‘Shades of Grey’: Ellen Pompeo will only appear in 8 episodes of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ new season

ABC/Mike Rosenthal

Grey’s Anatomy fans will see less Meredith Grey next season.

ABC News can confirm that series star Ellen Pompeo, the show’s namesake character who has appeared in 400 episodes to date, will continue her iconic role in a limited capacity in season 19.

Pompeo will appear in eight episodes this upcoming season, premiering Oct. 6 on ABC, and stay on as executive producer.

A new crop of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital interns have recently been announced for season 19, including Alexis Floyd as Simone Griffin, Niko Terho as Lucas Adams, Midori Francis as Mika Yasuda, Adelaide Kane as Jules Millin and Harry Shum Jr. as Daniel “Blue” Kwan.

The fresh faces seem to indicate that Grey Sloan’s residency program — which was shut down in the season 18 finale — will be back up and running sooner rather than later. That shocking twist, however, led to Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) resigning and Meredith agreeing to step in as interim chief of surgery.

Pompeo had already downsized her role on the show somewhat over the past two seasons, with Meredith having been in a COVID-19 coma for most of the pandemic-centric season 17. Her character also spent a large part of last season in Minnesota, where she entered into a relationship with Scott Speedman‘s Nick Marsh.

Production on the long-running ABC medical primetime drama begins this week.

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Tyler Perry talks success and keeping his son out of the spotlight

ABC News/Stephen Iervolino

In the August/September edition of AARP: The MagazineTyler Perry opened up about his dark childhood, his success and how he shields his seven-year-old son, Aman, from the spotlight. 

For all of his fame both as an actor and a self-made billionaire mogul, Perry is notoriously protective about his private life. He shares Aman with ex Gelila Bekele, who he describes as an “incredible mother.” Though the couple split in 2020, she runs his charity, The Perry Foundation.

As for why he’s tight-lipped about his personal life, Tyler says, “Because these people are not famous. My son’s not famous. I want him to have as normal a life as he can.”

He said of the boy, “I want him to know what it’s like to have his own name and his own life and not have the pressure of trying to live up to whatever or whoever your father was.”

Perry also talked about how he’s handling current events as a Black father, explaining he hasn’t delved too deeply into matters of race — yet. 

“…I want to hold out as long as I can,” he insisted. “I don’t want to tell him that there are people who will judge him because of the color of his skin, because right now he’s in a school with every race, and all these kids are in their purest form. When he describes his friends, he never defines them by race.”

Perry goes on to say of Aman, “the moment he loses that innocence is going to be a very, very sad day for me. I know it’s coming, though, because he’s already asking some really tough questions. What I want him to be, more than anything, is somebody who sees injustice, speaks out against it and effects change.”

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“I know it’s real hard to top ‘Iron Man'”: John Boyega denies MCU rumors”

ABC

In a personal and wide-ranging interview with Men’s Health, John Boyega denied a persistent rumor that he’ll be making his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel The Marvels.

“That’s not in the vision for me now,” admits the actor.

He adds, “I want to do nuanced things. . . . I want to donate my services to original indie films that come with new, fresh ideas,” explaining his MCU reluctance, “…because I know it’s real hard to top Iron Man in that universe.”

Aside from admiring Robert Downey Jr.‘s onscreen alter-ego, the feature also reveals Boyega’s looked up to Downey in other ways.

“I am very interested in people who go to dark spaces and are able to flip that,” he says, adding the star, who overcame addiction to become one of the world’s biggest movie stars, advised him about his career.

“You’re going to go through some turbulence. You’re going to try to find who you are within this. It might be rocky, but you’ll come out the end with a solid identity,” he continues, quoting the star.

Some of that turbulence included his turn in the Star Wars sequels, which began with racist trolling about him being a Black Stormtrooper and crescendoed when watching directors Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams marginalize his character Finn in The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

Boyega is proud he was so outspoken about both. “I’m the one that brought this to the freaking forefront,” the actor says.

He insists Lucasfilm will now “make sure you’re well-supported and at least you [now] go through this franchise knowing that everybody is going to have [your] back. I’m glad I talked out everything at that time.”

Marvel and Lucasfilm are owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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‘Stranger Things” writers starting work on season five

Netflix

If you’re a Stranger Things fan, you’ve probably just recovered from the show’s fourth season finale — but now, there’s some news that might have you hyperventilating all over again.

