Melissa George gets physical as martial-arts sleuth in ‘Hunted’

Say hello to TV’s hottest new action star — a pint-sized, bone-crushing bombshell — who is a millionaire inventor on the side.

Melissa George, the lusciously pouty-lipped actress from HBO’s critically acclaimed series “In Treatment,” now plays Sam Hunter — martial arts mistress turned master spy on Cinemax’s “Hunted,” debuting Friday.

“I literally get to snap their bones,” George told the Daily News. “And it’s so funny for me, because I’m sweet and so not that, but when I play Sam ... the fighting with the guys is real.”

For the part, George underwent intensive training to learn Keysi, a style of self-defense developed for street fighting.

In her fight scenes, when it came time to square off against far larger, more experienced stunt men, George pummeled them.

“There were black eyes, split lips, blood. I threw one guy down a flight of stairs,” she said.

The 5-foot-6 star, 35, said she even warned colleagues that she might hurt them — but they laughed it off.

“One of the guys is a trained mercenary in real life,” she said. “And I gave him a black eye because I did this really cool move that took me two months to learn ... I was so proud of it.”

She tried to apologize, “But he’s like, ‘Nah, give it to me more.’ ”

George is also the inventor of a best-selling device called Hemming My Way, an adhesive snap that women can use to instantly make their pants short while wearing flats and long when wearing heels.

The item sells in stores like Target and Duane Reade.

“I was walking down Madison Ave. one day wearing high heels and my feet were tired,” she said. “So I put on my flats to run for the subway and my hem was so long it was dragging on the ground.”

Oprah Winfrey caught wind of the invention and featured it on her daytime show, which led to a blowout sale on QVC. Soon retailers all over the world followed.

“It’s so funny. I go into Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy bedsheets and I see my product by the register, and I have this little smile to myself,” she said.

Source : nydailynews[dot]com

Americans find fortune in risky land of Ghana in Discovery’s ‘Jungle Gold’

They’re golden.

George Wright and Scott Lomu, a pair of former Utah real estate brokers who went bust when the housing bubble burst, against all odds have been mining gold in the West African jungles of Ghana.

The pair — who say their sole reason for tackling the dangerous project is to support large families back home — battle armed neighbors, miles of broken roads, roadblocks manned by Ghanaian gangs and ruthless gold buyers looking to snag their claim at any cost.

“Everybody carries guns,” Lomu, 37, a father of four, told the Daily News. “You have to do whatever you can to take care of your kids. Working in Africa we’re out of our element, but the trick is to try to get in with the locals, be friendly and make as many friends — as fast as you can.”

Almost three years ago, the pair and a third partner, Wally Macias, 36, staked a claim deep in the jungle, 41/2 hours from civilization, and toiled by themselves to find the precious metal. After Macias, a private security guru, died (by suicide) last year, Lomu and Wright vowed to provide for his widow and two children, too.

A day after his death last November, a production company approached them about filming their endeavor.

They first went to Ghana looking for gold two years ago. The original plan was to buy it in Ghana — where it is plentiful — and then flip it for a profit back home.

But the dangers of simply buying the precious metal quickly became clear, and can be seen on the series debut of Discovery’s “Jungle Gold” on Oct. 26.

“There are armed scammers everywhere and we realized that the only way to actually get the gold is to pull it out of the ground ourselves,” Wright, 29, a father of three, said.

“We’ve had to learn how to be miners,” said Wright. “We’ve had to learn how to operate heavy equipment, and we’ve learned everything on the fly and learned some pretty expensive lessons along the way.”

Source : nydailynews[dot]com

Movie News Wolfe to Direct Hilary Swank in You're Not You ADD COMMENTS

George C. Wolfe will direct Hilary Swank in You're Not You, reports Variety. The film will be based on on the first novel by Michelle Wildgen which is described as follows:

Bec is adrift. It's the summer before her junior year in college. She's sleeping with a married professor, losing interest in her classes, and equivocating about her career. She takes a job caring for Kate, a thirty-six-year-old woman who has been immobilized by ALS.

As it turns out, before the disease Kate was a stylish and commanding woman, an advertising executive and an accomplished chef. Now, as she and Bec spend long days together, Bec begins to absorb Kate's sophistication and her sensuality, cooking for her, sharing her secrets, and gradually beginning to live her own life with a boldness informed by Kate's influence. The more intense her commitment to Kate, the further Bec strays from the complacency of her college life. And when Kate's marriage veers into dangerous territory, Bec will have to choose between the values of her old life and the allure of an entirely new one.

Swank is producing through her 2S banner with co-founder Molly Smith along with Denise Di Novi and Alison Greenspan. Filming is expected to start in Los Angeles in November.

(Photo Credit: FayesVision/WENN.com)


Source : comingsoon[dot]net