Starz TCA Summer Press Tour

SciFI Vision attended the TCA Summer Press Tour for Starz in Pasadena, CA. Starz has been the home of many sci-fi projects and so much more. Check out what is currently airing or coming soon to the network below.

Starz highlighted The Serpent Queen and Three Women during the TCA Summer Press Tour.

The Serpent Queen

Creator, Showrunner, Executive Producer Justin Hayth, Executive Producer Erwin Stoff, along with Stars Samantha Morton and Minnie Driver, spoke about the recently released season two.

Samantha Morton plays Catherine de Medici and Minnie Driver is Queen Elizabeth I in the Starz series.

Highlights from the panel:

Samantha Morton shares that many costume dramas that she sees can be boring but the way that Justin Hayth has written this series has made Catherine de Medici human and contemporary and that’s where the attraction to the part as this powerful woman makes it honest, has many masks and facets and makes it a joy to play.

Minnie Driver felt it was an honor to play Queen Elizabeth I and imagining that Elizabeth and Catherine de Medici had met. Minnie liked how Justin Hayth wrote Elizabeth as a witty, wily, slightly feral queen which made her feel closer to the woman behind the Queen.

Samantha Morton shared when she began acting at 12 years old, she was not considered to have a face for period projects but Kay Mellor decided she would be her Jane Eyre and since then she’s been a versatile actress.

Justin Hayth says the music choices for the show are something he has playing in his head while writing. His secret is to think what playlist Catherine would have. He feels the show has this punk rock attitude. Punk rock is about survival against the odds and that’s how these women dealt with, playing a game of survival, not being able to own property but ruling countries with no legal rights.

Minnie Driver’s Queen Elizabeth I is meant to be scary and dangerous. Minnie wears prosthetics to get rid of her eyebrows and to have hairless ginger versions, no eye makeup, and what Minnie referred to as “strange shellacked pearly white makeup.”


Three Women

Creator and Executive Producer Lisa Taddeo, Showrunner and Executive Producer Laura Eason, along with Stars Shailene Woodley (“Gia"), Betty Gilpin ("Lina" - virtual), DeWanda Wise, ("Sloane"), and Gabrielle Creevy ("Maggie” - virtual) participated in the panel presentation at the TCA Summer Press Tour. Three Women is an upcoming, limited series based upon the book.

Highlights from the panel:

Lisa Tadeo comments that the ten to fifteen years that it took to go from book to this series, felt like the experience of writing the book and making the show were close to the experience of life, with lots of weird chapters.

Dewanda Wise felt it was important to show this sexual and lifestyle freedom for  Black folks. She felt it was exciting. When Blair Underwood was discussed to play her husband, she was thrilled to have him play something we haven’t seen him do before.

Shailene Woodley felt lucky because she had the real-life person (Lisa Tadeo) on set with her everyday whom her character was based on and crafted around.  And in this case, Shailene was emulating Lisa's stories but  wasn't emulating Lisa which gave her a lot of freedom to color in the blanks to tell the story of Gia.

Betty Gilpin said she read the book as did her group of friends and they analyzed what  percent of Sloane, Maggie, and Lina they identified as. Betty thinks that the main characters are easy for people to connect with because it’s what it feels like to be a woman.

Gabrielle Creevy had an immediate emotional reaction to reading the script for the first time. Once she got off the call she felt she had to do the series because Maggie’s story and bravery leapt off the paper,  that was it for her. It was raw.

Shailene Woodley said the experience of filming was massively cathartic. The series is emotionally and sexually intimate and shown very close to the truth of reality. But some days the subject matter would sit with her because it was so real.

Laura Eason said they were lucky to film in Utah and Montana with the epic, sweeping, incredible locations.

Dewanda Wise shared when she had her first meeting with Lisa that she was at zero capacity at the top of 2021 and didn’t have patience for people who haven’t been through anything but she didn’t know anything about Lisa’s personal life. And to say that phrase to Lisa, that was like, the mustard seed. This became a foundation and quite the sanctuary.

The 10-episode series Three Women is  based on the #1 New York Times bestselling book of the same name from Lisa Taddeo and will premiere Friday, September 13 at midnight on the STARZ app. On linear, it will debut on STARZ at 10:00 PM ET/PT in the U.S. #Starz #WereAllAdultsHere

What is upcoming on Starz:

Power Universe

• "Ghost" part two premieres September 6th. 
• "Raising Kanan" has just wrapped production on Season 4, scoring an early Season 5 renewal
• "Origins" prequel in development. 

P-Valley

• Currently in production on Season 3 in Atlanta
• "Down in the Valley"
• Unscripted series takes viewers across the South to meet the real people that inspired "P-Valley.

More Programming Announcements

The Couple Next Door

A new thriller starring “Outlander’s” Sam Heughan and airs in the winter.

A sexy, psychological thriller. Cast includes Eleanor Tomlinson, Alfred Enoch, and Jessica De Gouw. Sam Heughan plays Danny, a traffic cop who is in a relationship with Jess's character, Becka. And together, they become sexually entangled with their new neighbors. The careers and personal lives of these characters become entangled in the dramatic new series.

Fat Joe Talks, headlined Fat Joe

Joe will lead thought-provoking conversations with dynamic personalities across pop culture from music to sports, entertainment, politics, and more. 

The Hunting Wives

Starring Malin Ackerman, Brittany Snow, and Dylan McDermott. A propulsive drama that takes viewers down a rabbit hole of obsession, seduction, and murder. 

Mary and George

Debuted in the spring with Julianne Moore and Nicholas Galitzine with his seductive and sizzling portrayal of George Villiers..

Sweetpea

Starring Ella Purnell, drama centering around a seemingly ordinary woman living a dangerous double life.

Spartacus: House of Usher

Starring Nick Tarabay as Ashur, Graham McTavish as Korris, who is the doctore (instructor) of Ashur’s Ludus to help bring the gladiators up to speed, trains them to fight in the arena. And a first in the “Spartacus” universe is a female gladiator, Tenika Davis who plays Achillia, a female gladiator. She's got fire and passion and is eager to prove herself that she can fight against any of the men in the arena, and hope that it leads to her freedom.

Outlander at Starz TCA Summer Presentation

Outlander Season Seven Part Two Premieres November 22

Outlander: Blood of My Blood set to premiere in 2025

Sam Heughan, star of Outlander, graced the TCA stage as a surprise guest by reciting Jamie Fraser's marriage vow to Claire, “Blood of my blood, bone of my bone, I give you my body that we, too, may be one.” The TCA audience was thrilled with his appearance.

Sam Heughan came to hype Outlander second half of season seven that arrives this fall along with the spinoff series Outlander: Blood of My Blood, and new thriller, The Couple Next Door.

Heughan says we can look forward to adventure, drama, and of course, a wee bit of romance. Sam also shared first look photos which show Jamie and Claire in a moment of peace and calm which Sam commented never lasts long. Outlander returns to Scotland for the first time since the third season.

NEW SERIES  Outlander: Blood of My Blood set to premiere in 2025

Starz recognized and celebrated the Outlander series marking ten years by announcing Outlander: Blood of My Blood at the TCA’s Summer Press Tour. Outlander: Blood of My Blood follows Jamie’s parents Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie in 18th century Scotland and Claire’s parents, Julia Moriston and Henry Beauchamp in World War I-era England. Starz released first look photos showing the two couples which will chronicle what lengths they'll go to during times when love was considered a luxury. The 10-episode first season of Outlander: Blood of My Blood is currently in production in Scotland and will air in 2025.

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