Entertainment

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Taylor Sheridan‘s career is on fire right now, thanks to his massive hit Yellowstone, its successful spin-off, 1883, and now its new prequel show, 1923.

He also executive produces the acclaimed Mayor of Kingstown with Jeremy Renner and Tulsa King starring Sylvester Stallone, to boot.

For 1923, Sheridan scored Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, marking the former’s first foray into television. So how did he snag the two massive leads?

He asked.

Sheridan tells Deadline, “Truth? I called him and said come down to my ranch and he flew down,” he says of the actor and pilot. “I did the same with Helen.”

“I said, ‘We’re going to do this thing together.’ He goes, ‘Can I read a script?’ I said, ‘You can when it’s written, but it ain’t written yet and you got to commit to it now.'”

Sheridan explained, “I’m done wondering who I’m writing for, and I have to go try to chase the person I had in my mind and I can’t get the person because they’re doing some f****ing Netflix show. I don’t do that s*** anymore.”

He adds of the Indiana Jones star, “I poured about two bottles of wine down him. He said yes. I got him on the plane as fast as I could, closed the deal … Then came Helen, and same thing. Have a glass of wine.”

With his stars on board, Sheridan wrote 1923 and sent it to them. He said of Ford, “[H]e called me and he goes, ‘It’s f***ing perfect. When do we start?'”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

While last year’s ceremony was both star-free and un-televised, it looks like Hollywood has made up with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the Golden Globes.

Variety reports big names are already lining up for this year’s 80th annual ceremony.

The Golden Globes found itself embroiled in controversy in early 2021, after accusations of sexism and racism were leveled at the organization. It was revealed not a single minority journalist belonged to the HFPA, which was also accused of engaging in other “unethical conduct,” as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

In response, NBC severed its ties with the organization as stars like Scarlett Johansson, Shonda Rhimes and Mark Ruffalo publicly dragged it. Tom Cruise even went so far as to return his three acting trophies from the organization in protest.

The HFPA subsequently vowed it would be making “transformational changes” to boost minority membership and representation, and increase transparency into the organization and its inner workings.

That said, many in the industry wondered if nominees would show up this year, but according to Variety, a number of big names have already agreed to do so.

Variety reports Elvis nominee Austin Butler is a yes, as is Yellowstone‘s Kevin Costner, and Steven Spielberg and Michelle Williams backing the nominated The Fabelmans.

Others who have RSVP’d yes include Everything Everywhere All at Once nominee Jamie Lee Curtis, Avatar director James Cameron and Guillermo del Toro, who is nominated for Pinocchio.

The trade says other big names will include Dahmer – Monster‘s Niecy Nash, Kaley Cuoco and Wednesday‘s Jenna Ortega.

Hosted by Emmy-winning comedian Jerrod Carmichael, the Golden Globes will take place January 10 beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, airing live on NBC and streaming live on Peacock.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office is blaming the June death of 18-year-old actor Tyler Sanders on an accidental overdose of the deadly drug fentanyl. That’s the word from TMZ, which obtained a copy of the coroner’s report. According to the outlet, the report says the 9-1-1 Lonestar and Fear The Walking Dead actor texted a friend he was using the drug the night he died.

The friend called him back and reportedly received no answer. Sanders was found dead on June 16.

According to the report, the actor, who started his career at 10 years old, had a history of drug use, and a plastic straw and white powder were found in his Los Angeles apartment.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fentanyl was the leading cause of the record number of drug poisonings and overdose deaths in the country last year. More than 71,000 overdose deaths were linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, according to the CDC.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

In the new movie A Man Called Otto, opening Friday in limited release, Tom Hanks plays Otto, described as being the grumpiest man alive. So was he a grump on set?

“No! He was very sweet like he is,” his co-star Mariana Trevino tells ABC Audio. “We confirm his reputation as the nicest man in Hollywood. Totally true. Confirmed. He was really sweet.”

While it may be odd to some that a guy with that reputation would play such a hardened character, director Marc Forster explains, “It’s because you ultimately want to fall in love with him and you don’t want him just to be a dislikable grump.”

“And that’s the beauty about Tom Hanks,” Forster continues. “He is such an incredible actor that he can play grumpy, even though he’s so kind and nice and lovely. And then you fall in love with him.”

Overall, Forster hopes that A Man Called Otto audiences take home a message of kindness towards others.

“Hopefully that they see it’s a life affirming film and that if they have an Otto in their life, maybe it just doesn’t take that much then to knock on the door and bring them some food, and give them some company and open their heart,” he says.

