Click here to view the original article: Interview: Less Than Kind’s Mark McKinney, Jesse Comacho and Brooke Palsson, which was published on January 13, 2012.

Gemini award-winning series Less Than Kind returns for its third season this weekend on HBO Canada with a 90-minute premiere that focuses on the death of family patriarch, Sam Blecher, as the series address the real-life passing of Maury Chaykin.

Chaykin passed away unexpectedly in July 2010 at the age of 61 from complications of a heart condition. Executive producer and writer Mark McKinney (of Kids in the Hall and Saturday Night Live fame) had to work with his team to incorporate the unexpected passing into the show, which was renewed by HBO Canada a month prior. McKinney credits to the executives at Corus and Astral. “They knew what we were up against, they gave us some breathing room, extra money and some time.”

The leeway from the network allowed McKinney and his team to find the story while staying true to the darkly comedic nature of the program. While the first three episodes deal with the tragedy, the writing team found ways to incorporate the humour that fans of the show are accustomed to, particularly with the characters of Josh and Shandra, played by Benjamin Arthur and Lisa Anne Durupt. “It’s a question of timing, “ says McKinney. Brooke Palsson, who plays Miriam Goldstein, adds, “My dad and I always agree that laughter is the best medicine. I think that there’s very few people that can address it in an appropriate manner.”

A standout scene takes place during the culmination of shiva, the Jewish mourning period, when Sheldon, played by Jesse Comacho, discovers old letters that Sam wrote to air out his grievances. “Maury had a lot of qualities that Sam had as well, so when we listened to those letters, it was something that Maury could have potentially done. It was very real in that moment. There was very little acting in some of those scenes. We were sad, we were mourning, but in true Maury-style, there was some odd sense of humour in there. I thought that the shiva was very Maury and I think he would have really liked it,” said Comacho.

The third season is actually the first season to be produced for cable television. “We had shot season two for Citytv and we sort of had the mandate from early on in our relationship with them to go more cable because Citytv used to kind of be out there, and I think they kind of figured out that they wanted to be more network than cable,” says McKinney, adding that HBO is the perfect playground for Less Than Kind. “It always was a cable show, we just happened to wind up here a little late.”

Less Than Kind is often compared to ABC’s Modern Family (which coincidently airs on Citytv), though McKinney disagrees. “You can run episode nine of Modern Family before episode two and it won’t matter because they’re self-contained. Less Than Kind is a serialized show. We tell the story of a whole year, or a chapter, in the life of Sheldon Blecher, Anne Blecher, Aunt Clara, Josh and Miriam and let it play out. So we get to play with longer stories and that is a cable conceit. This is why we watch cable. This is why we’re watching TV now 13 episodes in a row.”

As for what’s coming ahead for the character-driven series, McKinney says “the hidden character is Sam and his death, and the impact it has. It splinters and shatters and then reforms people in sort of new configurations. For Wendel Meldrum’s Anne, it’s really like ‘I’m a widow? I’m a widow!’ It’s that head-shaking realization and temerity with what she has to step forward and sort of run the [family] business. She doesn’t feel like her hands are big enough. And then it’s sort of her emergence from the cloud of grief. That’s absolutely real and I watched my own mom go through that. For Aunt Clara (played by Nancy Sorel), large emotions provoked by death or particularly sudden events can really raddle somebody’s cages and in her case, her issue has always been romantic. An encounter with her ex-husband just kind of starts to spiral her out of control. For Josh, he cannot be man of the house in a way that he should. He has an ungovernable passion to be an actor and he will cling to any opportunity. He embarks on this attempt to open an acting school.”

As for the show’s central couple, Comacho and Palsson hint at some rough times for their characters. “I don’t know if it can be that easy for Sheldon and Miriam. It’s such a roller coaster for them. At the beginning of the season, they’re kind of on the outs and then Sam passes and Miriam wants to be there for Sheldon and they kind of make up for a little while. Then Sheldon puts his foot in his mouth. The whole season is about them trying to work it out and for a while there, they totally separate, ” says Comacho.

