Alan Loayza starred in Gilmore Girls as Colin McCrae of the Life & Death Brigade. Since promoting his work in the Role Playing-based web series, GOLD, I’ve exchanged a few emails with Alan about his recent projects and his experience on Gilmore Girls.

Alan has a diverse creative background, including acting, music and photography. Most recently, Alan was in Paris doing a photo shoot that you can currently find featured at the top of his website. He also worked with Tanc Sade & Nick Holmes on the Two Straws short. His web series, GOLD, has now aired 5 episodes (see them here) with the Season 1 finale to air on June 26, 2009. Alan Loayza can be also be found online at twitter.com/alanloayza.

GilmoreGirlsNews.com: How did you get involved in the GOLD web series?

Alan Loayza: GOLD came about from David Nett who has a theatre company that I did a play with. The company is called Lucid by Proxy and I got involved through some old college buddies from CalArts. One day David said ,"I’m making a web series about D&D gamers and I want you to play the head of the British team." I didn’t know countries had D&D teams but the Lucid people always make great original work so I knew this wouldn’t be any different.

GilmoreGirlsNews.com: Could you describe your character on GOLD and how he evolves in the series?

Alan Loayza: Oliver Crane is a megalomaniacal self-proclaimed leader of his team. His only goal in life is to defeat the Americans at any costs using his fame and psychological tactics to set the Americans off. The funniest part about Oliver’s past is that he was the star of an old BBC show where he solved crimes with the ghost of J.R.R. Tolkien. This is one for the fantasy geeks through and through. The thing with Oliver that is a running theme with the show is that he’s not on his game as we are to believe he used to be, and that’s GOLD in a nutshell. An ensemble of characters loosing their grip of what they used to have going for them. Read more

Tanc Sade payed the Life & Death Brigade eccentric Finn on Gilmore Girls. Tanc was born in Australia and had worked in several theatrical productions, as well as some tv and movie roles, before landing his role on Gilmore Girls.

Tanc and I exchanged emails recently, after I promoted one of his short films, Two Straws, which brought together 2 other Gilmore Girls Life & Death Brigade alumns, Nick Holmes (Robert) and Alan Loayza (Colin McCrae). This was Tanc’s second $20 short, after You Had Me at Hello, with a brand new short released just this week, A New Dawn. This latest film features Tanc wearing a Motion Capture Suit doing a little dance as the Hulk. The film ends with a message about Prop 8: “If the Green Man can loosen up a little, so can you. Support same-sex marriage.”

In the interview below, Tanc talks more about these $20 shorts, as well as some of his experiences on Gilmore Girls. Tanc can also be found on Twitter at twitter.com/giddyuptiger.

GilmoreGirlsNews.com: In homage to Twitter, tell us a little bit about yourself in 140 characters or less.

Tanc Sade: A lucky fella who gets to create art and still put food on the table and keep a roof over his head. It may be simple but it’s a good life…

GilmoreGirlsNews.com: What inspired you to start working on the $20 shorts?

Tanc Sade: Between the economy and the looming SAG strike work had slowed down. As an artist, if I’m not working as an actor, I need to be doing something else. I loved the experience of making Flowers and Weeds and thought it would be great to direct again. By giving myself the limitations of completing the films in less then 7 days and for less than $20, it meant I had to really push myself creatively. I think it has also made me a better director.

GilmoreGirlsNews.com: Where did the idea come for your latest short, Two Straws?

Tanc Sade: No idea. It goes something like this. I want to make a short. I want to work with Nick and Alan. I need to shoot it in one location. OK, two guys at a bar. 10 minutes later I had Two Straws. Read more

Earlier this week I shared with you Megan’s experience meeting Lauren Graham on April 17th, and now I have another great fan experience from Michael, who has been a long-time reader of GilmoreGirlsNews.com and is great at passing news tips!

Michael met Lauren on April 17th as well, after a production of Guys and Dolls. Michael was lucky enough to know someone on Broadway who got him backstage access!

