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Only Meryl Streep would take rehearsing so seriously for “Saturday Night Live.” The “Only Murders in the Building” star made her “SNL” debut during the recent “SNL50” special, when the lauded actress appeared in the alien abduction “Close Encounters” skit with Kate McKinnon, Woody Harrelson, and Pedro Pascal.

According to “SNL” alum Amy Poehler, who was also featured in “SNL50,” Streep rehearsed so “hard” prior to the live taping. Poehler and Streep shared a dressing room during the show, where Poehler witnessed some of Streep’s acting process.

“It was a night of famous alumni and people,” Poehler said during a recent appearance on the “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast in the below video. “There were so many people that people had to share dressing rooms, so I was sharing my dressing room with Meryl Streep. Just like a fan, I was taking a picture of the door that...

While Anton Chekhov always thought of The Seagull as a comedy, that fact has frequently been forgotten through productions that fall into the soporific trap set by angsty, moping, lovelorn characters losing their hearts and minds in the Russian countryside.

There’s no such danger with Thomas Ostermeier, who once declared that he wanted to bring “some rock ‘n’ roll” to Ibsen (his Enemy of the People had the protagonist play Bowie covers in a band and open a political discussion with the audience). The firebrand German director now blasts the cobwebs off Chekhov with boisterous, dazzling delight.

But as irreverent as Ostermeier may seem — as self-referential, ironic, meta, playful — he’s true to his material. The reality of The Seagull is that it treads that fine line between comedy and tragedy. And while this production is an incredible blast, teetering on farce, Ostermeier and co-adaptor Duncan Macmillan (People, Places...

Ahead of her starring role in Steven Soderbergh’s thriller Black Bag, and as her London stage run in The Seagull continues, we look at the screen queen’s most commanding roles

Cate Blanchett played a pretty generic “wife” role in this interesting, somewhat forgotten US comedy about air traffic controllers from director Mike Newell, whose title is their slang for guiding planes. It was saddled with a terrible ending by its screenwriters, Glen and Les Charles (creators of TV’s Cheers), and blitzed at the box office by The Matrix. Its genesis is amusingly described by its producer, Art Linson, in his memoir What Just Happened? Blanchett plays the wife of hotshot young air traffic controller John Cusack, who has an affair with Angelina Jolie – who is married to Cusack’s workplace rival, Billy Bob Thornton.

British actor Tom Burke has been spending a lot of time with Cate Blanchett lately.

Burke (“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”) is currently starring alongside the Oscar winner in a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s classic “The Seagull” at London’s Barbican, and the two also worked together on Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming espionage thriller “Black Bag.”

In “The Seagull,” Blanchett stars as Arkadina, a celebrated actress whose larger-than-life presence dominates both the stage and her personal relationships. Arriving at her family’s country estate for the weekend, she finds herself caught in a storm of conflicting desires. Her playwright son, Konstantin (Kodi Smit-McPhee), struggles to step out of her shadow as he pursues his own artistic ambitions and her lover Trigorin (Burke) becomes the object of affection for the aspiring young actress Nina (Emma Corrin).

Duncan Macmillan and Thomas Ostermeier’s adaptation caused the cast to collectively embrace...

British actress Carey Mulligan is known for her timeless style and elegant presence, both on-screen and on the red carpet. She is 5 feet 6 inches (167.6 cm) and stands slightly taller than the average British woman (typically 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 4 inches or 160–163 cm). Her height, paired with her sophisticated fashion choices, enhances her commanding presence in Hollywood.

In an interview with Star Magazine, Mulligan suggested she might be even taller, saying:

I’m 5ft 7ins and weigh 8st 5lbs… After I had my appendix out, during the London run of The Seagull, I went down to eight stone [114 pounds] and realized my brain doesn’t work when I’m that thin.

On the red carpet, heel height can shift perceptions of celebrity stature. Standing 6 feet ½ inches (184.2 cm), Bradley Cooper often towers over Mulligan, but with the right stilettos or platform heels, she can effortlessly narrow the visual gap.

Bradley Cooper and Carey...

The actor is teaming up with old friend Thomas Ostermeier for a bold new take on Chekhov. The pair discuss censorship, risk-taking, the far right, and ask: are celeb-led plays ruining the West End?

The first time Cate Blanchett was cast in The Seagull, she was in Sydney and in her 20s, a young stage actor playing the part of another young stage actor who was desperate for fame and dizzyingly in love. It was 1997, at Belvoir St theatre, and Blanchett was very much in love herself, having recently got together with the writer-director Andrew Upton, who she would marry later that year. Though the part of Nina in Anton Chekhov’s drama involved far more heartbreak – the character is left emotionally wrecked after being dropped by her lover – and Blanchett remembers “I’d just met Andrew and was madly in love and thought: ‘How am I going to go...

