What’s new with Yvonne Strahovski post Chuck.
The original page is archived here.
Authors
Recent Comments
Francesco Scinico on Chuck vs The Beefcake (2.… notawesome on Chuck vs The Beefcake (2.… Francesco Scinico on Episode of the Week: Chuck vs… VanK on Who Are You, Agent Walker… Simon on Chuck vs The Break Up (2.… Simon on Chuck vs The Break Up (2.… Simon on Chuck vs The Break Up (2.… atcDave on Episode of the Week: Chuck vs… Simon on Episode of the Week: Chuck vs… EARea on Episode of the Week: Chuck vs… Simon on Episode of the Week: Chuck vs… atcDave on Episode of the Week: Chuck vs… atcDave on Episode of the Week: Chuck vs… EARea on Episode of the Week: Chuck vs… Steve on Episode of the Week: Chuck vs… 
RSS Feed- Episode of the Week: Chuck vs the Break-Up (2.03)
- Episode of the Week: Chuck vs the Seduction (2.02)
- Episode of the Week: Chuck vs The First Date (2.01)
- Episode of the Week: Chuck vs the Marlin (1.13)
- Episode of the Week: Chuck vs the Undercover Lover (1.12)
- Episode of the Week: Chuck vs the Crown Vic (1.11)
- Episode of the Week: Chuck vs The Nemesis (1.10)
- Episode of the Week: Chuck vs the Imported Hard Salami (1.09)
- Episode of the Week: Chuck vs the Truth (1.08)
- Episode of the Week: Chuck vs the Alma Matter (1.07)
amyabn
atcDave
Ernie Davis
Faith
joe
thinkling
Chuck This 
Yvonne is on the Emmy ballot under the guest star category for both Louis and Dexter (one comedy one drama). Hopefully next year she’ll also have an appearance with 24:LAD. Find the ballot here.
Too Bad the one is from Dexter S8. Had it been the finale of S7, I’d say she had a real good chance.
I believe she was on the nomination ballot for S7 of Dexter.
Whether an actor gets on the nomination ballot is up to the performer themselves. All they have to do is submit themselves is they had a role in any of the categories during the eligible year. Then it’s up to the voters who actually gets nominated.
She didn’t get a nomination.
She was very funny on Louie, but I think Ellen Burstyn and Sarah Baker are more likely to get nominations if Louie gets any nominations in her category. It would be a nice surprise if she could make it though.
I just realized yesterday that this will be the first year since 2006 that Yvonne won’t be on any panels at San Diego Comic-con. After Chuck, she had Dexter. Last year, she also had “I, Frankenstein”. I don’t expect “24” to be there because its season will be over. I wonder if she’ll come to town anyway and do Nerd HQ, but I doubt it.
Manhattan Nocturne is scheduled to begin principle photography on December 1. I think that’s a better time frame for the film to shoot, as the book takes place during the winter months.
http://decubellisfilms.com/blog
Found this on Tumblr & thought I’d share – Yvonne has announced she will be attending ComiCon here: http://nikilovescharah.tumblr.com/post/91842842599/yvonne-announces-that-she-will-be-attending-this
Great. The odds of there being a Chuck panel at Nerd HQ just went up. Adam Baldwin is there, too.
A Conversation with Badass Women Mystery Guests!
Yvonne must be on this panel!
Yvonne has her own panel at Nerd HQ, Friday, July 25th at 2:45pm
Wow, that sold out quickly!
Today is Yvonne Strahovski’s 32nd birthday! Happy Birthday, Yvonne!
Yvonne is back home in OZ and appeared last night on Channel 10’s The Project. Here is the link I hope it works!
http://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/the-project/extra/season-5/yvonne-strahovski
Not working for me, I’m afraid – pressing play doesn’t seem to start the video.
Okay, last time she was on The Project they posted her interview on YouTube, I’ll try and find it. And she will also be having another interview tomorrow on Studio 10. She has done two radio interviews you can find them on Tumblr
http://sarahwalkerftw.tumblr.com/
http://fuckyeahstrahovski.tumblr.com/
Thank you
Here is the Youtube link
Here is the link to the Studio 10 interview
Yvonne has a new job, working with Josh Schwartz again. Details here.
Boy that’s a tough one. For starters, its great she’s got another prime time role. Bonus points if it leads to her quitting that trashy thing she was planning.
But I’ll have to weigh carefully if this is something I want to see. The Mercury 7 meets Gossip Girl could be pretty unappealing.
Anyone familiar with the book its based off? That could make a big difference!
What “trashy thing” was she planning, Dave? The only other project I was aware of was the movie Manhattan Nocturne.
Yup.
I don’t know that book, but I think back to “The Right Stuff” (book and movie, both of which I truly enjoyed) for comparison. Scott Carpenter didn’t get much attention; he was portrayed largely as John Glenn’s sidekick. I don’t remember anything about Rene Carpenter from either the book or the movie. So Yvonne is breaking new ground, at least. I’m with Dave in that I’d have no interest in “Real Housewives of NASA”…but it could be very different.
As a graduate of Edward H White HS in Jacksonville, FL, I know that Carpenter, Grissom and White were the three killed in the Apollo capsule fire. White wasn’t one of the originals, I think, but he was the first to walk in space during Gemini. So if the series goes long enough, Yvonne will get to be the strong-willed wife dealing with a huge loss.
In our school, Astronaut Lore was a thing and everything in our school was named after astronauts (Ed white HS, Carpenter Gymnasium, Grissom Auditorium, Apollo Way, etc.)
I’ll give it a try hoping it doesn’t get too “soapy”.
Except wasn’t it White, Grissom and Young in Apollo 1?
Scott Carpenter just died recently I think.
But I agree entirely my concern is this sounds like just another soap opera sort of thing. Now I can see where Yvonne might be interested in such a different sort of role. And I like that it’s a mini-series, that suggests a more rational sort of story, instead of the endless idiocy that happens with serialized stories that never end.
But I can’t muster much more than a tepid response.
It was Roger Chaffee. Forgot about Chaffee Cafeteria. Wonder how Carpenter got in there.
Wow, the negativity.
I’ve found this project interesting since the first time I heard about it–which was a while back.
Sounds like another good career choice for Yvonne and a role that is very different from her previous three TV roles because it is a actual person and a mother of four children. Yet again, she will prove her range.
Also, bravo to Josh Schwartz for acknowledging that range…again.
P.S.: I’m sure there are reviews of the book available online that will tell you what it was like.
Looked up some on Amazon. One interesting quote was “platinum blonde Rene Carpenter was the favorite of JFK”…hmmmm.
Could be a bomb but I’ll at least check it out.
Yeah the reviews look pretty tepid.
As I said, I can clearly see why Yvonne might want to do something so different, but this does not look terribly interesting to me.
There’s an episode of “from the earth to the moon”, a fantastic miniseries about the space program, dealing exclusively with the astrowives. If they take this seriously, there is potential for greatness. The (true) stories are better than anything a writer would ever dream up. Here’s hoping they don’t trash it up.
I would agree exactly with that Duckman. History is better than fiction. If we get a history, it might be interesting.
Although one review I saw referred to it as a less interesting version of The Right Stuff.
The Entertainment Weekly Review of the book was a B+. While the book is listed as a novel in many of the articles, this lists it as nonfiction.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20708335,00.html
I suppose being 49 I should get used to being disappointed by entertainment from here on out.
There’s no doubt television is not made for us. But it’s too early to be sure of anything. I’m cautious about this, but we’ll see. It might be okay.
If there isn’t TV for people over 49, then why do the following shows have median ages over 60 and many of them have been on for years: (from last week’s schedule)
MEDIAN AGE
60 Minutes: 65+
Blue Bloods: 64.0
Madam Secretary: 63.8
The Good Wife: 63.2
NCIS: New Orleans: 62.2
Hawaii Five-O: 62.2
Mysteries of Laura Encore: 61.9
48 Hours: 61.7
CSI: 61.7
Dancing With the Stars: 61.5
(and more)
Well for starters most of that is CBS, which actually does cater better to the grown up market. It’s funny to me how much of our viewing has shifted over to that network in the last few years. And it’s disappointing how little that’s really fun is getting made anywhere.
