Jefes de 'Supergirl' explican el giro del gran villano de la premiere
Por Sydney Bucksbaum 26 Oct, 2015 6:30pm PT
Supergirl's villain is a lot closer to Kara (Melissa Benoist) than she realizes.
CBS' freshman comic book drama ended its high-flying series debut with a major twist: the villain heading to Earth and targeting Kara is none other than her aunt Astra (Laura Benanti). And not only is Astra family, she also looks exactly like Kara's mother, Alura (also played by Benanti).
"When we were writing the pilot, we thought about that a lot," executive producer Andrew Kreisberg tells The Hollywood Reporter. "For us, we love when you have the hero and villain being linked, and what you can do to make what's happening between them personal. Nothing is more personal than family, but to then go one step further and have the villain be an exact replica of her mother is going to be really cool."
Kreisberg, along with executive producers Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler, reveal that having Kara fight someone who inspires feelings of love and safety in her is going to be one of the biggest obstacles for the character to overcome.
"There is also the tie to her home, it just makes it that much more emotional for Kara to deal with," Berlanti tells THR. "Every time she punches her aunt, she's really punching her mother. And how much of her mother might still be inside her aunt is something we're going to be looking at as the series progresses."
Producers always envisioned the same actress taking on the dual role, rather than having two different people play Alura and Astra.
"In looking ahead at the next batch of episodes, that was really important for us, to not do what's expected," Adler tells THR.
In terms of how much Benanti will be featured going forward, producers note that the Broadway favorite will continue to play both Alura and Astra, though only the latter will be seen alive in present day.
"We'll see her mother both in flashbacks and we're also going to see her as a A.I. program," Kreisberg reveals. "[It's] similar to the way you would see Marlon Brando in the Donner Superman films, as a living computer that Kara is able to commune with."
But Astra won't be the only big bad Kara will have to face this season. Supergirl also is set to debut the DC Comics villain Non, a former scientist in a league with the House of El. Transporter: The Series star Chris Vance will take on the role as the brutal, sinister Kryptonian military officer who is the antithesis of everything Supergirl stands for. Non will quickly become Kara's greatest threat.
"The Non in the comic books is not what you saw in Superman II," Kreisberg says. "That Non in Superman II had been lobotomized. When we meet him, he will not have been lobotomized yet so our take on this character is sort of a prequel to the Superman II mythos."
Along with these two big bads, expect to see Supergirl face off with villains-of-the-week, both alien and human.
"The pilot set up the idea that there was an alien prison from Krypton that crash-landed on Earth and all of the prisoners escaped," Kreisberg says. "We'll be meeting some of those alien villains; there will also be some human villains, like the Toyman."
While most superhero shows wait to reveal secret identities until much later down the line, Supergirl eschewed that particular comic book trope by having Kara confess her true origin to her best friend, Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan), immediately in the pilot.
"That gives us more potential for character evolution," Adler says. "We know it is going to happen at some point just like the audience does, and we know everyone roots for that card to be turned over. So we were just like, 'Let's do it as quickly as possible so we can get to those good stories we want to tell.' But there will still be that classic superhero trope of who is this woman who appeared all of a sudden to save National City?"
As for those sparks that are already flying between Kara and Winn, the producers can't deny that there is natural chemistry between Benoist and Jordan. But will a real romance blossom between the two friends?
"I think that's a fair guess," Adler says. "What's really nice about their relationship is Winn has always seen her as Supergirl, even before she put on the glyph and decided to fly around. He very much cares about her and she doesn't notice that yet and maybe we will explore some of that over the course of this season. And in the pilot alone, she has electrical chemistry with James Olsen [Mehcad Brooks]. Whether we explore that soon or later, I can't really say."
Berlanti is especially proud of how Brooks is putting a new spin on the classic Jimmy Olsen character.
"People were surprised by the actor choice but we weren't looking for a certain type of actor," Berlanti says. "This actor just came in and took the part. The chemistry he has with Melissa Benoist is incredible and that was just so obvious in the audition. And the DNA of Jimmy Olsen, Superman's pal who wore a camera around his neck, that's very much there. He's just grown now. He's had 12 years of adventures with his pal and now he's a man. He's worked out a bit more. He's seasoned and has experience and has an exclusive experience to offer Kara because he's spent time with her cousin so much."
And while Kara will find herself fighting out-of-this-world villains, Supergirl also is going to ground itself by employing a procedural element, making it a perfect fit for the network that's home to three NCIS series.
"We'll see more of Kara's sister Alex's [Chyler Leigh] workplace and explore that dynamic more," Adler says. "Will Kara or will she not dip her toe into the DEO waters? This show will have a procedural element within the DEO as well as CatCo and journalistic investigations. So we will absolutely cross these sisters professionally as well as personally."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... ere-834291
Por Sydney Bucksbaum 26 Oct, 2015 6:30pm PT
Supergirl's villain is a lot closer to Kara (Melissa Benoist) than she realizes.
CBS' freshman comic book drama ended its high-flying series debut with a major twist: the villain heading to Earth and targeting Kara is none other than her aunt Astra (Laura Benanti). And not only is Astra family, she also looks exactly like Kara's mother, Alura (also played by Benanti).
"When we were writing the pilot, we thought about that a lot," executive producer Andrew Kreisberg tells The Hollywood Reporter. "For us, we love when you have the hero and villain being linked, and what you can do to make what's happening between them personal. Nothing is more personal than family, but to then go one step further and have the villain be an exact replica of her mother is going to be really cool."
Kreisberg, along with executive producers Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler, reveal that having Kara fight someone who inspires feelings of love and safety in her is going to be one of the biggest obstacles for the character to overcome.
"There is also the tie to her home, it just makes it that much more emotional for Kara to deal with," Berlanti tells THR. "Every time she punches her aunt, she's really punching her mother. And how much of her mother might still be inside her aunt is something we're going to be looking at as the series progresses."