I actually got to meet her, and she was SO sweet and nice! I got two pictures of me and her (excuse the zoom). We also told her that we came there for my birthday, so she signed my Luke’s hat Happy Birthday, and also signed my Playbill!!!!! It was incredible!!! While backstage, I saw some of her costumes,wigs, props, sets, and saw where she does some of her quick changes! The backstage is so small that in order to get to the other side of the stage, everyone has to go in a small narrow hallway underneath the stage with all of the tech rooms on either sides. My experience was amazing, and it is the highlight of my life!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Check out the other photos Michael has shared with us: Read more

Megan wanted to share with us her experience of going to watch Guys and Dolls in New York and meeting Lauren Graham. Megan shares that the theatrical production is a “really cute story” and that Lauren Graham did an amazing job with both the singing and the acting.

Megan went to see Guys and Dolls on April 17th and went to the stage door after in order to meet Lauren. She shares that the crowd outside started to freak out when Lauren came outside, but she managed to get some autographs and a hug from Lauren! Since Megan was only in New York for a short time, she went back a second time to see her again.

“she’s so pretty and nice in person and she’s halarious! she was making everyone laugh! and the second day i saw her, there wasn’t as many people so we were just talking to her like she was out friend or something!”

Fantastic experience! If you also have a chance to see Guys and Dolls and to meet Lauren Graham, email me with your experience and/or photos! Read more

Last month I mentioned that Keiko Agena (Lane Kim on Gilmore Girls) wrote a comic for an upcoming graphic novel anthology, Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology. I have had a chance to interview Keiko about her story, Learn to Share, as well as interview the graphic artist, Ming Doyle, who helped bring her story to life.

Preview of Keiko Agena’s story, ‘Learn to Share’, with art by Ming Doyle

Learn to Share is just one of the comic book stories in the Secret Identities anthology, each story telling the tale of Asian American superheroes. Check out the SI site for more about the editors, artists and writers behind these great stories.

Keiko Agena was paired up with Ming Doyle for their story, ‘Learn to Share’. This was their first time working together, which Ming calls an “honor” and Keiko saying Ming was “amazing throughout this experience.”

GilmoreGirlsNews.com - How did you get involved with the ‘Secret Identities’ anthology?

Keiko Agena: I’m good friends with Parry Shen who is one of the editors of the book. He approached me a few months ago and asked me if I was interested in submitting anything.

GilmoreGirlsNews.com - What was your inspiration behind writing Learn to Share?

Keiko Agena: When I first heard about the project this image of a young girl isolated from the rest of the world came to mind. I was attracted to this sense of her lonliness and separation.

GilmoreGirlsNews.com - What is your story about?

Keiko Agena: Sera is a young Thai girl who, due to her traumatic childhood, loses her sight. She discovers she can momentarily regain her sense of sight by “stealing” someone else’s. In those moments she can see both from her point of view and theirs. She becomes aware of a young girl who has gone missing and uses this “power” to see through the eyes of everyone in the city to find the girl. By the end, she’s happy and can see, but only by permanently borrowing it from someone else… Read more

John Cabrera (Brian Fuller on Gilmore Girls) will appear in the Friday, March 20th episode of CBS drama Numb3rs. Update: the episode will air on April 10th (likely) due to a 2 week break in broadcasting of the show.

In the episode, entitled ‘Animal Rites’, the FBI investigates after animal rights extremists sabotage a CalSci animal testing lab and kill one researcher. I can’t find the trailer for the episode yet, but will add it when it becomes available. John has shared with us this photo of him on-set for the episode:

Also set your calendars for April 7th (Update: April 14th) when John will appear in an episode of Without A Trace, entitled ‘Hard Landing’. John filmed both CBS dramas in the same week and explains his roles on his blog here. And here’s an on-set photo for Without A Trace:

Don’t forget to check out my interview with John talking about his upcoming projects & his experience on Gilmore Girls. Also hop over to John’s blog or twitter for more updates.

