The drama begins when Steve (Alex O’Loughlin) rushes to his sister’s new apartment and discovers “there was a struggle,” explains Taryn, who has been waiting months for an opportunity to demonstrate the acting skills that brought her attention in such films as 8 Mile and Hustle & Flow. “Steve discovers a tooth on the ground, basically establishing that MaryAnn was a badass and fought her whole way through. There’s a lot of emotion.”

So is Steve about to lose the last surviving member of his immediate family? My lips are sealed! But I hear one person who is sorry to be saying goodbye to Taryn is Alex. During my last visit to the Hawaiian set, Alex told me, “I haven’t worked with Taryn as much as I would like. She brings out a certain paternal caring that Steve wouldn’t normally have. With both their parents gone, he feels an obligation to keep an eye on her; especially since she’s troubled and kind of out of control.”

Indeed, Taryn confides that “Alex wasn’t very happy” with the producers’ decision to alter their plans for Mary Ann. “He liked me and liked our relationship. He felt my character was necessary to explore further aspects of his role and was prepared to fight for me.”

Taryn also expresses her thanks to Daniel Dae Kim (Chin Ho), who she says, “sat down with me and had a little heart to heart to make sure I felt okay about everything. He’s very thoughtful.”

MaryAnn proved a challenge for producers from the beginning. She was originally slated to appear in the first four episodes and recur throughout the season. “The family mystery was supposed to slowly unfold over the first season and I was going to play a big part in that with my own Nancy Drew mission,” says Taryn, who had been under the impression that her character would even return for future seasons. “It was told to me that the first season would be based around the team more, and I should just hang tight.”

However, producers chose to shift greater focus to McGarrett’s professional associations and less on his personal life. There was also concern that too much was being revealed too soon about the murdered mother. Also taken in the upcoming episode is Steve’s father’s lock box, which contains clues to the mother’s disappearance. “I think they were going to show more of this throughout the season, but now it’s all wrapped up in this episode,” says Taryn.

Before the episode’s end, Mary Ann will encourage her brother to keep delving further in to the case, and the team will be further aided by evidence discovered on MaryAnn’s cell phone. The final image, teases Taryn, is of Steve experiencing “sadness over another loss.”

The busy 32-year-old hasn’t allowed professional disappointments to get her down. A Buddhist who sits cross-legged and chants every morning and night, Taryn had been toting a travel-size altar back and forth from Los Angeles to Hawaii, which she credits for “quieting her mind from all the chitter chatter.”

In addition to focusing on her music (one of her songs, “Spotlight,” was played in an early episode of Hawaii Five-0 and is available on iTunes), she will guest star in a January episode of Law & Order: SVU. She may also return to her recurring role on Sons of Anarchy, and is mulling an offer to play Janis Joplin in an independent film. As for Five-0, she has no regrets: “I chanted to get this show and the benefits have been priceless.”

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TV Guide reports that the actress will play an unwilling porn actress in a forthcoming episode of the NBC crime drama.

Manning plays Mary Ann, the younger sister of Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin), on Hawaii Five-0 and also features in the recurring role of Cherry on FX biker drama Sons of Anarchy.

She has also made guest appearances in episodes of CSI: Miami and NYPD Blue.

Hawaii Five-0 continues on Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.

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The film is directed by Mario Van Peebles and tells the story of a man’s struggle to find redemption. Set against the backdrop of the blues, it features a young man looking for a mentor and older fellow searching for forgiveness. It is a tried and true tale that strikes chords with a wide audience.

Spotlight Picture’s CEO Matt McCombs today said: “We are very proud to come on board with “Black, White and Blues. The filmmakers really have something special with this film and we intend to share it with the world.”

Reviews of “Black, White and Blues” have been outstanding. Trade publication Variety hailed the film as “emotionally satisfying” and “overall is infused by a generosity.” Hollywood Reporter raves that the film is “supple, brilliantly augmented.”

“Black, White and Blues” was written by Morgan Simpson and George Richards. It features original music by Tree Adams and was produced by Jeff Balis, Rhoades Rader and Morgan Simpson. Executive producers are John Bartoletta and Charlie Poe.

“Black, White and Blues” joins Spotlight Pictures AFM line-up which includes the action thriller “Ticket Out” starring Ray Liotta, Alexander Breckinridge, Joel Moore and Billy Burke.

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The future of Taryn Manning on Hawaii Five-O is unclear. The actress has reportedly been cast on that new CBS drama as Mary Ann McGarrett, but does not appear at all on the pilot.

However, the future of Manning on Sons of Anarchy is bright: sources confirm she’ll reprise the role of Cherry this fall.

Manning last appeared on Sons of Anarchy in November 2008.

During that episode, her character admitted to Gemma that her real name was Rita; she was still “sorta married;” and, oh yeah: she was wanted for grand theft and arson.

She then went on the run and hasn’t been heard from since. But Manning will appear on at least three episodes of season three of the show, which returns to FX this October. We can’t wait.

Personally, I can not wait! I’d love to see her and Kip ‘Half Sack’ Epps on the screen together. Also, can’t go wrong with Sons of Anarchy and Charlie Hunnam on screen together.

From EW

This bit o’ news comes via After Dark’s event trailer which was posted on Apple today. You can watch it right here.

Re-titled and awaiting release for some time now, Kill Theory is the directorial debut of producer Chris Moore. He played a part in Project Greenlight and executive produced Feast. Moore was also in line to direct a Race with the Devil remake before that was canned.

The film stars Agnes Bruckner, Theo Rossi, Patrick Flueger and Taryn Manning. Click on the title for a plot synopsis. And look for Horrorfest to kick off on January 29.

From Shock Till You Drop

Rance Howard, Richard Tyson and Natalie Canerday have also joined the project, which as previously announced will star Hilary Duff and Kevin Zegers.

Holly wrote and will direct a new version of the celebrated story of the fugitive lovers in Depression-era America.

Principal photography is set to occur in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Cypress Moon’s slate includes the adventure trilogy Sleeping Giant: Union Of The Seven, and the family film When I Find The Ocean.

From Screen Daily