Sandra & Peter

Random pic of the week:

Sandra Oh and director Peter Stebbings at the premiere of Defendor in Los Angeles on February 22, 2010.

DVD Extras From Hard Candy And Defendor

The extra material from the Hard Candy and Defendor DVDs have made its way online, so for those of you who haven't had a chance to view it before, can check it out below:

Defendor (2009): Producer Nicholas Tabarrok on casting Sandra Oh and Sandra on why she chose to do the role. (Click here to read director Peter Stebbings' version of the story.)

Defendor (2009): Bloopers

Hard Candy (2005): Director David Slade about casting Sandra Oh and why she agreed to do the cameo role.

Via carlithiel

Defendor: The DVD

Defendor was released on DVD today. J!-ENT has published a full review of the DVD which you can check out here

If you've seen the movie, let us know what you thought about it in the comments below.

The Handbag 'Bribe'

The director of Defendor, Peter Stebbings, was interviewed at the premiere of the film last week in Los Angeles and he talked a little about that handbag deal with Sandra Oh:

Interview With ET Canada - Update

ET Canada aired a brief interview with Sandra Oh last night where she talked about Defendor and "secrets from 'Grey's love triangle", so if you live in Canada you can watch the interview here.

Now do we have any Canadian peeps who could transcribe it for us? Let us know in the comments below.

Cheers.

Update: A huge thanks to our lovely Canadian reader Maya for providing the transcript of the interview which you can check out below:

Reporter: You think five emmy noms for her role on GA is the highlight of SO’s life? Nope Sandra was more proud sharing the spotlight with Canada in Vancouver:
Sandra: "As a Canadian and being there for the Olympics and the opening ceremony, welcoming team Canada and other teams to the welcome ceremonies is one of the best moments of my life. If I could do anything for those athletes I would."

For our devastating loss in men’s hockey on Sunday she almost didn’t even want to show up for work…

Sandra: "I can’t talk about this hockey game, I came to work and it was just brutal. All the guys were,.. cause I am proudly wearing my Canada sweater and, it was hard.."

Reporter: The Grey’s crew is being quite tough on her, they’ve been going through extremes to keep blah details locked down..

Sandra: “I’m really not allowed to say anything about Grey’s. There’s a sniper on my head”

They show a clip of her with Woody in Defendor

Sandra’s new film “Defendor” started building buzz at last december’s TIFF. Especially at one of our parties. And last night she hit the red carpet in L.A. to celebrate with cast mates Kat Dennings and Woody Harrelson.

Next up for her leading man The Oscars Woody says its something he’s really looking forward to.

Woody: I look at it as I go from party to party and try to have as much fun as I can

Interview With BBC

BBC has a brief interview with Sandra Oh from the Defendor premiere last night. They don't allow embedding of videos so go to BBC to check it out:

BBC Interview

More Pictures From The 'Defendor' Premiere

Even more pics of Sandra Oh and her co-stars Woody Harrelson and Kat Dennings and director Peter Stebbings from the Defendor premiere last night in Los Angeles.

Working With Woody

Here is an interview with Sandra Oh from the Defendor premiere in Los Angeles last night where she talks about working with Woody Harrelson:

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Woody Harrelson is set to walk the biggest red carpet of the year on March 7. That's Oscar Sunday and he's a best-supporting-actor nominee. But Monday night, Woody walked a small red carpet for his new small-budget film "Defendor."

In "Defendor," Woody Harrelson plays a man with some mental limitations. But when he becomes his alter ego, he feels like a crime-fighting superhero.

"And, of course, bullets don't bounce off and he gets beat up," said Woody.

Woody continues to take on roles that now defy stereotypes. Recently, there's his Oscar-nominated work for "The Messenger," where he's a military bearer of bad news, and a zombie-slaying tough guy in "Zombieland." These roles are very different from his days tending bar on TV's "Cheers."

"I'm very happy to hear you say that because there was quite a while in the earlier part of my career where I felt like I would only have played one part, you know?" said Woody. "So I felt lucky to have an opportunity to get into movies at all."

Sandra Oh plays Woody's psychologist in the film. One reason she took the role? To work with woody.

"His work in 'No Country for Old Men' -- there's a scene where he and Javier Bardem are sitting chair to chair and his work in that scene was so stupendous, I wanted to sit opposite Woody Harrelson," said Sandra.

