Kathryn Morris UK

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – November 2014

As it was Thanksgiving yesterday in the US of A I realise that many of you will be struggling to maintain consciousness after gorging on turkey. With that in mind I’ll keep this November 2014 update on the careers of the main Cold Case actors that are not Kathryn fairly brief. Mainly because there isn’t too much to report 😉

It’s a Thoms-on twins only month.

Let’s start with Mr Thom Barry (Will Jeffries in CC) or as we will be calling him from now on ‘The Dude’. Short isn’t a word you’d associate with Thom but he recently finished filming a short film called Desire in which he plays a character called ‘The Dude’. It’s suits him better than ‘short’. Desire is written by, directed by, produced by, and stars Sherina Mikasa (Californication) as the main character. Desire (not Desiré/Desirée/Desireé/Desiree) is an aspiring actress suffering the knock-backs that go with the territory, that is until a particular encounter causes her to react rather strongly. Although the filming completed a couple of weeks ago the projects Indiegogo money raising campaign continues for another week or so. The page contains more details on the project. We don’t often get to report on Thom’s post-CC work and we’ll start off by not doing so. Sort of. Back in August the long-running saga of a Lifetime (the US TV network) bio-pic about the R&B singer Aaliyah seemed to be coming to an end. The TV movie was finally going to be made and Thom was to be playing the star’s father. Earlier this month the film aired with no Thom to be seen and he’s not in the IMDb version of the cast list or referred on Lifetime’s website. Another actor is shown as the father. Checking back for news stories of his casting showed almost nothing. Did I imagine it or has the evidence been removed? Does 3 months count as a cold case? For what it’s worth the broadcast got good ratings but wasn’t a critical success.

Speaking of Indiegogo it brings us neatly back Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC). We couldn’t do a CCCC-up without her. It was only last month that I mentioned Tracie was involved in a web series called Send Me about a university lecturer (Tracie) that has the power to send people back in time to look at slavery. The Indiegogo-based fund raiser for Send Me closed a few days ago with nearly $38,000 pledged. It was some way short of its target but because it was categorised as a ‘Flexible Funding’ project they will receive all that money. Most projects have to reach a target amount or the cash is not taken. Filming on Send Me is due to start next year. After being performed on more than one occasion to an audience Tracie’s latest stage production Lost Lake opened back on November 11th. Speaking of plays… Tracie took part in another of those 24 hour plays a couple of weeks ago. They happen all over the world throughout the year in aid of local charities. Being based in New York for Lost Lake Tracie was in the latest create/write/rehearse/perform-a-play-in-a-day on Broadway. Speaking of.. no, I can’t make it work. Since the last update it looks like the Annie movie may have been brought forward for launch in the UK. Tracie has a small role as Annie’s “Mom”, the “air-quotes” mean “something”. It could be released on the 20th of December or maybe the 26th. Or maybe in January as previously said. Check local press for details.

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – October 2014

john_finn_001_430x180 Is it really a month since the previous CCCC-up? Well, yes and no. A quick extra update in early October means it is only 3 weeks. This, however, is the real deal. Welcome to the proper October 2014 round-up of news about the cast members of Cold Case that aren’t Kathryn.

We’ll start off with the basis for that special additional entry: John Finn (Lt. Stillman in CC). The Irish drama An Bronntanas (aka The Gift) débuted on the TG4 network last week. Hopefully those of you that wanted to see it got to do so. It was a good week for John fans as he made a surprise guest appearance on the hit new US drama series Madam Secretary the previous Sunday. The show stars Teà Leoni (Bad Boys) as Elizabeth McCord, the US Secretary of State of the USA. Hilary Clinton held the position a few years ago. It is in many ways the second most powerful job after President. We’re used to seeing John as the strong silent type that you know will ultimately do the right thing, even if it means taking one for team. He is often cast in a roles that involve wearing the uniform of a senior member of the armed forces such as a General on shows like NCIS. For Madam Secretary though, he was different. As US peace envoy Allen Bollings, John got to play a more ambiguous character. He still had that air of a military man and you would think as a negotiator of peace deals there would be little scope for a bad side to emerge. But it did. Allen did not do as instructed by Secretary McCord and was not exactly brokering peace. Allen had is own agenda. John does quietly angry very well. Hostilities nearly broke out with the middle east as a result.

I don’t watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (aka SVU), the long running drama series that Danny Pino (Scotty Valens in CC) joined after Cold Case ended, so I can only go by what I’ve read. It seems that in the early stages of the current 16th season Danny’s Det. Nick Amaro has been getting amorous with Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish). Scotty finally bagged the blonde cop that many thought he should have done many years ago 😉 Speaking of Amaro, he’s going to be branching out from New York-set SVU with a guest appearance in the new-ish show by SVU creator Dick Wolf. The title Chicago P.D. probably tells you most of what you need to know about the programme that recently started its second season in the US. Danny/Nick is down for episode 7 which is due to air on November 12th. Scotty was the only CC character to cross-over into another show with a less than satisfying guest role in CSI: New York.

As usual we could write a book, or at least a lengthy post, just about Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC) and her work since our last CCCC-up. The play Lost Lake, which is due to première on the 11th of November at the Manhattan Theatre Club, New York, has been in previews for the past few days. Lost Lake stars John Hawkes (The Sessions) and Tracie. She’s a mother who has taken her children away on a much needed holiday. He’s the owner of the the cabin by the lake they stay in. In addition to all that Tracie is due to star, as the lead no less, in a new web series currently under development called Send Me. It’s a drama about a university lecturer (Tracie) that has the power to send people back in time to see the slave trade in action. As is often the case these days funding is being sort for the project from the general public. You can find more details and a link to their Indiegogo page on the website. Coming up in December (January in the UK) is the release of a new movie adaptation of the musical Annie. In the past few days details of the soundtrack have been revealed. Tracie is not specifically listed as a singer but there’s little doubt she’ll be making her presence felt aurally in the larger ensemble pieces. Whilst most of the songs are sung by cast members Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Bobby Cannavale, and Rose Byrne; Australian pop/jazz singer Sia and Beck also feature. The soundtrack is due to be available a couple of weeks before the film.

