Leave your questions for Ted Raimi right here and I’ll do my best to get them answered. I’m on the phone first thing tomorrow morning, so hurry.

Also, TheSeekerCast sent us this message:

ABC Studios is in the process of reviewing whether or not to renew Legend of the Seeker for a third season. Many fans are contacting ABC Studios and their local affiliates to let them know how much we all enjoy this show. If you’d like to help out the details on how to do that are listed here.

I personally haven’t heard anything about potential cancellation, but it never hurts to let a network know how you feel about your favorite shows, so why not join in the fight to keep Legend alive.

Photo: Craig Horner, Bridget Regan (ABC STUDIOS/JACK GUY)

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“What drew me to the role, were the seeds of doubt which gave us a lot of ways to move” said Jolene on a call with reporters. “She’s not inherently good or inherently bad, she’s just blinded by the passion of her own good intentions.”

And you know what they say about good intentions.

Going from a cult favorite scifi show to a cult favorite fantasy show is just fine with Jolene. “Scifi / fantasy is very special to my heart. I grew up with the original Star Trek and I used to watch the Star Wars Trilogy [over and over again when I was a kid.]” What she likes best about the genre is that it takes “humanity outside of itself. It presents the what if. . . ”

Jolene’s first episode runs the week of January 23 and it’s called “Dark.”

As the Sisters of the Light train Richard (Craig Horner) to use his wizard power, the beautiful and mysterious Sister Nicci (Guest Star Jolene Blalock) reveals a shocking secret forcing him into a dark alliance; in Richard’s absence, Zedd (Bruce Spence) has no choice but to name a new Seeker.

Then, on January 30th, Jolene returns in “Perdition.”

Trapped in the deadly Valley of Perdition, Richard’s (Craig Horner) worst fears come magically to life and threaten to kill him, while the world’s most powerful sorceress, Sister Nicci (Guest Star Jolene Blalock), plots to murder Kahlan (Bridget Regan); Cara’s (Tabrett Bethell) feelings for the new Seeker deepen.

Later in the season, look for an appearance by Keisha Castle-Hughes who played Queen of Naboo in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Legend of the Seeker is syndicated so look for it on your local TV stations on Saturday or Sunday afternoons.

Photo: ABC Studios

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Zedd (Bruce Spence) falls victim to a mysterious spell that strips him of his memories and his old age, mistakenly convincing the once-wise wizard that he must replace Richard with a new Seeker. Gabriel Mann (The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy) guest stars as a young Zedd.

I hear that Ted Raimi (Supernatural, SeaQuest DSV), brother of Legend of the Seeker executive producer Sam Raimi, will be reprising his role of Sebastian, the fast-talking, shady mapmaker and magic peddler. In a future episode, he’ll be teaming up with Zedd’s brother Thaddicus to sell a magical cure for those evil souls returned from the underworld — the Banelings.

Photo credit is ABC Studios.

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I particularly wanted to share this photo. When I glanced at it at first, I thought Kahlan had wings!

Legend of the Seeker: Torched

Premieres weekend of November 28
Kahlan and Richard set out to rescue a mysterious girl named Annabelle (guest star Aimee Teegarden), the only other living Confessor, and try to prevent her from accidentally unleashing the powers she possesses.

Photo credit: ABC Studios

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Let’s not waste any time here, Craig. Tell us what we can look forward to in this new season.

Craig: It’s literally hell on earth because the underworld has been opened now and the Keeper, which is Satan, if you will, is sending forth his minions. One thing we gotta watch out for are these things called Banelings, which are kind of like zombies. They’re basically people who get sent to the underworld and come back serving the Keeper, but they look exactly the same so you don’t know who to trust, what to do — how do you kill something that’s already dead.

For Richard’s character, he’s now been thrust into this new kind of world of leadership. You thought being the Seeker was hard enough but now he has to lead his enemies. Some of the Darkens are saying, you are our Lord Rahl, we’re going to follow you, what are you going to do? Now we’re not fighting each other, we’re fighting a bigger enemy; we’re fighting the devil.

I hear you have some great guest stars coming up this season.

Craig: Yes, Amy Teegarden from Friday Night Lights, Jolene Blalock from Star Trek. Oh, and Charisma Carpenter. I’m a massive Buffy and Angel fan so when she came on I was like, ohhh my god, I’ve now merged Buffy and my show together, this is a moment to remember. It’s great having these new flavors to spice things up.

So you a big fantasy fan before you joined the show?

