“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” alum Danny Strong is a true superstar — unlike his Joss Whedon-created alter ego, Jonathan Levinson, who could only pull off that level of success in Hollywood if he cast another spell.
But while the Emmy winner and “Empire” co-creator has his hands full with his own TV series nowadays, Strong told TheWrap during the Television Critics Association press tour he would be happy to reprise his role for the recently-announced reboot.
“I would appear on it as Jonathan if they wanted Jonathan,” Strong told TheWrap, while promoting his upcoming Fox drama “Proven Innocent.” “Poor, poor, Jonathan. I don’t think Jonathan made it, though. So it might be tricky.”
Also Read: 'Buffy' Reboot Showrunner Reassures Fans Amid Backlash: 'There Is Only One Buffy'
Strong is right, Jonathan did not make it. The former Trio member was murdered by his best friend Andrew (Tom Lenk), who...
But while the Emmy winner and “Empire” co-creator has his hands full with his own TV series nowadays, Strong told TheWrap during the Television Critics Association press tour he would be happy to reprise his role for the recently-announced reboot.
“I would appear on it as Jonathan if they wanted Jonathan,” Strong told TheWrap, while promoting his upcoming Fox drama “Proven Innocent.” “Poor, poor, Jonathan. I don’t think Jonathan made it, though. So it might be tricky.”
Also Read: 'Buffy' Reboot Showrunner Reassures Fans Amid Backlash: 'There Is Only One Buffy'
Strong is right, Jonathan did not make it. The former Trio member was murdered by his best friend Andrew (Tom Lenk), who...
- 8/4/2018
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
"We're your arch nemesis-es!" Buffy the Vampire Slayer's trio reunited! Ok, not Buffy, Xander and Willow, but the Other trio: Warren Mears, Andrew Wells and Jonathan Levinson! Adam Busch, Tom Lenk and Danny Strong, aka the group of actors that made up one of the beloved WB series' big bads, got together on Sunday, July 30, for a mini BtVS reunion. Cue all the feels. "Trio reunion at @Dannystrong's Mewvie #RebelintheRye and its soooo Gewd!!" Lenk captioned a photo he posted on Twitter. Strong, who won an Oscar for Lee Daniel's The Butler and co-created Fox's hit drama Empire, also posted the photo, adding, "Evil returns! Loved seeing my #Buffy...
- 7/31/2017
- E! Online
Fox has given a put-pilot commitment to a new Civil Rights legal drama from Danny Strong and Jessica Sharzer. Deadline reports, "...the untitled project centers on a team of civil rights lawyers who take on the most newsworthy cases of our time, balancing the high stress of their jobs with sex, drugs and assorted other vices."Strong got his start on Saved By the Bell: The New Class. As an actor, he really broke out as Jonathan Levinson, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A talented writer too, Strong created Empire with Lee Daniels. He also wrote Daniels' film, The Butler, as well as the HBO movie, Game Change. Read More…...
- 9/17/2016
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
Before he became the co-creator of Fox's breakout hit Empire, alongside Lee Daniels, Danny Strong was an actor, probably best known for his role as the nebbishy Jonathan Levinson on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Realizing there are limits to the careers of Jonathan Levinson types, Strong turned to screenwriting, beginning with Recount, an HBO movie about what went down in Florida after the 2000 presidential election. Today he’s become one of the most successful writers in Hollywood (see his Emmy for Game Change and his credits on the final two Hunger Games movies), and now he’s directing episodes of Empire, too. Strong spoke to Vulture about addressing social issues through television, how Game of Thrones has influenced Empire, and why Cookie is like Kramer.Did you grow up watching Dynasty?No ... I think what drew Lee [Daniels] to it was that I really hit that the middle son who’s...
- 9/21/2015
- by Carl Swanson
- Vulture
Perhaps the only real problem with Earshot is that it misses a blindingly obvious trick. On today of all days, Buffy – having been infected by some demon mind-reading gunk – can't mentally earwig on the thoughts of The Mayor and Faith. She could don one of her brilliant disguises (as seen in I Robot...You Jane) and then show up to The Mayor's pristine office while camouflaged as a postie or a pizza delivery girl or a double glazing sales rep. It's odd that Buffy doesn't attempt this, given that it could be the ideal opportunity to throw some more light on this Ascension business.
The mind-reading staple's another cliché of stock fantasy and sci-fi, but what Earshot does is to carefully look at the up and down sides of this condition. It's an extra sense that I bet people would think about having. It's the sort of thing that would...
The mind-reading staple's another cliché of stock fantasy and sci-fi, but what Earshot does is to carefully look at the up and down sides of this condition. It's an extra sense that I bet people would think about having. It's the sort of thing that would...
- 4/29/2014
- Shadowlocked
Every new season on Buffy the Vampire Slayer brought the promise of a fresh Big Bad, a major enemy that would crop up to make life Hell, literally and figuratively, for our heroes. Usually, Big Bads were mythical sorts — sadistic vampires, demonic government officials, omnipotent gods. But for the sixth season, which brought the show to Upn in 2001 after a nearly perfect run on the WB, Joss Whedon and his team of writers encountered a different challenge. Since Buffy had died in the season-five finale and was therefore being brought back from the dead — from heaven, no less — the show was beginning from a dark spot and therefore needed a lighter Bad, as it were. So the show’s writers hit on the idea to have three social misfits from Buffy’s high-school days — previously-seen characters Jonathan Levinson and Warren Mears, along with Andrew Wells, the younger...
