Kelli Williams, Lie to Me
Lie to Me made some behind-the-scenes changes this season, translating into on-screen changes for Kelli Williams' character, Gillian Foster.
Shawn Ryan tells the truth about reinventing Lie to Me
The 39-year-old former star of The Practice says the addition of executive producer Shawn Ryan and a focus on character-based stories has helped the series, which premiered as a midseason replacement in January. Williams says she welcomes the changes, which have opened numerous possibilities for Foster's future.
"Foster was in a much heavier place at the end of last year with her marriage falling apart," Williams says. "This season there's a little bit more levity in the office. And since I'm no longer with my husband, there are a lot of places they can take Foster."
For one thing, the writers chose to make Foster less of a stickler...
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Kelli Williams with Tim Roth, Lie to Me
Following weeks of cruising comfortably on American Idol's coattails, Lie to Me now must face a hard truth: It has the burden of kicking off Fox's Wednesday line-up. Kelli Williams (who with Tim Roth plays a top-notch deception detector) previews the show's 8 o'clock debut.
TVGuide.com: As nice as it was to have the Idol lead-in, are you now nervous about having to kick off the night at 8 o'clock?
Kelli Williams: There's always a little concern when they start moving your show around, but it's good that we're at least on the same night. But yeah, I have one little concern. We were worried that maybe we'd lose some of the more adult themes, but so far so good!
TVGuide.com: Speaking of Idol, I have noticed that Simon Cowell often uses his middle finger to scratch his nose. Discuss.
Williams: Oh, he's consciously flipping people off! That's interesting... For a couple of months ...
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Tim Roth by Eric Charbonneau/WireImage.com
Fox has made an honest show of Lie to Me, committing to the midseason drama starring Pulp Fiction's Tim Roth as a human lie detector. The drama, from the producers of 24, centers on Cal Lightman (Roth), a cutting-edge researcher who can detect people's lies from their faces, voices, and body language. The Practice's Kelli Williams plays his colleague, Dr. Gillian Foster, described in a Fox news release as "a woman whose guidance he needs whether he knows it or not."Will you tune in? Or wait to see how a similar concept plays out on CBS's The Mentalist? — Tim Molloy
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Kelli Williams by Jesse Grant/ WireImage.com
Kelli Williams, best known as The Practice's feisty Lindsey Dole, will join Tim Roth in the human lie detector business, in the Fox pilot Lie to Me.The drama series centers on Cal Lightman (Roth), a cutting-edge researcher in the field of "deception detection," says the Reporter. Williams will play his colleague, Dr. Gillian Foster.Roth joins a long list of movie vets segueing into the world of television: Christian Slater on My Own Worst Enemy, Glenn Close on Damages, Holly Hunter on Saving Grace, Kyra Sedwick on The Closer, Patricia Arquette on Medium. Do you think Roth and Williams will make a believable duo? — Erin FoxRelated:• Pilot News: Tim Roth Tells a Lie
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Kelli Williams by John Sciulli/WireImage.com
Another obstacle is taking root for Marin and Jack on Men in Trees.Ex-Practice star Kelli Williams is joining the cast as a love interest for James Tupper's conversationally challenged environmentalist. But in a bit of a twist, the two won't connect in Elmo. Far from it, in fact. "Jack's going off to do a job far, far away and he's going to meet a woman named Julia," Trees creator Jenny Bicks reveals to me exclusively. "She's happily married, but they are going to bond emotionally over something very significant that happens on the high seas." Williams is on board for at least five or six episodes, beginning with this season's seventh.
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Kelli Williams, Murder on Pleasant Drive
With a title like Murder on Pleasant Drive, you can just tell that this Lifetime movie (premiering tonight at 9 pm/ET) is going to delve into something twisted. Based on a harrowing true story, Murder stars The Practice's Kelli Williams as Deanna Whelen, a single mom whose own mother mysteriously vanishes from her New Jersey home shortly after she begins dating a man named — get this — John Smith (
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Per the Hollywood Reporter, Madeleine Stowe has scored the lead in the Fox drama Southern Comfort, playing a woman who takes over her mobster husband's biz when he gets sent to prison.... Jonathan Silverman has joined the ABC comedy In Case of Emergency.... Christine Taylor has been cast in the ABC comedy 52 Fights.... Adam Baldwin is joining Taye Diggs in ABC's Day Break.... Regina King is in talks to join Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon and Kelli Williams in ABC's legal comedy Women in Law.... Tia Mowry has replaced Cynthia Addai-Robinson in CW's Girlfriends spin-off, The Game.... and speaking of the new network, CW has given its first pilot order to Runaway, a drama from Sex and the City creator Darren Star.
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Rachel Dratch has joined Saturday Night Live cast mate Tina Fey's NBC comedy pilot about an SNL-type show.... Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie) will star in the Fox comedy Till Death.... Kim Raver (24) has been added to ABC's drama about nine strangers held hostage during a bank robbery.... Kelli Williams (The Practice) is back doing the lawyer thing on ABC's Women in Law.... Jeffrey Donovan is one of the Enemies in ABC's drama about two childhood friends who grow up to be a lawman and a mobster.... Meta Golding (JAG) is the sister of Taye Diggs' framed cop in ABC's Day Break.... Currie Graham (Lynette's boss on Desperate Housewives) has joined the CBS drama Edison.
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Lucky actress Kelli Williams (The Practice, Medical Investigation) is due for a helluva holiday gift this year. She's getting A Boyfriend for Christmas (Saturday, 9 pm/ET on Hallmark Channel). Her dreamy b.f. in the two-hour TV movie is none other than Patrick Muldoon of Days of our Lives fame. (And all you scored last year was a DVD and some socks.) Here, the 36-year-old actor shares a moment under the mistletoe with TV Guide Online.
TV Guide Online: The movie's title suggests you're God's gift — or at least Santa's — to women.
Patrick Muldoon: Provided they don't return or exchange me, it's good for the ego if somebody considers you a Christmas present.
TVGO: How'd you land this role?
Muldoon: (Chuckles) I guess Cruise, Pitt and Affleck passed, so naturally, the part went to me next on the list.
TVGO: Days fans still consider you the hottest
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Where has Kelli Williams been since she exited The Practice last year? After learning she was one of six pink-slipped series regulars — including her TV hubby Dylan McDermott — the actress focused on motherhood.
"I had my third child four months after I left The Practice ," she says. "So I got to spend a ton of time with my kids [Kiran, 6, Sarame, 3, and Ravi, 1]. I worked a little bit, but it wasn't a priority to me. I just wanted to not have to go to work, be with the kids and look for something for this TV season."
By the way, she's past feeling bitter about losing her signature role as lady lawyer Lindsay Dole. "Things have a way of working themselves out," Williams shrugs. "It's never fun to be let go from a job. They say you should experience that once. It's all good in the course of life, even when it's hard. I went back and directed an episode with James Spader and my own cast mates, which
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