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Paul Bettany

Steven Yeun Covers GQ

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GQ/DIANA MARKOSIAN

-Minari star Steven Yeun gets the GQ cover star treatment, which feels long overdue. The interview is great but I don’t know why they used that photo for the cover when this shot was right there!

-We knew Oprah‘s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was going to be good based on the promos, but this was a rare instance where the promotional material actually undersold the finished product, which went broader and deeper than anybody expected. Here are the 10 biggest revelations.

-I liked Lainey’s piece on how strategic it was to have Harry be the one to dunk on his family.

-Honestly, I’m most happy that they revealed they had a secret ceremony before the big wedding, which is a plot twist straight out of the Fug Girls’ novel – which is loosely based on them.

-CBS This Morning released more clips from the interview. Highlights include Meghan talking about her father’s betrayal, Harry calling the UK press racist, and how the Queen was pressured to rescind her invite to the couple to visit her. Meghan also said she hadn’t seen her half-sister in nearly a decade, but she “changed her last name back to Markle only when I started dating Harry. So I think that says enough.” But the biggest post-interview revelation was Harry’s clarification that the skin colour conversation did not happen with Queen or Prince Phillip (leading to lots of speculation it was Charles).

-The ratings were huge – 17.1 million people watched it. I’m guessing a lot of west coast people tuned in after seeing us east coasters lose our minds on Twitter.

-Proportionally, the ratings were even stronger in Canada.

-Oh, there was also an award show last night! The Critic’s Choice Awards, which led to some excellent moments, including the kid from Minari suddenly sobbing during his acceptance speech, Jason Sudeikis thanking his ex Olivia Wilde, and this perfect picture from when Ted Lasso won.

-Kim’s Convenience, which found a global audience on Netflix, will be concluding its run with its current fifth season.

–Camila Mendes said she started having panic attacks while filming Riverdale amid covid. “When we first started shooting season 5, I started having panic attacks, which was strange for me. I think it was because I was in Vancouver and borders were closed—no one could visit us. You start to miss your home and your life, and you don’t have your friends or community with you.”

–Charisma Carpenter wrote a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter on how to be an ally for victims of abuse.

-I mostly liked the WandaVision finale (coulda done without the action scenes but Marvel is gonna Marvel), but I especially liked that the show stuck to its guns about what it’s really about.

-I also very much agree with this thread about how mystery box shows have ruined audiences’ abilities to understand what the narrative is trying to tell us.

-The fact that the big cameo Paul Bettany was teasing was actually himself is the best trolling ever.

-A guy from Mumford & Sons is in hot water for praising a controversial right-wing author.

-There is a lot of conversations happening about colourism and Lovecraft County. The show has apologized after an extra claimed that the show’s makeup artists darkened her skin for an appearance on the series.

-Netflix released a promo for the next batch of Lupin episodes.

–Colin Farrell and Tye Sheridan star in the Voyagers trailer.

Charlize Theron’s Backyard Photo Shoot

–Charlize Theron photographed herself (with the help of her kids) for EW’s new digital cover to promote Netflix’s The Old Guard, which drops this weekend. I’m mesmerized by every single video in this article.

-This new interview with Kanye West seems to indicate that the man is not well. It is totally unhinged. If you don’t want to give it clicks, The Root did a recap of it.

–Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are trying to be more cordial coparents — though Pitt’s relationship with Maddox is reportedly “non-existent.”

-Clear my schedule — Mariah Carey is releasing a memoir!

-Day two of Johnny Depp‘s libel trial against The Sun saw the actor denying allegations he hit Amber Heard for laughing at his “Wino Forever” tattoo. He also dismissed the texts he sent to Paul Bettany about drowning and burning her by saying he was angry she was acting like “the moral police” and “resentful of the fact Ms. Heard was very aggressive and quite insulting about my use of alcohol.” (Interestingly, in a previous written statement, he claimed Heard encouraged him to continue abusing drugs and alcohol.)

-So this is what it’s come to: according to Page Six, some television networks are now providing “good-behavior bonuses” to their reality TV stars in an attempt to get them to not be racist, sexist, transphobic, or homophobic on social media.

–E. Alex Jung got 14 hours to interview Michaela Coel? No wonder is profiles are so good.  That is not the norm.

-The Toronto, New York, Telluride and Venice film festivals have unveiled a joint statement that commits the long-time rivals to cooperate and not compete for film titles and awards-season bragging rights in the fall. I love this. If I’m going to a stripped down TIFF this fall, I want to see world premieres only.

