Entertainment

Robert Pattinson had a lot of preparation ahead of him when he signed on to play the iconic Caped Crusader in The Batman — including about 80 years’ worth of reading material.

At Tuesday’s New York City premiere of the film, the actor detailed the daunting process to ABC Audio.

“A year just working on the script and then probably three months just physically training, and then fight choreography and then reading probably a trillion Batman graphic novels,” Pattinson admitted on the red carpet.

“[I] didn’t really think about the fact that you got a character that’s been around for 80 years, there’s quite a lot of comics you’ve got to read, so I had a whole suitcase full of them.”

Pattinson wasn’t the only cast member who came prepared. Paul Dano, whose villain Riddler takes heavy cues from the Zodiac Killer, told ABC Audio he practiced extensively with the creepy mask he wears for much of the film.

He also noted that in trying to put his stamp on the Riddler he focused on, “going as deep as I can into that character and bringing the history with me but going in a new direction.”

Darker in tone even than Christopher Nolan‘s Oscar winning The Dark Knight, director Matt Reeves‘ The Batman dives into the psychology of its titular character and his iconic nemesis.

In addition to Dano’s Riddler, admitted Bat-fan Colin Farrell is unrecognizable as a sleazy Penguin, and Pattinson’s hero tangles, and teams up, with Zoë Kravitz‘ Selena Kyle/Catwoman.

On how Gotham has changed in Reeves’ reboot, Pattinson said, “It’s very much about the corruptions of the institutions. The bad guys are not fantastical at all, and Batman is not fantastical at all in this movie. He’s not even known as Batman in this movie yet…he’s just a guy in a suit of armor.” 

The Batman hits theaters on Friday.

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The official trailer for Hulu’s The Girl from Plainville, starring Elle Fanning, dropped on Wednesday.  The miniseries, inspired by the true story of Michelle Carter‘s unprecedented “texting suicide” case, is based on Jesse Barron‘s Esquire article of the same name and explores the relationship between Carter and Conrad Roy III — played respectively by Fanning and Colton Ryan — and the events that led to his death and, later, Carter’s conviction of involuntary manslaughter. The series also stars Chloë Sevigny, Cara Buono, Kai Lennox and Norbert Leo Butz. The Girl from Plainville premieres on Hulu with three episodes March 29…

Apple TV+ announced on Wednesday that it has renewed the Tiffany Haddish-led murder-mystery comedy, The Afterparty, for a second season ahead of Friday’s season-one finale. The series follows Haddish’s Detective Danner as she searches for a killer during a house party following a high school reunion. The first season stars Haddish, Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, Jamie Demetriou and Dave Franco…

CBS has picked up two additional seasons of the long-running soap The Bold and the Beautiful through the 2023-2024 broadcast season. The announcement comes three weeks before the daytime drama celebrates its 35th anniversary on March 23. “For 35 years, The Bold and the Beautiful has been a cornerstone of our #1 daytime lineup,” said Margot Wain, senior vice president, daytime programs, CBS Entertainment. “Congratulations to our talented cast and crew, as well as Bradley Bell, who have made this show a creative and ratings success, and thank you to B&B’s dedicated fans, whose passion for these characters and stories is unrivaled.” The Bold and the Beautiful debuted in 1987 and has won 100 Daytime Emmys…

The Shubert Organization announced on Wednesday that Broadway’s 110-year-old Cort Theater will become the James Earl Jones Theatre “in recognition of Mr. Jones’s lifetime of immense contributions to Broadway and the entire artistic community.” In a statement, 91-year-old Jones said, “For me standing in this very building sixty-four years ago at the start of my Broadway career, it would have been inconceivable that my name would be on the building today. Let my journey from then to now be an inspiration for all aspiring actors.” Jones has been seen on Broadway in The Great White Hope, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Fences, Driving Miss Daisy, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, You Can’t Take It with You and The Gin Game, among others. He has won three Tony awards, including a lifetime achievement award in 2017…

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It’s a story that captivated the world, and it’s now in limited-series form on Hulu debuting today. The Dropout takes you behind the scenes of the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her company Theranos. Amanda Seyfried plays Holmes, and she tells ABC Audio it’s the role of a lifetime.