Palsson also previews a dark turn for the couple. “It’s kind of expected. After death, it’s typically what happens. You can’t pretend…and go back to the way things were. It doesn’t happen like that.” The actress does add their relationship turmoil was fun for her to film. Like the fans, Comacho questions if there’s a future for them. “Are they one of those couples that will never work? I don’t think they even know the answer to that. I think both of them want to make it work.”

Music will continue to play a major role in Less Than Kind. The show’s theme, “One Great City!” is performed by The Weakerthans, and the series is always on the lookout for new Canadian talent, which McKinney credits to the team at Vapor Music. “They are amazing and they follow the mandate of the show, which is to look in Winnipeg (where the show is filmed) first for appropriate stuff. Always indie, always Canadian. The stuff has been absolutely amazing.”
The third season of Less Than Kind premieres Sunday, Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. ET/MT with three back-to-back episodes. Subsequent episodes will air Fridays at 8:30 p.m.

© Copyright (c) dose.ca

Click here to view the original article: Interview: The Adventures of Tintin’s Jamie Bell, originally posted on Dose.ca, on December 21, 2011.

Jamie Bell brings Tintin to life for fans of all ages in Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s The Adventures of Tintin. Based on the internationally adored characters created by Belgian artist Hergé, the film follows a curious young reporter, Tintin (played by Bell), as he is drawn into the mystery of a model ship that harbours an explosive secret.

Performance capture veteran Andy Serkis co-stars as the cantankerous Captain Haddock, along with Daniel Craig as the wicked Sakharine, while Simon Pegg and Nick Frost appear as clumsy detectives Thompson and Thomson.

The creative team worked closely with the Hergé estate to make the film and also studied Hergé’s stylizing of the Tintin world. Bell notes that Hergé said himself that if anyone was going to make a Tintin film, it should be Spielberg. On a recent visit to Toronto, the actor had nothing but high praise for both Spielberg and Jackson (with whom he previously worked with on King Kong). “I think they’re fanboys at heart. For Steven, it was a chance to step into an animated environment, [but] in a genre that he was comfortable with.”

Bell, who first garnered worldwide attention in the film version of Billy Elliot, says he would have been a great studio actor in the old Hollywood days. “You remember the days of studio contracts where you had to sing and sword-fight? I think I would have really excelled in those days. It’s a shame, really, that it doesn’t exist anymore. You have to be like six-foot and huge these days.” The young film star is an advocate of the film’s performance capture 3D technique, rendered by Jackson’s Weta Digital, and notes that it shouldn’t be confused with animated films that only require an actor’s voice, “We wanted to push out the idea that performance capture is a very viable medium for actors and one that the industry needs to recognize. This is an actor’s medium, which require every part of an actor: physically, emotionally, and vocally. I put out a rib and misaligned two vertebrae making this film. I don’t think anyone has ever done that doing a voice [role].”

While pre-production took almost two years, the actual filming process with the actors took place over six weeks on a performance capture soundstage, called a Volume, in Playa Vista, CA. On the Volume, all the actors wear reflective dots that are picked up by about 100 cameras that are able to capture a 360-degree coverage. While filming, the actors are able to look at themselves on a monitor where they no longer see themselves in a grey room, “It’s actually the middle of the ocean, or a Moroccan city, or the middle of the desert. That blows your mind. It’s so interesting because Andy [Serkis] is so used to that happening.”

Serkis has starred as a number of performance capture characters such as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and recently as Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Bell explained how they looked up to Serkis and his previous experience. “He’s not the kind of guy who was like, ‘Let me show you how to do it,’” and then they would simply just watch his process. “He’s just so immersive. He ceases to be Andy and becomes this character. He would just look at the screen and physically morph into this character. And that’s how he defined it first, physically.”

