Van Hansis on Nikita?!? More speculation on Van’s mystery guest spot….
Originally published at LoveLure's Luke and Reid Blog. Please leave any comments there.
After ESS.com’s Joliepinkyswear was kind enough to leave me a comment on Van’s birthday post yesterday, I noticed the cited blog post popping up all over the internet. In the original post, blogger Lesly Kahn posted, very briefly, with just Van’s IMDb profile picture:
Van Hansis has booked a guest star on the CW drama NIKITA! Stay tuned for further details!!!
Who is Lesly Kahn?
I tried to find a connection - I don’t think she’s one of Van’s agents, and she doesn’t appear to be a casting agent for Nikita, but her bio says:
Lesly Kahn has been an independent acting teacher and coach in Hollywood, California since 1993.
Her clients are professional actors, directors, singers, comedians, dancers and writers seeking to enhance their abilities. They participate in major film, television and theatrical projects all over the world.
Originally from the Chicago area, Lesly received her MFA in Acting from the Yale School of Drama and her BFA in Acting from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. She appeared in Ira Levin’s CANTORIAL Off-Broadway where she was nominated for an Outer Circle Critics Award. She worked in television and at numerous regional theatres including The Williamstown Theatre Festival, and she directed and dramaturged Off- and Off-off Broadway.
Van has also appeared at Williamstown Theatre Festival, though so have hundreds of other New York actors, so that could be just a coincidence. Either way, her bio is impressive.
More interestingly, though, she previously posted on 21 May 2010 that actor Ashton Holmes had been cast in Nikita. Not only was she right, but he appeared as Thom for 12 episodes beginning with the series pilot on 9th September.
Let’s hope she is just as right this time around and it’s another similar role!
Episode Timing
Van’s most recent post on his mystery guest spot (on 22 September) said: “The next time you can catch me on TV will be the first week of November.” Interestingly, not “my episode will air during…”
And looking back at his previous post on the mystery role, he said that he would be airing “between November and January.” At the time, I assumed that meant his episode would air sometime between those dates, but someone pointed out that it could mean that he could have a recurring role during that time frame.
Nikita is very much a cloak and dagger kind of show, so who knows who even survives from episode to episode, so I can definitely see why they’d want to keep things under wraps.
Speaking of November, I had a quick look at the episode timing. Season 2 of Nikita debuted on the CW on 23rd September 2011. Wikipedia lists known episodes through Episode 4, “Partners,” which airs on October 14th. The official episode description was issued on September 22nd.
TV.com lists an additional 5th episode airing October 21, called “Looking Glass” SpoilerTV.com confirms this and adds the name for the 6th episode, “343 Walnut Lane” which is undated, but would likely air October 28th.
So, by my calculations the first week of November would be Episode 2.07, and the official episode description should be available in about 2-3 weeks. I couldn’t find an episode name, but I’ll keep you posted.
What is Nikita?
Nikita is a weekly hour-long drama airing on the CW Network which is produced by Warner Brothers Television (also responsible for I Hate My Teenage Daughter). It airs Friday nights at 8pm ET/7pm CT.
According to its Wiki, Nikita premiered 9 September 2010 and:
Based on the French film Nikita (1990), the remake Point of No Return (1993), and a previous series La Femme Nikita (1997)…
The series borrows many characters, or at least their names, from the 1997 television series La Femme Nikita. Maggie Q portrays Nikita, the protagonist and a former spy and assassin who has gone rogue and now plans to bring down Division. Q also performs her own stunts.
Shane West plays Michael, a Division operative who trained Nikita. He sees Division and its recruits as a kind of "family" to him…Lyndsy Fonseca portrays Alexandra "Alex" Udinov, a former street kid who was arrested after a robbery and later became Division’s newest recruit. She is also a mole that Nikita is using to destroy Division from the inside. Other recruits include Jaden (Tiffany Hines) and Thom (Ashton Holmes) but their characters are later killed off by Nathan (Thad Luckinbill) and Alex respectively.
Incidentally, this show has proven that it believes in ex-soap stars (especially young CBS ones!). Lyndsy Fonseca gained fame playing Colleen Carlton on the Young and the Restless. Thad Luckinbill played opposite her as J.T.Hellstrom, a bad boy/serial womanizer transformed by the love of a good woman (uh, teenager). Nikita showrunners obviously recognized the popularity of their daytime pair and cast Thad as Alex’s love interest. And in another promising sign - his guest spot spanned six episodes.
Zap2it did a piece on Thad and Lyndy before his first episode aired:
On a show like "Nikita" where it seems like every character is keeping a secret, we asked Luckinbill if he thinks Nathan maybe isn’t as normal as he seems. "There’s always a possibility. A show like that you gotta imagine everybody’s got a secret," he says. "I would love to find out if Nathan has any or what they are."…
While Luckinbill hasn’t been made a "Nikita" regular yet, he isn’t at all opposed to the idea of sticking around. "If they want me to stay on I’d be more than happy to. It’s a beautiful show and it’s really fun to be a part of."
Both Maggie Q and Lyndsy Fonseca are smoking hot in this steamy action drama - just check out the photo on the CW’s show home page:
The show is known for its strong female roles, and Alex and Nikita kick ass - in heels and slinky outfits to boot…and a plot complicated enough to make my head spin. IndieLondon has a good interview with Lyndsy Fonseca for this season.
Van’s Role?
Nikita spoilers, for those of you who can’t wait, can be found on SpoilerGuide.com or possibly on this Nikita Season 2 Spoilers Collection by Clarissa. Plus there were a bunch gleamed at Comic-Con and summarized at TVOverMind.Zap2it.com, also written by Clarissa.
So, what can I tell you about Van’s role. Absolutely nothin’ (say it again!) Okay, who caught that obscure reference?
For awhile, I got really excited by this casting description from TVfanatic.com:
The CW hit is casting for what the network describes as a "handsome, upstanding former Special Forces commander." This individual will be assigned the mission of recovering Percy’s black box… and will also be a new love interest for Alex, along with a nemesis of Nikita’s.”
Especially since it was accompanied by this photo:
(Yes, OF COURSE I’ve tried zooming in more, and it just got big and fuzzy; not clearer!). I didn’t really think about it when I read either Van’s Facebook or the spoilers referencing Alex’s love interest, but as soon as I saw the picture I thought, “OMG! Could that be what Van meant?!?” Remember, he wrote:
…as much as I love him, I gotta put Luke to bed. If you like me as an actor, instead of me as a character, I think you will enjoy this. It’s about as different from Luke as you could imagine.
So I thought, “Maybe he’s bracing all of the diehard Luke fans who keep saying they can’t imagine him kissing a girl!”
And yeah, a military dude doing an Alex (who’s female) against a wall? Yeah, that would certainly fit the bill of being “about as different from Luke” as I could imagine!! LOL!
But unfortunately, with a little more searching, I figured out that the role of Sean Pierce (Alex’s love interest) had been filled by Dillon Casey (Vampire Diaries). Aw shucks.
So, back to square one of speculation….