Celeb Roundup: Maisie Williams cams for Doctor Who, Charles Dance busts ghosts, and more
By Ani Bundel
With filming for Game of Thrones Season 6 wrapping up in the next week, and all of our actors readying themselves for the inevitable barrage of interviews starting in January, it’s time once again to check in and see what side projects are going on during the offseason.
First up, what is dead may never die, or at least, that seems to be the way it works for Charles Dance. Though he’s left the series for good, Dance hasn’t slowed down. His turn as the alien Karellen in Childhood’s End starts this coming Monday on SyFy. In a recent interview with Variety, he noted that projects like Childhood’s End can thank Game of Thrones for being given a shot. “You know what this business is like — something seems to be successful, let’s try to do it again and again.”
SYFY UPFRONT PORTRAITS — Season:2015 — Pictured: Charles Dance “Childhood’s End” — (Photo by: Gavin Bond/Syfy)
Childhood’s End isn’t the only fantasy project he’s involved in. This week, representatives at Sony announced that Dance will be part of the cast of the new all-female Ghostbusters reboot. They did not confirm who or what he’ll be playing, but I think we can be assured it will be some one with a sonorous voice and evil intentions.
In more science fiction and fantasy projects that can thank Game of Thrones for being given the greenlight, executive producer Vince Gerardis, who has been working on Thrones since the very beginning (he reps George R.R. Martin as well) is developing a new series called The 4th Kingdom. Described as Mad Max meets Waterworld and “a high octane drama,” The 4th Kingdom will follow the Game of Thrones format with a ten-episode season made on a high budget ($40 million or so.) No channels have attached themselves yet, but it’s not a given that HBO will be interested. Gerardis’ Red Mars production wound up at SpikeTV.
One science fiction/fantasy that doesn’t have Thrones to thank is the long running Doctor Who, which brought aboard Maisie Williams this past season as the immortal Ashlidr. For those who don’t watch the show, Williams’ character turned up in the season finale at the very end of the Universe, watching the stars die, only to find herself aboard a second TARDIS stolen from Gallifrey with a now-revived companion Clara. As the Doctor took off in his iconic blue police box TARDIS one way, Clara and Ashlidr took off in their now-diner-shaped TARDIS for fun and adventures in another direction. Though this is ostensibly their last appearance on the show (Jenna Oswald, who plays Clara, will star in a historical series Victoria, while Williams is returning to Thrones full time), it does leave the door open for guest star returns.
Much like Williams’ last time on Doctor Who, the production gave her her own camera to play with, resulting in another spate of MaisieCams. Check out the new TARDIS she gets to ride around in, as well as her costars having fun on set.