Most importantly, who’s watching, and who a show is made for are not necessarily the same thing. All those numbers prove is that a lot of older adults are watching television. There is no logical correlation to who the shows were made for.
Personally, stuff that’s made for people my age rarely holds much appeal for me. My physical age and cultural age are two different things. Culturally, I think I’m a few decades younger.
A lot of the stuff I like, I consider “age neutral”. I thought Chuck was like that, BTW.
This project of Yvonne’s doesn’t seem to be targeted particularly young. The main characters will be in their 30’s, but baby boomers and older should be attracted by the nostalgia. I don’t see anything in the description that millennials would be attracted to.
If the median age of people watching it are below 50, I’d be shocked.
Seperate discussions. But I would agree this project could appeal to a more mature audience. It might be interesting to see if JS can actually write to such a group. But not very interesting. The premise still looks like the sort of self-conscious, self-important social commentary that just bores me to tears.
IF I watch, it would be because of Yvonne, because the background and characters are of some tangential interest to me, and because as a 10 part limited series it should tell its story fairly quickly.
But that remains a big “IF”.
And I do appreciate you admitting to your immaturity…
I don’t know if I have a cultural age. I’m a life long outsider. I see much to admire, and much to criticize in the contributions, character and values of every age group including my own as well as older and younger.
I’m a baby boomer. I think the single biggest knock against “the greatest generation” is that they raised us.
“And I do appreciate you admitting to your immaturity…”
You are a funny guy, Dave.
Yup.
Since some people aren’t happy with this project, I was wondering what would have made you happier
If you could have gotten Yvonne a starring role on any one of these Fall series, which one would have been:
1. Madam Secretary – instead of Tea Leoni
2. State of Affairs – instead of Katherine Heigl
3. Bad Judge – instead of Kate Walsh
4. Marry Me – instead of Casey Wilson
5. A to Z – instead of Cristin Milioti
6. Manhattan Love Story – instead of Analeigh Tipton
7. Stalker – instead of Maggie Q
8. Scorpion – instead of Katherine McPhee
9. Forever – instead of Alana de la Garza
10. Mysteries of Laura – instead of Debra Messing
11. Gotham – instead of Jada Pinkett Smith
12. NCIS New Orleans – instead of Zoe McLellan
13. Selfie – instead of Karen Gillan
14. Gracepoint – instead of Anna Gunn
I purposely named real new shows on the Broadcast and not some imaginary show that doesn’t exist. Laziness prevented me from delving into cable (the Leftovers, anyone?). IMO, I prefer the role she took in Astronaut Wives Club to any of these. But, your opinions might differ.
I’d have been much happier to see her in Forever or NCIS:NOLA, since those are the new shows I’m watching that I most enjoy so far. (Especially Forever)
She’s too young for Madam Secretary. Scorpion is pretty dreadfully bad. I’m not watching any of the others.
But I think you’re making way too much of this. For starters, I said I was unenthused, that’s not the same as disappointed or upset. She has chosen a project I never would have even looked at without her involvement. The only thing about this series that gets even the tiniest blip of interest from me is Yvonne’s attachment to it.
Why does this matter? There are no actors I’ve ever seen whose taste matches mine closely enough that I’ve even seen all their work, never mind been excited over it. I wish she would do something else fun that I could get excited to see. I’m a little disappointed in some of her post Chuck choices, but mainly because she hasn’t done anything that strikes me as fun. Some of which is clearly beyond her control, there really isn’t much like Chuck out there!
I most hope she gets attached to a Marvel franchise at some point, or something else along those lines. But I’m okay with the idea she isn’t making her career choices to please to me. Well, mostly…
I’m excited for YS. My only real goal for her is the opportunity to carry a show as THE lead. Sounds like this ‘could’ happen’ with AWC?
I’m watching a period piece, fictional based on fact, mini-series type show called Manhattan (The Nuke project from ww2) and I love it. I don’t think these types of shows have to be accurate, much like the old westerns or war shows from our parents generation were, but I enjoy watching the era portrayed even if somewhat in a ‘parody’ or should I say ‘exagerrated’ or ’embellished’ type form (maybe there is a better word). Hopefully the show is more Manhattan’ish, and less Desperate Housewife’ish!
Sure at some point, I’d enjoy seeing YS get a starring, network funnier, less dramatic lead role, but those are hard to come by. I’d settle for a couple of Halmark RomCom’s even. But for now, I’m sort of glad she isn’t on the new shows. My two new fav’s are Gotham and Scorpion, neither of which would have a leading role for her, which is something I’d like to see her get. Scorpion is so much like Chuck in structure, that I’m glad she isn’t on that one, even though I like it. The lead guy even looks like ZL.
Ror some reason I find Forever a tough pill to swallow, the idea of wanting to kill oneself (and suceeding?) each week cuts against the grain for me. Maybe that story line will get dropped (even though it sort of is the premise of the show), as I like the three leads interactions quite much, and the guy from Bones is awesome as a sidekick.
I’ve recently seen the book described as The Right Stuff meets Mad Men, with a little bit of Desperate Housewives, so there is a lot of latitude in what the show takes from the source material. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it and what Yvonne’s role looks like.
I think that mix exactly sums up why I might be interested, and why I might not be.
If it goes the gritty Mad Men route it could be good. Also, on the book’s website and in a lot of the review stuff Rene Carpenter seems to be the first mentioned. That may mean Yvonne has the key role (here’s hoping). Also, I haven’t seen that they have cast an actor to play Scott Carpenter. I’ll be interested to see who they come up with.
I saw one article that gave the actor’s name playing Carpenter, but it wasn’t a well-known actor. I can’t find the article now. I suspect the astronauts don’t get as much screentime as the wives.
The more I’ve read about the real Rene Carpenter, the more I am convinced she has a key role in this story. Her real-life trajectory is very much the story of women, in general, from the 60’s onward.
I did a quick search on Rene Carpenter, and was surprised to find that she and Scott were considered the glamor couple of the Mercury Seven at the time. I admit to being too young to remember, but from all my subsequent astronaut and space geekery that never was something that I was aware of. The Right Stuff had Carpenter as little more than a John Glenn sidekick. It could give her some really good material, and sounds as if she’ll be one of the more prominent of the wives if they stick to the history closely.
Bravo,DKD,I agree wholeheartedly with your positive comments.In her recent interview on Channel 10 in Australia,despite being unable to disclose details,Yvonne was clearly full of excitement for this project and by all accounts has indeed landed the ‘stand-out’ role.
If the quality of writing matches her enthusiasm and talent then this could be extremely good news for further advancement of her career,so we should all give her credit for her choice and our support on this new venture.
Been reading a little bit about the role YS is playing in Astr Wives Club, sounds like she is getting the best part in the show, the real life character her role is based on sounds like the leading lady from that era at least, Kennedy’s favorite was one quote, she went on to become a feminist, author, etc. Here is more interesting / good news,Scott Carpenter is going to be played by none other than Schwartz fav, HOD’s very own Wade Kinsela aka Wislon Bethel. Yikes!
http://tvline.com/2014/10/13/wilson-bethel-astronaut-wives-club-cast-season-1/
He’s got the right look and physicality for the role.
Looks like there really was something to those 24 spinoff rumors after all. Yvonne will apparently be back as Kate Morgan.
Edit: Link has been removed as it was proven a hoax.
Not sure how large her role will be, but this will be interesting to follow as it develops. More Yvonne on my TV is always a good thing. And I like the idea that she’s already got her next gig after AWC lined up.
Something odd about this. Was that site leaked prematurely? If this were officially announced, it would be all over the entertainment media, but I don’t see anyone covering it.
If it’s true, I’m thrilled. But, it is odd.
Yes, if you look at the website source the content is loaded into an iframe from a domain named ‘guardianpersonalprotection’. Does not look like legit site for tv network.
It is bogus. Looked up the registrant and it appears to be an individual in Florida who uses group mail for the registration e-mail. Theoretically he could have hacked the info, but it looks like a prank at this point. Sorry to get everyone’s hopes up.
I still hope this happens eventually…I know people think it would be the end of 24 but I think Kate Morgan would be her own person and something tells me FOX isn’t willing to let go of 24 just because KS is, their network is a mess.
OK, so false alarm on more Kate Morgan, but you can vote for Yvonne to be Captain Marvel here. From the looks of the character in the comics Yvonne is made for this role.