Trevino, who plays one of Hanks’ neighbors, a bubbly woman trying to break through Otto’s concrete-coated exterior, adds, “We are all made of the same substance and we have the same essence. Our capacity to love is what leads us to connect to everyone. And I just think that is a beautiful, not only thought, but a reality. And we should tap into it.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Saturday night on ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, Ryan and his co-host, Liza Koshy, will be in New York’s Times Square counting down to midnight. In 2020, COVID-19 kept Times Square empty, and in 2021, the Omicron variant meant strict limits on attendance. But this year, Seacrest predicts Times Square will be “packed.”

“We’re hoping there will be a normal or larger-than-normal crowd because we haven’t had that … ability in the last couple of years,” he told ABC Audio on Thursday. “There is, potentially, a little rain, but I think we’ll see those pens full and the streets packed.”

Koshy predicted the same, saying, “Just on our way to this interview today, it was packed.”

Aside from the crowd and the performers, Seacrest and Koshy will be laser-focused on the task at hand.

“There’s a lot of trust, I think, instilled in us to make sure that we time 10 to zero on time,” Seacrest explained, adding, “People probably have us on in the background … but once it gets to be 11:45, it’s time for us to make sure we can deliver a new year.”

And once the ball drops? Seacrest said his late mentor Dick Clark told him the right thing to do is to let “the visuals narrate how big of a deal Times Square is.”

Seacrest noted, “Dick used to say, ‘Once you say “Happy New Year,” just be quiet. Just let the story be told by what you see.'”

At midnight, it’s time for the traditional New Year’s kiss. Koshy will smooch her mom, while Seacrest laughed, “I’ll kiss my girlfriend and probably her father. He’s a really, really good guy and I have to jump high to reach him … the guy’s tall!”

After that comes dinner. Seacrest used to have a huge meal before the grueling broadcast, but said he’s learned, “It’s better to eat at 1:30 in the morning.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Emma Heming Willis is getting nostalgic for her early days with Bruce Willis.

Heming Willis, 44, shared an Instagram video December 28 showing her and the Die Hard actor, now 67, partaking in outdoor winter activities, such as riding an inner tube down a snowy mountain, riding a snowmobile and taking photos in the winter wonderland.

“It was that winter, 15 years ago I fell head of over heels in love with him,” Willis said in the post, adding the hashtag “#loveofmylife.”

Two of Willis’ daughters with ex-wife Demi Moore took to the comments to react to the throwback clip.

“This is blowing my mind,” Scout Willis, 31, wrote. Tallulah Willis, 28, said, “This makes my heart glow.”

Willis and Heming Willis married in March 2009 and share two daughters together: Mabel, 10, and Evelyn, 8. In addition to Scout and Tallulah, Bruce Willis also shares daughter Rumer Willis, 34, with Moore.

Willis’ family announced this past March that the actor was diagnosed with aphasia and is “stepping away” from his career due to the disorder, which has affected his cognitive abilities. Since then, he has appeared in numerous family pictures and videos on social media.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Vivienne Westwood, the fashion designer who made punk and new wave fashion mainstream, has died. She was 81.

Westwood died Thursday “peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London,” a post shared on her Instagram page by her brand said.

“Vivienne continued to do the things she loved, up until her last moment, designing, working on her art, writing her book, and changing the world for the better,” according to the Instagram caption alongside a photo of Westwood. “She led an amazing life. Her innovation and impact over the last 60 years has been immense and will continue into the future.”

“The world needs people like Vivienne to make a change for the better,” the brand said.

Her husband and creative partner, Andreas Kronthaler, also released a statement and said, “I will continue with Vivienne in my heart.”

“We have been working until the end and she has given me plenty of things to get on with. Thank you darling,” he added.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January
January 6 – Sidney Poitier, Oscar-winning trailblazer, 94
January 6 – Peter Bogdanovich, Paper Moon director, 82
January 9 – Bob Saget, comedian and Full House star, 65
January 12 – Ronnie Spector, frontwoman for The Ronettes, 78
January 18 – Andre Leon Talley, journalist, 73
January 19 – Gaspard Ulliel, French actor, 37
January 20 – Meat Loaf, musician and Fight Club actor, 74
January 21 – Louie Anderson, comedian and Baskets Emmy winner, 68

February
February 12 – Ivan Reitman, director of Ghostbusters, Stripes and others, 75

March
March 13 – William Hurt, Oscar-winning actor, 71
March 25 – Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters drummer, 50

