Entertainment

A teenager and an older man dying from dementia form a special bond in the new Apple TV+ series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, premiering today.

Dominique Fishback, who stars alongside Samuel L. Jackson, tells ABC Audio there were a lot parallels between herself and her character, Robyn, including an incident that happened just last week.

“[It was the] ten-year anniversary of my grandma passing from cancer. She had to live in an apartment with my mom and I in east New York, Brooklyn,” the Judas and the Black Messiah actress recalls. “It was very small. We don’t really have the tools, the money to like, make sure she is the most comfortable. But you do what you can and you give love how you can. And when I saw this and saw that this character was going to be the caretaker of this man when everybody else kind of left him alone, left him to rot, I thought that that was really empowering.”

Fishback, 30, says she also learned a lot from her 73-year-old co-star, including one important lesson.

“Sam, he shows up to set and he just is who he is. He is himself. And that’s the greatest gift that you can give anybody and you can give yourself is to be yourself. And even if you feel like you made a mistake, you say, like, ‘I was just being myself.’ You just got to be yourself at the end of day,” she shares.

The six-episode limited series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey kicks off with the first two episodes, followed with a new one streaming every Friday thereafter.

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Emilio Delgado, the actor best known for playing Luis on the popular PBS kids series Sesame Street, died at his home Thursday of multiple myeloma, which Delgado had been battling since December 2020, his agent, Renee Glicker, tells The New York Times. He was 81. The beloved Mexican-American actor played Luis, the Fix-It Shop owner, for a total of 44 years. He took a brief hiatus from the show in the late 80s, but returned within a year. In between Sesame Street appearances, Delgado appeared in a number of popular primetime TV series, including Quincy, Hawaii Five-O, Falcon Crest, House of Cards, and three iterations of the Law & Order franchise. He was a recurring cast member of Lou Grant, appearing in 19 episodes as National Editor Rubin Castillo…

Austin Butler, who had a breakout role in Baz Lurhann‘s Elvis biopic, is in talks to join the cast of Dune: Part 2, the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Butler would play Feyd-Rautha, the cunning nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the villain played by Stellan Skarsgård. Black Widow’s Florence Pugh is also in talks to play play Princess Irulan Corrino, daughter of the galactic emperor, who forms a relationship with Paul Atreides, portrayed by Timothée Chalamet. Dune: Part 2, which also stars original cast members Chalamet, Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista and Zendaya, is slated for an October 2023 release…

Peaky Blinders‘ sixth and final season is heading to Netflix on June 10, according to Variety. Cillian Murphy returns as Tommy Shelby, leader of the Birmingham-based criminal gang. Paul Anderson, Finn Cole, Anya Taylor-Joy and Sophie Rundle are also back, along with Stephen Graham. Helen McCrory‘s character, Aunt Polly, will not return, following the actress’ tragic death from cancer this past April…

HGTV’s popular home renovation series Flip or Flop will end after its current 10th season. Hosts Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack revealed the news in separate Instagram posts, and HGTV confirmed the news in a statement obtained by Deadline, writing, “Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack are long-time, fan favorite stars on HGTV and it’s true that Flip or Flop is coming to an end after an epic 10-season run as a top-rated unscripted series…We look forward to seeing more of Tarek and Christina’s real life, real estate and renovation adventures in upcoming episodes of their solo series Flipping 101 with Tarek El Moussa and Christina on the Coast.” Flip or Flop‘s series finale is set for Thursday, March 17…

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On Friday, Raven-Symoné returns in season five of Disney Channel’s Raven’s Home, which sees her titular character moving back to San Francisco to help her dad recover from a heart attack.

Speaking to ABC Audio, Raven said season five is jam-packed with “nostalgia.” That’s So Raven stars Adrienne Bailon and Rondell Sheridan return as Alana and Victor, respectively — as does Bayside High and The Chill Grill. “It feels like a cup a cocoa with extra marshmallows,” Raven grinned.

Raven and her co-star Issac Ryan Brown, who plays her on-screen son Booker, commented on how Disney Channel has changed since That’s So Raven first aired in 2003. They say the network has increased its number of inclusive shows that celebrate different family dynamics, sexual orientations, genders, and people of color.

“It’s important that Disney’s moving in this direction because it shows that it’s relevant,” said Raven. “It is taking what’s happening in our society right now and validating it. I am so happy and proud and humbled to be part of the channel, but I am also humbled just to be part of our show, because we, too, are bringing that diversity within the writers room.”