-A day after announcing he quit the band, Kasabian singer Tom Meighan appeared in court for domestic abuse charges. He escaped jail time after admitting to assaulting his fiancee (which he initially denied until police showed him CCTV footage of him dragging her through their backyard by her ankles).

-Hamilton fans are debating Eliza’s gasp at the end. I assumed it was breaking the fourth wall and she was seeing the audience, realizing that her/Hamilton’s story was being told. But heaven also works.

–J.K. Rowling is back to demonstrating free speech, punching down, and advocating for someone to be cancelled the day after participating in that open letter about how free speech is being threatened by cancel culture. Sounds about right.

-Meanwhile, I liked this take on the letter.

-A gorilla dreams of reuniting with his sister in a new trailer for Disney+’s The One and Only Ivan, starring Bryan Cranston and the voices of Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie, Helen Mirren and Danny DeVito.

 

SZA Makes It To The Other Side

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-I know she seems to hate it for some reason, but SZA’s Rolling Stone cover story is really good! She tries to temper expectations about her next release (“Music is coming out this year for sure. An album? Strong words”), talks about coming to terms with fame (“I’ve been in the airport on the way to see my grandmother on life support and [fans] are like, ‘‘Aw, girl, what are you doing here? Can I get this picture now?'”) and addresses the devastating loss of her grandmother (“I didn’t want to make music. I didn’t. I was just trying to not kill myself, and not quit, period. Because it was really fucking hard, and lonely as fuck”).

-She also released the video for “The Other Side,” her collab with Justin Timberlake for the Trolls World Tour soundtrack.

-The Johnny Depp apologists who were all over Twitter a couple of weeks ago seem strangely silent today. According to text messages read out in court this week, Depp once texted actor pal Paul Bettany: “Let’s burn Amber [Heard]…Let’s drown her before we burn her!!! I will f–k her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she is dead.” Depp is in London for a preliminary hearing in his libel suit against British newspaper The Sun over an article that alleged Depp had been abusive to Heard. The texts were revealed in court after previous lawyers for Depp had accidentally shared 70,000 messages from and to the actor with The Sun’s legal team — by mistake!

–Prince Harry spoke at a conference for his sustainable travel initiative Travalyst in Edinburgh today and asked to just be called Harry.

–BTS‘ appearance on Carpool Karaoke was super cute. Dammit, I’m going to have to learn all their names and pick one to stan, aren’t I?

-Not surprisingly, Jennifer Garner‘s boyfriend John Miller is reportedly “uncomfortable” with Ben Affleck‘s candid interviews in which he keeps talking about how his biggest regret was their divorce.

–Adrien Brody is reportedly dating Marchesa fashion designer Georgina Chapman, who is Harvey Weinstein’s ex-wife.

–George Clooney said he was “surprised and saddened” to learn of the investigation involving Nespresso farms and child labour. “Clearly this board and this company still have work to do.”

–Ryan Murphy‘s American Horror Story is not my jam, but that series has the best casting on TV today. Season’s 10 cast was just announced, with Macaulay Culkin joining Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates and Evan Peters.

-The latest Quibi trailer gives us blink-and-you’ll-miss-it looks at their new shows starring Anna Kendrick, Liam Hemsworth, Idris Elba, Sophie Turner, Will Forte, Bill Murray, Rachel Brosnahan, Laurence Fishburne, Chrissy Teigen, Don Cheadle and Lena Waithe.  The AV Club has a list of all the major offerings (so far).

–Steven Spielberg won’t direct Indiana Jones 5, with James Mangold in talks to replace him.

-The This Is Us cast is out here doing TikTok challenges.

–Hilary Duff shaded Disney+, implying the Lizzie McGuire revival is on hold because it was considered too mature for the streaming service.

–Taylor Swift is releasing a new video tomorrow for “The Man” – which she directed. It’s my least favourite song on the album because it’s so very on the nose but I’m interested in what she does behind the camera.

-I have no interest in watching Amazon’s Hunters starring Al Pacino so I read this spoilery review. The big twist sounds hella dumb.

-The people behind Invisible Man created a bunch of scary stunts for the junket. I hate this. These things are stressful enough; journalists are just trying to do their jobs.

-This whole thread about nice celebrity encounters made me happy.

–Octavia Spencer plays a millionaire in a new trailer for the upcoming Netflix series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker.