Post by TVFan on Sept 13, 2004 10:05:58 GMT -5
My work has access to a computer database of newspaper articles. Anyway, I found these two today. They repeat some of the same info, but they each have some new insight into Kathryn taking the role of Lilly and some other things.
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia)
September 8, 2004 Wednesday
The Thrill of the Case
By PENELOPE CROSS, Additional reporting MADELINE HEALY
Kathryn Morris adds a feminine touch to TV's new Cold Case, writes PENELOPE CROSS
When Kathryn Morris was offered the lead role in the crime series Cold Case, she could think of a whole swag of reasons why she shouldn't take the part.
For starters, cop dramas are traditionally the domain of no-nonsense men, where a woman has to play dirty and talk tough to make her mark.
"I thought the wrong way to do this was to have an aggressive cop girl who acts super-tough," says Morris.
"That's the way to ruin a show."
But her worries were quickly laid to rest by the team behind the series - producer Jerry Bruckheimer, creator Meredith Stiehm and director Mark Pellington.
"The first time we met we started finishing each other's sentences," says Morris. "It turned out everybody was trying to make the same show."
That show sees Morris star as Detective Lilly Rush, the lone woman on the Philadelphia Police Department's homicide squad.
She's headstrong but sensitive, obsessive yet grounded and most of all, she is instinctive.
In other words, Lilly is the perfect person to be cracking cold cases otherwise known as unsolved murder investigations.
But while the 35-year-old may have approved of the characterisation, she had concerns about appearing on TV.
Morris made her feature film debut opposite Vanilla Ice in the 1991 flick, Cool As Ice, and continued to work hard to establish a name for herself.
She has since starred opposite Gary Oldman in The Contender, Tom Cruise in Minority Report and Ben Affleck in Paycheck.
"Honestly, I did have some fears about [taking the role in Cold Case] because in the film world, things were going so well for me," she says. "But this was just a role that I hadn't seen out there in film.
"I thought there was something really special about the chemistry of what was being made. Sometimes it's just the right role and the right group of people."
And ironically, Cold Case seems to have expanded Morris's movie options rather than limited them.
"All the film people want to work with me more than they did before," she laughs. "It's a great thing because good work is good work and a lot of people want to be on our show, act on our show and direct our show.
"It's funny, I've now worked with all these filmmakers that were on my list of people I wanted to work with."
Of course, many of them are Bruckheimer's friends from the movie world - it was his production company that fashioned the show for CBS.
The Hollywood uber-producer is also behind other police procedural dramas for the US network, such as the hugely successful CSI franchise and Without A Trace.
"I heard recently that Jerry thinks that people watch TV with their thumbs on the channel button," she says. "So I see our job as keeping the finger off the button."
Cold Case has proved to be another hit for Bruckheimer, averaging 14.4 million viewers per week in the US.
"I think part of the success is that Jerry likes making movies and treats each series like a movie," Morris says.
"And every penny of the budget is put into the show very wisely."
For that reason, Morris wasn't surprised that the series earned such a substantial fan base.
"It has universal appeal because it's about a working woman who is passionate about what she does and spends a lot of time at work, like a lot of women do these days," Morris says.
However, nothing prepared her for just how well viewers would relate to Cold Case.
"I had one woman approach me who was convinced I worked at her office," she laughs.
Other feedback Morris has had relates to her character's "natural look" - Lilly's hair is often unkempt and her make-up is so minimal, it often appears as though she has jumped straight out of bed and into her clothes.
"I get letters from little old ladies who want me to go to a hair salon or put more make-up on - like a soap opera," she laughs. "Some bridge clubs across America are very upset."
But Morris thinks the effortlessness of Lilly's look is crucial.
"If she was spending so much time looking perfect, she wouldn't get any of those cold cases solved," she says.
Courier Mail (Queensland, Australia)
September 9, 2004 Thursday
Cold customer
By Madeline Healy
Kathryn Morris is the hardest-working cop in show business, writes Madeline Healy
IN A world filled with arrogant, badly dressed police officers, Kathryn Morris cannot help but stand out from the crowd.
Among the usual suspects -- Gil Grissom on CSI, Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order and Jack Malone on Without A Trace -- Morris is one of a kind.
The Connecticut-born actor plays Detective Lilly Rush in Jerry Bruckheimer's latest hit, Cold Case, a character who refuses to be overshadowed by a male partner.
She looks like she's jumped out of bed straight into her clothes, and that, says Morris, is exactly how she should look.
"I decided to take on the role because I felt good about the show which was about a very real woman doing work that is unique and special," Morris says.
"It has universal appeal because it's about a working woman who is passionate about what she does and spends a lot of time at work, like a lot of women do these days."
Cold Case is yet another success story for Bruckheimer, averaging 14.1 million viewers in the United States.
"I think part of the success is that Jerry likes making movies and treats his series like movies," Morris says.