Producers always envisioned the same actress taking on the dual role, rather than having two different people play Alura and Astra.
"In looking ahead at the next batch of episodes, that was really important for us, to not do what's expected," Adler tells THR.
In terms of how much Benanti will be featured going forward, producers note that the Broadway favorite will continue to play both Alura and Astra, though only the latter will be seen alive in present day.
"We'll see her mother both in flashbacks and we're also going to see her as a A.I. program," Kreisberg reveals. "[It's] similar to the way you would see Marlon Brando in the Donner Superman films, as a living computer that Kara is able to commune with."
But Astra won't be the only big bad Kara will have to face this season. Supergirl also is set to debut the DC Comics villain Non, a former scientist in a league with the House of El. Transporter: The Series star Chris Vance will take on the role as the brutal, sinister Kryptonian military officer who is the antithesis of everything Supergirl stands for. Non will quickly become Kara's greatest threat.
"The Non in the comic books is not what you saw in Superman II," Kreisberg says. "That Non in Superman II had been lobotomized. When we meet him, he will not have been lobotomized yet so our take on this character is sort of a prequel to the Superman II mythos."
Along with these two big bads, expect to see Supergirl face off with villains-of-the-week, both alien and human.
"The pilot set up the idea that there was an alien prison from Krypton that crash-landed on Earth and all of the prisoners escaped," Kreisberg says. "We'll be meeting some of those alien villains; there will also be some human villains, like the Toyman."
While most superhero shows wait to reveal secret identities until much later down the line, Supergirl eschewed that particular comic book trope by having Kara confess her true origin to her best friend, Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan), immediately in the pilot.
"That gives us more potential for character evolution," Adler says. "We know it is going to happen at some point just like the audience does, and we know everyone roots for that card to be turned over. So we were just like, 'Let's do it as quickly as possible so we can get to those good stories we want to tell.' But there will still be that classic superhero trope of who is this woman who appeared all of a sudden to save National City?"
As for those sparks that are already flying between Kara and Winn, the producers can't deny that there is natural chemistry between Benoist and Jordan. But will a real romance blossom between the two friends?
"I think that's a fair guess," Adler says. "What's really nice about their relationship is Winn has always seen her as Supergirl, even before she put on the glyph and decided to fly around. He very much cares about her and she doesn't notice that yet and maybe we will explore some of that over the course of this season. And in the pilot alone, she has electrical chemistry with James Olsen [Mehcad Brooks]. Whether we explore that soon or later, I can't really say."
Berlanti is especially proud of how Brooks is putting a new spin on the classic Jimmy Olsen character.
"People were surprised by the actor choice but we weren't looking for a certain type of actor," Berlanti says. "This actor just came in and took the part. The chemistry he has with Melissa Benoist is incredible and that was just so obvious in the audition. And the DNA of Jimmy Olsen, Superman's pal who wore a camera around his neck, that's very much there. He's just grown now. He's had 12 years of adventures with his pal and now he's a man. He's worked out a bit more. He's seasoned and has experience and has an exclusive experience to offer Kara because he's spent time with her cousin so much."
And while Kara will find herself fighting out-of-this-world villains, Supergirl also is going to ground itself by employing a procedural element, making it a perfect fit for the network that's home to three NCIS series.
"We'll see more of Kara's sister Alex's [Chyler Leigh] workplace and explore that dynamic more," Adler says. "Will Kara or will she not dip her toe into the DEO waters? This show will have a procedural element within the DEO as well as CatCo and journalistic investigations. So we will absolutely cross these sisters professionally as well as personally."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... ere-834291
Consigue la primicia del giro del villano y qué es lo siguiente
Por Natalie Abrams 26 Oct, 2015
The escaped Phantom Zone prisoners aren’t Supergirl’s only problem.
During the series premiere of Supergirl, Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) finally became the titular hero she was always meant to be, though her work has only just begun. Over the course of the first season, Kara will be facing a host of criminal aliens from the crashed Phantom Zone prison Fort Rozz. Among them, the big bad was revealed to be her mother’s twin sister, Astra (Laura Benanti), who is hell-bent on ruling Earth — and making Kara pay for the sins of her mother. What’s next for National City’s savior? EW turned to executive producer Andrew Kreisberg to get the scoop:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s talk about this twist at the end. What can you tell us about Kara’s aunt?
ANDREW KREISBERG: Her name is Astra. She’s a character that we’ve created for the show, who doesn’t come from the comics. On all the other shows, whenever the big bad has been personally tied to the hero, it’s always been that much more evocative — certainly you look at Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) and Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), and, in a lot of ways, Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh). We thought it was really exciting that the villain be part of Kara’s family that Kara thought was dead. But beyond that, she’s her mother’s twin sister. Even though it’s not her mother, the big bad of the year wears her mother’s face. That’s certainly going to create emotional issues for Kara when she’s placed in situations where, perhaps to save Earth, she’s going to have to end her aunt’s life.
To be clear for the non-comic book fans, this villain is not Kal-El’s mother.
No, no, no. She’s actually not. If you were really paying attention, you would see that her glyph is not the S. She’s from a different house. Alura, Kara’s mother, married into the House of El. She is not Lara. That was why we were so excited to get Laura Benanti, because Laura plays Alura as this benevolent angel, but she can also convincingly play the bad guy. Even in those brief moments in episode 1, she has a deliciousness as the bad guy that I think she’s going to become a fan-favorite.
What can you tell us about Astra’s motivations? Is it just to make Kara pay for her mother Alura being their judge?
It’s actually a lot more complex than that. One of the most interesting things about our show is that everyone is doing what they’re doing for the same reasons, they’re just going about it in the wrong way. Very soon, when Astra and Kara finally confront each other, Astra says, “I’m here to save the Earth,” and she’ll say, “I watched one planet die, and I’m not going to do that again.” It’s always great when the hero and the villain are two sides of the same coin. Astra’s version of saving the Earth is quite different from Kara’s.
