Chris Pine - Film

 

(C) 2014 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.

 Chris Pine - Film

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

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Photos Courtesy Paramount Pictures

Chris Pine

Raises The Stakes In New Spy Thriller!

  

Chris Pine as Jack Ryan

Snagging a lead role in a movie franchise is a lofty career break for any actor but having lighting strike twice with a second franchise lead is a rare blessing indeed. Chris Pine is now in this coveted position with his latest movie “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.” Fans of this young, handsome leading man have followed his early career through films like the Denzel Washington runaway train thriller “Unstoppable,” “Just My Luck” opposite Lindsay Lohan and “Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” opposite Anne Hathaway to name some. But the real boost to Pine’s career was his portrayal of James T. Kirk, Captain of the Federation Starship U.S.S. Enterprise in the last two “Star Trek” movies which are sure to spawn more sequels.

   Now Pine is now reprising the role of Jack Ryan, the ordinary super spy character created by master, best selling spy novelist Tom Clancy. Hollywood brought Jack Ryan to the big screen first in “The Hunt for Red October” and again in “Patriot Games,” both movie blockbusters. Now Pine brings us a young and 2014 version of the character in “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.” This film does not disappoint and has all of the elements of a spine tingling, action spy thriller. Obviously people are curious as to the differences for Pine as Kirk in the future and Ryan in the present. Pine explains, “The great thing about the Jack Ryan films is that the plot and the stories kind of always take center stage and I think if you’ve done your job as the actor portraying jack Ryan, you are present enough to make an impact but you kind of let the story shine. We had a great story that David Koepp came up with. Obviously with Kirk, Shatner (William) made such a deep impression that it’s a whole different thing entirely.”

   

Jack Ryan in hot pursuit

  Pine showed his daringness by doing his own stunts. He elaborates on that; “I did plenty of my own stunts. I enjoyed doing them. I think most actors do it. You get to live out boyhood fantasies and you have people making sure that you do it safely.” Like the James Bond films with many actors that have played Bond, Jack Ryan has two predecessors in Alec Baldwin (Hunt For Red October) and Harrison Ford (Patriot Games). 

(R) Ryan (Pine) is recruited by CIA Agent William Harper (Kevin Costner)

  

Ryan's lady Cathy Muller (Keira Knightley)

How does this affect how Pine approached playing his version of Ryan? He smiles, “I’ve always loved the series, I’ve always loved the spy genre, fiction and films so I just kind of well versed with the Clancy universe having watched the films growing up. And looking at the character and re-watching the films, what I most enjoyed for me was the difference in what I saw in how Alex portrayed and how Harrison portrayed the character. With Alex in “Hunt” you have this, what Alex does really well; confident, intelligent, analytical man who knows what he knows and is not afraid to say it. With Harrison, with his tweed coat and his Volkswagen Jetta, he’s the humble intellect and the classic reluctant hero. And I thought somewhere in that was kind of a great way to being looking at the character.” 

 

     Unlike the Bond films where 007 wears the latest of suits, jewelry and drives expensive sports cars, Jack Ryan is a laid back ordinary guy. What was Pine’s take on this image? He laughs, “In the beginning there was a big discussion about suits so the costume designer brought in all of these beautiful Ralph Lauren suits and very kind of banker suits that looked awesome but the image I kept going back to was Harrison Ford’s look and that to me was the character. He didn’t care about suits or fancy watches; he had a 10 dollar haircut. That’s who he is.

© 2014 Rych McCain Media/Syndication TM 

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Queen Latifah - TV

(C) 2014 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.

 Queen Latifah - TV

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

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Queen Latifah

Cruses Into The 2014 Season

   

Queen Latifah

  She made the highest ratings debut among new talk shows for the 2013-2014 season last year and held that position all year and is now poised to repeat the same accomplishment with the renewal of her second season for 2014. Of course we are talking none other than the ever popular Queen Latifah and the “Queen Latifah Show.” Latifah serves as not only the hostess but is also a co-executive producer through her Flavor Unit Entertainment Company in partnership with Jada Pinkett Smith and her Overbrook Productions Company and Sony Pictures Television Productions. The show is shot on the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, CA.

Famed Living Room Set

  Did Latifah share any of her personal life victories with her audiences in the first season and how does she connect? She pauses for a second to reflect then says, “There are so many triumphs. If could be making it through a tough time in my life or making it through the loss of a loved one. I think wherever I do connect with someone; where ever I feel like I can relate to someone it can be talked about. I think I will share as it feels natural and that’s the connection to people. I feel like we have more in common then we tend to have differences. I also find the differences to be very interesting.” 

