Monthly Archives

May 2019

TV’s Leading Ladies Talk Shop

Emilia Clarke, Michelle Williams, Patricia Arquette, Christine Baranski, Danai Gurira and Niecy Nash

-God, I love Emmy roundtable season! In THR’s new issue, drama actresses Emilia Clarke, Danai Gurira, Michelle Williams, Patricia Arquette, Christine Baranski and Niecy Nash gather to talk about pay parity, the pressure to look a certain way, and standing up for their characters. (I particularly liked this bit from Gurira: “I remember having an argument with the director [on Walking Dead] because I was like, ‘I know you have [this love scene] written here like this, but this is what you’re getting.’And I wrote it on the script and I handed it to him.”)

–Nina Dobrev and screenwriter/director Grant Mello look blissed up in love in Cannes. I’m happy for her — she seemed to be going through it for a bit.

-A judge ordered Hayden Panettiere’s boyfriend Brian Hickerson to stay away from her after he was arrested on a domestic violence charge earlier this month.

-ABC’s live revival of classic Norman Lear sitcoms last night was weird and wonderful. I didn’t catch the whole thing but I did see Jennifer Hudson doing The Jefferson’s theme song, and Jamie Foxx‘s hilarious break in character.

–Gabrielle Union says she’s coaching hubby Dwayne Wade on basic life skills now that he’s retired from basketball. “He’s like, ‘What is this place? There’s all kind of like khaki shorts and cargo shorts and there’s all different colors.’ I’m like, ‘That’s Old Navy’…He has no idea how much milk costs. He’s like, ‘What is that, $20?’ and I’m like, ‘What kind of goat’s blood milk [are you drinking]?'”

-Warner’s upcoming streaming service just landed Anna Kendrick to star in a romcom series.  Great, yet another subscription!

–Lena Waithe did an amazing job last night guest-hosting for Kimmel, but everyone’s talking about the smooch Halle Berry laid on her which I found…weird. Isn’t it a little queerbaiting? Doesn’t Lena have a fiancée?

-Huh. ABC cancelled Whiskey Cavalier a couple of weeks ago, but fan outcry (and a bump in ratings) has them reconsidering the decision, with sources saying it’s now got a 50/50 shot at coming back.

-The Good Place creator Mike Schur hasn’t given any interviews about the most recent season — until now.

-I have been following this guy’s tweets for a month now and they are a consistent source of delight! His mom recently passed away and when he looked at her Kindle he was surprised to find it filled thousands of verryyyyy risque romance novels — which he is now reading and reviewing on Twitter.

-A bunch of media sites jumped the gun this morning and broke the embargo for the new Star Trek: Picard first teaser trailer, so CBS pulled it. But it’s back online now. Showing Picard (now an admiral after quitting Starfleet dues to events 15 years prior) at his winery.

-The first official trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate has arrived. Linda Hamilton is still fierce.

 

Vanity Fair Offers a Peek Inside Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

star wards rise of skywalker vanity fair

–Vanity Fair’s new issue has our first in-depth look at Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, including new characters like Keri Russell‘s Zorri Bliss and Richard E. Grant‘s Allegiant General Pryde.

–Natalie Portman has hit back at ‘creepy’ Moby for his ‘disturbing’ account of their relationship in his memoir, telling Harper’s Bazaar UK: “I was surprised to hear that he characterized the very short time that I knew him as dating because my recollection is a much older man being creepy with me when I just had graduated high school. He said I was 20; I definitely wasn’t. I was a teenager. I had just turned 18. There was no fact-checking from him or his publisher – it almost feels deliberate.” He then countered by posting “proof” on IG: a super creepy pic of them, in which he’s shirtless and she’s grinning uncomfortably. It’s all quite gross.

-Congrats to Zoe Kravitz, who reportedly had a secret wedding to Karl Glusman.

-At the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood presser in Cannes, Quentin Tarantino snapped at a female reporter from The New York Times who asked why Margot Robbie wasn’t given more to say or do in the film. He groused “I reject your hypothesis” and didn’t expand. Bless Margot Robbie for trying her best to answer thoughtfully though, saying that it was an interesting acting experiment: “To really show those wonderful sides of [Sharon Tate] could be done without speaking…I did feel like I got a lot of time to explore the character without dialogue specifically.” (I love how Brad Pitt looks over at her supportively when she’s done, like “valiant attempt trying to polish this turd”).

–James Corden did a Reddit AMA and all the top comments are about his terrible reputation. I love that even the questions that look legit end with “also, is it true you’re an asshole?”

–George Clooney went into detail about his “bad” motorcycle crash in Italy: “I was just waiting for the switch to turn off.”

-I love that Gwendoline Christie predicted the Game of Thrones ending in an interview a few seasons ago. (I also love that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was like “wait, that doesn’t make sense.” He is us.)

-Also, even though it looked like the finale was setting up an Arya-focused sequel — it wasn’t.

