musings about the actor and the characters he brings to life
Back in 2013, after he had appeared in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, I interviewed David Costabile for our high school alumni magazine (He and I were a year apart in high school and both part of the same theater program.) As part of the interview, he said this regarding his high school theater days: Continue reading “What Makes The Billions Cast Such A Family? The Fun They Have Together *UPDATED*”
Being a (somewhat) musician, I am always on alert for the effect of music on a show. I work in musical theater when not teaching, so the music there is often integral to the plot. But for regular movies and TV shows, the music still can add an element of drama and emotion that would hard to obtain otherwise. Think of movies like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET (sensing a John Williams theme here??) and the impact the music played there in the emotional moments of those shows.
Brian Koppelman gets this. He has been around music all his life, and if you follow him on Twitter you know he has very strong opinions about music. (Don’t ever ask him about the Sammy Hagar era of Van Halen – trust me, just don’t.) He and I both grew up in the 80’s alternative music scene. We are both REM fans, although where he prefers “Automatic for the People” I go with “Life’s Rich Pageant”, which leads me to my first musical choice for my playlist, and the one that early on got me paying attention to the song choices. Continue reading “Top Billions Songs: The Tail That Wags The Dog’s Playlist”
Last week I had the absolute privilege to conduct a Zoom interview with Kelly AuCoin and Stephen Kunken while they were holed up in New York City, on hiatus from the filming of Season 5 of Billions. In the interview we talked about how they are dealing with the COVID crisis in NYC, which has been at the center of the crisis, as well as how they got their start in Billions, what it’s like working with Damian Lewis, and a certain scene involving a minivan and a Porsche, as well as a host of other topics. While it is hard to tell from just the written word, it was abundantly clear in the interview how much they genuinely care for each other, how much they truly enjoy working with each other, and how much they appreciate working on Billions. That bromance we see between Dollar Bill and Spyros is not just a creation of the writers (we talked about them, too), but it is a real reflection of the affection and respect these two very talented actors have for each other, the show and their fans.
Continue reading “An Exclusive Fan Fun Interview with Kelly AuCoin and Stephen Kunken”
Hi everyone! Damianista here. We have been following the Billions cast truly enjoying each other’s company and genuinely supporting cast members’ performances on screen and stage for some time now. We are thrilled to have The Tail that Wags the Dog on the blog today giving us the Billions Family and the fun they have together. And HUGE thanks go to Kelly AuCoin, Chris Carfizzi, Daniel K. Isaac, and Stephen Kunken for providing quotes for the article.
ENJOY! Continue reading “What Makes The Billions Cast Such A Family? The Fun They Have Together *UPDATED*”