Amy Acker has won a role in the Person of Interest season finale.

The installment, to air on May 17, will see the former Angel star play a psychologist, reports TV Guide.

Catering only to the rich and powerful, her character comes to the attention of Reese (Jim Caviezel) when she is targeted by one of her clients.

Acker has previously appeared on Once Upon a Time, Alias and Dollhouse.

She has also re-teamed with Angel co-creator Joss Whedon on his new film The Cabin in the Woods.

Person of Interest was picked up for a second season last month, along with 17 other CBS shows.

The series airs on Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.

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Life is what happens when you make other plans. This adage is exemplified in the bittersweet film Sironia (playing again on April 17 at Angelika Film Center Dallas). Once successful musician Thomas (Wes Cunningham) is fed up with life in Hollywood. When he learns his wife, Molly (Amy Acker), is pregnant, they impulsively decide to relocate to a more authentic and real existence in Sironia, Texas, where Molly’s brother Chad (Tony Hale, Arrested Development) and his family reside.

Initially, the tranquil life seems like an idyllic existence, but then reality sets in. Bills begin to pile up and Thomas is pressured into taking a job at Chad’s community restaurant to make ends meet. The lack of time spent playing music and the adjustment to life in Sironia causes Thomas to experience a downward emotional spiral and reevaluate what truly matters to him.

Watching Thomas and Molly adjust to their new life is a poignant experience. We witness their change from carefree adults to parents-to-be. On their journey, Chad serves as a mentor and guide who exemplifies that change does not have to be a bad thing. Oftentimes, it can bring about unexpected opportunities and joy.

Instead of veering too deeply into depressing content, the film is balanced by Cunningham’s music, which served as inspiration for the film. In addition to being the soundtrack, it keeps the film centered and grounded.

Film festivals often serve as a great place to bring attention and recognition to independent gems. Sironia is no exception. Nuanced and endearing performances given by Tony Hale, Jeremy Sisto, and Robyn Lively are memorable, but Acker and Cunningham fortunately stay center stage.

Sironia is ultimately about the struggle to find balance and contentment with all of the curveballs life throws your way. Sironia is a surprisingly tender love song to the life of an artist.

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010 x Public Appearances > 2012 > “The Cabin in the Woods” Los Angeles Screening – 04.10.12

“The Cabin in the Woods” is now playing in theaters!!

Fran Kranz, a longtime veteran of Joss Whedon projects, takes to the big screen in this Friday’s The Cabin in the Woods and is set to again team with Whedon (and Cabin co-star Amy Acker) for Much Ado About Nothing, a low-budget take on the William Shakespeare play that was filmed last year as a mystery project in just 12 days.

“[Whedon] shot that while he was on vacation,” says Kranz. “I remember he said he was going to go to Italy with his wife and kids, then all of a sudden he started to shoot a movie, which is crazy… He does a lot of readings at his house, he’s a great host. He always has people over, but he likes to have something to do, something specific. Sometimes he’ll read plays. One night we all read ‘A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream’. He called me one day and said he was thinking about doing ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, but filming it this time. That struck me as doing something handheld, with a Flipcam or something. Not something big with grip trucks, all of this equipment and stuff. But that’s what it turned into.”

The project also includes quite a few other faces familiar to Whedon fans such as Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg and Reed Diamond.

“He turned his home into a movie set,” Kranz continues. “He had extras and all of that. We had no idea. But I think that’s what he wanted. He wanted us to go into it with a casual feel and to do Shakespeare like you’re not used to seeing. He didn’t want big production value or it to be over-rehearsed. I think he wanted it to be natural. It might be a bizarre benefit to it that we didn’t master the language. The other actors all came from different places so it was an eclectic group. It’s Shakespeare, the language is rich and dense… I think it could be this wonderful blessing that it feels intimate, alive and casual and fun. I hope that bleeds off the screen and will be refreshing for audiences. I haven’t seen it yet, but I trust Joss always and I think it’s going to be awesome.”

Though Much Ado About Nothing is without a specific release date, The Cabin in the Woods (which Whedon co-wrote with director Drew Goddard) arrives in theatres this Friday, April 13th.

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From a movie buff’s perspective, The Cabin in the Woods represents the most exciting shake-up in the slasher genre since “Scream,” 16 years ago. But where Scream went one direction, introducing self-awareness to a formula that desperately needed it, Cabin in the Woods takes another route. Instead of characters who have seen slasher movies before and know what the “rules” are, we get a whole new configuration altogether.