Ahead of her highly-anticipated visit to “The White Lotus,” Parker Posey has signed on to star in Martin McDonagh’s next film, “Wild Horse Nine.”

Posey joins previously announced star Sam Rockwell, who won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his most recent collaboration with McDonagh, 2017’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” John Malkovich and Mark Ruffalo are also among the cast.

McDonaghi reuniting with Searchlight Pictures, Blueprint Pictures and Film4, following their collaboration on 2022’s “The Banshees of Inisherin.” The dark comedy earned nine Oscar nominations including best picture, as well as directing and screenplay nods for McDonagh.

Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Anita Overland are producing “Wild Horse Nine,” written and directed by McDonagh. The logline for the film is being kept tightly under wraps, with additional casting to be announced. Production is set to begin next month in Rapa Nui, the indigenous name for Easter Island,...

Always playing provocative, captivating roles, Peter Sarsgaard and Ben Chaplin are character actors to be admired. While they have won audiences over with performances in massive films like The Batman and Disney’s Cinderella, respectively, both are also world-renowned stage actors. Saarsgard made his Broadway debut in Chekov’s The Seagull, and Chaplin has been tearing up London’s West End for decades in plays like The Glass Menagerie. Now, Sarsgaard and Chaplin are bringing an intimate, collaborative style of performance to their latest character-driven ensemble piece, September 5.

Emilia Clarke (“Game of Thrones”), Edgar Ramirez (“Emilia Perez”) and Jack Farthing (“Spencer”) will star in “Next Life” from writer-director Drake Doremus (“Like Crazy”), L.A. and London-based production and management company 42, Mutressa and Fetisoff Illusion have announced.

“Next Life” tells the love story of Ivy (Emilia Clarke), who finds herself confronted with parallel universes in which her life unspools in very different ways set against the modern London jazz scene.

Mutressa’s Elika Portnoy, Gleb Fetisov of Fetisoff Illusion and 42’s Ben Pugh and Kate Buckley are producing alongside Doremus. John Palfery Smith will also produce. Production is currently underway in London and set to wrap in late December. CAA Media Finance is representing worldwide rights.

Clarke is best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO award winning series “Game of Thrones,” for which she received four Emmy nominations and three Critics Choice Award nominations.

Marcia Gay Harden said that, years after starring in a New York production of “The Seagull” for Mike Nichols, the “Graduate” director apologized for being so hard on her because Philip Seymour Hoffman told him to.

Speaking with “Modern Family” star Jesse Tyler Ferguson in this week’s episode of his “Dinner’s On Me” podcast, Harden said that Nichols blamed her for everything that went wrong with the 2001 New York production.

Harden had just won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “Pollock,” which meant she didn’t have to audition to join the cast, which included Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Natalie Portman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Stephen Spinella, Larry Pine, Deborah Monk and John Goodman.

The cast was “bonkers,” so Harden said she didn’t hesitate to say yes. “I had in my mind, my vain little mind, that Mike would see me and realize I was the new Meryl Streep.

Even Philip Seymour Hoffman recognized how “hard” Mike Nichols was on Marcia Gay Harden during the famed “The Seagull” Broadway production in 2001.

More than 20 years later, Harden recalled during Sony Music Entertainment’s “Dinner’s On Me” podcast, hosted by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, how director Nichols treated her like the “guinea pig” during the star-studded play. Years later, Nichols apologized to Harden for how he treated her — but only after Hoffman’s urging.

“I had won an Oscar for ‘Pollock’ and I got an offer, not even an audition, to play [character] Masha in ‘The Seagull’ in Central Park,” Harden said. “The cast of names was bonkers: It was Chris[topher] Walken, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Natalie Portman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Stephen Spinella, Larry Pine, Deborah Monk, John Goodman. So of course I’m going to do it.”

Harden continued that she hoped Nichols would find her to be “the new Meryl Streep,...

Some of the highest-profile Spanish films of 2024 – from Málaga Festival winner and now Spain’s Oscar entry “Saturn Return” to San Sebastián laureates “I Am Nevenka” and “Glimmers” – feature in Mass, a Spanish film showcase which will unspool in Buenos Aires over Nov. 28-30 and Montevideo during Dec. 2-4, running parallel with the Uruguayan capital’s Ventana Sur market.

The film season represents the latest collaboration between Spain’s San Sebastián and Málaga Festival, here in partnership of Spain’s Icaa film agency and Argentina’s Orca Films, as Spain’s seeks to capitalize on its predominant presence on global streamers among E.U. film powers to consolidate production and co-financing relations in Uruguay, a building film-tv hub, and with regions of Argentina.

During their stay in Argentina, the San Sebastian and Malaga Festivals will meet representatives of the Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos and Santiago del Estero provinces to work...

Kodi Smit-McPhee and Emma Corrin will be adding some extra star power to an upcoming London stage production of the classic play The Seagull, starring Cate Blanchett.

