Timothy Olyphant of 'Justified' puts on a producer's hat

 Timothy Olyphant may only wear one hat when he's playing Raylan Givens on "Justified," but he's sporting two behind the scenes.

Olyphant isn't just the star of FX's hit drama. In the second season, he's also become a producer.

"Last year I just pretended to be a producer and I rather enjoyed it," Olyphant said during a conference call with reporters Tuesday. "So I might as well get the credit. It's really one of the great joys and one of the challenges of the job."

Olyphant clearly is relishing working on the series, which is based on short stories and books by Elmore Leonard.

"It's all cowboys and Indians when it comes down to it," he said. "It's child's play. I get a great deal of fulfillment ... it's cops and robbers or more in this case, it's like cops and hillbillies. This one's a blast. The tone of the show -- Elmore's cool and Elmore's funny. I guess they call it a drama but I think we're making a comedy."

Set in Kentucky, "Justified" is filmed in Santa Clarita and kicks off its second season with the aftermath of the death of Bo Crowder and what that means for his son, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), and Boyd's relationship with U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. Will Raylan and Boyd, who teamed up for an epic gun battle in the first season finale, finally kiss and make up?

"I don't see them as friends," Olyphant said. "They have a history. There's a knowingness, an understanding between them. But beyond that, that's kind of it. It's fun to see their worlds collide."

Boyd, who last season found God while he was in prison, faces yet another existential crisis in the second season.

"We had a lot of fun with him this year," Olyphant said. "As Elmore said, he's one of these guys where I don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth but I can't stop listening to him. He's one of those guys that just seems he can be whoever, whatever he needs to be given the situation ... He starts out lost in the woods, kind of regains his footing and finds his way, and comes back to life in a completely more dangerous and compelling way than last year."

"Justified" will be more serialized in its sophomore season and will center on a family feud between Givens' family and the Bennett clan, headed by matriarch Mags Bennet, played by Margo Martindale.

It premieres Wednesday at 10 p.m.

--Maria Elena Fernandez

twitter.com/writerchica

Photo: Timothy OIyphant as Raylan Givens on "Justified." Credit: Prashant Gupta / FX

 

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FX still has football fever: 'The League' is renewed for a third season

The football season is over but apparently not for FX.

The basic cable network Monday renewed "The League" for a third season. The semi-improvisational comedy about a Chicago fantasy football league stars Mark Duplass, Stephen Rannazzisi, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Jon Lajoie and Katie Aselton.

No word on which NFL players and analysts may show up on the Season 3 roster. Terry Bradshaw, Antonio Gates, Chad Ochocinco, Terrell Suggs, and Josh Cribbs have made guest appearances in past seasons.

Created by Jeff Schaffer ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") and Jackie Marcus Schaffer ("Disturbia"), the series averages 1.4 million total viewers and has been up 4% in viewers in its second season.

Thirteen episodes have been ordered for the third season.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez
twitter.com/writerchica

Photo: (Clockwise from top left): Nick Kroll, Mark Duplass, Stephen Rannazzisi, Katie Aselton, Jon Lajoie and Paul Scheer. Credit: Scott Scafer / FX

'Friday Night Lights' comes to an end: A salute to the Taylor marriage

America's favorite TV married couple -- Eric and Tami Taylor of "Friday Night Lights" -- signs off on Wednesday when the series finale airs on DirecTV.

In December, The Times took Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton to lunch at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills to talk about how they memorably and convincingly portrayed a happy and highly functional marriage for five seasons.

The two actors agree that two ingredients helped them forge their partnership: their strong friendship off-screen and the unique way in which the show was filmed -- documentary-style, with three cameras, no rehearsals and plenty of improvisation.

"One of the joys of doing the show, especially now after having been there, was the fact that we were able to take the material and infuse it, at times change it, and twist it into what you see," Chandler said. "A lot of shows wouldn't have that camaraderie or collusion or the collaboration of all parties to change those things. They get lost in the mix.

"Stepping away from it, I don't think I could be more learned in trusting myself in making decisions now," he continued. "I can really see behind material now. I couldn't do that before this show. And because I got to go behind it and stretch it and play with it and do all these things that we did, as a performer and an artist, it really changed my whole fabric. It helped me to see things I don't know."