Among the show's professional musical line-up are Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna, and Morris says one episode features just Johnny Cash's music.
And while the formula seems to work for Bruckheimer, Morris says the challenge for the cast is to make sure viewers do not put their finger "on the button".
"I heard recently that Jerry thinks that people watch TV with their thumbs on the channel button so I see our job as keeping the finger off the button," she says.
"Each one of his shows has a different feel to it, and this one seemed like a sure-thing on paper but it is the fourth instalment of a police drama Jerry has done."
Morris admits that while the filming schedule is hard work -- 14-16 hour days on the set are not uncommon -- the chance to be in the show outweighs the exhaustion.
"I feel like we are making a really great show and I don't look at it as drudgery. Sometimes it does catch up with you but I do feel honoured that I have a job I love," Morris says.
She feels a great amount of responsibility in her role as Rush because it is such an important part of the show. "When I first read the script I thought 'what a great role, I hope whoever plays it doesn't screw up'. "
"So I knew it was a really important role."
She was offered a part in the series after returning from filming a movie in Spain and had just two days to prepare.
A lot of late-night meetings followed as "Jerry's crew" tried out outfits, colours, set design and the whole look.
On the show Rush and her partner Detective Scotty Valens, played by Danny Pino, sift through the clues from each week's unsolved case with flashbacks giving viewers an insight in to what happened.
Episodes cross from the '70s to the year 2000, offering more variety than many police dramas currently screening.
Morris is joined by Jeremy Ratchford who plays Detective Ronnie Vera, John Finn as Lieutenant Tom Stillman and Thom Barry as Detective Will Jeffries.
Morris moved to Los Angeles from Connecticut 14 years ago and has starred in movies as varied as Minority Report and Artificial Intelligence: AI to As Good As It Gets and Jerry Maguire.
But as anyone in Hollywood will tell you, it was not an easy road.
"In LA the first few years are really tough because you don't meet friends overnight but once you find the people who were meant to be friends it's easier," Morris says.
Spending too much time on the Hollywood scene is a mistake, Morris says, because it's not the way to get the work.
"I work with people several times because we've worked together before and it has been successful," she says.
"And I really think actresses have to keep themselves really pure."
She says one aspect of the job is dealing with being recognised on the street but concedes it is all part of the job.
"I went out to get a birthday present today and a couple of people recognised me but they just want to come up and talk about the show."
As for future work, she says she would like to do theatre -- but only in New York.
"It would be great to do some Broadway at some time and I would work my butt off to make sure I was truly prepared.
"It would be nice but, you know, I wouldn't want to it just because I'm on a TV show."
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia)
September 8, 2004 Wednesday
The Thrill of the Case
By PENELOPE CROSS, Additional reporting MADELINE HEALY
Kathryn Morris adds a feminine touch to TV's new Cold Case, writes PENELOPE CROSS
When Kathryn Morris was offered the lead role in the crime series Cold Case, she could think of a whole swag of reasons why she shouldn't take the part.
For starters, cop dramas are traditionally the domain of no-nonsense men, where a woman has to play dirty and talk tough to make her mark.
"I thought the wrong way to do this was to have an aggressive cop girl who acts super-tough," says Morris.
"That's the way to ruin a show."
But her worries were quickly laid to rest by the team behind the series - producer Jerry Bruckheimer, creator Meredith Stiehm and director Mark Pellington.
"The first time we met we started finishing each other's sentences," says Morris. "It turned out everybody was trying to make the same show."
That show sees Morris star as Detective Lilly Rush, the lone woman on the Philadelphia Police Department's homicide squad.
She's headstrong but sensitive, obsessive yet grounded and most of all, she is instinctive.
In other words, Lilly is the perfect person to be cracking cold cases otherwise known as unsolved murder investigations.
But while the 35-year-old may have approved of the characterisation, she had concerns about appearing on TV.
Morris made her feature film debut opposite Vanilla Ice in the 1991 flick, Cool As Ice, and continued to work hard to establish a name for herself.
She has since starred opposite Gary Oldman in The Contender, Tom Cruise in Minority Report and Ben Affleck in Paycheck.
"Honestly, I did have some fears about [taking the role in Cold Case] because in the film world, things were going so well for me," she says. "But this was just a role that I hadn't seen out there in film.
"I thought there was something really special about the chemistry of what was being made. Sometimes it's just the right role and the right group of people."
And ironically, Cold Case seems to have expanded Morris's movie options rather than limited them.
"All the film people want to work with me more than they did before," she laughs. "It's a great thing because good work is good work and a lot of people want to be on our show, act on our show and direct our show.
"It's funny, I've now worked with all these filmmakers that were on my list of people I wanted to work with."
Of course, many of them are Bruckheimer's friends from the movie world - it was his production company that fashioned the show for CBS.
The Hollywood uber-producer is also behind other police procedural dramas for the US network, such as the hugely successful CSI franchise and Without A Trace.
