The British Are Coming to Play Amercian Roles
Apr 5, 2007 15:20:21 GMT
Post by maxx02 on Apr 5, 2007 15:20:21 GMT
From Todays NYTimes:
The British Are Coming to Play American Roles
By BILL CARTER
Published: April 5, 2007
At the party HBO held last week for the closing season of “The Sopranos,” Ray Stevenson, who made the guest list as star of another HBO series, admitted he would have liked to be in the tunic of Titus Pullo for one more season of “Rome.”
But with that series canceled, Mr. Stevenson has moved on — all the way to Long Island. That is where he has been shooting a pilot for a proposed CBS series, “Babylon Fields,” in which he plays a cop.
Titus Pullo as a Long Island cop? Mr. Stevenson, a stage-trained British actor, said he had been perfecting his “Long Island accent,” smoothly eliding the words into “long-guy-land.”
If Mr. Stevenson becomes a broadcast network star in the fall, he will likely have plenty of familiar company. In what several television network and studio executives are calling a “British invasion,” the current network pilot season is marked by one salient trend: An awful lot of British actors are getting hired.
“There is a tremendous number of British actors being signed,” said Sharon Klein, the head of casting for the 20th Century Fox Television studio. “It’s certainly more than ever before.”
How big is this British wave? Big enough to fill roles in about two dozen prospective series, or about a third of all the pilots being made for the networks. Many, like Mr. Stevenson’s, are starring roles. Another one of those belongs to his “Rome” co-star Kevin McKidd, who is playing the lead in the NBC pilot “Journeyman,” about a time traveler.
Ms. Klein, whose studio is producing both “Journeyman” and “Babylon Fields,” said that it is no accident that the British stars of “Rome” have landed jobs in the United States: “I loved ‘Rome.’ So did a lot of people in Hollywood.” They loved it enough to offer two other stars from that series, Polly Walker and Zuleikha Robinson, parts in other drama pilots, one for CBS and the other for Fox.
HBO announced early that “Rome” would have just two seasons, freeing its actors to look for work. Ms. Klein said Mr. McKidd, who played Lucius Vorenus in “Rome,” and Mr. Stevenson were much in demand. They fit a profile that has become devilishly difficult for casting directors: the male lead between 35 and 45.
As many casting directors have noted, lead male actors in that age range are often signed by the movies. Two strong British male stars were sure to be fielding many television offers.
But they were hardly the only ones. This pilot season’s list of crossover stars from Britain includes some well-known names, like Natasha Richardson, who is in an NBC comedy; Tom Conti, who stars in a Fox comedy; and Julian Sands, a supporting actor in an NBC drama.
The pilots also include some moderately well-known names, like Lena Headey of the hit film “300,” who is in a Fox drama, and Damian Lewis of the HBO mini-series “Band of Brothers,” who is in an NBC drama. But there are also plenty of unknowns, like Calvin Goldspink and Ed Westwick, who are in CW dramas.
Mary Buck, who runs the casting department at the Warner Brothers television studio, said several factors had come into play in this surge of interest in British acting talent. The biggest, she said, harking back to Ms. Klein’s point, is that casting during network pilot season has become punishingly arduous.
“We have so many venues looking for actors,” Ms. Buck said, noting that dozens of cable networks now program original series. “It’s become like expansion in baseball. There’s not enough pitching.”
Ms. Klein said another chief factor is the hunger at studios and networks for fresh faces. “You never want people saying, ‘O.K., he was on that show before,’ ” Ms. Klein said.
Angela Bromstad, president of the NBC Universal Television studio, noted that last season many shows with identifiable stars, like “Smith” starring Ray Liotta, had failed. “The philosophy at NBC is back to creating your own stars,” Ms. Bromstad said.
Even before they started stealing actors from Britain, the networks had England on their minds, thanks to the proliferation of imported British program formats, from “American Idol” and “Dancing With the Stars” to “The Office.” This pilot season many more British formats are being brought to American television, including NBC comedies like “I’m With Stupid” and “The IT Crowd”; ABC’s dramas “Football Wives” and “Life on Mars”; and CBS’s drama “Viva Laughlin!”