Can you talk about some of the villains from Fort Rozz that we’re going to be seeing and what they’re motivated by?
The way we talk about the Fort Rozz villains is if the gates of San Quentin suddenly opened and everybody ran out, every single person who got out of there wouldn’t instantly go back to doing what they were doing. Some people who’ve killed, killed for revenge, some people killed for love, some people have killed for money. Just like with any prison, there’s a wide variety of crime represented among the inmates. Whereas some of them do want revenge on Alura, and by proxy Kara, some of them just want to be left alone. Some of them are just trying to get along, go along. And some of them can’t help what they can do. Some of them are trying to get home. They all have a wide range of reasons for doing what they’re doing, which is what makes them — even though some of them can do pretty fantastical things — somewhat grounded. They’re not all mustache twirling, revenge seeking, we-want-to-rule-the-world creatures. They’ve got lives, loves, desires, dreams, fears and hopes just like anybody. Watching how Supergirl deals with them, sometimes in heartbreaking ways, is what makes every episode different. It’s what helps Kara on her journey to becoming the hero that she can be.
Moving forward for Kara, does she have a sense of loneliness about being one of the only Kryptonians on Earth?
Yeah. What’s always so interesting about her — and why I personally, and so many of us who work on the show, are so fascinated about her as a character — is Clark was born on Krypton, but he came here when he was a baby. Despite the fact that he can fly and has super strength, for all intents and purposes, he’s a Kansan. He was raised by loving, human parents, and he was raised on a farm, he grew up in Smallville, and that’s the life that he knows. Kara grew up on Krypton. She lived there until she was 13 years old. She remembers her mother, her father, her friends and her schoolteachers, extended family, and everything that any one of us who lives in a world knows. All of that was taken away from her. It’s not even the specificity of missing other Kryptonians; she had a whole other life that was gone. The loneliness that’s inside of her is less about the typical, “Oh, I don’t fit in,” because clearly she can fit in. She has a job, friends and family. But it’s that core wound that she lost everything, and she remembers it. That is the secret pain that’s inside of her that also drives her.
Are we going to be seeing her discover her powers, or does she know most of these already and it’s trying to hone them?
She knows most of them. There are a couple of things that come up, one fairly early on that she wasn’t aware that she could do. A lot of it is more about honing it and more about training. We always love sueprhero training in the Berlanti-verse. That’s one of our favorite things to do. There’s a lot of fun stuff with her getting better at it, and eventually being better at it than Superman. In the comics, she’s stronger and faster than he is.
What does training for Supergirl look like?
Training for her looks like Hank (David Harewood) and the DEO firing missiles at her as she’s trying to avoid them. There’s a very fun training sequence at the top of episode 2. You’ll see in subsequent episodes, too, that they have a room in the DEO that they can adjust the level of Kryptonite exposure in it to even the playing field, so to speak, for Kara. What’s fun about Kara and Alex (Chyler Leigh) is that Kara obviously has all the superpowers, but Alex is like Sydney Bristow, she’s a trained secret agent. She’s a much more experienced fighter than Kara is. Watching the two sisters spar and train together as Alex tries to make Kara a more competent fighter is a lot of fun.
What’s her working relationship with DEO look like moving forward?
It’s mostly positive, sometimes tentative. She doesn’t technically work for them, so sometimes she can go a bit rogue, but I think that’s part of the fun of it. What’s so special about Kara is how being the person that she is affects other people in positive ways. She’s always an inspiration and always inspiring other people to step forward and be a hero. I think that’s one of the most amazing things about her.
Is Kara’s relationship with her sister damaged since Alex was hiding her true job for so long?
No, they get over that. The relationship between Kara and Alex, to us, is similar to the relationship between Barry and Joe on The Flash, it’s like the heart and soul of the show. Those sister scenes are so powerful. There are so many things on the show where it’s just the two sisters being sisters. If you just turned into it, you wouldn’t realize you were watching a show about a superhero. The sister’s love for each other really makes up the emotional core of the series.
Is Cat (Calista Flockhart) an ally to Supergirl or does she just look at her as a cash cow?
I think initially she looks at her like a cash cow. But just as Kara is helping to influence the city and give hope to people, she reawakens this younger person’s dream of a better world inside Cat. Cat slowly starts to come around on Supergirl. The irony of the whole situation is as she’s being a mentor to her put-upon assistant, she doesn’t realize that she’s also helping to mentor Supergirl. Cat has a relationship with Supergirl and she also has a relationship with Kara. That, to us, is so fascinating. It’s one of the fun things that, because this is a TV series, we get to explore that.
What can you tell us about Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli)?
You’re not quite sure where he stands. That’s what’s so interesting about him. Like I alluded to earlier, if you ask Kara and Astra what their goals are, they’d say they’re here to save the world. Ironically, that’s what Max would say, too. All the people on the show are all trying to save the world; they’re just going about it in very different ways. Max is one of those great characters, a little bit of that Tom Cavanagh on The Flash, where one minute he’s helping you, and the next minute he’s decidedly not helping you. How that plays out and what his true agenda is is part of the fun and the mystery of the show.
What does James (Mehcad Brooks) and Kara’s relationship look like moving forward?
Jimmy, in a lot of ways, is representing Clark/Superman on the show. Part of her relationship with Jimmy is Jimmy acting as a conduit for Superman — this is the way Superman did things, these are the things he thinks. That’s something that Jimmy brings to the table. It’s helping Kara define what kind of superhero she wants to be. Does she want to do things like Superman? In other cases, does she think there’s a better way? There’s obviously an attraction there. How that plays out is the romantic fun of the series. A lot of attention got paid to it from some of the earlier trailers, and it’s definitely part of the show, but it’s just one part of the show. They’re really fun together. It’s fun to see Jimmy Olsen all grown up. He’s become a man, and in some ways, he’s outgrown Superman. He’s wrestling with, “If I’ve grown up, become my own man, moved to a new city, and I’m ready to have adventures of my own, am I taking a step backwards if I’m doing it with Supergirl?” He’s got a lot of fun, dramatic stuff, and he has certainly not put down his camera for the last time.