For all the stars of this low-budget film, it was about the material, not the money.

"In the long run, I feel like really excellent work is more important than money," said "Defendor" co-star Kat Dennings. "It is, I'm sorry."

"Defendor" is rated "R." It opens Friday.

(Copyright ©2010 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Sandra Oh At The Premiere Of 'Defendor'

Sandra Oh attended the premiere of 'Defendor' last night in Los Angeles and here are a couple of pictures from the premiere with Sandra and her co-stars Woody Harrelson and Kat Dennings and director Peter Stebbings.

Courting Sandra

Peter Stebbings, the director of Defendor, recently did an interview with Westender where he talked about how Sandra finally agreed to take the role in the movie after turning it down twice:

Peter Stebbings and Sandra Oh on the set of Defendor.

The film was shot in just 20 days, for about three million dollars — a shoestring budget compared to Hollywood fare. Remarkably, Defendor is visually impressive, far exceeding the expectations that usually greet a low-budget Canadian feature. It’s an unusual achievement for a first-time director, but Stebbings stopped at nothing to ensure his film would be a success. That included courting his high-profile actors himself.

“Sandra Oh [who plays Arthur’s therapist] turned me down twice,” Stebbings recalls, laughing. “I sent it to her manager; she turned it down. I brought it up again; she turned it down. Finally, I sort of wrote her a personal letter and offered to sweeten the pot with a handbag of her choice, because I’d read somewhere that she liked handbags, and I think all that did was make her giggle and make her manager giggle, but it kept the dialogue open, so I gave her a more comprehensive overview of how I would treat those scenes. She’s a busy girl at Grey’s Anatomy; she came up on the weekend and flew out on Sunday night. We shot all those scenes in two days.”

Behind The Scenes Of 'Defendor'

Sandra Oh isn't in this clip, but you can still catch director Peter Stebbings and Sandra's co-stars talk a bit about the movie:

New 'Defendor' Trailer

A brand new trailer for Defendor has been released just in time for the (very) limited theatrical release of the movie:

On The Set With Woody

Two new stills from Defendor have been released with Sandra Oh and Woody Harrelson. According to the official Twitter for Defendor, the film will premiere on February 19 in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver and February 26 in Los Angeles. The DVD will be released on April 13th in the US.

'Defendor' On DVD

Despite receiving good reviews, Sony has decided to release Sandra Oh's upcoming movie Defendor straight to DVD on April 13th. Here are the DVD details:

Genre: Comedy, Drama
Running Time: 101 Min.
Rated: R
Release Date: April 13

Synopsis

Arthur Poppington (2009 Golden Globe® Nominee Woody Harrelson) doesn’t need superpowers or fancy toys to fight crime. Armed only with a childlike sense of wonder and his quirky arsenal of cheap, homemade gadgets, he becomes DEFENDOR! He finds an unexpected partner when he rescues and falls for a local prostitute (Kat Dennings, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist). Can the two of them take down the city’s most fearsome crime boss without getting killed in the process?

"Harrelson at his very best!" Pete Hammond Boxoffice Magazine

DVD Features

• Featurettes
• Woody Harrelson, Kat Dennings and Filmmakers Commentary
• Outtakes
• Deleted Scenes

New Poster For 'Defendor'

The new poster for the movie Defendor has been released in which Sandra Oh plays a psychiatrist to Woody Harrelson's character.

The release date for the movie has yet to be announced.

Sandra Talks 'Defendor'

We have told you about Sandra Oh's new movie Defendor before, but finally we have a word from Sandra herself on the project.

In this interview Sandra talks about her role in Defendor, where she plays a psychiatrist to Woody Harrelson's character, and what attracted her to the role.

Sandra Oh Talks Buddism, Dalai Lama And Grey's Anatomy

Here is something as rare as a brand new interview with Sandra, which was published in The Calgary Herald today:

In some ways, famous-buttalentless actors have it easy.

They can coast by on the friendly familiarity audiences have with their famous faces, but they rarely create memorable characters. When it comes to looking into the eyes of a great actor, however, it can be tough to separate the person from the persona.

That's the problem with Sandra Oh.

