Billy Burke "Revolution" Interview On BD End + New Stills + Review (First Episode)

mnn.com Off the set, "I drive a hybrid. It's an Escalade hybrid, but it's a hybrid," says Billy Burke. But in the new NBC drama "Revolution," premiering Sept. 17, he's not driving any vehicle at all. The series takes place 15 years after a sudden, global electricity shutdown, creating a new Dark Age, literally. Burke, best known as Charlie in the "Twilight" movies and recent recurring roles on "The Closer" and "Rizzoli & Isles," leapt at the chance to play Miles, the anti-hero at the center of the action-adventure.

Although a lifelong fan of the genre, "I have never been given the opportunity to do things like that. I've been hanging around a long time, doing a lot of stuff, and I've been very grateful for it. But presented with this, it was the biggest gift I'd been given in a very long time. So couldn't be happier about it," he says. The role required more physical preparation than he was accustomed to. "This was the only thing that was ever gonna get me in a gym, and it did. After we shot the pilot and found out we got picked up, I immediately started training with our stunt coordinator, Jeff Wolfe, who did a lot of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies. He's an amazing stunt coordinator and choreographer, and he's been there shepherding us throughout the process. And the good thing about it is it's fun, so we get to go there every day and have a good time doing it."

Burke grew up in Bellingham, Wash., "wanting to get out. I've visited several times since I left. It's a beautiful place. The Pacific Northwest is always going to be home to me. But I was a kid growing up in a small town just wanting to see the rest of the world," he says. He spent time there over the last few years making the "Twilight" movies, the last installment of which, "Breaking Dawn Part 2," is due out Nov. 16. Now that it's coming to an end, "I'm neither happy nor sad about it. It was what it was, it was great while we were doing it and it really opened a lot of doors for me. I had a great time playing that guy but all things come to an end sometime. There were moments that were bittersweet when we were shooting the last one," he confides, adding that he pretty much stayed out of the hoopla surrounding the movies. "I made no secret about having never read the books and was oblivious to a lot of things that were going on, just like the character. I just went along for the ride."

As for what he'd do if a technology blackout happened for real, and what he'd miss most, "I consider myself old‑school. I could probably get along without a cell phone," he muses. "I guess it would be the razor that keeps my face at this length."

EW Review Better Revolution should concentrate on its own here-and-now, since the opening hour clearly peaked with an elaborate fight scene in which Burke’s Miles took on a lot of bad guys using a combination of sword skills and the now-TV-standard Muay Thai/Krav Maga/ hand/elbow/knee strikes (see also: Person of Interest).
The action is exciting; Spiridakos could, for better or for worse, be the next Hayden Panettiere; and there’s an intriguing overarching theme that could resonate with viewers: In the face of disaster and hardship, people rely on the family unit and rebel against oppressive political/martial factions that rise up in a power vacuum. Whether Revolution pays off on this premise will probably be key to whether the series remains worth watching regularly. More at source.
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New/Old:A week before the official start of the season, we have the first big debut of fall 2012. It goes to NBC’s Revolution, the network’s first big scripted premiere in quite awhile. JJ Abrams and Eric Kripke’s post-apocalyptic drama opened with a 4.1/11 in adults 18-49 and 11.7 million viewers at 10 PM last night. In 18-49, Revolutionwas the top drama premiere on NBC in five years, since the ill-fated Bionic Woman in September 2007 (5.7); the top drama debut on any network in three years, since ABC’s V in October 2009 (5.2); and the highest-rated 10 PM premiere in five years, since ABC’s Big Shots in September 2007 (4.5). It eclipsed the debut of NBC’s Smash in the slot last season, which aired on the highly promoted night after the Super Bowl with a bigger lead-in from a Super Bowl-boosted The Voice. This is the highest-rated 10 PM drama telecast on any network in almost three years, since a January 2010 episode of ABC’s Private Practice. The only element of concern in Revolution’s big opening is the 14% drop-off between the first and the second half-hour, but this is an issue a lot of 10 PM shows face.


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