Gushing over Christina Hendricks and other things HAP AND LEONARD
News and interviews relating to SundanceTV’s forthcoming HAP AND LEONARD abound.
James Purefoy and Michael K. Williams as the titular characters in SundanceTV’s HAP AND LEONARD
James Purefoy was interviewed at the Sundance Film Festival.
“As soon as I read it, I recognized that guy,” exclaimed James Purefoy about his role as a blue collar East Texas man whose luck could turn for the better in the upcoming Sundance TV ’80s-set Hap And Leonard. The former Rome actor stopped by Deadline’s studio in Park City to talk about the new drama series premiering March 2. In our chat, Purefoy talks about how he was hooked into the show by his friend and former costar of NBC’s The Philanthropist Michael Kenneth Williams, who plays Leonard, a gay Vietnam Vet with serious anger issues. “Christina Hendricks plays my ex-wife,” Purefoy says, “and she offers them the opportunity to share $1 million which is in the trunk of a car at the bottom of an alligator-infested river.”
Christina Hendricks as Trudy
“Christina Hendricks is like a Rolls Royce,” James Purefoy gushed about his co-star while talking to@hollywood‘s Charlie Berens. on Friday, Jan. 22 in Park City, Utah. “We’re like a couple of beaten up rusty old trucks. She purrs onto the set.” Aw, what a compliment!
James was fortunate enough to work alongside Christina in Hap and Leonard, which will premiere on Sundance TV on March 2 at 10/9c. However, he was happy to chat all about filming the show — including a terrifying tornado that interrupted filming — at the festival.
“We shot it in Louisiana. The show is set in east Texas. For an Englishman, I like my weather mild. I like a soft drizzle. What I don’t like is tornados on the very first day of our set. I mean, a massive tornado, which sent the sky black at 3 o’clock in the afternoon,” James shared. That sounds terrifying! Thankfully, James seemed to be able to laugh the weather scare off now that he’s survived it.
Joe Lansdale with screenwriter Nick Damici (source: SundanceTV)
SUNDANCETV asked creator Joe R. Lansdale six questions about Hap and Leonard.
HAP AND LEONARD author Joe Lansdale sounds off on the latest novel in the series, the relationship between Hap and Leonard and what to expect when adventuring with this pair of trouble magnets.
Q: How many Hap and Leonard books have you written?
A: There are nine Hap and Leonard books. The ninth one is coming out in 2016, and I’m currently working on a tenth. Season One of HAP AND LEONARD is based on the first novel featuring the characters, Savage Season.
Q: What is the season about?
A: The season introduces us to the friendship of Hap and Leonard and to the fact that they seem to be trouble magnets. They think they’re going to make some easy money, but it’s never easy – especially for Hap. He leads Leonard into things that maybe Leonard wouldn’t do otherwise.
Q: How are they so different, yet such good friends?
A: They share a certain sense of honor at their core and a sense of stability with each other. They are family. They created their own family, so that is their big strength. Everything else radiates from that. You have one that was a war resister and one that went to fight in Vietnam, but I think the fact that they both felt that they were doing an honorable thing ties them together.
Read the rest at SUNDANCETV.
Styleframes designed by Damien Dastelica for the pitch of the title sequence of HAP AND LEONARD.
See the rest of the pitch designs at Damien Dastelica’s site.
THE LINEUP named it as one of the 13 CREEPY TV SHOWS YOU HAVE TO WATCH IN 2016.
ON SUNDANCETV
PREMIERS: MARCH 2, 10 P.M.
Because every taut thriller should have a bit of comic relief. Take a break from wetting yourself, and tune in to this action-packed mystery thriller about a pair of misfits fighting to stay on the right side of the Texas law in the ‘80s. Based on the Joe Lansdale novels, the series has ordered six episodes, four of which are directed by Jim Mickle (the English-language WE ARE WHAT WE ARE and COLD IN JULY).
Also coming this March are two new collections featuring the dynamic duo:
For more info on HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.
For more info about HAP AND LEONARD RIDE AGAIN, visit the Tachyon page.
Covers by Elizabeth Story
