Entertainment

In Ms. Marvel, Iman Vellani plays a superhero fan who becomes a superhero herself — something that happened to the real-life Marvel geek when she landed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe herself.

The 19-year-old explains to ABC Audio that joining the ranks of big- and small-screen heroes came with quite the support group.

“They’re so incredibly welcoming,” Vellani says of her fellow MCU stars.

“I was kind of intimidated going into this entire thing because I didn’t know if anyone else was going to reach out. And I really needed some sort of handbook on the superhero world, because it’s difficult, and it’s very overwhelming at times.”

She adds, “And the fact that, you know, Brie Larson and, like, Simu [Shang-Chi‘s Simu Liu] and Chris Pratt, they all just made themselves available for me to kind of ask my questions and then just vent if I wanted to. It … just really meant the world.”

She says, “Yeah. It’s crazy: The people that are on my posters back home are now my friends!”  

Iman’s turn as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel will also be seen on the big screen, as she’ll appear alongside her character’s favorite hero, Larson’s Captain Marvel, in The Marvels, hitting theaters next July.

The first two episodes of Ms. Marvel are now streaming on Disney+.

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

ABC has announced its upcoming fall schedule: Wednesday, September 21, will kick things off with the premieres of The Conners at 8 p.m. ET, followed by The Goldbergs and Abbott Elementary‘s return for a sophomore year, on a new night, at 9 p.m.

At 9:30 p.m., Home Economics returns, leading to the premiere of the drama Big Sky starring country music legend Reba McEntire and The Boys‘ Jensen Ackles.

On Thursday, September 22, Station 19 returns at 8 p.m. ET, followed by TV’s longest running drama, Grey’s Anatomy, at 9 p.m. At 10:01 p.m., two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank debuts in the drama Alaska Daily.

Friday, September 23, will see the first live episode of Shark Tank at 8 p.m., followed by the first installment of 20/20‘s new season.

Sunday, September 25, will mark the return of Celebrity Jeopardy! at 8 p.m., followed by an all new Celebrity Wheel of Fortune an hour later. The Rookie returns at 10 p.m.

Tuesday, September 27, at 8 p.m. will see Bachelor in Paradise return for one night, followed by Niecy Nash in the spin-off The Rookie: Feds.

On Sunday, October 2, America’s Funniest Home Videos comes back at 7 p.m., and on Monday at 8 p.m., Bachelor In Paradise resumes in its normal slot, ahead of The Good Doctor at 10 p.m.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ana De Armas is stunning as Marilyn Monroe, in the new teaser to Netflix’s biopic Blonde.

The actress is shown being every bit the iconic bombshell on camera — but a wreck behind the scenes.

De Armas is shown reimagining Monroe’s legendary Gentlemen Prefer Blondes “staircase scene,” and amid a haunting rendition of “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend,” is shown in tears backstage.

“Don’t abandon me,” she pleads.

However, a moment later, she composes herself and turns on a pixel-perfect imitation of Monroe’s movie star smile and trademark giggle.

Netflix teases the film, based on the 2000 bestseller of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates, “boldly reimagines the life of one of Hollywood’s most enduring icons…From her volatile childhood as Norma Jeane, through her rise to stardom and romantic entanglements, Blonde blurs the lines of fact and fiction to explore the widening split between her public and private selves.”

The film, which earned a rare NC-17 rating from the streamer, also stars Oscar winner Adrien Brody, Emmy winner Julianne Nicholson and Bobby Cannavale.

Blonde debuts globally on Netflix September 23.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A juror in the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial said in an interview that aired Thursday on Good Morning America that when the actress cried during her testimony, the jury saw only “crocodile tears.”

“It didn’t come across as believable,” he said. “It seemed like she was able to flip the switch on her emotions. She would answer one question and she would be crying and two seconds later she would turn ice cold. It didn’t seem natural.”

Depp, he said, “just seemed a little more real in terms of how he responded to questions.”

The juror, one of seven during the six-week trial, spoke exclusively to GMA and is the only juror on record to speak publicly about the case. He asked to have his name not used for this report.

In early June, a jury in Fairfax, Virginia awarded Depp more than $10 million in damages; Heard received $2 million in her countersuit.

The catalyst for defamation countersuits was a 2018 op-ed Heard wrote in The Washington Post in which she said she “became a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Depp argued that the article suggested she was victimized by him, although she never identified him by name.

Besides how she acted on the stand, several other factors led the jury to believe Heard was not credible, the juror said.

The jury concluded the stars, “were both abusive to each other,” but Heard’s team failed to prove Depp’s abuse was physical.

“They had their husband-wife arguments…But to rise to the level of what she was claiming, there wasn’t enough or any evidence that really supported what she was saying,” he said.

The juror also denied the jury was swayed by outside forces, as Heard subsequently alleged.

He and “at least” three others did not have Twitter accounts. The juror also said that no one on the jury was starstruck, and their individual celebrity never played a factor in their decision. “None of us were really fans of either one of them,” he said.

Check out the full interview on Good Morning America‘s website.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit filmmaker Taika Waititi‘s patience didn’t go to infinity and beyond during a recent chat with a UK morning show promoting the Disney/Pixar film Lightyear.

The filmmaker, who voices a main part in the movie, was seated next to lead Chris Evans when This Morning‘s co-host Phillip Schofield tried slipping in a final question about Taika’s rumored engagement to “Finish Line” singer and The Voice judge, Rita Ora.

