On Screen

8—May 26 - June 1, 2018 The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it If Sarah Shahi believes acting takes her into another world, that's more literal than ever for her now. Seen earlier this month in a guest-star return to "Chicago Fire," the "Person of Interest" alum re- sumes full-time series work as the NBC fantasy-drama "Reverie" pre- mieres Wednesday, May 30. From "Extant" creator-producer Mickey Fisher and Amblin Television, it casts Shahi as an ex-hostage nego - tiator turned college professor. She leaves the classroom when her for- mer boss (Dennis Haysbert, "24") enlists her to retrieve people so im- mersed in a virtual-reality program, they've lost their consciousness in a dream-fulfillment space called Reverie. Also featuring Sendhil Rama- murthy ("Heroes") and Kathryn Morris ("Cold Case"), "Reverie" isn't the easiest show to explain, the friendly Shahi admits. "Ever since we did the pilot, I tried to figure out what the show was about and how I would talk about it," she says, "but I think I found a way. It's almost like 'Inception' meets 'Alice in Wonderland,' set in a psycholog - ical-thriller context. "My character lost her sister and her niece in a situation that made her quit being a hostage negotiator, and she's recruited to work for this VR firm. And that's an idea that's not 30 years in the future; it's very attainable, maybe three years away. Here, people go in and get an im - plant in their arms, and they're able to create these alternate realities for themselves. "Those are so ideal, the people are getting stuck in that universe and dying in this one," notes Shahi. "My character has to go into their minds, figure out what they're running from, and try to get them to come back before it's too late. And watching this woman get cra- zier and lose her sense of reality is pretty fun, too." Shahi allows "it was hard some- times to come home and have a cup of tea and go to bed, then do the same thing the next day." Home is active enough for Shahi: She and actor husband Steve How- ey ("Shameless," "Reba") have three children, including twins. Especially on the heels of the Amblin-produced, VR-heavy movie "Ready Player One," Shahi believes the time is right for "Reverie." She recalls that when she got the call to do the show, "I was like, 'Amblin? You mean, Steven Spielberg's Am - blin?' There was no way they were going to want to work with me and also be nice guys, and Darryl and Justin ('Reverie' executive produc- ers Frank and Falvey), they're my pals now. "If I'm going to be working my a... off," Shahi notes of negotiating "Reverie's" plentiful special effects, "I want to surround myself with people like them. I just feel lucky, on so many levels, that that's ex - actly what's happened." 8 — May 26 - June 1, 2018 The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN Celebrity Scoop Celebrity Scoop 2 x 2" ad (a) client will fill (b) modern woodmen "Reverie" premieres Wednesday on NBC. NBC's 'Reverie' beckons Sarah Shahi to another world Cover Story Cover Story By George Dickie © Zap2it After 22 years at ABC News report- ing and anchoring on everything from "World News Tonight" and "Good Morning America" to her most noteworthy role on "20/20," Elizabeth Vargas has a new gig into which she can sink her journalistic teeth — investigating cults on A&E Network. In "Cults and Extreme Belief," airing under the cablenet's new "A&E Investigates" banner and premiering Monday and Tuesday, May 28 and 29, the Emmy- winning journalist does a deep dive into how fringe groups prey upon people's desperation to create pow - erful and often destructive belief systems, looking at them through the eyes of ex-members. "I think people have sort of this not very kind presumption about anybody who would join 'a cult,' " Vargas explains. "They must be stupid. They must be very, very gullible. They must be all sorts of things that aren't terribly nice. "When you meet these people, you find out that nothing could be further from the truth. Many of them are very, very bright, very altruistic, very well-meaning. Some of them were born into these groups and didn't have a choice. Their parents were parts of the groups and therefore they were raised as parts of these groups. And getting out can be a tremendously painful process for each and every one." Such was the case with the upstate New York-based group NXIVM, the subject of Monday's premiere. It stands accused of lur - ing its supporters down a path of destruction that includes near- starvation diets, sexual assault, forced branding, pseudo-slavery and blackmail. Hollywood ac - tresses were recruited to evangelize their cause, one of whom, former Checking in with Elizabeth Vargas "Smallville" star Allison Mack, is currently facing charges of sex traf- ficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy. "Allison Mack was a very bright, very talented young woman who won the lottery, so to speak, by go- ing out to Hollywood and actually getting a job and making it," Var- gas says. "... Allison Mack walked away from it all to go be part of this group NXIVM. So that tells you something's happening in these groups and that's what we're aiming to try and expose." Full name: Elizabeth Anne Vargas Birth date: Sept. 6, 1962 Birthplace: Paterson, N.J. Education: Bachelor's Degree in journalism from the University of Missouri Family ties: Has two sons, 15 and 11, with her ex-husband, singer Marc Cohn Local TV news stops: KOMU- TV (Columbia, Mo.); WBBM-TV (Chicago) NBC News (1993-96): cor- respondent for "Dateline"; news reader and substitute anchor on "Today" ABC News (1996-2018): an- chor of "Downtown" and "Prime- time Monday"; anchor of "World News Tonight Saturday" and "World News Tonight Sunday"; newsreader and substitute anchor on "Good Morning America"; anchor of "20/20" On her years at ABC News: "I really feel like I had a front seat to history. ... I really feel lucky to have done everything that I've done." We Have Issues! The Greeneville Sun The Greeneville Sun Start Your Subscription Today by calling 423-638-4182

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