More next month.

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – September-ish 2014

john_finn_001_430x180 Turns out my research for the September 2014 CCCC-up was a little lacking.

I could have waited until the next edition at the end of October but, in this case, it would have been too late. So, I thought I’d sneak in a special ‘September-ish’ update.

In July I posted the latest news about the Irish drama An Bronntanas which stars John Finn (John Stillman in CC). After being originally filmed as a TV drama series for broadcast early this year, it was turned into a feature length film for showing at the Galway Film Fleadh. Then, a 5 part showing was planned for the Xmas holiday period. That is what I had in mind when I quickly checked to see if John had any new projects in the pipeline for CCCC-up September 2014. An Bronntanas was ignored.

Something made me look into An Bronntanas again in the past couple of days and I found, much to my surprise, that the broadcast has been brought forward to late October. The Irish-language channel TG4 will start the series on the 23rd of this month at 9:30pm. See the TG4 website for details.

An Bronntanas (which translates as ‘The Gift’) is about the crew of a lifeboat who, on answering a distress call in a storm, discovering an abandoned boat containing a body and a large haul of drugs. This creates a lot of dilemmas and issues within the small community.

My slightly more thorough investigations turned up a trailer for the show on YouTube. John appears towards the end of the video. It looks like he is playing a police office. Typecasting hey? 😉

I must do proper research…

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – September 2014

Blimey! September is one of those sneaky short months! It nearly caught me out!

There’s just a few hours left to squeeze in the latest catch-up with the careers of the other Cold Case cast in the KM UK CCCC-up for September 2014.

Danny Pino (Scotty Valens in CC) is a good place to start. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (aka SVU) started it’s latest season last week in America, it continues tomorrow (Wednesday). I can’t comment with any authority (because I don’t watch the show) but I gather that Danny’s Detective Amaro is currently working in the traffic division as part of a punishment for infractions at the end of last season. No doubt he’ll be back in a both the fold of the SVU squad and a suit before too long.

Whilst Danny only deals with one job, albeit one that takes the best part of 9 months of filming per year and many long hours, Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC) is, as usual, seemingly dealing with multiple projects at once. A couple of weeks ago Tracie announced she’d been filming a webseries called Sidetracked. Details are sketchy but it appears to star Tracie, Adrienne Wilkinson (know to many for a recurring role in the TV series Xena: Warrior Princess), actress/model Kara Gibson, Wes Ramsey, and probably others. Various combinations of those people have worked together before. For example Tracie’s first TV role was with Adrienne in As If. The comedy drama is about a group of friends that realise life has not ended up as they intended. They’ve been… wait for it… Sidetracked. Back in June’s CCCC-up I briefly mentioned that Tracie had been cast in a new play called Lost Lake. The play is due to open at the Manhattan Theatre Club, New York, in early October and previews start a week or so later. A video of interviews with Tracie, co-star John Hawkes (Deadwood), and the playwright David Auburn popped up on YouTube a few weeks ago. They explain the play better than I could so I’ll leave that to them. To bring us right up to date, last night (29 Sept) Tracie hosted the Second Annual Hero Awards Gala in New York for the National Law Enforcement and Firefighters Children’s Foundation. The NLEAFCF is a charity that supports the families of police officers and firefighters killed or disabled in the line of duty. You can read more about their work on their website here.

To end this CCCC-up edition we come to Jeremy Ratchford (Nick Vera in CC). Jeremy has made a short film called Keep It Together. Main character Bobby is “recently sober and expecting his first child.” Jeremy plays not-so sober Uncle Paul who Bobby tries to save from his self-destructive path. Comedy? Probably not.

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – August 2014

It being mid-summer this will be a relatively quiet one but we’ll see what we can do for our latest Cold Case Cast Catch-up (aka CCCC-up) for August 2014. Each month I try to give brief updates on the careers of the members of the Cold Case cast that aren’t Kathryn.

After twice previously mentioning that Mr Thom Barry (see above, Will Jeffries on CC) had taken on a recurring role on the TNT drama series Perception I was assuming that this post would be the one to confirm it. However, the show finished its summer run last week, and is now on hiatus, with no sign of the a new FBI field office boss played by Thom. Presumably he will be appearing in the set of five episodes that close out the show’s third season due for broadcast from February 2015. Speaking of Thom, it looks like he has been signed to play the father of R&B star Aaliyah in a Lifetime network TV movie about her life. I gather that the project has been in the works for sometime and has had a few issues with casting and the family of the singer. With Alexandra Shipp (House of Anubis) taking the over lead role and talkshow host Wendy Williams exec producing, Aaliyah: Princess of R&B is due to première in the autumn. That is assuming it does not hit further problems.

It wouldn’t be a CCCC-up without mentioning Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller on CC). She’s is a one entertainment industry. The couple of weeks Tracie has been Tweeting extensively about the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. In amongst those messages she mentioned being on set, though didn’t reveal any more than that. For those in the US and with access to the Showtime network you can, apparently, see the woman-on-woman fight to the death movie Raze on there until mid-September. Check EPG for details. This weekend Tracie is due to have her final outing in the For The Record: Tarantino show, which features dramatised performances of songs used in films by writer/director Quentin Tarantino.