The only character missing from the physical soundstage was Tintin’s loyal dog, Snowy, the film’s fully animated character. Bell completely credits the digital team for bringing Snowy to life tells Dose.ca, “It’s a real testament to Steven [Spielberg] as a multitasker, to constantly set his composition for something that isn’t there. You’re putting all your faith in animators to make it look like what it needs to be. You have to let your own imagination run wild.”

When asked if there was any room for any type of improvisation, Bell says it was possible and welcomed, but he doesn’t think it would fit with the character. “Tintin isn’t an off-book guy, he kind of goes by the book. I just don’t think Tintin is necessarily a character who has that quality about him. With the character, we just wanted to keep an innocence, a child-like enthusiasm about everything, really. But then, we also wanted that specific dynamic between him and Haddock, where Tintin is very much the parent, and Haddock is very much like the child.”

Playing Tintin was something that Bell took very seriously as he grew up reading the comic series. “I was a massive skeptic. How can you recreate everyone’s best moment of embracing this character through the eyes of a child? You’re never going to be able to achieve that in the same way because it’s invented by the child. I invented everything that I loved about Tintin. I became Tintin, and Tintin became my version of that character. That’s what’s so great about the character is that it’s so accessible. He’s not emotionally defined. He doesn’t come with baggage…I think what we managed to get in this is very much the spirit of all the books.”

Bell also points out the importance of not modernizing or Americanizing the film. “Everything about those books is that it’s clearly a 20th century character, who is living [in] a very 20th century world. That’s what’s great about the character. He doesn’t have technology to fall back on and make life easier for himself. He can’t just do a map thing on his iPhone and drop a pin somewhere and say, ‘Right! We need to head here.’ There is something that harks back to the old great movies where a hero relies on nothing but is own great instinct. That’s what makes a great character. He has nothing to rely on but himself. In terms of keeping it European, it’s hugely grounded in European sensibility, a European sense of humour, and a European aesthetic. So, I think to have lost that, [it] would have lost a large part of its soul. I think that’s where its soul lies, in its roots and heritage.”

While the film has already been released in Europe and Quebec, it’s North American release is slated for Dec. 21, which is the prime spot for the busy holiday film schedule. “I think it’s one of the most packed Decembers that I can remember,” says Bell. But he remains adamant that North American audiences will be receptive. “I don’t really know [what] the specific demographic would be for this film, because I think there’s a generation of older people who do know who the character is and genuinely [will] have a great time watching the movie. But then there’s a bunch of young kids who don’t know who the character is, but would like to go see a Steven Spielberg film and see some cool stuff. I think it works for all people.”

When asked about the possibility of a sequel, Bell notes that Peter Jackson is pretty busy with The Hobbit, but adds that if a sequel is made in a few years, he’d still be able to star as Tintin. “That’s the great thing with technology; I could be 50 and still do it.”

© Copyright (c) dose.ca

Click here to view the original article: Interview: The Young and the Restless’ Michael Muhney, originally posted on my Dose.ca blog, on October 13, 2011.

Since assuming the role of Adam Newman (aka Victor Newman, Jr.) on The Young and the Restless in June 2009, Michael Muhney has become quite the fan favourite (even if he’s playing a character that some viewers love to hate). The actor was recently in Toronto and I got the chance to speak to him about what it was like landing the controversial role, whether or not Adam will reunite with Sharon and what are the soap’s plans to lure back unhappy viewers.

How did you manage to land the role, which at the time was an emergency recast?

