‘The Simple Life’ Revisited: See the Golden Years of Millennial Icons Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie
New era, indeed! In a joint Instagram post, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie announced their return to reality TV via Peacock. Both socialites posted “New Era. Same Besties.” alongside a video of a vintage television displaying static. The former stars of The Simple Life shared no other details. But fans are celebrating the return of the infamous duo and speculating about this new series.
In the spirit of nostalgia, let’s look back at the early 2000s when Hilton and Richie set the standards for millennial fashion and transformed the entertainment industry.
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie pre-‘Simple Life’ fame Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie in Las Vegas in 2001 and early 2002 | David Klein/Getty Images; Jeff Vespa/WireImage; Donato Sardella/WireImage
Pre-Simple Life, Paris Hilton often landed in tabloids as she partied her way through NYC. The heiress to the Hilton Hotels empire began modeling in 2000 and earned the...
In the spirit of nostalgia, let’s look back at the early 2000s when Hilton and Richie set the standards for millennial fashion and transformed the entertainment industry.
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie pre-‘Simple Life’ fame Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie in Las Vegas in 2001 and early 2002 | David Klein/Getty Images; Jeff Vespa/WireImage; Donato Sardella/WireImage
Pre-Simple Life, Paris Hilton often landed in tabloids as she partied her way through NYC. The heiress to the Hilton Hotels empire began modeling in 2000 and earned the...
- 5/15/2024
- by Ali Hicks
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
It’s official: Lauren Graham has joined Instagram. Graham, who spent seven years playing Lorelai Gilmore in Gilmore Girls, has had an illustrious career. She’s dabbled in social media a bit, too. She’s been a regular on X (formerly known as Twitter) for years, but she never bothered to sign up for Instagram. That has all changed. While fans are simply happy to see the famed actor on the platform, they can’t help but wonder if it means something for the future of Gilmore Girls. Fans have been waiting for a second revival season for almost eight years.
Lauren Graham joins Instagram
It is a lucky day for the Irish and for Gilmore Girls fans. After years of avoiding Instagram, Lauren Graham has finally signed up for the social media platform. The Gilmore Girls star welcomed fans to her new Instagram account on St. Patrick’s Day,...
Lauren Graham joins Instagram
It is a lucky day for the Irish and for Gilmore Girls fans. After years of avoiding Instagram, Lauren Graham has finally signed up for the social media platform. The Gilmore Girls star welcomed fans to her new Instagram account on St. Patrick’s Day,...
- 3/18/2024
- by Andrea Francese
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Hacks is gearing up for its Season 3 return with a stacked cast of guest stars, as Christopher Lloyd, Helen Hunt, Tony Goldwyn, Christina Hendricks, Dan Bucatinsky, and George Wallace join the mix. They’ll join Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder for Deborah Vance and Ava’s latest adventure on Max as the Emmy-winning comedy is poised to return this spring. While no official date is set quite yet, Max has finally unveiled a Season 3 logline for Hacks, teasing that the story is set a year after Deborah and Ava parted ways at the end of Season 2. (Credit: Jeff Vespa; Cindy Ord/Getty Images; Greg Fritz Blakey) With Deborah riding high off the success of her standup special, the series will see Ava pursuing new opportunities back in Los Angeles. Along the way, they’ll encounter yet-to-be-revealed characters played by Lloyd, Hunt, Goldwyn, Hendricks, Bucatinsky, and Wallace. And their arrival couldn...
- 2/28/2024
- TV Insider
In film composing, the rule of thumb is often that animated movies are wall-to-wall music in which the composer must do a lot of the heavy lifting, while live-action films are more sparing with the music. But you can throw that out the window when it comes to Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” a three-hour movie with about two-and-a-half hours of bold and very prominent score from Ludwig Göransson.
The Swedish composer, who won an Oscar for “Black Panther,” two Emmys for “The Mandalorian” and Record of the Year and Song of the Year Grammys for his work with Childish Gambino, said he did something on “Oppenheimer” that he’d never done on a film before. “I’ve never worked on a project that is from one single man’s perspective,” he said. “You’re with him — you’re feeling his feelings, you’re seeing through his eyes throughout the whole film.
The Swedish composer, who won an Oscar for “Black Panther,” two Emmys for “The Mandalorian” and Record of the Year and Song of the Year Grammys for his work with Childish Gambino, said he did something on “Oppenheimer” that he’d never done on a film before. “I’ve never worked on a project that is from one single man’s perspective,” he said. “You’re with him — you’re feeling his feelings, you’re seeing through his eyes throughout the whole film.
- 11/29/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This story about “The Color Purple” composers Nova Wav first appeared in the Race Begins issue of TheWrap magazine.
As far back as Steven Spielberg’s 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker’s game-changing novel, “The Color Purple” has always had a musical legacy. In addition to being scored by none other than Quincy Jones, the film boasted an earworm of an original song, “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister),” that was co-penned by Lionel Richie. So it wasn’t shocking that “Purple” would spring to life in Broadway musical form, first in 2005 and then in a multi-Tony-winning revival 10 years later, which would launch the career of an exciting upstart named Cynthia Erivo.
When the prospect of an adaptation of the musical into an all-singing, all-dancing major film bloomed into reality, it was clear the team would need some new tunes to goose the already-rousing ones in the two-act musical. Enter Nova Wav,...
As far back as Steven Spielberg’s 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker’s game-changing novel, “The Color Purple” has always had a musical legacy. In addition to being scored by none other than Quincy Jones, the film boasted an earworm of an original song, “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister),” that was co-penned by Lionel Richie. So it wasn’t shocking that “Purple” would spring to life in Broadway musical form, first in 2005 and then in a multi-Tony-winning revival 10 years later, which would launch the career of an exciting upstart named Cynthia Erivo.
When the prospect of an adaptation of the musical into an all-singing, all-dancing major film bloomed into reality, it was clear the team would need some new tunes to goose the already-rousing ones in the two-act musical. Enter Nova Wav,...
- 11/20/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
Consider this: you’ve made an acclaimed “Star Wars” sequel, reinvigorated the whodunit genre, scored an Oscar nomination and spawned an unlikely franchise. What do you do next? If you’re Rian Johnson, you turn around and offer a helping hand to young filmmakers coming up behind you, nurturing one of the buzziest movies of the fall in the process: “Fair Play.”
Writer/director Chloe Domont’s debut feature, a steamy erotic thriller about the power dynamics between two young people (Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor) who both work as financial analysts for the same cutthroat hedge fund, is an unmitigated success. After a bidding war at Sundance, the film was snatched up by Netflix for a cool $20 million, and it’s now currently one of the most-watched new titles on the platform following its release earlier this month.
Johnson and Bergman met in 2002. “I had been trying to get...
Writer/director Chloe Domont’s debut feature, a steamy erotic thriller about the power dynamics between two young people (Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor) who both work as financial analysts for the same cutthroat hedge fund, is an unmitigated success. After a bidding war at Sundance, the film was snatched up by Netflix for a cool $20 million, and it’s now currently one of the most-watched new titles on the platform following its release earlier this month.
Johnson and Bergman met in 2002. “I had been trying to get...
- 10/13/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
When you think of Sundance movies, you usually think of quirky, optimistic or melodramatic coming-of-age stories. Films like “Manchester by the Sea,” “Coda” or “The Big Sick.” But the movie that spawned the most successful franchise from its Sundance debut is none of those things. In January 2004, Sundance audiences were knocked on their collective butts by “Saw,” an out-of-nowhere horror flick from two unknown Australian filmmakers.
Director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell’s “Saw” offered a deceptively simple premise of two desperate men chained together in an empty room with little idea of how they got there or how to get out.
Starring Cary Elwes and Danny Glover, Monica Potter and a pre-“Lost” Michael Emerson, “Saw” inspired a new wave of grindhouse horror, films that reveled in old-school gore and a certain Rube Goldberg mentality to the kills beyond just attractive teenagers being picked off one by one.
Director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell’s “Saw” offered a deceptively simple premise of two desperate men chained together in an empty room with little idea of how they got there or how to get out.