You have Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) coming in as a foil for that dynamic. What can you tell us about her?
Lucy is great, she’s fun, she’s awesome, she’s beautiful. The most successful love triangles I’ve ever seen on television are the ones where you have to be able to root for the other person who won’t necessarily ever actually be the winner. Too often in love triangles, if the audience turns on one actor, actress or character, it ruins the other characters as well. It was really important for us to find a Lucy Lane who was strong, beautiful, and awesome, but different from Kara, but not so different that she didn’t like her, compelling enough, interesting enough and likable enough that you understood why James would want to be with her if he could be with Kara — we really feel like we found all that in Jenna. She just has a light inside of her, is fun and gorgeous and strong. In this incarnation, we made Lucy in the military. She actually works for her father, General Lane, which adds an extra level of complication since General Lane is not a fan of any aliens on Earth, including Superman and Supergirl.
Winn (Jeremy Jordan) is, in a lot of ways, obsessed with Kara. Could that come back to haunt her at some point?
It actually doesn’t come back to haunt her. He becomes a strong ally. In the same way that we have Team Flash, we have the Super Friends, even though that’s not what Kara wants to call them. Winn, Jimmy and Alex form her clandestine crime-fighting unit. He’s her best friend. What’s interesting about Winn is, as he says to her in an upcoming episode, “I liked you before I found out about the S.” That’s the thing that’s interesting to Kara. He just liked her when he thought she was just her. He’s another option in her romantic journey.
http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/26/su ... -kreisberg
Por Natalie Abrams 26 Oct, 2015
The escaped Phantom Zone prisoners aren’t Supergirl’s only problem.
During the series premiere of Supergirl, Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) finally became the titular hero she was always meant to be, though her work has only just begun. Over the course of the first season, Kara will be facing a host of criminal aliens from the crashed Phantom Zone prison Fort Rozz. Among them, the big bad was revealed to be her mother’s twin sister, Astra (Laura Benanti), who is hell-bent on ruling Earth — and making Kara pay for the sins of her mother. What’s next for National City’s savior? EW turned to executive producer Andrew Kreisberg to get the scoop:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s talk about this twist at the end. What can you tell us about Kara’s aunt?
ANDREW KREISBERG: Her name is Astra. She’s a character that we’ve created for the show, who doesn’t come from the comics. On all the other shows, whenever the big bad has been personally tied to the hero, it’s always been that much more evocative — certainly you look at Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) and Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), and, in a lot of ways, Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh). We thought it was really exciting that the villain be part of Kara’s family that Kara thought was dead. But beyond that, she’s her mother’s twin sister. Even though it’s not her mother, the big bad of the year wears her mother’s face. That’s certainly going to create emotional issues for Kara when she’s placed in situations where, perhaps to save Earth, she’s going to have to end her aunt’s life.
To be clear for the non-comic book fans, this villain is not Kal-El’s mother.
No, no, no. She’s actually not. If you were really paying attention, you would see that her glyph is not the S. She’s from a different house. Alura, Kara’s mother, married into the House of El. She is not Lara. That was why we were so excited to get Laura Benanti, because Laura plays Alura as this benevolent angel, but she can also convincingly play the bad guy. Even in those brief moments in episode 1, she has a deliciousness as the bad guy that I think she’s going to become a fan-favorite.
What can you tell us about Astra’s motivations? Is it just to make Kara pay for her mother Alura being their judge?
It’s actually a lot more complex than that. One of the most interesting things about our show is that everyone is doing what they’re doing for the same reasons, they’re just going about it in the wrong way. Very soon, when Astra and Kara finally confront each other, Astra says, “I’m here to save the Earth,” and she’ll say, “I watched one planet die, and I’m not going to do that again.” It’s always great when the hero and the villain are two sides of the same coin. Astra’s version of saving the Earth is quite different from Kara’s.
Can you talk about some of the villains from Fort Rozz that we’re going to be seeing and what they’re motivated by?
The way we talk about the Fort Rozz villains is if the gates of San Quentin suddenly opened and everybody ran out, every single person who got out of there wouldn’t instantly go back to doing what they were doing. Some people who’ve killed, killed for revenge, some people killed for love, some people have killed for money. Just like with any prison, there’s a wide variety of crime represented among the inmates. Whereas some of them do want revenge on Alura, and by proxy Kara, some of them just want to be left alone. Some of them are just trying to get along, go along. And some of them can’t help what they can do. Some of them are trying to get home. They all have a wide range of reasons for doing what they’re doing, which is what makes them — even though some of them can do pretty fantastical things — somewhat grounded. They’re not all mustache twirling, revenge seeking, we-want-to-rule-the-world creatures. They’ve got lives, loves, desires, dreams, fears and hopes just like anybody. Watching how Supergirl deals with them, sometimes in heartbreaking ways, is what makes every episode different. It’s what helps Kara on her journey to becoming the hero that she can be.
Moving forward for Kara, does she have a sense of loneliness about being one of the only Kryptonians on Earth?