Craig: Oh yeah, big time. I was that kid who everything single day was running around in the backyard pretending I was Ninja Turtle one day or Batman the next day or a Ghostbuster the next day or Kevin from Home Alone setting traps around my house or Luke Sykwalker on a speeder bike while I was on my bicycle. My imagination was absolutely wild. I would watch these films a million times and I would just love it. It’s really kind of crazy; Richard is kind of like that character I was pretending to be all those years ago.

Just when you thought you were too old to be running around with swords it comes right back at you and you get paid to do it.

IN THE MOOD

On the Season One DVD, you take us on a tour of the Legend of the Seeker sets. They’re so realistic, it must be easy to get into the mood of the piece.

Craig: Absolutely. We have a couple of massive studios. One is always a forest. You go in there and it’s literally a forest, you walk in and there’s a bit of work space but most of it is dirt and actual trees and we have to keep swapping them over every month because they die and get bugs. Then, you’re in a bar suddenly with all these extras dressed up in crazy outfits and all the crew is outside the bar and you look around and it’s actually kind of easy to imagine where we are. Then when we go outside and there are the real mountains and amazing lakes and sand dunes — we’re not shooting Jurassic Park 3 here. We can see what’s going on. We’re not talking to tennis balls all the time. Sure you gotta do it where you’ve got green screen you have to play off it, but it’s so much nicer when you’re sitting in the costume on the actual wagon that is made of real wood and brass with all the detail.

Your role is quite physically demanding. How did you take to it when you first began?

Craig: When Bridget and I got to New Zealand, we had about six weeks before we started shooting and in that time we could read the books for character research and we could also go horse riding to touch off on that and I wasn’t really good on a horse, I’d maybe been on a horse a couple of times. But these guys take it through like paint by numbers. Heels down, pull the reigns in and they’ll look at you and point out these tiny things and before you know it you’re riding a horse thanks to these amazing teachers.

The sword thing, as I mentioned, I was using a plastic sword for the first, give or take, ten years of my life and that kind of helped, believe it or not. If I was to step into a battle, I’d probably lose but to be able to make it look big and epic and have a little coordination came relatively easy to me, not to mention we have amazing stunt coordinators who choreograph these wonderful fights.

TAKING LIFE AS IT COMES

What’s been the best part of working on Legend of the Seeker?

Craig: That’s a tough question. I’ve never really been asked that. There’s so many pros. The schedule is incredibly grueling and when you’re tired, you’re tired. You can be a millionaire but when you’re tired that money ain’t gonna help you, you’re tired and you feel bad. But I look around and I go, this is fantastic. These are now my new family and friends. I had to go from Australia to here and we all get along really well. It’s such fast turn around, TV, you can’t spend so much time on things, we have to be moving fast and suddenly you’re doing a big life or death scene and then a fight scene and then go ride horses. It’s incredibly full on but enjoyable.

Are you as adventurous as your character?

Craig: I have a short attention span, if I’m in one place for a long time I have to move. I think, when I’m challenged with something I’ll try and rise to it but sometimes when you’re left on your own accord you could end up staying in one spot. You don’t know what’s out there so you just start assuming there’s nothing out there. Then suddenly someone will thrust you into something and it’s like, wow, I’m so glad I came here. Gosh, I think there’s nothing at all wrong with anyone saying, you know what, these three months I’m not going to work, I’m going to do it really cheap, I’m going to travel, rock up and see what happens. If you rock up with no expectations, you just go, this is life, life is about being here. . .I can’t really ask the world to give me anything, I’m just going to go and see what it is. . maybe things can happen.

Any final words?

Craig: If you can watch Legend of the Seeker, please watch it. We’ve had a fantasy void on our television for too long and I like to think of it as the fantasy void filler. Fantasy is a word that can throw people off. You say fantasy to my mom and she’s like, ‘no, not my thing.’ You say it to other people and they’re like, ‘it’s for dweebs and geeks, I’m not into wizards and dragons and all that stuff.’

But Legend of the Seeker is basically real situations that are set in an ancient time before you had cell phones and electricity.  It’s a world of steel and leather and so we don’t really make it too crazy. Magic only happens every once in awhile; it’s really about these relationships. So don’t be put off by the word fantasy, but at the same token if you do love fantasy, then come on and step inside, you’ll get your fantasy fill.

Legend of the Seeker is a syndicated series from ABC Television. You can find out when and where it airs in your local area by visiting the website: LegendoftheSeeker.com.

Photos:

1) “Legend of the Seeker” stars Bridget Regan and Craig Horner greeted fans in Times Square in New York City as they unveiled the Sword of Truth, a 9 foot custom faux sword protruding from a vehicle emanating smoke. The stars, who shoot the nationally syndicated action-adventure series in New Zealand, were in town promoting the second season.