Starring Cary Elwes and Danny Glover, Monica Potter and a pre-“Lost” Michael Emerson, “Saw” inspired a new wave of grindhouse horror, films that reveled in old-school gore and a certain Rube Goldberg mentality to the kills beyond just attractive teenagers being picked off one by one.
- 9/29/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
John Waters was delighted that he’s “closer to the gutter than ever” as his name was added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.
In his acceptance speech, Waters said that the Walk of Fame was the first landmark he saw when he got to Los Angeles.
“After driving across the country with David Locke, I got out of my vehicle in 1970 at Hollywood and Vine, darted across the street and got a jaywalking ticket,” he recalled. “The first one — and I never looked back.”
Waters’ star is located outside of the Larry Edmunds Bookshop on Hollywood Blvd. and N. Cherokee Ave. Waters said bookstore, which specializes in literature about film and showbiz history, is his favorite spot on the famous street.
The Walk of Fame event, which was sponsored by Outfest, came alongside the newly opened Academy Museum exhibit “John Waters: Pope of Trash,” which looks back...
In his acceptance speech, Waters said that the Walk of Fame was the first landmark he saw when he got to Los Angeles.
“After driving across the country with David Locke, I got out of my vehicle in 1970 at Hollywood and Vine, darted across the street and got a jaywalking ticket,” he recalled. “The first one — and I never looked back.”
Waters’ star is located outside of the Larry Edmunds Bookshop on Hollywood Blvd. and N. Cherokee Ave. Waters said bookstore, which specializes in literature about film and showbiz history, is his favorite spot on the famous street.
The Walk of Fame event, which was sponsored by Outfest, came alongside the newly opened Academy Museum exhibit “John Waters: Pope of Trash,” which looks back...
- 9/19/2023
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Good morning, Baltimore!
In 1988, director John Waters debuted his wacky, irreverent quasi-musical “Hairspray” in theaters. The story of Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake), a young Baltimore teen desperate to become a star on the Corny Collins show, went on to gross over $8 million at the box office that year on a $2.7 million budget, garnering six Independent Spirit Award nominations and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It also marked the mainstream explosion of Waters, whose campy spirit connected with audiences at large as “Hairspray” has since become a bona fide fan favorite, with a long-running Broadway show that was also adapted into a true movie musical in 2007.
Waters, who has gone on to make other cult classics including “Serial Mom” and “Polyestor,” attributes the film’s success to not talking down to its audience, no matter how misguided they might be. “It’s a political movie without anyone preaching,...
In 1988, director John Waters debuted his wacky, irreverent quasi-musical “Hairspray” in theaters. The story of Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake), a young Baltimore teen desperate to become a star on the Corny Collins show, went on to gross over $8 million at the box office that year on a $2.7 million budget, garnering six Independent Spirit Award nominations and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It also marked the mainstream explosion of Waters, whose campy spirit connected with audiences at large as “Hairspray” has since become a bona fide fan favorite, with a long-running Broadway show that was also adapted into a true movie musical in 2007.
Waters, who has gone on to make other cult classics including “Serial Mom” and “Polyestor,” attributes the film’s success to not talking down to its audience, no matter how misguided they might be. “It’s a political movie without anyone preaching,...
- 9/14/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
You’d be forgiven if you thought the above photo was taken backstage at a rehearsal for the Oscars. After all, the joyful colliding of two supernovas does not happen just anywhere, anytime down here on earth. But this particular close encounter took place at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival, at the premiere for “Up in the Air.”
Behind the scenes at the Ryerson Theatre, George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey found themselves sharing the same space and posed for TheWrap creative director Jeff Vespa.
“This is the typical kind of Toronto happening where I’ll get a call and they’ll be like, ‘Get over here right now! Because George Clooney is going to meet with Oprah,” Vespa said. “You have to race over to one of the theaters, and you rush backstage and wait around until the moment happens.”
Vespa has documented countless such moments throughout his career, at Toronto,...
Behind the scenes at the Ryerson Theatre, George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey found themselves sharing the same space and posed for TheWrap creative director Jeff Vespa.
“This is the typical kind of Toronto happening where I’ll get a call and they’ll be like, ‘Get over here right now! Because George Clooney is going to meet with Oprah,” Vespa said. “You have to race over to one of the theaters, and you rush backstage and wait around until the moment happens.”
Vespa has documented countless such moments throughout his career, at Toronto,...
- 9/8/2023
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
When Top Gun premiered in theaters in 1986, producers worried about one pivotal aspect of the film: the love story between the film’s leads, Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis. They believed the actors wouldn’t be believable on camera as love interests because, as one producer stated, she “looks like his mother.”
‘Top Gun’ producers worried Kelly McGillis and Tom Cruise wouldn’t look compatible on-camera
In an essay written for Medium titled “The Forgotten Star of Top Gun,” producer David Paul Kirkpatrick discussed his reservations about the pairing of Kelly McGillis and Tom Cruise. Several undeniable differences between the actors appeared too vast to ignore.
Kirkpatrick wrote McGillis “was much too tall for Tom Cruise. She was 5’11”. He was 5’7″.”
He continued, “Besides, she was 27, and he was 24, and the difference was palpable. After I saw them together for a ‘chemistry meeting’ on the Paramount lot, I walked away conclusively uttering,...
‘Top Gun’ producers worried Kelly McGillis and Tom Cruise wouldn’t look compatible on-camera
In an essay written for Medium titled “The Forgotten Star of Top Gun,” producer David Paul Kirkpatrick discussed his reservations about the pairing of Kelly McGillis and Tom Cruise. Several undeniable differences between the actors appeared too vast to ignore.
Kirkpatrick wrote McGillis “was much too tall for Tom Cruise. She was 5’11”. He was 5’7″.”
He continued, “Besides, she was 27, and he was 24, and the difference was palpable. After I saw them together for a ‘chemistry meeting’ on the Paramount lot, I walked away conclusively uttering,...
- 9/5/2023
- by Lucille Barilla
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
On Wednesday, the 80th Venice International Film Festival kicks off with “Comandante,” directed by Edoardo De Angelis. It will be followed in the coming days by Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” David Fincher’s “Killer” and many others. The slate of movies is chock full of A-list actors, but with the ongoing WGA and SAG strike, few will be in attendance.
TheWrap creative director Jeff Vespa counts the Venice festival as one of his favorites. “There’s something really romantic and cinematic about the way the whole place is photographed — people on docks and coming off of boats,” he said. “The other thing that’s cool is you get to actually hang out with people because it’s not like there’s an event every single second. There are only about two movies a night, so you can go to the screening of the first movie, walk...
TheWrap creative director Jeff Vespa counts the Venice festival as one of his favorites. “There’s something really romantic and cinematic about the way the whole place is photographed — people on docks and coming off of boats,” he said. “The other thing that’s cool is you get to actually hang out with people because it’s not like there’s an event every single second. There are only about two movies a night, so you can go to the screening of the first movie, walk...
- 8/30/2023
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
Dominique Fishback has arrived. That much was clear when the Emmy nominations were announced on July 12 and Fishback, who’d shone in recent years in the movies “The Hate U Give” and “Judas and the Black Messiah,” was among the nominees for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for her off-the-chain performance in “Swarm.”
Fishback stars as Dre, a single-minded devotee of a Beyoncé-like pop star. Dre becomes a brutal serial killer hunting down people who speak ill of her idol, with the series serving as a searing indictment of toxic fandom with greater systemic roots. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Swarm lives and dies on the strength of Fishback’s performance.
“Just the response in general was a blessing, because we’ve never had a Black, female serial killer, so we didn’t know if it was going to land,” Fishback said in an...
Fishback stars as Dre, a single-minded devotee of a Beyoncé-like pop star. Dre becomes a brutal serial killer hunting down people who speak ill of her idol, with the series serving as a searing indictment of toxic fandom with greater systemic roots. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Swarm lives and dies on the strength of Fishback’s performance.
“Just the response in general was a blessing, because we’ve never had a Black, female serial killer, so we didn’t know if it was going to land,” Fishback said in an...
- 8/23/2023
- by Libby Hill
- The Wrap
This story about Diego Luna and “Andor” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Drama and Limited Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Though “Andor” may bear the name of just one man, at its heart it is a series about collaboration and community. This couldn’t be more true for Diego Luna, who portrays the title character, Cassian Andor, but who received his first Emmy nomination because he’s also one of the show’s executive producers.