In a post on their official Twitter account, the writers for the Netflix phenomenon showed a photo of a white board, blank save for one critical element: A hand-drawn logo reading “Stranger Things 5.”

While revealing absolutely nothing else, the post has been “liked” nearly 700,000 times in less than 24 hours, as of this story.

The show’s fifth season will be its last, creators Matt and Ross Duffer have previously said. While that whiteboard may have been blank, the Duffer Bros. know how the story of Eleven and her pals will end: “We do feel good about the ending,” Matt Duffer told Collider.

“I’m insecure about a lot of things, but I feel like this ending feels good.”

Further, the pair told The Wrap that the wrap-up is emotional — at least according to the executives they briefed about it.

Ross explained, “I mean, it was hard. It’s the end of the story. I saw executives crying who I’ve never seen cry before and it was wild. And it’s not just to do with the story, just the fact that it’s like, ‘Oh my God, this thing that has defined so many of our lives, these Netflix people who has been with us from the beginning, seven years now,’ and it’s hard to imagine the journey coming to an end.”

Stranger Things is Netflix’s second-most popular show ever: Season four saw 1.4 billion hours viewed, bested only by Squid Game‘s 1.7 billion.

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Jane Fonda “not proud” of getting a face lift: “Stop being afraid of being old”

Netflix/Eric Charbonneau

At 84 years old, Jane Fonda is finally embracing aging gracefully.

The two-time Academy Award winner tells Vogue she regrets having a facelift in the past, and has sworn off any further cosmetic enhancements. 

“We all know a lot of women who are wealthy who’ve had all kinds of facelifts and things like that and they look terrible,” Fonda expresses. “I had a facelift and I stopped because I don’t want to look distorted. I’m not proud of the fact I had one. Now, I don’t know if I had it to do over if I would do it.”

The Grace and Frankie star added of her own plastic surgery experience, “I admit it, and then I just say, okay, you can get addicted. Don’t keep doing it. A lot of women, I don’t know, they’re addicted to it.”

Fonda tells the glamour magazine that at her age, she’s hoping to spread a message. “I want young people to stop being afraid about getting older. What matters isn’t age, isn’t that chronological number. What matters is your health,” the former workout tape bestseller says.  “I’m almost 85, but I don’t seem that old. So getting young people to stop being afraid of being old, helping people realize that just because you’re a certain age doesn’t mean you have to give up on life.”

Fonda also credits exercise with keeping her looking her best — and shares some other secrets, too: “I don’t do a lot of facials. I don’t spend a lot of money on face creams or anything like that, but I stay moisturized, I sleep, I move, I stay out of the sun, and I have good friends who make me laugh. Laughter is a good thing, too.”

 

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In Brief: ‘Atlanta’ drops trailer for final season, and more

FX has ordered The Veil, a new limited series thriller, for Hulu, starring The Handmaid’s Tale‘s Elisabeth Moss. Per FX, the thriller “explores the surprising and fraught relationship between two women who play a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London. One woman has a secret, the other a mission to reveal it before thousands of lives are lost”…

FX also announced on Tuesday that The 11th season of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story will premiere this fall, according to Variety. The horror anthology series, which debuted in 2011 and often includes recurring players Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Evan Peters, Adina Porter and Leslie Grossman, among others, has been renewed through season 13 at FX. Season 10, billed as American Horror Story: Double Feature, was split into two stories: “Red Tide” and “Death Valley,” which concluded last October…

Freeform has renewed Good Trouble for a fifth season, according to Variety. The drama series stars Maia Mitchell and Cierra Ramirez respectively as recently-graduated sisters Callie and Mariana, two 20-somethings who navigate love, sex and the complicated relationships in a new city. The series also stars Tommy Martinez, Emma Hunton, Sherry Cola, Zuri Adele, Beau Mirchoff, Josh Pence, Priscilla Quintana and Bryan Craig

The trailer for Atlanta‘s fourth and final season dropped on Tuesday. Following season three, which took place almost entirely in Europe, the FX series returns to Atlanta for its upcoming season. “I think it explores people more than we have before because I feel like we are right now kind of living in a time where you just don’t give people the benefit of the doubt,” the show’s creator and star, Donald Glover, said at the Television Critics Association press tour, according to The Hollywood Reporter(Trailer contains uncensored profanity.)