Cate will be playing the role of Irina Arkadina with Kodi as her son Konstantin and Emma as Nina.

“Konstantin’s in love with Nina. However, the ambitious ingenue sees Trigorin, Arkadina’s lover, as a more useful stepping stone,” Deadline reports.

Furiosa star Tom Burke will play Trigorin.

Preview performances begin on February 26 ahead of an official opening night on March 6. The limited engagement will end on April 5 after a quick six-week run.

Cate and Kodi can be seen in the new Apple TV+ drama series Disclaimer, in which they also play mother and son. The show begins streaming on October 11.

Emma Corrin, hot from playing villainous Cassandra Nova in Deadpool & Wolverine, will join Cate Blanchett in the eagerly awaited new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull at London’s Barbican Theatre in 2025.

Another addition to an already sizzling company is Kodi Smit-McPhee, who shot to fame in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. He also appears with an incandescent Angelina Jolie in Netflix’s awards-season hopeful Maria.

It’s a family reunion, of sorts, for Blanchett and McPhee. They play mother and son in Alfonso Cuarón’s brilliant seven-part Apple TV+ drama Disclaimer, which premieres on the streamer October 11. The two Australian-born actors also play related characters in The Seagull: Blanchett takes on the part of theatrical grand dame Irina Arkadina and McPhee plays her son Konstantin.

Cate Blanchett at this year’s Cannes Film Festival

The Seagull‘s director Thomas Ostermeier chose Corrin, who shot...

Fresh from winning an Emmy for hosting Peacock’s The Traitors, Alan Cumming has lined up a new gig.

The multi-hyphenate talent, a veteran and Tony Award-winning star of the stage, has been named artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre, known as “Scotland’s theater in the hills.” Cumming replaces Elizabeth Newman who is departing in November after serving Pitlochry since September 2018. Her last production, The Sound of Music, runs Nov. 15 – Dec. 22. It was announced in July that Newman would be exiting as artistic director in favor of a leadership role, a move that launched a three month recruitment period and selection process.

Cumming assumes the artistic director post beginning in January 2025, and has sights set on programming the 2026 season. Up first, Pitlochry will stage previously announced productions The Great Gatsby, Grease, The 39 Steps and four new plays in the venue’s studio.

“For me, all roads lead to the...

Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke is adding another series to her schedule.

The multiple Emmy nominee will star in Ponies, a spy thriller that has landed a straight-to-series order at Peacock. The Cold War-era show comes from Universal Television and co-creators Susanna Fogel (Booksmart, The Flight Attendant) and David Iserson (Mr. Robot).

Clarke is currently filming another streaming series, Criminal, for Amazon’s Prime Video. She stars opposite Charlie Hunnam Richard Jenkins, John Hawkes and Adria Arjona (among others) in that drama, based on the graphic novel by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.

Ponies is set in Moscow in 1977. It centers on two “Ponies”(persons of no interest) who work anonymously as secretaries at the American embassy — until their husbands are killed under mysterious circumstances in the Ussr and they become CIA operatives. Clarke will play Bea, an over-educated, Russian-speaking child of Soviet immigrants. The other lead character, Twila...

Emilia Clarke is set for a lead role in the espionage thriller “Ponies,” which has been ordered straight to series at Peacock.

The series hails from co-creators Susanna Fogel and David Iserson, with Clarke set to executive produce in addition to starring.

The official description for the series states:

“Moscow, 1977. Two ‘Ponies’ (‘persons of no interest’ in intelligence speak) work anonymously as secretaries in the American Embassy. That is until their husbands are killed under mysterious circumstances in the Ussr, and the pair become CIA operatives. Bea (Clarke) is an over-educated, Russian-speaking child of Soviet immigrants. Her cohort, Twila, is a small-town girl who is as abrasive as she is fearless. Together, they work to uncover a vast Cold War conspiracy and solve the mystery that made them widows in the first place.”

Fogel will also direct for the series, while Iserson will serve as showrunner. Jessica Rhoades executive produces under her Pacesetter Productions banner.

Cate Blanchett will return to the stage for the first time in six years.

The Australian Oscar winner will perform as Arkadina in a new version of Anton Chekhov’s play The Seagull at the Barbican Theatre in London for six weeks from February.

Blanchett will be joined by Tom Burke (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga) in the performance with the pair having recently wrapped on Steven Soderbergh film Black Bag, coming in 2025. The play has been adapted by Duncan Macmillan and Thomas Ostermeier, who will also direct the show.

“I have known and admired Cate for many years, and to see her on stage is always a privilege,” Ostermeier said. “I am thrilled that we will make our first artistic collaboration with this production of The Seagull at the Barbican, and that London will experience this once-in-a-generation actress in one of the greatest theatrical roles of Arkadina. I’m...

Cate Blanchett has signed on to star in a new stage adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s play The Seagull at the Barbican in London.

