Monthly Archives

February 2023

Paul Mescal’s New Normal

paul mescal in a library on the cover of THR

–Paul Mescal (who I just can’t help but root for) covers the new issue of THR and talks about how Normal People was his “most life-altering moment” (“Everything since has felt like little mini-explosions of madness”), being cast in Gladiator 2 (“It’s an intimidating feat. It’s something I’m nervous about but something I feel like I can do”), and his Aftersun character’s depression (“I think he’s doing the maths of this holiday, and he’s with the person that he loves most in the world. And he’s had a great day with her and something’s not adding up…He doesn’t know what it is in his brain that’s not making that happen. And that’s scary and that’s confusing”).

–Suki Waterhouse made a rare comment about her romance with Robert Pattinson: “I’m shocked that I’m so happy with someone for nearly 5 years.”

–Pink talked to Vulture about her death-defying concert performances (“I feel like a stuntwoman most of the time”) and her music (she rewrote “Split Personality” with Babyface after LA Reid originally told her it was “no good”).

-This is a great interview with Alden Ehrenreich, who talks about being in Cocaine Bear, his Star Wars experiencing (“I got to be Han Solo for the last 15 minutes of the movie, maybe”) and joining the MCU.

-Another day, another community service fit from Cardi B.

-I’m increasingly enjoying Penn Badgley’s discomfort with this press tour. He surprised You superfan Drew Barrymore by locking her in a glass cage. “You’re not supposed to want this!”

-Netflix, BBC and ITV might ‘ban’ corsets from period dramas over fears they are injuring actors. Ok, but if these are well-constructed and made to fit, that shouldn’t be happening.

-How did The Last of Us viewers catch this tiny glimpse of crew members? How??

–Megan Fox reportedly regrets making her relationship issues with Machine Gun Kelly public. Yeah, so do we.

-According to a new report in Vulture, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s less than stellar visuals happened because Marvel diverted its best VFX resources to Wakanda Forever, and the remaining team was severely understaffed. Say techs:  “Certain things were used to cover up incomplete work.” “Unfortunately, it is noticeable that there were shortcuts.”

–Rebel Wilson is getting married! She proposed to Ramona Agruma at Disneyland.

-It’s really weird that people think it’s a “gamble” for Disney to have two big theatrical films with female heroines released in the same month.

-I don’t really think this headline about “mediocre movies” saving the box office gets it. Ticket to Paradise, A Man Called Otto and 80 for Brady all did well because the last few years have been rough, and people want humour and heart.

-The Hollywood writers’ strike is inching closer to reality.

-I wish Keri Russell had a bit more fun with her outfit at the Cocaine Bear premiere. I mean, if you can’t get crazy for that movie, when can you?

–Leslie Bibb and Robert De Niro star in the About My Father trailer.

-Here’s the trailer for FX’s Great Expectations with Olivia Colman.

-Watch the trailer for Past Lives, Celine Song‘s decades-spanning romance starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro. This was one of the most adored films to come out of this year’s Sundance.

Succession Costars Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox Agree To Disagree

Jeremey Strong in red shorts on the cover of GQ

-Succession is coming back soon, so the cast is doing the press rounds. In his new GQ cover story, Jeremy Strong addresses his viral 2021 New Yorker profile, calling it “15 minutes of shame, with a long tail” and saying, “I hadn’t felt judged like that in a very long time” He also commented on his costars Brian Cox and Kieran Culkin contributing to the piece (“Everyone’s entitled to have their feelings. I also think Brian Cox, for example, he’s earned the right to say whatever the fuck he wants”) but says he doesn’t agree with Cox’s assessment that he’s “in pain” because they’ve only interacted with each other as performers. “There’s certainly a lot of pain in Kendall, and I haven’t really met Brian outside of the confines of that.”

-Meanwhile, Brian Cox got his own cover (this one for Town & Country), and still seems annoyed by Strong’s method acting (“Oh, it’s fucking annoying. Don’t get me going on it”). He says he was particularly impressed with Strong during a scene last season where his character tells his siblings that he murdered someone, but was baffled that the actor refused to break character on set. “He’s still that guy, because he feels if he went somewhere else he’d lose it. But he won’t! Strong is talented. He’s fucking gifted. When you’ve got the gift, celebrate the gift. Go back to your trailer and have a hit of marijuana, you know?”

–Ariana Debose‘s opening number for the BAFTAs was so poorly received, she quit Twitter. I mean, this part was really, really rough but “Angela Bassett did the thing” instantly became a meme, so yay?

-Big day for baby news! Adam Driver and wife Joanne Tucker are expecting baby number 2, as is Constance Wu and boyfriend Ryan Kattner.

–Avril Lavigne and Mod Sun have called off their engagement the day after she was photographed grabbing dinner with Tyga.

–Paris Hilton says she thought she was asexual before meeting her husband: “I was known as a sex symbol, but anything sexual terrified me….I called myself the ‘kissing bandit’ because I only liked to make out. A lot of my relationships didn’t work out because of that.”

-The first review I read of the Party Down revival was Variety’s, which was negative, so I’m thrilled to see that all the others I’ve come across are glowing.

–Jenny Slate “never felt” her Everything Everywhere All At Once character, who is credited as Big Nose, was offensive. “[The Daniels] explained it to me. They explained it to me right away, so I never felt it was antisemitic.”