Luna stresses that pulling the show together was an enormous collective undertaking, thanks in part to its scope as a continuation of the “Star Wars” universe, and also because production took place under Covid-19 safety regulations. But all of that effort paid off on July 12 when the series earned eight Emmy nominations, including a coveted nod for Outstanding Drama Series.
“I was very happy for all the nominations, but the...
Though “Andor” may bear the name of just one man, at its heart it is a series about collaboration and community. This couldn’t be more true for Diego Luna, who portrays the title character, Cassian Andor, but who received his first Emmy nomination because he’s also one of the show’s executive producers.
Luna stresses that pulling the show together was an enormous collective undertaking, thanks in part to its scope as a continuation of the “Star Wars” universe, and also because production took place under Covid-19 safety regulations. But all of that effort paid off on July 12 when the series earned eight Emmy nominations, including a coveted nod for Outstanding Drama Series.
“I was very happy for all the nominations, but the...
- 8/23/2023
- by Libby Hill
- The Wrap
This story about Melanie Lynskey first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Drama and Limited Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Everybody loves Melanie Lynskey, and Melanie Lynskey loves everybody. Well, almost everybody. (We’ll get to the exceptions in a minute.) When the dust settled on the morning of July 12, the New Zealand actress and pop culture fan favorite had nabbed two Emmy nominations, her second consecutive nod in Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” as well as a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann’s post-apocalyptic video game adaptation “The Last of Us” for HBO.
There are commonalities that exist in both characters. On “Yellowjackets,” Shauna is deeply traumatized by the plane crash and subsequent quest for survival she experienced when she was a teenager. She struggles without the tools to move...
Everybody loves Melanie Lynskey, and Melanie Lynskey loves everybody. Well, almost everybody. (We’ll get to the exceptions in a minute.) When the dust settled on the morning of July 12, the New Zealand actress and pop culture fan favorite had nabbed two Emmy nominations, her second consecutive nod in Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” as well as a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann’s post-apocalyptic video game adaptation “The Last of Us” for HBO.
There are commonalities that exist in both characters. On “Yellowjackets,” Shauna is deeply traumatized by the plane crash and subsequent quest for survival she experienced when she was a teenager. She struggles without the tools to move...
- 8/21/2023
- by Libby Hill
- The Wrap
This story about “Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy/Variety/Reality/Nonfiction issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Norman Lear has been winning Emmys for more than 50 years, so it makes perfect sense that he’s back in the race this year. His first two came in 1971 for his groundbreaking series “All in the Family,” while his fifth and sixth came in 2019 and 2020 for “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” specials that included real-time reenactments of “All in the Family” episodes.
The last of those came when he was 98 years old, making him the oldest Emmy winner in history. So when Lear turned 100 in the summer of 2022, it made sense that ABC, the network that aired “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” would embrace the ensuing tribute special “Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter,” and...
Norman Lear has been winning Emmys for more than 50 years, so it makes perfect sense that he’s back in the race this year. His first two came in 1971 for his groundbreaking series “All in the Family,” while his fifth and sixth came in 2019 and 2020 for “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” specials that included real-time reenactments of “All in the Family” episodes.
The last of those came when he was 98 years old, making him the oldest Emmy winner in history. So when Lear turned 100 in the summer of 2022, it made sense that ABC, the network that aired “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” would embrace the ensuing tribute special “Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter,” and...
- 8/21/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This story about “Barry” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
When Ron Mare, the SVP of casting at Magical Elves, learned about the “World All-Stars” theme for “Top Chef’s” milestone 20th season, he knew that Bravo — and viewers — wanted the best of the best.
On one hand, drawing from a pool of only past winners and runner-ups made things a little easier. But this wasn’t just an “All-Stars” season, it was a “World All-Stars” season. So Mare and his team had to expand their search to include talent from across the globe, including Asia, Emea and South America.
“Time zones,” the casting veteran replied when asked what the biggest challenge of casting Season 20 was. “It was definitely a difficult thing to pull together.”
Identifying the cheftestants was the first task. Convincing them to return was the next. Some, like Dale McKay,...
When Ron Mare, the SVP of casting at Magical Elves, learned about the “World All-Stars” theme for “Top Chef’s” milestone 20th season, he knew that Bravo — and viewers — wanted the best of the best.
On one hand, drawing from a pool of only past winners and runner-ups made things a little easier. But this wasn’t just an “All-Stars” season, it was a “World All-Stars” season. So Mare and his team had to expand their search to include talent from across the globe, including Asia, Emea and South America.
“Time zones,” the casting veteran replied when asked what the biggest challenge of casting Season 20 was. “It was definitely a difficult thing to pull together.”
Identifying the cheftestants was the first task. Convincing them to return was the next. Some, like Dale McKay,...
- 8/17/2023
- by Lawrence Yee
- The Wrap
This story about Brett Morgen and “Moonage Daydream” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy/Variety/Reality/Nonfiction issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Three years into the editing of his challenging David Bowie film “Moonage Daydream,” Brett Morgen was pretty sure he was in big trouble. He’d run out of money for the production, and he was working toward the nebulous idea of creating what he would later call “an expression of Bowie rather than an explanation of Bowie,” which meant he could pretty much go in any direction at any time, both visually and aurally.
“I thought I was off the rails, that I was deceiving myself that this will make sense,” Morgen said. “I’m not exaggerating to say that three years into the edit, no one had seen a frame—no one in my office, no financiers, no assistant editor. It was all in my head.
Three years into the editing of his challenging David Bowie film “Moonage Daydream,” Brett Morgen was pretty sure he was in big trouble. He’d run out of money for the production, and he was working toward the nebulous idea of creating what he would later call “an expression of Bowie rather than an explanation of Bowie,” which meant he could pretty much go in any direction at any time, both visually and aurally.
“I thought I was off the rails, that I was deceiving myself that this will make sense,” Morgen said. “I’m not exaggerating to say that three years into the edit, no one had seen a frame—no one in my office, no financiers, no assistant editor. It was all in my head.
- 8/17/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This story about the visual effects of the “Mom City” episode of “Ted Lasso” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy/Variety/Reality/Nonfiction issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
If you survey the Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode category among this year’s Emmy nominations, it pretty much makes sense: “Wednesday,” “Shadow and Bone,” “The Nevers,” “The Umbrella Academy,” “Five Days at Memorial” (they had to recreate a hurricane) and… “Ted Lasso?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of an anomaly,” on-set visual effects supervisor James MacLachlan said before explaining how the scale of a feel-good comedy landed it a nomination alongside sci-fi/adventure romps. “We were very fortunate at the beginning. A lot of people loved the show and got on board. And with that comes the inevitable, ‘Well, let’s make next season just that little bit bigger, that little bit wider, that little bit more ambitious.
If you survey the Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode category among this year’s Emmy nominations, it pretty much makes sense: “Wednesday,” “Shadow and Bone,” “The Nevers,” “The Umbrella Academy,” “Five Days at Memorial” (they had to recreate a hurricane) and… “Ted Lasso?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of an anomaly,” on-set visual effects supervisor James MacLachlan said before explaining how the scale of a feel-good comedy landed it a nomination alongside sci-fi/adventure romps. “We were very fortunate at the beginning. A lot of people loved the show and got on board. And with that comes the inevitable, ‘Well, let’s make next season just that little bit bigger, that little bit wider, that little bit more ambitious.
- 8/17/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
A version of this story about Greg Philinganes and Joni Mitchell first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy/Variety/Reality/Nonfiction issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Of the many musical-tribute specials that aired during the past Emmy season, few had the emotional clout of PBS’ “Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song: Joni Mitchell.” For starters, it featured a stellar array of musicians paying tribute to the pioneering singer-songwriter — among them Annie Lennox, Cyndi Lauper, Angelique Kidjo, James Taylor, Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall, Brandi Carlile and Marcus Mumford performing songs that included “Both Sides Now,” “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Blue,” “Carey” and “Shine.”
But at the end of the night, it also included the 79-year-old Mitchell herself, eight years after a brain aneurysm that forced her to relearn how to walk and sing, performing an exquisite version of George Gershwin’s “Summertime” in a voice far different...
