The Cleaner TV series information

A&E is set to launch their first scripted drama series in more than 6 years with the premiere of The Cleaner on July 15^th at 10pm EST. The series will star Benjamin Bratt (“Law and Order,” Miss Congeniality), Amy Price-Francis (“Californication”), Grace Park (“Battlestar Galactica”) among others. The series is inspired by the true story of real life “extreme interventionist” Warren Boyd who serves as co-executive producer of the series.

Benjamin Bratt plays William “The Cleaner” Banks who, after hitting rock-bottom from his own addictions, strikes a tentative deal with God. In exchange for a second chance, he recruits vows to kick his addictions and dedicate his life to helping others get clean from their own addictions by any means necessary.

Enter to win a “Bratt Pack” to celebrate the premiere of THE CLEANER, STARRING BENJAMIN BRATT TUESDAY, JULY 15 AT 10PM ET/PT on A&E NETWORK (submission form at the bottom of the page)

PRESS RELEASE

Sometimes Your Only Hope Is Someone Who’s Been There Before

A&E NETWORK® TO LAUNCH FIRST SCRIPTED DRAMA SERIES IN MORE THAN SIX YEARS

THE CLEANER, STARRING BENJAMIN BRATT

PREMIERES TUESDAY, JULY 15 AT 10PM ET/PT

Cast of the Cleaner picture New York, NY, MAY 28, 2008 -- On Tuesday, July 15, at 10pm ET/PT, A&E Network will launch its first original scripted drama series in more than six years. THE CLEANER^™ stars Benjamin Bratt (“Law and Order,” Miss Congeniality), Amy Price-Francis (“Californication”), Grace Park (“Battlestar Galactica”), Kevin Michael Richardson (“Knights of Prosperity,” “Like Family”), Esteban Powell (Dazed and Confused, Powder), Brett DelBuono (Balls of Fury, “Kidnapped”) and Liliana Mumy (Cheaper by the Dozen, The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause).

“I am always looking for good material to work with and The Cleaner is one of the best scripts I’ve read in a long time,” said Benjamin Bratt. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to portray such a complex and multidimensional character. A&E is the perfect home for The Cleaner and I’m proud to be working with them on bringing this emotionally compelling drama to life.”

Inspired by the true story of a real life “extreme interventionist,” Bratt stars as William “The Cleaner” Banks who, after hitting rock-bottom from his own addictions after the birth of his daughter, strikes a tentative deal with God. In exchange for a second chance, he vows to kick his addictions and dedicate his life to helping others. Now, along with his unconventional team, he helps people get clean from their own addictions by any means necessary.

In the series opener, William tries to help Zach, a once-promising high school athlete who has fallen victim to meth addiction. William’s efforts reveal a family fractured in the wake of a father’s death, as well as an underground drug-fencing operation that he must crack. While he fights to save Zach, William finds himself helpless to do anything for his best friend, Mickey, a former addict whose own demons have become overwhelming.

THE CLEANER is produced by CBS Paramount Television in association with Once A Frog Productions for A&E Network. The series was created and is executive produced by Jonathan Prince (“Cane,” “American Dreams”) and Robert Munic. Jay Silverman and Warren Boyd are co-executive producers.

A&E is “Real Life. Drama^™.” Now reaching more than 96 million homes, A&E is television that you can’t turn away from; where real life shows are dramatic and scripted dramas are authentic. A&E offers a diverse mix of high quality entertainment; ranging from the network’s signature Real-Life Series franchise, including the hit series “Intervention^®,” “Gene Simmons Family Jewels^™,” “Paranormal State^™” and “Criss Angel^® Mindfreak^®,” to the most successful justice shows on cable, including “The First 48^®” and “Crime 360^™” and original scripted series including “The Cleaner” starring Benjamin Bratt. A&E is also the official basic cable home to the high-profile series “The Sopranos^®,” “CSI: Miami” and “Criminal Minds.” The A&E website is located at www.aetv.com. For more press information and photography please visit us on the web at www.aetvpress.com.

Our Review of The Cleaner

Cast Biographies

After reaching the depths of his addictions, William Banks turned to God with a proposal: give him a second chance and he would be his avenging angel. Now he leads a rag-tag team devoted to helping other addicts get clean by any means necessary. He juggles his work with his rocky relationships with a wife who previously left him twice and his kids who haven’t forgiven his absences during multiple stints in jail and rehab.

Benjamin Bratt starred opposite Benicio del Toro in The Argentine and Guerilla, a pair of films from Director Steven Soderbergh about Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara, which both premiered during this year’s Cannes International Film Festival.

Bratt recently starred in the A&E^® two-night television event “The Andromeda Strain,”` from Executive Producers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. He was also seen on the big screen during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Trucker, the independent feature in which he starred opposite Michelle Monaghan.

