In other news, the same article has revealed the scheduled airdate for Amy’s other upcoming guest spot on Once Upon a Time: March 4, which I believe to be the 1×15 episode titled ‘Red-Handed’ — I shall keep you guys up-to-date on that!

She’s a serial killer with a secret. Sci-fi fave Amy Acker (Angel, Dollhouse) guest stars on the Feb. 10 episode of NBC’s fairy-tale cop drama Grimm as a spiderwoman who seduces and slays a string of Portland men by sucking out their organs and leaving their bodies mummified. Don’t be looking for some feminist statement here. “This is not one of those revenge-against-men-type stories,” Acker says. “She’s a black widow who is facing a very difficult inner struggle. She’s doing what she must to survive.” To attract her victims, the character goes undercover in various hot disguises, then when it’s time to do the nasty, suddenly sports fangs, extra arms and lots of body hair.

You can also find Acker on the March 4 episode of that other fairy tale series, ABC’s Once Upon a Time — as a love interest for Grumpy the dwarf!

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- The Broad Stages ‘Peter And The Wolf’ Saturday Morning Mash-Up With MUSE/IQUE

As part of her Saturday Morning Mash-Up series, passionately innovative conductor Rachael Worby, Artistic Director of MUSE/IQUE, offers a kid-friendly version of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf in which classical music becomes cool. Add in special guest narrators – Golden Globe winning actress Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me, Hot In Cleveland) and Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years, ED, JAG) – and they will leave you and your family gasping (and texting) for joy. Before you know it, the line between orchestra and audience disappears. Performances take place at 10:00 AM and 11:30 AM on November 5, 2011.

Worby, who spends more than half the performance off the stage directly engaging the kids and families, brings her lifelong passions for people and music to the experience of the Saturday Morning Mash-Ups. As Artistic Director of MUSE/IQUE, Worby is renowned for mixing high culture with casual whimsy. She has engaged writer Matt Nix to create the text for a group of actors, including Malick and Lauria, who will each be paired with an instrument. Additional cast members are David Fickas, Kiele Sanchez, Amy Acker, Jay Karnas and Bradley Whitford as…the wolf!

Source: PR Newswire

In other news, I came across a still of Amy in Dear Santa as part of an interview by the Calgary Herald with Amy’s co-star, Patrick Creery, who played the homeless shelter’s chef. Thus, I’ve added the still to the gallery; preview to your right & link below.

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And finally, Dear Santa has been airing pretty regularly on TV lately, including Lifetime on Christmas Day, so be sure to check your local listings if you’d like to catch a viewing.

Thus, the poster has been added to the gallery; preview to your right & link below and you can view the HD trailer on YouTube — it does contain a lot of spoilers, but it looks awesome. Happy viewing!

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Entertainment Weekly had an exclusive interview with Joss Whedon last week about Much Ado About Nothing which included a Q&A with Amy Acker and Sean Maher as well as exclusive stills — the first still featuring Amy opposite Alexis Denisof has been added to the gallery; a preview is to your right & the gallery link is below. An extract from the article is also posted below, with Amy’s portion of the Q&A under the cut. Enjoy!

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After wrapping production on Marvel Studios’ gargantuan summer tent-pole The Avengers, writer-director Joss Whedon was supposed to go on a monthlong vacation with his wife, Kai Cole. Instead, Whedon tells EW exclusively that his wife suggested he finally make the feature film version of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing he’d been ruminating over for years.

And so he did — adapting the script, casting the film with Whedonverse alums like Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker (Angel), Alexis Denisof (Buffy, Angel), and Sean Maher (Firefly), and shooting the self-funded, black-and-white indie in secret over 12 days at his Santa Monica, Calif., home. (Production wrapped on Sunday, and Whedon says it will be ready for spring 2012 film festivals.) How did Whedon pull all this off? What was it about this particular Shakespeare comedy that drew him in? And what did stars Sean Maher — who plays the fiendish villain Don John — and Amy Acker — who co-stars with Denisof as the sarcastic, talky couple at the center of the play — make of all of this ado about Much Ado? Check out EW’s exclusive Q&As with Whedon, Maher, and Acker below, as well as exclusive shots of Maher, Denisof and Acker from the film:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This announcement took people by surprise to say the least. How did this all come together?
JOSS WHEDON: Well, it’s not a bit secret that I’ve done these [Shakespeare] readings before, and I always had a vague notion of shooting Much Ado. But I didn’t really have a take on it. And then, for some reason, I kinda sorta did. As we were finishing The Avengers in New York, my wife and I were planning our vacation for our 20th anniversary. And she said, “Let’s not take the vacation. Make a movie instead.”

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Joss told me he had done a reading of the play with you and Alexis. Do you remember when that was?
AMY ACKER: I feel like it was maybe three years ago? Somewhere around that time.

And he’s been doing these for a while?
Yeah, since even before I met him. When I came on to Angel, which was a long time ago, he had already been doing them for awhile. For several years we would do, like, them every month, and then we’ll go three years and not do one. Then he would bring everybody back and kind of get on a roll with it again. There’s usually a group of people whose always there, and then he picks up new people each time.

