Breakout Star Janelle Monáe on Moonlight and Hidden Figures
The multi-talented Janelle Monáe is having one of the most remarkable starts to a film career in recent memory. The iconic musician has moved into acting with two roles in films that will likely vie for Oscars, and her performances in both have been earning plaudits from critics far and wide. As Teresa in Barry Jenkins' ...
Loving‘s Breakout Star Ruth Negga on the Role of a Lifetime
If, as expected, Ruth Negga, the breakout star of Loving, snags a best actress nomination, it will likely be met in some corners by furrowed brows and the question, ‘Who’s Ruth Negga?’ They’ll know soon enough. Predominantly a British stage actress who’s played Ophelia at the National Theatre and legendary singer Shirley Bassey in the ...
Oscar Watch: La La Land‘s Director Damien Chazelle & Star Emma Stone on Their Moving Musical
Oscar-nominated writer/director Damien Chazelle set out to make a genre film with La La Land. Inspired by classic song-and-dance movies such as Singin’ in the Rain and Swing Time, he wanted to create an old-fashioned musical but “keep it grounded” in realism and contemporary Los Angeles. “It was about trying to use real locations, use ...
The Legendary Sonia Braga Talks Aquarius
Sonia Braga became an international star — and nearly single-handedly put Brazilian cinema on the map — when Bruno Barreto’s 1976 sexy comedy Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos (Dona Flor and her Two Husbands) became a U.S. art-house hit with Braga as the breakout star for her earthy, sensual performance. She followed that with two ...
Atticus Shaffer Talks Growing Up on The Middle
Over the impressive seven season run of ABC’s The Middle, Brick has been the oft forgotten third child of Frankie (Patricia Heaton) and Mike Heck (Neil Flynn). His family has literally forgotten him at work and school, but actor Atticus Shaffer has become a fan favorite. A child actor no more (he just turned 18), ...
Mark Duplass on Stripping Away Artifice For Blue Jay
Mark Duplass readily admits he’s “a schmaltz hound.” “I have it deep in me. I can put on Same Time, Next Year or Somewhere in Time and just go for it,” he says. “I’m a nostalgic and melancholic person and I normally try to curb that in my art because I feel like if I ...
Gene Wilder: 1933-2016
The dreamers of the world are heartbroken today by the passing of one of the most imaginative talents of our time, Gene Wilder. His nephew, Jordan Walker-Perlman, reported that the comedic legend died from complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83 years old. Wilder’s performances were steeped in sincerity that resonated with children and adults. ...
Lennie James on Playing the Moral Center of The Walking Dead
Audiences may have tuned in to The Walking Dead expecting a zombie gore fest, which is often what they get, but the emotional draw of the characters has carried the story through six seasons. The show reached an emotional high as fans have been left to agonize all summer wondering, “Who did Negan kill?” But the moral and emotional ...
From Senator to Bad-Ass, Tovah Feldshuh Talks The Walking Dead
Her first day on Georgia set of The Walking Dead Season Five, Tovah Feldshuh shared a nine-page scene with star Andrew Lincoln to establish her Deanna Monroe character as the level-headed leader of Alexandria's "Safe Zone" gated community. By the time Season Six began, Deanna was instructing Lincoln's Rick Grimes to kill the murderer of ...
R2-D2 Actor Kenny Baker Dies at 81
Kenny Baker lived a large, full life. The the 3-foot, 8-inch actor played beloved droid R2-D2 in all six Star Wars films, and was the very character (along with his sidekick, C-3P0) we meet in the very beginning of the first film, 1977’s A New Hope. Baker and C-3P0’s Anthony Daniels are the only actors ...
Chatting With Jeff Goldblum About Independence Day: Resurgence
Twenty years after the humans united to fight the invading aliens, with the help of computer virus uploaded by a nerdy genius David Levinson, played by Jeff Goldblum, the aliens have returned, and Jeff Goldblum has, too, in Independence Day; Resurgence. In an interview, Goldblum talked about returning to the role of David Levinson two ...
Talking to Seth Meyers About Late Night‘s Growing Power
Seth Meyers is really starting to get comfortable in the hosting chair at Late Night: Seth Meyers and people are taking notice of his no holds barred skewering of political issues. We discuss how he manages to present a strong point of view and keep people laughing, being called the ‘heir to Jon Stewart’ and ...
Remembering Prince
By now you know that Prince, inarguably one of the most talented, singular musicians of his (or any other) generation, died on Thursday at his home, Paisley Park, in Chanhassen, Minnesota. He was 57. The cause of his death is unknown at this time. The incredibly prolific singer, songwriter, showman, and producer was a musical polymath that had ...
Daisy Ridley Answers Your Star Wars: The Force Awakens & Episode VIII Questions
Okay, she's not giving away any spoilers for Episode VIII, of course, but this 30-minute Q&A session with Daisy Ridley is still plenty informative. Ridley, who we don't need to tell you but are duty-bound to write it, anyway (she played Rey in The Force Awakens, there) sat down with StarWars.com’s Andi Gutierrez for a Q&A session broadcast live on ...
Actress Rachel Brosnahan on Louder Than Bombs & House of Cards
Actress Rachel Brosnahan has been steadily building an admirable career on screens both large and small. While entertainment aficionados probably know her best as Rachel Posner, a young prostitute at the center of a political scandal in House of Cards on Netflix, Brosnahan now plays another principal figure in Manhattan on WGN America, and continues ...
Don Cheadle on Co-Writing, Directing & Starring in Miles Ahead
Don Cheadle co-wrote, directed, and stars in Miles Ahead, an impressionistic riff on the life of iconic musician Miles Davis. Cheadle was determined not to make a traditional, chronological story. “I wanted to make a movie that Miles Davis would want to star in. Much more than something that you could just read in an autobiography ...
Watch Daisy Ridley’s Powerful Star Wars: The Force Awakens Audition Tape
“What we were looking for was someone new, ” J.J. Abrams says in the incredible clip of Daisy Ridley's audition tape, which will be part of extras available when Star Wars: The Force Awakens comes to Digital HD on April 1st and the Blu-ray and DVD on April 5th. There will be loads of special features, including deleted scenes, ...
Chris Pratt Shows off the Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2 Set
Star Lord, also known as Peter Quill, who sometimes goes by Chris Pratt when he's not in outer space, is here to give you a tour of the set of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2. While production for the film has been going on for a while, with rumors circulating suggesting that Sylvester Stallone is in Vol 2 (we think ...
Getting the Performances and Music Right on I Saw the Light
Biopics in general, and especially biopics of legendary musicians, can be a tricky endeavor to say the least. For every well received Ray and Walk the Line, you have a Greetings from Tim Buckley and the already-embroiled-in-scandal Nina. This is to say nothing of the biopics that are good but little seen, like Jimi: All is by my Side. While filmmakers are often taken to task for ...
Idris Elba’s Shere Khan Rules Over The Jungle Book Clip
Walt Disney Pictures has dropped the first clip for The Jungle Book clip that features Idris Elba as the the mighty tiger, Shere Khan. Khan doesn't take kindly to the fact that a family of wolves has taken in a 'man-cub' by the name of Mowgli (Neel Sethi). The clip shows off the seamless blend of live-action and CGI that director Jon ...