Entertainment

Michael Jai White has been an accomplished martial artist and movie star for decades, notably in the groundbreaking 1997 superhero movie Spawn, and as a crime boss who runs afoul of Heath Ledger‘s Joker in the Oscar-winning The Dark Knight. 

White now stars in the new action flick The Commando, in which he plays a DEA agent whose family is targeted when he finds out the hard way that his new home contains a cache of criminal cash. 

“Some drama ensues,” he laughs to ABC Audio. 

The performer faces off with some veteran character actors in the film, which is now available On Demand. “I love Jeff Fahey, oh man,” White gushes. “I’m a big fan of that guy. And Mickey Rourke, I consider him like part of the last image of Old Hollywood. He’s got this charisma that just leaps from the screen.”

White calls the movie a “really cool opportunity…kind of a reunion of old friends,” including MMA fighter Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, whom White directed in an upcoming Western.

Now 57, White appears to be in the best shape of his life. It’s no accident, the Black Dynamite vet explains, but it’s also no “chore,” he admits. 

“Working out and doing martial arts, it’s a right, it’s not a chore! I get to do it!” he says with a laugh. “So it’s not about a whole discipline thing. It’s like, I feel better when I’m training, you know? It’s what I’m supposed to do. I mean…this is where I wanted to be! So there’s no excuse for me. I should always be in condition. This is what I do, what my fans expect of me.” 

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The Oscars podium has remained empty since Jimmy Kimmel left the stage in 2018, but for this year’s 94th annual Academy Awards, a host will emcee the evening once again.

“You heard it here first,” said Craig Erwich, president Hulu Originals & ABC Entertainment, at the virtual Television Critics Association press confab on Tuesday.

It remains to be seen who will get the tap, but the Academy has apparently reached out to some perspective hosts, according to The Hollywood Reporter — including Spider-Man series star Tom Holland.

Holland, an accomplished dancer who kicked off his career on stage in Billy Elliot, told the trade that he’d be up for it, which apparently prompted the chat with the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). 

The Oscars ran without a host for the first time in 2019, following a Twitter controversy that led Kevin Hart to ditch plans for what was for him once a dream gig.

Without a host, ratings actually jumped from the previous year; however, the most recent host-less telecast in 2021, which was delayed by the pandemic and held at Los Angeles’ Union Station instead of its traditional Dolby Theatre home, attracted a mere 10.4 million viewers — less than half the audience of its first host-free event.

The 94th Annual Academy Awards will air March 27 on ABC.

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A famous bit on Sacha Baron Cohen‘s Da Ali G Show had the clueless character pitch a literary agent “a book version of The Lord of the Rings” movies. However, a new survey shows a lot of folks don’t know at least two popular movies that were once books. 

Seventy-percent of those polled by ThriftBooks didn’t know that Mean Girls and Die Hard were both books before hitting the big screen: Mean Girls was adapted from Rosalind Wiseman‘s 2002 work Queen Bees and Wannabes, while Die Hard was born from Roderick Thorp‘s 1979 page-turner Nothing Lasts Forever.

The survey of 2,000 American book readers revealed 67% preferred the book version to the movie from which it’s adapted, but half of those polled say they prefer to watch a movie first, then pick up its original source.

Respondents don’t mind changes to a story if it improves a movie — but they find straying more than 23% from a source to be a “nuisance.”

The biggest gripe readers have is when a movie’s character drifts too far from their depiction in books — looking at you, Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher — with 52% saying that’s the most bothersome; 27% don’t like it when a movie changes a book’s ending.

The poll also looked into holiday stories, with respondents saying a movie should only be dubbed a “Christmas movie” if there are “Christmas-related characters” or if the movie, “takes place during the season.”

Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas made the cut with 41% of those polled, more than the 26% who celebrate the holidays with Bruce Willis‘ John McClane, and the 20% who say Trading Places is a Christmas must-watch. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan‘s You’ve Got Mail also made that list, according to 14% of those polled. 

Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) With Cobra Kai season four continuing to dominate the binge-side of life on Netflix, two of its stars are talking friendship, representation, equal footing and dropping a few hints for what to expect in season five.

When it comes to off-screen relationships, Vanessa Rubio who plays Carmen Diaz, and Courtney Henggeler, who plays Amanda LaRusso, tell ABC Audio that their friendship is as real as it gets — even though it didn’t develop until two seasons in when they realized they had “weird little things” in common, including their closeness in age.