The production will mark Blanchett’s first stage appearance in six years.

Blanchett will portray Arkadina in the adaptation, which is also set to star Tom Burke (The Souvenir). The production will run for six weeks from February 2025.

The production will be directed by Thomas Ostermeier who told BBC News of Blanchett’s casting: “I have known and admired Cate for many years, and to see her on stage is always a privilege.”

He added: “I am thrilled that we will make our first artistic collaboration with this production of The Seagull at the Barbican, and that London will experience this once-in-a-generation actress in one of the greatest theatrical roles of Arkadina. I’m also very pleased to be forging a new artistic relationship with Tom Burke,...

The Sarajevo Film Festival will debut 19 feature films across its four competition strands during its 2024 edition, running from August 16 to 23.

A total of 54 films will compete for the festival’s Heart of Sarajevo awards. The festival’s four competition sections for feature, documentary, short, and student films will also screen nine international, three European, and 3 national premieres. This year marks Sarajevo’s 30th edition.

Announcing today’s batch of titles, Jovan Marjanović, Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival, said: “Presenting these 57 premieres, alongside approximately 15 more films in the In Focus and Open Air programs that are yet to be announced, makes the Sarajevo Film Festival once again the place where the broadest audience, as well as film professionals and critics, can gain the most accurate image of film art in Southeast Europe, Ukraine, and the South Caucasus today,” said Jovan Marjanović.”

The festival said today that its programming team led...

The Sarajevo Film Festival, which focuses on films from Southeast Europe, the South Caucasus and Ukraine, has selected 54 films to compete for its Heart of Sarajevo awards. Three films play out of competition. The festival’s 30th edition will run from Aug. 16 to 23.

Jovan Marjanović, director of the festival, said the awards would “amplify voices from the region and bring them closer to the global audience.”

The festival’s four competition sections – for feature, documentary, short and student film – will feature 19 world, nine international, three European, 21 regional and three national premieres.

World premieres include Vuk Ršumović’s “Dwelling Among the Gods,” which plays in the feature film competition program, and Mirjana Karanović’s “Mother Mara,” which is a Gala Screening, playing out of competition.

Marjanović said the program makes the event “once again the place where the broadest audience, as well as film professionals and critics, can gain the most...

Sony Pictures Classics has picked up Saoirse Ronan’s addiction drama The Outrun for a fall theatrical release.

Director Nora Fingscheidt’s film, which stars Ronan as a young Scottish woman from the Orkney Islands who repeatedly plumbs rock bottom before finally resolving to control her alcohol addiction, will hit theaters on Oct. 4. Sony Pictures Classics will release the film in partnership with Stage 6 Films.

“The Outrun is a stunning movie, beautifully directed by Nora Fingscheidt with a career-best performance from Saoirse Ronan. It is a privilege to bring this accomplished and moving drama to audiences everywhere this fall,” Sony Pictures Classics said in a statement.

Starring Paapa Essiedu, Stephen Dillane and Saskia Reeves, the drama earlier this year had back-to-back premieres at the Sundance and Berlin festivals. The Outrun is a BBC Film, Screen Scotland, and Mbk Productions presentation and a Brock Media and Arcade Pictures production.

Based on the memoir by Amy Liptrot,...

Sony Pictures Classics has revealed plans to release “The Outrun” in theaters across North America on Oct. 4, in partnership with Stage 6 Films.

The drama, directed by Nora Fingscheidt, features a cast led by Saoirse Ronan, alongside Paapa Essiedu, Stephen Dillane and Saskia Reeves.

Based on Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir, with a screenplay co-written by Liptrot and Fingscheidt, the film explores themes of addiction and recovery. The story follows Rona (Ronan), a 29-year-old returning to the Orkney Islands after a decade in London, as she navigates sobriety and confronts her past.

The film played at Sundance and Berlin and Ronan’s performance earned her the top acting prize at the Biarritz Nouvelles Vagues Festival.

“The Outrun” is presented by Stage 6 Films and produced by BBC Film, Screen Scotland and Mbk Productions, in collaboration with Brock Media and Arcade Pictures. Weydemann Bros and Studiocanal serve as co-producers. The film is produced by Sarah Brocklehurst,...

Sony Pictures Classics in partnership with Stage 6 Films will release Saoirse Ronan drama The Outrun, which premiered in Sundance and played Berlin Panorama, on October 4 in North America.

Ronan is already being spoken of as a potential awards contender for her role as a former addict who returns from a decade away in London to her home in the Orkney Islands where she gradually finds strength.

Nora Fingscheidt directed from the memoir by Amy Liptrot and the pair co-adapted the screenplay. Paapa Essiedu, Stephen Dillane, and Saskia Reeves round out the key cast.

Presented by Stage 6 Films, The Outrun is a BBC Film,...