April
April 2 – Estelle Harris, Estelle Costanza on Seinfeld, Toy Story voice, 93
April 12 – Gilbert Gottfried, stand-up and Aladdin voice-over star, 67
April 15 – Liz Sheridan, Seinfeld matriarch, 93
April 30 – Naomi Judd, country music legend, 76

May
May 26 – Ray Liotta, Goodfellas actor, 67

June

July
July 6 – James Caan, Sonny in The Godfather films, Elf, 82
July 8 – Tony Sirico, Sopranos star, 79
July 14 – Ivana Trump, former model wife of former President Donald Trump, 73
July 25 – Paul Sorvino, Goodfellas star, 83
July 30 – Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek trailblazer, 89; Pat Carroll, actress and comedienne, 95

August
August 8 – Olivia Newton-John, Grease star and recording artist, 73
August 12 – Anne Heche, Emmy winner, ex of Ellen DeGeneres, 53

September
September 8 – Queen Elizabeth II, 96
September 13 – Jean-Luc Godard, legendary filmmaker, 91
September 23 – Louise Fletcher, One Flew Over the Cuckoos’ Nest‘s Nurse Ratched, 88

October
October 4 – Loretta Lynn, country legend, 90
October 11 – Angela Lansbury, Murder She Wrote star, 96
October 14 – Robbie Coltrane, Harry Potter‘s Hagrid, 72
October 24 – Leslie Jordan, Will & Grace and Call Me Kat star, 67
October 28 – Jerry Lee Lewis, legendary rock ‘n’ roll singer and pianist, 87

November
November 1– Takeoff, Migos rapper, 28
November 5 – Aaron Carter, singer, 34
November 10 – Kevin Conroy, beloved voice of Batman and Bruce Wayne in cartoons and video games, 66
November 11 – Gallagher, melon-splatting comedian, 76
November 20 – Jason David Frank, Power Rangers star, 49
November 26 – Irene Cara, “What a Feeling” Oscar winner, 63
November 29 – Brad William Henke, Orange Is the New Black star, 56
November 30 – Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac alumna, 79

December
December 4 – Bob McGrath, Sesame Street star, 90
December 5 – Kirstie Alley, Cheers and Look Who’s Talking star, 71
December 13 – Stephen “tWitch” Boss, The Ellen DeGeneres Show DJ and co-executive producer, 40

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

While jumping into the long-awaited sequel to the highest-grossing movie of all time might have been intimidating, Avatar: The Way of Water star Kate Winslet says she found the water just fine.

The two-time Oscar winner reunited with writer-director James Cameron — who steered her as the captain of Titanic, the one-time all-time box office champ — and credits him and the 2009 original’s stars, Zoe Saldaña and Sam Worthington, with making her feel at home on Pandora.

“You know, Zoe and Sam, what they did the first time around was to create that heartbeat,” Winslet explained at a press event.

She continues, “You know, it’s one thing for Jim to write it. It’s quite another to find it and to give it a life and a pulse and real blood in those veins. And … it’s really, really extraordinary to be around that. It’s not a performance. It’s not things they came up with on the day. It is a universe. It is a love. It is something that is palpable. And you feel it.”

Winslet adds that while Pandora — and even her character, the fearless matriarch Ronal — are brought to life onscreen thanks to computer wizardry, the world was already very much alive. “You step into that space, it’s an empty space, but it is absolutely loaded with truths and dynamics and pulses that these guys built … And it’s honestly very, very special to have been part of it.”

Avatar: The Way of Water has grossed over $1 billion and counting after its debut in the States December 16.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

When the Kardashian clan drops photos on Instagram — which is obviously often — some snarkers analyze them like the Zapruder film.

In the past, Kim, Khloé, Kendall Jenner and the rest of the clan have weathered claims they’ve Photoshopped themselves to an impossible standard — but you wouldn’t think that would be the case with a friendly Christmas photo.

Wrong.

“Every single jawline is photoshopped looks like there [sic] heads been cut an [sic] pasted on,” one follower commented of the pic of Khloé, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie, Kris and Kendall Jenner, shoulder to shoulder, dressed to the nines.

“Why do their faces all looked photoshopped in the picture like none of them were actually there?” asked another.

One user posed the question, “Did they just take everyone’s favorite picture and paste it all together?”

Another user got more than skin deep, saying of the stars’ serious expressions, “With all they have they are apparently missing happiness.”

For all the sniping, however, the photo was liked more than 5.4 million times.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.