Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly has shared the first-look images of Viola Davis as former First Lady Michelle Obama in Showtime’s The First Lady, an anthology series about women in the White House.

As previously reported, the new series, told from the perspective of the women “at the heart of the White House” will also star Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford, Cailee Spaeny as Anna Roosevelt, and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt. The First Lady is scheduled to be released on Showtime in the spring of 2022.

In other news, Deadline is reporting that Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen has set his next feature film. McQueen has signed on to write, direct, and produce Blitz, a project based on his original idea. He will produce the project with New Regency, the company that helped to made his Oscar winning film 12 Years a Slave. Plot details on Blitz are being kept under wraps. The new film will begin production sometime next year.

Finally, Will Smith was apparently in the giving spirit during the making of his upcoming film, King Richard. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Smith, who was reportedly paid up to $40 million for his role as Richard Williams, gifted cash bonuses to his costars who worked with him on the critically-acclaimed drama. Those co-stars included, Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton, who play his daughters Venus and Serena, as well as Tony Goldwyn, Jon Bernthal and Aunjanue Ellis, among others. Smith’s bonuses to the cast came after Warner Bros. changed the release plan for the upcoming movie to debut simultaneously in theaters and on its streaming service HBO Max on November 19.

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Actor Scott Bakula posted to Instagram a heartfelt tribute to his Quantum Leap co-star Dean Stockwell, who died Saturday at age 85. ABC News’ Los Angeles affiliate KABC-TV reported the Oscar nominee’s death was from natural causes. 

Bakula, who in Quantum Leap played an accidental time-traveler whose only contact was Stockwell’s Admiral Al Calavicci, a hologram advisor, remembered the actor fondly.

He explained Stockwell read for the adventure show after Bakula was already cast. “We connected immediately and my career and my life were changed that day,” he recalled. 

Bakula said his co-star became a “dear friend and mentor” over five “very intense years” on the series; a man whose passions included, “life, his work, his art (he was an amazing artist!), his family, all kinds of causes, people, music, the planet, cigars, golf, and on and on!”

Bakula noted his former co-star was a former child actor himself, and as such had a “soft spot” for the young performers who appeared on Leap, a series that earned Stockwell a Golden Globe.

“He was very protective of their rights and safety and always checked in with them to make sure that they were ok,” Scott noted, adding, “His big hearted response to the kids made all of us take notice and be better guardians ourselves.” 

In closing, Bakula said, “I loved him dearly and was honored to know him. He made me a better human being…”

 

 

 

 

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Ken Jennings revealed the “lovely” gift he received from Alex Trebek‘s widow, Jean, when he first guest hosted “Jeopardy!” after the longtime host’s death.

“The first day I came in to guest host was just a few weeks after Alex had passed and it was a really rough time,” Jennings said in a video posted to the Jeopardy! YouTube page on Monday. “I got to the studio and one of the producers handed me a little box and Alex’s wife, Jean, had given me a pair of his cuff links that he had worn on the show.”

“What a lovely gesture that was from Jean,” he continued. “You know, at a time that was very hard for her family, dealing with a lot of grief and a lot of challenges, she thought about ‘Jeopardy!’ and she thought about me, a person she had never even met.”

Jennings concluded: “My Alex Trebek cuff links are the only cuff links I own. They’re kind of a good luck charm for me here.”

The video was shared on the one-year anniversary of Trebek’s death following a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 80.

Monday also marked the return of Jennings, who holds the Jeopardy! records for the number of consecutive games won, at 74, and the highest winnings in regular-season play, at $2,520,700, as guest host of the quiz show, taking over from Big Bang Theory alum Mayim Bialik. Jennings was also the first guest host after Trebek’s passing.

Elsewhere in the video tribute, Jennings shared how Trebek’s memory is still alive and well on Jeopardy! behind the scenes.

“I miss Alex a lot. When I’m here, I feel like he’s probably in the building somewhere,” he said. “It’s hard not to talk about him in the present tense.”

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An Instagram post from actor Shamier Anderson, who co-stars in the upcoming fourth John Wick movie, seems to suggest that shooting on the film is over. 

Anderson’s post features a series of photos, including one of him smiling next to Matrix‘s Mr. Anderson himself, Keanu Reeves.