Britton said other TV shows would benefit from looking at the "Friday Night Lights" business model.

"Walking away from it, I know now so much more clearly not only what I enjoy creatively but what is going to allow me to do the best work I can do," she said. "Not only those things but also what makes people work together generally better. Our show was so collaborative. Everybody on set and everybody on the cast felt so empowered and had such ownership over it. It was a very safe and trusting environment."

To read the full feature about the success of the Taylor marriage go here.

Warning: The article does not contain spoilers about the series finale but does address story lines in the fifth season.

"Friday Night Lights" ends on DirectTV on Wednesday. The fifth (and final) season premieres on NBC on April 15 but will be available on DVD on April 5.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

twitter.com/writerchica

Photo: Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills in December. Credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

 

MTV confirms reports that Lauren Conrad's new reality show is dead

Apparently, Lauren Conrad's fashion line is not as interesting as her love life or her dealings with frenemies.

After filming the pilot, the network decided that the "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills" star would not get her own show, Entertaimnent Weekly reported Friday. Described as an aspirational documentary about her professional life, the show did not fit the brand, an MTV spokesman confirms.

"We love Lauren," the network said in a statement. "This particular project didn't work out, but she is a huge part of the MTV family and we hope to work with her in the future."

MTV may still produce a special from the footage if Conrad is up for it. But by the sounds of a statement she issued, it doesn't sound like it.

"We sold a show to MTV, filmed it and are really proud of the final result. MTV felt the subject matter was too high brow for their audience and offered me the opportunity to change the show by incorporating more of my personal life. We agreed going into the project that this show would be an aspirational one, focusing on my career and my goals and not my personal relationships. We delivered the show that we sold and are sorry MTV didn’t feel their viewers were savvy enough to appreciate it.”

 

--Maria Elena Fernandez

twitter.com/writerchica

Photo: Lauren Conrad. Credit: MTV

'Southland' detective falls prey to vampires

Spoiler alert:  Do not read this story if you have not seen Tuesday night's episode of "Southland."

Blame the pain that "Southland" inflicted on you Tuesday night on the vampires, America.

When the lovable Nate Moretta died quickly and shockingly from a blow to the head with a metal pipe, "Southland" viewers immediately took to the show's Facebook page and Twitter to express grief and outrage. That a police officer would eventually lose his or her life on this gritty and realistic Los Angeles police drama was inevitable, but why the cool-headed, sexy young father and best friend to his unhinged partner, Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy)?

"Not Nate!" the Internet wailed in unison.

But, sadly, it had to be Nate. And the behind-the-scenes story probably won't make you feel better about losing him.

Kevin Alejandro, who played Nate, took on a role on "True Blood" when it was unclear if "Southland" would find a new home after NBC canceled it. Then TNT bought "Southland," and although both series tried to work out their schedules so that Alejandro could be a fine cop on "Southland" and a hot gay witch on "True Blood," it proved impossible.

"We were in the dark and I was freaking out about what was happening with 'Southland,'" Alejandro said in a telephone interview Wednesday morning. "And during that time, I was offered a regular role on 'True Blood' and I talked to ['Southland' executive producers] Chris Chulack and John Wells, and all of us were in the dark, and they were very, very good and understood that I have a family. We all agreed to let me out to try to pursue that, just to see what was better for my career. They genuinely showed that they cared about me. And then shortly after I signed on with 'True Blood,'  the show was picked up for another season and so we struggled and struggled to try to get the schedules to work. It was just too much conflict."

The schedules aligned enough so that Alejandro could appear in the first four episodes of this season. So the writers got to work on developing Nate and Sammy's partnership and friendship so that the viewers would feel the impact of Nate's loss even more. Like many of the stories on "Southland," Nate's death was born out of a true Los Angeles incident in which a police officer died during a routine stop at the end of his shift.

Exclusive video: Shangela talks about her surprise return to 'RuPaul's Drag Race'

It's Feliz Navidad  all over again!