Yeah. What’s always so interesting about her — and why I personally, and so many of us who work on the show, are so fascinated about her as a character — is Clark was born on Krypton, but he came here when he was a baby. Despite the fact that he can fly and has super strength, for all intents and purposes, he’s a Kansan. He was raised by loving, human parents, and he was raised on a farm, he grew up in Smallville, and that’s the life that he knows. Kara grew up on Krypton. She lived there until she was 13 years old. She remembers her mother, her father, her friends and her schoolteachers, extended family, and everything that any one of us who lives in a world knows. All of that was taken away from her. It’s not even the specificity of missing other Kryptonians; she had a whole other life that was gone. The loneliness that’s inside of her is less about the typical, “Oh, I don’t fit in,” because clearly she can fit in. She has a job, friends and family. But it’s that core wound that she lost everything, and she remembers it. That is the secret pain that’s inside of her that also drives her.
Are we going to be seeing her discover her powers, or does she know most of these already and it’s trying to hone them?
She knows most of them. There are a couple of things that come up, one fairly early on that she wasn’t aware that she could do. A lot of it is more about honing it and more about training. We always love sueprhero training in the Berlanti-verse. That’s one of our favorite things to do. There’s a lot of fun stuff with her getting better at it, and eventually being better at it than Superman. In the comics, she’s stronger and faster than he is.
What does training for Supergirl look like?
Training for her looks like Hank (David Harewood) and the DEO firing missiles at her as she’s trying to avoid them. There’s a very fun training sequence at the top of episode 2. You’ll see in subsequent episodes, too, that they have a room in the DEO that they can adjust the level of Kryptonite exposure in it to even the playing field, so to speak, for Kara. What’s fun about Kara and Alex (Chyler Leigh) is that Kara obviously has all the superpowers, but Alex is like Sydney Bristow, she’s a trained secret agent. She’s a much more experienced fighter than Kara is. Watching the two sisters spar and train together as Alex tries to make Kara a more competent fighter is a lot of fun.
What’s her working relationship with DEO look like moving forward?
It’s mostly positive, sometimes tentative. She doesn’t technically work for them, so sometimes she can go a bit rogue, but I think that’s part of the fun of it. What’s so special about Kara is how being the person that she is affects other people in positive ways. She’s always an inspiration and always inspiring other people to step forward and be a hero. I think that’s one of the most amazing things about her.
Is Kara’s relationship with her sister damaged since Alex was hiding her true job for so long?
No, they get over that. The relationship between Kara and Alex, to us, is similar to the relationship between Barry and Joe on The Flash, it’s like the heart and soul of the show. Those sister scenes are so powerful. There are so many things on the show where it’s just the two sisters being sisters. If you just turned into it, you wouldn’t realize you were watching a show about a superhero. The sister’s love for each other really makes up the emotional core of the series.
Is Cat (Calista Flockhart) an ally to Supergirl or does she just look at her as a cash cow?
I think initially she looks at her like a cash cow. But just as Kara is helping to influence the city and give hope to people, she reawakens this younger person’s dream of a better world inside Cat. Cat slowly starts to come around on Supergirl. The irony of the whole situation is as she’s being a mentor to her put-upon assistant, she doesn’t realize that she’s also helping to mentor Supergirl. Cat has a relationship with Supergirl and she also has a relationship with Kara. That, to us, is so fascinating. It’s one of the fun things that, because this is a TV series, we get to explore that.
What can you tell us about Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli)?
You’re not quite sure where he stands. That’s what’s so interesting about him. Like I alluded to earlier, if you ask Kara and Astra what their goals are, they’d say they’re here to save the world. Ironically, that’s what Max would say, too. All the people on the show are all trying to save the world; they’re just going about it in very different ways. Max is one of those great characters, a little bit of that Tom Cavanagh on The Flash, where one minute he’s helping you, and the next minute he’s decidedly not helping you. How that plays out and what his true agenda is is part of the fun and the mystery of the show.
What does James (Mehcad Brooks) and Kara’s relationship look like moving forward?
Jimmy, in a lot of ways, is representing Clark/Superman on the show. Part of her relationship with Jimmy is Jimmy acting as a conduit for Superman — this is the way Superman did things, these are the things he thinks. That’s something that Jimmy brings to the table. It’s helping Kara define what kind of superhero she wants to be. Does she want to do things like Superman? In other cases, does she think there’s a better way? There’s obviously an attraction there. How that plays out is the romantic fun of the series. A lot of attention got paid to it from some of the earlier trailers, and it’s definitely part of the show, but it’s just one part of the show. They’re really fun together. It’s fun to see Jimmy Olsen all grown up. He’s become a man, and in some ways, he’s outgrown Superman. He’s wrestling with, “If I’ve grown up, become my own man, moved to a new city, and I’m ready to have adventures of my own, am I taking a step backwards if I’m doing it with Supergirl?” He’s got a lot of fun, dramatic stuff, and he has certainly not put down his camera for the last time.
You have Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) coming in as a foil for that dynamic. What can you tell us about her?
Lucy is great, she’s fun, she’s awesome, she’s beautiful. The most successful love triangles I’ve ever seen on television are the ones where you have to be able to root for the other person who won’t necessarily ever actually be the winner. Too often in love triangles, if the audience turns on one actor, actress or character, it ruins the other characters as well. It was really important for us to find a Lucy Lane who was strong, beautiful, and awesome, but different from Kara, but not so different that she didn’t like her, compelling enough, interesting enough and likable enough that you understood why James would want to be with her if he could be with Kara — we really feel like we found all that in Jenna. She just has a light inside of her, is fun and gorgeous and strong. In this incarnation, we made Lucy in the military. She actually works for her father, General Lane, which adds an extra level of complication since General Lane is not a fan of any aliens on Earth, including Superman and Supergirl.
Winn (Jeremy Jordan) is, in a lot of ways, obsessed with Kara. Could that come back to haunt her at some point?
