newly-traded forward Calvin Abueva and Joshua Munzon that saw Phoenix building a 100-91 cushion. Perkins then took over from that point, burying a pair of triples to extend their lead to 14 with 3:28 to go in the game, 109-95. The former La Salle standout then completed a layup and a jumper for a 113-95 advantage while JC Cullar, Raffy Verano, and Ricci Rivero finished it off with trips to the charity line. Perkins posted 26 points on 4-of-7 shooting from downtown while also grabbing eight rebounds and four assists while Kai Ballungay churned out 17 markers, nine boards, one dime, and one block to deliver their third win in 10 games. Tuffin and Rivero chipped in 14 points each as RJ Jazul chimed in with 10. —JMB, GMA Integrated News
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
LaSalle driver charged with going over twice speed limit
A LaSalle man is charged with stunt driving after police say he was caught going over double the posted speed limit. A LaSalle police officer conducting traffic enforcement stopped a vehicle on Bouffard Road on Saturday morning, shortly after 10 a.m. Police say it was travelling 131 kilometres per hour in a posted 50km/hr zone. The 49 year-old man was charged with stunt driving. His driver's licence was suspended for 30 days, his vehicle was impounded for 14 days, and he'll appear in court at a later date to answer to the charge.
