The Following: Kevin Bacon, James Purefoy and Kevin Williamson Preview TV's Next Big Thriller (E!)

by Jenna Mullins

How do you get someone like Kevin Bacon to star in your TV show? Kevin Williamson (The Vampire Diaries) apparently has the key.

"When it came time to cast Ryan Hardy I was like, 'Well, we need someone like Kevin Bacon. We should get someone like Kevin Bacon,' thinking we'd never get someone like Kevin Bacon," Williamson tells us. Turns out, Kevin had all the ammunition he needed in the form of his pilot script.

"I knew that I wanted to do something that was heroic. And I knew that if I was going to do something heroic the guy would have to be complex and have vulnerabilities…and have a certain kind of damaged nature," Bacon says to us about his retired FBI character. "The show moves at a breakneck speed, and every time I get a new script, I pick it up and what I'm mostly amazed at is that both from a plot standpoint and from a character standpoint, there are so many things I don't see coming."

READ MORE OF THE STORY: http://www.eonline.com/news/380470/the-following-kevin-bacon-james-purefoy-and-kevin-williamson-preview-tv-s-next-big-thriller

The Following Video Looks At Kevin Bacon And James Purefoy's Characters Author: Kelly West (CINEMA BLEND)

Among the handful of shows that we selected as the top new series we can't wait to start watching this winter is Kevin Williamson's suspenseful looking Fox thriller The Following. Fox has wisely been sharing promotional content for the drama over the last couple of months, and among the more recent videos is one that talks about the intentions of serial killer Joe Carroll and Kevin Bacon's character, FBI Agent Ryan Hardy.

The Following stars Kevin Bacon as an FBI agent who's brought out of retirement to pursue convicted serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy). In addition to escaping, Carroll's also been developing a group of devoted followers , which explains the title of the new series.

The video below features clips from the drama, some of which should be familiar if you've seen the previously released trailers and previews. But it also includes series creator Kevin Williamson as well as Bacon and Carroll as they talk about the series.


READ MORE:http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Following-Video-Looks-Kevin-Bacon-James-Purefoy-Characters-51033.html

Kevin Bacon, James Purefoy discuss 'The Following' THE FOLLOWINGJANUARY 6, 2013BY: DAWN JONES (EXAMINER)

"The Following," Fox's new highly anticipated psychological thriller is set to premier Jan 21. The show features Kevin Bacon as an FBI agent tracking James Purefoy's serial killer while finding himself in the center of a network of killers that have come together via the Internet and are set to do the bidding of their leader. Bacon, Purefoy and the shows producer Kevin Reilly sat down to discuss the adrenaline fueled show (LATimes, Jan 6)

"The Following" is Bacon's first full time television role. The actor confessed to being a movie snob and that taking a role on television was the end of an actors career. Watching his wife (Kyra Sedgwick) success on TV helped change his mind. Once he decided to make the jump he still didn't think he would end up on network TV saying "OK, I'll look, but only on Showtime and HBO"

The Emmy nominated actor is no longer a "network snob" is pretty excited about his new role and feels that it will be a hit.

"I think it's going to make a splash. I have a lot of ambitions for this show and I'd like it to be a hit commercially, I'd like it to bring home some trophies — and I'm pretty confident that it will."

READ MORE: http://www.examiner.com/article/kevin-bacon-james-purefoy-discuss-the-following