“I love playing people who are misunderstood,” Seyfried tells ABC Audio. “I think all people in the public eye in some way or another are misunderstood because you can’t know everything about somebody.”

“I also think playing somebody who…is very, very public, but you know nothing about? Fascinating,” she adds. 

And, that’s what The Dropout hopes to do — shed some light on the part of Holmes that people, as Seyfried says, know “nothing about.”

“We’re going to show you what might have been going on in this person’s head. Like, don’t we all want to know the motives?” the actress explains. 

Taking on the persona of Holmes was admittedly a bit tricky for Seyfried, who shares that it took “maybe a week into filming” before the entrepreneur’s deep, manufactured voice “became second nature.” Once she was able to conquer that, it unlocked a “whole other layer of character.”

“I mean, without that accent and the voice, and like the way she spoke, I don’t know who I would be playing,” Seyfried says.

“It’s so luxurious. It’s so indulgent at times as an actor, depending on who you’re playing, what accent you’re using, and especially if it’s different than your own, you go that much further into the character and away from yourself,” she explains. “And thankfully, she had a…very interesting way of speaking. And I can’t go that deep, but I go as deep as I can and I hope it’s effective.” 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

It’s a story that captivated the world, and it’s now a limited series on Hulu, debuting today. The Dropout takes you behind the scenes of the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her company, Theranos. Amanda Seyfried plays Holmes, and she tells ABC Audio it’s the role of a lifetime.

“I love playing people who are misunderstood,” Seyfried says. “I think all people in the public eye in some way or another are misunderstood because you can’t know everything about somebody.”

“I also think playing somebody who…is very, very public, but you know nothing about? Fascinating,” she adds. 

And, that’s what The Dropout hopes to do — shed some light on the part of Holmes that people, as Seyfried says, know “nothing about.”

“We’re going to show you what might have been going on in this person’s head. Like, don’t we all want to know the motives?” the actress explains. 

Holmes, who falsely claimed Theranos had developed technology that could use only a few drops of blood to conduct blood tests, attracting billions of dollars in capital, was convicted of criminal fraud in January and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and millions in fines and restitution.

Taking on the persona of Holmes was admittedly a bit tricky for Seyfried, who shares that it took “maybe a week into filming” before the entrepreneur’s deep, manufactured voice “became second nature.” Once she was able to conquer that, it unlocked a “whole other layer of character.”

“I mean, without that accent and the voice, and like the way she spoke, I don’t know who I would be playing,” Seyfried says. 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

After nearly eight years of marriage to Ye, formally known as Kanye West, Kim Kardashian is finally a single woman.

The news comes a year after the 41-year-old reality-TV star filed for divorce. According to Billboard, Judge Steve Cochran of the Los Angeles Superior Court granted Kardashian’s motion seeking the legal status. The judge also finalized “West” being dropped from Kardashian’s name.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Kardashian appeared via videoconference and was put under oath to answer a series of required legal questions.

“Did problems, disputes and differences cause a breakdown of your marriage?” was among the questioning to which Kardashian answered, “yes.”

Ye fired his attorney Christopher Melcher the day before the hearing, replacing him with Samantha Spector, who appeared for and represented Ye in court on Wednesday.

According to Billboard, the Judge granted one of Ye’s requests regarding what would happen if either star dies before the divorce case is finalized, but denied two other requests, including restrictions on what would happen if Kardashian quickly remarried.

This news comes after a tumultuous year of back and forth from both parties. Ye would often take to social media to express disdain with his now-former wife’s decision to end the marriage and his desire to see the four children he has with Kardashian.

“I’ve asked my team to expedite the dissolution of my marriage to Kim so I can put my entire attention to our beautiful children,” Ye said in a statement.

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Fox’s reality show So You Think You Can Dance is coming back, after a two-year pandemic delay.

The network announced that the 17th season of the dance program would finally air this summer — after the plug was pulled as casting was getting underway at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It’s not yet known if Cat Deely will return as host; the network promises more announcements will be forthcoming.

Casting will soon open for the new season of the Emmy-winning show, and tryouts will be held in New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans. Interested applicants are invited to go to DanceShow2022.CastingCrane.com or Fox.com/dance for audition deadlines and details.

So You Think You Can Dance will air on Fox, and will stream on the network’s free streaming platform Tubi, as well as Fox Now, Hulu and On Demand.