I was standing in my family room and my agent called me said said, “Sit down, I have to tell you something.” I was like “Okay, I’m sitting,” and it’s what we all do — we don’t sit! I just froze and was thinking it’s bad. He goes, “CBS is interested in you for this role on a…soap opera.” And I went, “No thanks!” Then he goes to tell me, “That’s why I told you to sit down and let me explain this.” I was like, “Nope — It’s not my medium. I don’t know soaps, it’s a whole different animal. I’m probably going to be way over my head! It works super-fast. My world has been primetime for 11 years, let’s wait for the next pilot. I’m cool.” Then they started educating me, “This is a pretty iconic character in an iconic family on an iconic show. It’s the number one show.” I was like “Give me a couple of days to think about this.” I thought about it. I drove to the audition and I physically took a U-Turn around and said, “I don’t want to go.” I called my manager and had him talk me off a cliff!” I look back and that’s the audition that I almost utterly refused to go on! They pitched the character to me for about 90 minutes and told me about his inner workings, and the arc of the character and how he’s woven into the fibre of the show. In my head, I was like, “This is Iago meets the Talented Mr. Ripley,” he’s such a masterful, despicable [character, but you can] find some areas of humanity. It was sso much meat to chew on and how can an actor not want to play a role like this? My father has a saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” and here’s this role that this guy — who I never met and know nothing about, so I’m not going to say anything disparaging about the guy, but I can say that this person walked away from something that he felt was trash and I rummaged through the bin and pulled it out and said, “This is treasure and I think it’s pure gold — let’s see if it is!” And it worked out to be that way.

There was a lot of buzz when you first joined the show in 2009. There were rumours that the previous actor, Chris Engen, was against how negative the character was becoming, as well as the rumours that it was because Adam, who was straight, was going to seduce his male lawyer, Rafe (Yani Gellman). Because of how public that exit was, did you feel like there were greater expectations for you at the time? There’s always pressure to be a recast, but did you feel that you had a greater responsibility to the fan base that may have been offended by why the former portrayer was rumoured to be leaving?

That’s a really good question and I’m completely comfortable answering it. I think a lot of people around me and a lot of people involved with the show have to be careful with what they say because they know so much. You want to be careful not to say something about some person to be me because I know nothing. I came in and that was the aftermath. I thought, “All I know is that this guy left.” He could have left for a myriad of reasons, who knows. But all I know is that I’m here and he’s not and I have to fill my feet into the shoes of this Adam Newman character and he’s in the mist of a pretty devious storyline right now.

Socially, I have been a huge advocate for gay marriage and a big No H8 campaigner. So, I thought I could make a statement playing this character. If I have an onscreen kiss with another man, it’s the same as having to do a scene with another woman that I perhaps don’t like so much. So I wouldn’t necessarily kiss this person in real life, but I might not necessarily kiss this guy in real life. It’s called acting and I completely and fully embraced it. Interestingly enough, the morning that we re going to shoot this scene that did have a kiss, but the camera panned away to Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott). Maybe the network didn’t want to see it? I don’t know. All I know is that it didn’t happen. I was in my dressing room and the actor who plays Rafe , came and we were running scene, doing the dialogue. I looked at him and said, “I’ve never kissed a guy before and the way the show works is that you get one take, so were’g owing to get one shot at this. Do you think we should rehearse the kiss, or should we not so it is awkward [on screen]? It’s your call, I just want you to know that I’m fine.” He looked at me and goes, “There is no kiss anymore!” I was like, “What?!” and he said, “Di you get the revisions?” I said, “No, I didn’t check my mail. I’m so glad I said this to you now because we would have gone on and shot this scene and everyone, the crew, the director and everyone involved would know there was no kiss, and then I would lean in a kiss you and everyone would go, “Yeah sure, you didn’t read the notes!” So, I dodged a bullet with that one.

You’ve stated in a previous interview that you don’t want Adam as a romantic lead, but rather a character that doesn’t bed every other character in town (just because it’s a soap opera), but is there a potential romantic pairing you’d like to see Adam explore?

To be honest if there were, I like the rehashing of Adam and Sharon (Sharon Case) from time to time, the yin and the yang. They’ve got to be together and then pulled apart. That’s part of the drama. I like that it’s there now, it’s a good sort of history and adds layers that he has with his brother and Sharon. I think that honestly, if Adam isn’t going to be an army of one, and he is going to be paired with someone, then I would say that it almost necessarily has to be someone who is not on the show right now. Because if you have to look at the residents of Genoa City and what they’ve sort of weathered with Adam Newman, would any of them realistically, without tearing apart their character, be involved with Adam? So I think that it would have to be someone new.