Shamier jokes, “When 2 Canadians link up and make an action movie,” adding, “That’s a wrap on John Wick 4!” and calling the movie “such a rewarding experience for me.” 

In addition to thanking the producers, including Reeves’ Thunder Road company, Anderson’s pics might have let slip the name of the movie: A bit of crew SWAG in the shot, a drawstring bag visible in the shot reads, “John Wick 4: Hagakure.”

The word Hagakure means “falling leaves” or “what’s behind falling leaves,” in Japanese, but it’s also referenced in the title of the three-century-old Japanese classic from Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure: Book of the Samurai.

The tome details the bushido, or code of honor of the Samurai. 

While it’s arguable that the assassins in John Wick are more like masterless samurai, or ronin, they certainly have their own code of honor in the Wick-verse, like the rule against killing anybody at their hotel, The Continental.

For the record, Anderson’s post isn’t the only one telling fans that Wick 4 was winding down: Last month, Keanu’s stunt team revealed on Instagram that the generous actor had gifted his main stuntmen with matching Rolex Submariner watches. Each was engraved with their first name and their collective nickname, “the John Wick 5,” along with a thank-you from Reeves, and “JW2021.”

John Wick 4, which also stars Laurence Fishburne, Lance Reddick, Bill Skarsgård, Hiroyuki Sanada, Scott Adkins and Clancy Brown, opens May 27, 2022.

 

 

 

 

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Ryan Reynolds is not only thrilled to be a #GirlDad — he is admittedly very thankful that he and wife Blake Lively haven’t produced a son.

Speaking to Access, the Free Guy star opened up about being the father of three daughters and asserted, “I would not have it any other way.”

Reynolds doesn’t mind that he’s the only man in the household, declaring, “When we had our youngest, I was quietly terrified it was gonna be a boy” because he and Lively “didn’t know” what they were having.

“I didn’t know anything but girls. I grew up with boys and I was constantly being thrown through walls when there was a perfectly good door five feet away,” Reynolds deadpanned.

The actor went on about the bond he formed with his Red Notice co-stars Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson, who are also the parents of three daughters. “Dwayne and Gal and I, we talk a lot about that, and there is a sort of shared experience there that I think is… worth noting,” said Reynolds. “We love, love having our girls.”

He added that his and Gadot’s daughters were in “school pods” together while filming, which took place during the pandemic.  He said it was “great” that their kids were able to go to school together during that time.

When asked if he would be interested in having a son, the actor shrugged, “No. We’re all right.”

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Salma Hayek became one of the few Latina actresses in the MCU when she suited up as Ajak, a member of the immortal race of superheroes in Marvel’s Eternals, and it was an emotional experience for her.

During a recent interview with Despierta America, the the 55-year-old actress said she “burst into tears” when she donned the suit for the first time.

“Not like in telenovelas, but the tears came out and I said, ‘What happened here?'” said Hayek, adding, “The image of it did something to me…I saw my brown face in a superhero suit.”

“I saw my face as a little girl, who had to have a lot of courage to dream big,” she continued. “I saw the face of all the little girls…and I realized that a door had opened where I didn’t enter alone — but inside that suit were all the Latinos who waited so long for this moment.”

Marvel’s Eternal‘s is in theaters now.

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

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While BMF executive producer 50 Cent may currently be “disappointed” with Starz for prematurely releasing Sunday’s episode a week early, the rapper-turned-TV executive says he’s still incredibly proud of Eminem‘s performance in the upcoming episode.

50, who also serves as director for episode seven, says it wasn’t easy to get Eminem to play the notorious FBI informant White Boy Rick on the series.

“They’ve made huge offers,” 50 tells ABC Audio of previous opportunities that Eminem passed on. “Like I’ve gone out to Detroit to offer Em eight million dollars to do a movie. They bring it to me first because they felt like they had a better shot of him doing it if I bring it.”

50 points out that while Em may have had success in playing a loosely based version of himself in 8 Mile, since then he’s been reluctant to get back on screen.

“I don’t think he likes the processes as much as… music,” 50 explains. “[He works] organically on his time, when he feels like it…[unlike acting when]…you have to be ready…and prepare yourself to perform… There’s a…different kind of pressure.”

50 says it was only because of their friendship, and that fact that he was at the helm, that Eminem eventually signed on to do the role.

“I said, ‘You should play White Boy Rick,'” 50 recalls, before sharing how production transformed Eminem into the teenage FBI informant.