Combine the fury she mustered for that knockout punch in the wine-soaked movie Sideways with her cool-heated role as Cristina Yang on Grey's Anatomy and you've got a pretty scary image.

"I love it," says Oh of her character on the hit TV show, which premieres its sixth season on Thursday. "The thing is that ultimately when you're playing a character for a long time, you have to explore all sides of a person. When I'm living with a character, I want to see them change and progress so if the first and immediate quality that she has had is a lot of harshness than over the years--and especially this year--you'll get to see more softening."

That softness is most striking in Oh.

Surrounded by kids at Calgary's Telus Convention Centre recently, her smile is warm and inviting. Her hair is long, dark and bouncy. She looks like a kid herself dressed in skinny jeans and black converse high-tops. She smiles and jokes with everyone, even though the Golden Globe-winning actress is not getting paid or pampered.

Instead she has volunteered her time and spent nearly six hours talking to kids on camera about everything from hotdogs and stuffed animals to Buddhism and world peace in preparation for her job as cohost of Connect Now, featuring the Dalai Lama at the Saddledome on Sept. 30.

She's done it, she says, because she believes in the teachings of Buddhism, a spiritual belief she has spent the past 10 months studying.

"I really feel tired right now," says Oh as she sits down for a break in the cafeteria. "You can't lie to kids, you know? You have to be engaged with kids because it's like they are sitting there and you need to bring it in order for them to eventually feel comfortable . . . comfortable enough to say whatever their truth is."

Born and raised a Protestant in a Korean home near Ottawa, the 38-year-old actor has spent many years looking for her own truth.

"To my parent's dismay, I grew up and didn't go to church. They're Korean for God's sake, they're super religious," says Oh in her trademark tone.

"I will say that having grown up Protestant provided a lot of the foundation for me. I had the classic upbringing. You know, I struggled with Sunday school because no one seemed to answer my questions. But I had this feeling of connection within the church."

Living in L. A. with all the best teachers and gurus at her fingertips, Oh has always been drawn to the idea of meditating.

"For me, I know it was like: Meditation's great. It's good for me. I should meditate, I should meditate. But my life is so busy, so stressful. So I should meditate. . . . I should meditate. Mostly, I wanted to meditate out of guilt, like a really big vitamin pill."

Before breakout roles in Sideways (2004) and Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), she made nearly 40 movies, earning awards and critical acclaim dating back to her earliest days as an actor out of Nepean, Ont.

Unquestionably talented, she has also won a Screen Actor's Guild Award, a Genie for best actress and she's been nominated for five Emmys for her work as Cristina Yang. Although she lost out again on Sunday at the Emmys, Oh was a hit on the red carpet in a strapless gold embroidered gown by Marchesa.

Her work in the business has brought with it a strong selection of roles, including four upcoming feature films including Defendor, a comedy with Woody Harrelson, the animated film Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey, and the eagerly anticipated dramatic film Rabbit Hole, starring Aaron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman.

"Yah, you should see the script for that one," she says of Rabbit Hole. "It's incredible."

But success has also come with challenges. Nearly the entire cast of Grey's Anatomy is incessantly followed by paparazzi and tabloids closely covered the breakdown of Oh's marriage to Sideways writer-director Alexander Payne.

"It's all garbage," she says of the "rags," which recently got too close following her friends and co-stars into Ellen Pompeo's baby shower. "There is nothing good that comes out of it."

Outside of the public successes she has had with Grey's Anatomy throughout the past six years, Oh's not sure what inspired her to take a meditation class last January.

"This year turned and I was ready. I think when you're ready it will come into your life," she says with peaceful certainty before breaking into a tangent fit for Meredith Grey herself.

"I can tell you the very first time I sat in meditation class was like hell. The meditation class I go to you just sit . . . we just sit . Try just sitting, for God's sake.

"The class is an hour and a half and it involves sitting and talking. Talking about stuff, real stuff, not like sports. We talk about Buddhism. And then we sit . . . in silence. But even though it feels so deeply uncomfortable: my back hurts . . . I can't shut off my brain . . . I'm not doing this right . . . all that stuff. Even though all that was going on I came back the next week. Something else drives me towards it."

She says as she has studied the Buddhist movement throughout the past few months she has become amazed by the Dalai Lama.