Sony Pictures Classics announced on Friday that it will release the Saoirse Ronan drama The Outrun theatrically in North America in partnership with Stage 6 Films, opening it in theaters nationwide on October 4.

The project reunites Sony Pictures Classics with Ronan, who previously starred in its 2018 film adaption of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull.

Based on the bestselling memoir by Amy Liptrot, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Nora Fingscheidt (System Crasher), The Outrun follows Rona (Ronan), a 29-year-old who, after a decade away in London, returns home to the Orkney Islands. Sober but lonely, she tries to suppress her memory of the events which set her on this journey of recovery. Slowly, the mystical land enters her inner world and — one day at a time — Rona finds hope and strength in herself among the heavy gales and the bracingly cold sea.

World premiering at this year’s Sundance Film...

It wasn’t long ago that IndieWire predicted Saoirse Ronan could be headed for yet another Best Actress Oscar nomination for her stellar work in the Sundance darling “The Outrun.” But that was only if the movie, which we said was one of the buzziest sales titles out of the festival, actually found a buyer.

Now Ronan will be in the thick of it as Sony Pictures Classics and Stage 6 Films have teamed up to release “The Outrun” in North American theaters on October 4 later this year.

Nora Fingscheidt (“System Crasher”) directed “The Outrun,” which first premiered to strong reviews at Sundance and has already toured other festivals such as Berlin and Biarritz Nouvelles Vagues Festival, where Ronan won the top acting prize.

“The Outrun” is based on a celebrated memoir by Amy Liptrot and is a heavy drama about alcoholism, addiction, and recovery. Ronan in the film is not...

Emilia Clarke has been cast in the lead of an upcoming Prime Video drama series.

The Game of Thrones and Last Christmas actress has joined the cast of Criminal, which is based on the graphic novel series created by Ed Brubaker (Westworld) and Sean Phillips.

Clarke will play Mallory, “a slick and daring armed robber, as quick with a gun as she is with her wits. Part of a heist crew with Ricky Lawless (Gus Halper), who she’s in a passionate Bonnie-and-Clyde-like affair with. Mallory is a woman on the edge, living on the wrong side of the law and hiding secrets that will bring her and her entire crew into the danger zone.”

Previously announced cast includes Charlie Hunnam, Richard Jenkins, John Hawkes, Adria Arjona, Logan Browning, Kadeem Hardison, Pat Healy, Taylor Sele, Aliyah Camacho, Michael Mando, Marvin Jones III, Michael Xavier and Dominic Burgess.

Brubaker will co-showrun with Jordan Harper.

Emilia Clarke has been cast in Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming series adaptation of the “Criminal” graphic novels in a lead role, Variety has learned exclusively.

Clarke will star alongside previously announced cast members Charlie Hunnam, Richard Jenkins, John Hawkes, Adria Arjona, Logan Browning, Kadeem Hardison, Pat Healy, Taylor Sele, Gus Halper, Aliyah Camacho, Michael Mando, Marvin Jones III, Michael Xavier, and Dominic Burgess.

The graphic novels were created by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. The official description states the series is “an interlocking universe of crime stories.”

Clarke will appear in the role of Mallory, described as “a slick and daring armed robber, as quick with a gun as she is with her wits. Part of a heist crew with Ricky Lawless (Halper), who she’s in a passionate Bonnie-and-Clyde-like affair with. Mallory is a woman on the edge, living on the wrong side of the law and hiding...

Apple Original Film, A24 and Jennifer Lawrence are reteaming for a new feature film.

Landing on top of a competitive situation, Apple has acquired murder mystery package The Wives, which has Lawrence attached to star and produce.

Joining Lawrence on the producing team is Justine Ciarrocchi, her partner at the duo’s Excellent Cadaver production banner, as well as Tony and Independent Spirit Award nominee Jeremy O. Harris (Zola, Slave Play) and Josh Godfrey. The latter two will produce under their bb2 banner.

Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley wrote the script for the project, which is described as being in development. No director is attached.

Plot details are being kept in the body bag, but it is being described as being partly inspired by the Real Housewives franchise, which focuses on the soap operatic and over-the-top theatrics of well-to-do women in areas ranging from Orange County to Miami to Atlanta.

FX on Hulu's Under the Banner of Heaven delves into the brutal true story of the Lafferty murder case, questioning faith and religious extremism. Andrew Garfield leads the talented cast of fictional and real-life characters, capturing the complexities of strong-willed individuals. Based on a 2003 nonfiction book, the series addresses the dangers of unyielding faith and delves deep into the chilling double-murder case.

FX on Hulus Under the Banner of Heaven tackles the true story of the Brenda and Allen Lafferty murder case, with Andrew Garfield leading the Under the Banner of Heaven cast of fictional and real-life characters. Under the Banner of Heaven, based on the 2003 nonfiction book of the same name, continues Hulus trend of true-crime TV shows, with the 2022 series depicting a gruesome double-murder. As Under the Banner of Heaven uncovers the true story of the brutal murders, the series sees the characters question their beliefs while...