Of the many musical-tribute specials that aired during the past Emmy season, few had the emotional clout of PBS’ “Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song: Joni Mitchell.” For starters, it featured a stellar array of musicians paying tribute to the pioneering singer-songwriter — among them Annie Lennox, Cyndi Lauper, Angelique Kidjo, James Taylor, Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall, Brandi Carlile and Marcus Mumford performing songs that included “Both Sides Now,” “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Blue,” “Carey” and “Shine.”
But at the end of the night, it also included the 79-year-old Mitchell herself, eight years after a brain aneurysm that forced her to relearn how to walk and sing, performing an exquisite version of George Gershwin’s “Summertime” in a voice far different...
- 8/16/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This story about “Barry” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. All actor interviews in that issue were conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike began.
The series finale of “Barry” aired months ago, but actor Anthony Carrigan admitted he still hasn’t quite processed saying goodbye to the character of Noho Hank. “I’m still in the grieving phase of it,” he said. “It was just such a special show to work on, and honestly projects like that do not happen often. So all you can really do while you’re working on them is just not take a single moment for granted.”
Carrigan’s character was famously supposed to die in the pilot, but co-creators Bill Hader and Alec Berg were so wowed by his performance that they kept him around. When “Barry” first began airing on HBO, viewers were immediately...
The series finale of “Barry” aired months ago, but actor Anthony Carrigan admitted he still hasn’t quite processed saying goodbye to the character of Noho Hank. “I’m still in the grieving phase of it,” he said. “It was just such a special show to work on, and honestly projects like that do not happen often. So all you can really do while you’re working on them is just not take a single moment for granted.”
Carrigan’s character was famously supposed to die in the pilot, but co-creators Bill Hader and Alec Berg were so wowed by his performance that they kept him around. When “Barry” first began airing on HBO, viewers were immediately...
- 8/15/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
A version of this story about “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy/Variety/Reality/Nonfiction issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
When the Television Academy shuffled the variety categories this year, it moved “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” from the variety talk category, where it had won seven years in a row, to the new scripted variety category where it would be facing off against another juggernaut in “Saturday Night Live,” the most nominated and winningest show in Emmy history.
But for “Last Week Tonight” director Paul Pennolino, the move was nothing new: In the Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, he’d been going up against (and losing to) “SNL” director Don Roy King, an idol of his, for years.
“I knew I was racing against Usain Bolt,” he said with a laugh. “There was no way I was going to win,...
When the Television Academy shuffled the variety categories this year, it moved “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” from the variety talk category, where it had won seven years in a row, to the new scripted variety category where it would be facing off against another juggernaut in “Saturday Night Live,” the most nominated and winningest show in Emmy history.
But for “Last Week Tonight” director Paul Pennolino, the move was nothing new: In the Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, he’d been going up against (and losing to) “SNL” director Don Roy King, an idol of his, for years.
“I knew I was racing against Usain Bolt,” he said with a laugh. “There was no way I was going to win,...
- 8/15/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This story about Oliver Platt first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. All actor interviews in that issue were conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike began.
This will be the first time at the Emmys for “The Bear” star Jeremy Allen White and for fellow nominees Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal. But it’s old hat for Oliver Platt, who was nominated in the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category for his fan-favorite character Uncle Jimmy “Cicero” Kalinowski, the alternately menacing and menschy familial support for the Berzatto bunch. Platt was nominated for Emmys for “The West Wing,” “Huff” and “Nip/Tuck” but shockingly has never won despite being a staple in viewers’ primetime lives for decades.
(His presence in “The Bear” is also a shrewd in-joke for Platt’s fans, as his brother Adam is famously the senior...
This will be the first time at the Emmys for “The Bear” star Jeremy Allen White and for fellow nominees Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal. But it’s old hat for Oliver Platt, who was nominated in the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category for his fan-favorite character Uncle Jimmy “Cicero” Kalinowski, the alternately menacing and menschy familial support for the Berzatto bunch. Platt was nominated for Emmys for “The West Wing,” “Huff” and “Nip/Tuck” but shockingly has never won despite being a staple in viewers’ primetime lives for decades.
(His presence in “The Bear” is also a shrewd in-joke for Platt’s fans, as his brother Adam is famously the senior...
- 8/15/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
This story about “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy/Variety/Reality/Nonfiction issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
The last time Davis Guggenheim interviewed Michael J. Fox for the documentary “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” it came at the end of a three-year period in which the filmmaker of “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for ‘Superman’” had spent time with the actor as he reflected on his life and battled Parkinson’s disease. He left Fox’s home exhausted by the lengthy interview — “interviews are super intense and I’m hyper-focused” — but also feeling as if he’d really gotten to know the 62-year-old actor who’d become a star in his 20s with “Family Ties” and “Back to the Future.”
It was a beautiful spring day, so Guggenheim decided to walk back to his hotel, which was two miles away.
The last time Davis Guggenheim interviewed Michael J. Fox for the documentary “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” it came at the end of a three-year period in which the filmmaker of “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for ‘Superman’” had spent time with the actor as he reflected on his life and battled Parkinson’s disease. He left Fox’s home exhausted by the lengthy interview — “interviews are super intense and I’m hyper-focused” — but also feeling as if he’d really gotten to know the 62-year-old actor who’d become a star in his 20s with “Family Ties” and “Back to the Future.”
It was a beautiful spring day, so Guggenheim decided to walk back to his hotel, which was two miles away.
- 8/14/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This story about the production design of “Poker Face” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Even in a galaxy far, far away, offscreen alliances can be forged that come in handy down the road. Director Rian Johnson had the great good fortune to meet stop-motion legend Phil Tippett while he was working on 2017’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” at Skywalker Ranch near Tippett’s home, and the pairing led to “The Orpheus Syndrome,” one of the most satisfying episodes of Peacock’s sleuth comedy “Poker Face.” In the episode, a hermetic, Tippett-like designer (Nick Nolte), scarred by a filmmaking mishap years prior, finds himself blindsided by the schemes hatched up by his effects-house mogul boss (Cherry Jones), only to have the resourceful Charlie (Natasha Lyonne) interfere when she becomes his assistant.
“The Orpheus Syndrome” had the full blessing of Tippett,...
Even in a galaxy far, far away, offscreen alliances can be forged that come in handy down the road. Director Rian Johnson had the great good fortune to meet stop-motion legend Phil Tippett while he was working on 2017’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” at Skywalker Ranch near Tippett’s home, and the pairing led to “The Orpheus Syndrome,” one of the most satisfying episodes of Peacock’s sleuth comedy “Poker Face.” In the episode, a hermetic, Tippett-like designer (Nick Nolte), scarred by a filmmaking mishap years prior, finds himself blindsided by the schemes hatched up by his effects-house mogul boss (Cherry Jones), only to have the resourceful Charlie (Natasha Lyonne) interfere when she becomes his assistant.
“The Orpheus Syndrome” had the full blessing of Tippett,...
- 8/14/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
This story about “John Mulaney: Baby J” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy/Variety/Reality/Nonfiction issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
One man. By himself. On a stage. Talking.
That’s what director Alex Timbers had to work with on “John Mulaney: Baby J,” a Netflix standup comedy special in which actor and comic John Mulaney spends 80 minutes telling a Boston audience about his harrowing trip through drug addiction and into rehab. The elements were simpler than what Timbers had to work with when he directed “Beetlejuice” and “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” on Broadway or served as production consultant on David Byrne’s “American Utopia” or cocreator on the TV series “Mozart in the Jungle,” but it wasn’t unfamiliar territory to the director who had also filmed Mulaney’s 2018 standup special, “John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous” at Radio City.
“You’re trying to fundamentally create the...
One man. By himself. On a stage. Talking.
That’s what director Alex Timbers had to work with on “John Mulaney: Baby J,” a Netflix standup comedy special in which actor and comic John Mulaney spends 80 minutes telling a Boston audience about his harrowing trip through drug addiction and into rehab. The elements were simpler than what Timbers had to work with when he directed “Beetlejuice” and “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” on Broadway or served as production consultant on David Byrne’s “American Utopia” or cocreator on the TV series “Mozart in the Jungle,” but it wasn’t unfamiliar territory to the director who had also filmed Mulaney’s 2018 standup special, “John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous” at Radio City.
