American actress and fashion icon Chloë Sevigny is one of Hollywood's boldest and most gifted actors. Known for her many indie film roles, Sevigny has garnered much critical acclaim since her 1995 debut, most recently a Golden Globe for her performance on HBO's Big Love. Sevigny is also widely revered for her sense of style, and recently launched her fourth collection for the hip NY label Opening Ceremony.
Chloë Sevigny stars
as transgender
assassin Mia in the upcoming
British miniseries Hit & Miss.
Premieres May 22 on Sky Atlantic!
Deadline.com has confirmed Chloë Sevigny will be appearing as transgender assassin Mia in the upcoming six-part British miniseries Hit and Miss, as reported last week. Chloë spilled the beans on the upcoming show already last week in two promotional interviews for Mr. Nice with Ology and BlackBookMag.com.
Big Love co-star Chloe Sevigny is segueing to a new series, this time on the other side of the Atlantic. Sevigny has signed on to topline Hit and Miss, a provocative new drama from Shameless creator Paul Abbott for new satellite channel Sky Atlantic. Written by feature writer Sean Conway (Brilliant Love) and to be directed by Hettie Macdoland (Beautiful Thing), the six-episode series centers on Mia (Sevigny), a contract killer with a big secret – she is a transgender hit man who suddenly finds out that in the previous life has fathered several children. Abbott is executive producing with Nicola Shindler. This is familiar subject matter for Sevigny who earned an Oscar nomination for her role in the 1999 movie Boys Don’t Cry. For now, the actress has committed only for the initial 6 episodes. She is currently training for the role, with filming scheduled for this summer.
Hit and Miss marks the first original series for Sky Atlantic, which launched on Feb. 1 with a lineup dominated by high-profile U.S. cable series. The channel has an exclusive output deal with HBO for its series and movies, including Big Love, and also carries AMC’s Mad Men and Showtime’s Weeds. Hit and Miss is yet to be formally pitched to U.S. networks, but I hear that there is already interest. Because of Sevigny and Sky Atlantic’s ties to HBO, the pay cable network is a logical home, with Showtime also a possibility given Abbott’s relationship there through the U.S. version of his hit Shameless. Sevigny, who received a Critics’ Choice TV yesterday for Big Love, is developing with Playtone Lizzie Borden, a four-hour miniseries for HBO, in which she is set to star as well as co-executive produce. She is with WME and Brillstein Entertainment.
Sounds like Chloë has another miniseries in the works! According to Ology and BlackBookMag.com‘s recent interviews with Chloë Sevigny, Chloë will soon be heading over to the UK to appear as a “pre-op male-to-female tranny assassin” in a new miniseries. The relevant quotations from BBM.com and Ology respectively:
I’m working on a southern Irish accent at the moment for a miniseries I’m about to begin filming.
Can you tell me about it?
It’s a British production for Sky Atlantic, and I’m playing a pre-op male-to-female tranny assassin. It’s very realistic. It’s being created by a lot of the people who were involved in the original Skins, so it’s going to be very edgy.
Wow. You’ve done quite a few projects with trans content: Candy Darling, Boy’s Don’t Cry…
… Party Monster, If These Walls Could Talk 2. But I feel this will be my most feminine, most glamorous role to date. I hope that I have enough gay stripes that I won’t get totally attacked. It was the creators’ idea not to hire a boy to play the part, and of course as an actor you’re going to jump on that. I’m going to try to play it as beautiful and as feminine and as glamorous as I can — not like Transamerica.
WHAT’S NEXT?
I’m going to England to do a miniseries. I don’t think it’s been announced yet, so I’m not supposed to talk about it. I will be playing a pre-op male to female tranny assassin. It’s f*ckin’ awesome, but there’s an accent.
A terrific and informative article and interview with Chloë Sevigny from BlackBookMag.com, in which Chloë discusses among other things working on Mr. Nice and portraying Judy Marks, Big Love, Drew Droege’s “Chloe Sevigny” drag impression and growing up. Full article under the cut.
Chloë Sevigny on Going from Drug Smuggler to Pre-Op Trans Assassin
No one could ever accuse actor Chloë Sevigny of playing it safe. From her first major role as an HIV-positive teenager in Larry Clark’s KIDS to her Golden Globe Award–winning portrayal of a sister-wife on HBO’s Big Love, the 36-year-old actor and fashion designer has never been one to shy away from controversy. In her latest film, Mr. Nice, Sevigny plays Judy Marks, wife of Howard Marks, a Welsh drug smuggler who was alleged to have once run 10% of the world’s hashish trade. Up next, she’s planning a return to television with two very different miniseries: a Lizzie Borden biopic, in which she’ll play the homicidal lead, and a still-untitled project about a pre-op transsexual assassin, for which she’s readying her Irish brogue.