Sneak Peek actresss Natalie Portman (“Lady In The Lake”) posing for the May 2024 issue of “L’Officiel” magazine, wearing Dior, Armani, Stella McCartney and a whole lot more, photographed by Ellen von Unwerth:

Portman began her acting career at age twelve, when she starred in "Léon: The Professional" (1994).

While in high school, she made her Broadway debut in a 1998 production of "The Diary of a Young Girl" then gained international recognition starring as 'Padmé Amidala' in "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" (1999).

From 1999 to 2003, Portman attended Harvard University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychology, while continuing to act in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy and in The Public Theater's 2001 revival of Anton Chekhov's play "The Seagull".

In 2004, Portman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won a Golden Globe Award for the romantic drama "Closer".

Portman's career progressed with her...

Many filmmakers who've experienced success with a short film are tempted to pad the initial project out into a feature. However, in the case of Japanese director Mayu Nakamura, she's taken the key themes and filmmaking principles of her successful short “Among Four of Us” (2021) and produced the touching anthology, “She is Me, I am her”. In just a brisk 70 minutes, the film explores loneliness, life in post-pandemic Japan, and the importance of human connection. Minor spoilers follow

“She is Me, I Am Her” is streaming on Sakka Films

The film is made up of four short films; the first, “Among Four of Us”, follows a phone call between three former college friends reuniting, while the second, “Someone to Watch Over Me”, concerns the relationship that develops between a delivery driver and a regular customer. With the third short, “Ms. Ghost”, we see two street workers of different generations share their stories of lost dreams,...

Laura Linney has everything going for her. She has an incredible career that spans television, film, and theatre, she has a beautiful family and is aging like fine wine. I mean, can you even tell that she is sixty? She has a ton of prestigious awards to her name including two Golden Globe awards and 4 Primetime Emmy awards. Needless to say, she is one of the finest actresses in today’s time.

Laura Linney in Ozark

However, there was a point in her life when Laura Linney believed that her career was nearing its end. This happened when she was a part of a production of The Seagull at the Lyceum Theater. While the play is a classic, the production was horrible and Laura Linney knew it all too well. While recalling her time in the Broadway play, the actress revealed how she actually ended up trauma bonding with co-actor Ethan Hawke.

Sneak Peek actresss Natalie Portman (“Lady In The Lake”) posing for the May 2024 issue of “L’Officiel” magazine, wearing Dior, Armani, Stella McCartney and a whole lot more, photographed by Ellen von Unwerth:

Portman began her acting career at age twelve, when she starred in "Léon: The Professional" (1994).

While in high school, she made her Broadway debut in a 1998 production of "The Diary of a Young Girl" then gained international recognition starring as 'Padmé Amidala' in "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" (1999).

From 1999 to 2003, Portman attended Harvard University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychology, while continuing to act in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy and in The Public Theater's 2001 revival of Anton Chekhov's play "The Seagull".

In 2004, Portman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won a Golden Globe Award for the romantic drama "Closer".

Portman's career progressed with her...

Take a look at new images of actress Natalie Portman posing for the April 2024 issue of “Marie Claire’ (Australia) magazine, photographed by Felix Cooper for Christian Dior Parfums:

Portman began her acting career at age twelve, when she starred in "Léon: The Professional" (1994). While in high school, she made her Broadway debut in a 1998 production of "The Diary of a Young Girl" then gained international recognition starring as 'Padmé Amidala' in "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" (1999).

From 1999 to 2003, Portman attended Harvard University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychology, while continuing to act in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy and in The Public Theater's 2001 revival of Anton Chekhov's play "The Seagull". In 2004, Portman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won a Golden Globe Award for the romantic drama "Closer".

Portman's career progressed with her starring roles as 'Evey Hammond' in "V for Vendetta...

Filmax has acquired international rights to Spanish thriller “Nina,” the new feature written and directed by Andrea Jaurrieta (“Ana by Day”) that bows at this week’s Málaga Film Festival as one of its higher profile titles in main competition.

Loosely based on the play of the same name by José Ramón Fernández, which borrows elements of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” “Nina” tells the story of a woman, an actress, who returns to her home town on Spain’s rugged northern coast seeking to take revenge on a celebrated writer. As she encounters past acquaintances, including a once close childhood friend, and faces dark memories, she begins to question whether vengeance is the only way forward.

“Nina” stars Goya-winning actress Patricia López Arnaiz (“Ane is Missing”) as the titular character and San Sebastián Silver Shell winner Darío Grandinetti, famed for his performance in Pedro Almodovar’s “Talk to Her,...