She continued, “It’s so important because that is our world. You cannot shut your eyes to it, and we no longer will. To be able to give that in a positive light and really show what society is right now can only further respect and kindness in the future.”

Issac, who also voices Gus on the progressive Disney Channel show The Owl House, added, “Kids want to see themselves. Growing up, Raven was an icon to so many Black girls…It’s always great to see representation, and I feel like we’re doing a great job with that on our show.”  

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to 150 days in county jail on Thursday for fabricating a 2019 hate crime attack on himself.

Smollett was also ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago, fined $25,000 and must serve 30 months of felony probation.

As Cook County Judge James Linn was imposing a sentence, Smollett screamed out, “I am not suicidal. I am innocent.”

The judge ordered Smollett to be taken to jail immediately.

Smollett, 39, appeared Thursday afternoon in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago to hear his fate after a jury convicted him in December on five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct stemming from him filing a false police report and lying to police, who spent more than $130,000 investigating his allegations.

Prior to the sentencing, Linn denied Smollett’s motion for a new trial following a lengthy hearing.

“We’ve talked about this for two years,” Linn said. “I do believe that at the end of the day, Mr. Smollett received a fair trial.”

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As part of its coverage of Disney+’s upcoming series Obi-Wan Kenobi, Entertainment Weekly released an extended interview with Ewan McGregor, who portrays the titular hero. 

McGregor explained that he’d first returned to the Star Wars universe a couple of years ago, and after he’d agreed to the show, he was asked to do so-called “chemistry reads” with potential co-stars, which were held on the set of The Mandalorian. 

He was given “generic Jedi robes” to wear for the test shoot, but they had the desired effect. “I was walking out…and I was aware, suddenly of the crew…looking at me coming in [wearing] Obi-Wan’s costume, and I could feel that sort of excitement running through,” McGregor said, smiling. “It was exciting.”

McGregor said the best part was reuniting with his prequels co-star Hayden Christensen, who reprises his role as Kenobi’s fallen student and battle brother Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.

“It was sort of spine-tingling,” the Emmy-winning actor enthused. “It was just amazing to see Hayden, full stop. I’m so close with him. We’ve stayed in touch over the years, but we hadn’t seen each other in a long time. And…once Hayden was on board…we met [during the lockdown] in Santa Monica in a park…and we had this long catch-up.”

McGregor noted, “I love him so much, and we have this special bond of making those two…films together…And to be with him on set again…it was just odd.”

Ewan added, “I look over at him…as Anakin…and it was…like the period of time between [the prequels] and now didn’t exist. It was so peculiar!”

Obi-Wan Kenobi debuts May 25 on Disney+. 

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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The social media age is famous for making mundane life moments the stuff of posts — nobody took pictures of their lunch back in the day, after all. But Amanda Bynes is apparently making up for lost time on her new Instagram account while apparently feeling out the finer points of posting.

A day after Tuesday’s first message, in which she rapid-fired an introduction and news she’s got a court date over terminating her conservatorship, Bynes posted throughout the day Wednesday. 

Among the things she detailed were evidence she’s removing the heart she’d had tattooed on her left cheek, and proof she just had her hair dyed, to eliminate the ombré tips she just had. In both cases, she stared at the camera wordlessly and blinked, adding only brief captions.

Another post was a shot of both her sneaker-clad feet, and according to the caption, those of the 35-year-old Easy A star’s 29-year-old fiancé, Paul Michael — the first person she followed on the ‘Gram.

Michael appeared in another video, via a TV monitor, recorded as he seemingly filmed an internal-use commercial for a medical facility. “BTS commercial for San Miguel Urgent Care,” Bynes chronicled.

Amanda changing her appearance to something more conservative could be an attempt to get ready for her March 22 day in court regarding her current condition, a key step to dissolving the conservatorship over her affairs. 

Bynes’ mother, Lynn, was put in charge of Amanda’s affairs following a 2013 incident in which Bynes reportedly started a small fire in a neighbor’s driveway, after which Bynes was placed on a temporary psychiatric hold. The conservatorship was reinstated in 2014, the same year the actress revealed she’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

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Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer celebrated the show’s 25th anniversary on Thursday with mixed feelings. Following director Joss Whedon‘s fall from grace and alarming allegations of misconduct made by former cast members and those who worked with him on other projects, it leaves fans worried that has permanently tainted the show’s legacy.