Alas, for a movie that doesn’t come out until 2018, she’s already too old. I doubt they’d cast anyone who is already over 30 in 2014.
I know she is in awesome physical condition, but Marvel thinks far ahead and they’d want someone who would also be available for sequels and appearances in other movies far beyond 2018.
They also tend to not listen to polls.
Seems the boys at xm-studios think yvonne IS Ms Marvel. I would post a pic or a link but I’m too lazy/tired/stupid. She’s not up for preorder yet so the xm site doesn’t list her there, but google xm-studios ms marvel and tell me that’s not yvonne. I may get my 1/4 scale yvonne yet.
Thanks for posting the pic Ernie.
Another Chuck connection on Astronaut Wives Club. Mercedes Mason (yes, she changed it) is in NOLA shooting a role in the series. Not sure what her part is but she’s there now. Unfortunately for the 2 good friends, Yvonne in in NYC shooting Manhattan Nocturne. Wonder if after the holidays when Yvonne heads back south, will Mercedes still be there.
Here’s a heads up. The Winter Critics Press Tour is underway. ABC’s day is supposedly on January 14th. I’m very curious to see if they feature Astronaut Wives Club with a panel. It certainly would be indicative of what the show’s importance is to them. A lot of the networks are using this time to announce premiere dates, at the very least.
As of about an hour into the presentation, I’m not hearing any mention of the show. They seem to be focussing on shows coming on in the Winter and Spring. If this changes, I’ll post.
I’m not surprised they haven’t mentioned it. I have yet to hear of a release date for it. It was supposed to be a 2014 summer series (before Yvonne’s involvement) that got pushed to 2015.
In any case it will be nice to have Yvonne back on my TV for a few weeks whenever it happens. Now we need Zac to get cracking on that musical comedy he’s developing.
This is somewhat tangential to Yvonne’s role in The Astronaut Wives Club, but I just finished listening to a radio program on CBC about the marketing of the space program including the deal that was made with Life magazine to promote the program via carefully managed access to the astronauts and their families. If you are interested you can listen to it via the following site:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence
Russ / resaw
Zac, Yvonne, and Ryan are at the same event this weekend:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/operation-smile-to-host-fourth-annual-park-city-celebrity-ski–smile-challenge-300047588.html
Yvonne is the guest on The Nerd Machine’s podcast Picking Favorites. I’ve been kind of wishy washy on the podcast. Sometimes it’s really good. Other times, it’s average/meh for a podcast.
This one was really good. A lot of “backstage” talk and revelations about Yvonne. I feel like I know her better. And I definitely know about things from the Chuck set I didn’t know before.
Once you listen, you’ll know what this means: “Garbage”.
Do you have a link? 🙂
You can listen here.
I subscribe so I was able to listen already. Quite a good one. They often suffer from a lot of crosstalk and too many hosts seems to often overwhelm the guests, but for this one one of the regular hosts was absent and there was little cross talk. Yvonne got to pick the topics so she had plenty to say.
I agree with you about the crosstalk. I was actually glad that the other guy was missing. Fewer voices are better.
Thanks Ernie—that filled an hour of a transcontinental flight very nicely. I found it interesting—and somewhat ironic—to learn of Yvonne’s feelings toward yogurt (frozen or not)!
I feel stupid for not picking up on that, Anthro. I wonder what she feels about hot dogs.
Duh. Yogurt. I missed it, too. Funny, Anthro. I liked the sea shell reveal.
I think it was in S2 promotional interviews (? its been a while?).
But I believe Yvonne answered that she had never eaten a hot dog (or corn dog? I think she said hot dog) because she didn’t want to start any new bad habits.
And she was pretty sure they chose Frozen Yogurt specifically because they knew she hated it. Not sure if she was serious, I think she was laughing when she said it.
Its been a long time, I don’t remember the exact source.
Did anyone else get the impression when Zac kept pressing her to say what she’s working on that he was trying to get her to spill on something that she isn’t supposed to talk about?
Or was it just innocent?
I had the same question, DKD, but of course have no way of knowing the answer.
That’s okay, think. I just wanted to know anyone else got that vibe.
I have an idea in the back of my head of what she might be cast in next, but I prefer not to verbalize it because people will laugh if I’m wrong. They might even laugh at the idea.
Well now you have to say it.
In all honesty I think he just assumed there was more based on how busy she’s been lately. He made a point of how hard it had been to schedule her.
Yes, do tell.
Dancing With Has-Beens….
Okay, I’m prepared for you to laugh at me.
Heroes Reborn.
That is funny, but not how you think. I was thinking the very same thing. Going on the original, it’s going to have a pretty big and diverse cast and all of the cast will need to have a lot of range as an actor. Some of the roles will be pretty physical and require fights for sure, and Yvonne has a demonstrated track record with all of that. Add in that they need available actors and will want names that can draw an audience and I’d say Yvonne comes in near the top of the list.
I should also mention that while this was one of the family friendly-er ones that the podcast often gets, as Yvonne would say, “saucy”.
Astronaut Wives Club is missing from ABC’s summer schedule. Can’t imagine them not airing it when it was filmed to completion. Wonder what’s going on though.
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/04/08/abc-announces-summer-premiere-dates-for-celebrity-family-feud-500-questions-the-bachelorette-mistresses-more/386582/
Maybe it’s been moved to the Fall like Heroes Reborn was. I wonder if it will be promoted at Comic-con. I know it’s not “scifi”, but it’s space-related.
This article seems to think it will be on in the fall:
http://redcarpetcrash.com/interview-terry-dale-parks-talks-terminator-genisys-maze-runner-the-scorch-trials-and-astronaut-wives-club/
It would be very cool to have both Zac and Yvonne on TV in the Fall.
Hollywood Reporter says Astronaut Wives Club will air summer TBD:
“Missing from ABC’s summer lineup is straight-to-series pickup Astronaut Wives Club, which was originally scheduled for summer 2014 before being moved to midseason, where it has yet to earn a slot on the network’s schedule. Sources tell THR that the series will indeed be part of ABC’s summer schedule, with a date still being worked out.”
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/abc-sets-summer-schedule-growing-787295
Quite strange.
Agreed, especially since the other networks have all announced their schedules. The network has given this series no promotion whatsoever. The silence from ABC is baffling.
It’s a matter of extremes. If they really like it, they might save it for the Fall season. If they really don’t like it, they would burn it off with little promotion.
Hopefully they do like AWC and are considering saving it for the fall. If ABC hated it, give it a Saturday timeslot, and include it with yesterday’s schedule. Doesn’t make sense for them to to a separate announcement for a show they think nobody is going to watch.
My optimistic thought is that they are waiting to see some of the new pilots. If they aren’t crazy about them, they will put AWC in Fall line-up. If they love them, they’ll find a place for it in the Summer.
I think it is interesting how the networks are essentially testing favorite properties as mini series or “event” series. While I’m not familiar with the source material I believe this iteration of AWC is only covering the Mercury 7 period. They could come back to cover the Gemini and Apollo programs with both new characters, and checking back in on previous characters. Rene Carpenter in particular had a fairly high profile career as a civil rights and feminist activist after divorcing Scott Carpenter.
“THE ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB” TO PREMIERE ON ABC THURSDAY, JUNE 18
(PRESS RELEASE)
A Compelling New Drama Follows the Lives of Seven Women Who Were Key Players
Behind Some of the Biggest Events in American History
“The Astronaut Wives Club” – A new television drama series based on the book by Lily Koppel, focuses on seven women who were key players behind some of the biggest events in American history. As America’s astronauts were launched on death-defying missions, the lives of their young wives were transformed, seemingly overnight, from military spouses to American royalty. As their celebrity rose, and tragedy began to Touch their lives, they rallied together. “The Astronaut Wives Club” premieres THURSDAY, JUNE 18 (8:00–9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
“The Astronaut Wives Club” stars JoAnna Garcia Swisher as Betty Grissom; Yvonne Strahovski as Rene Carpenter; Dominique McElligott as Louise Shepard; Odette Annable as Trudy Cooper; Erin Cummings as Marge Slayton; Azure Parsons as Annie Glenn; Zoe Boyle as Jo Schirra; Desmond Harrington as Alan Shepard; Bret Harrison as Gordo Cooper; Wilson Bethel as Scott Carpenter; Kenneth Mitchell as Deke Slayton; Joel Johnstone as Gus Grissom; Sam Reid as John Glenn and Aaron McCusker as Wally Schirra. The first episode was directed by Lone Scherfig, director of the Academy Award®-nominated film “An Education.”
