On Screen

April 25 - May 1, 2020 —3 The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN April 25 - May 1, 2020 — 3 2 x 3.5" ad a) greene cnty farmers b) swango's 2 x 4" ad williams electric 2 x 1.5" ad ymca 2 x 1.5" ad doughty stevens 2 x 1.5" ad midway const. By George Dickie It's 1938 and Los Angeles is rife with political and social tension. And in the middle of it is Tiago Vega. As played by Daniel Zovatto ("Vandal") in the Showtime super - natural thriller "Penny Dreadful: City of Angels," the spiritual descendant of the original "Penny Dreadful" that premieres Sunday, April 26, he's the LAPD's first Mexican-American detective whose first case is to investi - gate a grisly murder case with partner Lewis Michener (Nathan Lane,) that appears to be linked to a brewing race war between the city's Latino population and rich whites. Those tensions are further exacer - bated by a proposed freeway through a Latino neighborhood that's being spearheaded by city councilman Charles Townsend (Michael Gladis). Tiago is resigned to his old stomp - ing grounds being plowed under in the name of progress but his brother Raul (Adam Rodriguez), a local union leader, is determined to stop it, thus putting the siblings at odds and setting the whole city on a collision course with a bloody race riot. Which is just what two supernatu- ral entities want. Magda (Natalie Dormer, "Game of Thrones"), a dark goddess, can take any form she wants, including that of Townsend's uber-efficient assistant, and her in - tent is to fan the flames of discord. When the smoke clears, her sister Santa Muerte (Lorenza Izzo), the angel of holy death, will be there to collect the souls. Also in the toxic mix are Nazis, evangelists and elements of politi - cal, religious and racial hatred, all of which series creator John Logan says make this story relevant today. "Although it's set in 1938, it's about 2020," he says. "Looking over the world landscape now, I'm struck by parallels to the late '30s and what's going on now, particularly the rise of extremist political hatred, of a sort of racist demagoguery that is taken for granted, by the pernicious influence in the danger of a foreign power in our electoral process, in our com - munication, and particularly by the marginalization and victimization of an ethnic community. And as the son of immigrants myself, this is a story that I wanted to tell." And one of the more insidious characters in "City of Angels" is Magda, the otherworldly being who takes various forms to incite hatred and violence on humanity. It was a formidable acting challenge that required Dormer to play multiple characters through Magda, one that she relished. "This is the actor's dream," she says, "to play countless iterations and countless characterizations. You see in the first episode ... two of Magda's it - erations. There are more. You'll have to wait to see how many there are." Celebrity Scoop Celebrity Scoop Hatred threatens to tear a city apart in Showtime's 'Penny Dreadful: City of Angels' Cover Story Cover Story By Jay Bobbin Michael O'Neill long has been a respected character actor, but a new series gives him one of its most emotionally challenging characters yet. After a March preview, the NBC drama "Council of Dads" begins its regular run Thursday, April 30. O'Neill, Clive Standen and J. Au - gust Richards play close friends of a recently deceased man whose sur- vivors they help — including his doctor wife (Sarah Wayne Callies), who's a new mom again. "Council of Dads" is based on experiences of the late Bruce Feiler, whose same-named book inspired the show. O'Neill has lived a similar situation, since he reveals, "My wife and I had three children in 18 months, and I got cast in a film and had to go away for four Checking in with Michael O'Neill months. And a woman with Stage IV cancer came to my home every night and helped my wife bathe and feed those babies, so we had a community of people that was incredibly generous to us." Though O'Neill has played au- thority figures on series from "The West Wing" to "NCIS," he ex- plains, "I hit a little bit of an 'I will fight no more forever' moment, where I felt like I'd put a lot of vio- lence into the world and I'd been a part of shows that were apoca- lyptic and bleak at a time when we needed to explore (the gentler) part of human mythology. "I wanted something that made me feel like this (new show)," adds O'Neill, "that made me feel like, 'We're going to be OK. We can do this for each other. We're going to get through it. We might cry a little bit, but we've got this.' " Birthdate: May 29, 1951 Birthplace: Montgomery, Ala. Current residences: Birmingham, Ala., and Los Angeles Marital status: Married; has three daughters Other television credits include: "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan," "The Romanoffs," "The Resi- dent," "Scandal," "Shooter," "S.W.A.T.," "Manhattan," "Extant," "Bates Motel," "Rec- tify," "Vegas," "NCIS," "Grey's Anatomy," "Sons of Anarchy," "Army Wives," "Prison Break," "The Nine," "The Unit," "Bos- ton Public," "24," "The West Wing," "JAG," "The X-Files," "Days of Our Lives," "L.A. Law" Movie credits include: "Dal- las Buyers Club," "J. Edgar," "Green Zone," "Across the Universe," "Transformers," "American Crime," "Seabiscuit," "Dreamcatcher," "Traffic," "The Legend of Bagger Vance," "The Mod Squad," "Lorenzo's Oil," "Jennifer Eight," "Sea of Love," "Ghost Story" 921 W. 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