“You’re trying to fundamentally create the...
- 8/14/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This story about “Wednesday” costume designer Colleen Atwood first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
When Colleen Atwood was a child, her parents had a Charles Addams sketch hanging on a wall in their home. So when the four-time Oscar winner was hired to design the costumes for Netflix’s “Wednesday,” she was well acquainted with the world of the amusingly macabre clan that Addams first created in comic strip form in 1938.
For Atwood, the challenge was to honor that legacy while bringing Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday and Pugsley Addams (plus Thing!) into the 21st century.
“My vision for the costumes was a contemporary connectivity feeling, for young people to see the Addams family as people, as opposed to cartoonish,” she said.
Emma Myers and Jenna Ortega in “Wednesday” (Netflix)
“Wednesday” is Atwood’s fifteenth collaboration with Tim Burton, who exec-produced the series...
When Colleen Atwood was a child, her parents had a Charles Addams sketch hanging on a wall in their home. So when the four-time Oscar winner was hired to design the costumes for Netflix’s “Wednesday,” she was well acquainted with the world of the amusingly macabre clan that Addams first created in comic strip form in 1938.
For Atwood, the challenge was to honor that legacy while bringing Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday and Pugsley Addams (plus Thing!) into the 21st century.
“My vision for the costumes was a contemporary connectivity feeling, for young people to see the Addams family as people, as opposed to cartoonish,” she said.
Emma Myers and Jenna Ortega in “Wednesday” (Netflix)
“Wednesday” is Atwood’s fifteenth collaboration with Tim Burton, who exec-produced the series...
- 8/11/2023
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
This story about “Barry” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. All actor interviews in that issue were conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike began.
Bill Hader had a physical reaction to the end of his HBO comedy series “Barry.” He was wiped out from directing and starring in the entire eight-episode final season to be sure, but he wasn’t prepared to literally ache once the series was over. “It’s like for nine years I had my fist clenched as tight as it possibly could go, fingernails digging into my palms and drawing blood,” he said in an interview conducted the day before SAG-AFTRA went on strike. “And then the day the finale aired they’re like, ‘Alright, you can open your hand now.’ And it’s just like, Ahhhh!”
Hader had reason to be relieved. The HBO series debuted in...
Bill Hader had a physical reaction to the end of his HBO comedy series “Barry.” He was wiped out from directing and starring in the entire eight-episode final season to be sure, but he wasn’t prepared to literally ache once the series was over. “It’s like for nine years I had my fist clenched as tight as it possibly could go, fingernails digging into my palms and drawing blood,” he said in an interview conducted the day before SAG-AFTRA went on strike. “And then the day the finale aired they’re like, ‘Alright, you can open your hand now.’ And it’s just like, Ahhhh!”
Hader had reason to be relieved. The HBO series debuted in...
- 8/11/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
The scene outside Netflix on Thursday was an energetic one, as SAG-AFTRA and WGA members together on the (very hot) picket lines while Hollywood’s double strike wears on. TheWrap’s creative director Jeff Vespa was on hand to photograph the likes of Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Aubrey Plaza, Sarah Silverman, Edgar Wright, Kendrick Sampson, Timothy Simons, Brett Gelman, June Diane Raphael, Paul Scheer and more at the site of one of the most contentious studios. Netflix has drawn the ire of many striking actors and writers for not paying residuals on shows and films it doesn’t own.
Peruse TheWrap’s gallery of photos below.
Photographed by Jeff Vespa for TheWrap
Kendrick Sampson
Photographed by Jeff Vespa for TheWrap
Sarah Silverman
Photographed by Jeff Vespa for TheWrap
Brett Gelman and Aubrey Plaza
Photographed by Jeff Vespa for TheWrap
Hannah Einbinder and Paul W. Downs
Photographed by Jeff Vespa for...
Peruse TheWrap’s gallery of photos below.
Photographed by Jeff Vespa for TheWrap
Kendrick Sampson
Photographed by Jeff Vespa for TheWrap
Sarah Silverman
Photographed by Jeff Vespa for TheWrap
Brett Gelman and Aubrey Plaza
Photographed by Jeff Vespa for TheWrap
Hannah Einbinder and Paul W. Downs
Photographed by Jeff Vespa for...
- 7/21/2023
- by TheWrap Staff
- The Wrap
In 2003, Bob Dylan starred in Masked and Anonymous, a movie he wrote with screenwriter Larry Charles. The film featured multiple big-name stars and was the fruit of an extended collaboration between Dylan and Charles. When it came out, though, Dylan told his co-writer point-blank that he would not see the movie.
Bob Dylan did not want to see the movie ‘Masked and Anonymous’
Dylan and Charles initially began collaborating on a slapstick comedy series for HBO. While the network green-lit the show, Dylan immediately decided he didn’t want to go through with it. Instead, he and Charles began working on a film.
The end product was Masked and Anonymous, which stars Dylan as a musician who has recently left prison to put on a charity concert. His co-stars were Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Val Kilmer, and Penelope Cruz, among others. Dylan was excited about the film,...
Bob Dylan did not want to see the movie ‘Masked and Anonymous’
Dylan and Charles initially began collaborating on a slapstick comedy series for HBO. While the network green-lit the show, Dylan immediately decided he didn’t want to go through with it. Instead, he and Charles began working on a film.
The end product was Masked and Anonymous, which stars Dylan as a musician who has recently left prison to put on a charity concert. His co-stars were Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Val Kilmer, and Penelope Cruz, among others. Dylan was excited about the film,...
- 7/16/2023
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
In 2003, Bob Dylan starred in the movie Masked and Anonymous. He co-wrote the feature film with writer Larry Charles and had the opportunity to act alongside a number of Hollywood stars, including Jeff Bridges and John Goodman. Charles said he enjoyed working with Dylan, but he had to shut down some of the musician’s most out-there ideas. One of these was to make everything in the film a dance number.
Bob Dylan wanted to add dancing to a movie he wrote and starred in
Dylan and Charles met when the musician wanted to produce a slapstick TV series. While the project never came to fruition, they started working together on the screenplay for Masked and Anonymous. After completing the script, Charles stepped behind the camera as director, while Dylan became one of the lead actors. Starring alongside him were Bridges, Goodman, Val Kilmer, Jessica Lange, Penelope Cruz, Luke Wilson,...
Bob Dylan wanted to add dancing to a movie he wrote and starred in
Dylan and Charles met when the musician wanted to produce a slapstick TV series. While the project never came to fruition, they started working together on the screenplay for Masked and Anonymous. After completing the script, Charles stepped behind the camera as director, while Dylan became one of the lead actors. Starring alongside him were Bridges, Goodman, Val Kilmer, Jessica Lange, Penelope Cruz, Luke Wilson,...
- 7/12/2023
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
This story about the production design of “A League of Their Own” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Production designer Victoria Paul knows how much people love Penny Marshall’s “A League of Their Own”—a film that 31 years later, fans still relish quoting: “There’s no crying in baseball!” and “And how about Marla Hooch…what a hitter!” So when the production designer (who has worked on everything from “My Cousin Vinny” to “Breakdown” to “Bones”) was hired for Amazon Prime Video’s adaptation of the 1992 movie, she realized the best way forward was to take her cues from Marshall’s film. “We were all in awe of the movie,” Paul said. “It’s a classic, and we didn’t shy away from looking at how they did (their sets). We weren’t trying to disassociate ourselves from the movie at all.”
The...
Production designer Victoria Paul knows how much people love Penny Marshall’s “A League of Their Own”—a film that 31 years later, fans still relish quoting: “There’s no crying in baseball!” and “And how about Marla Hooch…what a hitter!” So when the production designer (who has worked on everything from “My Cousin Vinny” to “Breakdown” to “Bones”) was hired for Amazon Prime Video’s adaptation of the 1992 movie, she realized the best way forward was to take her cues from Marshall’s film. “We were all in awe of the movie,” Paul said. “It’s a classic, and we didn’t shy away from looking at how they did (their sets). We weren’t trying to disassociate ourselves from the movie at all.”
