REVENGE is Well-Served at PaleyFest 2012

Cast Photo by: Kevin Parry/The Paley Center for Media

This past weekend the cast and creative minds behind the salaciously delicious new soap opera Revenge took the stage at PaleyFest 2012 to a rousing and excited audience. After getting just a small taste of the next new episode of the ABC drama (only the first two acts were screened), the night’s moderator – Debra Birnbaum of TV Guide – introduced the cast to the stage: Nick Wechsler, Ashley Madekwe, Josh Bowman, Henry Czerny, Madeline Stowe, Emily Van Camp, Gabriel Mann, Connor Paolo and Christa B. Allen as well as series creator and mastermind behind Revenge Mike Kelley and Executive Producer Marty Bowen.

One of the burning questions for the show was, of course, asked first – Was it Mike’s plan to keep Daniel Grayson (Josh Bowman) alive even from the pilot – to which Mike conceded that it was. Honestly, it also didn’t hurt that Daniel actually became a fan favorite and that many fans did not want to see Josh leave the show either. I also have to admit that when Josh spoke his first words on stage – those of astonishment at how many people were in the audience – in his native British accent, it was still funny to hear the reaction of those around me who had NO idea that he was “from across the pond”. Yes folks, Josh is British and he hides his accent quite well given the surprised reaction from many audience members.

Emily and Madeline Photo by: Kevin Parry/The Paley Center for Media

Mike was also asked if he could share where the show will go from here; and while he was willing to reveal small snippets of details, he did remain elusive where future stories will go; but he did state that the current pattern will stay with a planned cliffhanger for the end of the season as well as a tease of another big event that will be the thrust of season two should ABC decided to renew Revenge. It should be noted that Revenge has yet to be renewed by the network.

He was willing to share that the current main focus will be on the courtroom trial of Daniel Grayson in light of the fact that it appears he murdered his ‘friend’ Tyler on the beach the night of his engagement party; that there will be a small time jump coming up soon with the trial coming to an end in episode 19 (the next new episode will be episode 17; needless to say, the trail goes by fast) and that another origin story will be featured with flashbacks to the New Year’s Eve party in 2002 (featured in the picture of Emily/Amanda as a waitress at the party for which Victoria and Lydia attended) as well as to 1990 for more about Victoria and David (James Tupper).

Christa and Connor Photo by: Kevin Parry/The Paley Center for Media

Madeline shared that “it is a ball” to play the villainous Victoria Grayson and that she “has never seen a woman like this on TV”; but when asked if her character’s divorce from Conrad (Henry Czerny) will play out for years to come, she quickly stated “Hell no, it won’t go on for much longer” (at least from her viewpoint).

One of Emily Van Camp’s biggest concerns about her character Emily was how to make her likeable while still doing all the things she was doing. It was always her aim for Emily (the character) to keep a moral code, that there is a line that Emily (the character) won’t cross, but in the beginning Emily (the character) didn’t think about the collateral damage – namely Daniel, Charlotte and Jack – that would be affected by her plan for revenge.

Josh, Henry, Ashley and Nick Photo by: Kevin Parry/The Paley Center for Media

When asked about Nolan, Gabriel shared that he doesn’t like it when Emily and Nolan are fighting, but the “roadblocks are interesting”. He and Emily joked their characters have a certain sibling rivalry (although their characters are not related) because of their connection to David. And, of course, Gabriel was asked about the ‘Nolan-isms” that have sprung up over the course of the series so far. He joked that “it sort of evolved” and that he wished he “were half as creative with the one-liners” as Nolan. Emily chimed in then that “it’s all in the delivery” and Gabriel does it very well.

The ladies of the cast as well as Gabriel got to gush over the wardrobe that is provided to them with Ashley and Emily joking about the shoes and jackets while Gabriel jibbed that they “stick as much stuff in the trailer and I (will) wear it”.

Gabriel and Emily Photo by: Kevin Parry/The Paley Center for Media

Given that there is so much layering to the show and that there are still several weeks before the next new episode of Revenge airs – it is expected to return to ABC on April 11 – viewers have plenty of time to catch up on all 16 aired episodes to get prepared for the show’s return.