When did you get the call that he’d be doing Much Ado About Nothing as a film?
I think it was about three weeks before we started. Maybe two-and-a-half. I know when Clark Gregg decided that he was going to do it, there had been some other people who were maybe going to play that part, and then they had conflicts that came up, so he kind of came in and saved the day at the end. He was like, “Well I only had four days to learn all of the lines,” and I was like, “Yeah, we all found out last week, so don’t feel too bad.” [Laughs]

Do you know who was going to be playing Leonato before Clark?
Anthony Head.

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What went through your head when you got the call. That was the end of September?
Yeah, right towards the end of September. I mean, first of all I was like, “Sure, that sounds awesome!” Alexis and I met with Joss maybe one or two times right after we decided that we were doing it, and then we rehearsed kind of the week before. But when we showed up the first day, I was like, “Oh, this is a real movie!” We didn’t quite know what it was going to be, and seeing all of the trucks and the lights and everything, everyone was kind of like, “Oh, we really are doing a movie!”

How did Joss explain keeping this a secret?
Well, he basically just said, “We’re not going to tell anyone until we finish.” Luckily since everyone was scrambling to learn their lines and figure out what the heck they were doing, no one really had time. I think it was mostly making sure Nathan didn’t tweet about it. That’s how all news in the world seems to spread. [Laughs]

What were those 12 days like? Anything really stick out?
Oh geez, the whole thing was really awesome. I mean, it was all my favorite people, so we were all just hanging out in their amazing house, and we just kind of had to keep reminding ourselves that, “Oh wait, we’re actually working!” It just kind of felt like a big 12-day party.

What was the look of the film? How did it all look?
The costume designer went shopping in all of our closets, and she just sort of chose. We are all wearing our own clothes, and then she kind of added little pieces here and there.

Did you conclude filming yesterday? The website is already up…
Yeah. I think they had [the site] ready on Saturday, when we were shooting. From what it looks like, I wasn’t actually filming at the end of the day yesterday, so I wasn’t there, but it seems like they must have posted it the second they wrapped the film.

Why do you think Joss did this film, and did it so quickly?
I thought it was just because he was super cool. I think his wife and him were going to Italy for a vacation, and then she was kind of like, “Why don’t you just shoot that movie you’ve been wanting to do instead?” So, that’s sort of why it happened now. She’s kind of just really amazing. She built the house that it shot in. You know, she just kind of makes stuff happen. If Kai says something, then she like, actually does it every time.

Wait, Kai designed the house?
Yeah, she’s an architect. She built it and designed it and decorated it and everything. Pretty much you could just film the house without all of us talking in it, and it would be a really great movie.

What kind of style?
I’m not sure if it’s from France or Italy, but everything is old and warm and it’s just the most welcoming place ever.

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However, we finally have some news on Amy’s Christmas movie, titled Dear Santa — it looks like it’s going to be a straight-to-DVD release. The movie is now available to pre-order from Amazon (Region 1) for the discounted price of $15.99 and shall be available from November 1, 2011.

I’ve also added the super cute DVD artwork to the gallery, which you can preview on your right; gallery link below. There’s no information on DVD extras as of yet, however, there is a synopsis available, also posted below — thanks to Amazon — containing our first glimpse of what this movie is about. Enjoy!

Shopaholic Crystal’s (Amy Acker, Alias) wealthy parents give her an ultimatum: change her irresponsible ways by Christmas or they will cut her off without a cent. With no job or romantic prospects, what’s a party girl to do? Fate intervenes when she finds seven year-old Olivia’s (Emma Duke) letter to Santa asking for a new wife for her widowed dad Derek (David Haydn-Jones). Crystal tracks them down and vows to win over father and daughter before the fast-approaching holiday deadline. Volunteering at Derek’s struggling soup kitchen, Crystal is at first a fish out of water, but she is determined to prove to him and herself that there’s more to her than just shopping and lattes. Only Derek’s jealous and calculating girlfriend (Gina Holden, Harper’s Island) stands between her and her newfound happiness. Share the gift of love and laughter with this heartwarming romantic comedy directed by Jason Priestley (Beverly Hills 90210).

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I also came across a radio interview [Nerdzilla podcast episode 19] by Joel Rheinberger and Andrew Hogan, which you can listen to at ABC Hobart — enjoy this media related update; gallery links & previews are below.

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- Conventions > Supernova – Pop Culture Expo (2011)
- Interviews > Supernova – Capsule Computers (2011)
- Interviews > Supernova – Access Reel (2011)

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- DVD Menus
- 4×16 – Players Captures
- 4×17 – Inside Out Captures
- 4×18 – Shiny Happy People Captures
- 4×19 – The Magic Bullet Captures

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- 4×12 – Calvary Captures
- 4×13 – Salvage Captures
- 4×14 – Release Captures
- 4×15 – Orpheus Captures