"Howards End" Premieres, "Ladies In Black" Begins Filming

"Howards End" premiered today in the UK. The Starz/BBC 4-part mini-series will air in the U.S. early next year. The trailer for the mini-series dropped a few days ago and contains a brief line of dialogue from Julia Ormond, playing a scene with series star Hayley Atwell.

The BBC website contains more footage from the adaptation of E.M. Forster's classic novel.

II. Julia will be appear in a new Australian film called "Ladies in Black." It is based on a bestselling novel by Madeleine St John. IMDB describes the film as follows:

"Ladies in Black is set in Sydney in the summer of 1959, against the backdrop of Australia's cultural awakening, breakdown of class structures, and liberation of women. It tells the coming-of-age story of suburban schoolgirl Lisa, who while waiting for her final high school exam results with dreams of going to the University of Sydney, takes a summer job at a large department store. Here she works side-by-side with a group of saleswomen who open her eyes to a world beyond her sheltered existence, and foster her metamorphosis."

According to Variety:

"Ormond will play a Slovenian emigre who’s the manager of the high-fashion floor. Other cast members include Rachael Taylor as Fay Baines, Alison McGirr, Vincent Perez, Ryan Corr, Susie Porter, and Shane Jacobson."

III. True Sioux Hope Foundation, an organization dedicated to "assisting the Oglala Lakota Sioux Native Americans from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota," recently held its second annual True Sioux Hope Gala. The non-profit "reached out to donors including Donna and Dick Pickup, Tim and Stephanie Busch, Linda and Burton Young, Leroy and Kelly Breinholt, Cheryl and John Joliffe, Marilyn Robinson and Julia Ormond to build local interest and bring in financial backing."

Learn more from the LA Times article below:

http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/opinion/tn-dpt-et-the-crowd-20171012-story.html

IV. Are you still disappointed that Lifetime cancelled "The Witches of East End" on a cliffhanger? This may be the consolations you're looking for:

"On Tuesday, Summer on East End: Triple Moon, the young adult spinoff novel series by Witches of East End author Melissa de la Cruz, arrives in bookstores, and with it comes “Mirror Souls,” a short story conclusion to the TV series."

This story is an old one at this point but I missed it the first time around. If you missed it, too, and are a fan of the tv series, pick up the book!

V. "Remember," the sci-fi thriller starring Peter Dinklage, Martin Donovan, Anton Yelchin and Julia Ormond will become available on blu-ray on November 28th. Julia is all over the trailer (yay!!!). This one looks like it could be really good.

Julia On The TV

The final episode of "Mad Men" (S7.E14 - "Person to Person") not only brought fans of the popular long-running series a satisfying conclusion to the show, but if you tuned in, you would also have seen Julia Ormond in her Emmy-nominated role of Marie Calvet for one last time. It was great to see. For those not yet ready to say goodbye to Julia on the TV - not to worry. "Witches of East End," Season 2, is finally being released on DVD on 7/7 as a 3 disc set. It will also become available on NetFlix on the same day. In additional news -

Julia was part of a lengthy panel discussion entitled "Transforming Global Supply Chains to Be Humane and Ethical" organized by the Milken Institute.



Julia Ormond was also a speaker at an event held in celebration of the 80th birthday of the Dalai Lama - the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize recipient - this past weekend at the Anaheim Honda Center in California.

'Witches' Comes to An End; A New Year Begins...

A very happy birthday to Julia Ormond who celebrated a very special birthday on January 4th. And a Happy New Year to all the readers of the Undefinitive Blog and best wishes for 2015!

I. Julia Ormond has an official Twitter account with - at the moment - over 15k followers @  https://twitter.com/JuliaOrmond.

II. Witches of East End was unfortunately cancelled at the end of its second season. On a major cliff-hanger no less. Apparently the ratings simply plummeted after the first season despite its very loyal fan-base. More information on the cancellation can be found below:

http://tvline.com/2014/11/04/witches-of-east-end-cancelled-lifetime/

There has also been a petition organized to renew the series or take it to another network as described here:

http://www.ibtimes.com/witches-east-end-canceled-fans-campaign-save-lifetime-series-find-out-how-get-1727000

The Petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/renew-witches-of-east-end

III. VARIETY magazine recently published an interview with Julia discussing her work over 20 years ago along with Robert Duvall on the 1992 HBO television film Stalin.

http://variety.com/2014/film/features/julia-ormond-first-variety-mention-1201325006/

IV. The final half-season of AMC's hit show Mad Men now has a premiere date of Sunday, April 5th. As far as I know there has been no confirmation as to whether Julia will appear in the final seven episodes in the role that won her her second Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress (she had won previously for Temple Grandin).