What about Avery (Jessica Collins)? She’s a relatively new character and she has issues with Adam’s enemy, Phyllis (Michelle Stafford).

It could be and I thought that maybe there was a potential for that by upsetting Phyllis. But, I think if you picked Avery, it could be contrived. Because it is so on the nose that it would definitely upset people. Then it becomes a relationship about upsetting people. If we’re talking about a real pairing, I think it has to be someone new.

We know Eden Riegel (Heather) is on her way out, but there have been some civil moments between Adam and Heather (she let him go have eye surgery). Will they revisit this pairing before Heather leaves?

Maybe.

It was sad to see Maura West (Diane) leave, and now Heather is leaving.

I will say that it’s been quite an educational experience working with Stacy Haiduk (ex-Patty/Emily), Maura West (ex-Diane) and now Eden Riegel, where all three, upon being told they were being dismissed had a final six weeks to shoot, and in their final six weeks, they happen to be in a storyline with me. I’m acting with talented actresses that have been given really sad news and they have to soldier through it. It’s been such a eye opening experience to see three very professional women handle themselves and come into work and just nail it and still find a way to enjoy what they’re doing knowing they’re one their way out.

Maura West on our final week of work, she started breaking down and said “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get this emotional” and ran off. She was trying to thank me and said, “Thank you for being the only person who didn’t treat me like a dead man walking.” And that really hit me. I come to play and at some point in time, I’m leaving the show. Three to five years, or ten to fifteen years and upon my leaving, there’s going to be that time where I know I’m gone and even if it’s on my own terms, I’ll want people being there and bringing it with me, everyday, until the very end. I’m still working with Eden and it’s been interesting. She’s another classy actress who is doing a very fine job.

You’ve mentioned in the past that you’d like for Victor and Adam to team up. What do you think it would take for Adam to potentially join forces with the Victor and the rest of his family? Could there be a day where Adam has Thanksgiving dinner with the rest of the Newmans?

What an episode that would be! I think that in a happily ever after aspect, sure…they could do that, but it’s once the show goes off the air in 20 years. The Newmans all get together in the end! In order to drive story and have drama, you can’t have them all jiving, they can’t all be the Partridge family.

Adam doesn’t have any friends in Genoa City. You’ve shared a few scenes with Tracey E. Bregman’s Lauren over the summer. I spoke with Tracey after the Newman board meeting scenes between Adam and Lauren aired and she was glad that I picked up on it. It seems like something she’d like to explore and said she really enjoyed those scenes. More recently, Adam and Lauren shared scenes at Diane’s funeral, do you think we’ll be able to see more of Adam branching out and making friends?

Yeah, she and I talked about that. You get to see a glimpse of Adam not having his guard up. Not being snarky or defensive. Just sort of be natural and have a confidante. The scenes with Lauren were refreshing. I would like more of that. We’ve talked about it with the writers and I guess there’s that possibility. But, I guess it’s finding the right character that makes the most sense logically who is in Adam’s orbit and I think that time is right now to move Adam from being a pariah to someone who can be more mainstream with people and sort of let bygones be bygones. Yeah, I think now is a crucial time for Adam to get someone who is a friend.

Days of our Lives is going through a reboot to bring back the viewers they lost, what about The Young and the Restless? It’s been the number one rated soap opera in the United States and Canada, however the ratings are falling. Fans aren’t too happy with the current storylines. They want to see Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) back for instance, rather than new characters that aren’t working out. What’s being done to make fans happy?

I have just heard some good news. There’s optimism that can be had on the horizon, in terms of steering the ship in more finer, maybe acute direction. Just a couple of weeks ago, there were folks that were let go from the show [Tristian Rogers (Colin), Darius McCrary (Malcolm), Sean Patrick Flanery(Sam) along with Eden Riegel (Heather)]. I sniff on the horizon that perhaps another three or four in another six months ago. There’s been talk by journalists, my fellow actors, by fans and by the network that we have a rather large cast. What if we streamline the cast and knock off, and this is just an arbitrary number, 10 folks and we really cut the fat off? I think that’s happening.