If that analysis sounds too geeky, don’t worry: anyone who’s even vaguely familiar with the genre of movies where good-looking teenagers are killed one at a time by an unstoppable menace will find plenty to enjoy in this ingenious deconstruction of it. The really hardcore devotees will just geek out a little harder, that’s all.

The scenario is standard, quite intentionally so. (You’ll see why.) Five college kids are heading to a lake house for a weekend of revelry: demure Dana (Kristen Connolly), dumb blonde Jules (Anna Hutchison), her jock boyfriend Curt (Chris Hemsworth), handsome nice guy Holden (Jesse Williams), and comical stoner Marty (Fran Kranz). As part of our cultural DNA, we are programmed to understand that not all of them will survive, due to some as-yet-unknown person or thing in the woods.

But before we meet them — in the movie’s very first scene — we meet Steve Hadley (Richard Jenkins) and Richard Sitterson (Bradley Whitford), engineers at some kind of research facility or secret laboratory or something. What, if anything, do they have to do with the kids at the lake house? WHAT INDEED??

That’s all you’re getting from me in terms of plot summary. Parceling out information strategically (but not frustratingly!) is one of the movie’s strong suits, keeping us so regularly entertained by new twists in the story that we forget how much there is that we don’t know yet. The writers are Drew Goddard (who also directed) and Joss Whedon, both veterans of serialized, slightly sarcastic genre television programs like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alias, and Lost, all of which frequently excelled at masterful storytelling, especially when they had a clear endgame in mind. Fans will recognize the tone, which can switch effortlessly from self-aware irony (We’re like the Scooby-Doo gang, huntin’ monsters!) to disarming sincerity (My best friend was killed by a monster, and I’m genuinely sad).

When it’s over, it’s easy to appreciate how The Cabin in the Woods could have been nothing more than a lifeless exercise in cleverness. Centering a story on five characters who are intentionally archetypal is risky: there’s a fine line between archetypal and generic. But these five are endearing and funny, coming across as interesting figures even as they fill their prescribed roles — a rare example of slasher-movie characters who we DON’T want to see killed.

It’s worth noting that while the film is about horror, and has many terrific horror elements, it’s not particularly scary — nor is it meant to be. The idea is to set up a movie we’ve seen a hundred times before, and then to rearrange it into something new and deliriously satisfying. What a fun, brilliant movie this is.

Grade: A

Gallery Link:
342 x Television Shows > Grimm > 1×07 Tarantella Screen Captures

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032 x Public Appearances > 2012 > “The Cabin In The Woods” Screening at the Palms Casino Resort – 03.20.12

Also, screen captures of Amy on “Grimm” & “Once Upon A Time” should be up this week, so be sure to check back for those!! She was great in them!

Once Upon a Time has dipped into the Whedonverse yet again to fill a guest-starring role.

Amy Acker, who had roles on both Joss Whedon’s Angel and Dollhouse, will visit ABC’s fantastical freshman drama as a romantic interest for both Grumpy (of the Seven Dwarves) and his surly Storybrooke counterpart, Leroy, in a late winter episode that delves into the grouch’s backstory.

Lee Arenberg (Grumpy/Leroy) cheered the casting via Twitter, saying that on Friday he was “living the dream” working opposite both Acker and Ginnifer Goodwin (aka Snow White/Mary Margaret) — though it was not clear in which of the show’s two worlds their scenes were taking place.

Well, TVLine can exclusively report that Acker will play characters in both Storybrooke and the fairy tale world that was.

Earlier this fall, Once cast Buffy the Vampire Slayer alumna Emma Caulfield as the Blind Witch from Hansel and Gretel lore; she will appear in this season’s ninth episode (get exclusive scoop here). Of course, Buffy/Angel/Dollhouse vet Jane Espenson is a writer/producer for Once.

Acker’s TV resume also includes ABC’s Happy Town and No Ordinary Family, and last month’s Lifetime movie Dear Santa. Ironically, she will also guest-star this winter on NBC’s Grimm, which like Once (though in a decidedly different way) revolves around fairy tale characters.

Once Upon a Time, having aired its seventh episode/fall finale this month, resumes its freshman run Jan. 8.

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