It’s hard not to look at the array of cover identities Matthew Rhys has used on the FX network spy drama “The Americans” and not conclude that they should star in a Web spinoff called “The Porn Identity.”

“That’s brilliant!” Rhys said with a laugh, when pitched the idea.

We actually did get into a reasonably non-silly discussion of identity and how Rhys approached the theme of assimilation within the context of the drama, in which he and Keri Russell play Russian spies posing as American suburbanites. But we’ll get to that after Rhys divulges the details on some of the secret identities he’s used on the show.

Rhys thought a lot about the backstories of Philip and Elizabeth, but he also devoted a great deal of time to thinking up histories for his various undercover getups.

“You know how it is, there’s so much tedium on a set that you come up with these stories to amuse yourself,” Rhys said.

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Camp, a Meatballs-esque ensemble dramedy fronted by Rachel Griffiths (Brothers & Sisters), playing a divorced camp director, will air Wednesdays at 10, starting July 10.

Bon Temps is about to bear witness to quite an anomaly: a vampire with more substance than style.
True Blood has tapped Brothers & Sisters alum Luke Grimes play the recurring role of James, a circa ’70s-made vamp who is smart, spiritual and emotionally deeper than any other bloodsucker we’ve seen before, TVLine has learned exclusively.

Picture a cross between Jim Morrison and Gary Clark Jr. with even more of a poet’s edge. The dude’s every women’s dream come true, and he doesn’t even know it.
Grimes, who spent two seasons on Brothers & Sisters as William Walker’s love child Ryan, is set to debut at the midway point of the HBO hit’s sixth season (which is slated to premiere in June).

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CraveOnline: At the beginning of the show, Philip was already enamored with America. So where does this go for him?

Matthew Rhys: It’s quite a journey for him. I think coupled with the fact that the great driving motivation for him is the safety and security of his family, and I think that’s what he’s driving towards. I think there’s sort of elements of materialism that he enjoys, a byproduct of what he ultimately wants which is to make sure his family’s safe.

The research I did for Philip , one of those reasons was I researched what Russia would have been like for him growing up as a child which was, coming out of the Second World War, incredibly bleak and a difficult period. So I think if you compare the two, it’s understandable why he enjoys a good car and cowboy boots.

Sure, but could it be that in the course of the series he gets back in line with the KGB allegiances?

Rhys: Quite possibly. The conflict within this show is fantastic and one of the reasons is he all of a sudden discovers, after 15 years of forced marriage, real emotions for his wife. As a result of that, and having laid his cards about where his political leanings lie, he then has to come up with a new game plan as to how to bring her with him because she’s so hardlined.

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The relationship between Stan and Philip has really developed with Stan almost becoming an unwitting informant for the KGB. How does Philip kind of balance that friendship and spying going forward?

I think he’s a little torn about Stan, to be perfectly honest. Philip does come from a decent moral place in many ways and he has a love for the lifestyle they’ve created. I think part of that is this sort of white picket idyllic idea of having a best friend in a neighbor. I think he genuinely does like Stan, although he tells Elizabeth it’s good to keep your enemies closer, I think with Stan there is a genuine fondness there. It’s unfortunate that in a way he is manipulating him for information.

How do you think the recent bonding between Stan and Philip is affecting the already strained marriage of Philip and Elizabeth?

It certainly is. I think Elizabeth has a great mistrust of Stan and Philip being friends. She regards, understandably, the fact that he’s an FBI agent as incredibly dangerous and distance is what they should be putting between them. Yes, in the multitude of things that’s already wrong with this marriage that certainly doesn’t help.

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Brothers & Sisters and Six Feet Under alumna Rachel Griffiths is returning to series television as the lead of NBC 10-episode summer series Camp, from creators Liz Heldens and Peter Elkoff, BermanBraun and Universal TV. In the tradition of Meatballs and Dazed And Confused, Little Hawk Family Camp is a wicked slice of lake-side heaven. In the one-hour dramedy, parents decompress with gin while teenagers make gleeful mischief and fall in and out of love. Griffiths will play the camp’s director Mackenzie Greenfield, who is reeling from being left by her husband for a younger woman.

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Odette Annable and Bruce Greenwood are Venice bound.
Both actors have joined the ABC drama pilot from Without a Trace‘s Byron Balasco, TVLine has learned.

The Romeo and Juliet-esque soap explores two rival families living in the famed California beach town and the forbidden, dangerous romance that emerges between them.
Annable will play Sophie and Greenwood will play Gordy Nance, the powerful head of one of the families. (The L Word‘s Jennifer Beals plays the matriarch of the other clan.)

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The critically-acclaimed drama The Americans has been given a 13-episode order for season two by their home network FX.

The series that stars Keri Russell (‘Felicity’), Matthew Rhys (‘Brothers & Sisters’) and Noah Emmerich (‘White Collar’) is set in 1981 just after Ronald Reagan is elected president, focusing on the complex marriage of two KGB spies (Russell and Rhys) posing as Americans in suburban Washington D.C. with Emmerich playing an FBI agent suspicious of his new neighbors.

John Landgraf, President and General Manager at FX Networks, had this to say about the renewal announcement, “The Americans has quickly established itself as a key part FX’s acclaimed drama line-up. Executive Producers Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields and Graham Yost and their collaborators are telling riveting and deeply emotional stories and the performances of Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich and the entire cast are simply outstanding. The show is truly worthy of its widespread critical acclaim and we are confident that its quality will continue to yield a robust and passionate audience”.

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Collider: How did this show come about for you?

MATTHEW RHYS: I was doing a play in New York, this time last year, and the head of DreamWorks casting and Joe Weisberg, the creator, came to see it. Someone asked me, “What do you think was in the play, that they saw, that made them think of you for Philip?,” and I was like, “Oh, my god, I don’t know!” It was Look Back in Anger, and one of the great themes of that play is this great frustration this husband has for his wife and can’t communicate that.

Finish reading the interview here

Former 666 Park Ave. resident Dave Annable is making a major push into comedy, landing a starring role in the NBC comedy pilot Joe, Joe and Jane.
The multi-came project, written by Joe Port and Joe Weissman (The Office, Just Shoot Me), focuses on Joe, an author caught in an ongoing war between two needy, flawed people — his wife, Jane (played by Army Wives‘ Sally Pressman), and his ladies man co-author/BFF, Joe (Annable). The search for the other Joe continues.

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