I want to tell people that I think there’s going to be a stronger focus on core characters. I think it’s going to take some time, after Thanksgiving, but before Christmas. It’s already happening. I can sense that the show is telling stories about more core folks and getting rid of other characters.Yeah, it’s losing viewers. It’s hemorrhaging viewers at times, and you have to wonder, how do you plug that leak?

Adam constantly shocks viewers. Has there been an incident where even you were surprised at what he was going to do? I mean for me, it had to have been when he dumped Sharon at the altar and destroyed the memory card that could have set her free.

With the memory card. I wasn’t thrilled with that idea — that’s just my two cents. There’s a lot of people who write the show, but I felt like it wasn’t quite an eye for an eye. It was more like an eye versus a decapitation! I would have enjoyed something like Adam being hurt that Sharon slept with this man (Sam), so he finds a hurtful way to sleep with someone else to get back at Sharon. Eye for an eye, he sleeps with Phyllis. He gets a one night stand where he sleeps with her arch rival.

So it was really hard for me to wrap my mind around throwing this memory card and it’s implications went on for months, so it’s not like anything that could be changed. It’s something that I had to embrace.

Well, Ronan (Jeff Branson) did fish something out of the water that looked like a memory card while he was investigating Diane’s death.

I can’t say anything about that!

Will Adam and Sharon reunite down the line?

Sure, yeah. That’s the push and pull of the characters — that they’re going to pull apart and then come back together, so you can have drama. They’re going to be together again I assume, I haven’t been given direct storyline information, but I think it’s inevitable. And they’ve been apart for so long that it seems to be that it’s going to be sooner rather than later.

The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on Global and CBS. Canadian fans can also catch up with the series online, at GlobalTV.com, on demand or on their mobile devices.

THE IDES OF MARCH

Starring: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella
Kinda Like: A political movie that you’d actually watch. (But don’t worry, it’s not really a political movie.)
Rating: 5 out of 5
The Deal:
Ryan Gosling stars as Stephen Meyers, an up-and-coming campaign press secretary who becomes entrenched in moral dilemmas while working for Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney), a Democratic presidential candidate. Clooney also co-wrote and directed the film, based on Beau Willimon’s Broadway play, Farragut North.

While working alongside a seasoned advisor (Seymour Hoffman) Stephen is offered the chance to join the competition during the final days of the all important Ohio presidential primary. Stephen must decide if he should further his career and betray his boss who just happens to be a friend and someone he believes in. This decision becomes harder to deal with once Stephen discovers a shocking campaign secret.

Make no mistake, Ryan Gosling is the lead actor in this film and is able to hold his own against vets like Clooney, Giamatti, Seymour Hoffman and Tomei. Combined with his recent release, Drive, Gosling is about to become one of the biggest leading stars in Hollywood, and it’s about time.

– Jeevan Brar/Dose.ca

**For press conference coverage, click here.**

JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME

Staring: Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, Judy Geer
Kinda Like: If Marshall never met Lily.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
The Deal:
Jason Segel stars as Jeff, a thirty year-old who still lives at home with his mother (Susan Sarandon) and is awaiting his destiny. Jeff, also a stoner, believes that all things in the universe are connected (as outlined in M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs).

Jeff needs to run an errand for his mother but gets sidetracked when he receives signs to find or follow a “Kevin.” This journey leads him to his estranged brother, Pat (Ed Helms), who is going through his own personal crisis — his wife (Judy Geer) could be having an affair.

Unfortunately we don’t see much of this family interacting with the mother or Jeff even living at home. Instead, we have Jeff, who just needs to reference better movies. Although the reunion of the brothers at the end is heartwarming, it remains unclear as to what caused the rift in the first placed.