–Jamie Lee Curtis revealed she got more screen time in movies like Knives Out because she never spends any time in her trailer: “Here’s the deal. It’s my secret sauce. Don’t go back to your trailers. Trailers are not your friend. Jonathan Wang, our producer of ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ will tell you I never left the set. I don’t believe in it.”

-This is such a great interview with Ellen Barkin, who was recently in Poker Face. “I am 68 years old. I’m fresh out of all my f**ks.”

–Pedro Pascal was on Seth Meyers’ show last week, and was predictably adorable.

–Liam Neeson doesn’t exactly seem like a fun hang, huh? The actor said his recent appearance on The View was “a bit embarrassing,” adding, “I was in the dressing room drinking a cup of tea, turned the TV up, and I thought, oh, this will be great. They’re talking about gun violence in America, and I agree that it’s an American problem. I go onstage and join the ladies during the break, and I was congratulating them on this discussion. And then our segment starts and it’s just all this BS with Joy [Behar] and Liam Neeson and having a crush, and I’ve known Whoopi for years and Joy a little bit, but I just wasn’t impressed.”

–Jully Black is so boss for changing one word while singing Canada’s national anthem at the All Stars game: “our home and native land” became “our home on native land.” She said, “We’ve been singing this anthem since kindergarten. I reached out to some Indigenous friends to say ‘first of all, how do you feel about me doing this anthem?’ And I got some feedback and I really dissected the lyrics to really sing it with intention.”

–Cardi B is tweeting her way through community service, which she was given as part of a plea deal stemming from a 2018 strip club brawl.

–Ana De Armas talks about social media killing movie stars: “The concept of a movie star is someone untouchable you only see onscreen. That mystery is gone. For the most part, we’ve done that to ourselves — nobody’s keeping anything from anyone anymore.” This would be a lot more powerful if she didn’t aggressively participate in pap walks to Dunkin’ for like, a year.

-I always forget that Paul Rudd and Olivia Colman are good friends. She recently pranked him on BBC Radio 1.

–Selena Gomez is calling out cruel commenters:  “just the idea of bodyshaming a woman who has to fight & deal with an autoimmune disease and take proper medication… like some people are just too much.”

–Chris Brown responded to backlash following the announcement of his collaboration with Chlöe: “IF YALL STILL HATE ME FOR A MISTAKE I MADE AS A 17 year old please kiss my whole entire ass!”  I mean, Karruche got a 5-year restraining order against him 6 years ago, so it’s not just really old mistakes.

–Will Smith did good with this TikTok.

-This is awful: Kellie Pickler‘s husband was found dead of apparent suicide.

–Penn Badgley seems overwhelmed in his puppy interview.

-Speaking of Penn, this is a really good take on how the latest season of You reinvented itself the wrong way.

-Love this piece on how we have to stop trying to make Brooklyn Beckham happen.

-Here’s the Shadow and Bone season 2 trailer. I have zero recollection of what happened in season 1 apart from the Crows’s bit.

–Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon play journalists tracking a killer in the trailer for Hulu’s Boston Strangler.

Gigi Hadid Gets Teary in Elle

Gigi Hadid on the cover of Elle

–Gigi Hadid covers Elle and cried when asked what we don’t know about her from headlines or social media posts: “What does the world not know about me? I don’t know. I’m getting emotional [thinking about it]. I think that I’m someone who you have to be in front of to experience. It’s not hard. This isn’t a complaint. It’s more that in my job, you see a lot of snapshots. [wipes away tears] No, it’s fine. Apparently, I needed to say it. There are a lot of snapshots and really quick moments where, again, there’s not a lot of context given.”

-I adore Jodie-Turner Smith’s Fashion cover.

-In his Rolling Story cover profile, Michael B. Jordan says he avoided his entire family and didn’t interact with any children while filming Black Panther. “During shooting I kept myself from family and children, and away from everything that Killmonger never had.”

-Speaking of good cover stories, I liked this one on Ke Huy Quan.

-Vanity Fair asked the stars of its Hollywood issue to record their special talent/party trick. Florence Pugh can contort her body around a broomstick, Ana de Armas makes a (not very good looking) old fashioned, Austin Butler crafts napkin roses, and Keke Palmer can tell which sign you are.

-Speaking of Pugh, she was spotted holding hands with a former classmate from Oxford.

–Austin Butler is the latest celeb to appear on Hot Ones, and he sounds less Elvis-y.

–Rebel Wilson says that her Pitch Perfect contract prevented her from gaining or losing more than 10lbs.

-After earlier confirming that Bruce Willis had been diagnosed with aphasia, his family now says they’ve received “a clear diagnosis” of something more serious — frontotemporal dementia

–Paul Mescal has learned his lesson when it comes to talking about his relationship status in the press.

-Only days after the murder of 16-year-old trans schoolgirl Brianna Ghey, and the day after receiving two highly publicized letters signed by contributors and LGBTQ+ advocates asking for better, more honest and fair coverage of trans people, the New York Times ran a defense of JK Rowling. It is not going over well.

-Aw crap. The Party Down revival is getting bad reviews.

–Lori Harvey and Damson Idris made their red carpet debut at the premiere of Snowfall.

–Ryan Seacrest is leaving Live With Kelly and Ryan, and he’ll be replaced by Mark Consuelos.

–Bob Odenkirk is not well-liked by his college students in the trailer for Lucky Hank, his new AMC series.

–Taron Egerton is starring in Apple TV’s Tetris movie about an American who befriends a Russian computer geek and helps him smuggle the video game out of the Soviet Union during the cold war.