    
  

Interviewing Will Smith

Latifah has a calm but stern demeanor that keeps her pretty even keel in term of staying humble. Where does she dig to maintain that? She laughs, “I work at it. I work at trying to stay humble because it’s not like sometimes I don’t feel like saying man, I’m Queen Latifah, really, do I have to do the dishes tonight? Why do I have to do dishes? But then I think you should be lucky you have a dish to eat off of. As soon as I start to get supped up about it then God hits me with some little message. I have a lot of ways in which I try to stay humble. Number one, I’m very close to my family and my friends and they keep me real and they keep it real with me. They pat me on my back when I do a good job and smack my hand when I do badly. But never the less they love me and that’s more important to me than having a Hollywood career or having fame and making a lot of money. Having their love and respect is more important to me.”

.

     
  Latifah also adds, “ And I’m human. I make mistakes. I’m not perfect and knowing that it’s hard for me to get too arrogant or too conceded especially knowing that I didn’t get here by myself. I’ve been very blessed and had a lot of help along the way. I have people pray with me. I don’t want to be a complainer. That’s one trait I don’t want to develop.”  Where does Latifah see her show going this sophomore season? “My personal goal for the show is to really make it a huge hit – bottom line. I just want it to be something people look forward to watching every single day. I want it to be must see TV. It has to be that kind of show that you’ve got to see. As a host, I just want to be excellent at what I do and I want to get better and better.” In addition to her hosting duties Lafiah will continue to perform as well.

© 2014 Rych McCain Media/Syndication TM 

(You DID Hear It From Me!) 

Twitter@rychmccain and Facebook

 

Jacob B. Wright - TV

 

(C) 2013 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.

Jacob B. Wright - TV

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

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Jacob B. Wright

Conquering Hollywood One Stunt At A Time!

    

Jacob B. Wright (Photo Andre B. Murray)

Most TV and Movie viewers love the action they are enjoying on screen but few pay attention to, or even know the stunt people performing in those scenes. They risk life and limb in some cases to achieve super physical effects that wow us beyond imagination. Jacob B. Wright is a Hollywood stuntman whose star is beginning to shine on TV and movie sets. Wright has always been physical and athletic from a child. He earned an athletic scholarship to UNLV (University of Nevada Las Vegas) where he competed in gymnastics. After receiving his degree in psychology and business management he took courses in computer animation and graphic design at Art Institute of Las Vegas then headed for LA.

Wright in high fall training

    How did he get into doing stunts? Wright laughs, “When I first moved out to LA I was originally a dancer because I could slip and do break dancing. I slowly made that transition into to stunts because the dance career didn’t take off as much as I would have liked it to. So a few of my buddies who were transitioning from dance to stunts as well were saying hey man if you are unhappy with how dance is going maybe you should try stunts. You’re very athletic. And then if kind of went from there with me going to all of the different training clinics, taking driving courses, fair fall and high fall courses which are kind of underground. You have to be invited to it. You have to do a lot of leg work and getting your name creditable enough to where people feel like they can vouch for you and get you into these types of classes. That’s kind of how my journey took off. From a young guy flipping off of his grandmother’s porch to being in front of green screens, driving and all of that fun stuff. So when I look back, it’s an incredible, amazing journey.”

   Wright is currently the stunt double for superstar funnyman Kevin Hart on BET’s “Real Husbands of Hollywood.” When asked about his adventures on the show he runs it down, “The show is just incredible. It’s a very high energy show mainly because we have a lot of the cast that are young talent and the experience that they have. It’s mostly acomedy show so that energy and that wittiness has to be there for everyone to make the show a success. I enjoy it a lot, it’s awesome.”

    

(R) Kevin Hart  (L) Jacob B. Wright

Kevin is the one who gets physically handled a lot on the show, is that a lot of work for the stuntman? “Wright explains, “It’s funny because everyone is dogging on Kevin on the show. He is getting beat up or taken down in almost every episode. So as far as me being a stunt person on the set, my main focus just to be there and take the brunt end of Kevin’s abuse. On any stuff where he can actually be compromised, that’s when they throw me in there and let me use my experience to make sure the scene gets done correctly.”

