JAIMIE MURRAY IN TORONTO FOR "DEFIANCE"

Jaime Murray & Lulu in Toronto - May 2012

British Actress Jaime Murray might look familiar to many of you who watched Showtime's Dexter and more recently, The CW Network's Ringer.  Murray currently is in-town filming Syfy Network's forthcoming Series, Defiance which also stars Julie Benz and Grant Bowler, whom we spotted last month.

Delightfully sweet, I spotted Murray taking her adorable five-year-old Lulu out for a walk stopping to pose for a Photo.  Holding a bottle of Red Wine she laughingly tells me, "Not with this bottle am I posing!". The Pilot for Defiance films in Toronto for another week before wrapping and it is being helmed by Scott Stewart, Director of Priest and Legion.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will-W.)

GRANT BOWLER IN TORONTO FOR "DEFIANCE"

Grant Bowler & Mr. Will-W.

New Zealand-born Actor Grant Bowler is a familiar face to North Americans, having had high-profile stints on HBO's popular Series True Blood as Cooter and ABC's Ugly Betty as Connor Owens.  After playing various Supporting Roles, he is now set for the spotlight as the Leading Man on the SyFy Network's Defiance. The Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series currently is filming in Toronto for the next month under the direction of Scott Stewart, who helmed both 2011's Priest and Legion.

Defiance has Bowler starring as Jeb Nolan, a former Soldier who returns home to find his Hometown in ruins after a group of Aliens arrive on Earth, trying to claim it as their own after their Solar System is destroyed.  The Series also stars Julie Benz (Dexter, Desperate Housewives) and Tony Curran (The Adventures of Tintin, The Pillars of the Earth).

Bowler was incredibly kind to stop for a quick Photo and a chat with myself and a couple big Fans of Ugly Betty while off to a Sunday night Movie, although he and his Friend still had yet to decide what they were to see!

Fans of GCB also have something to be excited about as he appears later this season as Mason Massey in a brief Arc.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will-W.)

TORONTO WELCOMES 4 "QUEENS" & A KING THIS SPRING/SUMMER

L to R: Lindsay Lohan, Abigail Breslin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Lily Collins & Chloë Grace Moretz

Four "Teen Queens" and a King of Cinema will be in Toronto this Spring/Summer as we play host to several major Stars confirmed to film in our City! Which are you most excited about?

Lily Collins as confirmed by Deadline in March, will be taking on the Lead Role of Clary Fray in The Mortal Instruments.  The Film centers on her mission to find her kidnapped Mother, while discovering she is from a long line of Shadowhunters who protect the World from Demons. Harold Zwart, Helmer of Box Office hit The Karate Kid (2010) has taken over from Scott Stewart who right now is busy in the City prepping the SyFy Network's Defiance.  This is the first Adaptation in Series of six Novels by Cassandra Clare and is set to begin production this August.

The brilliant Abigail Breslin (whom we interviewed back in December) will be teaming-up with Splice Director Vincenzo Natali playing a Girl who along with her Family was murdered in their home in 1986, surfacing to warn her modern day counterpart.  She took to Twitter first expressing her excitement about the Venture, Tweeting on April 3, 2012: "SOO excited to start filming #Haunter and work with the director Vincenzo Natali!". Haunter begins filming mid-April.

As announced previously also Chloë Grace Moretz and former Teen Queen Lindsay Lohan are Toronto-bound too, with the former beginning work on a Carrie Remake and the latter beginning work on a Lifetime Television Movie about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, known tentatively as Liz & Dick.  As a bit of Trivia, Mirvish Productions presented Private Lives last Fall starring Kim Cattrall in role once played famously by Taylor and Paul Gross also in a role filled prior by Burton.  Burton also proposed to Taylor at the King Edward Hotel in the City back in January 1964 - wonder if they will be authentic and film that scene at the same Venue?

And as if that weren't exciting enough, the Ontario Media Development Corporation confirmed Friday that Denis Villeneuve (Incendies) will be filming An Enemy here in Toronto late May. Heartthrob Jake Gyllenhaal whom we met back in May 2010, will be playing a Dual Role in the Thriller based on the Novel, The Double by José Saramago.  Gyllenhaal's Character rents a DVD to find his exact Double in the Film, going out on a search to find him which turns both of their lives upside-down.  IndieWire was among the first broke the Story back in March that Gyllenhaal was being considered for the Lead Role.   

(Photo credit: Mr. Will-W., Relativity Media & Universal Pictures)

SCOTT STEWART BEGINS WORK ON NEW SYFY SERIES "DEFIANCE"

Scott Stewart & Mr. Will-W.

The Syfy Network is set to begin production on a new Series here in Toronto called Defiance, from the Director of well-known releases Priest and Legion, Scott Stewart. Stewart flew-in to Toronto from Los Angeles tonight to begin pre-production on the Series, which is expected to film around April.

Starring in the Series is Aussie Grant Bowler (Lost, Ugly Betty) as a former Marine and Law Keeper who loses his Wife and Child at war, taking place in a future Earth where Aliens and Humans reside together.

Stewart was surprised to be recognized and happy to stop for a quick minute, lugging a cart filled with necessities to last him a while, including his Guitar.

A Video Game based on the Series also will be timed in conjunction with the premiere of Defiance. Forward thinking!

Bowler is on Twitter here.  Stewart is on Twitter here.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will-W.)