“The Astronaut Wives Club” is executive produced by Stephanie Savage (“Gossip Girl,” “The O.C.”); Josh Schwartz (“The O.C”; “Chuck”); Len Goldstein (“The Carrie Diaries,” “Hart Of Dixie”); Michael London (“Milk,” “Appaloosa”) and Janice Williams (“All Good Things,” “The Hollars”).
The series is produced by ABC Studios, Fake Empire and Groundswell and is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format with 5.1 channel surround sound. A TV parental guideline will be assigned closer to airdate.
First (good) pictures of Yvonne as Rene Carpenter.
I saw a promo for this in last night’s Forever finale. Apparently, it’s been out a while because I also found it on You Tube easily.
You all may appreciate this. The “Picking Favorites” podcast with Yvonne as its guest just became the “most listened to” podcast of the Picking Favorites series on SoundCloud, passing the premiere podcast.
She’s a popular lady.
(Granted, Soundcloud isn’t the only way to hear the podcast, but its the only one that provides a count of listens.)
Looks like as the premier gets closer Yvonne is all over the newest trailers and promos. Bodes well for a central role in the show. Probably a prime time soap, but since Mrs otherDave wants to watch it, I guess will too.
According to TVLine, Yvonne will not be leading the next season of 24. She may appear as a guest. Personally, I think this is fantastic news and she deserves way better than taking over this franchise. The backlash would have been immense and the format of the show is so limiting. IMO, it’s also better for her to not get typecast as a CIA agent.
http://tvline.com/2015/06/01/24-spinoff-fox-new-character-2016-kiefer-sutherland/
I agree wholeheartedly. I note that any appearance as a guest star will depend on her work schedule which may mean she already has something more substantial in the pipeline…………here’s hoping anyway!!
Yvonne will be starring in the newest Princess Rap Battle video. Sarah Michelle Gellar played Cinderella in one of their videos, and these videos have gone viral. Snow White vs Elsa had 43 million views. This will raise her profile for sure!
http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/yvonne-strahovski-princess-rap-battle-1201511118/
Hi Jenny, good to hear from you again .This will also be an opportunity to not only demonstrate her well documented ‘rap skills’:), but more important still, her undoubted yet still largely unrecognised comedic talent.
I note the director has already tweeted that Yvonne’s performance is awesome!!
Yvonne has been cast in a new movie, All I See is You, starring Blake Lively. The movie is currently filming in Thailand.
http://deadline.com/2015/06/yvonne-strahovski-all-i-see-is-you-movie-casting-1201439961/
Interesting, another indie. Hope it’s a quick shoot like MN so she can make NerdHQ.
“All I See Is You will film for eight weeks in Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand. The company will then move to the south of Spain for three weeks to complete filming.” It started filming June 3rd.
BTW–more actresses and actors get nominated for awards from independent films than from major studio pictures.
Since Yvonne isn’t the main character we can hope her shooting schedule is a bit lighter. I’m actually a bit surprised she isn’t obligated to do some AWC promotion and could get away this close to its premier.
There isn’t much promotion. I see one of the actresses was on The View, but that is about it. I would think with an ensemble show like this, they wouldn’t deny an actor a paying gig just so they could have them on The View.
I’m assuming she isn’t going to San Diego. It’s one thing to take a drive down from L.A. to do it. It’s another to fly all the way from Thailand.
BTW–I’ve listened to and read some reviews and they haven’t really mentioned her much. Even Alan Sepinwall’s only mentioned her in passing. I wonder if the first few episodes–the critics got three–don’t feature her character that much.
Carpenter was the 4th to fly. If they concentrate on wives as their time in the limelight approaches my guess would be that she has a larger part in later episodes and is more in the background supporting whatever wife is in public view at the time.
Interestingly even though no flight would be presented to the public as anything other than a triumph Carpenter’s mission was very controversial within NASA with some seeing his behavior as disobeying orders, others seeing it as the flight plan overwhelming his ability to keep on top of things. The end result was that because of low fuel by the time he oriented the capsule for re-entry he overshot his drop point by hundreds of miles and there was a brief period where many news organizations considered him lost at sea. It will be interesting to see how that is portrayed.
Actually, Ernie, she has been in a number of interviews out there right now, maybe that’s how she got away. Also, a number of reviews have said that Yvonne and an actress named Azure Parsons (Annie Glenn) were the best of the show.
She did some online/print press but I have to believe that if she had been in town she would have been the one doing the LA studio interviews that Odette is doing. Joanna got the NYC stuff. She did The View, The Chew and GMA. I expect she is doing the WABC morning show tomorrow. But what Yvonne also isn’t doing because of being away is all the affiliate satellite interviews. I think they probably wanted her to do some of these shows as she is the biggest name in the cast. But like Ernie I was surprised she wasn’t obligated contractually to do promo or that they let her out of those obligations. I would have thought she would have gotten Kimmel tonight. My guess is the movie was a last minute thing and she had to make a decision to stay and do promo or go to Thailand and she chose to go. And all of the broadcast promo fell to Joanna and Odette.
Not sure if its true but I heard the episode that focuses on her is #3.
” she is the biggest name in the cast.”
Technically, she is the 2nd billed cast member behind Joanna Garcia Swisher who has been on many TV shows including Once Upon a Time and Gossip Girl.
The local TV Week insert that comes with our Sunday newspaper had a nice picture of Yvonne on the cover last Sunday.
Well I take that as being Joanna was cast since the beginning and her character was always a prime player. Plus this is ABC and her biggest role was on ABC in Reba. She did 125 episodes on that show. She also did some on OUAT. So she is favored by the network. But I still think for average folks, Yvonne is the bigger name.
Yvonne’s Princess Rap battle character has been released with the first pic! Love this choice!
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/news/a41828/princess-rap-battles-episode-5/?src=TrueAnth_COSMO_TW&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_content=5579b088b3ef123206000001&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter
Looks to me like Yvonne WILL be back for NerdHQ. Early this morning she tweeted a winky face to Dominique, who is a great fan, on Twitter when she was reassuring someone who was upset that she might not be there. She also favorited a couple of other tweets between the YSFangirls and Dominique talking about her appearing at NerdHQ. Seeing she is just a supporting actress on this indie it seems likely she only has a few days-weeks left of shooting and will be returning to LA in time to make it to San Diego.
Confirmed today by The Nerd Machine!
Yvonne is really great; showing up post Chuck years! i thought the flash would be on the list but i’m thinking that because it was the first season they ran out of time; i like the entire lineup though
The Princess Rap Battle is out:
(It has explicit warnings and is NSFW.)
I loved it!
What is her natural hair color? I loved it the rap, but between this and her platinum blonde look in AWC, her eyebrows really stand out. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, but they just seem to be more prominent/contrasting lately…
She is blonde but a darker shade. In both AWC and the Princess Rap video she is wearing wigs. She said if she peroxided her hair enough for AWC she would have ruined it. Both the shorter curly look and the later straighter look are wigs.
Yvonne will be doing the voice of Batwoman in an animated film Batman: Bad Blood:
http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2015/07/yvonne-strahovski-to-voice-batwoman-in-batman-bad-blood.html
FYI, Yvonne is on the latest Picking Favorites podcast and there is some fun discussion of Chuck between her, Zac, and Dave Coleman. Seek it out.
Zac and Yvonne made some mysterious Chuck comments. I’m curious about what other people who listened to the podcast thought about them…?
My sense is it isn’t anything that involves them requiring rights to the show. It’s “Chuck-related” content, not “Chuck” content, if you get my distinction. But, thanks, Ernie for doing more research than I did.
Yeah, I can’t see it being new “canonical” Chuck stuff for the reason you mentioned.
Yvonne donates something to Bailey’s charity event every year, but I don’t see any reason to think this year’s item has anything to do with the light bulb moment mentioned on the podcast. What tweets have made you so convinced about this, Ernie?
