Innholdsfortegnelse for May 17, 2023 i The Hollywood Reporter

Pete Davidson was set to host Saturday Night Live for the first time on May 6, but the gig was scrubbed when the long-running NBC sketch-comedy show decided to air reruns for the time being because of the writers strike. Had Davidson gone ahead and hosted, he no doubt would have mentioned his upcoming summer tentpole, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (the comedian and SNL alum voices Mirage, an Autobot spy who transforms into a sleek, silver-blue Porsche), and maybe his cameo in Fast X. Moreover, Paramount surely would have taken out an accompanying advertisement for Rise of the Beasts, which opens June 9 in U.S. theaters. Instead, Davidson handed out pizza from L&B Spumoni Gardens to striking writers at a Brooklyn picketing line May 5, several days after the…

So you saw the heckler!” Arian Moayed says with a laugh while sitting in the Ambassador’s Lounge of the Hudson Theatre, where, two nights before, a woman interrupted a performance of the now-Tony-nominated A Doll’s House to tell the actor to take off his costume. “There’s a debate among the production about whether she was yelling at the character — like, take off your proverbial costume — or just catcalling me,” he says. Moayed is accustomed to the extreme intimacy of the theater; his Broadway debut was opposite Robin Williams in 2011’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (he got a Tony nom for that, too), and he’s now performing this stripped-down, set-less Henrik Ibsen adaptation with Jessica Chastain eight times a week, an experience he describes as “spiritual.” He’s…

Writers Bring Pickup Lines to Picket Lines On May 10, approximately 400 striking writers combined picketing with pleasure at the inaugural “Strike Up a Romance,” an inclusive, 21+ singles party. The event — co-hosted by a team of Hollywood scribes including LJ Matchmaking’s Jaydi Samuels Kuba and Lauren Rosenberg with Debby Wolfe, Marcos Luevanos and Deanna Shumaker — kicked off with a four-hour protest at the Universal Studios gates, followed by an evening mixer over margaritas at Roadside Taco on Ventura Boulevard. “The strike is an easy icebreaker to start a conversation or start flirting,” explains Wolfe, a showrunner on Lopez vs. Lopez who admitted she had yet to use it herself as she was too busy organizing. But others are taking advantage. “It exceeded my expectations,” Samuels Kuba tells…

Weddings Actress Bonnie Somerville married Dave McClain, founder of advertising and marketing agency Nonfiction, on April 8 at Hummingbird Nest Ranch in Simi Valley, California. The couple plan to honeymoon in the Maldives. Births Costume designer Sara Fox DeRemer and APA vp scripted literary Nathan DeRemer welcomed Layla Rae DeRemer on March 7 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center. Production designer James Pearse Connelly and Wallie Wachter, production manager of drama series at Netflix, welcomed son Cates Wachter Connelly on Jan. 30 in Salt Lake City. Congrats Buchwald upped Angelo Padilla to senior vp talent and Marion Campbell Kammer to vp talent May 10. Kathy Franklin was appointed CEO of multiplatform kids and family content group Hidden Pigeon Co. on May 10. Elizabeth Davies was named senior vp production and…

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER HAD A RITUAL. The “Austrian Oak” would stare at his naked body in the mirror as if he were a living work of art, a figure to be sculpted to perfection by lifting hundreds of pounds of iron in endless repetition. His goal was to shatter bodybuilding records and then become Hollywood’s biggest action star — and it worked. ¶ Now, decades later, when Schwarzenegger sees his 75-year-old body, what does he like about it? ¶ “Nothing!” Schwarzenegger says, smiling yet serious. “My whole life I look at the mirror and see the best-built man, and all of a sudden I see a bunch of crap. It’s terrible! You get these wrinkles under your eyes. You get wrinkles under your pecs. You see the fucking poodle!” The poodle?…