The...
- 6/15/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
This story about Phil Dunster and “Ted Lasso” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Ask “Ted Lasso” fans to name their favorite storyline of the surprisingly super-sized Season 3 and you’ll likely get a unanimous answer: the burgeoning bromance between Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) and Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster). The relationship would have been unimaginable in Season 1, when the two alpha males openly despised each other. But the bad blood was wiped clean by Jamie’s transformation from AFC Richmond bad boy to team sweetheart.
“I made a petition that I signed 25,000 times myself and gave it to the writers every day so that they would start writing Roy and Jamie scenes, because it was sort of my raison d’etre for a while,” Dunster said, smiling. “Brett is a huge part of why people enjoy that story because you can see him fighting...
Ask “Ted Lasso” fans to name their favorite storyline of the surprisingly super-sized Season 3 and you’ll likely get a unanimous answer: the burgeoning bromance between Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) and Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster). The relationship would have been unimaginable in Season 1, when the two alpha males openly despised each other. But the bad blood was wiped clean by Jamie’s transformation from AFC Richmond bad boy to team sweetheart.
“I made a petition that I signed 25,000 times myself and gave it to the writers every day so that they would start writing Roy and Jamie scenes, because it was sort of my raison d’etre for a while,” Dunster said, smiling. “Brett is a huge part of why people enjoy that story because you can see him fighting...
- 6/15/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
A version of this story about Thomas Mizer and Curtis Moore and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Five seasons of Amazon’s pop-culture-reveling hit “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” has yielded more stars rising than bagel dough, but possibly none more so than show composers Thomas Mizer and Curtis Moore. The duo, who met at Northwestern and mentored with “The Muppet Show” veteran and multiple Emmy winner Larry Grossman, are responsible for pretty much any piece of music you hear that isn’t from someone’s songbook, and like other efforts from Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, you can bet musical numbers are going to be part of the deal.
“We did actually we were set up on a sort of blind date with them about close to 10 years ago now,” Mizer says. “We’d been writing a stage musical...
Five seasons of Amazon’s pop-culture-reveling hit “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” has yielded more stars rising than bagel dough, but possibly none more so than show composers Thomas Mizer and Curtis Moore. The duo, who met at Northwestern and mentored with “The Muppet Show” veteran and multiple Emmy winner Larry Grossman, are responsible for pretty much any piece of music you hear that isn’t from someone’s songbook, and like other efforts from Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, you can bet musical numbers are going to be part of the deal.
“We did actually we were set up on a sort of blind date with them about close to 10 years ago now,” Mizer says. “We’d been writing a stage musical...
- 6/15/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
This story about the ensemble cast of “Poker Face” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
No Emmy-caliber new series relies as heavily on its ensemble of guest actors as “Poker Face” — and fewer still boast the caliber of talent assembled by creator Rian Johnson, star-executive-producer-director Natasha Lyonne and showrunners Lilla and Nora Zuckerman.
Lyonne stars in the Peacock comedy as our woebegone hero Charlie Cale, an off-the-grid, muscle car-driving ex-casino worker who’s on the run from a mafioso (Adrien Brody) who wants her head after she learns the truth about the mysterious death of her coworker (Dascha Polanco). An enticing enough premise on its own, there’s another twist: Charlie is, inexplicably, a human lie detector — a skill that makes her a very good gambler and a rough-and-tumble vigilante detective. That’s where our guest stars come in.
Each of the series’ 10 episodes...
No Emmy-caliber new series relies as heavily on its ensemble of guest actors as “Poker Face” — and fewer still boast the caliber of talent assembled by creator Rian Johnson, star-executive-producer-director Natasha Lyonne and showrunners Lilla and Nora Zuckerman.
Lyonne stars in the Peacock comedy as our woebegone hero Charlie Cale, an off-the-grid, muscle car-driving ex-casino worker who’s on the run from a mafioso (Adrien Brody) who wants her head after she learns the truth about the mysterious death of her coworker (Dascha Polanco). An enticing enough premise on its own, there’s another twist: Charlie is, inexplicably, a human lie detector — a skill that makes her a very good gambler and a rough-and-tumble vigilante detective. That’s where our guest stars come in.
Each of the series’ 10 episodes...
- 6/14/2023
- by Benjamin Lindsay
- The Wrap
This story about Zazie Beetz and “Atlanta” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Over four seasons of “Atlanta,” Zazie Beetz has played some brilliantly strange situations as Van. But in the final season of the groundbreaking FX series created by Donald Glover, Beetz did some of her best work yet, particularly in the acidic “Work Ethic!” episode that satirizes a Tyler Perry-esque studio in which Beetz chases after her daughter (Austin Elle Fisher) after she’s swallowed up, almost Willy Wonka-style, into the dozens and dozens of soundstages overlorded by one Mr. Chocolate.
“Work Ethic!” is an incredible half hour of TV. Did it read more comic or more surreal when you first encountered it?
I remember reading it more as a critique of the creative industry, but the mother-daughter relationship stuck out to me the most. I was pretty taken by the comedy around Mr.
Over four seasons of “Atlanta,” Zazie Beetz has played some brilliantly strange situations as Van. But in the final season of the groundbreaking FX series created by Donald Glover, Beetz did some of her best work yet, particularly in the acidic “Work Ethic!” episode that satirizes a Tyler Perry-esque studio in which Beetz chases after her daughter (Austin Elle Fisher) after she’s swallowed up, almost Willy Wonka-style, into the dozens and dozens of soundstages overlorded by one Mr. Chocolate.
“Work Ethic!” is an incredible half hour of TV. Did it read more comic or more surreal when you first encountered it?
I remember reading it more as a critique of the creative industry, but the mother-daughter relationship stuck out to me the most. I was pretty taken by the comedy around Mr.
- 6/14/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
H.E.R. Way: Why Belle From ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Was a Dream Role for the Oscar-Winning R&b Crooner
A version of this story about H.E.R. and “Beauty and the Beast” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Few multi-hyphenates working these days can claim the take-over of industries quite like H.E.R. In just the last four years, the California native with the signature spectacles has racked up five R&b Grammys, an Oscar (for her stirring “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”) and a Children’s and Family Emmy for a tune from Netflix’s “We the People.” And after her spirited turn as the beloved Belle from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” in ABC’s 30th anniversary special, the Primetime Emmy might be calling.. And here’s the kicker: She’s only 25.
Also Read:
‘Avatar’ Delay Pushes Disney Film Schedule – and Can Make or Break Bob Iger’s Legacy | Analysis
How did you become involved with...
Few multi-hyphenates working these days can claim the take-over of industries quite like H.E.R. In just the last four years, the California native with the signature spectacles has racked up five R&b Grammys, an Oscar (for her stirring “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”) and a Children’s and Family Emmy for a tune from Netflix’s “We the People.” And after her spirited turn as the beloved Belle from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” in ABC’s 30th anniversary special, the Primetime Emmy might be calling.. And here’s the kicker: She’s only 25.
Also Read:
‘Avatar’ Delay Pushes Disney Film Schedule – and Can Make or Break Bob Iger’s Legacy | Analysis
How did you become involved with...
- 6/14/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
A version of this story about the cinematography of “Poker Face” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Cinematographer Steve Yedlin has collaborated with two-time Oscar nominee Rian Johnson on every feature the latter has made, from 2005’s junior-noir “Brick” to the sci-fi mind-bender “Looper” to the striking “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” to last year’s “Knives Out” sequel, “Glass Onion,” and admits that “Poker Face,” Peacock’s sly fox of a mystery (for the uninitiated — envision a gender-swapped “Columbo” doing time on a fairly malevolent “Love Boat” that instead stays docked in different cities), is just part of a larger theme in their careers.
Also Read:
How ‘Poker Face’s’ Stop-Motion Animation Episode Was Brought to Life
“Strangely, I had been a ‘Columbo’ fan since I was a kid,” Yedlin said. “And I think for Rian, it’s actually a more recent thing.
