Bill Hader is set to make his feature film directorial debut. Deadline reports that the actor, who also directed episodes of his TV series Barry, will write, direct and star in a new horror film called They Know. The movie follows a divorced father who grows suspicious of the mysterious man his ex-wife is dating, believing he is having a strange influence on their children …
Percy Jackson and the Olympians has added some new faces to its cast. Variety reports that the Disney+ series has cast Ming-Na Wen as the Greek Goddess Hera, Jennifer Beals as the Greek Goddess Demeter and Hubert Smielecki as the Greek God Apollo for the upcoming third season …
Brendan Fraser and Andrew Scott star in the newly released official trailer for the upcoming film Pressure. The movie takes place in the tense 72 hours before D-Day when one decision changed the world. The film arrives in theaters on May 29 and also stars Kerry Condon, Chris Messina and Damian Lewis …
Eddie Vedder is just breathing a bit better after a conversation with an unlikely source convinced him to quit smoking.
As the Pearl Jam frontman revealed during an interview with the Fly on the Wall podcast with Dana Carvey and David Spade, said conversation took place during the COVID-19 pandemic while on the phone with former SNL cast member Martin Short.
Vedder said that he started smoking again during the pandemic after initially trying to quit, and told Short that when the comedian called to check in on him.
Short then asked if Vedder was smoking cigarettes or pot. When Vedder said cigarettes, Short replied, “Oh, are you still waiting for more literature on that?”
“And that was the last time I ever had a cigarette,” Vedder said.
He added, “Maybe not really, but it makes for a better story.”
Also during the podcast, Vedder reminisced about Pearl Jam’s 1994 SNL performance, during which the band had the rare opportunity to play three songs instead of the usual two.
Parker McCollum performs on ABC’s ‘CMA Fest presented by SoFi’ (Disney/Larry McCormack)
Parker McCollum’s new single, “Killin’ Me,” is from the deluxe edition of his self-titled album, due out March 20. He says when he came up with the melody for the song he knew he had to, as he puts it, “chase it.”
Parker explains that his pals Randy Rogers and Monty Criswell were visiting him at his ranch for some hunting and “driving fast,” and then they’d write songs in the evenings.
“We were actually in the middle of another song and I started playing that melody, just kind of out of nowhere,” Parker recalls. “And I stopped both of them and I said, ‘This melody, I just don’t know where this just came from but we got to chase it.'”
Once they decided to do that, Parker says, “We kind of got into the ‘every move you make is killin’ me’ [idea] and just loved [it], whenever that just kind of fell out of my brain, and chased that whole idea.” He adds that it “turned out to be a great song on the record.”
As previously reported, the video for “Killin’ Me” stars Parker’s wife, Hallie Ray Light McCollum. The couple is expecting their second son this summer.
Meanwhile, Parker McCollum Deluxe Edition arrives the same day Parker plays his fourth consecutive show at the Houston Rodeo.
Poster for ‘Zak Starkey … Who?: An Evening of Drums and Conversation’ (Courtesy of Zak Starkey)
Drummer Zak Starkey is set to take the stage at New York’s Gramercy Theatre Friday for a one-man show, Zak Starkey … Who?: An Evening of Drums and Conversation. He’ll take fans through his life and career, which will likely include his almost 30 years playing drums for The Who.
Starkey tells ABC Audio that even though his dad is Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, it was seeing The Who that made him want to learn to play the drums. And it turns out his dad wasn’t much help with that.
“I asked my dad for a drum lesson, and he gave me one lesson,” Starkey says. “Then the next day he said, ‘Now try this.’ I said, ‘I can do that.’ He said, ‘Well, you’re on your own.’ And that was it.”
Starkey began playing with The Who in 1996, and he says it felt “amazing” when he got the gig after being such a fan.
And while he and The Who parted ways in 2025 following an onstage disagreement between Starkey and Roger Daltrey, Starkey says he still has a good relationship with both Daltrey and Pete Townshend. In fact, he recently talked to Daltrey, who wished him luck with the show and gave him some advice.