How did you like RuPaul's present to you? Sooo sneaky but you were glad to see Shangela again, weren't you? We loved seeing how the other queens reacted to the return of the first contestant eliminated from the second season.  We admit--we have a soft spot for Shangela, especially after we saw what a great job she did on "Terriers." Girlfriend can act!

The surprise twist has made us want to create our own holiday tradition. From now on, under our Christmas tree, there will be at least one drag queen in a box. Promise.

The Times visited the set of Logo's big hit in July and chatted with Shangela about her second shot at becoming America's drag superstar, among other things. Listen for yourself:

 



Since RuPaul is full of secrets, we thought we'd try to learn a few things about the world's first drag superstar herself. Here's the dish from five of the 13 contestants.  They appear in the following order:

Manila Luzon, 25, of New York City; Shangela, 28, of Los Angeles; Yara Sofia, 26, of Puerto Rico; Raja, 36, of West Hollywood; and Alexis Mateo, 30, of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Special treat:  We allowed Yara Sofia to speak in her native Spanish. Sorry if you don't comprende her lingo.)


 




--Maria Elena Fernandez
twitter.com/writerchica

Videos: Maria Elena Fernandez/Los Angeles Times

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Matthew Perry writes his way onto a new ABC comedy

Matthew Perry says he spent two years playing the same video game and decided he needed to change things up a bit.  So, instead of looking to star in a new TV comedy, he challenged himself and wrote "Mr. Sunshine," which will premiere Feb. 9 on ABC.

The bit about the video game was a joke -- we think. But "Mr. Sunshine," which revolves around the just-turned 40-year-old manager of a San Diego sports arena, played by Perry, is based on the actor-turned-writer's life experience.

"When you meet Ben he's been thinking about himself his entire life and learns rather quickly that the secret to being happy is to care about your fellow man," said Perry during a telephone conference call with reporters Monday.  "I think I spent a great deal of my 20s, certainly, and the bulk of my 30s, certainly a little self-obsessed. And it was in changing that in my own life that I thought it would make an interesting character."

Perry, who also serves as an executive producer on the series, says he needed a challenge.

"I've been fortunate enough to be an actor in some good things and some bad things, but I wanted to see if my mind worked in the kind of way that could be in charge and could face the page as a writer and watch actors ... and watch their performances and maybe try to help them out a little bit," he said.

The cast includes: Allison Janney as Crystal, Ben's boss and arena owner;  Andrea Anders as Alice, the marketing director with whom Ben has casual sex; James Lesure as Alonzo, a former basketball player; and Nate Torrence as Roman, a new employee.

Janney, who also participated in the call, said she took the role because it calls on her to do "things that I'm actually nervous about." For instance: knocking out a Smurf, singing with James Taylor, and driving a motorcycle with Perry in the back of it.

"It's the furthest I've gone with a character in my career," she said.

Perry acknowledged that separating himself from his "Friends" character, Chandler Bing, isn't going to be easy, especially since he's back on TV as the funny man.

"I think it's kind of tough because we obviously look almost exactly alike," he said. "So that's the first hurdle right there, although I look a little older now. It's difficult because when you're trying to do a television show and when you're trying to do a comedy, you want the characters to be funny.... But I feel the character I'm doing is a little more beaten-down and the comedy is a little bit smaller. A little bit less nervous energy, which is what [makes it] really fun to work with Allison because Allison's character, Crystal, can tend to be sort of outrageous and I can play along with her."

Added Janney: "He's reacting to all the crazy people around him and he's cast a lot of big, crazy people around him and it really shows him off well. He can be understated and simple. He doesn't need to do much to react to what's going on around him."

"Mr. Sunshine" premieres Feb. 9 at 9:30 p.m.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez
twitter.com/writerchica

Top photo: Matthew Perry as Ben Donovan on  "Mr. Sunshine." Credit: Adam Larkey / ABC

Bottom photo: Allison Janney as Crystal on "Mr. Sunshine." Credit: Adam Larkey / ABC

Exclusive video: Meet some of the new contestants of 'RuPaul's Drag Race'

The third season of "RuPaul's Drag Race" kicks off Monday on Logo at 10 p.m. (Though if you're a big fan, you'll probably want to see the casting special that will air at 9 p.m.).