"I heard recently that Jerry thinks that people watch TV with their thumbs on the channel button," she says. "So I see our job as keeping the finger off the button."
Cold Case has proved to be another hit for Bruckheimer, averaging 14.4 million viewers per week in the US.
"I think part of the success is that Jerry likes making movies and treats each series like a movie," Morris says.
"And every penny of the budget is put into the show very wisely."
For that reason, Morris wasn't surprised that the series earned such a substantial fan base.
"It has universal appeal because it's about a working woman who is passionate about what she does and spends a lot of time at work, like a lot of women do these days," Morris says.
However, nothing prepared her for just how well viewers would relate to Cold Case.
"I had one woman approach me who was convinced I worked at her office," she laughs.
Other feedback Morris has had relates to her character's "natural look" - Lilly's hair is often unkempt and her make-up is so minimal, it often appears as though she has jumped straight out of bed and into her clothes.
"I get letters from little old ladies who want me to go to a hair salon or put more make-up on - like a soap opera," she laughs. "Some bridge clubs across America are very upset."
But Morris thinks the effortlessness of Lilly's look is crucial.
"If she was spending so much time looking perfect, she wouldn't get any of those cold cases solved," she says.
Courier Mail (Queensland, Australia)
September 9, 2004 Thursday
Cold customer
By Madeline Healy
Kathryn Morris is the hardest-working cop in show business, writes Madeline Healy
IN A world filled with arrogant, badly dressed police officers, Kathryn Morris cannot help but stand out from the crowd.
Among the usual suspects -- Gil Grissom on CSI, Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order and Jack Malone on Without A Trace -- Morris is one of a kind.
The Connecticut-born actor plays Detective Lilly Rush in Jerry Bruckheimer's latest hit, Cold Case, a character who refuses to be overshadowed by a male partner.
She looks like she's jumped out of bed straight into her clothes, and that, says Morris, is exactly how she should look.
"I decided to take on the role because I felt good about the show which was about a very real woman doing work that is unique and special," Morris says.
"It has universal appeal because it's about a working woman who is passionate about what she does and spends a lot of time at work, like a lot of women do these days."
Cold Case is yet another success story for Bruckheimer, averaging 14.1 million viewers in the United States.
"I think part of the success is that Jerry likes making movies and treats his series like movies," Morris says.
Among the show's professional musical line-up are Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna, and Morris says one episode features just Johnny Cash's music.
And while the formula seems to work for Bruckheimer, Morris says the challenge for the cast is to make sure viewers do not put their finger "on the button".
"I heard recently that Jerry thinks that people watch TV with their thumbs on the channel button so I see our job as keeping the finger off the button," she says.
"Each one of his shows has a different feel to it, and this one seemed like a sure-thing on paper but it is the fourth instalment of a police drama Jerry has done."
Morris admits that while the filming schedule is hard work -- 14-16 hour days on the set are not uncommon -- the chance to be in the show outweighs the exhaustion.
"I feel like we are making a really great show and I don't look at it as drudgery. Sometimes it does catch up with you but I do feel honoured that I have a job I love," Morris says.
She feels a great amount of responsibility in her role as Rush because it is such an important part of the show. "When I first read the script I thought 'what a great role, I hope whoever plays it doesn't screw up'. "
"So I knew it was a really important role."
She was offered a part in the series after returning from filming a movie in Spain and had just two days to prepare.
A lot of late-night meetings followed as "Jerry's crew" tried out outfits, colours, set design and the whole look.
On the show Rush and her partner Detective Scotty Valens, played by Danny Pino, sift through the clues from each week's unsolved case with flashbacks giving viewers an insight in to what happened.
Episodes cross from the '70s to the year 2000, offering more variety than many police dramas currently screening.
Morris is joined by Jeremy Ratchford who plays Detective Ronnie Vera, John Finn as Lieutenant Tom Stillman and Thom Barry as Detective Will Jeffries.
Morris moved to Los Angeles from Connecticut 14 years ago and has starred in movies as varied as Minority Report and Artificial Intelligence: AI to As Good As It Gets and Jerry Maguire.
But as anyone in Hollywood will tell you, it was not an easy road.
"In LA the first few years are really tough because you don't meet friends overnight but once you find the people who were meant to be friends it's easier," Morris says.
Spending too much time on the Hollywood scene is a mistake, Morris says, because it's not the way to get the work.
"I work with people several times because we've worked together before and it has been successful," she says.
"And I really think actresses have to keep themselves really pure."
She says one aspect of the job is dealing with being recognised on the street but concedes it is all part of the job.
"I went out to get a birthday present today and a couple of people recognised me but they just want to come up and talk about the show."
As for future work, she says she would like to do theatre -- but only in New York.
"It would be great to do some Broadway at some time and I would work my butt off to make sure I was truly prepared.
"It would be nice but, you know, I wouldn't want to it just because I'm on a TV show."
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;D
