–Brad Pitt is on the cover of the latest issue of GQ. I have no idea why they used the obscured hoodie/sunglasses photo when the pics of him playing ping pong are SO MUCH BETTER. In the interview, he says New York is off limits to him (“It’s always been tough for me. Just the paparazzi. I can’t have freedom there. So without that — it takes the fun out of it”) and talks about how his views on religion have changed (“Oh, man, I’ve gone through everything. Like, I cling to religion. I grew up with Christianity. Always questioned it, but it worked at times. And then when I got on my own, I completely left it and I called myself agnostic. Tried a few spiritual things but didn’t feel right. Then I called myself an atheist for a while, just kind of being rebellious. I wasn’t really. But I kinda labeled myself that for a while. It felt punk rock enough. And then I found myself coming back around to just belief in—I hate to use the word spirituality, but just a belief in that we’re all connected”).
-In another interview (this one with EW), Pitt says he’s going to “abstain” from Oscar campaigning. “I find chasing it actually a disservice to the purity of your telling a story, and a shackling thing to focus on.” It sounds like he’s pretty much a lock for a supporting nod for Once Upon a Time, and a strong possibility for a lead nomination for Ad Astra, so it probably won’t matter. Also, aren’t all these magazine covers a form of campaigning?!
-Backstage at the Creative Arts Emmys this weekend, Rachel Bloomannounced she’s three months pregnant.
-There are some odd hair choices being made by Young Hollywood right now. Stranger Things’ Joe Keery proved that 98% of his hotness stemmed from his hair after he debuted this horrendous new ‘do, while Noah Centineo’s blonde beardisn’t winning any fans.
-Hustlers opened even better than expected with $33M at the weekend box office (which is huge for an R-rated non-franchise release). More than two-thirds of the audience was women.
-If you were anywhere on the internet this weekend, you saw Hustlers star Keke Palmer‘s “sorry to this man” meme. She’s since commented on it: “After finding out who he is, I’m glad I didn’t know.”
-A week after announcing her split from her husband, Zooey Deschanel is dating Property Brothers’ Jonathan Scott.
–Charlize Theron says she’s having a threesome with Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie. I’m into it.
-This article on the “toolification” of Jeremy Renneris worth your time.
-It took a while, but SNL has fired Shane Gillis for his racist remarks just days after announcing he was joining the show. “We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days… We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.” Ignore the manbabies whining about this on Twitter. It’s not cancel culture — it’s the consequences of people speaking up against a racist.
-I started Netflix’s Unbelievable this weekend and the first couple of episodes are slow but it starts cooking once Merritt Wever and Toni Collette team up. Here’s a great interview with Wever, who remains a ball of insecurity. She even revisits her hilarious “Thank you. I gotta go. Bye” Emmy speech.
-The Downton Abbey cast discuss their TV series’ stateside success and the possibility of another movie in a new interview with Town & Country.
–Taylor Swift will be a mentor on The Voicethis season. Blink twice if you’re being blackmailed into this, Taylor!!
-I’m really liking this series on film festival background players. The latest: a bartender reveals what it’s like to work a star-studded party at TIFF.
-The director of Suicide Squad is sensitive, y’all.
–Charlie Hunnam just landed a new Apple+ drama. I saw in IRL last week and I get it now.
-This is super fun: ABC just announced a “Cast From the Past Week,” in which former costars will reunite on various ABC shows during the second week of October. Charmed stars Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs will play sisters on Grey’s Anatomy, Cheers vets Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger and George Wendt will reunite on The Goldbergs, The Drew Carey Show’s Drew Carey, Ryan Stiles and Kathy Kinney will appear on American Housewife, and more.
-Huh. I thought for sure it would go to Hulu because of the NBC-ness of it all, but Netflix just nabbed Seinfeld.
-Netflix’s new YA series, Daybreak, has dropped its first trailer. I’m very into a post-apocalyptic high school drama — and intrigued that @ira is on the writing staff.
–Paul Rudd fights with a superior version of himself in the new trailer for Netflix’s Living With Yourself.