Sarah Michelle Gellar Plays 2 Roles in CW's 'Ringer'

NY (AP) One role just isn't enough for Sarah Michelle Gellar.On her freshman CW series "Ringer," she co-stars in two of them, both identical twins and both in serious trouble.But that isn't all for Gellar, who also plays a leading off-camera role as an executive producer.Even so, the demands on her weigh lighter these days than during "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," where she labored for seven seasons."I work shorter hours on this show everybody does than I did on 'Buffy,'" she says with satisfaction. Efficiency reigns on "Ringer." Her actors and crew members are fellow pros who help get the job done smoothly. She's having fun.Meanwhile, she's keeping work in healthy balance with her private life, enjoyed with her husband of 10 years, actor Freddie Prinze Jr., and their 2-year-old daughter, Charlotte, as they give their roles as parents top priority."When Charlotte was born, Freddie was on '24' and I didn't work for two years," says Gellar. "I had asked him, 'When I'm ready to go back to work, will you stay home with her then?' He was like, 'Fine!'" She laughs. "He loves it. I think I've created a monster!"That's not to say her "Ringer" routine, however moderated, isn't hectic. Interviewed one recent morning at her Manhattan hotel during a whirlwind publicity visit, she presents herself in sweat pants, a "Ringer" hoodie she grabbed from her L.A.makeup trailer "as I was walking out the door," and sandals borrowed from the hotel spa. She explains that, in her haste to leave for NY, she neglected to pack clothes or shoes other than the ensembles chosen for her TV appearances.On "Ringer" (which airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST), Gellar plays Bridget Kelly, an ex-stripper on the run after witnessing a mob hit, as well as playing her troubled NY socialite twin sister, Siobhan Martin, whose own brewing problems compel her to fake her own death. With Siobhan's apparent death, Bridget sees no choice but to claim her ritzy life and handsome husband in an effort to hide in plain sight from mobsters and the law.Portraying two characters (plus Bridget masquerading as Siobhan) isn't so hard, according to Gellar."It's a group effort hair, makeup, wardrobe," she says. "Besides, as identical twins, Bridget and Siobhan have characteristics that are inherently very similar. So you don't have to worry they HAVE to be able to be confused for each other."Her biggest challenge: "keeping in mind who knows what and who doesn't know what."As an executive producer, Gellar knows everything (far more than her fellow cast members, who, operating on a need-to-know basis, include Kristoffer Polaha, Ioan Gruffudd and Nestor Carbonell). She notes that the seemingly convoluted story line has been charted out for three full seasons. There will be no false moves or narrative blind alleys tripping up the writers as they turn out weekly scripts."I realize viewers have gotten really frustrated with shows that set up a lot of questions but never answered them," says Gellar.On "Ringer," revelations come weekly, with a major reveal scheduled for the March 13 episode: Viewers will find out why Siobhan went on the lam."We would never set up a question if we didn't know the answer," Gellar vows. "You have to take my word for it even my husband doesn't know but WE do know where it's going."Although the job is grueling, Gellar's added responsibilities as producer reduce rather than increase the burden, she says."I don't have to waste time worrying about what they're doing with my character and my story line. I get to make the show I want to make," she explains. "And since I'm on-set most of the time, if there's a decision that has to be made while we're shooting, I can make it, as opposed to calling upstairs. So I can help keep things moving along."At age 34, Gellar is a show-business veteran. Discovered at age 4 in a Manhattan restaurant, she made dozens of commercials as a youngster. She spent a couple of memorable years on the daytime drama "All My Children" playing Susan Lucci's 15-year-old daughter, whose multiple marriages, seductions, attempted suicide and coma all helped Gellar score a 1995 daytime Emmy award.Then, in 1997, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" premiered with a bang.With that high-profile performance by an overnight star in her late teens, Gellar could have fallen prey to prying reporters and, perhaps, tabloid-savoring misbehavior. But Gellar, with nothing to hide, chose to keep her tidy private life private, and, she says, her huge fan base understood, respecting the boundaries she set."But that can get tricky in the age of reality shows and Twitter," she acknowledges. "I think what happens is, you give an inch, and then you kind of owe people a mile. For instance, you can't do a reality show and then claim the right to privacy it doesn't work that way."So don't look for a show like "Gellar Family Values" or "Freddie Loves Sarah Michelle" on future TV schedules.Gellar chortles at the idea. "It would have to be on the Fish Channel you know, that channel where they show fish swimming in an aquarium. Or the Yule Log Channel."She simulates a scrap of sample dialogue:"Are you picking Charlotte up from school today?""No, you're picking her up.""Can you go by the Whole Foods?"Gellar, clearly pleased to be sticking with "Ringer," laughs again at going the reality route. "That would be THE most boring reality show!"Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. By Frazier Moore February 13, 2012 Sarah Michelle Gellar PHOTO CREDIT The CW NY (AP) One role just isn't enough for Sarah Michelle Gellar.On her freshman CW series "Ringer," she co-stars in two of them, both identical twins and both in serious trouble.But that isn't all for Gellar, who also plays a leading off-camera role as an executive producer.Even so, the demands on her weigh lighter these days than during "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," where she labored for seven seasons."I work shorter hours on this show everybody does than I did on 'Buffy,'" she says with satisfaction. Efficiency reigns on "Ringer." Her actors and crew members are fellow pros who help get the job done smoothly. She's having fun.Meanwhile, she's keeping work in healthy balance with her private life, enjoyed with her husband of 10 years, actor Freddie Prinze Jr., and their 2-year-old daughter, Charlotte, as they give their roles as parents top priority."When Charlotte was born, Freddie was on '24' and I didn't work for two years," says Gellar. "I had asked him, 'When I'm ready to go back to work, will you stay home with her then?' He was like, 'Fine!'" She laughs. "He loves it. I think I've created a monster!"That's not to say her "Ringer" routine, however moderated, isn't hectic. Interviewed one recent morning at her Manhattan hotel during a whirlwind publicity visit, she presents herself in sweat pants, a "Ringer" hoodie she grabbed from her L.A.makeup trailer "as I was walking out the door," and sandals borrowed from the hotel spa. She explains that, in her haste to leave for NY, she neglected to pack clothes or shoes other than the ensembles chosen for her TV appearances.On "Ringer" (which airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST), Gellar plays Bridget Kelly, an ex-stripper on the run after witnessing a mob hit, as well as playing her troubled NY socialite twin sister, Siobhan Martin, whose own brewing problems compel her to fake her own death. With Siobhan's apparent death, Bridget sees no choice but to claim her ritzy life and handsome husband in an effort to hide in plain sight from mobsters and the law.Portraying two characters (plus Bridget masquerading as Siobhan) isn't so hard, according to Gellar."It's a group effort hair, makeup, wardrobe," she says. "Besides, as identical twins, Bridget and Siobhan have characteristics that are inherently very similar. So you don't have to worry they HAVE to be able to be confused for each other."Her biggest challenge: "keeping in mind who knows what and who doesn't know what."As an executive producer, Gellar knows everything (far more than her fellow cast members, who, operating on a need-to-know basis, include Kristoffer Polaha, Ioan Gruffudd and Nestor Carbonell). She notes that the seemingly convoluted story line has been charted out for three full seasons. There will be no false moves or narrative blind alleys tripping up the writers as they turn out weekly scripts."I realize viewers have gotten really frustrated with shows that set up a lot of questions but never answered them," says Gellar.On "Ringer," revelations come weekly, with a major reveal scheduled for the March 13 episode: Viewers will find out why Siobhan went on the lam."We would never set up a question if we didn't know the answer," Gellar vows. "You have to take my word for it even my husband doesn't know but WE do know where it's going."Although the job is grueling, Gellar's added responsibilities as producer reduce rather than increase the burden, she says."I don't have to waste time worrying about what they're doing with my character and my story line. I get to make the show I want to make," she explains. "And since I'm on-set most of the time, if there's a decision that has to be made while we're shooting, I can make it, as opposed to calling upstairs. So I can help keep things moving along."At age 34, Gellar is a show-business veteran. Discovered at age 4 in a Manhattan restaurant, she made dozens of commercials as a youngster. She spent a couple of memorable years on the daytime drama "All My Children" playing Susan Lucci's 15-year-old daughter, whose multiple marriages, seductions, attempted suicide and coma all helped Gellar score a 1995 daytime Emmy award.Then, in 1997, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" premiered with a bang.With that high-profile performance by an overnight star in her late teens, Gellar could have fallen prey to prying reporters and, perhaps, tabloid-savoring misbehavior. But Gellar, with nothing to hide, chose to keep her tidy private life private, and, she says, her huge fan base understood, respecting the boundaries she set."But that can get tricky in the age of reality shows and Twitter," she acknowledges. "I think what happens is, you give an inch, and then you kind of owe people a mile. For instance, you can't do a reality show and then claim the right to privacy it doesn't work that way."So don't look for a show like "Gellar Family Values" or "Freddie Loves Sarah Michelle" on future TV schedules.Gellar chortles at the idea. "It would have to be on the Fish Channel you know, that channel where they show fish swimming in an aquarium. Or the Yule Log Channel."She simulates a scrap of sample dialogue:"Are you picking Charlotte up from school today?""No, you're picking her up.""Can you go by the Whole Foods?"Gellar, clearly pleased to be sticking with "Ringer," laughs again at going the reality route. "That would be THE most boring reality show!"Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