It actually doesn’t come back to haunt her. He becomes a strong ally. In the same way that we have Team Flash, we have the Super Friends, even though that’s not what Kara wants to call them. Winn, Jimmy and Alex form her clandestine crime-fighting unit. He’s her best friend. What’s interesting about Winn is, as he says to her in an upcoming episode, “I liked you before I found out about the S.” That’s the thing that’s interesting to Kara. He just liked her when he thought she was just her. He’s another option in her romantic journey.
http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/26/su ... -kreisberg
Los productores de "Supergirl" hablan el giro del final del piloto, y adelantan la conecxión con "Superman II"
Por Brett White, 26 Oct 2015
If you watched the premiere of "Supergirl" on CBS last night, then you know that Kara Zor-El's superhero life won't be an easy one -- and spoiler alert for those that still have the pilot episode on their DVR.
In a post-debut interview with The Hollywood Reporter executive producer Andrew Kreisberg discussed the reasoning that went into the decision to have Laura Benanti play both Kara's loving mother Alura and the revealed-to-be-alive-and-evil Astra.
"When we were writing the pilot, we thought about that a lot," said Kreisberg. "For us, we love when you have the hero and villain being linked, and what you can do to make what's happening between them personal. Nothing is more personal than family, but to then go one step further and have the villain be an exact replica of her mother is going to be really cool."
The show's producing team indicated that they always intended for the parts of Astra and Alura to be played by the same actress. Benanti will continue to appear as the deceased Alura via Kryptonian holographic technology, and she will also play Supergirl's new big bad, Astra.
"There is also the tie to her home, it just makes it that much more emotional for Kara to deal with," said fellow executive producer Greg Berlanti. "Every time she punches her aunt, she's really punching her mother. And how much of her mother might still be inside her aunt is something we're going to be looking at as the series progresses."
Astra isn't the only Kryptonian threat Supergirl is going to face; Non (Chris Vance) will also test Supergirl's mettle. Kreisberg discussed the difference between the Non of the comics, the Non from "Superman II" and the Non we'll see on the show.
"The Non in the comic books is not what you saw in Superman II," Kreisberg said. "That Non in 'Superman II' had been lobotomized. When we meet him, he will not have been lobotomized yet so our take on this character is sort of a prequel to the Superman II mythos."
http://www.comicbookresources.com/artic ... connection
Por Brett White, 26 Oct 2015
If you watched the premiere of "Supergirl" on CBS last night, then you know that Kara Zor-El's superhero life won't be an easy one -- and spoiler alert for those that still have the pilot episode on their DVR.
In a post-debut interview with The Hollywood Reporter executive producer Andrew Kreisberg discussed the reasoning that went into the decision to have Laura Benanti play both Kara's loving mother Alura and the revealed-to-be-alive-and-evil Astra.
"When we were writing the pilot, we thought about that a lot," said Kreisberg. "For us, we love when you have the hero and villain being linked, and what you can do to make what's happening between them personal. Nothing is more personal than family, but to then go one step further and have the villain be an exact replica of her mother is going to be really cool."
The show's producing team indicated that they always intended for the parts of Astra and Alura to be played by the same actress. Benanti will continue to appear as the deceased Alura via Kryptonian holographic technology, and she will also play Supergirl's new big bad, Astra.
"There is also the tie to her home, it just makes it that much more emotional for Kara to deal with," said fellow executive producer Greg Berlanti. "Every time she punches her aunt, she's really punching her mother. And how much of her mother might still be inside her aunt is something we're going to be looking at as the series progresses."
Astra isn't the only Kryptonian threat Supergirl is going to face; Non (Chris Vance) will also test Supergirl's mettle. Kreisberg discussed the difference between the Non of the comics, the Non from "Superman II" and the Non we'll see on the show.
"The Non in the comic books is not what you saw in Superman II," Kreisberg said. "That Non in 'Superman II' had been lobotomized. When we meet him, he will not have been lobotomized yet so our take on this character is sort of a prequel to the Superman II mythos."
http://www.comicbookresources.com/artic ... connection
Greg Berlanti sobre el Poder de las Chicas de ‘Supergirl’ y ‘Blindspot’
Por Debra Birnbaum 29 Octubre, 2015 | 03:00PM PT
Two new shows, two ratings hits. That’s an enviable track record in a broadcast season that’s been mixed at best. But megaproducer Greg Berlanti, the man behind “Supergirl” and “Blindspot,” isn’t resting on his laurels quite yet. “Honestly, we’re all really excited that people are interested in the shows,” he tells Variety. “We feel really lucky that people showed. Now it’s our job to keep making the best episodes we can.”
What was your reaction when you saw the “Supergirl” ratings?
I think you breathe about a minute’s worth of a sigh of relief, and then you start worrying about whatever your other problems are that day and next week’s episode. I found in the past, it’s isn’t until the season is almost done that you get a sense of what happened exactly. You’re in the climate of where there’s so much for people to watch, and we felt so supported by the networks. They really got behind the shows. They know how to sell their audiences, each of them.
You went two for two with two very different shows. What’s your secret?
(Laughs.) Honestly, it’s working with great people — everyone we worked with on both the shows, from the writers to the directors to the actors and the casting people and the crews. We just had one of those years. Both of the shows were the right shows for the network and that time slot to at least get us started. We are determined to keep making great episodes. You can start really well, but it’s where we are in May that matters.
Do you think “Supergirl’s” late October launch helped?
I think CBS’ whole plan for it (worked), from top to bottom — to reach out to people who like comics, people who don’t like comics, men, women. Their entire launch — where they placed it on the schedule, behind an episode of “Big Bang” — all of it was masterful. And all of it was why they’re so good at doing what they do. They were always, from the beginning, very precise at how they wanted to introduce her to the world. They did exactly what they told us in the very first marketing meeting. We walked out of it in awe, all of us, when they laid out exactly what they were going to do.
And audiences really wanted a female superhero.
The initial success of both shows should get more people who work in the business realizing that there should be more female-led action movies. With both “Supergirl” and “Blindspot,” both men and women equally were interested in seeing a female-led action piece. Tonally, obviously they’re very different. But I think people are more interested in the idea and the quality of the content.