Additional screen credits include: Stephen Soderbergh’s Traffic (which won the Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast); Love in the Time of Cholera; Piñero; Thumbsucker; The Woodsman; Abandon; Miss Congeniality; The Great Raid; Red Planet; The Next Best Thing; Catwoman; Follow Me Home; The River Wild; Clear and Present Danger; and Blood In, Blood Out.

On television, Bratt established himself on Dick Wolf’s critically acclaimed drama “Law & Order.” A series regular for four seasons, he received an Emmy^® Award and Screen Actors Guild award nominations for his portrayal of Detective Reynaldo Curtis. Additional television credits include “E-Ring, Woman Undone,” “Texas” and “After the Storm.”

An alumnus of the MFA program at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, Bratt currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Talisa Soto, and children, daughter Sophia and son Mateo.

William’s wife Melissa Banks balances her work life as a dental hygienist with her home life raising her two children and understanding William’s new passion. She and William had some rough times, she keeps her sense of humor but her patience has its limits.

Amy Price-Francis developed a deep passion for theater while studying at The National Theatre School of Canada. It was her broad body of work on stage that prepared her for her future wide-ranging television career.

Her Canadian theatre credits include both classical and contemporary works including “The Winters’ Tale,” “The Game of Love And Chance,” “Spring Awakening,” “California Boyz,” “The Shape of Things” and “Proof.”

Price-Francis has played leading roles in a handful of Canadian television series including “Rumours,” “Snakes & Ladders,” “Train 48,” “Tracker” and “Little Men.” Her television movie credits include leading roles in “Shades of Black” and “Earthstorm,” and supporting roles in “The Pentagon Papers,” “Suburban Madness,” “Our Fathers” and “Cake.” She has various guest-starring roles to her credit, including “Soul Food,” “Kevin Hill,” “Missing,” “Tilt” and “Twice in a Lifetime.”

Since moving to Los Angeles, she had the pleasure of recurring opposite David Duchovny in the award-winning “Californication,” as well as guest roles on “Medium,” “Shark,”
“K-Ville,” “Big Shots” and “The Dead Zone.”

Akani Cuesta is the exotic beauty on William’s team who is just as much one of the boys with her hardened street edge. A bit of a wild card, she enjoys her job and is good at it, but resents being monitored by William, with whom there is a hint of a past relationship. Akani doesn’t need anyone’s support, especially that of her wealthy estranged father, but sometimes it seems she longs for a more settled, domestic life.

Grace Park co-stars on the critically acclaimed sci-fi series “Battlestar Galactica,” now in its fourth season, playing not one but two leading roles. Her performance in the season one cliffhanger garnered her a place in TV Guide’s “100 Most Memorable Moments in TV History.” The series received a Peabody Award in 2006 and has remained a critic’s darling since its inception, rated one of television’s best shows by Rolling Stone, TV Guide, The New York Times Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and Newsday.

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Canada, Park received a degree in psychology from the University of British Columbia before turning her attention to film and television. She was almost immediately cast in the memorable Jet Li film Romeo Must Die, quickly following that role with appearances in “The Dead Zone,” “The Outer Limits,” and, notably, the CBC series “Edgemont.” She would play the pivotal role of Shannon Ng on that series for five years while also guest-starring on “The Immortal,” “Jake 2.0,” and “Stargate SG-1.”

In addition to her film and television work, Park has expanded her range in the stage productions of “The Boys Next Door,” as Sheila and “West 32nd,” as Lila Li.

Darnell McDowell is the larger-than-life, always jovial car salesman who holds the keys to a classic Ford that William is dying to own. While Darnell would love to help him out with the car, he feels more obligated to help William in a different way – by joining his crew as a thank you for getting his brother to kick his addictions.

Audiences will recognize Kevin Michael Richardson from hundreds of animated commercial and video game characters he has voiced over the years. His on-screen credits include starring roles in “Knights of Prosperity” and “Like Family,” opposite Holly Robinson Peete, and a three-episode arc on NBC’s “ER.” Feature-film appearances include Homeboys in Outer Space, Bound, BASEketball and Fatal Instinct.

Extensive animated television voice credits include “The Powerpuff Girls, ”“The Flinstones: On The Rocks,” “Book of Virtues,” “Kim Possible,” “The Proud Family,” “Hercules,” “Batman,” “American Dad,” “The Boondocks,” “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius,” “Family Guy,” “Teen Titans,” “The Fairly OddParents,” “Justice League,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Pokemon,” “The Wild Thornberrys,” “Superman,” “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” “The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest” and “Hey Arnold!”

Animated feature credits include Lilo & Stich, Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, All Dogs Go to Heaven 2, Tarzan & Jane, The Matrix Revolutions, The Wild, Hoodwinked, The Happy Elf, Recess: Schools Out, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and Tom Sawyer.

Richardson’s video game voice work includes “Matrix III: Revolutions,” “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic,” “Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb,” and “Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Fallen,” among others.