'Guard' nabs five honours at Irish Honours

John Michael McDonagh's "The Guard" was the big champion within the ninth Irish Film & TV Honours on Saturday evening at Dublin's Convention Center, taking five honours including best film.McDonagh won for director, script as well as the Rising Star award, while "The Guard's" Fionnula Flanagan was named best supporting actress. Flanagan also received the Lifetime Achievement Award.But "The Guard" didn't have everything else but its way. Michael Fassbender needed the actor prize for "Shame" before Brendan Gleeson, while Ryan Gosling won the world actor award for "Drive" before Don Cheadle.Saoirse Ronan was named best actress for "Hanna." Glenn Close won the world actress prize for "Albert Nobbs," which needed honours for makeup and hair, appear and original score.Best supporting actor visited Chris O'Dowd for "Bridesmaids," while "Mess Tailor Soldier Spy" won the prize to find the best worldwide film.Consolata Boyle nabbed the costume design award for "The Iron Lady," and Seamus Garvey won the cinematography prize for "We must Discuss Kevin."Feature documentary laurels visited "Bernadette: Notes around the Political Journey," while "Corp & Anam" won the special Irish language award, and "The Boy inside the Bubble" won the animation prize.Round the TV side, the second season of local gangster drama "Love/Hate" repeated last year's triumph with seven wins, including drama, director, author and actor (for Aidan Gillen), supporting actor and supporting actress. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

On the Set: Jane Curtin Is Ready For Prime Time in Unforgettable

Jane Curtin You can hear a pin drop in the Queens homicide squad as Det. Carrie Wells calls a cellphone that could belong to a serial killer she's tracking. When a drug dealer answers, she hangs up, disappointed. A familiar face in the corner makes a wisecrack and the Unforgettable cast hold back their laughs. Live from NY... it's Jane Curtin! The Saturday Night Live alum's addition to Unforgettable is part of a mid-season tweak for the CBS procedural, which stars Poppy Montgomery as Wells, a driven cop with the extraordinary ability to remember everything she experiences. Despite consistently besting time-slot competitors Body of Proof and Parenthood in overall ratings and demos, the crime show is no sure thing for renewal. To up its chances, cocreators Ed Redlich and John Bellucci have grown the show's family of characters. Asked by CBS to consider adding a mature actress to the cast, "right from the beginning, we thought about Jane," says Redlich. "It turned out to be a great fit." They also brought in newcomer Britt Lower to play brainy tech expert Tanya Sitkowsky. "We liked the idea of bracketing Carrie with two other very smart women," says Bellucci. "Poppy plays beautifully off both of them." Other than a long-ago unaired pilot, this is Curtin's first role in a crime drama. "I like it a lot," says the actress, whose last major TV series was 3rd Rock From the Sun. "We have fun!" Curtin plays Dr. Joanne Webster, a formerly powerful Manhattan medical examiner demoted to Queens for insubordination. "That's fine with Webster, because it gives her more time to teach her romantic poetry class," says Curtin. "The producers wanted to bring a little levity to the group, so she's quite flippant." Curtin's sunny presence has the cast smiling. "I'm just obsessed with Jane," says Montgomery. "I was terrified that she was coming on the show, but the moment I met her, I fell in love." Carrie and Webster "quickly bond," Montgomery reveals, especially when the doc volunteers to help Carrie investigate her sister's unsolved murder - the one case in which she can't recall the most important details. Tonight's episode amps up the adrenaline with the introduction of a serial killer determined to get under Carrie's skin. "We always wanted to bring Carrie's investigation of her sister's murder more into the present with a serial killer who knows about her," says Redlich. "We feel it's important to give Carrie the kind of opponent that Sherlock Holmes had with Moriarty. Someone as brilliant as this guy will find Carrie's mind irresistible." Or, at the very least, unforgettable. Unforgettable airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on CBS. Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

Robert Halmi Sr. exits RHI Entertainment

In another major change at RHI Entertainment, Robert Halmi Sr. is exiting the business he founded decades ago to make a completely new Gotham-based production shingle. Halmi, who's 88, mentioned he'd still collaborate with RHI on projects that he's lately been developing. The move has come about as RHI emerges in the Chapter 11 personal personal bankruptcy filing and develops its focus beyond the made-fors that have been Halmi's signature for several years. Halmi's boy Robert Halmi Junior. left his publish as prexy and Boss of RHI within this summer time. "As our new management team re-focuses our production strategy, we intend to broaden our portfolio to include television series together with other formats that haven't typically been central to RHI's enterprize model,Inch mentioned RHI board chairman Gabriel p Alba. "This new agreement is wonderful for each side. It guarantees our working relationship with Robert continues which we can be helped by his singular creative vision, whilst the business evolves into new areas." Halmi Sr. mentioned the completely new pact enables him the "freedom to target exclusively which has inspired me immediately. I am thrilled to be capable of keep doing a few things i have always loved most likely probably the most.In . The Hungarian-born Halmi Sr. made his title just like a producer of huge-budget event movies and miniseries. Halmi hit his peak inside the the 19 nineties getting a string of effective made-fors on NBC and ABC, including "Gulliver's Travels," "Your Way,Inch "Noah's Ark," "Merlin" and "Alice in Wonderful." Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com