“I think between the younger cast, the older cast and then us…we’re like ‘You’re the only one that I can really go out with so let’s go and have fun!'” Rubio expresses.

Meanwhile on-screen, Henggeler says that the secret to Cobrai Kai’s success lies in its creators and how they keep the playing field level for everyone.

“It was never like…the girls are going to this, and the boys are going to do this, it was just like the bad-a** is going to do this, the other bad-a** is going to do this,” she explains. “I so respect that they never throw us the generic girl-parts.”

Keeping things level also includes Latina representation and empowerment, which are at the forefront of Rubio’s character. 

“Just the ability to see your type of physicality and self represented on screen is a big deal,” Rubio says. 

Another big deal is season five, which Rubio reveals is already filmed. So what can fans expect?

“Let’s just say that maybe the Valley gets…smaller,” she laughs. “The stakes are up!…I’m always rooting for Johnny and Carmen. I’m always rooting for them and I hope they make it! We’ll see.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)

Cobra Kai season four is streaming now on Netflix. 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

ABC has ordered four additional episodes of The Goldbergs, bringing its season nine total to a full 22, series star Wendi McLendon-Covey announced Monday on Instagram. The move has nothing to do with the previously announced departure of fellow original star Jeff Garlin, who left the series following multiple misconduct allegations, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It’s still unclear how the sitcom will write out Garlin’s character Murray… 

Parks and Recreation alum Aubrey Plaza has signed on as a series regular in the second installment of HBO’s dark comedy series, The White Lotus, according to Variety. She joins Michael Imperioli and season one star Jennifer Coolidge, who’s also rumored to be returning, though HBO has yet to officially confirm it. The second installment, which is the follow-up to Mike White’s breakout social satire limited series, will leave Hawaii behind for a new location and is expected to follow a different group of vacationers at another White Lotus property, according to the entertainment website. Plaza will play Harper Spiller, a woman on vacation with her husband and his friends…

Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie have joined the cast of Netflix’s All the Light We Cannot See, a limited series adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller, according to Deadline. Newcomer Mia Loberti, who is blind, plays Marie-Laure, the blind teenager at the heart of the story whose path collides with Werner, a German soldier, as they both try to survive the devastation of World War II in occupied France. Ruffalo will play Marie’s father, who’s determined to give his blind daughter as much independence as he can while also protecting her and the secret Nazi gem they carry. Laurie will portray Etienne LeBlanc, a reclusive World War I hero suffering from PTSD who records clandestine radio broadcasts as part of the French Resistance…

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Lucy Hale recently addressed rumors that she once dated Colton Underwood, insisting the stories were completely false.

Multiple outlets, including People, reported the two were “casually dating” in July 2020 after they were spotted hiking together.

Nine months later, when Colton publicly came out as gay, Lucy took to her Instagram stories to show her support for him, writing that she was “really, really happy” for the former Bachelor star. “Brave, bold moves and I’m HERE FOR IT,” she added.

The Pretty Little Liars alum clarified her relationship with Colton in a new interview with Extra, saying, they were “always just friends.”

“The media likes to take a picture and run with it. I was like, ‘We’re not dating!’ He’s obviously very attractive, but no,” she continued. “I always love when people live their truth, even if that means people don’t like you for it. I’m happy that he seems happy.”

“We’re not close by any means, but I wish him well and I’m happy to see him embrace who he really is. I think it’s a beautiful thing,” added Hale.

The 32-year-old actress also shaded the media, noting, “There’s been people I’ve been photographed with who I am dating and nobody picked up on that, so it’s like they get it wrong every time.”

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Jimmy Kimmel took time out at the open of Jimmy Kimmel Live! to remember his friend and fellow comedian Bob Saget, who was found dead in his Orlando hotel room on Sunday. He was 65.

“Before we start the show,” an emotional Kimmel addressed the camera, “before the audience gets here, I wanted to say a few words about Bob Saget.”

His voice quavering, Kimmel said, “Bob was the sweetest. He was the sweetest man. I have so many wonderfully kind and supportive texts and emails and calls from Bob. He always had a compliment. He’d write sometimes just to tell me he loved me and I know he did that for many people.”

Kimmel added, “He had something funny to say about everything and nothing bad to say about anyone. Never.”

“Unlike me, he was a good person,” Kimmel said, before highlighting Saget’s fundraising efforts to fight scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disease that took his sister Gay‘s life.