How are you going to keep the momentum going?
Our recipe is to keep making episodes and telling stories that we would be interested in seeing. The job is a lot of hours and really challenging and we have to tell stories we’re passionate about. We all check our guts. I’m certain we’ll make mistakes along the way. You can learn from them really quickly in TV. Early episodes of TV I compare to out-of-town plays. You can make them better. You don’t have all the time in the world, but you have time to make them better and improve them as you go along.
So what’s in store for “Supergirl”?
It’s very much a hero’s journey for her in this first bunch of episodes. She’s kept her skills dormant. She’s learning about that. You’ll learn more about the Big Bad, which I think is really cool. We’re beginning to build what her team is going to be and how she’s figuring out what kind of hero she’s going to be. What’s always great is the audience starts to learn as much about the supporting characters as we already know in our heads. It takes time and real estate for the audience to get to know those characters. You’ll learn more about her sister, Hank, and her connection to James.
What about the budget? Will we see as many effects going forward?
We reserved a lot of money. We planned the visual effects sequences in episodes 2 through 5, 6 and 7. Hopefully we’ve proven this with “Flash,” which has large scale sequences as well. We know it’s our responsibility to deliver on the promise of the pilot. There are all sorts of different kinds of effects, and sometimes the more intimate ones are the ones that are more powerful for people emotionally. But there’s a lot of spectacle, too. There’s a fight sequence in episode 2 that’s maybe one of the biggest fight sequences we’ve ever done in any of the shows. It’s certainly bigger than the final fight in the pilot.
How far ahead are you in production?
We’re shooting 10 and prepping 11, and drafting episode 13 right now, so obviously we’re excited to get another episode on air so we get to know if we’re going to get make more of these things.
When do you think you’ll hear about a full-season pickup?
I have no idea. That’s another thing I can never predict. There was a read-through when the ratings came in. We all hung out and toasted, and (Warner Bros TV chief) Peter Roth came by. It was a special moment. Shows this size, it’s double the financial stakes for everybody. They are large things to pull off. You want them to work for everybody. It means years of livelihood for everyone. It was nice to get a nice start. It’s that great boost to get in the arm to keep going. That was the one challenging thing about premiering later.
It also doesn’t allow you to react if audiences respond to a given character.
We’re going through that on “Legends of Tomorrow.” We’re crafting episode 8 and the show’s not on the air. All of them will be shot by the time it airs, so we’re having to make a lot of choices. The benefit on a show like that is that there are lot of characters that have spun off other shows. So we know a lot what we think works about them. We like the audience response, be it or negative or positive. That dialogue with the audience is instrumental about how we talk about story in the room.
I know Nina Tassler was a champion of the show. How has the transition to new president Glenn Geller been?
Glenn’s been incredible, because as the head of current, he was right there from the beginning, crafting all the episodes with us — rolling up his sleeves, being a real cheerleader from day one. That transition has been seamless. I went back and read Nina’s note to me after she heard the pitch for sentimental reasons. And everything she said, and what she responded to about the pitch, is exactly what the audience seems to be saying about the show when they saw it. It was a testament to her and to all the execs we’ve worked with who’ve been supportive about the show. That’s why it is the show that it is.
It’s now development season, and you have several pitches out. Are people taking your call more quickly?
(Laughs.) I don’t want anyone making anything that they’re not passionate about. They have to back us financially, and you need their support at every level throughout — selling it, casting it. I still have to fight things for I want. I really enjoy that part of the process. It’s a natural vetting process that makes everything better. I’m sure we’ll be just as challenged on all of our opinions this year as we have been every other year. I think that’s how it should be. Zero percent has changed.
Have you hit your limit yet of the number of shows you can run?
If everything was a disaster, I couldn’t even do one of these shows. But because we work with all of these talented showrunners, it allows us to help them. I get to at times be intimately involved with the show and sometimes just go show to show and give my thoughts as a studio or network exec who also has a lot on their plate. I’m sure there’s a finite number. But I’m able to do it because there are so many people who are actually doing it.
Anything you still want to do?
I would love to sooner rather later do a straight character piece again that came from the emotional core of me, like “Everwood” and “Political Animals.” I have to create the time to do that. Every four or five years, I try to write a deeply personal script, and I’m sure I’ll be doing that in the next year or so.
What about a reboot? That seems to be the trend du jour.
There are a few reboots I’d love to see that I’d love to have nothing to do with! I’d love to watch just as a viewer. “Quantum Leap” — someone should bring that back. I’d love to see another “Star Trek” show on the air. I loved “Buck Rogers,” someone should do that. But I don’t want the responsibility of doing any of those things.
And “Dawson’s Creek”?
If Kevin (Williamson) called and asked me to do anything, I’d do it. I’d be there in a heartbeat.
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/greg-be ... 201629997/
Por Debra Birnbaum 29 Octubre, 2015 | 03:00PM PT
Two new shows, two ratings hits. That’s an enviable track record in a broadcast season that’s been mixed at best. But megaproducer Greg Berlanti, the man behind “Supergirl” and “Blindspot,” isn’t resting on his laurels quite yet. “Honestly, we’re all really excited that people are interested in the shows,” he tells Variety. “We feel really lucky that people showed. Now it’s our job to keep making the best episodes we can.”
What was your reaction when you saw the “Supergirl” ratings?
I think you breathe about a minute’s worth of a sigh of relief, and then you start worrying about whatever your other problems are that day and next week’s episode. I found in the past, it’s isn’t until the season is almost done that you get a sense of what happened exactly. You’re in the climate of where there’s so much for people to watch, and we felt so supported by the networks. They really got behind the shows. They know how to sell their audiences, each of them.
You went two for two with two very different shows. What’s your secret?
