Posted by Vee | November 26, 2009, 13:23 (EST) | 13 Comments
Category: TV Series
Benjamin Ayres guest starred as the infamous William Tanner in the first three episodes of The Vampire Diaries – the Pilot, Night of the Comet, and Friday Night Bites, where he met his untimely (seriously – worst timing ever) end. Canadians may know him best as Casper “Cowboy” Jesperson from jPod, the cult favorite TV series based on Douglas Coupland’s novel; Americans will recognize him for guest appearances on shows like Psych, Smallville, The L Word, and films like Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Good Luck Chuck. His career as an actor (theater, film, television), writer (he’s currently writing and developing a pilot), and director (Scott’s Land) is wildly varied. Watch for his new 12-episode CTV series and keep up with his upcoming projects, witticisms, and music obsessions on Twitter, @BenjaminAyres.
I interviewed Mr. Ayres a few hours before the airing of History Repeating on November 12th – which happened to mark the introduction of Alaric Saltzman (played by Matt Davis), Mr. Tanner’s replacement at Mystic Falls High. (Oh, how I wish I’d known about Tanner’s “Jackass Folder” beforehand…) You can experience Mr. Tanner’s violent demise all over again during the CW’s encore airing of Friday Night Bites tonight at 8/7c. (UPDATE: Ben was kind enough to change his Twitter profile picture to a nice, up close and personal shot of his neck wounds.)
Vee: First off, I just want to say we’re eight episodes into the show now, but Mr. Tanner’s death is still my favorite.
Benjamin Ayres: Awww. [laughs]
Vee: Were you told early on that you were not long for the world?
Ayres: It was interesting because the pilot was actually filmed in Vancouver, and then when the show got picked up, they moved it to Atlanta, Georgia – which is where they’re filming it now. And I wasn’t sure, actually, if (after the pilot) I was even going to be in it. So once the show got picked up and moved to Atlanta – and at that point I had moved [from Vancouver] to Toronto to work on another show – I was unsure what was going to happen. Then I got the phone call that they still wanted me on the show and they got me a Visa in time, and then I flew down from here to work for those two episodes. But I knew I’d be in it for those two episodes. I didn’t know how I was going to die, but I knew it was only two episodes. So, you know, it was so fun to work on, but at the same time I knew I was coming back [to Toronto] to start a different show, so contractually I wouldn’t have been able to – I may have been able to do one more [episode]. Obviously I would’ve loved to have done as many as I could have, but I was very happy with getting to do what I got to do on the show and to work with those guys.
READ MORE: BEN AYRES TALKS ABOUT HIS DEATH SCENE, FILMING, AND HOW MR. TANNER COULD COME BACK.
Posted by Red | November 12, 2009, 19:08 (EST) | 1 Comment
Category: TV Series
TV Guide has a Q&A with Matt Davis, who makes his Vampire Diaries debut tonight as Alaric Saltzman, Mystic Falls’ new History teacher. He hints at Alaric’s motivations, his past, his (possible) future with Jenna, and the on-running joke on the set.
TVGuide.com: Is Alaric a good guy or a bad guy?
Davis: It’s not so clearly defined. He has a dark side, and I think he’s not always going to do the right thing. How that compels him remains to be seen.
The NY Post’s PopWrap chats with Kevin Williamson about everything from possible guest stars and killing people to the show’s chosen “staking” effects and Elena’s parents. He also clarifies exactly who is included in the founding families and his favorite character(s) to write for:
PW: Is Damon your favorite character to write for?
Kevin: Clearly I enjoy writing him, but more than that I love putting the brothers together because they’re so different and opposing. The more you put Stefan with Damon, the more Stefan comes to life in these future episodes. I’m having fun opening him up because that’s the ultimate arc. Stefan’s going against the grain by denying his nature and everything he knows. He’s got the true inner struggle, which is what takes us over the long haul, whereas Damon will always be Damon.
And finally, Vee had a chance to interview Benjamin Ayres (the late Mr. Tanner, whom Alaric is replacing at MFHS) earlier today. She needs to transcribe the whole thing, but here’s audio of him talking about how he came to be involved in the show and his frustrated vampire ambitions.
Posted by Vee | September 18, 2009, 19:32 (EST) | 35 Comments
Category: TV Series
CWTelevision has posted two clips from next week’s episode, “Friday Night Bites.” First clip features the ever-so-charming Mr. Tanner and Stefan, plus some field action with Tyler, Matt, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline and…Damon? (Stefan = Wide Receiver = YES!) Second clip features Stefan, Caroline, and Damon.
Posted by Vee | May 24, 2009, 20:03 (EST) | 17 Comments
Category: Books, TV Series
We thought we’d point out some details that caught our eye in all of the recently released footage from The Vampire Diaries pilot. How about you guys – notice anything significant? Speculate away!
We’ve lumped the more spoilery stuff near the end, so here’s the Obligatory Spoiler Warning for those who’d rather not make any possible connection between plot points in the books and the TV series.
- The names of Elena’s parents: Grayson Gilbert and Miranda Sommers Gilbert. Elena’s parents are never named in the books, so this is a special bit of canon unique to the TV series. (Intentional Batman and Bionic Woman references? Probably not, but we’re geeks – sue us.) Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, we might add, died on May 23, 2009 – yep, yesterday, and two days after the upfronts.
- We note a distinct lack of Caroline (Candice Accola) and Elena and Jeremy’s aunt, Jenna Moyer (Sara Canning), in any of the footage. And though it’s not so notable that Mr. Tanner didn’t make it in there, we’re thinking of you, Ben “OMG, it’s Cowboy from jPod!” Ayres fans.
- Why, hello there, significant glance between Stefan and Matt.
Posted by Red | April 17, 2009, 19:14 (EST) | 6 Comments
Category: TV Series
We’ve had a tip-off from an anonymous source going by the name of ‘Inquiring Minds’. This source has stated that the Hollywood Reporter misreported the casting, and that the mysterious Sarah Carey, who is listed as playing Jenna Moyer in the Vampire Diaries pilot, does not exist. The actress playing Jenna should have been listed as Sara Canning. A look at her IMDb profile indicates that she’s previously worked on Smallville and Kyle XY, giving her previous associations with both the CW and Julie Plec, which adds some credibility to the claim. She certainly looks the part for a sexy grad student, too.
Thanks, Inquiring Minds!
IMDb is also listing Benjamin Ayres as Mr. Tanner (who really should not be that good looking!), and Steve Belford as Darren. Now we just need to shed light on those who have been cast as Pete Whitmore and Brooke and we’ll have a complete set. If you’ve got any tips for us, please be sure to drop us a line!
Discuss this in the vampire-diaries.net forums.
Posted by Vee | April 9, 2009, 6:05 (EST) | 5 Comments
Category: TV Series
While we don’t want to get into the habit of posting about every photo Vampire Diaries director Marcos Siega tweets from the set (besides, you should just follow him – he’s a funny and cool guy), we thought one might interest the book fans: Is this the legendary Mr. Tanner’s History class? Script would seem to indicate so. (Also, we think we spot at least one sweater in the photo, which means The Vampire Diaries sweater legacy remains somewhat intact.)
Take a peek at the classroom and spot the sweater… ;)
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