After I wrote what I wrote above, I went to check Bailey’s tweets and I didn’t get the impression that the gift to the charity was related to what Zac and Yvonne talked about. But, I might have missed something.
Zach’s sister tweeted something about #NerdsChangeLives happening in a week on the 22nd. They could be unconnected, but for some reason I connected them, perhaps erroneously. But with both Yvonne and Chuck’s sister tweeting or re-tweeting about an upcoming charity event seemingly on Zach’s birthday it didn’t seem like a coincidence.
Thanks, Ernie. I followed that #NerdsChangeLives meme and tracked it down to a fan who is trying to get people to Operation Smile on Zac’s birthday. His sister retweeted someone who tweeted about it.
Since Zac and Yvonne have been spending so much time together lately I’ve been hoping to hear some Chuck news but sadly they don’t own the rights. Still, hope never dies. Maybe Netflix could resurrect the show.
Zac and Yvonne are dating. It’s not exactly a massive secret any longer, so I guess it’s OK to mention that. That’s why we’ve been seeing them together a lot.
What comes to #NerdsChangeLives, as far as I know it has nothing to do with Bailey’s St Judes fundraiser. To my knowledge it’s something that fans have planned for Zac’s birthday and it seems to involve Operation Smile.
Well, if that’s really true, it’s going to make a lot of people very happy!
Given how they appear to be tied at the hip these days, I think you may be right.
https://instagram.com/p/84Xim2wYKPn652eWYJOgsBmZbBLGbz3_efBwM0/
Anyone else spot them at the Dodgers game last night?
I’m not convinced she is dating Zac. The woman who was on the other side of Yvonne at the game posted an Instagram photo of Yvonne on a couch with a guy I’ve seen referred to as her boyfriend. It was posted after the Dodgers game and they look pretty cozy.
That’s Yvonne’s friend Gian, they’ve known each other since teens. He’s not Yvonne’s boyfriend.. because he’s got a boyfriend of his own. (He’s gay)
Ahhhhhh.
(Emily Latella voice) Never mind.
I’d delete if I could.
My take is that Zach and Yvonne had a lightbulb moment together for something Chuck related that they could do relatively quickly on the cheap to give the fans something if not a movie. It will also be for charity and involve St. Judes. “Little Chuck Fan” seems to have some involvement. It will be announced on Zach’s birthday (Sept. 29). All that seems pretty solid from the podcast and their (and their friends) twitter feeds.
ANYTHING Chuck related is A win!:)
I’d love to see them do something similar to what Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk are doing with ConMan. Something the Chuck fanbase would enjoy watching, but that doesn’t create any copyright issues. With Yvonne and Zac in it, I’m sure they could get substantial fan funding (I know I would pay good money to support it).
After what happened with the Nerd HQ campaign, Zac has said he never wants to do fan funding again.
Wow guys!!!! I just read that after 8 years, WB, ASP and Netflix just closed a deal for a limited “Gilmore Girls” revival. There is hope for us….we just need to continue to be patient and grow the base………….
Twin Peaks, the X-Files, Gilmore Girls, I just hope Chuck get its turn before tv show revivals go out of fashion.
Yvonne’s Amazon Pilot “Edge” is available to stream for free at Amazon. From what I’ve read online Yvonne doesn’t get a lot of screen time. But hey, it’s new stuff from Yvonne.
A professional critic’s review I read online said it is “ultra-violent” and gory, which turned me off. I liked Dexter, but that was a different thing in my head from what this sounds like. But, it seems to be getting good reviews from regular viewers.
I watched it last night. I’ll lean to the positive side. It is very campy/pulpy with stylized violence that borders on cartoonish at times. Yvonne’s role is set up to be important, even though she has a very limited presence in the pilot. All in all a decent set up for a series to develop from. I’d give it 3-5 episodes, mostly to see where Yvonne’s role goes and what they do to flesh out the main character.
I also watched it last night and it wasn’t as bad as I was prepared for. I read three reviews prior to watching and all three were negative. The least negative did say that Yvonne was the bright spot, a good character well delivered and with growth potential. I was going to say it parodied violence, but cartoonish is a better description, thanks. Bottom line: it wasn’t too bad, I’ll give it a chance. It appears to be leading all of the new pilots in popularity right now so we’ll probably see more.
I read a review today that was “meh… it was OK” overall but it did say that Yvonne was reprising here role from “Chuck” (first mention of that I’ve seen). Come to think of it she was sort of an 1860’s version of Sarah Walker, Wildcard Enforcer. Not sure about the profanity, but she was undercover as a prostitute in a whorehouse after all (wonder how that’s going to play out).
“It appears to be leading all of the new pilots in popularity right now so we’ll probably see more.”
It seemed to do best for the early viewers, but currently (10AM ET on 11/9), it has the lowest percentage of “5-star” reviews(51%), and highest percentage of “1-star” reviews(14%) of the live-action pilots. “Good Girls Revolt” has 84% 5-star reviews and only 2% 1-star.
All kinds of awesome that Yvonne is singing with Serena Ryder!
https://www.2gzr.com/broadcast/tWfeIW
That sure is Yvonne, but it sure isn’t Sarah.
Yvonne is a bubbly personality…its a shame we never see that in her acting because she is drawn to serious roles
Though, on further reflection, I could easily envision a Sarah Bartowski cutting loose like that a few months or years into a normal and happily married life.
Did Zac & Yvonne’s lightbulb moment for Chuck ever get revealed?
Nope.
I’ve always had a hunch it had something to do with the anniversary of the last episode, though. If that hunch is correct, it would be revealed at the end of this month. If not, I haven’t a clue.
Fox is rebooting “24”, but without Yvonne.
Something tells me that the execs got together and said, “it’s got to be a male lead”.
They said a complete reboot. Whatever the reason, I won’t be watching. I had never watched 24 and only watched LAD because of Yvonne. Though I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Yvonne in the role, the 24 format of the entire season covering only 24 hrs just isn’t really my cup of tea. Plus LAD was only 12 episodes and skipped a few hours in the “day,” which I thought was a good thing … a relief from the tedium of the usual 24 format.
This article says “Manhattan Nocturne” will be released May 20th.
http://deadline.com/2016/02/grindstone-entertainment-acquires-u-s-rights-to-adrien-brody-pic-manhattan-nocturne-1201699743/
“multiplatform” apparently means VOD at the same time as a limited theater release. From the director:
“Mark you calendars!!! This is the big announcement. Manhattan Nocturne will be released worldwide on May 20th! It will be in theaters in select cities across the country and abroad and simultaneously available on VOD. What is nowadays called a “multi-platform release”. I highly encourage you to see it in the theater with all your friends first and then again at home the next day! Many many talented people came together to make and support this film, and they would all love for you to see it! “
The trailer for Manhattan Night (aka Manhattan Nocturne) with Adrien Brody and Yvonne Strahovski has been released. It seems that she has a major role in this movie. I’m not sure I’m really into seeing Yvonne portraying a femme fatale, but to the extent I understand the acting profession (which is to say, practically not at all), having the opportunity to play a wide range of characters over one’s career is what most actors want. She isn’t Sarah, that’s for sure.
Yeah. Saw the trailer … won’t be seeing the movie. As you say, Russ, it’s probably a good opportunity for her, but it’s something I don’t want to see.
Honestly, it looks better than I thought it would be when I heard the distribution plans.
The film is getting mixed reviews (some positive, while some are quite negative). Most reviews have been positive towards Yvonne. I saw the film and she was quite good.
The NY Times was negative about her performance.
As Dkd points out, from the NYT review: “The most disappointing performance is Ms. Strahovski’s as Caroline, a character so lacking in passion or inner life (some frantically steamy love scenes with Porter notwithstanding) that “Manhattan Night” feels blank at the center.”
So odd, isn’t it, when I think that one of the things that drew us to the character of Sarah in Chuck was the way that Yvonne so capably presented to the camera her “inner life,” often without saying a word.
The Times was the only negative I can find. These were all positive:
Guardian
She’s a complex character, a frisky sex fantasy in the driver’s seat, but still a damsel needing a savior. Enormous credit must be given to Strahovski for somehow making this seem less silly than it sounds.
LA Weekly:
Strahovski makes for a fittingly seductive temptress with ambiguous motives.