Past Lives is still showing in some movie theaters, so check local showtimes to see if you can catch it before it leaves. If you prefer watching movies at home, you can rent or buy Past Lives on various VOD platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies & TV, and Vudu. Past Lives will also be available on streaming services like Paramount+ and Max in the future.

Past Lives is, rightfully so, receiving attention following its Academy Award nominations, and luckily, for those who have yet to see the movie, it is available to watch in a couple of different ways. The 2023 romantic drama was directed and written by Celine Song and served as her feature directorial debut. At the beginning of her career, Song wrote two plays — Endlings and The Seagull on The Sims 4. Additionally, Song was previously a writer on season 1 of the Amazon Prime Video...

Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, and Harry Trevaldwyn have been cast as Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut in Universal Pictures’ live-action take of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon.

They join Mason Thames and Nico Parker who are set to star as Hiccup and Astrid in this adaptation from original How to Train Your Dragon filmmaker Dean DeBlois, who is also directing, writing and producing this new reboot.

Gerard Butler will reprise his role as Stoick the Vast and Nick Frost joins the franchise as Gobber the Belch.

Three-time Best Picture Oscar nominee Marc Platt will produce for his Universal-based Marc Platt Productions alongside Adam Siegel, President of Marc Platt Productions.

The pic hits theaters on June 13, 2025.

Dennison just...

Fusion Entertainment has signed Keith Kupferer, the veteran stage and screen actor whose new film “Ghostlight” premieres this week at the Sundance Film Festival. Kupferer has also recently been cast in a recurring role in the new MGM+ series “Emperor of Ocean Park” from John Wells, which is currently in production in Chicago. The thriller series is based on the best selling novel by Stephen L. Carter.

“Ghostlight” centers on Dan (Kupferer), a melancholic middle-aged construction worker, who is grieving a family tragedy. Cut off from his devoted wife, Sharon (Tara Mallen), and talented but troubled daughter, Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer), Dan finds comfort a local theater production of “Romeo & Juliet” featuring a company of amateur actors. “Ghostlight” is directed by Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, who are also clients of Fusion Entertainment.)

Kupferer will also continue to be repped by the Grey Talent Group.

A seasoned stage performer,...

One of the most quoted pieces of Hollywood wisdom holds that 90 percent of directing is casting. You bring the right actors together, and you're off to the races. This is, of course, laughably simplistic. You could argue that 90 percent of directing is writing because there's no movie or show to make if there's nothing on the page. And many directors will tell you that their films don't truly come together until they're hunkered down with their editor in post-production.

The truth, obviously, is that film and television production is a collaborative process that requires numerous people with expertise in different disciplines to do what they do at the highest level possible. And when it comes to casting, there is absolutely an art to finding, after untold hours of reels and cold reads, the ideal actor for each role — especially if you're trying to launch a successful television series. Because no...

Exclusive: Grasshopper Film and streaming platform Documentary+ have acquired North American rights to the Oscar-shortlisted feature Apolonia, Apolonia, a deal announced as the nomination voting window opens for the 96th Academy Awards.

Grasshopper will release the film theatrically Friday at Dctv’s Firehouse Cinema in New York, “with a launch on Documentary+ following all other traditional windows,” according to a release.

The film directed by Lea Glob documents the life of French painter Apolonia Sokol over a 13-year period, examining her attempt to maintain artistic integrity in an art world — and culture — where patriarchy privileges the male gaze over the female.

Apolonia Sokol

“The result is a moving meditation on friendship, personal and creative fulfillment, and both the liberation and limitations of the female body,” the release noted. “Over the years, both Sokol and Glob see again and again that the road to artistic achievement is not an easy or...

Back in its heyday, How To Get Away With Murder was one of the hottest shows on television.

Thursday nights on ABC were once the night that Shonda Rhimes built from start to finish, with Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and the aforementioned legal drama setting the interwebs on fire every week.

The series was a bonafide hit from the start and constantly had social media ablaze as viewers were thrust into murderous coverups and shocking twists every season.

It’s been over three years since the series signed off, and while we’re still reliving all the bloody mayhem during our various rewatches, the cast has moved on to other projects. And what projects might those be? Let’s look at what the cast of How To Get Away With Murder is doing now!

Viola Davis - Annalise Keating

Annalise Keating was the heart and soul of the whole ship.

We...

Fall festival premiere “Wildcat,” a reimagining of famed author Flannery O’Connor process writing her first novel, is even more of a family affair than originally advertised.

While the film, currently seeking distribution after premiering at both Telluride and TIFF, was executive produced by star Maya Hawke, co-written and directed by her father Ethan Hawke, and produced by his wife Ryan Hawke, actress Laura Linney, who plays O’Connor’s mother (among other roles) was the final piece of the puzzle that allowed them to produce the imaginative project.

“There are few people in the world who, if they ask you to do something, they whisper and you show up. And Ethan is just one of those people, for me,” said Linney during a recent interview with IndieWire. (The cast of “Wildcat” received a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement to promote the film amid the ongoing strike.) She recalled when they worked together early in her career,...

