At Comic Con, we spoke with Emmanuelle Chriqui, the voice of Cheetarah in Warner Bros Animation’s new ThunderCats series.
In this interview, Chriqui discusses Cheetarah’s new, edgier personality and tells us exactly what makes her different from the 80s characterization. She also goes into the relationship Cheetarah has with Tygra and Lion-O. This Cheetarah has a little extra spark, which in my opinion is the PG version of Sancia, Chriqui’s role in Showtime’s The Borgias.
Chriqui also gives us a few hints as to what to expect this season on Entourage and tells us what it was like working in the voice booth with Andrea Romano.
Thundercats premieres Friday, July 29 at 8PM ET/PT on the Cartoon Network. Bandai has launched its new toy line in conjunction with the premiere. It features both new and classic figures.
Emmanuelle Chriqui Says Entourage’s Eighth Season “Will Floor People”
In the past few days, Emmanuelle Chriqui has gone out to two new events in New York City. I have just added 34 HQ and MQ photos from the events into our photo gallery!
I have just added 12 HD screen captures of Emmanuelle Chriqui from last night’s episode of “Entourage” into our photo gallery!
Emmanuelle Chriqui is the rose among the Hollywood thorns on Entourage. Playing the focused Sloan on the hit HBO comedy turned into a career-maker for the Montreal-born actress, who also starred in the films Snow Day and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. Entourage recently returned for its eighth and final season, but the show’s closure will open new acting doors for Chriqui – or at least that’s how she has it planned.
Was there a different vibe while filming the final season of Entourage?
It was tough. You always anticipate the end, but when it gets there, it’s like, no way. Shooting it was a little surreal, but the show defined my career in so many ways. As much as I’ve been acting all my life, I’m known as Sloan from Entourage. The challenge for me now is to become someone different.
Was Sloan a necessary voice of female reason among the Entourage lads?
That’s really what it was. She was the grounded one in the not-so grounded world of Hollywood. A real person. That’s why the chemistry between her and Eric worked so well.
You seem pretty grounded yourself. Where does that come from?
I owe it entirely to my family. As a child I was given the freedom to explore my passion for acting, but I also grew up in a home where there were a lot of rules. I didn’t have ‘yes’ parents. Nothing was easy. My career has been successful, but it’s been a grind of hard work.
Describe your first acting gig, please.
When I was seven, I was in a play at a local community theatre. It was James Reaney’s Listen to the Wind, and it was the most exhilarating thing I could have ever dreamed about. It was the combination of being on stage and having this second family you create. At a very young age, I just knew this was for me.
Were your schoolmates envious when you starred in a McDonald’s commercial?
Oh yeah, are you kidding? Definitely. When you’re starting out, every line in a show or a commercial is like a huge success.
In the nineties, you guested on Forever Knight, Traders and nearly every other TV show filmed in Toronto. Was that your finishing school?
It was good schooling in the film-and-TV realm. I started working right after high school to build up my resume, which then took me to Vancouver where I built it up more. Then I went to L.A., where I really went for it.
Was playing the Palestinian love interest of Adam Sandler’s Israeli spy in You Don’t Mess with the Zohan a turning point in your career?
As truly silly as it was, that movie was incredibly fulfilling. It was my chance to work with Adam and to tackle a character with an accent who was so different from who I am. That’s what an actor wants: to be challenged.
Beyond the cash and kudos, is acting a thankless profession?
Sometimes it beats you down. Sometimes the politics and the business of it can be really frustrating. It’s hard to understand why someone won’t consider you for a role, or it’s the ‘name game.’ Acting is not glamorous. It’s not. Anybody who wants to get into acting for the glamour is in for a hard time.
What hurdles have you had to overcome?
Fitting into the ‘every girl’ role has been a difficult thing for me. People want to put you in a box and pigeon-hole you. With Sloan, I was really fortunate they cast me, but most times the role would have gone to who you would expect it to be. It’s tough when you have real goals and ambitions and you go in and nail an audition, and then it comes down to: ‘Well, she’s just not what we had in mind.’ Aka: ‘She’s a little too exotic for us.’
What’s next for you?
I have a film called 5 Days of War coming out next month. It’s a political drama directed by Renny Harlin about when Russia invaded Georgia a few years back. It was shot on location in Georgia, which was an incredible experience. It’s a departure for me to do something so serious.
How did you survive eight testosterone-fuelled seasons on Entourage?