– Jeevan Brar/Dose.ca

THE ORANGES

Starring: Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Adam Brody, Alia Shawkat, Catherine Keener
Kinda Like: Blair Waldorf has an affair with Dr. House
Rating: 3 out of 5
The Deal:
After breaking up with her fiance, Nina (Meester) returns home for Thanksgiving after a five-year absence. Her mother (Janney), immediately begins setting her up with Toby, the son of their neighbours/best friends. Things for both families turn sour as Nina and Toby’s father, David (Laurie), become increasingly attracted to each other and begin having an affair. We see the situation unfold from the eyes of Vanessa, who used to be Nina’s (Shawkat) childhood best friend until Nina made a play for her crush.

As you’d expect with this cast, the performances were pretty solid. Their biggest strength was with their comedic timing. Shawkat, Laurie and Janney all delivered. However, the subject matter is pretty serious. This affair has caused chaos for two families and best friends. What was missing was some more interaction between the former BFFs Nina and Vanessa and some heavy confrontation between Toby and David (After all, Dr. House did just steal Seth Cohen’s almost-girl).

– Jeevan Brar/Dose.ca

Click here to view the original article: Interview: Stamkos and Roenick talk gaming on and off the ice, originally posted on Dose.ca on September 1, 2011.

Steven Stamkos and Jeremy Roenick were on hand at the X’11 Canada event in Toronto to preview the upcoming EA Sports’ NHL 12. Stamkos, who recently extended his contract with the Tampa Bay Lighting, is the cover athlete for the game and confesses that it’s been a surreal honour.

Stamkos says he didn’t hesitate when the call came asking him to be on the cover. “I got to play this game as a kid, I got to make it to the NHL and that was a dream come true,” he shares.

The forward joins a roster of recent cover athletes such as Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Dion Phaneuf, Eric Staal and Alexander Ovechkin.

As a lifelong fan of the video game franchise, Stamkos says “seeing yourself in this game for the first time as a character and now being on the cover, it’s amazing. It’s surreal to think you’re now a part of that illustrious group.”

NHL 12 introduces a slew of new features, including dynamic goalies (where the players can make contact with the goalies and even fight them) and the option to play as a legend. Stamkos believes this feature appeals to all generations. “The younger kids get to see their favourite players in today’s game and maybe they don’t know as much about the legends and [now] get to play with them. The older crowd gets to see the stars of their generation.”

Jeremy Roenick, who joins other legends Ray Bourque, Chris Chelios, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux, Borje Salming and Steve Yzerman, says “being in the first batch is always something that people will remember.” As for future legends, Roenick would like to see Mark Messier and Paul Coffey included in the next installment.

Although this is the first time that Reonick appears as a legend in an official capacity, this isn’t his first experience with the game franchise. In NHL 94, everyone wanted to play as Chicago because of how good Roenick was in the video game.

“It is the one thing that everybody talks about. It’s the one thing that everywhere I go, people commend me on my video game prowess much more than my on-ice prowess, which is obviously really nice.”

Being referenced in the film Swingers by Vince Vaughan (“It’s not so much as me, as it is Roenick”), helped catapult Roenick into pop culture. Roenick recently teamed up with FoxSports.com and FuelTV’s Cubed to re-create that clip, which he says was a blast.

“They put me in a Gretzky shirt which is kind of ironic. I think a lot of people with get a kick out watching the re-enactment.”

As for the current situation in Roenick’s former market of Phoenix, the retired star agrees that the league is wasting time and money there.

“It doesn’t look good for the organization,” he says. “Losing their potential buyer was a big loss and the fact that people there aren’t going to go watch hockey games until the playoffs, I don’t know how it can survive.”

As for the biggest difference in today’s game versus the game when he started, Roenick says that the players are much more advanced and talented in addition to being stronger, faster and in better shape. “It’s an eleven to twelve month sport now, not just an eight month sport. In the summer, they have to train every single day to be ready for the season.”

