Kathryn Morris UK

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – February 2015

tracie_thoms_001_430x180 Things are still relatively quiet on the news front regarding the other members of the cast of Cold Case. Like the month itself February 2015’s CCCC-up will be short and cold… I mean sweet.

Luckily for us Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller on CC) is always busy. Back in the October 2014 CCCC-up we brought you news of a web series that Tracie was due to start working on. At the time Send Me was seeking funding via Indiegogo. Over a couple of weeks at the beginning of this month principal photography (that’s filming to you and me) took place on the project about Gwen (Tracie) who has the power to send people back in time. Gwen uses this ability to teach individuals about slavery in the US by transporting them to the 1800s to witness it first-hand. As well as Ms. Thoms the show has a starry cast: Gabrielle Carteris (90210), Jerrika Hinton (Grey’s Anatomy), Jasika Nicole (Fringe), Ahmed Best (Dexter), Kevin Daniels (Sirens), and Steve Harper (Chico & Rita) are amongst them. Steve also wrote and produced Send Me. The crew will be deep into post-production now. Hopefully, in the next CCCC-up, due at the end of March, we’ll know more about the release plans.

Over a couple of CCCC-ups last year (starting in June) I covered the news that big Thom Barry was signed to guest star in the TNT drama series Perception, led by Eric McCormack (Trust Me) and Rachael Leigh Cook (Antitrust). Thom was said to be appearing as an FBI field office boss. Subsequent CCCC-ups noted Thoms absence as the season progressed. Having just returned from the mid-run hiatus there are now only 4 episodes left of the entire series. Fingers crossed. On a related note: congratulations to Rachael and her husband on the news they are expecting their second child later this year.

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – December 2014

Instead of a round-up of the news on the non-Kathryn cast of Cold Case, this month we’re doing more of a round-up of the round-ups. A fairly traditional thing to do this time of year across all sections of the media.

Let’s go alphabetical (by first name as we’re all friends) for a change.

Danny Pino (Scotty Valens in CC) started the year part way through his 3rd season on the police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He ends the year in the same position in his fourth. I don’t watch the show so I can’t really comment on the character or the show but I understand Detective Amaro has featured in a significant story line that ran across the two seasons. These 20+ episode season, major network shows take-up most of the year to make so there isn’t a lot of time for other projects. We haven’t seen Danny take any that I know of. In June Danny was one of the nominees for a Imogen Award, which recognise those promoting Latino culture in the media. He didn’t win this time. Check out our friends over at Danny Pino Online for all the latest info on Danny.

Jeremy Ratchford (Nick Vera in CC) is another that hasn’t stuck his head above the parapet too often in 2014. A movie called Death Valley that JR filmed in 2013 constantly looked like it might finally surface but, beyond a screening in July, never did. Jeremy’s role appears to be that of a police officer. Jersey Boys, a film adaptation of the stage play about the ’60s group The Four Seasons, was released mid-year to some acclaim. Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven) directed and Christopher Walken (Catch Me If You Can) starred. Jeremy had a small role in that as… wait for it… a police officer. More recently we’ve had news on a couple of other roles for JR. A significant role in a short film called Keep It Together in which a now sober, soon to be father strives to save his uncle (Jeremy) from drinking himself to death. The other is a small role in a larger film called Give Til It Hurts. Two brothers seek to recover their inheritance. Jeremy is cast as ‘Elvis’. Both are due for release in 2015.

John Finn (Lt. John Stillman in CC) fans were disappointed in January when the Irish drama series An Bronntanas failed to materialise as expected. Like a small boat full of drugs and a dead body caught in a storm, the show was tossed about a lot. Would it be a series, edited down to a feature film length, or lost at sea? Eventually the show found its mooring as originally intended on the TGS TV network as a 5 part series starting in late October. John played a… wait for it… police officer investigating the life boat crew that found the stash of drugs and the dead woman. A TV show pilot headed by John Cusack (2012) about Wall Street in which John was due to star in some capacity never made it further. It could have been in the current 2014/2015 season. In better news John had guest starring roles in the short lived show Believe early in the year and, more recently, in the new CBS drama Madam Secretary. At this time there is no signs of future projects for John, but no doubt there is something in the pipeline.

Thom Barry (Will Jeffries in CC) was announced as a recurring guest star in the TNT crime drama Perception, lead by Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) and Rachael Leigh Cook (She’s All That). The news broke just after the show’s third season started airing in June of this year. 10 episodes later the show went on hiatus until February 2015 with no sign of Thom. There are due to be 5 episodes to conclude what will be the final season for the show. Thom is to play an senior FBI agent. There were reports, no oddly difficult to find, that Thom was to play the father of R&B star Aaliyah in a Lifetime network TV movie about her life. The show aired a few weeks ago but Thom was not in it. I’m still not sure what happened there. Just last month I reported on Thom starring in a short film called Desire. It was looking for crowdfunding at the time. Despite not reaching its target it went into production. The latest is that Desire is in the process of being edited. Back in May of 2013 I described a film called Richard Peter Johnson as the having a “triple-whammy name” that “says everything, yet tells us nothing”. Things have been largely quiet since but is still actively seeking buyers to distribute it. I still don’t think I can go into details on the film here on KM UK though.

Which brings us to our last, and anything but least, subject…

Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC). It’s almost impossible to briefly sum up Tracie’s year as she has featured strongly in nearly all our CCCC-ups in 2014. Is there a word above ‘prolific’? Tracie came out of her corner punching with the release of women-fighting-for-their-lives movie Raze on some VOD services. The UK saw the DVD mid-year. Drama McCanick, in which Tracie had a small role, was similarly available on VOD and DVD in various parts of the world in 2014. She was in a short film that was broadcast on HBO called A Different Tree. Not content with being in films Tracie allowed her house to be used as a set for another called 2 Black Dudes. Then it was off to film another small role in the film The Concessionaires Must Die, which is still pending release. The new movie version of the classic Annie on the other hand was released a little earlier than intended. The massive hacking of Sony Pictures lead to the film being leaked online a few weeks before the official launch. Much of the world has already had the opportunity to sit in a cinema to watch it, with everywhere else seeing releases in the coming month or so. TV viewers got to see Tracie in guest starring roles in the comedy show Veep and the… what ever it is… MTV show Catfish: The TV Show. This year saw Tracie back treading the boards in the For The Record: Tarantino show, which show cased various musical numbers from Quentin Tarantino movies, as well as being the co-star in the new play Lost Lake, which came to the end of its run just last week. As if that wasn’t enough Tracie is to star in a new web series due to go into production next year called Send Me. And she hosted the Second Annual Hero Awards Gala in September and was in another 24 hour play (that’s 24 hours from initial idea to first performance, not a play that lasts 24 hours). Got all that?

Phew!

See you next year.

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 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.