First, however, a chat — about everything from Patti Smith and bong hits to why her brother Paul won’t be DJing her first Opening Ceremony fashion show next week — from inside Manhattan’s Playwright Tavern, an appropriately unexpected place to meet an Oscar nominee.
Had you known about Howard Marks before signing on to play his wife?
No, but I asked my English friends, who said he was a huge counter-culture icon in the UK. He wrote a book, also called Mr Nice, that every kid over there reads. The alternative kids hero-worship him.
Have you read Judy’s blog?
No, I’m not really into the internet.
She says lovely things about you on it.
We didn’t meet until after I finished shooting the film, but we ended up bonding in Spain. I think Bernard [Rose, the film’s director] didn’t want me to become friendly with her because he didn’t want it to color my performance. He didn’t want me to become more sympathetic to her and to her children, even though I’d read all about it from the book.
She wrote that the two of you have a lot in common, one of those things being that you’ve both had your “fair share of messing about on yachts.” What did she mean by that?
She grew up in a sailing family and so did I. My dad was a big sailor and my brother Paul actually tried to sail in the Olympics. He went to the College of Charleston because of their sailing team. He used to deliver people’s yachts from Newport down to the Caribbean for money, and I’ve done that with him a few times. So that’s probably what she meant, but maybe it’s also a class thing because the English are so obsessed with that. Maybe she means we’re cut from a similar cloth.
Chloë Sevigny Sick of Playing the Suffering Wife, Incredibly Honest
They say honesty is the best policy, but few actors take that sentiment to heart as genuinely as Chloë Sevigny, who was kind enough to sit down with me and a few other curious minds this morning in midtown Manhattan. She has one of those ebullient laughs that nervously tumbles out without warning. Ms. Sevigny is promoting her latest film, the little seen Mr. Nice, which played SXSW last March and has its U.S. premiere on June 3rd. It’s the true life story of Howard Marks, a Welsh dope smuggler played by Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, The Replacements), as directed by Bernard Rose (Candyman, Immortal Beloved). Ms. Sevigny plays Howard’s wife Judy, and had plenty to say on a myriad of topics. Things like:
TRANSPORTATION
The car service guy decided to cross town on 45th street. It was really idiotic.
WHY SHE PLAYED THE PART
I was attracted to Rhys. Not as in I wanted to get in the sack with him, but I was attracted to him as an actor and as a human.
THE REAL JUDY MARKS
Unfortunately, I didn’t meet Judy until the very end. Bernard didn’t want me to meet her and I had to respect the director’s wishes, but now I wish I had been able to meet her sooner. I would have had more ideas to play with to humanize her more than just the long-suffering wife, which is always slightly humiliating.
MARIJUANA
I can’t smoke pot because I get The Fear. I get paranoid. But some of the other cast and crew members were partaking. Method acting.
“I don’t have one ounce of the milk of human kindness in me. I’m spiteful, jealous and mean…”
- Nicolette “Nicki” Henrickson
What a ride. What a conclusion. Hopefully everyone tuned in to the season and series finale of HBO’s Big Love last night. Here’s our last ever Big Love recap, of yesterday’s episode 5.10 “Where Men and Mountains Meet”. Please note that this recap is not spoiler-free and spoilerific discussion is allowed in the comments-section of this post, so if you haven’t seen the episode yet and would like to remain unspoiled, please come back later.
Onto today’s update, beginning with a video of the making of the final scenes of the finale. HBO hasn’t released an actual video recap of the episode yet, but this’ll do just as well. Courtesy of HBO:
Since we don’t have a video recap today, here’s a quick summary of what happened last night — please highlight to read: Following a family dinner, Cara Lynn reveals to Nicki she is thinking of moving back to her “other family”, but is ultimately able to reconnect with her mother. The Henricksons lose Home Plus. Barb reveals she plans to be baptized in her new church, but is later unable to follow through with it without her family there. After a bold move at the state senate to legalize polygamy, Bill receives an unexpected warm welcome from the polygamist community at his new church, where he then experiences a new “heavenly vision”. Frank keeps his promise to the dementia-ridden Lois and ends her life peacefully. In the final moments of the episode, Bill is unexpectedly confronted and gunned down by his neighbor outside his house while the wives are inside preparing the Easter dinner. With his last breath, Bill asks Barb to give him a blessing, and he dies in the arms of his three wives. Eleven months later, it is revealed the wives are still together, with Barb carrying on Bill’s legacy of his church, Cara Lynn still living with Nicki and Margie following his passion for voluntary work. Ben and Heather have also reconciled, while Sarah and Scott are still together and now have a baby.