There’s no doubt expectations are tougher on players now than they were ten or twenty years ago. Discussing his new five-year contract, Stamkos says, “Obviously, the expectations are there now. I’ve been in the league for three years now and there’s no excuse that you’re still trying to feel it out. We had a tremendous run at the end of the year and going as far as we did in the playoffs. That experience was new for me. It was such a valuable experience that no one can take away. You know what it takes to win and the sacrifice that you have to have to get yourself, in our case, one win away from the final. So, with the new contract, there’s a little more expectation and I put that on myself the most. I’m not trying to change anything. We’ve got a great thing going in Tampa, with the new ownership, Steve Yzerman and the new coaching staff. We’ve all had a year to really gel and maybe progress a little quicker than expected but now the bar’s been set for our team and we’re looking forward to come out of the gates as strong as we finished last year.”

When asked why he wants to play in the sun belt as opposed to a market where hockey is much more popular, the Markham native attributes his decision to stay based on the “unbelievable” crowds he has witnessed during the recent playoffs. “I think we had 21,00 people a night! It was crazy! The atmosphere was great and for a lot of people who didn’t get to see that and experience that first hand, they don’t know that. You look at when Tampa won the cup, listening to some of the guys that were on that team, they said it was the best place to play hockey and other than the great weather, the fans were unbelievable. The past couple of years have been tough because we haven’t really given them much to cheer about but this past year, we gave the fans a great playoff run and the fans are just as excited about this upcoming year. To me, it’s a great place to play and you have a great balance. There’s not much of a media spotlight and you can go out to dinner, you can go to the mall – there’s a great balance with that. It’s a beautiful place to live too.”

As for what the Lighting needs to do to top the Bruins this year, Stamkos says the team isn’t getting ahead of themselves. “Boston’s a great team, we were so close. But in order to compete in the East, it’s going to be tight this year. We look at what Philly’s gone out and done, we look at what Washington’s done and Boston, who are obviously coming off the Stanley Cup win. You know that all these teams are going to be improving. Winnipeg now, they have a new outlook and you look at Florida with all the new signings – the great thing about our sport is the parity, so many teams are going to be great. We can’t let the success that we had last year get to our heads and the other teams are hopefully going to respect us a little more now. We’re going to get our team’s best every night. We’re a true contender; we believe that and other teams are going to know that heading in.”

The closeness with his teammates is quite evident and Stamkos says video gaming deepens their bond when they’re off the ice. “This year on our team, Call of Duty was a big hit for us. Steve Downey, Ryan Malone, Mike Smith (who is now in Phoenix), a bunch of our trainers and equipment manager, we’d all get online, create an account and have games against each other. It got competitive! We brought Xbox out on the road on long trips and played. It’s fun, not only do we play EA Sports games like NHL but some other games and keep it competitive and loose. It’s a fun way to pass time.”

As for playing the new NHL 12, Stamkos reveals that he and Roenick have already enjoyed a quick, friendly game. “We didn’t play the whole game. I was winning 1-0 and got cut off!”

EA Sports’ NHL 12 will be released in North America on Sept. 13, and will be available on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms.

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Photo credit: Xbox Canada

From All My Children, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Ringer — take a look back at Sarah Michelle Gellar’s career in television and film.

Check out the gallery here.

Click here to view the original article: Interview: The Young and the Restless’ Tracey E. Bregman, originally posted at The TV Watercooler on May 16, 2011.

The Young and the Restless’ Tracey E. Bregman (Lauren) was in Toronto this past weekend to promote her jewellery line on The Shopping Channel and was able to sit down with us for an interview. We discuss Lauren’s upcoming storyline with Victor Newman, the potential of a Lauren/Michael/Diane triangle, the daytime fad of doppelgangers, the cancellations of All My Children and One Life to Live as well as her favourite storyline and who she enjoys working with.

Tracey also played a trivia game with us: “Guess the Doppelganger.”

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Click here to view the original article: Interview: Tracey E. Bregman Returns, originally posted at The TV Watercooler on July 26, 2011.

The Young and the Restless‘ Tracey E. Bregman returned to Toronto last week to showcase her new jewellery collection on The Shopping Channel and took some time to speak to us about her latest Rome-inspired line, her thoughts about soaps moving to the online arena and the latest about Y&R.