Cinematographer Steve Yedlin has collaborated with two-time Oscar nominee Rian Johnson on every feature the latter has made, from 2005’s junior-noir “Brick” to the sci-fi mind-bender “Looper” to the striking “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” to last year’s “Knives Out” sequel, “Glass Onion,” and admits that “Poker Face,” Peacock’s sly fox of a mystery (for the uninitiated — envision a gender-swapped “Columbo” doing time on a fairly malevolent “Love Boat” that instead stays docked in different cities), is just part of a larger theme in their careers.
Also Read:
How ‘Poker Face’s’ Stop-Motion Animation Episode Was Brought to Life
“Strangely, I had been a ‘Columbo’ fan since I was a kid,” Yedlin said. “And I think for Rian, it’s actually a more recent thing.
- 6/13/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
This story about the casting of “Shrinking” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Say you’re casting a thoughtful comedy about the world of psychotherapists, and you need a seasoned veteran to support the sharp young cast in a potentially scene-stealing mentor role. And then you land one of the biggest movie stars in the world, an icon who has been in two of the largest movie franchises in the last 50 years.
This was the reality for “Shrinking” casting directors Debby Romano and Brett Benner when the AppleTV+ comedy was being put together. It still seems surreal to them that they landed Harrison Ford for the pivotal supporting role of Paul, a senior member of the practice where Jason Segel and Jessica Williams’ characters work as therapists.
Also Read:
Harrison Ford and Anthony Mackie Laugh It Up in Set Photo From ‘Captain America 4...
Say you’re casting a thoughtful comedy about the world of psychotherapists, and you need a seasoned veteran to support the sharp young cast in a potentially scene-stealing mentor role. And then you land one of the biggest movie stars in the world, an icon who has been in two of the largest movie franchises in the last 50 years.
This was the reality for “Shrinking” casting directors Debby Romano and Brett Benner when the AppleTV+ comedy was being put together. It still seems surreal to them that they landed Harrison Ford for the pivotal supporting role of Paul, a senior member of the practice where Jason Segel and Jessica Williams’ characters work as therapists.
Also Read:
Harrison Ford and Anthony Mackie Laugh It Up in Set Photo From ‘Captain America 4...
- 6/13/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
This story about James Marsden’s deep dive into the world of improv comedy in “Jury Duty” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Based on James Marsden’s history of playing impossibly handsome leading men — and often, would-be leading men — in movies including “27 Dresses,” “Enchanted,” “The Notebook” and the “X-Men” films, a burning ambition to do comedy wouldn’t be the first thing you’d imagine he’s been harboring all this time.
But the laughs have always been the Oklahoma native’s first love. “Before I moved out here (to L.A.), I wanted to be a regular on ‘SNL.’ Not a host — I wanted to actually be one of the cast,” Marsden said during a recent interview in Los Angeles. “I just felt like that played to my strengths. I was never that comfortable playing the super leading man. I was...
Based on James Marsden’s history of playing impossibly handsome leading men — and often, would-be leading men — in movies including “27 Dresses,” “Enchanted,” “The Notebook” and the “X-Men” films, a burning ambition to do comedy wouldn’t be the first thing you’d imagine he’s been harboring all this time.
But the laughs have always been the Oklahoma native’s first love. “Before I moved out here (to L.A.), I wanted to be a regular on ‘SNL.’ Not a host — I wanted to actually be one of the cast,” Marsden said during a recent interview in Los Angeles. “I just felt like that played to my strengths. I was never that comfortable playing the super leading man. I was...
- 6/13/2023
- by Loree Seitz
- The Wrap
A version of this story about the choreography of “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
As the old song goes, “Grease” is the time, the place and the motion — and the latter is provided for the Paramount+ prequel series “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” by none other than Jamal Sims, the show’s choreographer and one of its director. The first hurdle was how to weave a new dance language with that of a film that pretty much everyone knows.
“It was really one of the films that made me want to be a dancer,” Sims, who as a choreographer has worked on everything from the Oscars to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” to “Encanto” to the “Step Up” franchise, said. “You know, we didn’t have a lot of musicals when it came out. And then to see...
As the old song goes, “Grease” is the time, the place and the motion — and the latter is provided for the Paramount+ prequel series “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” by none other than Jamal Sims, the show’s choreographer and one of its director. The first hurdle was how to weave a new dance language with that of a film that pretty much everyone knows.
“It was really one of the films that made me want to be a dancer,” Sims, who as a choreographer has worked on everything from the Oscars to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” to “Encanto” to the “Step Up” franchise, said. “You know, we didn’t have a lot of musicals when it came out. And then to see...
- 6/12/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
This story about Bill Hader and Seth Meyers and “Barry” and “Late Night” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
The moment Bill Hader and Seth Meyers met on “Saturday Night Live,” Meyers immediately understood that Hader was a film nerd. “The first time Bill came into my office after he got hired, when he left, I somehow had a list of 12 foreign films to watch,” Meyers said during a lengthy joint interview conducted before the writers’ strike, the full version of which you can watch here or at the bottom of this article. “It’s like the guy from the video store following you around,” Hader added with a laugh.
And yet, even as the two became close friends on “SNL” (and an iconic duo via Hader’s Stefon on Weekend Update), Meyers could never have predicted that Hader would make something like “Barry.
The moment Bill Hader and Seth Meyers met on “Saturday Night Live,” Meyers immediately understood that Hader was a film nerd. “The first time Bill came into my office after he got hired, when he left, I somehow had a list of 12 foreign films to watch,” Meyers said during a lengthy joint interview conducted before the writers’ strike, the full version of which you can watch here or at the bottom of this article. “It’s like the guy from the video store following you around,” Hader added with a laugh.
And yet, even as the two became close friends on “SNL” (and an iconic duo via Hader’s Stefon on Weekend Update), Meyers could never have predicted that Hader would make something like “Barry.
- 6/12/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
What’s so funny?
And by that, I mean, what’s so funny about “The Flight Attendant,” “Barry,” “The Kominsky Method,” “Cobra Kai,” “Dead to Me” and other shows that were nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series Emmys even though much of their content was seriously serious?
What was so funny about “Orange Is the New Black” in 2014, when it was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, but not in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020, when it was nominated in the drama categories even though the tone of the show hadn’t changed?
Blame it on the Emmys slipping and sliding over the treacherous surface of today’s television, where the difference between comedy and drama is becoming increasingly hard to discern. Hell, the first season of “The White Lotus” won a Directors Guild Award as a comedy series, while its second season is now competing at the Emmys as a drama series. Meanwhile, “Succession” might...
And by that, I mean, what’s so funny about “The Flight Attendant,” “Barry,” “The Kominsky Method,” “Cobra Kai,” “Dead to Me” and other shows that were nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series Emmys even though much of their content was seriously serious?
What was so funny about “Orange Is the New Black” in 2014, when it was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, but not in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020, when it was nominated in the drama categories even though the tone of the show hadn’t changed?
Blame it on the Emmys slipping and sliding over the treacherous surface of today’s television, where the difference between comedy and drama is becoming increasingly hard to discern. Hell, the first season of “The White Lotus” won a Directors Guild Award as a comedy series, while its second season is now competing at the Emmys as a drama series. Meanwhile, “Succession” might...
- 6/9/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This story about the production design of “Wednesday” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Creepy. Kooky. Spooky. Ooky. All of these adjectives are naturally in play when you’re adapting a spinoff series of “The Addams Family” — even more so when Tim Burton is your boss. For “Wednesday” production designer Mark Scruton, that made him as happy as Wednesday Addams witnessing a torture chamber.
“When I got this gig, I very consciously did not watch any of [the past adaptations],” Scruton said. “I did go back to the Charles Addams cartoons very specifically, but we wanted to take it back to that original core look and aesthetic. Tim responds to his heart and he’s a minimalist and likes things very precise and composed, rather than lots of background fluff, so it was a great jumping-off point for us.”
Ophelia Hall dorm room sketch (Provided by Neflix...
Creepy. Kooky. Spooky. Ooky. All of these adjectives are naturally in play when you’re adapting a spinoff series of “The Addams Family” — even more so when Tim Burton is your boss. For “Wednesday” production designer Mark Scruton, that made him as happy as Wednesday Addams witnessing a torture chamber.
“When I got this gig, I very consciously did not watch any of [the past adaptations],” Scruton said. “I did go back to the Charles Addams cartoons very specifically, but we wanted to take it back to that original core look and aesthetic. Tim responds to his heart and he’s a minimalist and likes things very precise and composed, rather than lots of background fluff, so it was a great jumping-off point for us.”