     Does Kevin get amusement out of watching Wright do his thing and then it looks like him in the finished product on screen? Wright gets a chuckle out of this, “He gets a kick out watching how it’s all done and set up. I think part of him wants to be able to actually do the stunt but some people are trained for it and some aren’t.” In terms of staying in shape for stunt work Wright advices, “There are no days off basically. You have to be developing your skills one way or the other. If you are not on set, you need to be in the gym, you need to be training, you need to be learning something new just so you can stay well rounded and healthy is the main thing.”

© 2013 Rych McCain Media/Syndication TM 

(You DID Hear It From Me!) 

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Rych McCain Top Ten Youth List 2013 - TV/Film

 

(C) 2013 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.

Rych McCain's Top Ten Youth List 2013 - TV/Film

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Facebook: Rych McCain Superstar Celebrity Interviewer (Like Me)

Rych McCain’s 2013,

9th Annual

TOP TEN LIST OF HOLLYWOOD’S MOST TALENTED YOUTH!

Photos subject to copyright

     It is that time of year again where I personally select favorites for my TOP TEN LIST OF HOLLYWOOD’S MOST TALENTED YOUTH! The candidates (18 yrs and under) are selected strictly from the interviews that I have conducted with them, which intern ran in my Weekly Internationally/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Column as a photo-interview feature. If I didn’t interview you – you don’t qualify for my list! It’s that simple (hint publicists, young artists and anyone else who feels left out)!

     As with every year, my hat goes off in a major salute to the parents of these exceptional young artists who have made untold sacrifices well beyond what many parents would be willing to make such as pulling up stakes and moving the entire family to LA or whatever else it took for their child or children to make it in the biz. The ten winners selected are without question the best of the best! They too have sacrificed, trained hard, done without and burned gallons of the midnight oil it took to get to where they are and they are just getting started! Rych McCain salutes all ten of you who are now a part of my media family and I wish that the best is yet to come for each of you! May continued success be yours! 

  
     The ladies on my list will receive The San Francisco Collection Nail Lacquer kit by O.P.I., the world’s leading beauty marketer for nail Lacquers.

The awardees are listed alphabetically starting with:

Onota Aprile

1.  Onota Aprile (age 7); Onota has the distinction of being the baby of this year’s List. She basically carried the entire film in her lead role as Maisie, a child torn between two fighting divorced parents in “What Maisie Knew” for Millennium  Films.

Jacob Bertrand

2. Jacob Bertrand  (age 13);  Jacob is being groomed as the next Disney XD Channel superstar and he has the acting chops, the looks and a large body of work for experience to pull it off, no questions asked!

Jaden Betts

 

 3. Jaden Betts (age 11); Jaden is the jubilant voice of the animated character Donny McStuffins on the Disney Junior Channel.

Skylan Brooks

 

 4.  Skylan Brooks (age 13); Skylan demonstrated an awesome display of acting chops range as a child named Mister in the Code Black/Lionsgate film “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete.”

Ethan Dizon

5. Ethan Dizon (age 11); Ethan brilliantly played Pete, the younger partner to Mister in the Code Black/ Liongate saga “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister And Pete.”

Savanna Jayde

6. Savanna Jayde (age 19); Savanna was 18 when her feature ran and just turned 19 so she is still eligible for my list. She plays Dani in the Arc Entertainment movie “Space Warriors.”

Chloe Grace Moretz

7. Chloe Grace Moretz (age 16); Chloe makes my list for a second time and is starting to become one of my favorites. For this go-round, she reprises the role of Carrie White in the re-make of the Stephen King classic horror film “Carrie” for MGM/Screen Gems Pictures.

Sydney Park

8. Sydney Park (age 15); Sydney portrays elder step daughter Gabby for Nick At Nite’s, Nickelodeon Channel’s sitcom “Instant Mom.”

Yara Shahidi

 

9. Yara Shahidi (age 13); Yara has been melting hearts on the big and little screens for some time. She is gaining big time attention as the young Olivia Pope on the mega hit  ABC-TV drama “Scandal” as well holding down her regular cast role as Chloe Johnson on the CBS-TV sitcom “The First Family.”

Hailee Steinfeld

10. Hailee Steinfeld (age 16); Hailee turned a lot of heads her way with a “Best Supporting Actress” Oscar® nomination in 2011 for the re-make of “True Grit” for Paramount Pictures. She makes my list for her touching portrayal as Juliet in the yet another re-make of the Shakespearian classic “Romeo and Juliet.”

 

© 2013 Rych McCain Media/Syndication TM 
(You DID Hear It From Me!) 
Twitter@rychmccain and Facebook