The Raúl E. Esparza "Spread the Love" Thread, Part Four — Page 44

From an interview (about 2 weeks ago) in Blast Magazine with Bryan Fuller (the creator of Pushing Daisies), on Alfredo's future:

BLAST: Are we ever going to see Alfredo again? He had this brief two episode stint where Kristin Chenoweth realized she had this potential for another relationship and then he didn’t come back.

BF: Well, we were going to have him come back this season, but he booked a play. As soon as he’s available and we can squeeze him in, we absolutely want to get him back. We have a new romance that’s going to be a brewing for Kristin this season, and what we want to do is get knee deep into that hot and heavy, and then bring Alfredo back. So that there is a big conflict on whom does she choose?

Here's the entire article:


Blast: An Interview with Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller

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Updated On: 1/24/09 at 05:52 PM

Updated On: 1/24/09 at 04:11 AM

Yeah, more here:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=32149

I like the blond eyebrows!

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Updated On: 1/24/09 at 01:40 PM

Updated On: 1/24/09 at 04:36 PM

That's my favorite of the bunch, Fromage. Hot hot hot.

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Fromage wrote:

The blond eyebrows, at least in this picture, actually kinda work.

Aha, when I said "I like the blond eyebrows", I actually meant "I like the blond eyebrows". :)

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Updated On: 1/24/09 at 04:32 PM

Good to see the article but intrigued by the fact that Raul is treated almost as an also ran - mentioned third of three as the one who "rounds out" the cast. But the most amusing caption was Piven's - theater is in his blood, did you know that? After all, his parents were both in the theater. (This is his debut, and Moss's.) The Raul Esparza school of Broadway scenery chewing.

Higher profile actors are always at the forefront of the publicity stuff -- look at Ian McShane with The Homecoming, and he's not even as "hot" as Piven (who has been doing movie/tv work for more than twenty years) is right now. I hope Raul is the standout on stage, but one can hardly be surprised that he's not the focus. I also didn't see "rounds out the cast" as demeaning, especially since he's mentioned right alongside Piven and Moss in everything I've read. It's not like "these two stars...and, oh yeah, that one guy." It seems like some of you might be perceiving slights where there aren't really any.

Anyway, I can't wait to see the play. And yes, Raul looks totally hot in those pictures.

Updated On: 9/12/08 at 04:12 AM

Emcee wrote:

(And by the way, Charlie was offered to a laundry list of massive mainstream stars.)

Having worked in the office of Neil Pepe's agent, I can attest to this. When I left, the offer was out to Mos Def! :)

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See, I don't know. This is "star casting" in the obvious sense that Piven is a mainstream star and this is the vehicle for his Broadway debut. But I don't think it's necessarily "stunt casting" the way the term has gotten itself a very negative connotation lately. This isn't a case of a talentless superstar being thrown into a show as a last resort to keep it open. That I don't agree with. But I also don't think it's fair to automatically turn your nose up at an actor just because he isn't a stage veteran, or is making his Broadway debut. I don't think placing a famous actor in a Broadway show is always a cheap trick, although sadly more often than not, it is. But there are -- and I think this is one of them -- rare occurrences of those celebrities actually deserving to be here just as much as the hometown cultivated theater stars are. Raul has more talent in his left pinky than most of Hollywood does in their entire bodies, and generally, I am pretty elitist about treating stage actors with a higher regard. But I have to disagree with this automatic write-off just because it's his debut out of annoyance that Raul's not going to get all of the attention.

Personally, Terence Howard's hissy fits about how much work Broadway plays involve just makes me the teeniest bit queasy about a lot of Broadway virgins taking on a challenging piece of theater.

First of all, I don't think it's fair to hold an entire huge group of people accountable for what one dumbass actor said. Just because he's a "Broadway virgin," does that really mean he can't take on a challenging play? Just recently, you were calling Chicago the "cradle of civilization" because so many talented actors got their stage starts out there, and now Jeremy Piven isn't qualified enough to share the stage with Raul because this is his Broadway debut? I'm sorry, but do you know how many of those actors in Company were making their debuts with that show? What about some of the actors in August? You'll probably say it's incomparable because none of them were Hollywood celebrities. And I can't exactly say, "Well, an actor is an actor," because that isn't true. Sometimes it is just about the celebrity. But the issue here is about this "Broadway virgin" thing. Yes, the people I mentioned above had almost exclusively stage experience, but who's to say Piven is not equipped to handle this production just because it's his Broadway debut? It's not as though he's never done stage before. And it's not like his stage experience was community theater in some random podunk town. Everyone who gets to Broadway had to make his or her debut at some point. (Even Raul.) It's got to be the first time sometime.

Honestly, whatever qualms people have with his off-screen persona aside, I think Jeremy is very talented, and perfectly cast for this role. And kind of adorable in that slimy-but-charming-anyway kind of way, which is perfect for Mamet plays. Apparently he's a friend of Mamet's, too. These producers consistently back wonderful work. I'm trusting their judgment on this one. Unfortunately, the reality of producing plays means you often need a big name to draw people in. In order to make these plays happen, it's becoming more and more of a necessity. If you want to get these plays produced, maybe that's the sacrifice. Hell, look at All My Sons. Arthur F-ing Miller and it's a cast dominated by huge names. It's a sad reality to accept, but you just have to hope that at least the fits are right.

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Updated On: 9/12/08 at 05:24 PM