As HBO & co. prepare to bid adieu to Big Love with tonight’s season and series finale, the network has published this terrific half-hour special about the making of the show, in which the cast and crew talk about the series and what it’s been like to bring it to a close. Featured in the video are stars Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ginnifer Goodwin and Chloë Sevigny, as well as the series’ creators, Will Scheffer and Mark V. Olsen.
An extra important reminder today that HBO’s Big Love is coming to a close tonight after five riveting seasons. Please don’t forget to tune in to tonight’s season and series finale, episode 5.10 “Where Men and Mountains Meet”, beginning 9/8c on HBO.
With the specter of jail time looming, Bill charts out contingency plans for the family, while orchestrating a last-minute preemptive referendum on the senate floor. Meanwhile, Barb goes forward with her plan to join a reform-minded church; Margene contemplates taking a hiatus to serve as a volunteer abroad; and Nicki despairs being left alone as her family splinters. Cara Lynn considers a return to her roots; Ben enlists Rhonda to help him win over Heather; Don shares some bad news with Bill about Home Plus. As Easter arrives, the Henricksons receive heartening support from their polygamist constituents, briefly lifting the dark cloud that’s been hovering over the family since Bill’s election. Finally, an unexpected vision leads Bill to a final confrontation with his most deeply-held beliefs.
[Bill: "You risked everything for your daughter. You didn't cause this!"]
“I did…! She’s right. I am horrible! I’m worse than them! I’m worse than any of them!… They didn’t put the shame into her. JJ didn’t. Alby didn’t. My father didn’t. I did. Why would Heavenly Father have allowed that? He has forsaken us! He’s taken his love from us!”
- Nicolette “Nicki” Henrickson
Hope y’all have been tuning in to the last episodes of HBO’s Big Love. Here’s at last our recap of last Sunday’s episode; sorry for the delay, but we unexpectedly ran out of space this weekend and weren’t able to get that sorted until now. Anyway, onto today’s update, beginning with the HBO video recap of last Sunday’s episode 5.09 “Exorcism” from the HBO website:
So as always, any thoughts on the episode? Personally, Chloë Sevigny owned this one with her portrayal of Nicki. Nicki and Cara Lynn had a couple of absolutely heartbreaking but at the same time riveting moments in this episode, as did all the wives in their wives’ meeting in the early minutes of the show; my second favorite scene. To me the best scene last Sunday, though, was Nicki confronting Cara Lynn in her bedroom. After the show, I read a lot of comments online about how bad it was of Nicki to say those things to her daughter and how she was really talking about herself and not Cara Lynn. But although I don’t really disagree with that, I do think Nicki had a point; Cara Lynn is “a little manipulator,” as she’s admitted herself. The problem was the way it came out was like an older child blasting a younger, not a mother scolding a daughter; there was no motherly “guidance”, only blame. It’s a powerful scene.
But then Chloë was in fact really terrific throughout. Her expressions and movements were just spot-on hilarious e.g. when she noticed the boys were eyeing something going on outside the house while they were performing Margie’s song. Priceless and brilliant. I’m really going to miss Nicki and her mischievousness.
Media-wise, we’ve updated the gallery with 294 HD screen captures of Chloë as Nicki in the episode, as well as 10 site-exclusivevideo clips. Please remember you must be a registered and logged in media archive user to access our collection of video clips — unlogged users will not be able to view said material. All new videos are in .MOV format, which is playable in e.g. VLC and QuickTime.
So, this is it. The season and series finale is today. :,( Do not miss it.
Short but informative article and interview with Chloë Sevigny regarding her upcoming Lizzie Borden miniseries with HBO from LATimes.com. Although the article is brief, it sheds a little light on how the idea for the series came about. Full article below.
Chloe Sevigny talks about developing Lizzie Borden miniseries
Now that Big Love is coming to a close, Chloe Sevigny is on the prowl for a juicy role. This week, HBO confirmed reports in the trades that Sevigny was developing a miniseries about Lizzie Borden, the 19th century woman who became a part of American folklore after being accused (and acquitted) of murdering her father and stepmother with a hatchet.