“They take each speckle of [Eminem’s] actual beard out of his face…so he can play White Boy Rick in the actual show,” 50 says. “And he just came out and did it for me because I was directing. And in episode seven, I think they’re going to really enjoy it.”

Episode seven of BMF airs Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.

 

 

 

 

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Reese Witherspoon flirted with billionaire status when she sold her production company, Hello Sunshine, for a whopping $900 million in August.

Speaking to InStyle, the 45-year-old actress explained that selling her company was not a decision she made lightly.

“It was two, maybe three months of negotiations on the phone all day. Calls at one o’clock in the morning,” said Witherspoon, who added, “I didn’t know a lot about private equity. I’d never sold a company in my life. I learned so much.”

The Legally Blonde star said it was very bittersweet to say goodbye to Hello Sunshine.

“I cried. I cried, and I thought about my grandma, and I cried more. I thought about all of the women who haven’t gotten these opportunities, and I just feel really lucky that I’m standing in a path that other women created for me,” Witherspoon recalled.

Hello Sunshine was more than her baby, she adds.  The company helped her smash the stereotype that stories about women – and told by women — aren’t profitable or interesting.

The company has produced successful movies and television shows including Gone Girl, Big Little Lies, The Morning Show, and Little Fires Everywhere, which all put women front and center.

So, when negotiating the final sale of her company, Witherspoon says, “I was really clear about what women’s stories mean in a marketplace. So it had to be a number that signified that it’s big business because women are big business. Female audiences are big business. Female filmmakers are big business. You can’t ignore half of the population of the world and say that they don’t economically matter; they do.”

Witherspoon will still oversee day-to-day operations of Hello Sunshine, along with CEO Sarah Harden, and they both will remain significant equity holders.

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) Kirsten Dunst is opening up about her struggle with depression and her decision to have a second child. 

During an interview with The Sunday Times, the 39-year-old actress recalled becoming depressed in her 20s before seeking treatment at a rehabilitation facility in Utah. 

“I feel like most people around 27, the s*** hits the fan,” the Bring It On alum said. “Whatever is working in your brain, you can’t live like that any more mentally.”

She continued, “I feel like I was angry. You don’t know that you are repressing all this anger, it wasn’t a conscious thing.”

Dunst added that medication aided in helping her work through the depression, telling the newspaper, “It’s hard to talk about such a personal thing, but it is important to share, too. All I’ll say is that medication is a great thing and can really help you come out of something. I was afraid to take something and so I sat in it for too long. I would recommend getting help when you need it.”

These days, Dunst is in a different chapter of her life. She and actor Jesse Plemons share two sons: Ennis, three, and James Robert, whom they welcomed over the summer.

Dunst revealed that the pandemic was a factor in the two deciding to have another child. While in New Zealand, where The Power of the Dog was filmed, Dunst recalled, “We would go to the grocery store and take off our clothes and wipe down afterwards. No one knew anything, it was terrifying, and at the time I smoked so I was like, ‘Oh my God, if I get this I am gonna die.’”

“I was like, as soon as we are done with this movie, let’s try and have another baby,” she said. 

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What do Jeff Bezos, Leonardo DiCaprio and Lauren Sanchez have in common? The fact that the internet is going crazy over an exchange the three had over the weekend. 

The trio were attendees at the LACMA Art+Film Gala on Saturday, November 6, and a short video clip shared by Variety‘s Marc Malkin on Sunday shows Bezos’ girlfriend, Sanchez — who is standing between the Amazon founder and the Oscar winner — lean in close to DiCaprio while looking up at him and smiling. 

What seems like a simple exchange that almost any fan of the Titanic star could hope for has turned into internet gold, with one Twitter user hilariously commenting, “Looks like Bezos’s date rather be with Leo,” to which another replied, “Who doesn’t!!!”

Another quipped, “I guess we won’t be seeing any of Leo’s movies on [Amazon] prime.”

Needless to say, it didn’t take long for Bezos to chime in on the chatter. On Monday, the billionaire tweeted a photo of himself leaning over a sign that reads “Danger! Steep Cliff Fatal Drop” and jokingly captioned it, “Leo, come over here, I want to show you something… @LeoDiCaprio.”

Sanchez, whose romance with Bezos became public in 2019, has not yet commented on the exchange. 

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