The Ormondaissance

The Undefinitive Julia Ormond Page blog is back after a temporary hiatus of nearly a year. If only time grew on trees! In the meantime there has been a big jump in Julia's presence in the cultural mainstream - perhaps her largest since 2008 - much of it having to do with the success of the Lifetime TV series "The Witches of East End" (now in its second season) and, of course, her Emmy-nominated supporting role in the popular "Mad Men." 

Here are some new Julia Ormond related finds, all very much worth-watching: 

I. Craig Ferguson's third interview with Julia. Interview begins at 21 mins in. She makes a number of jocular references to jokes from the opening monologue in case you're wondering what the deal is with "easing out organically." Unfortunately, Ferguson will be ending his late night talk show (in its current incarnation, at least) by the end of the year. I'm a big fan of his show and truly bizarre style of comedy.

II. A pretty lengthy interview with J.O. concerning both "Witches" and "Mad Men"... and "popping a few buttons."

III. Brand new lengthy interview with Julia on her more serious activist work (probably one of the more interesting interviews I've seen with her on the topic of human trafficking). A week ago or so I also caught a glimpse of her as part of a panel discussion on CNN where she was discussing the trafficking issue with former President Bill Clinton. Yes, it felt a bit like a 90's time warp. 

Julia also had a big presence (relatively speaking) at the San Diego ComicCon this year (!!!) where she and the rest of the cast were promoting the second season of "Witches of "East End."

(Jack will continue to run, post and oversee this blog but on occasion I will help with additional posts. - Rudy L. [contributor])

Witches of East End article

Los Angeles Times article -- http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-witches-of-east-end-julia-ormond-and-madchen-amick-talk-scifi-20131002,0,6255180.story

Witches of East End - "The Truth is Revealed" promo

New, longer trailer for the Witches of East End - "The Truth is Revealed" promo.

Access Hollywood interview

There's a new seven minute interview with Access Hollywood about the upcoming series "Witches of East End" (Oct. 6 premiere). Julia talks about playing a mom, co-stars, nudity on the show, the book vs. the show, the final season of "Mad Men" and the Virgin Mary movie she's been attached to for years. 

  http://www.hulu.com/watch/528107 

A trailer and a few great promo images from the upcoming show are here:

  http://www.sneakpeek.ca/2013/08/the-witching-hour-is-coming.html

Unity, Witches of East End, Emmy Awards

1. "Unity" is a documentary that Julia is participating in, appears to be one of numerous celebrity narrators:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2049636/

2. Witches of East End Casting - Page is for those interested in working as extras on The Witches of East End. Filming will take place in various locations in North Carolina.
http://www.facebook.com/WitchesOfEastEndCasting

3.  Julia @ the 64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on September 23, 2012.
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Julia+Ormond/64th+Annual+Primetime+Emmy+Awards+Arrivals/rQ4_uLTbKXV

Julia set in pilot for Witches Of East End

Thanks to Rudy for this find.

EXCLUSIVE: In her first series regular role, Emmy winner Julia Ormond is set to star in the hourlong Lifetime pilot Witches Of East End. Based on Melissa de la Cruz’s best-selling novel, Witches Of East End centers on the adventures of Joanna Beauchamp (Ormond) and her two adult daughters. Joanna is a sexy, warm, artistic, tough, ethereal beauty who has been concealing a shocking secret from her daughters — namely, that they are witches born and bred. Having put her magical past and powers on hold, Joanna is now living a quiet life as a small town art teacher, but in the face of a grave and immediate danger, it seems the only way out is for the trio to rediscover their skills. Maggie Friedman, who shepherded ABC’s witch-themed Eastwick, wrote and will executive produce Witches Of East End with Erwin Stoff for Fox 21 and 3 Arts.

On TV, Ormond has done arcs on such series as Mad Men, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Nurse Jackie as well as TV movies, including HBO’s Temple Grandin, which earned her an Emmy Award. She is again nominated this year for her guest stint on AMC’s Mad Men. Witches Of East End reunites Ormond, repped by Gersh and Creative Partners, with Lifetime where she toplined the 2010 LMN original movie The Wronged Man, produced by Gale Anne Hurd.

Source: http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/julia-ormond-to-star-in-lifetime-pilot-witches-of-east-end/

In other developments apparently Julia is only in the movie Chained for 10 minutes.