-I haven’t watched Orange Is The New Black in years, but this promo of the stars singing the theme song kinda got me.  The final season drops on Netflix July 26.

–Olivia Wilde‘s directorial debut Booksmart, which opens this weekend, is at 99% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with nearly 100 reviews counted. That’s insanely impressive.

-This is a really good interview with SNL’s Heidi Gardner, who talks about being a hairstylist for nine years before transitioning into comedy.

-I also loved this profile on Timothy Olyphant, who talks about saying yes to every role after Deadwood was cancelled — because he had just bought a new house. “Those experiences were equally valuable…Find yourself bald in Bulgaria doing some pile of shit, that will get you up a little earlier in the morning and make you work a little harder.”

–Michelle Williams is getting rave reviews for her turn in Fosse/Verdon (especially this week’s episode), and what’s even more impressive is that she’s not using a vocal coach.

-I really liked this NYT feature on how “Old Town Road” became the biggest song in the world thanks to memes and controversy.

–Jesse Eisenberg grapples with masculinity in The Art Of Self Defense’s first trailer.

Seth Rogen Talks Kanye and Kids in GQ

seth-rogen-gq

-I love how everyone’s freaking out about how good Seth Rogen looks in his new GQ spread. He talks about Kanye West’s influence on him and why he and his wife don’t have kids. “We very much like our lives, so we will continue to put it off, it seems like, for a little while…I’ve had my friends be like, “Yeah, it really was hard on our relationship.” I’m not saying we couldn’t overcome it, but, again, we really get along and have a very good dynamic. She works very hard, and a lot as well, so when we’re together, we really try to enjoy each other and hang out.”

–Rihanna’s NYT interview is a must-read: “I love being black. So, sorry for those who don’t like it.”

–Celine Dion‘s episode of Carpool Karaoke aired and she was even more extra than we could have hoped for!

–Johnny Depp accused ex-wife Amber Heard of having “painted-on bruises” to allege abuse, saying “She was the perpetrator, and I was the victim.” For crying out loud, her police reports had medical records in them!

–Scarlett Johansson and SNL’s Colin Jost are engaged after two years of dating. This is going to be husband No. 3. (I always forget she was once married to Ryan Reynolds.)

-The Jonas Brothers are on the latest episode of Billy on the Street. “The measles are back and so are the Jonas Brothers!”

-In their new Esquire interview, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio talk about getting butterflies when meeting Luke Perry on the set of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and it’s very sweet.

-Also, I’m sure Brad and Leo like each other — but this clip of them on the Cannes red carpet makes it look like they really, really don’t.

-Also at Cannes, Nicolas Winding Refn said his new TV show isn’t actually a TV show.  “It’s a 13-hour movie. It’s not TV!” Sigh. If movie directors don’t respect TV, maybe they should not attempt TV?

–Colin Firth came to Elle Fanning’s rescue when she fainted at a Cannes party, which is so very Mr. Darcy of him.

-This is a good explanation of Hulu/Disney/Comcast divorce. Basically, I’m expecting to look back at my cable bill as “the good ole days” when we’re all paying twice for all the streaming services we’ll end up getting.

-The endless Keanu Reeves love that has come out of the John Wick 3 promo tour has been such a treat. I especially love this video of him with puppies.  There’s also this great story of him making a teen theatre employee’s day. And of course, his Ellen interview where she questioned why he and Sandra Bullock never got together when they both admitted to crushing on each other at the same time, and he responded “We were working.”

-I don’t watch The Big Bang Theory, but people are really upset by the Penny twist.

-It sucks that Mayim Bialik had to shut down an Instagram commenter who ogled her for wearing a t-shirt — but do you remember the time she wrote a NYT op-ed about how she escaped harassment in Hollywood by not dressing provocatively?

-On a new podcast, Julianna Margulies said she’s done ‘protecting CBS’ over the real reason she hasn’t gone on The Good Fight — because they wouldn’t pay her what she was making on The Good Wife. “I thought, Why am I protecting CBS? I said yes. They said no. And you know what? I need to pave the way for the next one coming up…I also know for a fact that any male star who is asked to come on a spin-off of their show would’ve been offered at least $500,000…If they were to ask me to go back on The Good Fight, paying me what my salary is, [I would be there] in a heartbeat.”

–Joshua Jackson has been cast as the male lead in Hulu drama Little Fires Everywhere, joining a cast that includes Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. I LOVED that book!

-The Chi has dropped actor Jason Mitchell following accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct.

-People may have hated it, but Game of Thrones’s finale set HBO’s all-time ratings record.

-Speaking of GoT, Jason Momoa live-streamed his reaction while watching the show and was NOT happy about Dany’s fate. Meanwhile, Emilia Clarke said of Dany’s turn “It comes out of f—king nowhere. I’m flabbergasted.”

–Celeste Barber appears on the final webisode for Gay of Thrones and it’s perfect.

-This Is Us’ Milo Ventimiglia bonds with dog in The Art of Racing in the Rain trailer.