"Rock star--we're talking rock star," she says of the chance to meet the Dalai Lama.

"I'm going to be laying there prostrate and just bringing white scarves."

Oh says a bit part of her attraction to Buddhism is that it encourages open-mindedness and work.

"If there is anything that I've been learning about Buddhism it's that I don't know s---. I would love to be able to say I knew why, but I don't. I think it was just a gradual thing. Suddenly I have the patience for it and suddenly my interest passed some sort of threshold of stasis."

In Thursday's season premiere of Grey's Anatomy Cristina Yang's cool demeanour warms up as she tries to make sense of death and dying in a new way, as a woman falling in love. And although we may see a little of Oh's softness creep into Cristina the two women will remain separate.

"Cristina a Buddhist?" Oh considers the idea for a moment before cracking the sarcastic smile that has endures her to so many fans. "Yeah, there's just no way."

'Defendor' Coming To A Theater Near You

Sony Pictures has bought the distribution rights for Defendor in the U.S. and most of the foreign territories.

More details from Variety:

Fest dealmaking continues to trickle on as the third U.S. distribution pact was inked in Toronto midweek.

Despite the dearth of U.S. pickups, a flurry of deals for prominent international territories shouldn't be underestimated, say reps.

And film critics apparently still have some credibility, according to producers, as buyers are carefully scrutinizing reviews before pulling out their checkbooks.

Though so far without a theatrical commitment, comedy "Defendor" was picked up in a seven-figure deal by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group for all U.S. rights and most of Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Pic, which stars Woody Harrelson as a self-made superhero, had its fest bow in Toronto on Saturday. Helmed and written by popular Canuck thesp Peter Stebbings, it was produced by Toronto- and L.A.-based Nicholas Tabarrok of Darius Films.

Tabarrok had pre-sold Canadian rights to Alliance Films as part of the movie's financing mix. Alliance also nabbed Canadian and Spanish rights (through subsid Aurum) to Toronto's most high-profile pickup so far this week -- Tom Ford's directorial debut, "A Single Man."

The Weinstein Co. and various foreign bidders vied for the film deep into Monday night.

"We pretty much sold most of the world in five hours on Monday night," foreign sales agent Stuart Ford of IM Global said. "We intentionally didn't pre-sell the film, and I'm glad the gamble paid off."

Among the territorial buyers were Icon in the U.K. and Oz, Mars in France, Svensk Film in Scandinavia, Sun Distribution in Latin America and TWC for Germany along with the U.S. rights.

Ancillary and territorial deals may not be as sexy as a big-advance theatrical deal for the U.S., but they beat the alternative.

"How heartbreaking is it to see movies that cost $20 million with no distributors?" asked attorney and sales agent John Sloss, who along with Jeff Sackman worked on the "Defendor" deal. "The smart approach is to divide up ... deals, whether those deals come with advances or not. That's not a consolation prize, in my mind."

Deals also have been extremely review-driven, according to producers and sellers in Toronto. Strongly reviewed films that first bowed in Venice had a better chance of making deals in Toronto, as reviews hit and buzz from both fests crescendo -- as last year's "The Hurt Locker" and "The Wrestler" and this year's "Single Man" proved.

"Buyers aren't chasing films that trade paper critics don't like," CAA agent Micah Green said. "Distributors are wary of relying only on audience reaction. The power that critics have with buyers who are following the critical consensus is undeniable."

A release date for the movie has not yet been set.


Source

Defendor: On The Set

Here is a photo of Sandra Oh and director Peter Stebbings on the set of the movie Defendor.

Defendor: The Trailer

We have just received this trailer for Sandra Oh's upcoming movie, Defendor, in which Sandra will play a psychiatrist. It looks like her role in the movie will be minor though.

Official synopsis:

Reality intersects with delusion in the mind of Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson), a regular man who adopts a superhero persona known as Defendor, and combs the city streets at night in search of his arch-enemy, Captain Industry. In his attempts to combat crime and bring down Captain Industry, a drug and weapons dealer who he mistakenly blames for the death of his mother, Defendor ends up befriending a young prostitute, Katerina Debrofkowitz (Kat Dennings).

Armed with unconventional weapons of mass confusion, aided by his new friend, and putting his life on the line, Defendor proves that everyone is capable of making a difference.

Defendor will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next week.