2) “Legend of the Seeker” hottie Craig Horner who plays “Richard,” the Seeker, on the series, marked his presence during his visit to Times Square today, “slashing” a vehicle in the middle of Military Island with the Sword of Truth, a 9-foot custom faux sword. The actor, who shoots the nationally syndicated action-adventure series in New Zealand, was in town promoting the second season which premieres the weekend of November 7 (check local listings).

Photo credit: Anders Krusberg/ABC Studios

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The marathon begins with the series premiere, when Richard (Craig Horner, “Monarch Cove” and “Blue Water High”) first discovers his destiny to stop the sinister tyrant Darken Rahl (Craig Parker, “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”). Richard partners up with the beautiful and mysterious Kahlan (Bridget Regan), and a wise and powerful old wizard named Zedd (Bruce Spence, “The Matrix Revolutions”), who have both sworn to assist Richard in his mission. The six episodes featured in the marathon are “Prophecy,” followed by “Destiny,” “Denna,” “Puppeteer,” “Conversion” and “Fever.”

If you like what you see, the second season of Legend of the Seeker will premiere the weekend of November 7th in national syndication. You can also purchase the first season on DVD.

Photo courtesy of ABC Studios

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Legend of the Seeker

Even if you’re a fan of this kind of fantasy series you may have missed it on TV.  The show is syndicated which means it airs on local TV channels usually outside of primetime hours; early or late on a Saturday or Sunday is common. (Check the website for times and dates in your area.) Because of this, the show is sorely under promoted and that’s a shame because it’s an excellent series.

The story revolves around woodsman Richard Cypher (Craig Horner) who finds out that he is what legends call The Seeker. Together with the lovely and magaical Kahlan Amnell (Bridget Regan) and with the help of the wizard Zedd (Bruce Spence) Richard sets out on an epic journey to stop the bloodthirsty, sinister tyrant Darken Rahl (Craig Parker) from conquering all mankind

The series is based on “The Sword of Truth” book series and is produced by Sam Raimi (“Spiderman”), Rob Tapert (“Xena:
Warrior Princess,” “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”), Joshua Donen (“The Quick and the Dead”), Ned Nalle (“Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”) and Ken Biller (“Star Trek: Voyager”), all of whom know something about epic heroic journeys!

Shot in New Zealand, Legend of the Seeker transports you with their gorgeous locations, detailed costuming and rustic village sets. It may be full of magic and monsters but you’ll buy into every second of it thanks to the talents of the cast and crew.

What I find particularly refreshing about the series is the way the leading lady, Kahlan is played as a capable warrior without losing any of her femininity. She handles and sword and fights as well, if not better, than the men of the series but you still feel a softness that makes her a very likable and relatable character.

Craig Horner is also very likable as Richard Cypher, the average Joe who suddenly finds out that the fate of the world rests on his shoulders. In this first season, you see him go from a confused boy to a man on a mission but he always keeps his performance grounded.

The DVD has all 22 episodes of the first season, audio commentaries, deleted scenes and several featurettes. If you’re a fan of Terry Goodkind, there’s an extended interview with him where he takes you inside his home and talks about his career. My favorite feature is “Forging the Sword: Crafting a Legend.” Craig and Bridget take you behind the scenes for a closer look at what goes into creating this mammoth production. I was amazed to see how many scenes that I thought were filmed on location, were actually filmed on a sound stage. You’ll learn more about the actors, see some fight choreography and spend time with the horse wrangler who cares for the animals on the show.

This series looks so beautiful in HD and here it’s presented in widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Can’t beat that.

If you have even a mild interest in sword and sorcery or fantasy TV, you should check out Legend of the Seeker. It really is the only thing like it airing on TV today.

Buy Legend of the Seeker: The Complete First Season on Amazon, then check your local listings for new episodes beginning November 7.

Photo: Amazon

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Star Trek: Enterprise

The series is an adaptation of  best-selling author Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth book series.  Blalock, who begins filming in New Zealand this week, will portray a mysterious Sister of the Dark who possesses very powerful magic — she not only threatens Richard’s (Craig Horner) quest to defeat evil forces, but her ultimate goal is to destroy Kahlan (Bridget Regan).

The second season of the series will premiere the weekend of November 7th.  Check your local listings for exact time and dates.

Photo: Newscom

Click through the cut to watch a scene from Legend of the Seeker: The Complete First Season, which is now available on DVD.

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Just watch Bridget fight off a hoard of attackers on Seeker and you’ll see that she has the chops to do the job. She’s got the rough and tumble edge of Xena mixed with the angelic innocence of Lady Arwen — how can you beat that?