Some of these shows will include British actors in their casts. But even a couple of thoroughly American characters, like the new Bionic Woman and the Sarah Connor character from the “Terminator” movies, will be played by British actresses in pilots. Michelle Ryan, from the British series “EastEnders,” will take on Lindsay Wagner’s role as the bionic one on NBC, and Ms. Headey will take over from Linda Hamilton as the muscle-flexing Sarah in “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” for Fox.
Obviously those actors will not be using British accents. That is another essential element of the British talent invasion: In almost every case the actors will be playing Americans. That means flattening out those accents, but Ms. Klein said no one really doubted the British actors could pull it off. “They are so accomplished,” she said.
That is another reason that the casting directors said they fell so hard for British actors this year: They are good at what they do.
They have still another advantage, which only one network executive was willing to mention: They work more cheaply. “It has gotten so expensive to sign American actors,” the executive said, requesting not to be identified because financial terms are never made public.
The executive said it is increasingly difficult to get an American actor in a lead role for less than $100,000 an episode. British actors work for considerably less, the executive said, though the figures vary.
So why are so many British actors so interested so suddenly in American television? Mainly it can be traced back to the most significant factor of all. “Hugh Laurie opened the door,” Ms. Buck said.
Mr. Laurie, the star of the Fox hit “House,” made a name as a British actor in roles like Bertie Wooster. Now as the irascible Dr. House, Mr. Laurie has won wide acclaim, not only for his characterization but also for his utterly convincing American accent.
He is also setting the standard for his compatriots. Ms. Buck said she has always tried to enlist British performers. This year many are saying yes.
Some of that too is attributable to Mr. Laurie. “They all seem to know each other over there,” Ms. Klein said. Ms. Bromstad said there was some fear that Mr. Laurie would drive the British recruits away by describing how tough the schedule is for a lead actor in an American series, which typically shoots far more episodes a year than a British series does.
“But Hugh has been very gracious and encouraging,” Ms. Bromstad said.
Mr. Stevenson, for one, said he was intrigued by the challenge. “I’m not exactly sure what my show is about yet, ” he said. “But it’s all good.”
The British Are Coming to Play American Roles
By BILL CARTER
Published: April 5, 2007
At the party HBO held last week for the closing season of “The Sopranos,” Ray Stevenson, who made the guest list as star of another HBO series, admitted he would have liked to be in the tunic of Titus Pullo for one more season of “Rome.”
But with that series canceled, Mr. Stevenson has moved on — all the way to Long Island. That is where he has been shooting a pilot for a proposed CBS series, “Babylon Fields,” in which he plays a cop.
Titus Pullo as a Long Island cop? Mr. Stevenson, a stage-trained British actor, said he had been perfecting his “Long Island accent,” smoothly eliding the words into “long-guy-land.”
If Mr. Stevenson becomes a broadcast network star in the fall, he will likely have plenty of familiar company. In what several television network and studio executives are calling a “British invasion,” the current network pilot season is marked by one salient trend: An awful lot of British actors are getting hired.
“There is a tremendous number of British actors being signed,” said Sharon Klein, the head of casting for the 20th Century Fox Television studio. “It’s certainly more than ever before.”
How big is this British wave? Big enough to fill roles in about two dozen prospective series, or about a third of all the pilots being made for the networks. Many, like Mr. Stevenson’s, are starring roles. Another one of those belongs to his “Rome” co-star Kevin McKidd, who is playing the lead in the NBC pilot “Journeyman,” about a time traveler.
Ms. Klein, whose studio is producing both “Journeyman” and “Babylon Fields,” said that it is no accident that the British stars of “Rome” have landed jobs in the United States: “I loved ‘Rome.’ So did a lot of people in Hollywood.” They loved it enough to offer two other stars from that series, Polly Walker and Zuleikha Robinson, parts in other drama pilots, one for CBS and the other for Fox.
HBO announced early that “Rome” would have just two seasons, freeing its actors to look for work. Ms. Klein said Mr. McKidd, who played Lucius Vorenus in “Rome,” and Mr. Stevenson were much in demand. They fit a profile that has become devilishly difficult for casting directors: the male lead between 35 and 45.
