ARKANSAN'S QUEST: Little Rock native Jim Curry, a 2010 graduate of Central High School, is one of 12 contestants selected to appear on ABC's new show The Quest, debuting July 31.
The show is described on IMDb.com as one in which "fantasy meets reality as 12 contestants engage in epic challenges" in a pretend world called "Everealm."
Think The Lord of the Rings film trilogy meets the The Amazing Race reality TV show. After all, the producers of both of those worked on the new hour-long show, which will air at 7 p.m. Thursdays.
The show is a reality competition set to a background of a scripted fantasy world of swords, crossbows and mythical creatures. The show is designed to appeal to those who like HBO's Game of Thrones, the Hunger Games films, and the Harry Potter series of books and films.
Curry, 22 and tall at 6'4", is a student of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he's about to graduate with a degree in technology. He plans to attend graduate school to pursue a degree in library science. He's spent four years on the University of Arkansas' Razorback Quidditch team, which is a club sport.
Curry and the other contestants filmed the 11-episode Quest show last August in Austria, where they resided in a castle (yes, a real one).
PLUM ROLE: Adam Driver, 30, a Hollywood actor in HBO's show Girls who has some family -- including his dad, Joe, -- living in North Little Rock -- has landed a major film role. He's been cast to play the villain in Star Wars: Episode VII, reports Variety magazine. The film, by Disney Studios and Lucasfilm, picks up where Return of the Jedi left off. The film was originally set for a release in December 2015. Driver previously portrayed a telegraph operator in Steven Spielberg's blockbuster Lincoln and has roles in the soon-to-be-released Warner Bros.' Midnight Special (written and directed by Little Rock native Jeff Nichols) and Martin Scorsese's Silence.
EUREKA! Travel + Leisure magazine has recently included Eureka Springs among its 20 "America's Favorite Mountain Towns."
CONCRETE NEWS: Remember the Celebrity Sidewalk started by the Downtown Partnership in 1979? The sidewalk was on Little Rock's Main Street, between Markham and Third. It featured autographs and handprints in 2-foot-by-2-foot concrete slabs from celebrities such as former first lady Rosalynn Carter, U.S. Sen. John Glenn, Muhammad Ali, Bob Hope, Baseball Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, civil-rights activist Daisy Bates, Mary Steenburgen and more.
During work to create a more environmentally friendly sidewalk by switching the pervious concrete with impervious material, it's been removed by the city's Parks and Recreation Department and placed in storage, says Mark Webre, the department's deputy director. A decision, with others weighing in, on the sidewalk's future will be made later.
Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636 or lhaymes@arkansasonline.com
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