Indiewire:
Strahovski, however, is excellent, easily infusing her Caroline with both big time charm and a hard-to-pin-down undercurrent of evil that’s never over-the-top and often quite rewarding.
JB Spins
At least Yvonne Strahovski brings all kind of femme fatale heat as Crowley, despite the film’s constantly vacillating attitude towards her.
Cinema Addicts
And Yvonne Strahovski. She’s very good as the femme fatale. The seductive femme fatale. There’s a lot more to meets the eye with her. She plays that role very well.
Hollywood Outbreak
Strahovski is first rate as the story’s femme fatale
And I disagree strongly with the performance lacking an “inner life.” (Dexter season 8 or I,Frankenstein yes, this absolutely not). She has a scene towards the end where she tells a painful story about her childhood which was exceptional. All the nuances and strong non-verbal acting that people are accustomed to were there. I’m not sure this critic saw the same film that everyone else did.
Yvonne didn’t get 100% positive reviews for Chuck or Golden Boy either (one Broadway World poster called her “awful”). One critic from MaCleans said Yvonne was expressionless could only muster a “blank stare” on Chuck, which would pretty much be disputed by anyone. Very few performances get 100% positive reviews. The fact that she got as many positive reviews as she did, including from critics who didn’t like the film itself is a good sign.
Overall, this was much better received than I was expecting, and the reception to her performance was overwhelmingly positive. It’s the type of performance that would get her noticed for Netflix/HBO/Showtime type of programs, if the right person sees this film.
Glad to read that there were many positive reviews of her performance, which is more in keeping with what I think we know of her abilities.
I tried to see if it earned any box office this weekend, but it must have not been in enough theaters to count. Box Office Mojo doesn’t even list it. I guess most of its “views” will be on pay per view.
This is going to be a kind of long rant, sorry.
Raining on Chlojack’s glass half full optimism, but this needs to be said…
Our Yvonne just starred in a movie that has two plot keywords on IMdB that are
“incest” and “female masturbation” and she let her male co-star suck her breasts in the process.
Its official…her movie career is a complete disaster.
I look at a movie by how well it is reviewed and its box office earnings to see if it is a financial success. I read somewhere that a film needs to make at minimum 1.5x the film’s budget to be a financial success. I’ll use the Rotten Tomatoes (RT) aggregator for reviews and Box Office Mojo for earnings.
Let’s look at how Yvonne has been doing lately…
Her most recent movie, Manhattan Night, does not have a published budget, but since it was released direct to DVD/VOD you can bet it’ll probably be a financial failure. Last time I looked it had a 36% percent positive rating, but it’s really worse since one positive review begins “This is not a very good movie.” But the reviewer rated it positive because it was a revival of the film noire genre.
Yvonne’s highest earning film was I, Frankenstein. Yvonne was female lead but the film was pounded by reviewers with only a 3% positive rating. The film earned $71M against a budget of $65M, so a financial failure.
Yvonne’s second earning film was Killer Elite. Yvonne was female lead but since it was a Jason Statham punch up she only got 13 minutes of screen time. It was rated higher at 25% positive but it only made 80% of its $70M budget, another financial fail.
Now Yvonne’s highest rated film, The Guilt Trip. She had a minor supporting role but the film was rated 38% positive and made $42M against a $40M budget, so yet another financial failure.
To sum it up, her three widely released films earned a total of $169M against budgets totaling $175M and she got an average rating of 22% positive on these three films. Yikes!
To put this in perspective, let’s look at a former co-star’s (Zach) performance.
Zach appeared in 4 widely released films as male lead (or voice as one was animated), main cast or supporting role. His films earned a total of over $1.8 billion against budgets totaling $545M. All were financially successful earning between 2.5 and nearly 6 times their budgets. Two were positively reviewed (Thor: The Dark World, 67% and Tangled, 90%) and one (Tangled) was nominated for an academy award and won a Grammy for a song Zach performed. His average rating was 46% positive.
When I see this I weep for Yvonne. Deep down when it came to acting I always felt Yvonne was much better than Zach.
Like Chlojack, I’d like to see her back on TV where she has had her greatest success, but not to Netflix, HBO, Showtime or any of those. They’ll just want her clothes off after Manhattan Night and Yvonne’s too good of an actress for that. Remember the failed Amazon pilot from about 18 months ago where Yvonne played a cigar smoking, female Pinkerton detective whose cover was prostitute in a whorehouse, there is no way that was going to end well.
She needs to get a good Chuck or Castle like project. On TV she appeared as female lead or primary guest star on three successful shows (Chuck, Dexter and 24) which all rated higher than 80%. She won a Saturn award for S7 of Dexter. Heck, Astronaut Wives Club was rated at 50%. So please let her come back to TV and fix her movie mess. Whatever method or person she leans on for identifying, pursuing and securing movie projects needs to change (method) or be fired (person) and someone needs to sit her down and help her. IMO she needs a big dollar potential blockbuster soon before it’s too late. Some will say it’s not all about money, but when 100 million people pay to see your work, then a lot of people are seeing your work which is what an actor should want.
Sorry it’s so long but rant over, otherDave out.
I fear you are right on all counts. and yes, I also thought her acting ability was better than Zach’s. Maybe he’s got a better agent?
True dat! It all makes me very sad … for her … for her fans who are rooting for her to be successful and do worthy projects … and for her younger fans who look up to her … sad.
Yes, I agree exactly. The “complete disaster” assessment looks completely accurate to me.
While I’ll agree that Yvonne’s film career hasn’t exactly seen a string of hits I wouldn’t say it’s a complete disaster, or that the “disaster” can be laid at her feet in any way. In short she has taken some roles because at a certain point in your career you don’t say no (even though he had Chuck at the time Zac still did “Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeekwil”). Others she’s taken to broaden the industry view of what she can play. I’m sure that played a large role in her decision to do Golden Boy. I very much doubt a big payday and widespread notoriety were on her mind when she signed on for an indie film that had a 28 day shooting schedule. That said I too find it a bit disappointing that she hasn’t been attached to any prestige projects, like a Disney movie or a comic book film. Though she herself has commented on the dearth of parts out there.
I’d also agree (as I’m sure Zac would) that Yvonne has the ability to play a far wider range than Zac. She was professionally trained in a professional theater school after all, whereas Zac basically learned by doing. So why does Zac seem the higher profile one? I think a lot has to do with his personality. He’s a natural extrovert and instinctive self-promoter. You can tell he loves to network and maintains a large circle of friends and acquaintances from previous jobs. In the end I think Yvonne is more shy and introverted outside her job and doesn’t get out there like Zac does.
Or maybe Yvonne has a lousy agent. There was just a shake up at her agency and one of her agents left, so I don’t know what’s up there.
I’d also prefer we didn’t pass judgement on, or necessarily discuss our discomfort with Yvonne’s career or choices based on taking an edgier role, as many well regarded and successful actresses have done before her.
Sorry Noblz, but you did the very thing I asked we not do here in your comment. If you want to repost the parts that aren’t opining on what Yvonne did and how you feel about it that’s fine.
What a discussion.
I think the first thing to acknowledge is that when a person is building a career, it’s not always choosing a project. It’s about being chosen. Jennifer Lawrence can choose what movies she makes, but that’s after years of being chosen.
In the film world, most actresses and actors who we consider prestigious usually had their break in a small independently made films. Brie Larson, last year’s Academy Award winner, was in Room. Room grossed only $14.7 Million in the U.S. I’m sure that when Ms. Larson took the role, she had no idea it would become an Academy Award nominated film. You take the role and you hope for the best.
Jennifer Lawrence’s big break was in a movie called Winter’s Bone. Most of you have probably never seen it.
I used to see actors who are famous now in films at the Tribeca Film Festival that never got released. I saw Jeremy Renner and Gabrielle Union in such a movie. Renner’s a good example of an actor who bounced around relatively unknown for years before landing the Hurt Locker.
Every actor has been in bad movies. Every actor has been in financial flops.
TV prestige isn’t so different these days from the films. Some of the most prestigious roles are in shows hardly anyone watches. Only two of the six nominees for last year’s Emmy for Drama were on major networks (Empire, How to Get Away With Murder).
Given how Netflix and Yahoo are just about as likely to get an actor nominated as ABC and Fox, actors should do projects on those networks.