“Well, we’ve congratulated Chris on his birthday,” Schofield began, though the filmmaker was already ready for the nervously-asked follow-up: “… so Taika, are there wedding bells?”

In response, a smiling Taika said, “Oh, you’re breaking up!” and tossed away his earpiece, miming the remaining moments of the interview, as Evans laughed hysterically.

Schofield offered — though Taika couldn’t hear him — “Regardless, she’s gorgeous, we love her here, she’s always a great guest and congratulations!”

The pair have been romantically linked since 2021.

Lightyear hits theaters Friday. Taika’s next Marvel Studios film, Thor: Love and Thunder, opens July 8.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ryan Reynolds chose a cute way to wish his buddy Hugh Jackman well following news The Music Man lead had contracted COVID-19 a second time.

The Deadpool star posted to Instagram a montage of the pair together — and he didn’t shy away from using clips of their many internet jabs at each other to boot.

“Feel better,” Ryan captioned the clip.

For his part, Jackman is keeping busy during his downtime.

On Instagram, he posted an outtake of a video of him and his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, dressed to the nines. Unlike his sharp tux and tails, Jackman’s delivery was anything but smooth as he flubs his line to the camera and blows a raspberry.

“Things to do when you have covid. Again,” he posted. “Clean out your iPhone photos and videos.”

As reported, the Tony winner will be missing his Music Man performances while he recovers and will return to Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre on Wednesday, June 22.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Zendaya squashed rumors that she’s pregnant with boyfriend Tom Holland’s baby following a recent TikTok prank that managed to fool many of her fans.

“See now, this is why I stay off Twitter,” the Spider-Man: No Way Home actress wrote on her Instagram Story Wednesday after her name trended online due to the prank.

“Just making stuff up for no reason…weekly,” she added.

The fan-created TIkTok clips, that have gone viral, feature a fake ultrasound edited to look like it was posted by Zendaya, which then cuts to a video of Kris Jenner dancing to “Lady Marmalade.”

The trend is known as getting “Krissed,” in which viewers are tricked into believing a fake story.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kevin Spacey appeared in a London court on Thursday morning and was granted unconditional bail just days after The Metropolitan Police formally charged the actor with several alleged sexual assault crimes.

Spacey did not enter pleas to these charges during his appearance at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

The Oscar winner arrived at the courthouse around 10 a.m. Thursday and was greeted by throngs of photographers and members of the media as he made his way into the building.

Spacey made no comment to the media on his way to court and the proceedings were not open to the public.

The Metropolitan Police formally charged Spacey, 62, on Monday with four charges of sexual assaults against three men and one charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. 

He’s scheduled to next appear in court on July 14.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Billy Crystal will reunite with his Analyze That producer Barry Levinson in the upcoming Apple TV+ limited series Before, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Crystal will play a child psychiatrist who recently lost his wife, when he encounters a troubled young boy. Additional details are being finalized, including the number of episodes, sources tell the outlet. Before marks a rare TV series regular role for Crystal, whose previous roles include ABC’s Soap and FX’s The Comedians…

Netflix on Wednesday released the first trailer for the upcoming Raold Dahl‘s Matilda the Musical, a screen adaptation of the Tony-winning musical. Alisha Weir plays the titular character Matilda Wormwood, an avid reader who discovers she is able to move objects without touching them. Emma Thompson stars as Miss Trunchbull, Crunchem Hall’s abusive headmistress. Lashana Lynch plays Matilda’s teacher, Miss Honey. Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough will play Matilda’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood, and Sindhu Vee is librarian Mrs. Phelps. Raold Dahl’s Matilda the Musical debuts on Netflix The film will premiere this holiday season…

Nearly two decades after starring together in Man on Fire, Dakota Fanning and Oscar winner Denzel Washington are reuniting for Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer 3, according to Deadline. Plot details are being kept under wraps. Fanning can currently be seen in Showtime’s The First Lady, opposite Michelle Pfeiffer…

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The new season of Somebody Feed Phil, where host Phil Rosenthal travels the world and discovers delicious bites, is out now on Netflix.

Since the show has been airing, Rosenthal tells ABC Audio he’s gotten some insight into which locations have been fan favorites.

“There was one city that we went to that became the #1 place that people tell me they went to because of the show. And that’s Lisbon,” he says. “You don’t think of it. We say you go to Europe or you go to Paris, Barcelona, you know, Rome. Lisbon doesn’t come to the front of the list. Now it’s on the top of the list because they saw it. And once you see it and you see it’s almost an amalgam of all the great other European cities and not as crowded, you’re like, ‘We got to go there.’”

This season, Rosenthal visits Maine; Oregon; Oaxaca, Mexico; Helsinki, Finland; and Madrid, Spain. Of all the places he’s traveled to, he shares that his favorite dish was right here in the USA.

“There’s a lobster roll in Maine that’s pretty awesome, at Red’s Eats,” he says. “It’s undeniable. I mean, if there’s a heaven, that’s one of the places that’s like God’s favorite hangout.”

Still, Rosenthal is certain there’s more to see. He shared that if Netflix renews the show for another season there will be many more scenic destinations and, of course, amazing eats.

“We start with Earth’s greatest hits. Even though we’ve done about 30 of these, we still haven’t scratched the surface of the Earth in terms of the great places to go,” Rosenthal says. “There’s … countries, whole countries, that we haven’t even set foot in yet that I can’t wait to go to. I guess the longer we go, the less well-known the places will become.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.