As many casting directors have noted, lead male actors in that age range are often signed by the movies. Two strong British male stars were sure to be fielding many television offers.
But they were hardly the only ones. This pilot season’s list of crossover stars from Britain includes some well-known names, like Natasha Richardson, who is in an NBC comedy; Tom Conti, who stars in a Fox comedy; and Julian Sands, a supporting actor in an NBC drama.
The pilots also include some moderately well-known names, like Lena Headey of the hit film “300,” who is in a Fox drama, and Damian Lewis of the HBO mini-series “Band of Brothers,” who is in an NBC drama. But there are also plenty of unknowns, like Calvin Goldspink and Ed Westwick, who are in CW dramas.
Mary Buck, who runs the casting department at the Warner Brothers television studio, said several factors had come into play in this surge of interest in British acting talent. The biggest, she said, harking back to Ms. Klein’s point, is that casting during network pilot season has become punishingly arduous.
“We have so many venues looking for actors,” Ms. Buck said, noting that dozens of cable networks now program original series. “It’s become like expansion in baseball. There’s not enough pitching.”
Ms. Klein said another chief factor is the hunger at studios and networks for fresh faces. “You never want people saying, ‘O.K., he was on that show before,’ ” Ms. Klein said.
Angela Bromstad, president of the NBC Universal Television studio, noted that last season many shows with identifiable stars, like “Smith” starring Ray Liotta, had failed. “The philosophy at NBC is back to creating your own stars,” Ms. Bromstad said.
Even before they started stealing actors from Britain, the networks had England on their minds, thanks to the proliferation of imported British program formats, from “American Idol” and “Dancing With the Stars” to “The Office.” This pilot season many more British formats are being brought to American television, including NBC comedies like “I’m With Stupid” and “The IT Crowd”; ABC’s dramas “Football Wives” and “Life on Mars”; and CBS’s drama “Viva Laughlin!”
Some of these shows will include British actors in their casts. But even a couple of thoroughly American characters, like the new Bionic Woman and the Sarah Connor character from the “Terminator” movies, will be played by British actresses in pilots. Michelle Ryan, from the British series “EastEnders,” will take on Lindsay Wagner’s role as the bionic one on NBC, and Ms. Headey will take over from Linda Hamilton as the muscle-flexing Sarah in “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” for Fox.
Obviously those actors will not be using British accents. That is another essential element of the British talent invasion: In almost every case the actors will be playing Americans. That means flattening out those accents, but Ms. Klein said no one really doubted the British actors could pull it off. “They are so accomplished,” she said.
That is another reason that the casting directors said they fell so hard for British actors this year: They are good at what they do.
They have still another advantage, which only one network executive was willing to mention: They work more cheaply. “It has gotten so expensive to sign American actors,” the executive said, requesting not to be identified because financial terms are never made public.
The executive said it is increasingly difficult to get an American actor in a lead role for less than $100,000 an episode. British actors work for considerably less, the executive said, though the figures vary.
So why are so many British actors so interested so suddenly in American television? Mainly it can be traced back to the most significant factor of all. “Hugh Laurie opened the door,” Ms. Buck said.
Mr. Laurie, the star of the Fox hit “House,” made a name as a British actor in roles like Bertie Wooster. Now as the irascible Dr. House, Mr. Laurie has won wide acclaim, not only for his characterization but also for his utterly convincing American accent.
He is also setting the standard for his compatriots. Ms. Buck said she has always tried to enlist British performers. This year many are saying yes.
Some of that too is attributable to Mr. Laurie. “They all seem to know each other over there,” Ms. Klein said. Ms. Bromstad said there was some fear that Mr. Laurie would drive the British recruits away by describing how tough the schedule is for a lead actor in an American series, which typically shoots far more episodes a year than a British series does.
“But Hugh has been very gracious and encouraging,” Ms. Bromstad said.
Mr. Stevenson, for one, said he was intrigued by the challenge. “I’m not exactly sure what my show is about yet, ” he said. “But it’s all good.”