- 12/16/2013
- by Jennifer Vineyard
- Vulture
Director: Lee Daniels; Screenwriter: Danny Strong; Starring: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, John Cusack, David Oyelowo, Robin Williams, Alan Rickman, James Marsden, Mariah Carey, Vanessa Redgrave; Running time: 132 mins; Certificate: 12A
An emotive yet understated lead performance by Forest Whitaker bolsters this tale of a man's rise from plantation slave to revered White House butler. The good-natured intentions and powerful historical framing of Lee Daniels' movie manage to transcend the dramatic contrivances and distracting casting choices.
The Butler's storytelling scope is expansive if not consistently engrossing, charting the rise of black Americans during the 20th Century through the interconnecting fortunes of Whitaker's Cecil Gaines – based on real-life butler Eugene Allen. The civil rights movement, the black panthers and the Vietnam War all take their toll on Cecil and his family, while the plight to gain equality with white staff in the White House leads to much frustration. But can...
An emotive yet understated lead performance by Forest Whitaker bolsters this tale of a man's rise from plantation slave to revered White House butler. The good-natured intentions and powerful historical framing of Lee Daniels' movie manage to transcend the dramatic contrivances and distracting casting choices.
The Butler's storytelling scope is expansive if not consistently engrossing, charting the rise of black Americans during the 20th Century through the interconnecting fortunes of Whitaker's Cecil Gaines – based on real-life butler Eugene Allen. The civil rights movement, the black panthers and the Vietnam War all take their toll on Cecil and his family, while the plight to gain equality with white staff in the White House leads to much frustration. But can...
- 11/15/2013
- Digital Spy
Usually once or twice during the big Summer movie season, the Hollywood studios release a film that’s a bit more serious than the action, science fiction, fantasy comedy blockbusters that normally populate the multiplex during those balmy months. Bypassing the Oscar-bait year-end log jam this time is Lee Daniels’ The Butler. Like the recent independent feature Fruitvale Station, it concerns a hot-button topic from recent headlines: race relations. While Station told the story of a fairly recent true-life incident, the new film spans several decades with special emphasis on the tumultuous 1960′s much like the Summer drama of 2011 The Help (which later did take home some Oscar gold). So, are movie audiences ready to take a break from the car chases and explosions, and embark on a trip through some dark moments of America’s recent history? And will Academy voters remember this drama when they begin filling out...
- 8/15/2013
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Danny Strong has gone from science-fiction to politics and back to science-fiction again. And he's picked up a writing Emmy along the way. But don't look at Strong as the geeky Jonathan Levinson in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," or even the awkward Danny Siegel in "Mad Men." Instead, see him as the new writer for the final two films in the Hunger Games series "Mockingjay." He will replace Oscar-winning writer Simon Beaufoy who is writing the second installment, "Catching Fire." Although Strong might be best known for his political writing in the form of "Recount" in 2008 and "Game Change" in 2012, which he won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or Movie, he also is currently working on the latest adaptation of Dan Brown's book "The Lost Symbol," which is a sequel to "The ...
- 10/2/2012
- GeekNation.com
After The Hunger Games' huge success at the box office earlier this year, Lionsgate have wasted no time working on adapting the rest of the futuristic young adult novel series written by Suzanne Collins. Catching Fire is currently undergoing production for a release date of November 22nd, 2013, with director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) behind the camera. Previously, Lionsgate confirmed that they will adapt the final novel, Mockingjay, in two films (a la Harry Potter and Twilight). Now, Variety reports that actor-turned-writer Danny Strong - who previously played Jonathan Levinson in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and recently won two Emmys for writing and co-executive producing HBO's Game Change - has signed on to write the two-part film adaptation of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. Strong also recently wrote Lee Daniels' historical drama The Butler. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 is set to hit theaters November 21st, 2014; Part...
- 10/1/2012
- ComicBookMovie.com
Congratulations to Danny Strong, who picked up his very first Emmy for writing HBO's 2008 election drama "Game Change." But as the accomplished writer approached the stage, most of us recognized him from his other career as an actor.
The big question: Which of his most famous roles is the one you recognize him from? Srong has appeared most recently on "Mad Men," but he is likely best known from the seminal WB teen dramas "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gilmore Girls."
Photos: 2012 Emmy Awards red carpet arrivals
As suicidal teen Jonathan Levinson on "Buffy," Strong was both enemy and ally to the titular vampire slayer (Sarah Michelle Gellar). As Doyle McMaster, Strong was Rory's (Alexis Bledel) editor at the Yale Daily News and Paris' (Liza Weil) boyfriend.
So, which show do you recognize him from: "Buffy" or "Gilmore Girls"? This probably says something about you and your character, but we're not quite sure what.
The big question: Which of his most famous roles is the one you recognize him from? Srong has appeared most recently on "Mad Men," but he is likely best known from the seminal WB teen dramas "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gilmore Girls."
Photos: 2012 Emmy Awards red carpet arrivals
As suicidal teen Jonathan Levinson on "Buffy," Strong was both enemy and ally to the titular vampire slayer (Sarah Michelle Gellar). As Doyle McMaster, Strong was Rory's (Alexis Bledel) editor at the Yale Daily News and Paris' (Liza Weil) boyfriend.
So, which show do you recognize him from: "Buffy" or "Gilmore Girls"? This probably says something about you and your character, but we're not quite sure what.
- 9/24/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
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