‘Extant’ kisses for Halle Berry and cheers for a Storm movie at CBS’ Comic-Con show
What made Halle Berry want to do the second season of “Extant”? The inclusion of Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
“I finally got [someone] who wants to kiss me!” Berry said of Morgan. “And we get to swap fluids!”
“Can we say that?” asked Morgan, who became a regular on the show this year.
“Well, we want people to watch, and it is a draw!” Berry said. The Comic-Con crowd agreed with hoots and cheers.
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The actors were part of a quartet with “Extant” producer Craig Shapiro and creator/writer Mickey Fisher in a Ballroom 20 presentation of the CBS show, with Chris Hardwick as moderator.
Shapiro talked about how it was a no-brainer to join a show that is executive-produced by Steven Speilberg and stars Berry. He added that in the days before taking the job he was “geeking out” about the prospect of meeting Spielberg -- and the fact that the show is filmed on the same soundstage where “E.T.” was shot.
The hours spent on that soundstage, doing a drama as opposed to a film, however, are daunting.
“Thankfully, I get to see Halle and we can go over things before we shoot,” Morgan said. “But it’s a tough deal. You really don’t sleep for a good 5 to 9 months.”
Even on the last day of shooting the second season, the cast didn’t have it easy. Toward the end of the 13-hour day, they shot a fight scene, prompting Berry’s colleagues to call her a warrior.
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For her part, Berry said that it wasn’t hard to decide to do the show, or to work on TV.
“TV is the new frontier,” she said. “The best characters are on television.” She also loved the concept and felt that it was more than just entertainment.
“Our show really addresses evolution and who will survive and who will be the last person standing. And if we don’t survive, if we don’t evolve, we die,” Berry said. “We discover that in our show, and that’s just wildly exciting to be on a show that is about something that will really be affecting our lives.”
Hardwick chimed in to say that, really, only the Kardashians will survive.
And what did Berry want to do at Comic-Con after the end of her panel?
“I want to find all of the Storms out there and go up and introduce myself,” said Berry, right before a Storm cosplayer appeared.
Then the actress mentioned that she’d be up for a standalone film for her X-Men character if people wanted it to happen. A mighty cheer for Storm went up.
The CBS presentation continued with panels for “Under the Dome” and “Zoo,” followed by a quick intro to the Bradley Cooper-produced “Limitless.” Cooper sent along a video message thanking the crowd for showing up, and explaining that the show was an extension of the movie that he starred in. The TV show begins exactly where the film left off. Last up in CBS’ Comic-Con show was “Scorpion.”
In the “Under the Dome” panel, series stars Mike Vogel, Colin Ford, special guest star Marg Helgenberger and executive producers Neal Baer and Tim Schlattmann appeared. There were no big reveals, but Schlattmann elaborated on the show’s appeal, comparing it to reality shows, and to the phenomenon of getting a group of people together and watching what happens. As a producer on “Dexter,” he also saw similarities in how to develop arcs that could make even serial killers sympathetic.
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In a mashup of worlds, Schlattmann asked Helgenberger if her “CSI” investigator would be able to catch Dexter.
“Of course,” she said, though there were some groans in the crowd.
“Zoo” brought series stars James Wolk, Kristen Connolly, Billy Burke and Nora Arnezeder and executive producers Jeff Pinkner and Josh Appelbaum to Ballroom 20. They talked about having to act sometimes against things that aren’t there before the special effects are added, and about having to deal with animals.
Wolk, for instance, is allergic to cats, and can’t hold some animals.
“There is not enough Claritin in the world to make me hold a baby leopard,” he said.
Sometimes the animals will fall asleep during takes, making the cast and crew wait around until the diva animals are ready to perform.
Having fun with the crowd, the “Zoo” crew made anyone who asked a question answer a question that they made up on the spot. For example: “What’s the largest snake in the world?” “Who is the actress that King Kong took to the top of the Empire State Building in the original movie?” The audience member missed that one, to the dismay of Fay Wray fans.
Toward the end of the “Limitless” panel, the cast was asked about the show’s seeming glorifcation of drug use. “You take it and you’re suddenly able to do all these things and be so much more creative,” said the woman questioning the panel. The panelists said their intent was not to glorify drugs; they envisioned the drug as something that’s more of a prescription than a back-alley substance.
Heather Kadin, an executive producer, also mentioned that the country was weaned on this type of thing with commercials saying, “You want to lose weight? Take this pill. You want to be able to sleep? Take this pill.”
Ben Blacker from the Nerdist Writers Panel hosted the “Limitless” and “Scorpion” talks.
For the “Scorpion” panel, stars Elyes Gabel, Robert Patrick, Katharine McPhee, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Jadyn Wong and executive producer Nicholas Wootton came on stage after a video preview of the show’s many stunts, explosions and behind-the-scenes gags.
The most important reveal: The season-two premiere will be extra long, at 90 minutes, after the debut of “Supergirl,” and Gene Simmons from KISS will guest star on the show this season.
For more news, follow Hero Complex on Twitter @LATherocomplex. And for additional Comic-Con coverage, check out our Los Angeles Times Comic-Con team on this Twitter list.
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