Star Sarah Michelle Gellar looked past the controversy to celebrate those who helped turned Buffy into a cult classic — the fans. 

“25 years ago today I had the honor to introduce the world to my version of Buffy Anne Summers. It was an uphill battle,” she wrote Thursday on Instagram. “A mid season replacement, on a new network based on a movie, that was by no means a giant success. But then there was you. The fans. You believed in us. You made this happen.” 

She continued, “You are the reason 25 years later we are still celebrating. So today we celebrate you as well,” and closed with the hashtag “#wwbd,” which means “What Would Buffy Do?”

ABC Audio caught up with Gellar ahead of the show’s silver anniversary, and the actress spoke about why a series about vampires and mad gods resonated so fiercely with fans.

“I think what makes any great entertainment is when a story transcends time and place, when everybody finds a little bit of themselves in the character. You know, whether you’re a guy, a girl, age, whatever, everyone understood that we used the demons as the manifestation of the horrors of adolescence,” said Gellar about why the show has survived the test of time. “No matter who you are, we all experience the horrors of adolescence. That is one of the commonalities among us.” 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered March 10, 1997, and ran for seven seasons, airing its final episode in 2003.

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AMC has released a trailer and a release date for the start of the last season of Better Call Saul: April 18.

The Emmy-winning Breaking Bad prequel series ended its penultimate season with Bob Odenkirk‘s Jimmy McGill getting increasingly tangled in the deadly dealings of the Salamanca drug cartel.

Set in part to Andy Williams‘ “The Days of Wine and Roses,” the trailer shows Jimmy and wife Kim Wexler, played by Rhea Seahorn, plotting to legally target their law partner, Patrick Fabian‘s Howard.

Meanwhile, Tony Dalton‘s Lalo is plotting to lethally target Jonathan Banks‘ Mike and Michael Mando‘s Nacho in revenge for their botched hit on Lalo, which killed his family.

“Whatever happens next, it’s not gonna go down the way you think it is,” Mike warns in voiceover.

The sixth season of Better Call Saul was supposed to debut last year, but was delayed both by the pandemic and by Odenkirk’s near-fatal heart attack on the show’s New Mexico set. 

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Elon Musk and Grimes have welcomed a new baby to their brood, via surrogate. And like her big brother, Grimes’ first child X Æ A-Xii, the new addition has an…interesting name: Exa Dark Sideræl [sigh-DEER-ee-al] Musk. 

For the record, they normally just refer to her as Y, Grimes says in a wife-ranging feature piece in Vanity Fair — and their son usually goes by X. 

The new baby’s name was born of a multitude of references, Grimes explains, with “Exa” as in exaflops, or the ability for a computer to perform a quintillion operations a second. “Dark” represents “the unknown…and also the absence of photons making up dark matter, “the beautiful mystery of our universe,” 

Sideræl, Grimes describes as “a more elven” spelling of “sidereal,” which Grimes calls, “the true time of the universe, star time, deep space time, not our relative earth time,” while also being a nod to the Elven queen Galadriel from The Lord of the Rings.  

The coupling between the avant-garde musician and the billionaire creator of Tesla Motors and SpaceX was widely reported to have been over, but as she tells the magazine, “I would probably refer to him as my boyfriend, but we’re very fluid. We live in separate houses. We’re best friends. We see each other all the time…. We just have our own thing going on, and I don’t expect other people to understand it.”

Grimes says of their relationship, “This is the best it’s ever been,” and they plan to have “at least three or four” children together — so plan on some more interesting names in the future. 

That said, she tweeted today, “Me and E have broken up *again* since the writing of this article haha, but he’s my best friend and the love of my life.”

Elon Musk already has six other children from previous relationships — Nevada, Xavier, Damian, Griffin, Kai, and Saxon. 

We’re pretty sure he can afford the large family.

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Pete Davidson is teaming up with his SNL boss Lorne Michaels for a new sitcom about his life. Sort of.

Deadline reports the headline-grabbing funnyman will star in a show, tentatively titled Bupkis, which will center on a fictionalized version of his real life, a la Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

The trade reports the show is to be an “unapologetically unfiltered, R-rated” series that’s being pitched to streaming services, and “A-list talent” is being sought to co-star with the King of Staten Island star.

The show is being co-written by Davidson’s longtime friend and King of Staten Island co-writer Dave Sirus.

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