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While Pamela Anderson had nothing to do with Pam & Tommy, the Hulu series about her life’s biggest scandal — and reportedly found it painful it was even made at all — the actress is ready to speak her truth in her own project for a streaming service.

In a note handwritten on Netflix letterhead that’s literally signed with a kiss, Anderson announced that an authorized documentary about her life is being made by the streamer. 

“My life,” the message begins. “A thousand imperfections/ A million misperceptions/ Wicked, wild and lost/ Nothing to live up to/ I can only surprise you/ Not a victim, but a survivor/ And alive to tell the real story.”

Netflix described the project as “the definitive documentary about pop culture icon Pamela Anderson,” revealing that it’s been in the making for several years, and “will feature exclusive access to Pamela Anderson as well as never before seen archive footage and personal journals.”

Directed by The Keepers and Ask Dr. Ruth filmmaker Ryan White, the film is being produced by actor Brandon Thomas Lee, Anderson’s eldest son with ex Tommy Lee.

Netflix teases that the film is “[a]n intimate portrait embedded in the life of Pamela Anderson as she looks back at her professional and personal path and prepares for the next steps on her journey.”

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Emmy-nominated Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood will portray Madonna in WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story, a Roku Original movie about the life and career of famed parody singer “Weird Al” Yankovic that stars Daniel Radcliffe as Al.

A still released from the film shows Wood as the Queen of Pop circa 1984 or 1985.

Roku also announced that The Office vet Rainn Wilson was also added to the cast as DJ Barry Hansen, best known as Dr. Demento; Mare of Easttown Emmy winner Julianne Nicholson will play Al’s mom Mary Yankovic, and Dickinson‘s Toby Huss will play Al’s father Nick.

As for why Madonna is in the film, it likely has something to do with the fact that after her song “Like a Virgin” became a hit, she wondered to an acquaintance when Al would turn it into “Like a Surgeon.” The acquaintance knew Al’s manager and told him what Madonna had said, and the manager brought it up to Al.

In 1985, Al released “Like a Surgeon” — in the only instance of Al getting a parody idea directly from the artist who he was parodying.

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Alan Ladd Jr., the producer who greenlighted George Lucas‘ Star Wars while at 20th Century Fox in 1977, has died. Deadline reports he was 84. 

On social media, Ladd’s daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones wrote, “With the heaviest of hearts, we announce that on March 2, 2022, Alan Ladd, Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family,” adding, “Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed. His impact on films and filmmaking will live on in his absence.”

Ladd not only backed Star Wars when other studios passed on the American Graffiti director’s tale of a “galaxy far, far away,” but he put his job on the line to defend it while it was being made. 

Studio executives were furious at budget overruns on Lucas’ “science movie” as Star Wars‘ production dragged on, amid shooting delays caused by weather and technical problems from the movie’s groundbreaking special effects.

In the documentary Empire of Dreams: The Story of Star Wars Trilogy, Ladd recalled being confronted by one executive, and telling him, “‘It’s the greatest picture ever made.’ That ended the conversation. They were afraid to tell me…’You’re wrong, we want you out of the building by 5 p.m.'” 

He added with a smile, “There were some tense moments.”

A former agent, Ladd went on to have a hugely successful career as a producer that also saw him credited with films including Moonstruck, A Fish Called Wanda and Thelma & Louise, among others. In 1996, he won an Oscar for Mel Gibson‘s epic Braveheart.

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MTV has announced that both its Movie & TV Awards and its reality show event, MTV Movie & TV Awards: UNSCRIPTED, will return live from Los Angeles, respectively, on Sunday, June 5th, and Monday, June 6th on MTV internationally in 180 countries.

Hosts, guests, and nominees will be announced at a later date.

Former SNL star and Coming 2 America co-star Leslie Jones hosted the festivities on the Movies & TV side last year, while comic and actress Nikki Glaser did the honors for the Unscripted show. 

Both events to take place once again at LA’s Barker Hangar, the site of the 2018 and 2019 shows. Last year’s events, the first for Unscripted, were held at the Palladium.

In 2020, the pandemic cancelled the Movie & TV Awards, and instead Vanessa Hudgens hosted the virtual MTV Movie and TV Awards: Greatest of All Time.

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