Entertainment

Robin Williams‘ children have spoken out on the seventh anniversary of the comedian’s death.

Zak Williams, the late actor’s eldest child, shared a heartfelt message directed at his father, while daughter Zelda Williams spoke to others grappling with loss.

“Dad, seven years ago today you passed on. The joy and inspiration you brought to the world carries on in your legacy and in your family, friends, and fans you so loved,” Zak Williams wrote Wednesday. “You lived to bring laughter and to help others. I will be celebrating your memory today. Love you forever.”

“Sending love out there today to all the folks navigating loss. New, old, the connective tissue of that deeply human pain can be hard to bear, but I find it easier sometimes knowing how many others have felt the same sting,” Zelda Williams added. “We’re not alone. X”

Robin Williams was 63 years old when he died by suicide in 2014. His children pay homage to their father every now and then on social media, and through actions in their personal lives. Zak Williams, a mental health advocate, named his son McLaurin, which was Robin’s middle name, while Cody Williams, the comedian’s youngest child, got married on his father’s birthday in 2019.

If you are in crisis or know someone in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. You can reach Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860 (U.S.) or 877-330-6366 (Canada) and The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386.

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Brie Larson reprises her role as Captain Marvel in the upcoming MCU film The Marvels, and she recently offered an update on her character — or at least what she’s allowed to tells us.

“Gosh, so much going on, a lot of really juicy things happening that I cannot say a word about,” the 31-year-old actress teased on SirusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show. “But, boy oh boy, is it good. And you’re going to be very excited about it.”

Larson also praised the film’s “amazing” and “awesome” director, Nia DaCosta.

“She just came in, was ready, had such an incredible take on this story and on this film,” Brie went on to explain. “And I’m so happy that she’s guiding this. I’m thrilled.”

The Marvels, the sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, is set to open November 11, 2022.

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

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Jamie Foxx is hitting the road for a book tour in support of his first memoir, Act Like You Got Some Sense.

The multi-city trek kicks off October 15 in Philadelphia and makes stops in New York, Los Angeles, and Irving, TX, before wrapping October 22 in El Cajon, CA. It’ll feature special guests and each ticket holder will receive a signed copy of the book.

In the memoir, out October 19, Foxx writes about being raised by his no-nonsense grandmother, his rise to fame in Hollywood, and how he’s taken the lessons he’s learned into being a father to his two daughters.

“When I am deep in the weeds, trying to figure out how to parent my daughters, it is the voice of my grandmother I hear in my head, encouraging me, and of course yelling at me when I’m messing up as a parent,” Foxx says in a statement. “Thanks to her, I knew that it wasn’t about always being your kids’ best friend but being a parent. Even when it means you gotta be tough with them. Sometimes you gotta be tough because you love them. Just like she always loved me.”

Tickets for the book tour are on sale now. Select stops will require attendees to provide either proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test result within 48 hours.

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Booksmart actress Beanie Feldstein has been tapped to star in the first Broadway revival of Funny Girl.

The show features some iconic songs in theater history, including “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” Performances are set to begin in spring 2022, marking the first time the musical has been back on Broadway in 58 years.

“The first time I played Fanny Brice was at my third birthday party, in a head-to-toe leopard print outfit my mom made for me,” Feldstein says in a statement. “So, it’s safe to say that stepping into this iconic role, on Broadway and not in my family’s backyard, is truly my lifelong dream come true.”

She adds, “I am immensely grateful to be able to do so alongside such a remarkable creative team, and cannot wait for audiences to get back in theaters again!”

Funny Girl was also a 1968 film starring Barbra Streisand.

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High School Musical celebrated its 15th anniversary in January, but star Ashley Tisdale, who played the boisterous Sharpay Evans, said she’s moved on from her early career-defining role.

“I just feel like I wouldn’t be able to really do that again and give it justice… You know what I’m saying?,” she told Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday.

Ashley explained that she’s a different person than she was during her High School Musical days and would have a hard time channeling the same thoughts and emotions that brought Sharpay to life. 

“I think at that moment in time, I was very unaware of myself and my surroundings, and I feel like that’s a big part of Sharpay,” the actress noted. “She is just not really aware, and so as I grew up and became more aware, I think that it’s just something that it wouldn’t be the same.” 

Because of that, Ashley says she wouldn’t want to play the character in a reboot or revival. “I would hate to ruin something that is perfect for that moment,” she confessed. “I don’t think I could go back to it.”

The 36-year-old actress also reflected on her Disney Channel days when shouting out her The Suite Life of Zack & Cody costar Brenda Song, who, like her, is a new mom.

“She is obviously killing it as a new mom,” Ashley said. “She is the sweetest and so great, and I’m just so happy for her.”

Ashley welcomed a daughter named Jupiter on March 23 alongside husband Christopher French.  The following month, Brenda and partner Macaulay Culkin welcomed their baby boy, Dakota, who was named after Culkin’s big sister, who died in 2008 after being struck by a car.

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Mike Richards and former The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik have been confirmed as the new hosts of Jeopardy!

Richards will take over as he full-time host of Jeopardy!’s daily syndicated program, replacing the late Alex Trebek. Bialik is set to host Jeopardy!’s primetime and spinoff series, including the upcoming Jeopardy! National College Championship, which will air on ABC next year.

Richards, who’s been serving as executive producer on the show since last year, will continue his producing role. Jeopardy!’s all-time champ Ken Jennings will return as consulting producer.