The Los Angeles Times visited the set of the reality competition in search of the next drag superstar in July and interviewed a few of the contestants.

In the two videos below, four draq queens share their best and worst career drag moments as well as their best and worst moments on the TV show. Can we get an amen?

The contestants appear in the following order:

Manila Luzon, 25, of New York City; Yara Sofia, 26, of Puerto Rico; Raja, 36, of West Hollywood; and Alexis Mateo, 30, of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Special treat:  We allowed Yara Sofia to speak in her native Spanish. Sorry if you don't comprende her lingo.)

   

 

 

— Maria Elena Fernandez
twitter.com/writerchica

Videos: Maria Elena Fernandez

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Exclusive video: Behind the scenes of the third season of "RuPaul's Drag Race"

Exclusive video: Behind the scenes of the third season of 'RuPaul's Drag Race'

Hallaloo! The most creative reality competition show on television is back Monday for its third season. (How is that even possible? Season 3 of "RuPaul's Drag Race" already?)

And there are some changes afoot on Logo's quest to find America's next drag superstar.  A new judge will be seated at the table with RuPaul and Santino Rice: RuPaul's longtime BFF, Michelle Visage, a morning radio host, among many other things.

Visage told the Los Angeles Times during a set visit in July that she had always wanted to be a part of her best friend's show, but her day job had kept her away. The guest-judges roster also includes an eclectic bunch: LaToya Jackson as well as Chloë Sevigny, Wayne Brady and Sharon Osbourne.

For the first time, host-judge-mentor extraordinaire RuPaul will let viewers behind the scenes of the casting process in a special that will air at 9 p.m. Monday, an hour before the third season kicks off with a 90-minute episode.  And, yes, "Untucked," is back too and will follow "RuPaul's Drag Race" each week.

The contestants hail from all over the United States and Puerto Rico. The L.A. Times visited the Culver City set in July and observed some of the drag queens getting ready in the workroom for a three-tier hair challenge sure to leave viewers breathless.  Seen preparing and rehearsing in the video below are: Raja, 36, of West Hollywood; Yara Sofia, 26, of Puerto Rico; Alexis Mateo, 30, of St. Petersburg, Fla.; and Manila Luzon, 25, of New York City.

The Times also interviewed judges Santino Rice, Michelle Visage and Wayne Brady.

Coming Friday: video chats with some of the contestants.


 

--Maria Elena Fernandez
twitter.com/writerchica

Video: Maria Elena Fernandez

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'The Amazing Race' announces its All-Stars cast [Updated]

 

The Cowboys are back! So are the Harlem Globetrotters and the Goths! But sadly, no watermelon survivors. We can't have everything, can we?

"The Amazing Race" returns Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. with an All-Star season and airs for the first time in high definition. Eleven teams that fell short of winning the $1 million are being given a second chance on "The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business," the 18th installment of the series. The 23-city race will cover 40,000 mile and five continents and involving spiritual baths in frigid waters. Yikes!

But enough with the blah blah blah, who's playing?

CBS released the cast list Wednesday. (Teams appear in no particular order).

Gary Ervin
Age: 53

Mallory Ervin
Age: 25

Relationship: Father/daughter
Previous Season/Result: Season 17/6th place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": Gary and Mallory were unable to avoid elimination after getting lost in Oman for more than nine hours.


LaKisha Hoffman
Age: 30

Jennifer Hoffman
Age: 26

Relationship: Sisters
Previous Season/Result: Season 14/4th place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": LaKisha and Jennifer missed out on a spot in the final three by minutes after stopping to use the restroom in China.


Jet McCoy
Age: 31

Cord McCoy
Age: 30

Relationship: Brothers ("The Cowboys")
Previous Season/Result: Season 16/2nd place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": Jet and Cord fell behind during the final leg and couldn't recover, which ultimately led to a 2nd place finish to winners Dan and Jordan.


Amanda Blackledge
Age: 25

Kris Klicka
Age: 26

Relationship: Fiancée/fiancé
Previous Season/Result: Season 14/8th place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": Amanda and Kris were unexpectedly U-turned in Siberia by Margie and Luke and were eliminated from the race.