Ophelia Hall dorm room sketch (Provided by Neflix...
- 6/9/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
This story about Selena Gomez and “Only Murders in the Building” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Selena Gomez doesn’t stop. The actress and musician flew home to Los Angeles from New York after wrapping production on the third season of Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” to see her family for a week before jetting off to Paris to start filming on “Emilia Perez,” a movie by French director Jacques Audiard. In a whirlwind hour and change with TheWrap she does a gorgeous photoshoot, an interview and an MTV Movie & TV Awards acceptance video for Best Music Documentary for her emotionally raw look into her life, “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me.” Just days before, the 30-year-old was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Culinary Series for “Selena + Chef,” her Max cooking show.
It’s a lot.
For...
Selena Gomez doesn’t stop. The actress and musician flew home to Los Angeles from New York after wrapping production on the third season of Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” to see her family for a week before jetting off to Paris to start filming on “Emilia Perez,” a movie by French director Jacques Audiard. In a whirlwind hour and change with TheWrap she does a gorgeous photoshoot, an interview and an MTV Movie & TV Awards acceptance video for Best Music Documentary for her emotionally raw look into her life, “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me.” Just days before, the 30-year-old was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Culinary Series for “Selena + Chef,” her Max cooking show.
It’s a lot.
For...
- 6/9/2023
- by Libby Hill
- The Wrap
A version of this story about the hairstyling of “Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” first appeared in the Limited Series/Movies issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
One of the great ironies of Jeffrey Dahmer’s existence is that while his apartment stank of, in his words, “rotting meat” (we all know what it really was), his physical appearance was initially anything but shabby. He even had a tidy blond hairdo, which Evan Peters wears as the cannibal serial killer in producer Ryan Murphy’s “Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” for Netflix.
“If you look at a lot of pictures, there were times where Dahmer had darker hair and times that he had these blond highlights and you’re trying to figure out where did these highlights come from?” hair department head Shay Sanford-Fong said. “But a lot of it is in Ryan’s research: When he was in jail,...
One of the great ironies of Jeffrey Dahmer’s existence is that while his apartment stank of, in his words, “rotting meat” (we all know what it really was), his physical appearance was initially anything but shabby. He even had a tidy blond hairdo, which Evan Peters wears as the cannibal serial killer in producer Ryan Murphy’s “Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” for Netflix.
“If you look at a lot of pictures, there were times where Dahmer had darker hair and times that he had these blond highlights and you’re trying to figure out where did these highlights come from?” hair department head Shay Sanford-Fong said. “But a lot of it is in Ryan’s research: When he was in jail,...
- 6/7/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
This story about “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” first appeared in the Limited Series/Movies issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Opening night of last year’s Toronto International Film Festival culminated with one of the wackiest and, yes, weirdest screenings imaginable. Premiering at midnight, Roku’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” left a capacity TIFF audience in stitches at the almost wholly fictional saga of young Al’s rise from a kid whose passion for accordions and Hawaiian shirts shamed his parents to a global superstar who found time to romance Madonna and take down a Colombian drug cartel.
The film was inspired by a Funny or Die video that director Eric Appel made in 2009, parodying rock biopics in the same way that Yankovic’s songs gleefully distort rock hits. Expanded from a three-minute trailer that starred Aaron Paul as the Weird one into a 108-minute romp with Daniel Radcliffe in the title role,...
Opening night of last year’s Toronto International Film Festival culminated with one of the wackiest and, yes, weirdest screenings imaginable. Premiering at midnight, Roku’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” left a capacity TIFF audience in stitches at the almost wholly fictional saga of young Al’s rise from a kid whose passion for accordions and Hawaiian shirts shamed his parents to a global superstar who found time to romance Madonna and take down a Colombian drug cartel.
The film was inspired by a Funny or Die video that director Eric Appel made in 2009, parodying rock biopics in the same way that Yankovic’s songs gleefully distort rock hits. Expanded from a three-minute trailer that starred Aaron Paul as the Weird one into a 108-minute romp with Daniel Radcliffe in the title role,...
- 6/5/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This story about “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” first appeared in the Limited Series/Movies issue of TheWrap’s Emmy magazine.
It’s enough of a task to create the look for one horror mini-feature, but imagine if your assignment was a total of eight, in the style of “Tales from the Crypt” or “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” And each had a different director. And none of the stories were directly related to one another. And all were overseen by a beloved Oscar-winning filmmaker whose name alone is a brand. “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” production designer Tamara Deverell knew going in that it would be challenging to serve every vision, with filmmakers as diverse as Jennifer Kent (“The Babadook”), Panos Cosmatos (“Mandy”), Vincenzo Natali (“Splice”) and Ana Lily Amirpour (“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”) as her just-for-starters roster.
“Everything was smooth-going, and then the s...
It’s enough of a task to create the look for one horror mini-feature, but imagine if your assignment was a total of eight, in the style of “Tales from the Crypt” or “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” And each had a different director. And none of the stories were directly related to one another. And all were overseen by a beloved Oscar-winning filmmaker whose name alone is a brand. “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” production designer Tamara Deverell knew going in that it would be challenging to serve every vision, with filmmakers as diverse as Jennifer Kent (“The Babadook”), Panos Cosmatos (“Mandy”), Vincenzo Natali (“Splice”) and Ana Lily Amirpour (“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”) as her just-for-starters roster.
“Everything was smooth-going, and then the s...
- 6/2/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
This story about “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” first appeared in the Race Begins issue of TheWrap’s Emmy magazine.
Davis Guggenheim, the Oscar-winning director of “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for Superman,” has made an intimate chronicle of Michael J. Fox’s meteoric rise to TV and film stardom in the 1980s, followed by his shocking diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. In keeping with Fox’s usual approach, “Still” is light instead of ponderous, even as it delves into the inexorable progression of a disease about which Fox’s doctor told him, “You lose this one.”
How did you get involved with this movie?
It was during Covid. I was in a rut, I hadn’t had a movie that excited me in a while. And I read this interview with Michael in the New York Times. Of course he was funny, but his storytelling was so strong that I said,...
Davis Guggenheim, the Oscar-winning director of “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for Superman,” has made an intimate chronicle of Michael J. Fox’s meteoric rise to TV and film stardom in the 1980s, followed by his shocking diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. In keeping with Fox’s usual approach, “Still” is light instead of ponderous, even as it delves into the inexorable progression of a disease about which Fox’s doctor told him, “You lose this one.”
How did you get involved with this movie?
It was during Covid. I was in a rut, I hadn’t had a movie that excited me in a while. And I read this interview with Michael in the New York Times. Of course he was funny, but his storytelling was so strong that I said,...
- 6/1/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This story about Bella Ramsey and “The Last of Us” first appeared in The Race Begins issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Bella Ramsey grew up while filming HBO’s hit freshman series “The Last of Us.” Literally.
“We spent a year out there in Calgary,” Ramsey said. “We adopted a dog over there. It was the best year of my life, it really was. I turned 18 when I was over there and did absolutely nothing for my 18th birthday.” They paused, then added, “The day before, I stabbed an infected in the basement. That was my last day of being a child.”
It was a fitting milestone for the British actor, thrust into the spotlight with their star turn in the series after breaking through in a small yet iconic role as the young, resolute Lyanna Mormont in “Game of Thrones.” In “The Last of Us,” Ramsey plays Ellie,...
Bella Ramsey grew up while filming HBO’s hit freshman series “The Last of Us.” Literally.
“We spent a year out there in Calgary,” Ramsey said. “We adopted a dog over there. It was the best year of my life, it really was. I turned 18 when I was over there and did absolutely nothing for my 18th birthday.” They paused, then added, “The day before, I stabbed an infected in the basement. That was my last day of being a child.”
It was a fitting milestone for the British actor, thrust into the spotlight with their star turn in the series after breaking through in a small yet iconic role as the young, resolute Lyanna Mormont in “Game of Thrones.” In “The Last of Us,” Ramsey plays Ellie,...
- 6/1/2023
- by Libby Hill
- The Wrap
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.