Want in on the action? Add your voice to the Wonder Woman thread over at SuperHerosHype then sign the online petition at the Petition Spot. I can just see her with that golden lasso now. . .

Legend of the Seeker returns this November with all new episodes.

Photo: Newscom

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Bridget plays Kahlan, a “Confessor” who wields her magic as well as she wields a sword.  Together with the wizard Zed (Bruce Spence) and the Richard Cypher, the Seeker (Craig Horner) she sets out to stop the invasion of the evil Darken Rahl.

The series is filmed in a studio in New Zealand, but Bridget and her cast-mates spend plenty of time trekking through the incredible forests of the area. When I caught up with her she wasn’t running from the dastardly Rahl, but running to the wardrobe trailer for a fitting.

This definitely isn’t Law & Order.

Bridget: Yeah, it’s quite the opposite of what I was doing around this time last year but it’s pretty amazing. The physical challenges, emotional challenges, they’re not for the faint of heart. I feel quite proud of myself that I’ve been up for it and been quite blessed to be challenged as much as I have been. All the wonderful teachers that I have out here, the directors, horse wranglers and stunt coordinators and everyone are just amazing, and I feel quite lucky to work with such talent.

Talk to me about filming in New Zealand.

Bridget: The thing about New Zealand is they have a real respect for nature. We film on Maori land and everybody really respects it and keeps it with a lot of reverence, which is so cool. On our first day of shooting, we had a blessing from a local Maori elder – it was just amazing. I don’t think the show would work anywhere else. It’s the Midlands. It can’t look like Los Angeles. It has to look like uncharted territory and we have to make the audience believe in this world, otherwise they really won’t come along the journey with us. The art department is incredible and every prop, every piece of the set, the beautiful greenery and the backdrops that we work up against, they’re all just gorgeous.

The series is based on the books of Terry Goodkind. Were you familiar with them before you started filming?

Bridget: No, no, not at all. I actually wasn’t really a huge fantasy fan but now I love it all. I think the characters are exquisite and beautiful and complex and I have fallen head over heels in love with Kahlan and that’s what makes the job so good, it’s such a great role.

Does the fact that it comes from a set of books that people really love make it harder to play the role?

Bridget: The fans of the books feel that they know these characters and they want to protect them, so at first, I was a bit intimidated and scared. Don’t do this, do what they want, give them what they want to see and then, you know, after a while, I said, I know this woman. I know her and I’m going to stop wasting energy and not worry about whether it’s going to be right or not. It’s going to be okay, you are here today, go for it.

Do you reference the book for backstory on your character?

Bridget: I do. I have the book with me a lot of the times at work and I open it up and I’m reminded of who she is. As an actor, I couldn’t ask for anything better.

So what’s the biggest challenge that you face every day working on the show?

Bridget: I think its battling exhaustion. It’s not like I don’t love work. I love everyone on the set. I love the story that we’re telling and what we’re doing and everything but you know, I usually get up in the dark every day and do go to work in it every day and you work like a dog, but it’s glorious, even when it’s miserable. I know that years from now, I’m going to look back on this and be very proud and feel very blessed just doing what I do. But Craig (Horner) and I sometimes look at each other. It’s just like our eyes are crossing cause he’s in every scene. I get occasional early afternoons off but we do need stamina to keep going.

Have you had a chance to see the finished product at all?

Bridget: Yeah, it’s pretty funny because it’s been selling in so many different countries which is so exciting but it doesn’t air in New Zealand yet but I – this is so embarrassing – I buy it on ITunes.

So are you headed home to the US soon?

Bridget: Yes, my sister is getting married. I always had like this ticking clock of, Bridget has to leave, so I’m actually heading out a few days early to go and be my sister’s maid of honor.

Maybe while you’re home we’ll get to see you at Comic Con. We missed you last year.

Bridget: I would love to go to Comic Con, mostly because that’s where I grew up, in San Diego.  My mom and dad and sister went. I was already in New Zealand and they went and had a good time. My mom was up there shaking their hands with Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert and everyone. It was pretty comical ’cause I hadn’t even been with them yet.

I heard that you guys got a pickup for a second season? Is that up for sure?

Bridget: Yes, yes, that’s how things work right now. I mean, sometimes I’m a bit of a skeptic and we’re like, ‘what if something doesn’t happen,’ but yes, looks like it. I’ve been really happy and positive and excited and grateful. . . all good things.

To find out when you can watch Legend of the Seeker in your area, visit the official website.

Photos courtesy of Bridget Regan and ABC Studios

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