We have no idea what roles Yvonne has gone for that she just hasn’t gotten. Some of them could have been in financial successes and/or prestigious movies. Without that knowledge, it’s hard to criticize her choices. You don’t even know if she has much choice.
The last thing I’ll add is that I think you are elevating Zac’s success rate relative to hers. He may have been in Thor, but it wasn’t a big role with a lot of screentime. He tried for the starring in Guardians of the Galaxy, but it went to Chris Pratt. He was in three TV shows last year that were canceled after one season (Heroes Reborn, Telenovela, Geeks Who Drink).
Yeah, he’s considered somewhat successful, but he’s had his stumbles, too. All actors and actresses do. The current role on Broadway has brought him some prestige, but it’s also his second try at Broadway. Golden Boy was a critical success for Yvonne. It was only intended to be a limited run, though.
There is so much to success in show business that is outside actors’ control. I don’t fault her for trying independent films because that has worked for other actresses. But, I’m not going to fault her for making bad choices when I have no clue of what choices she’s had.
DKD, Ernie
I also have no idea what choices she had and I agree that it is often the project not the actor. I pretty much agree with you (DKD) above. Now this discussion got me thinking and as a military ORSA I had to analyze this. I wanted to see what was the thing that got an actress to the point of getting her breakthrough role and I found some interesting things that have made me optimistic for Yvonne.
Here goes, I looked at best actress or best supporting actress Oscar winners for the last 5-6 years looking for contemporaries of Yvonne and picked three.
The first is the youngest, and since you mentioned her DKD, Jennifer Lawrence. She spent two seasons on TV. Before her breakthrough (Hunger Games) she appeared in 6 movie projects. The first two were duds but the next 4 were critical successes and a couple were financial successes as well. Winters Bone was an Indie that was critically successful, financially successful (for an Indie) and got her an academy award nomination.
Next is Natalie Portman. No real TV experience, Before her breakout (Star Wars: Phantom Menace) she was in 6 movie projects starting at age 13. Five were critical successes and the one that wasn’t was a financial success (barely).
Finally Anne Hathaway who had one season on TV. Before her breakout (The Devil Wears Prada) she was in 8 movie projects, 5 of which were critical and or financial successes and one (Brokeback Mountain) was nominated for an Academy Award.
Armed with this info I wondered are these ladies incredibly lucky and Yvonne is just snake bit or is there some reason. I compared the critical and financial successes in their early career to the 5 movies Yvonne was female lead in and discovered what I think is the root cause of Yvonne’s problem. Every one of the Oscar winners early films had a veteran director and writer. All of Yvonne’s had a first time director and writer. I think that is the issue. This inexperienced team dramatically reduces the probability that a film will be either a critical or financial success. It looks like an actress needs 3-5 critical or financial successes then the can be positioned for a breakthrough (with a good agent). Now I don’t know if Yvonne had any offers with veteran crews or not.
When I looked at the film Yvonne has in post production and got optimistic. The director and lead writer (same guy Marc Forster) is a successful veteran. Anyone who can Direct Halle Berry (not the most talented actress around IMO) to and academy award (Monster’s Ball) and direct Will Ferrell to a nomination for a Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy has to be good. Maybe Yvonne can get out of this slump and start her upward motion. A nomination as best supporting actress out of this would fix things in a hurry.
I love analytics. I’m a very analytical person.
I just want to make something a bit clearer.
When I say “break through” role, I’m not referring to the general public. I’m referring to casting directors.
Most of the world may have never heard of Jennifer Lawrence before Hunger Games, but she got that role because of her earlier work.
For most people, it seems like Chris Pratt got plucked from Community to Guardians of the Galaxy, but he also had some smaller roles in very prestigious films that got him the attention of casting directors.
This is the part of the business that’s hard to analyze.
You’re missing my point, or perhaps helping me make it. Thanks for reminding me about Golden Boy. My point is that everything Yvonne has tried since she came over has been an unqualified success except for movies.
She appears in a Broadway play and wins the Theater World award=success.
She gets into the expanding video game industry and becomes the model for the ever popular Miranda Lawson in Mass Effect= success.
She gets on TV and is female lead or primary guest star on three Emmy winning shows and picks up a Saturn Award for her efforts in one of them along with a bunch of lesser awards= success.
Looking at her movie career she has made 8 movies since joining Chuck. All are financial failures and all but one (Matching Jack) was poorly received by reviewers= not success.
I would like to see her go back to where she was successful but to TV not theater. I’m selfish and would like to see her work. While she is working on TV she can work to fix her movie issue and get herself onto a good project this time.
I understand your point, you call everything outside of her movies a success based on critical reviews or awards and then call her movies failures based on the financial return.
I very much doubt Golden Boy was a financial success, it was done purely as a revival. Chuck could hardly be called a financial success, and 24LAD and AWC probably didn’t do much better. On the other hand Yvonne has gotten good reviews for her performances in “flops” such as Manhattan Night and I, Frankenstein. You also largely ignore Yvonne’s voice work in the movies whereas it is a keystone to Zac’s being called a success.
Yeah she’s had a few movies that didn’t quite pan out (like I, Frankenstein), but she’s making a living as an actress, getting small indie movies like MN and All I See Is You, and occasional parts in big name projects like Killer Elite. No, she hasn’t quite had that one big project that took off in the movies like Zac, but don’t forget Zac has actually been at this longer than Yvonne (he was a series regular on Less Than Perfect, a network show that ran for 4 seasons starting in 2002), and along the way he made movies like Wieners, Big Momma’s House 2, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel before he landed Tangled or a role in Thor (that he had to pass on for another season of Chuck). Calling her movie career a disaster at this point is a bit premature. It’s like looking at Zac’s career in 2006 and 2007 where yeah he had a network TV show on his resume, but his movie career consisted of a few TV movies and the aforementioned Big Momma’s House 2. It’s still early days for Yvonne’s movie career.
But yeah, I’d love to see her catch a prestige project or a TV show just to see her on my screen a bit more.
Ernie
I used the critical review rating for the movies as well not just box office. I only used Yvonne’s last 4 movies and the 4 movies Zach had in World wide release. That’s why I only took Yvonne’s wide release movies (3) for the comparison. Remember 2 of Zach’s 4 wide release movies were not critical successes but were still financial successes.
Also, Yvonne is a very talented actress and has always done a good job (even with 13 minutes on screen), its that the movies are critical flops as well as financial failures. Yvonne needs to break out of this trend. It’s her movies. As noted she’s made 8 and of those and there is one critical success that lost money (Matching Jack, 69%, she was not lead but major supporting role) and 7 that have been rated “rotten tomatoes” by the review aggregator I used for this and all have been financial failures. This is diametrically opposed to all of her other ventures. That’s all I’m saying, is that to this point Yvonne’s movie ventures are a bust.
I do hope she can get back to TV and win the Emmy she deserved for Chuck.
And I forgot. While she is winning her Emmy, she needs to very carefully select her next movie. It might take a while but so be it. I know being on TV adds an additional variable to the process (filming schedule) but she’s been averaging like a movie or more each year. Maybe while she’s getting some accolades on TV she can slow down and go after that great movie project, even if it takes a while.
No, they are not “her movies”. I, Frankenstein was not a Yvonne Strahovski vehicle. Manhattan Night was all about Adrien Brodie, not Yvonne Strahoivski. Killer Elite was not a Yvonne Strahovski movie. Yvonne is not the driving force or the focus of these projects. There has not been a Yvonne Strahovski movie. Ever. While you may focus on her, she is not the focus. Zac was arguably not the focus of Tangled, it was not a Zac Levi project, but it turned out well for him.
Both Zac and Yvonne have been involved in many projects and movies where they are not the focus, but contributing players whose involvement will not determine the success or failure of the enterprise.
I’ll put forward Killer Elite as a prime example. By your own telling Yvonne’s 13 minutes of screen time is both an example of her failure to break through and her irrelevance, yet an example of her failure in movies because the movie failed to make money and somehow her 13 minutes should have made a difference, or her 13 minutes was somehow determinative of that failure.