Sevigny is in the early stages of developing the project with Playtone, the Tom Hanks-and-Gary Goetzman production company that produced Big Love.
When we spoke to her back in December for this profile, she confessed that pitching the project was “the most terrifying thing, 10 million times worse than auditioning. Normally the writer does most of that, but I brought visuals and books. I was totally geeky, and I was like, I don’t know how this works but look at this! I just wanted to show enthusiasm.”
Sevigny admits that almost all of her roles have been the result of “an incoming call” — which suggests that taking the lead on a TV project was a brave new experience.
“Yes, fun and scary. Making lists of production designers and costume designers and directors, and things like that. I thought about directing a couple of shorts I had ideas for … I had always wanted to because it’s so hard to find good parts. I was just kind of waiting for something to happen, some kind of spark of inspiration, so when I found that, I was gung-ho.”
Although her Big Love character, Nicki, is intensely manipulative, Sevigny herself seems much more laid back. Is she bossy enough to run a show?
“Oh my God, I’m bossy! You should see me on the set. Once I had a director tell me, ‘You know what I find works for me, Chloe? When I focus on my own job.’ I said, ‘You’re leaving in a week, this is my show.’ I’m a control freak. I’d be very good as a director.”
Several news sources are reporting that a Lizzie Borden miniseries Chloë Sevigny has been hinting at in her recent interviews, is in fact happening. The news from Deadline.com:
Chloe Sevigny, star of the Playtone-produced HBO drama Big Love, is tackling another project with the pay-cable network and Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s production company, this time on the longform side.
HBO is developing Lizzie Borden, a four-hour miniseries about the infamous story of Lizzie Borden who, in 1893, was acquitted of murdering her overbearing father and step-mother with a hatchet, but was publically condemned. Sevigny, who has been the driving force behind the project, is set to star as Borden as well as co-executive produce. Because of her relationship with Playtone on Big Love, she took the project to Hanks and Goetzman, who are executive producing. Sevigny, repped by WME and Brillstein Entertainment, also brought in writer Bryce Kass, who is in the midst of writing the script.
As always, we’ll keep you posted on any and all developments regarding the new project, which we’ll now treat as confirmed. Congrats on the new project, Chloë!
With Alby on the run and posing an imminent threat, the Henrickson family finds itself in lockdown mode. Frazzled though not incapacitated after a near-death experience, Nicki decides to break Cara Lynnʼs “dependencies” by enrolling her in boarding school. Barb spars with Bill about her new churchʼs stance on polygamy, and her commitment to the family. Lois begs Frank to rescue her from confinement; Margene vows to repay Pam for her Goji investment; Ben (Douglas Smith) and Bill debate what to do about Rhonda.
As always, coverage of Chloë Sevigny’s appearance on the show as Nicolette “Nicki” Grant will be posted next week. Check back soon!
“You do have a choice. You do, Alby. Remember that early spring when papa wouldn’t let us go swimming because it was too cold? We went anyway, and I waded in too deep and the current swept me away. But you ran in and pulled me out. Do you remember?… Same blood runs through our veins and always will. I’m the one person who understands you!…”
- Nicolette “Nicki” Henrickson
As always, hope y’all were able to tune in last night to the new episode of Big Love. The HBO video recap of episode 5.08 “The Noose Tightens” from the HBO website:
So as always, any thoughts on the new episode? First off, a Chloë Sevigny fan though I am, can I just say: Ginnifer Goodwin – wow!! She really showed a whole new side to Margene in this episode, and I loved every second of it.
On another note, I know this season was promoted with promises that Alby would eventually go off his rocker, but little did I know just how literally they meant it. Sure enough, Nicki (especially as his sister) pushed the wrong button bringing up Dale, but I think what happened in this episode finally showed there was never any negotiating with Alby anyway. I’m surprised how quickly the episode dealt with Margie’s “cult idea”, though; there would’ve definitely been more material to cover there. But I guess with only two episodes left there just wasn’t any time to go into it more.
Media-wise, we’ve updated the gallery with 239 HD screen captures of Chloë as Nicki in the episode, as well as 9 site-exclusivevideo clips. Please remember you must be a registered and logged in media archive user to access our collection of video clips — unlogged users will not be able to view said material. All new videos are in .MOV format, which is playable in e.g. VLC and QuickTime.
Hope you check back with us again next week for coverage from this Sunday’s episode. Only two more to go!…
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