“He told me to be myself, everything would be fine,” says Starkey. He notes of the issues that led to his split with the band, “It’s just some crazy s*** got out of hand … but we were still friends all the time through it.”
The Who wound up going on a farewell tour of North America in 2025 without Starkey behind the drum kit. As for whether he thinks it really was The Who’s final tour, Starkey wouldn’t speculate.
“If you think you know what those two guys are going to do, they’ll do something different.”
Halle Berry stars as Sharon in ‘Crime 101.’ (Merrick Morton)
Halle Berry is a successful insurance broker who doesn’t get the respect she deserves in the new film Crime 101.
Her character, Sharon, finally has enough of the poor treatment. Late in the film she stands up for herself to her boss, telling him exactly how she feels before quitting. Berry opened up to ABC Audio about the many ways she resonated with Sharon and this particular moment in the film.
“I am a woman of a certain age down the path of life, and I have felt very much what Sharon has felt probably since I turned 40, 45,” Berry said. “I started to feel like my industry, that I love so much, was kinda lowkey kinda telling me, ‘We don’t really have a place for you. There are no parts. You’re not young. You’re not quite old enough to be grandma. So there’s no place for you.'”
The Oscar winner said that she “worked so hard to arrive to that place” of success in the industry.
“To feel that I would now be discarded was a painful realization,” Berry said.
Despite this, Berry said she made a conscious choice to not allow that to happen to her.
“There was some point in that period where I said, ‘No, screw this. I will not allow this to happen.’ And I pushed through, and I managed to not allow that to be my story,” Berry said. “I really related to Sharon deciding to stand up for herself.”
Berry feels other women who see the film will similarly relate to Sharon’s story.
“It was a moral question that she had to face, but I think in that moment she chose to do what was best for her and I really respected her for that,” Berry said. “I think women will feel seen, they’ll feel heard, and they will cheer for her.”
Crime 101 is available to watch in theaters everywhere.
Eric Dane attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Columbia Pictures’ ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ at TCL Chinese Theatre on May 30, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Actor Eric Dane, best known for his starring role in the long-running ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, has died at 53.
Dane revealed in April 2025 that he’d been battling the incurable degenerative neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
“My left side is functioning; my right side has completely stopped working,” Dane told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in June 2025, adding that he was rapidly losing voluntary function in his left arm: “I feel like maybe a couple, few more months and I won’t have my left hand either.”
Born on Nov. 9, 1972, in San Francisco, California, Dane caught the acting bug in high school and made his television debut in a 1991 episode of Saved by the Bell. More roles followed in shows including The Wonder Years, Roseanne, Married… with Children and others. Dane’s profile rose when he was cast in the recurring role of Jason Dean for two seasons of the long-running hit supernatural series Charmed.
But Dane’s breakout role was that of plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Sloan in the ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, which he played for eight seasons beginning in 2006. His character – referred to on the show by female characters as “McSteamy,” because of his good looks – made him a star.
In a 2025 interview with Diane Sawyer, Dane recalled one of his most memorable McSteamy scenes, early on his run on the show, in which he emerged from a steam-filled bathroom, barely clad in a towel. That moment, one of Grey’s Anatomy‘s most talked-about, cemented Dane’s status as a prime time TV heartthrob – yet he had no idea then of the lasting impact it would have.
“In the moment, it was just another scene to me,” he said. “I just remember walking out of a bathroom where a very nice gentleman was kind of blowing smoke towards me.”
Following his character’s departure from the show in 2012, Dane starred as Cmdr. Tom Chandler, the commanding officer of a U.S. Navy destroyer during a deadly global pandemic, in the TNT action drama The Last Ship. Dane played the role for the show’s five-season run, which ended in 2018. The following year, he was cast in the hit HBO drama Euphoria as Cal Jacobs, the closeted father of actor Jacob Elordi’s character, Nate.