HGTV stretches three series

HGTV has purchased 13 additional instances of three different series, including "Kitchen Cousins." Newcomer design series "Cousins," which airs at 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays, features contractor Anthony Carrino and designer John Colaneri, that run a household-possessed Nj construction company with kitchen areas like a special passion. "Our Prime Low Project," an area design show with designer Sabrina Soto supplying low-cost options to high-finish decor, and "Selling LA," about heated real-estate sales competition in La, also received 13-episode extensions. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

Richard Gere Talks Sundance Film Arbitrage, Julia Roberts

First Published: January 23, 2012 9:10 PM EST Credit: Getty Premium LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption Richard Gere walks the red carpet during the 6th International Rome Film Festival in Rome, Italy, on November 3, 2011Richard Gere has one of the most buzzed about movies at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival with Arbitrage, and he hopes the project will have an impact with a wider audience. Its going to resonate with [the Bernie] Madoff [scandal] and a lot of other problems weve had with the morality of our money system, Richard told Access Hollywood correspondent Tim Vincent. The film takes its name from a type of trading, the actor said. Its actually, its a way to make money, Richard said, when Tim asked about the title. You buy small and you sell heavy and its a very computerized thing. It has to be done in milliseconds to make money. This is a story about a guy whos made a lot of money from that game. Richard famously played corporation trader Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman, but he said the only thing Edward and his Arbitrage character, Robert Miller, have in common is being in the world of business. He was a corporate raider. This guys not a corporate raider. Its more conceptual what this guy does. Money itself, isnt an object, its in the digital world. Theres nothing you can hold on to any more, its always moving, he said. Like his Pretty Woman, character, Robert Miller is popular with the ladies, even the ones he doesnt hire, and when talk turned to women, Tim asked if Richard would like to reunite with Julia Roberts on the big screen. Of course, Richard said. Shes a lot older than me, so I dont know if its gonna work, he joked. Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Cartoon Movie mart uncovers photos

'Wrinkles'France's "Zarafa," Spain's "Facial lines" and Iceland's "Stories of Valhalla: Thor" are among 50 characters and projects set to unspool in the 14th Cartoon Movie, among Europe's leading animation marketplaces.Running March 7-9 in Lyon, France, Cartoon Movie will gather producers, marketers and films from 17 nations. France, Scandinavia and Belgium lead those.InchZarafa," co-helmed by Remi Bezancon and Jean-Christophe Lie, follows the adventures of the 10-year-old Egyptian boy along with a baby giraffe travelling from Sudan to Paris. Repped by Pathe Intl., "Zarafa" is going to be distribbed in Gaul on February. 5. Bezancon's credits include "The Very First Day from the Relaxation of the Existence."According to Paco Roca's popular comicbook, helmer Ignacio Ferreras' hands-attracted "Facial lines" focuses on the friendship between two old males in a elderly care. "Facial lines" is competing in Oscar's animated feature race. The spanish language rollout is skedded for February. 27.Iceland's first full-length animated feature, "Stories of Valhalla: Thor," from helmers Oskar Jonasson and Toby Genkel, activates a teenager who must save his village from an invasion of titans. The three dimensional family adventure bowed in Iceland in October and can next open in Denmark, Norwegian and also the Netherlands.The key trend of the year's Cartoon Movie may be the sharp increase in Euro three dimensional productions, that have bending in comparison using the 2011 edition, creating 40% of all of the mart's projects and completed films.One of the 19 three dimensional game titles are Kari Juusonen and Jorgen Lerdam's "Nico 2: Family Matters" and Thomas Borch Nielsen's "Lulu and the Buddies From Space.InchAt the same time, the typical plan for all Cartoon Movie game titles is lower to five.7 million ($7.3 million) from last year's $9 million. The mart's greatest-budget feature -- being pitched at concept stage -- is $16.8 million "Age range of Madness," from The spanish language scribe-switched-helmer Helio Mira.Adult-skewed characters constitute 22% of projects. Included in this: "Youthful Perez," a biopic of boxing champion Victor Perez, who had been delivered to Auschwitz throughout World war 2 and "A Later Date of Existence," directed by Damian Nenow ("Pathways of Hate"), which happens throughout the Angolan civil war. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com