Image credit: John Cabrera

Nick Holmes played the character of Robert Grimaldi on Gilmore Girls. He appeared in 4 episodes, starting with ‘You Jump, I Jump, Jack‘ and ending with ‘The Real Paul Anka.‘ Robert Grimaldi was a member of The Life and Death Brigade, one of the guys most often seen hanging with Colin and Finn.

I had a chance to speak briefly with Nick, who shared that he’d originally auditioned for the role of Dean (which went to Jared Padalecki) for the Gilmore Girls pilot. He subsequently came back for other love interest auditions, including for Tristan and Jess. However, it wasn’t until ‘You Jump, I Jump, Jack‘ that Nick found his role.

“I think they gave me the role because of the shooting required - there’s a gag in that episode where the Life and Death Brigade is skeet shooting, but with paintball guns at men in tuxedos - and I’ve had extensive experience with paintball and shooting in general,” Nick notes.

I asked Nick what his experience was like working on Gilmore Girls, and this is what he had to say:

“My first night of filming was in Griffith Park and that’s when I met Alexis, Matt, Tanc Sade, and Alan Loayza. I was terrified - but Alexis was really cool and Matt is the sweetest guy alive, so that helped a lot. Plus, the director of that episode, Kenny Ortega (High School Musical), was very at ease and that made the whole set relax. It was amazing to see the Out Of Africa type environment they had set up in the forest. I was walking around feeling very high on the whole experience.

The next day of filming was at the Disney Ranch north of Los Angeles. It was a big day with a lot to accomplish - like the umbrella platform jump. Last shot of the day was the skeet shooting and that’s when the pressure was really on me. There was only a few minutes of daylight left so Amy proposed a long steady-cam shot that would prevent having to shoot close up coverage of everyone. The start of this shot was my shooting the guys in tuxedos flying through the air. After a few false starts and gun errors (I didn’t get a chance to tune the gun before hand) everyone was really looking at me like I was full of it and they were worried it wasn’t going to happen. I got my head together and we got the shot, then we had just enough time to get coverage of the men in tuxedos getting hit. So until the sun went down I was standing in the middle of the Disney Ranch, surrounded by the crew and the production staff (who had come down to watch the spectacle), shooting stunt men as they were launched into the air two at a time. By that time I was warmed up and I couldn’t miss and everyone was having a great time watching it all happen. It was, without a doubt, the most delightfully surreal moment of my life.” Read more

About a month ago I stumbled across a piece of news about John Cabrera, who played the role of Brian Fuller on Gilmore Girls, and his upcoming web series H+. Since then John and I have exchanged a few emails and tweets (twitter.com/johncabrera) and he took some time to do an interview for GilmoreGirlsNews.com about what he’s been up to.

GilmoreGirlsNews.com: In the spirit of fun, my first question is a Twitter-inspired one. In 140 characters or less, tell us a little about yourself.

John Cabrera: Thin otaku w/glasses frm Miami. Always tinkerin w/somethin. Never gettin nuff sleep. Freq. 1st degree monitor burns.

GilmoreGirlsNews.com: Nice! There’s probably an interesting story to that last one! So, I saw from your bio that you attended DePaul’s The Theatre School, but was there something that drew you to acting?

John Cabrera: Well, for most of my childhood I actually thought I would pursue a career in design. I attended a special arts school my first two years of high school. But I didn’t really enjoy it. I think partly because I never felt I truly excelled at it, and also because the silence in those classes drove me crazy. So I decided to enroll in a drama class taught by a beloved writing teacher, and after a week or two I thought, "I can totally do this." The following year I was back at my normal high school living the glamorous life of a full time drama dork. But it wasn’t until I attended DePaul that I actually learned how to act. It was a great school and a rigorous 4 years.

GilmoreGirlsNews.com: How did you get involved with Gilmore Girls (which was your first role, I believe)?