Most recently, Dane starred in the 2025 Amazon Prime crime drama Countdown.
In addition to the television work for which he was best known, Dane also enjoyed a film career, with roles in movies including X-Men: The Last Stand, Marley & Me, Burlesque, Dangerous Waters and 2024’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
In November 2025, Dane, the progression of his disease apparent, made a guest appearance on the TV drama Brilliant Minds, playing a firefighter with ALS who kept his diagnosis from his family.
Despite his ALS diagnosis, Dane told Diane Sawyer in 2025 that he was “very hopeful” about his future.
“I don’t think this is the end of my story,” he said. “And whether it is or it isn’t, I’m gonna carry that idea with me.”
Dane is survived by two daughters, whom he shares with the actress Rebecca Gayheart.
Gayheart and Dane married in October 2004. Gayheart filed for divorce in 2018 but later requested to dismiss that petition in March 2025, a month before Dane went public with his ALS diagnosis.
In a December 2025 essay for The Cut, Gayheart wrote that she and Dane never got a divorce, describing their relationship as a “familial love.”
“It’s a very complicated relationship, one that’s confusing for people. Our love may not be romantic, but it’s a familial love,” she wrote. “Eric knows that I am always going to want the best for him. That I’m going to do my best to do right by him. And I know he would do the same for me.”
She continued, “So whatever I can do or however I can show up to make this journey better for him or easier for him, I want to do that. And I want to model that for my girls: That’s what you do. That’s the right thing to do.”
‘Frizzle Fry: Phantoms of Barrington Hall’ cover artwork. (Z2)
Primus frontman Les Claypool has written a new illustrated book called Frizzle Fry: Phantoms of Barrington Hall.
Named after Primus’ 1990 debut album, Frizzle Fry: Phantoms of Barrington Hall is described by publisher Z2 Comics as an “illustrated storybook for adults” that “expands Primus’ warped mythology and surreal humor, as it presents a tale allegedly based on the band’s unbelievable experiences during their early years playing shows in Berkeley and the East Bay.”
The description continues, “Fans may think they know Frizzle Fry from the song and the album of the same name, but this story explodes the band’s universe into a new form of psychedelic life on every page, capturing the off-kilter spirit Primus fans have come to expect, in a way that only Primus can.”
In the meantime, you can catch Primus on tour with two other Claypool projects, The Claypool Lennon Delirium and Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, kicking off in May.
Mumford & Sons have premiered the video for “The Banjo Song,” a track off the band’s upcoming album, Prizefighter.
The clip doesn’t feature any banjos, and instead follows a group of people as they dance around a room. The dancers were cast by event organizer Streets of Soul from attendees of its club nights in England.
“These are the dancers that always brighten up our dancefloors, the ones that love to dance,” Streets of Soul says. “We brought them together with their different styles, energy and flair. We saw how quickly they all became one … their differences became their joy and their connection.”
You can watch the video for “The Banjo Song” on YouTube.
Prizefighter, the follow-up to 2025’s Rushmere, drops Friday. It also includes the Hozier collaboration “Rubber Band Man.”
Lainey Wilson’s been Down Under touring Australia and New Zealand, and she’s been having a great time. In an Instagram video, she lists all the cool things she’s gotten to do besides work, including holding koalas and meeting Bindi Irwin. She adds in the video, “We have gotten to do it all, while playing some of the best shows I have ever played in my entire life … Australia and New Zealand, y’all know how to act up!”
Brad Paisley has announced a benefit comedy show in April to raise money for his nonprofit The Store, a food pantry that operates like a supermarket, allowing people to select the groceries they want. Called Groceries with Dignity & Comedy Without with Brad Paisley & Friends, it’ll take place at Zanies in Nashville. Tickets go on sale Friday.
CMA vocal group of the year The Red Clay Strays will headline this year’s RiverBeat Music Festival, taking place May 1-3 in Memphis. The other two headliners for the event are Dave Matthews Band and rap icons Wu-Tang Clan. Tickets are on sale now.