CARLA HALL SEASONS 5 AND 8 The fan favorite (according to Andy Cohen and a season five poll) went on to host seven seasons of ABC’s The Chew before segueing to an overall deal at Food Network and a QVC line. “Top Chef helped me become comfortable with the uncomfortable,” says Hall, a culinary ambassador to the Smithsonian’s Museum of African American History. BROOKE WILLIAMSON SEASONS 10 AND 14 “If you had asked me if I was a competitive person before my first Top Chef, I really would have said no,” claims Williamson, who — when she’s not tending to packed Los Angeles culinary compound Playa Provisions — cooks against fellow chefs on a variety of Food Network series including Guy’s Grocery Games and Tournament of Champions. JAMIE LAUREN SEASONS…

In 2021, the TV Academy imposed a new ruling for documentary contenders: no double-dipping when it came to awards. For a single season, the Academy barred from Emmy submission any documentary that had also been available for Oscar consideration on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences viewing platform, launching a hard rule about what makes a doc a feature film or a television program. “Any film placed on the AMPAS viewing platform will be deemed a theatrical motion picture and thus ineligible for the Emmy competition,” the ruling stated. But early this year the TV Academy reversed course and widened the documentary race once again — with a caveat. “Documentaries that appear on the AMPAS viewing platform but have not received an Oscar nomination may still qualify for…

The streaming service Freevee has spent the past year building a foundation of solid comedy-adjacent half-hours, from the exceptional High School to the recent Jury Duty, which I liked more in concept than execution. Produced by Mike Schur and created by journalist Shea Serrano, Primo is another low-key winner. The comedy isn’t always full of laughs and sometimes leans too heavily into the sitcom formula, but its family portrait feels instantly authentic and the eight-episode first season has a tremendous amount of heart. Ignacio Diaz-Silverio plays Rafa, a 16-year-old high school junior who lives in San Antonio with his single mom, Drea (Christina Vidal). Rafa is at a transitional point in his life, with a crush on the new girl in the neighborhood (Stakiah Washington’s Mya) and an unanticipated opportunity…

On May 10, the Directors Guild of America sent a message to members that exemplified the muddled situation in which writer-directors find themselves amid the ongoing writers strike. In the communication, the DGA advised its members that minor script changes — like cutting for time and making small edits to dialogue during production — may be required of writer-directors during the strike if they are working on a project they wrote only in their capacity as a director. The DGA considers small script changes to typically be part of a director’s workload, and the union’s “no-strike” clause requires it to put a good-faith effort toward requiring members to continue directing during the strike. But the “strike rules” governing what members of the Writers Guild of America can do during its…

Is America ready for the free, ad-supported TV set? Ilya Pozin, the co-founder of Pluto TV (the free, ad-supported streaming service with 80 million monthly users now owned by Paramount), sure thinks so. On May 15, Pozin unveiled Telly, a company that plans to ultimately give away millions of premium TV sets for free (its reservation system opened with a batch of 500,000 sets). “Companies are making billions of dollars from ads served on televisions, yet consumers have historically had to pay for both the TV and the content they watch,” Pozin says. Details on the amount of financing raised for Telly are not public, though the latest round was co-led by LightShed Ventures partner Rich Greenfield, also known for being a high-profile Wall Street media analyst. In a faux…

David Maisel, the founding Marvel Studios chairman who helped usher in Disney’s $4 billion buy of the company in 2009, has upped the ante to build a Marvel rival. Maisel says he has secured millions to grow his company Mythos Studios and build out a multiplatform comic book storyline called the Ekos Universe. Investors including Hybe, the South Korean label and agency that is home to BTS; billionaires Ron Burkle, Nicolas Berggruen and Jim Breyer; the metaverse-focused investment firm Sfermion; the South Korean gaming company Krafton; and the metaverse company Digital. A dozen staffers have been added to work on building out the universe based on the work of artist Michael Turner, who died in 2008. This is Maisel’s second stab at planning a Turner-based universe. Maisel and music manager…

Brittany Snow and Jaspre Guest’s HarperCollins book September Letters: Finding Strength and Connection in Sharing Our Stories is Chicken Soup for the Soul for a new generation. A collection of inspirational essays and mantras, the new tome is an extension of the duo’s online mental health platform, which launched in 2020 and features soul-affirming content submitted by (often anonymous) writers in the form of letters as a means of free therapy. “We wanted to build a place that was safe, where people could feel connected,” Guest says of septemberletters.com. It’s overseen by editorial director Stacey Lindsay, who has evolved the platform to include profiles, stories exploring happiness and additional mental health resources. Like the September Letters website, Snow and Guest’s new book is a love letter to those seeking advice,…