(Laughs.) Honestly, it’s working with great people — everyone we worked with on both the shows, from the writers to the directors to the actors and the casting people and the crews. We just had one of those years. Both of the shows were the right shows for the network and that time slot to at least get us started. We are determined to keep making great episodes. You can start really well, but it’s where we are in May that matters.
Do you think “Supergirl’s” late October launch helped?
I think CBS’ whole plan for it (worked), from top to bottom — to reach out to people who like comics, people who don’t like comics, men, women. Their entire launch — where they placed it on the schedule, behind an episode of “Big Bang” — all of it was masterful. And all of it was why they’re so good at doing what they do. They were always, from the beginning, very precise at how they wanted to introduce her to the world. They did exactly what they told us in the very first marketing meeting. We walked out of it in awe, all of us, when they laid out exactly what they were going to do.
And audiences really wanted a female superhero.
The initial success of both shows should get more people who work in the business realizing that there should be more female-led action movies. With both “Supergirl” and “Blindspot,” both men and women equally were interested in seeing a female-led action piece. Tonally, obviously they’re very different. But I think people are more interested in the idea and the quality of the content.
How are you going to keep the momentum going?
Our recipe is to keep making episodes and telling stories that we would be interested in seeing. The job is a lot of hours and really challenging and we have to tell stories we’re passionate about. We all check our guts. I’m certain we’ll make mistakes along the way. You can learn from them really quickly in TV. Early episodes of TV I compare to out-of-town plays. You can make them better. You don’t have all the time in the world, but you have time to make them better and improve them as you go along.
So what’s in store for “Supergirl”?
It’s very much a hero’s journey for her in this first bunch of episodes. She’s kept her skills dormant. She’s learning about that. You’ll learn more about the Big Bad, which I think is really cool. We’re beginning to build what her team is going to be and how she’s figuring out what kind of hero she’s going to be. What’s always great is the audience starts to learn as much about the supporting characters as we already know in our heads. It takes time and real estate for the audience to get to know those characters. You’ll learn more about her sister, Hank, and her connection to James.
What about the budget? Will we see as many effects going forward?
We reserved a lot of money. We planned the visual effects sequences in episodes 2 through 5, 6 and 7. Hopefully we’ve proven this with “Flash,” which has large scale sequences as well. We know it’s our responsibility to deliver on the promise of the pilot. There are all sorts of different kinds of effects, and sometimes the more intimate ones are the ones that are more powerful for people emotionally. But there’s a lot of spectacle, too. There’s a fight sequence in episode 2 that’s maybe one of the biggest fight sequences we’ve ever done in any of the shows. It’s certainly bigger than the final fight in the pilot.
How far ahead are you in production?
We’re shooting 10 and prepping 11, and drafting episode 13 right now, so obviously we’re excited to get another episode on air so we get to know if we’re going to get make more of these things.
When do you think you’ll hear about a full-season pickup?
I have no idea. That’s another thing I can never predict. There was a read-through when the ratings came in. We all hung out and toasted, and (Warner Bros TV chief) Peter Roth came by. It was a special moment. Shows this size, it’s double the financial stakes for everybody. They are large things to pull off. You want them to work for everybody. It means years of livelihood for everyone. It was nice to get a nice start. It’s that great boost to get in the arm to keep going. That was the one challenging thing about premiering later.
It also doesn’t allow you to react if audiences respond to a given character.
We’re going through that on “Legends of Tomorrow.” We’re crafting episode 8 and the show’s not on the air. All of them will be shot by the time it airs, so we’re having to make a lot of choices. The benefit on a show like that is that there are lot of characters that have spun off other shows. So we know a lot what we think works about them. We like the audience response, be it or negative or positive. That dialogue with the audience is instrumental about how we talk about story in the room.
I know Nina Tassler was a champion of the show. How has the transition to new president Glenn Geller been?
Glenn’s been incredible, because as the head of current, he was right there from the beginning, crafting all the episodes with us — rolling up his sleeves, being a real cheerleader from day one. That transition has been seamless. I went back and read Nina’s note to me after she heard the pitch for sentimental reasons. And everything she said, and what she responded to about the pitch, is exactly what the audience seems to be saying about the show when they saw it. It was a testament to her and to all the execs we’ve worked with who’ve been supportive about the show. That’s why it is the show that it is.
It’s now development season, and you have several pitches out. Are people taking your call more quickly?
(Laughs.) I don’t want anyone making anything that they’re not passionate about. They have to back us financially, and you need their support at every level throughout — selling it, casting it. I still have to fight things for I want. I really enjoy that part of the process. It’s a natural vetting process that makes everything better. I’m sure we’ll be just as challenged on all of our opinions this year as we have been every other year. I think that’s how it should be. Zero percent has changed.
Have you hit your limit yet of the number of shows you can run?
If everything was a disaster, I couldn’t even do one of these shows. But because we work with all of these talented showrunners, it allows us to help them. I get to at times be intimately involved with the show and sometimes just go show to show and give my thoughts as a studio or network exec who also has a lot on their plate. I’m sure there’s a finite number. But I’m able to do it because there are so many people who are actually doing it.
Anything you still want to do?
I would love to sooner rather later do a straight character piece again that came from the emotional core of me, like “Everwood” and “Political Animals.” I have to create the time to do that. Every four or five years, I try to write a deeply personal script, and I’m sure I’ll be doing that in the next year or so.
What about a reboot? That seems to be the trend du jour.
There are a few reboots I’d love to see that I’d love to have nothing to do with! I’d love to watch just as a viewer. “Quantum Leap” — someone should bring that back. I’d love to see another “Star Trek” show on the air. I loved “Buck Rogers,” someone should do that. But I don’t want the responsibility of doing any of those things.
And “Dawson’s Creek”?
If Kevin (Williamson) called and asked me to do anything, I’d do it. I’d be there in a heartbeat.
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/greg-be ... 201629997/