“I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to host the syndicated version of Jeopardy!,” Richards says in a statement, in part. “Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined being chosen to step into a role of this magnitude.”

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to join the Jeopardy! family,” Bialik adds. “What started out with my 15-year-old repeating a rumor from Instagram that I should guest host the show has turned into one of the most exciting and surreal opportunities of my life!”

Trebek died in November at age 80, after hosting Jeopardy! for 37 years. A series of guest hosts took over this past season, including Katie Couric, LeVar Burton, George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts and others.

Jeopardy! is set to begin production on season 38 last this month, with new episodes debuting on September 13, 2021.

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Halle Berry makes her directorial debut with Bruised this fall, and the actress recently revealed just how far she was willing to go to ensure her labor of love crossed the finish line.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Berry explained she broke two ribs on the first day of filming.  She quickly added they weren’t the same ribs she fractured when filming 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum.

“When you break something, it calcifies and it’s stronger. You don’t usually break the same bones twice,” Berry said. She explained that she chose to work through the pain because, during Parabellum, her injury caused production to come to a standstill.

“I told the director about it, they told the insurance. We had to shut down for months and it was a big ordeal,” the 54-year-old actress recalled. “On this, because it was an independent movie, we didn’t have a big budget. The director in me said, ‘I didn’t come this far and work this hard to go home.'”

Eric Brown, who worked as the stunt coordinator for Bruised, was impressed by Berry’s determination.

“[It was] kind of a crazy injury. But that was just her intensity,” said Brown. “Halle’s a special case. I’ve worked with tons of actors, and almost none of them have that kind of work ethic.”

Bruised, a sports drama in which Berry plays a disgraced MMA fighter on a path to redemption, premieres November 24 on Netflix.

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In Free Guy, comic and Get Out scene stealer Lil’ Rel Howery plays Buddy, the best friend of Ryan Reynolds‘ Guy — two pals who don’t know they’re actually background characters in a video game. 

Rel explains being Reynolds’ friend onscreen was easy: “…Ryan Reynolds has been my friend in my head for a very long time,” he laughed at a recent virtual press conference. “And to this day I still don’t think he believes me. Like no, I’m a legit fan.”

Rel said to Reynolds, “When you started winning everything for Deadpool, I was calling people, like, ‘I told y’all! I told you Ryan Reynolds was a superstar!'” The admission cracked up the rest of the cast, including an embarrassed Ryan. 

Superfan Rel admitted he doesn’t get nervous meeting famous people, but he was for Ryan. “I watch Definitely Maybe maybe twice a month. I still do,” the comic admits. “[It’s] one of my favorite movies.”

He adds, “…[O]ne of those fun things I…love about this business is when you just get the chance to work with people you look up to and not just as an actor, but just as a fan…So I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna take this moment. I don’t know if Ryan’s going to be my friend after this [movie], but doing this, I’m ’bout to be best friends.”

For his part, Reynolds deadpanned, “As soon as this camera’s off, it’s over, Rel.”

Ryan added on a more serious note that he was “lucky” to work with Rel and the rest of the cast, and hoped to work with them again, “either in another Free Guy movie…or in another form.”

Free Guy opens Friday from 20th Century Studios, which is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC News.

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Marlon Wayans says he wanted to give Aretha Franklin‘s first husband and manager Ted White a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T when he channeled him in the new biographical drama, Respect. Unfortunately for the actor, that wasn’t an easy task.

“It was funny because I couldn’t really get anything out of anybody about Ted,” Wayans tells ABC Audio. “They said he was a really nice dresser. They said he was stroppy. They said he was charming, but…that there was a bad guy in there.”

Wayans says before he decided to take his own “creative license” to portray the accomplished songwriter, he first tried to “reach out to Ted” to get his perspective — “but Ted didn’t want to talk.” 

“So, I…based [Ted] on a minute-and-a-half interview I saw with him and Aretha,” Wayans says. “And from there, I started thinking about the psychology of a guy like Ted, because as much of a devil [that] he was, there was something angelic about him. And so I focused in on not him being all good or all bad, but sometimes he couldn’t keep his bad under control.”

To that end, Wayans says he formed a back story for White that helped explain his harsh behavior.

“And I focused on him maybe having… mommy issues and a lack of appreciation for women,” he shares. “And…even pimps and guys like that, they’re not bad people. They’re hurt people.”

Wayans continues, “Damaged people damage people. And so I wanted to protect that little nugget of innocence in him, because I think in order to make a great bad guy — you’ve got to love him and you got to hate them.”

Respect, starring Jennifer Hudson as the Queen of Soul, hits theaters Friday.

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If you were hoping for a real-life Ross and Rachel situation between David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston, sorry to burst your bubble.

After the British tabloid Closer claimed the two Friends co-stars were dating in real life, Schwimmer’s rep reportedly told another U.K. tabloid — The Sun — that there was “no truth” to the rumors.

Closer had claimed the Friends reunion had “stirred up feelings” between the two. “They began texting immediately after filming and, just last month, David flew from his home in New York to see Jen in LA,” a source supposedly told the mag.

While a romantic relationship between the two appears to be the wishful thinking of Friends fans, Schwimmer and Aniston did previously reveal during the Friends reunion that they had crushes on each other back in the day.

“The first season, I had a major crush on Jen,” Schwimmer admitted. “At some point we were both crushing hard on each other — but it was like two ships passing [in the night], because one of us was always in a relationship.”

“So we just channeled all of our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel,” Aniston said.

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