Ernie
Yes, these are not “Yvonne Strahovski vehicles” as I think I understand you and lets forget the three films she had supporting roles in. That leaves 5 films where she was female lead (including Killer Elite, more on that later). I disagree that they are not “her” films. Once you accept a lead role it becomes “her movie”. These five movies were critical rotten tomatoes and financial failures. As for Killer Elite, I agree there is nothing Yvonne could have done in her 13 minutes to save this movie critically or financially. That said, she was dead center of their publicity campaign and she was at the Toronto Film Festival smiling her beautiful smile with Statham and Owen for the photo shoot. Like it or not she is the female face of that film.
Now, I submit that there will be no “Yvonne Strahovski vehicles” until she fixes this.
What I hope is that she goes back to TV on a good solid project that will run for 4 years or so garnering some award nods along the way (hopefully a couple of Emmy’s for Yvonne in there). While doing that, she needs to slow down and carefully identify and secure a big budget role. Once she has that first critical and financial movie success under her belt, she can start looking around for her own “vehicle”.
I’m just sayin’. otherDave out.
I think the difference is that you perceive Yvonne as having a career in the movies that has stalled. I view her as starting a career in the movies and taking the inevitable small roles and gambles that it takes to start a career.
Yvonne just tweeted about her lead role in a new film. Per deadline.com: Yvonne Strahovski Lands Lead In Screen Gems Thriller ‘He’s Out There’
EXCLUSIVE: Yvonne Strahovski has landed the starring role in He’s Out There, a suspense thriller that Screen Gems will put into production next month. The film’s being directed by Dennis Iliadis from a script by Mike Scannell. Producers are Bryan Bertino and Adrienne Biddle of Unbroken Pictures. Strahovski plays a mother who comes to visit a remote lake house, and finds herself fighting for the lives of herself and her two daughters after falling into a terrifying and bizarre nightmare conceived by a homicidal psychopath. Strahovski, whose credits include I, Frankenstein, The Guilt Trip and Killer Elite, has All I See Is You next up. Her TV work includes 24, playing a serial killer’s twisted girlfriend in Dexter, and Chuck. Screen Gems President Clint Culpepper and exec veep Scott Strauss are overseeing.
Yvonne vs The Predator:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/yvonne-strahovski-joins-shane-blacks-predator-978541
Anybody else see this lovely bit of Yvonne Strahovski news?
And his appearance on “Chuck” was in “Chuck Versus the Honeymooners,” no less! Ha!
Yes, really nice news.
Yes, wishing the best for them (just thought to look here after commenting on it in response to atcDave’s latest post about the 10 yr anniversary of Chuck’s premiere).
Russ/resaw
Apparently Yvonne has a shot at that Emmy we all know she deserves.
Yvonne has been amazing in Handmaid’s Tale. She’s in one of the most competitive categories. I hope she wins!
Yvonne is in amazing company. The nominees for supporting actress in a drama:
1. Vanessa Kirby, The Crown
2. Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
3. Alexis Bledel, Handmaid’s Tale
4. Ann Dowd, Handmaid’s Tale
5. Yvonne Strahovski, Handmaid’s Tale
6. Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things
7. Thandie Newton, Westworld
Of those I’ve seen The Crown, Game of Thrones, and Westworld. I’ll probably watch Stranger Things at some point, but I’m about half a generation ahead of those whose formative years were dominated by Goonies and ET. Handmaid’s Tale is a tough one. I saw the original movie, which was OK, but I largely wasn’t impressed. And I don’t doubt that there is dramatic material aplenty to merit 3 of the 7 nominees, and I hesitate to say this since we have done our best to remain an expressly apolitical site, but given what I’ve seen in media there is a whiff of politics to this that troubles me.
I haven’t seen the entire original film (just Faye Dunaway’s scenes which I watched prior to season 1 to get an idea what Yvonne’s character would be like). The show has superior production values to the film and the acting is very good. It’s a very popular show in the industry and with the Academy and also very popular with the awards show websites.
Having seen only Handmaid’s Tale, The Crown, and Stranger Things, I personally think Yvonne and Vanessa Kirby gave the strongest performances. Ann Dowd won last year and is a fantastic character actress, but didn’t have as much material to work with as Yvonne. I personally wouldn’t have nominated Bledel (who won guest actress last year) or Brown.
Just wanted to add that several others shows have had 3 performers nominated in the same category before including Golden Girls, Game of Thrones, Cheers, Saturday Night Live, West Wing, ER, Grey’s Anatomy and Modern Family (which had four nominees in supporting actor a couple of times).
The Emmys also made a rule change last year allowing voters to nominate as many performers as they want in each category (I think they could only vote for 6 per category before 2016). So the voters who liked Handmaid’s could vote for everyone they liked from the show and “vote splitting” wasn’t as much of an issue (overall 8 of 12 Handmaid’s Tale actors on the Emmy ballot got nominated).
I will also say that Game Of Thrones occasionally bothers me. It’s an HBO prestige project where I don’t see the writing giving performers the material that James Gandolfini had to work with. Game of Thrones does not elevate actors the way the Sopranos or The Wire did. Or for that matter Breaking Bad. Maybe it did in early seasons, but I don’t see it lately.
Cheers and ER I can see. Saturday Night Live, … Meh, it gets too much credit. It has launched some of the most mediocre franchises in history based on an undeserved reputation. (This does not include the original Blues Brothers, only sequels).
Personally never seen an episode of Modern Family, but West Wing and Sorkin, and the whiff of politics?
Ernie and Cojak
I can vouch for millie bobby brown, her performance in stranger things is phenomenal, I was hooked after season 1 in which she uses an absurd amount of non-verbal acting to bring a very complex character to life…no child should be able to effortless act like she does. It is more “supernatural season 1 and 2 ” but centered around kids, than Goonies. Definitely worth your time!
I also watch Handmaid’s tale I am not surprised at three nominations, and I am pulling for Yvonne but I fear she will get the Steve Carrel treatment (nominated frequently for The Office but never won) his snubs had me boycotting the Emmys for years, he carried the show brilliantly for 7 years and never won a single Emmy.
I don’t think i’ve seen one GOT episode and I don’t plan to, seems incredibly one dimensional and all flash and no substance. Modern Family needs to exit stage left, unlike TBBT it just has no idea how to be funny anymore and even when it did it is always overrated.
Speaking of TBBT it has rebounded nicely the last two years, not to level of its heyday but I still find it enjoyable and funny, when that goes it will be the last truly great sitcom to air, the genre is all but dead…
just subscribing to this thread
The Emmys are tomorrow. This is objectively speaking Yvonne’s best shot at the award…if she can’t snag it after this year’s performance on a show that has notable favor with the voters (the handmaid’s tale) I fear she won’t get one…having watched her performance I am pulling so hard for her so the wider industry sees what we all knew already!
The problem is HT has two more nominations in the same category, so the votes may be split. Any idea when the award for her category is? I want to watch the football game too.
No I don’t know but supporting categories are typically first
Yvonne really deserved to win, but this was such a tough category. The switch from the old ranked ballot system to voters only being able to pick their favorite makes it much harder to overcome vote splitting. Yvonne probably would have needed to finish well ahead of Ann Dowd (last year’s winner) and Alexis Bledel (last year’s guest winner) to win. But Thandie Newton was favored to win last year.
There were a lot of surprising winners last night (with no repeat winners from last year). Handmaids’ Tale was shut out last night too (but they won 3 Emmys at the Creative Arts Ceremony).
I think we have all been saying for several years she’s highly underrated in terms of recognition. Her shear depth and versatility should be enough to win one major individual award but it seems that she is always over looked as if voters just don’t see what is right in front of their faces…
Of all the shows in the line-up, I think The Crown, which I thoroughly enjoyed, was the only one I had watched. I thought Claire Foy was fantastic, so I was really pleased she won.
As much as I liked Yvonne in Chuck, she has been in so few things that interest me since. I watched 24 LAD and some of Astronauts Wives Club.
She was good in her first season of Dexter. The second they ruined the character, and the show essentially, with really poor writing.
I am glad Clair Foy won for lead though, she gave a fantastic and very understated performance. With three from Handmaids Tale for supporting actress they likely split the vote.
Good way to describe it, Ernie … understated. She was excellent. She shares Yvonne’s gift for subtlety and excellent facial expressions.
Yvonne took to Instagram late last night to announce her latest project.
Congratulations to the new mom and dad.