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‘Bachelorette’ contestant Hayden apologizes to Gabby and Rachel for ‘complete lapse of judgement’

ABC

Hayden Markowitz is taking accountability for his actions. 

The Bachelorette contestant was eliminated during Monday night’s episode after it was found out that he made some vulgar comments about Bachelorettes Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, including referring to them as “b******.”

Taking to Instagram, the 29-year-old penned a lengthy apology, that began, “For those who watched tonight’s episode, you saw me at my absolute worst and lowest moment.”

“I have always tried to carry myself with humility and respect for others. However, my complete lapse of judgement was not only disappointing but it was absolutely unacceptable,” he continued. “I genuinely want to express my deepest apologies to both Gabby and Rachel for my actions.”

Hayden went on to say that he takes “full responsibility for not being the man I was raised to be in those moments” and said that he does respect both Gabby and Rachel.  

“I really hate how this season ended, but this experience was not one that I was mentally or emotionally prepared for with the current things going on in my life,” he admitted. “Despite how everything transpired, it was an amazing experience that I will never forget and will learn from.”

“I wish Gabby and Rachel all the best and hope they can accept my apology!” Hayden concluded. 

Hayden, who was Team Rachel, was eliminated during Monday night’s episode. 

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‘Batgirl’ gets her wings clipped at Warner Bros.

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In a surprise move, Warner Bros. has shelved its nearly completed Batgirl film. According to The Wrap, the cost-cutting measure comes after Discovery’s acquisition of WarnerMedia and an attempt to get its caped crusaders in order.

The film starred In the HeightsLeslie Grace as the title character and her alter-ego, Barbara Gordon, as well as J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, her father. Michael Keaton was to reprise as Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Keaton will still appear in the forthcoming The Flash film, starring Ezra Miller, however.

The Wrap reports Batgirl was initially bound for HBO Max and also a possible theatrical release. But with a budget that swelled to $90 million, it was too expensive for the small screen and looked too small screen for the big screen. Insiders put it bluntly to the trade: “The movie simply did not work.”

As ABC Audio has reported, Brendan Fraser was playing the heavy, a villain known as Firefly.

Batgirl was being directed by Bad Boys for Life‘s Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who recently won raves for backing the Disney+ show Ms. Marvel.

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‘Heathers: The Musical’ coming to Roku

Roku

The musical broke box office records there and at its later home, Theatre Royal Haymarket, later that year.

Heathers: The Musical returned to the Haymarket for another successful West End season in 2021, and it also toured the United Kingdom before returning to The Other Palace in November 2021, where its hit run continues.

Like the film, the musical centers on Ryder’s Veronica Sawyer finally taking on Westervelt High School’s dreaded, identically monikered mean girls known collectively as The Heathers, with the help of the mysterious new kid, J.D., played by Christian Slater in the film.

The Roku version will star theatrical players Ailsa Davidson as Veronica and Simon Gordon as J.D., as well as Vivian Panka as Heather Duke, Teleri Hughes as Heather McNamara and Maddison Firth as Heather Chandler.

Their film counterparts were played, respectively, by Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk and Kim Walker.

According to Roku, the musical will be filmed at its original venue.

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Tom Cruise apologizes for “disturbing” couple’s dog walk for crazy mountainside cliff jump

Paramount Pictures

Tom Cruise is already famous for performing death-defying stunts on camera, but in recent years, he’s been rivaling Bill Murray for his ability to randomly show up and give fans a story they’ll tell the rest of their lives.

Such was the case recently on the side of a mountain called High Craig in Umbria, England. Sarah and Jason Haygarth tell The Sun they’d reached the 2,440-foot summit with their dog, Edward, when a helicopter approached and landed.

Out popped the Mission: Impossible star.

“Sorry for disturbing your peaceful walk with all the noise — I like your dog,” the star, carrying a blue parasail, reportedly told the gobsmacked pair.

Sarah says she asked the Top Gun hero about the cliff, “Are you really going to jump off there?”

According to The Sun, Cruise nodded and shouted before taking the leap, “See you later, folks.”

It’s thought that Cruise was preparing for a sequence for the next Mission: Impossible film.

The encounter wasn’t the first time Cruise shocked some English fans.

As reported in 2021, Cruise landed his helicopter at a family’s yard in Warwickshire after weather closed the local airport.

And according to his pal James Corden, he texted the late night host later that year to see if he could park in his yard so the pair could catch up.

Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One is set for release July 14, 2023.

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