I don’t know why, but in my career and in my life, I often find myself in situations where I am the only girl amongst boys. I really do. But the Entourage guys have been my protectors and my family. They’re like my brothers.
The season 8 premiere of “Entourage” airs TONIGHT at 10:30PM on HBO! Don’t forget to tune in and watch all the Sloan/E drama going on!
Earlier today, Emmanuelle Chriqui was in San Diego, California at Comic-Con 2011 to do a panel and signing for her animated TV series where she will be voicing Cheetara. I have just added the first images of Emmanuelle at the event, 2 photos in total, into our photo gallery!
I have just added 11 HQ and MQ photos of Emmanuelle Chriqui from “Fox & Friends” into our photo gallery!
Earlier today, Emmanuelle Chriqui was a guest on the talk show “Fox & Friends” in New York City. You can watch her interview below!
The day before Entourage’s New York premiere, actress Emmanuelle Chriqui caught up with us at The London NYC’s bar to chat about the end of the long-running series and what she has planned for the future.
BAZAAR: Entourage is coming to an end. What was it like working on the last season of the show?
Emmanuelle Chriqui: It was bittersweet. It was really sad at the end, only because there’s a part of you that’s just kind of like, “Where did the time go?” For me, six years — for the boys, eight years gone. It doesn’t feel that way. And then of course, just having been a part of a show that was so well-received, [that] was just such a part of pop culture, is something that — we’re lucky if that happens once in our lifetimes. So when it was over, it was like, “Wow. What happens now?”
BAZAAR: Do you find that there are things that have happened on the show that have either happened to you or to people you know in Hollywood?
EC: Absolutely. It’s all inspired by real events. Maybe it’s embellished a little but for our entertainment. I think that’s one of the things that makes it work; people relate to it. At first there was such a resistance, to. People were like, “I don’t need to watch this. I deal with enough stuff every day.” But it was funny enough, and light enough, that they were like, “No, actually, I could enjoy this.”
BAZAAR: What’s going on for your character, Sloan, this season?
EC: We end Season 7 where my dad, unbeknownst to me, asks [my fiance] Eric to sign a prenup, and that doesn’t go over well. They are — surprise, surprise — broken up again and not on good terms. We see Sloan at the end of her rope. Her feathers are ruffled this season, and that’s just fun to play. It was amazing because I got to sink my teeth into Sloan in a totally different way. [The series] just ends with a bang, and it sets it up beautifully for a film.
BAZAAR: What other big plans are you working on, post-Entourage?
EC: Film-wise, I don’t know what’s next. There are a couple offers — there’s a couple irons in the fire. On August 19, I have a film coming out called Five Days of War, starring myself and Rupert Friend and Richard Doyle. It’s such a departure for me, because it’s a political drama and it’s about when Russia invaded Georgia a few years back. It was definitely an eye-opening experience, and I think that for those who see it, they’ll learn about a part of the world that a lot of people don’t know about. A lot of people have no idea where Georgia is.
BAZAAR: Or they just assume it’s the one with Atlanta. So did you film it in that area?
EC: Yes, we were on location for two months. It definitely brings me in a direction I want to go in. Sloan was so fun and so glamorous, but I really want to explore other things — the darker side of things, the non-glamorous side of things. As an actor, I think it’s really exciting. And I just launched a collaboration with JewelMint.com. The proceeds go to a charity that is super-close to my heart, which is Raise Hope for Congo. I looked through the collection, and I chose a piece that I really responded to, which was the Mumbai bracelet. And then we incorporated the charity element to it. So for me, it’s really getting my feet wet in such an advantageous way.
BAZAAR: How did you get involved with Raise Hope for Congo?
EC: I heard [founder] John Pendergast speaking. He is sort of the foremost expert on all things Africa. He is the person who brought to light the blood diamonds of Sierra Leone, and now, things that are happening in the Congo. I heard him speak, and I was so moved. It was kind of astonishing. We ended up sitting together [and I said] “You’re amazing, I want to get involved, but how do I?”
BAZAAR: While you weren’t involved specifically in the design of this bracelet, is that something you’d be interested in for the future — doing a jewelry or fashion line?
EC: It definitely is. I don’t know whether it would be jewelry or clothing. I’m really inclined toward organic, natural, sustainable [fashion]. I think it would definitely be in that realm for me. Making beautiful things that don’t look like [they’re for] treehuggers.
The final season of Entourage debuts on Sunday, July 24th at 10:30 pm ET on HBO.
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