John Cabrera: On TV, yeah. The short answer is that I auditioned for the role, I booked it, I showed up for work and was like, "hey guys!". But the longer answer is a little stranger… cooler, maybe? A lot of people know that Sean Gunn (Kirk Gleason) and I attended DePaul at the same time, and have been very close friends for nearly 15 years. We even started a short lived theater company in Chicago back in the mid nineties. Anyway, the first year I was in LA (2001) I threw a Christmas party for a bunch of us who weren’t flying home to family. Sean invited his friend Mara Casey who was also a Christmas orphan that year… and who was ALSO one of the casting directors for Gilmore Girls. We hit it off and stayed in touch. In 2002 I performed in a play on the The Mark Taper Forum’s Second Stage that received a fair amount of acclaim. She came to see it and after that started pushing me for roles. I was actually up for one before Brian. And at the time I would have considered it to be a larger role… but it only appeared in one episode. Then when they came up with the concept for the band, Dan Palladino, from what I’m told, called Mara and said, "Can you bring in that really nerdy friend of yours?" Dan Palladino said this, mind you. Half of my wardrobe on the show was inspired by Dan Palladino.

GilmoreGirlsNews.com: Awesome to be remembered as the ‘nerdy friend’, but that’s definitely the ‘Brian Fuller’ vibe we got.

John Cabrera: Yeah.

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Liza Weil (Paris Geller on Gilmore Girls) stars in The Missing Person, a film currently screening at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) stars in The Missing Person as John Rosow, a private detective prone to sardonic wit, gin and the mixing of the two. Rosow is hired to tail a man, Harold Fullmer (Frank Wood) on a train from Chicago to LA, gradually uncovering Harold’s identity as a missing person… one who was presumed dead after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Persuaded by the promise of a large reward, Rosow is charged to bring Harold back to his wife in NY against his will. In so doing, Rosow must face if it’s right to return a man to a life that no longer exists for him. To answer this, he must face the pain in his own past.

Liza Weil stars in The Missing Person as Agent Chambers, one of the “meddling” FBI agents that comes in contact with Rosow in LA. You can see Liza in the trailer below about a minute into it.

“The Missing Person” Trailer:

Also starring in The Missing Person are Amy Ryan, Linda Emond, Paul Sparks, Margaret Conline and Daniel Franzese. The film is produced by Jesse Scolaro, Allen Bain, Lois Drabkin and Alex Estes with Ryan and Jason Orans as executive producers. The film was written and directed by Noah Buschel, who also wrote and directed Neal Cassady, also with Liza Weil. See an interview with Noah about The Missing Person here.

“The Missing Person” Photography:

Read more

Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls) and Emily Bergl (Chilton’s elite Francie Jarvis in Gilmore Girls) star in the Second Stage production of Gina Gionfriddo’s play, Becky Shaw, directed by Peter DuBois. The play had its opening night on Thursday, January 8th. Gilmore Girls co-stars Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Edward Herrmann (Edward Gilmore) were on hand to support Kelly Bishop on opening night.

In Becky Shaw, a newlywed couple fix up two romantically challenged friends. When the path to happiness goes astray, we must ask what we owe to the people we love as well as to the strangers who land in our way. Learn more about the play, which also stars David Wilson Barnes, Annie Parisse, and Thomas Sadoski, here.

In reviews of the production, Becky Shaw is called “perfect nourishment” for theatergoers looking for drama (AP) with Kelly Bishop as a “delight” in her role of a widow with MS dating a much younger man. Variety says the play is “blithely cynical and devastatingly funny”, with Emily Bergl’s portrayal of Suzanna as “endearingly strung-out” and Kelly Bishop’s Susan “could snap your spine with one basilisk look”. The New York Daily News says perhaps the play is “too clever”, but gives high praise to Kelly Bishop as “delectably funny” and “maternal as barbed wire.”

Becky Shaw will be running from now through to March 15th at Second Stage Theater, six weeks more than was originally scheduled. Tickets are $70 and may be purchased by phoning 212-246-4422 or 800-766-6048 or online at www.2ST.com

For more photos from the premiere of ‘Becky Shaw’… Read more