Jaime Edmondson
Age: 31

Cara Rosenthal
Age: 28

Relationship: Former NFL cheerleaders/teammates
Previous Season/Result: Season 14/2nd place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": During the final leg, Jaime and Cara fell victim to a bad taxi driver in Hawaii and lost to Tammy and Victor.


Herb Lang
Age: 34

Nate Lofton
Age: 29

Relationship: Harlem Globetrotters teammates
Previous Season/Result: Season 15/4th place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": The Globetrotters incurred a four-hour penalty in Prague after failing to complete a Roadblock, which cost them a spot in the final three.


Ron Hsu
Age: 61

Christina Hsu
Age: 29

Relationship: Father/daughter
Previous Season/Result: Season 12/2nd place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": After struggling during their final leg in Alaska, Ron and Christina finished in 2nd place to TK and Rachel.

Kent Kaliber
Age: 35

Vyxsin Fiala
Age: 32

Relationship: Dating/friends
Previous Season/Result: Season 12/5th place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": Kent and Vyxsin self-destructed in Italy and were unable to fight back to stay in the game.

Zev Glassenberg
Age: 28

Justin Kanew
Age: 31

Relationship: Best friends
Previous Season/Result: Season 15/9th place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": Zev and Justin finished in 1st place during their Cambodia leg, but quickly discovered that they had lost a passport and would not be able to continue in the race.

Margie Adams
Age: 53

Luke Adams
Age: 25

Relationship: Mother/son
Previous Season/Result: Season 14/3rd place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": Margie and Luke entered the final challenge with a substantial lead, but quickly fell behind and finished in 3rd place.

Mel White
Age: 70

Mike White
Age: 40

Relationship: Father/son
Previous Season/Result: Season 14/6th place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": Mike and Mel found themselves lost in Thailand courtesy of a bad taxi driver and were eliminated from the race.

[Update: 1:36 p.m. A previous version of this post incorrectly stated that this is the show's first All-Stars season. Season 11 also was an All-Stars cycle.]

--Maria Elena Fernandez
twitter.com/writerchica

Video Credit: CBS

 

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Complete Show Tracker coverage of "The Amazing Race."

TCA Press Tour 2011: FX addresses the competitive cable landscape and introduces a dog to its lineup

FX President John Landgraf has been here before.  His fall drama "Terriers" was critically acclaimed but was rejected by audiences, and now the new midseason drama "Lights Out" may be in the same boat.

The drama about a boxer trying to reclaim his heavyweight title premiered on Jan. 11 to low ratings, which, of course, disappointed Landgraf.

"Maybe we should have made a show about a zombie or a  sexy vampire who's trying to regain the heavyweight title of the world," he said, before noting that he hasn't lost hope because sometimes shows don't start off with a bang but grow over time. Indeed, "Sons of Anarchy," the network's top-rated show, got off to a slow start.

"It's obviously an intensely crowded field," Landgraf said Saturday -- the last day of the Television Critics Assn. press tour. "It's sort of like the feature film business. It doesn't really matter if your movie is good, or if people want to see it. It matters if it's their first choice because they're going to see one movie that weekend."

Langraf noted the hefty competition for "Lights Out" on its premiere night: "The Game," which launched to "historic" ratings on BET; "Teen Mom 2," which scored high points on MTV; and "Tosh.0" on Comedy Central.

"So the question is: are they somebody's first choice?" Landgraf said. "Are they the first choice of enough people to overcome the massive wave of competition that exists in that moment in time in the marketplace?"

Landgraf also pointed out an advantage that premium cable networks HBO and Showtime have over basic cable.

"When you think about how much people pay for HBO and how determined they are to prove to themselves that that was a good decision, they just give those shows more time," he said. "You can put slower shows on HBO and people are going to give it four, five, six more shots. I would say that's probably not the same case at FX."

Landgraf recently won a lot of brownie points with the press when he went off-script and hosted a conference call with reporters to discuss his decision to cancel "Terriers." On Saturday, he explained what motivated him to do that.

