TCA - HBO Presentation
I'll be updating this post with information as it comes in about the HBO "The Normal Heart" panel at the TCA Winter Press Tour today.
The HBO panels will be between 3pm PT and 6pm PT today, per Variety.
Update 6:30pmET: "The Normal Heart" set to premiere on HBO in May (no specific date yet). Source: THR
Update 7:30pmET: THR Live Blog's entries below.
Next up is the HBO movie, "The Normal Heart." Clip time.
Great looking clip, btw. Movie comes out in May. On stage, Ryan Murphy, Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons and Taylor Kitsch.
This is a pretty amazing cast…
Parsons, who was in the play, says he remembers being young and hearing first reports of AIDS destroying so many lives and worrying…
The movie ends in 1984 before there was even an HIV test, Murphy says.
"What it's about feels very modern to me," - Murphy. "People fighting to be loved for who they are. I feel it's very applicable to the way we're living today."
Murphy is both director and exec producer on this.
"I read it in the closet of my acting class at 14 - and that irony is not lost on me." - Matt Bomer.
"I wasn't TRULY exposed to it until the script was in front of me," Kitsch says of understanding the scope of the problem (he was born in 1981).
"I really grew up and came of age in this period. I lost a lot of friends to AIDS." - Murphy.
"I just really tried to be true to those boys who lost so much…I feel this movie is a civil rights movie." - Murphy.
"The movie is sad but hopeful at the end - because there are people trying to change the world." - Murphy.
HBO did "And the Band Played On" many years ago. "It was groundbreaking at the time" that actors stood up to be in that film, Murphy says.
"We're looking at an epidemic seen through a love story." - Murphy.
Roberts said watching a documentary about polio unlocked the door to understanding her character, Dr. Emma Brookner (who had polio).
Ruffalo has wanted to shoot the movie for ages, he said.
"I did spend quite a bit of time with him and came to love him." - Ruffalo on Larry Kramer.
It must seem strange to people who are here for the first time to see a cast like this up on stage and Julia Roberts barely gets asked a question…
Murphy said that raising awareness is part of the reason he did this but it was such a great story and a modern one as well. He said he has shown it to young gay men in their 20s who had no real idea about what came before them…
Bomer said HBO let the production shut down for a period so that the actors could make the physical changes in their bodies to show the ravages of the disease. Bomer lost 40 lbs.
"We put on weight so that he could look slimmer," Roberts said.
Bomer called it "a luxury" to be able to work with HBO and have them let the production shut down for that element.
"It all sounds like horrible cliches that you guys will grind your teeth over" - Roberts, before sharing that it helps her to be able to create some joy in compassion in the world as an actor on something like this.
"I do think that the world has changed so much in the last five years that I've been working on the material with Larry." - Murphy.
"I do think the world is changing if you look at Matt, if you look at Jim, if you look at Neil (Patrick Harris)" Murphy said. Both Bomer and Parsons are both openly gay and the question was whether it was surprising that Murphy would ever be able to cast like he did.
"I feel really great about the work we did." - Murphy.
"It's a deal like anything else, but it's no big deal." - Parson on whether he thought things would change when he was public about being gay.
"I'm just thankful to get to work on projects like this, period. I don't think of myself as a gay artist." - Bomer.
The panel is finished, so I'm going to put all of this behind a cut. :)
Also, someone tweeted that Matt's head is shaved. Still looking for pics!!!
Source
SEE THIS ONE BIGGER here - Source: HBOPR Twitter Feed
Source
Quick background on the TCA Press Tour (taken from Wiki): A TCA Press Tour allows the major television networks, cable networks and the Public Broadcasting Service to present their slate of upcoming programs to a large group of press writers from different outlets all at once through panels and interviews. These biannual conferences involve registered TCA members staying at a chosen Los Angeles venue for two to three weeks, and each network is assigned a series of days to showcase their programming.
The HBO panels will be between 3pm PT and 6pm PT today, per Variety.
Update 6:30pmET: "The Normal Heart" set to premiere on HBO in May (no specific date yet). Source: THR
Update 7:30pmET: THR Live Blog's entries below.
Next up is the HBO movie, "The Normal Heart." Clip time.
Great looking clip, btw. Movie comes out in May. On stage, Ryan Murphy, Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons and Taylor Kitsch.
This is a pretty amazing cast…
Parsons, who was in the play, says he remembers being young and hearing first reports of AIDS destroying so many lives and worrying…
The movie ends in 1984 before there was even an HIV test, Murphy says.
"What it's about feels very modern to me," - Murphy. "People fighting to be loved for who they are. I feel it's very applicable to the way we're living today."
Murphy is both director and exec producer on this.
"I read it in the closet of my acting class at 14 - and that irony is not lost on me." - Matt Bomer.
"I wasn't TRULY exposed to it until the script was in front of me," Kitsch says of understanding the scope of the problem (he was born in 1981).
"I really grew up and came of age in this period. I lost a lot of friends to AIDS." - Murphy.
"I just really tried to be true to those boys who lost so much…I feel this movie is a civil rights movie." - Murphy.
"The movie is sad but hopeful at the end - because there are people trying to change the world." - Murphy.
HBO did "And the Band Played On" many years ago. "It was groundbreaking at the time" that actors stood up to be in that film, Murphy says.
"We're looking at an epidemic seen through a love story." - Murphy.
Roberts said watching a documentary about polio unlocked the door to understanding her character, Dr. Emma Brookner (who had polio).
Ruffalo has wanted to shoot the movie for ages, he said.
"I did spend quite a bit of time with him and came to love him." - Ruffalo on Larry Kramer.
It must seem strange to people who are here for the first time to see a cast like this up on stage and Julia Roberts barely gets asked a question…
Murphy said that raising awareness is part of the reason he did this but it was such a great story and a modern one as well. He said he has shown it to young gay men in their 20s who had no real idea about what came before them…
Bomer said HBO let the production shut down for a period so that the actors could make the physical changes in their bodies to show the ravages of the disease. Bomer lost 40 lbs.
"We put on weight so that he could look slimmer," Roberts said.
Bomer called it "a luxury" to be able to work with HBO and have them let the production shut down for that element.
"It all sounds like horrible cliches that you guys will grind your teeth over" - Roberts, before sharing that it helps her to be able to create some joy in compassion in the world as an actor on something like this.
"I do think that the world has changed so much in the last five years that I've been working on the material with Larry." - Murphy.
"I do think the world is changing if you look at Matt, if you look at Jim, if you look at Neil (Patrick Harris)" Murphy said. Both Bomer and Parsons are both openly gay and the question was whether it was surprising that Murphy would ever be able to cast like he did.
"I feel really great about the work we did." - Murphy.
"It's a deal like anything else, but it's no big deal." - Parson on whether he thought things would change when he was public about being gay.
"I'm just thankful to get to work on projects like this, period. I don't think of myself as a gay artist." - Bomer.
The panel is finished, so I'm going to put all of this behind a cut. :)
Also, someone tweeted that Matt's head is shaved. Still looking for pics!!!
Source
SEE THIS ONE BIGGER here - Source: HBOPR Twitter Feed
Source
Quick background on the TCA Press Tour (taken from Wiki): A TCA Press Tour allows the major television networks, cable networks and the Public Broadcasting Service to present their slate of upcoming programs to a large group of press writers from different outlets all at once through panels and interviews. These biannual conferences involve registered TCA members staying at a chosen Los Angeles venue for two to three weeks, and each network is assigned a series of days to showcase their programming.