Kimmel could barely continue, as he talked about an email he got from Bob, about their future plans to hang out, plans they never got to fulfill.

“I taped this like 14 times, and I still can’t [do it],” Kimmel said, tears streaming down his face, before sharing a segment between Saget and Full House co-star John Stamos, when they both eulogized their mutual pal Don Rickles.

Who would have thought four years later, Saget would be gone, Jimmy expressed, before closing with, “We love you, Bob.”

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Clayton continued his journey to find love with the 22 remaining women on Monday’s episode of The Bachelor, but one of them has a secret that could force him to do something no other Bachelor has done before.

The season’s first group date featured celebrity guest Hilary Duff, who enlisted 10 of the ladies to throw a dream Beverly Hills birthday party for one lucky young girl and her guests. However, Cassidy was more interested in spending time with Clayton than the kids.

While the bold strategy didn’t sit well with the other women, Clayton was impressed with her tenacity, and rewarded her with the date rose.

Unfortunately, Cassidy’s unrelenting pursuit of Clayton, along with her cockiness, led her to make a potentially fatal mistake when she privately told Sierra that she had a guy back home that she’d been “hooking up with on and off for a while.” In fact, the two had video-chatted just as she was on her way to tape the show and made plans to hook up again after she was done.

Later, at the pre-rose ceremony cocktail party, Sierra used her time alone with Clayton to spill the beans about Cassidy, and warn him that she’s not the person he thought she was.

That led Clayton to ask host Jesse Palmer a question that could change Cassidy’s future and lead to a Bachelor first: “Has anyone has ever taken back a rose before?”

The episode ended with a cliffhanger, as we await Jessie’s response.

Meanwhile, another drama was brewing after Shanae — who earlier, during another group date, tried stealing a page from Cassidy’s playbook, with disastrous results — portrayed Elizabeth to Clayton as being “fake.” That lead to tension between the two ladies, and raised red flags regarding both ladies.

Afterwards, it was Sarah who took home the date rose.

Elsewhere, Susie landed a one-on-one date with Clayton that included a scenic helicopter ride, sipping champagne on a yacht, a surprise musical performance by Canadian country singer Amanda Jordan and a date rose. 

The Bachelor returns January 24 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Joseph Sikora, who was featured as Tommy Egan in Power, stars in the new trailer for Power Book IV: Force, which dropped Monday. In the clip, Egan, called “the crazy white boy,” has moved from New York City to Chicago and is making moves to take over the Windy City. When he’s told, “You’re not afraid of hell,” Tommy replies, “Sometimes I think I’m already there.” Power Book IV: Force premieres Sunday, February 6, at 9 p.m. ET on Starz.

In other news, EW.com previews the late Michael K. Williams starring in the second season of the Black Market TV series. Season two 2 of the show was still in production of when Williams died September 6 from a drug overdose. He was 54. Tracy Morgan, Rosie Perez and Felicia Pearson from The Wire will provide voice-overs for the last three episodes that Williams was unable to finish.

In the clip from the premiere episode, “Scam Likely,” the five-time Emmy nominee meets a crew of young hustlers running an unemployment fraud scam. The six-episode second season of Black Market premieres tonight, January 10, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Vice TV.

Finally, Idris Elba is leading a campaign to stop knife violence in London. The Golden Globe winner is involved in the initiative promoted by London’s Arsenal Football Club and Adidas. Elba appeared at Sunday’s Emirates FA Cup in London matching Arsenal against Nottingham Forrest.

“It’s absolutely in response to the knife crime crisis that we’ve got going on,” Elba said in an interview at the match. “Last year, 30 kids — I’m gonna say ‘kids’ — died senselessly over knife crime. And the year before that, and the year before that…It’s an ongoing problem. [Sportscaster] Ian [Wright] and I teamed up with Arsenal and Adidas to make a point and say something about it.”

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Betty White‘s cause of death has reportedly been revealed.

According to a death certificate obtained by TMZ, the Golden Girls icon died due to a cerebrovascular accident, otherwise known as a stroke. She had reportedly suffered the stroke six days before her death.

White’s agent, Jeff Witjas, tells ABC News that he was not aware of the apparent stroke at the time, leading him to believe it was minor. He says he has not seen the death certificate and did not learn of the alleged cause of death until the TMZ report.

Witjas maintains that White was “talking and coherent” in the days preceding her death and that she died peacefully in her sleep.

White passed away on December 31 at age 99. She would’ve been turning 100 on January 17.

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