"I'm coming up on seven years in this job and in seven years you have some great successes and ... you have some failures," he said. "And I guess you just get used to the rhythms of both in your work, and eventually get to the point where you can embrace your failures and learn from them and talk about them. I think most programming executives are fundamentally too insecure to get to that point. And maybe I'm just old enough and have been doing this long enough that I can take that tack."

After Landgraf's session, FX held panels for returning series "Louie" and "Justified" and a new comedy, "Wilfred."

"Louie" and "Wilfred" will premiere together on Thursday nights in the summer. "Justified" returns on Feb. 9 at 10 p.m.

A single-camera comedy based on an Australian series of the same name, "Wilfred" stars Elijah Wood as a young man struggling to find himself. The show follows his imaginary relationship with a dog, whom he sees as a man in a dog suit. The dog is played by Australian actor Jason Gann, who created the series in Australia with actor Adam Zwar.

Landgraf said he picked up the show because it was "really weird and really different and really original and really funny. And it also has heart, which is odd for a show that's so different."

Gann said the FX version of his show is faster-paced and darker.

"I would not have made another version of 'Wilfred' if I didn't think it could be better," he said. "Wilfred has had a Hollywood makeover. He's had a fur job."

Wood said the show reminds him of one of his favorite movies, "Harvey."

"It also was a wonderful opportunity to do something different, to work in realm of comedy and to be challenged in a way that I haven't before," Wood said.

TCA Press Tour 2011: David E. Kelley returns to TV with another legal drama despite his children's pleas

When "Boston Legal" ended in 2008, David E. Kelley promised himself he would not create another legal drama. But the prolific lawyer-turned-TV-writer known for his other two lawyer shows, "Ally McBeal" and "The Practice" (among several others), is back with another show about legal eagles, "Harry's Law," starring Kathy Bates.

"It was a question raised by own kids -- 'Dad, please, not another law show,' " Kelley said at NBC's panel for the show Thursday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena. "But I found that I did miss getting into some of the topics. I also found that the economic times had changed so dramatically that I would like to give a voice to that.

"I'll be happy to get a series back on the air. I'm getting a little squirrely not having one to write. I particularly wanted to get my hands on topical subject matter again. I'm happy to be back and i'm hoping the show allows us to do that."

The series centers around a curmudgeonly ex-patent lawyer, Harry (Bates), who is abruptly fired from her law firm and finds her next job when her world unexpectedly collides with a young man, played by Aml Ameen ("Kidulthood"), who needs her help with a pending court case. The cast includes Nate Corddry and Brittany Snow.

Kelley said this show is different from his previous ones because Harry (short for Harriet) sets up her new shingle in a shoe shop in a not-so-great neighborhood of Cincinnati.

"This is a different show because it's a walk-in business," Kelley said. "The cases and clients are as many and varied as the clients that come in through the door. There's more courtroom in the first two episodes than subsequent ones."

The fact that the star of "Harry's Law" is a 60-year-old woman also sets it apart from Kelley's previous shows and other series on the television dial.

"We have a 60-year-old lead and not many shows do, and not many networks have come to me recently and said, 'Can you give me a series with a 60-year-old lead?' " he said.  "But I have to believe that in the universe of 500-plus channels, there has to be room on the landscape for one. And there has to be room on the television landscape for one or two or three series that are willing to engage in topical things. I realize you alienate a good part of your constituency when you do that.  But at the same time, any writer has to decide what story he wants to write and what stories he wants to tell."

Bates said she was sold on the show when she read the pilot script and learned that Harry "had her feet on the desk, smoking pot and watching 'Bugs Bunny.' After that I was in."

"I've just never ever wanted to play that bubbly, happy person," she said. "And I think if you look back through my IMDB, I just identify with who she is. That's one of the big reasons I wanted to come and play the character. She has lived a certain amount in her life. She's a bit disillusioned. She's a bit crabby  ... and I can identify with some of that."

"Harry's Law" premires on Jan. 17.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

twitter.com/writerchica

Photo: Kathy Bates, David E. Kelley and Brittany Snow appear at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena.

Credit: Mario Anzuoni / Reuters