Legends: Starring role in series pilot for TNT

[Sable899]

They got the series order when they were still putting the finishing touches on the pilot, which caused them to go right in to filming of the remaining 9 episodes. By the time they attended the TNT Upfronts in NYC they had the whole first season in the can. Its set to air in January, 2014.

[najinboulder]

Thanks for the link beanfan.  I thought they had shot the pilot and were now working on the series.  This article confirms that.  This makes more sense than working on season 2 before season 1 airs. 

[patch]

writer/executive producer Howard Gordon talks "Legends

On the long road to Legends, which was originally set up – twice, he said – at NBC. “We went originally with Brendan Frasier attached. This thing has really been a process and in the end we wound up with Sean Bean and with a writing staff that I’m really excited about.”

What is Legends about? “It’s about a guy who’s a deep cover operative for a branch of the FBI which is long-term, deep cover operative. Sean Bean is this guy who is amazing at being other people, not so good about being Martin Odum, himself. Lousy husband, busted marriage, a kid he’s trying to get close to…it turns out he may not even be Martin Odum. So the existential mystery of who he is is something that runs through the show…and we have an astounding cast.

http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/07/homeland-season-3-scoop-howard-gordon-on-gravitational-pull-of-c/

[lighty]

I could be wrong, but I don't think existential means what he thinks he means . . .

[patch]

More from Howard Gordon about Sean Bean

“He’s electric,” Gordon said of casting Bean as his leading man, Martin Odum, an agent working for the Deep Cover Operations division of the FBI.

“I had been a fan of his for so many years,” Gordon said. “The thing about Sean is he is extraordinary and charismatic and he’s a movie star, but he’s an actor and this part is about being an actor.”

And Gordon praised Bean’s performance in Season 1 of “Thrones.”

“It was transcendent and he has that kind of dignity and that kind of grace and the pathos that I think audiences have connected with and I hope this is a part and a role that really reengages the audiences with him,” Gordon said.

http://www.accesshollywood.com/howard-gordon-talks-homeland-bringing-back-24-and-casting-sean-bean-in-tnts-legends_article_82331



Television Writer/Producer @lizbenjamin

researching govt. mind control experiments can make one paranoid. #JustSaying #Legends

[moonflower]

It's nice to read the producer's praise of Sean.

[Sable899]

...I hope this is a part and a role that really reengages the audiences with him,...

Ummmm, apparently this guy doesn't know Sean's fanbase. Since when has his fanbase ever disengaged with him? Once you see his brilliance on the screen, big or small, you never disengage. You rabidly wait for his next project to come out.

[lasue]

WELL SAID SABLE !!!! I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU ABOUT SEAN !!!!  

[najinboulder]

Yes the producer doesn't know his fans or Sean's work.  Sean is one of the busiest working lead actors out there. 

[patch]

Ali Larter Talks New Roles, First Cookbook

You’re also starring as Crystal Quest in TNT’s upcoming series Legends. How are you preparing for this role?
AL: Howard Gordon has created this show where you get to push yourself as an actor, and it’s going to be so much fun to create different personas; when they go deep cover, they create these identities, and it’s a psychological drama about how you blur the lines between your personal and your professional life, and the psychological toll that takes.
.... Hopefully Legends will be something that audiences connect to and love...

http://michiganavemag.com/personalities/articles/ali-larter-legends-lovesick-kitchen-revelry

[patch]

'Legends' star Ali Larter talks tech must-haves and her return to television (Video)

http://www.examiner.com/article/legends-star-ali-larter-talks-tech-must-haves-and-her-return-to-television

[patch]

Legends [Paperback] Publication date june 14   Amazone UK release date not yet confirmed.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legends-Robert-Littell/dp/0715647490/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379681153&sr=1-1&keywords=Robert+Littell

[patch]

Exclusive Interview: Howard Gordon on HOMELAND Season 3

The exec producer teases Season 3, plus talks Sean Bean in the upcoming LEGENDS

What are you making for TNT?

GORDON: LEGENDS, which is not on until a year from now, which is actually a wonderful thing, because we have the time to make it right. It stars Sean Bean as a deep cover operative –

AX: Who lives through the end of first season? People have reason to fear for the longevity of anyone played by Sean Bean.

GORDON: He will live through the end of first season, I hope. He’s basically a deep cover operative for the FBI. His name is Martin Odom, and he’s absolutely the best at being other people and occupying these other identities for long periods of time, with the result that he’s kind of been a shitty husband and a shitty father, his marriage broke up. It turns out that he may not even be Martin Odom. In the pilot, there’s a suggestion that he may not even be who he thinks he is.

AX: So it’s a little bit BOURNE IDENTITY?

GORDON: A little bit BOURNE, a little bit MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, because there’s a team who support him, and on a weekly basis – a la MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – they are essentially cons, the way MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE had that contract with the audience, where they were so excited to see how they did what they did. So it’s a team, but it has this underlying existential mystery.
 

http://www.assignmentx.com/2013/exclusive-interview-howard-gordon-on-homeland-season-3/

[moonflower]

Since the producer added the words "I hope", it doesn't seem positively certain that Sean's character will live through the first season. 

[Sable899]

I seriously doubt he's going to tell you the ending of season 1.

[patch]

@lizbenjamin   Television Writer/Producer.

I don't tweet much these days -- which means I'm working on #Legends w/ @HowardMGordon #TNT #ReiffandVoris & #SeanBean 

[patch]

Ali Larter @TheRealAliL yesterday

Still thinking about all the exciting storylines that I heard in the #Legends writer's room today ! Can't wait to start shooting .

 And from a recent Twitter interview with Ali Larter

Krista Smith ‏@KristaSmith  6u 
.@TheNerdOut asks @TheRealAliL Have u started shooting @LegendsTNT? What can you tell us about the show? #AskAli

Ali Larter
 We start in March.Lots of cool "legends" where I go undercover.Cant wait to work with Sean Bean again.

[patch]

@lizbenjamin Television Writer/Producer

There is no BETTER feeling than hitting a deadline and pressing send on the email. #TNT #Legends

[lighty]

Since the producer added the words "I hope", it doesn't seem positively certain that Sean's character will live through the first season.

He almost has to - the program's premise is built around the character he plays . . . wait, what am I saying?  Of course they could kill him off . . .

[najinboulder]

Or they could do what they do in soap operas which have Sean's character have a horrible accident where he has to have his face reconstructed and they would hire another actor to play the part.  Although why they would do that I do not know but hey, writers can do anything.  Remember Dallas where she gets out of the shower and Bobbie is there.  Yes that whole year was just a dream..........................