A classically trained actor, he is a graduate of Syracuse University and lives in Los Angeles with his wife Monica, and her two sons.

Sporting a Mohawk, tattoo sleeves and a scruffy face and look, Arnie Swenton is the idler of William’s team. Swenton is a perpetual procrastinator, always getting in trouble, complaining about assignments, or rumbling that Akani gets to have all the fun. Despite his faults and indiscretions, he’s an important member of William’s team.

Esteban Powell grew up with a background in theater and began his career at The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) in Houston, Texas, one of the nation’s first public high schools of its kind.

His first big break came when he landed the role of freshman Carl Burnett in the 1993 Richard Linklater classic Dazed and Confused. Powell then moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18 to begin to concentrate on building a career in film and television. Two years later he had starred in the feature film Powder, the independent film Late Bloomers, a children’s series for ABC, and produced his first movie with a few friends. Additional television credits thereafter include guest-starring roles on “Monk,” “CSI,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and the sci-fi favorite “Level 9.”

Powell founded his own production company and operates the business under the name The SoundFilm Company. His company oversees multiplatform content production for Nickelodeon’s live-action properties and develops projects that reflect Powell’s passion for music, visual effects and high-concept storytelling. He is intent on bringing a positive outlook and message of change and hope to the stories he collaborates on.

The elder child of William and Melissa Banks is a teenager whose father’s drug addiction forced him to become a man prematurely. Now Ben must adjust to having his father back in the house and in his life – but it is not an adjustment he will make happily.

Brett DelBuono credits his success to his years at the Waschusett Theatre Company and with the Westboro Players theater group, in which he performed classics including “Oliver,” “The King and I” and “BIG.” He earned his first starring role in the holiday favorite, “A Christmas Carol,” as well as various other performances with his alma mater, The Performing Arts School.

DelBuono landed his first feature-film role in the 2004 critically acclaimed independent film Freedom Park. He starred opposite Rosario Dawson in The Revolution and was featured in the short film The Casket. DelBuono’s most recent work was opposite Christopher Walken and George Lopez in Balls of Fury.

His television resume includes voiceover work for Cartoon Network’s animated film “Casper’s Scare School,” the recent recurring role as Alfred Masters on NBC’s “Kidnapped,” and the pilot “The Winner.”

The younger child of William and Melissa Banks is ready to accept her father back into the house without a second thought. Lula wants nothing more than to have her family back together, and she copes with the upheaval by being the perfect daughter – perhaps too perfect.

At the age of 14, young actress Liliana Mumy already has an impressive resume of film and television productions. Like most girls her age, on a regular day Liliana enjoys listening to music, playing softball and ping pong, and being outdoors with her dogs.

Her film work includes movies such as The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3, Cheaper by the Dozen, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, My Neighbors the Yamadas, Lilo &Stitch 2: Stich has a Glitch, Howl’s Moving Castle, Mulan 11, and Stitch! The Movie 2.

She has also lent her voice to various animated series including “Chowder,” “Cat Scratch,” “Higglytown” and “Lilo & Stitch.”

She has appeared on shows such as “Biography: Child Stars 2,” “American Dragon: Jake Long,” “Crossing Jordan,” “My Wife and Kids,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Strong Medicine,” “That ’70s Show” and “Scrubs.”

The Cleaner Videos

The Cleaner Pictures (click on any image to enlarge)

Contest Rules:

2) Prizes can only be shipped to mailing addresses within the USA and Canada (No PO Boxes).

3) There will be ONE winner picked at random and the winner will receive a "Bratt Pack" consisting of:

-A&E T-shirt
-$10 A&E Store Gift Certificate
-Benjamin Bratt DVD package featuring: The Andromeda Strain, Miss Congeniality, Pinero and Love in the Time of Cholera.

6) If a winner does not respond within 7 days after notification, they will forfeit the prize and another winner will be picked at random.

7) The website management reserves the right to make changes to these rules without prior notification.

The Cleaner

PRESS RELEASE

Our Review of The Cleaner

Cast Biographies

The Cleaner Videos

The Cleaner Pictures (click on any image to enlarge)

Contest Rules:

Submission Form:

Send mail to PopStarsPlus@aol.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2004-2008 Pop Stars Plus®, a subsidiary of Gift Ideas Plus®, unless indicated otherwise.

The Cleaner

PRESS RELEASE

Our Review of The Cleaner

Cast Biographies

The Cleaner Videos

The Cleaner Pictures (click on any image to enlarge)

Contest Rules:

Submission Form:

Send mail to PopStarsPlus@aol.com with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 2004-2008 Pop Stars Plus®, a subsidiary of Gift Ideas Plus®, unless indicated otherwise.

Send mail to PopStarsPlus@aol.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2004-2008 Pop Stars Plus®, a subsidiary of Gift Ideas Plus®, unless indicated otherwise.