Olyphant gains share of 'Damages'

By MARIJKE ROWLAND
mrowland@modbee.com

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Modesto-raised actor Timothy Olyphant has traded the wild west for the wicked law.

Wednesday, the second season of the complex, Emmy-winning legal drama "Damages" premières on FX with Olyphant added to its cast.

The series stars not one, not two, but three Oscar-nominated actors, including its lead, Glenn Close. Also joining the cast for its second season are Academy Award winners William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden.

DAMAGES: Timothy Olyphant. CR: FX

The show is a dense and cinematic legal thriller that pits powerful and ruthless attorney Patty Hewes (Close) against her young protégé Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne). But the drama is more of a complex legal puzzle than a courtroom procedural, complete with corruption, blackmail and murder.

In its first season, "Damages" received critical raves and won three Emmys and a Golden Globe.

Back for its second season, "Damages" promises more mystery as the questions of whom to trust, who is double-crossing whom and who will be left standing will be visited again.

Olyphant, last on the small screen in the spring in a cameo on "Samantha Who?" and previously for all three seasons as Seth Bullock on the HBO Western "Deadwood," is one of the new regulars on "Damages."

He will play Wes Krulik, a mysterious loner who meets Ellen in grief counseling and begins a relationship with her.

Last season on "Damages," Patty was working on a massive class-action lawsuit against the CEO of a corporation (played by Ted Danson) who lost his employees' pensions after his company went belly up. But the season's real mystery -- told in flashbacks and nonlinear narrative -- was who killed Ellen's boyfriend and who tried to kill Ellen.

The new season will focus on Ellen's revenge on Patty for trying to have her killed as well as a new legal drama involving a man from Patty's past (played by Hurt) and another powerful corporate attorney (played by Harden).

No word on whether Olyphant's Wes will turn out to be a good buy, a bad guy or somewhere in the gray area. But you can bet -- if the second season is anything like the first -- that it will be fascinating watching it all unfold.

Elsewhere around the Scene:

Fans of music legend

B.B. King will be singing the blues in the new year -- in a good way.

Turlock Community Theatre announced that the multiple Grammy Award winner, National Medal of Arts honoree and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee will perform at the venue April 17.

The reigning King of the Blues, now 83, is known for his scorching sound on his beloved guitar, Lucille. Tickets for the show are $59-$125 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Jan. 20 at the Turlock Community Theatre box office, 1574 E. Canal Drive, or its Web site, turlocktheatre.org. For more information, call 668-1169. ...

And finally, great news about our very own Ruben Porras, aka Motown Mojo, the editor of ModestoFamous.com.

On Christmas Day, Ruben received word that doctors had found a liver for him. The next day, he went in for his transplant.

The 12-hour surgery at University of California at San Francisco Medical Center was a success and he has been awake, eating and even walking around.

In 2003, Ruben was diagnosed with the rare terminal liver disease primary sclerosing cholangitis. A month later, he was told he also had Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The cancer diagnosis meant he would have to wait until his disease was in remission to be put on the list for a lifesaving liver transplant.

Ruben has been at UCSF since Dec. 7, when he was finally moved to the top of the transplant list.

"This is truly our Christmas miracle," said Ruben's mother, Shirley Porras. "He has been sick for a very long time. But it happened just like it was supposed to."

Before the transplant, Ruben's skin, the whites of his eyes and even his tears had all turned yellow because of his failed liver.

Porras said doctors have given Ruben an excellent prognosis and he was expected to go home soon. He will stay with his parents in Redding while he recuperates.

Last month, a fund-raiser at the Queen Bean Coffee House in Modesto raised more than $600 to help with Ruben's medical expenses.

Bee entertainment writer Marijke Rowland can be reached at mrowland@modbee.com or 578-2284. Read her blog SceneIt at thehive.modbee.com/sceneit.