Vera Ann Farmiga is an American actress who is perhaps best known for her distinct role as real-life paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren in the mystery/thriller film franchise The Conjuring, where she demonstrated her bone-chilling scream.

Vera Farmiga Biography: Age, Early Life, Family, Education

Farmiga was born on August 6, 1973 (Vera Farmiga age: 49) in Clifton, New Jersey. Her parents came from Ukraine. Her father, Mykhailo Farmiga, worked as a computer systems analyst, while her mother, Lubomyra “Luba” Farmiga, was employed as a schoolteacher. Farmiga has one older brother, Victor, as well as five younger siblings, Stephan, Nadia, Alexander, Laryssa and Taissa. Farmiga’s maternal grandparents were introduced at a displaced persons camp in Karlsfeld during World War Two.

Farmiga has publicly stated that she is “100% Ukrainian American,” as she was raised in an insular Ukrainian American community located in Irvington, New Jersey, with Ukrainian being her native tongue. She hadn’t...

Summer isn’t over yet but HBO and its streaming arm Max are already moving on to fall. With its list of new releases for August 2023, Max is focusing on football! The American kind, mind you, not the actually footy kind.

August 2023 sees the release of two major football documentaries on HBO and Max. The first is the premiere of Hard Knocks on Aug. 10. The new season of long-running NFL training camp docuseries will center on the New York Jets, new employers of legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers. On Aug. 23, Max will air the aptly named Bs High. The doc tells the stranger-than-fiction story of high school football team Bishop Sycamore, which pulled off one of the more notable sports scams you’re likely to ever hear about.

Not of the football variety but in keeping with the North American sports theme will be season 2 of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty on Aug.

DeVaughn Nixon, Quincy Isaiah, and Delante Desouza in ‘Winning Time’ season 2 (Photograph by Warrick Page/HBO)

Hard Knock‘s new season focusing on the New York Jets and the second season of the original drama Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty join Max’s August 2023 lineup, along with Tracy Morgan’s latest comedy special. August’s schedule also includes the season finales of And Just Like That… and Warrior.

Rap Sh!t season two premieres on August 10th, and the new half-hour young adult animated series Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake arrives on August 31st.

Series & Films Arriving On Max In August 2023:

August 1

A Hologram for the King (2016)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child...

Premiering in international competition at last year’s IDFA, where it took top prize, Lea Glob’s (2015’s Olmo and The Seagull) Apolonia, Apolonia is an intense character study of French figurative painter Apolonia Sokol. The Danish director met the artist, who is of Danish and Polish descent, while searching for the protagonist of her first doc while attending the Danish Film School, and then trailed her for the next 13 years. And while the bohemian free spirit, who was raised in a Paris underground theater founded by her eccentric parents (an old VHS tape Apolonia discovers comes with the written warning not […]

The post “This Work is a Product of Survival”: Lea Glob on Tribeca 2023 Premiere Apolonia, Apolonia first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Premiering in international competition at last year’s IDFA, where it took top prize, Lea Glob’s (2015’s Olmo and The Seagull) Apolonia, Apolonia is an intense character study of French figurative painter Apolonia Sokol. The Danish director met the artist, who is of Danish and Polish descent, while searching for the protagonist of her first doc while attending the Danish Film School, and then trailed her for the next 13 years. And while the bohemian free spirit, who was raised in a Paris underground theater founded by her eccentric parents (an old VHS tape Apolonia discovers comes with the written warning not […]

The post “This Work is a Product of Survival”: Lea Glob on Tribeca 2023 Premiere Apolonia, Apolonia first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Exclusive: Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily James are joining forces to star in a scorching new play by Penelope Skinner, directed by Ian Rickson, that will open in London’s West End in the fall.

Pretty hot names to have atop a theater marquee, that’s for sure.

The drama, called Lyonesse, will open at the Harold Pinter Theatre in late September or early October. Official dates are being determined.

In this new work, Skinner — who won the George Devine Award for most promising playwright in 2011 for The Village Bike — focuses on Elaine (Scott Thomas), a reclusive and brilliant actress who disappeared from public view under mysterious circumstances.

Elaine summons Kate (James), a young film executive, to her remote Cornish estate to facilitate “her glorious comeback,” according to a production source who copped me a premise of the play.

“But who really controls the stories we tell and how we get to tell them?...

Do you have plans for June? Cancel them. There’s simply too much to watch — at home and at the movies — for any other activities.

Returning television shows alone could keep you busy. Among favorites coming back for new seasons you’ll find The Eric Andre Show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Human Resources, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Outlander, And Just Like That, The Bear, The Witcher, Jack Ryan, and The Righteous Gemstones.

But there’s plenty of new stuff, too, to say nothing of the many movies arriving...