Hollywood Boulevard went under the sea May 8 for the long-awaited world premiere of The Little Mermaid, where star Halle Bailey told reporters, “I feel honored to be here today. I’m so grateful that everybody’s going to be able to watch it all together.” Bailey was joined by co-stars Melissa McCarthy, Javier Bardem, Awkwafina, Daveed Diggs, Jonah Hauer-King, Jacob Tremblay and director Rob Marshall on the blue carpet, as McCarthy told THR about the drag queen inspirations behind her portrayal of Ursula: “It’s her makeup, it’s her stance, her posture, her acerbic wit. I think that’s what drag does so well.” Got tips? Email rambling@thr.com…

Drew and Jonathan Scott might be Canada’s most successful double export. Identical twins and serial entrepreneurs, the Scotts have parlayed their original home improvement series, Property Brothers, into an unscripted empire. Since wresting production duties on their flagship, they’ve become a dominant supplier to HGTV — accounting for roughly 17 percent of original programming at the cable network — and, come May 23, a featured selling point on parent company Warner Bros. Discovery’s new streamer, Max. “A lot of people don’t realize the scope of our business — that we produce as many other shows as we do or actually manufacture 10,500 different products,” says Jonathan, who joined Drew on the phone from a worksite earlier in May. What those familiar with the 45-year-old affable and self-deprecating brothers do realize…

With the opening of Funke this month — and last year’s arrival of a Jon & Vinny’s as well as Mexican steakhouse Hideaway — the Beverly Hills dining scene is on a roll. Three other new restaurants of note have just debuted as well as a slew of others on the way. ESPELETTE French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s namesake restaurant in the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills has closed after six years. Taking its place is Espelette from Waldorf Astoria culinary director Steve Benjamin, focusing on simple, coastal European dishes. 9850 Wilshire Blvd. LA DOLCE VITA The legendary Hollywood hotspot — which initially bowed in 1966 with the help of Frank Sinatra as an investor — has reopened in its longtime Beverly Hills location under the restaurant’s third owners in its 57…

Comedy is tragedy plus time, as the saying goes — and in TV comedies, timing is everything. Historically, the TV Academy has considered a comedy to be a half-hour of television. But this season, several shows are blurring the lines between comedy and drama in both tone and episode length — which may impact their chances in the Emmy race. Take, for example, Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso, which picked up the prize for best comedy series for its first two seasons and is aiming for a third nom this summer. The feel-good series about a scrappy English soccer — excuse me, football — team first found a rabid fan base during the pandemic with its positive messages of collaboration and communication, themes presented via the eponymous coach played by co-creator…

MO AMER Mo (actor, writer), Ramy (supporting actor) MURRAY BARTLETT The Last of Us (guest actor), Physical (supporting actor), Welcome to Chippendales (supporting actor) JOEL KIM BOOSTER Fire Island (writer, actor), Loot (supporting actor) LIZZY CAPLAN Fatal Attraction (actress), Fleishman Is in Trouble (actress), Party Down (guest actress) ALAN CUMMING Schmigadoon! (supporting actor), The Traitors (reality competition host) HOPE DAVIS Succession (guest actress), Your Honor (supporting actress) GIANCARLO ESPOSITO Better Call Saul (supporting actor), The Mandalorian (supporting actor) HARRISON FORD 1923 (actor), Shrinking (supporting actor) JENNIFER GARNER The Last Thing He Told Me (actress), Party Down (supporting actress) DONALD GLOVER Atlanta (actor, director, writer), Swarm (director) LUIS GUZMÁN Poker Face (guest actor), Wednesday (guest actor) DAMSON IDRIS Snowfall (actor), Swarm (supporting actor) CHERRY JONES Five Days at Memorial (supporting actress),…

When it comes to work stoppages in Hollywood, what exactly is an act of God? It’s a question that sent studios scrambling amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but even now there’s not much clarity around so-called force majeure events. Shortly after the WGA strike went into effect, writers’ reps began receiving calls and emails notifying them of deals being suspended. The vast majority of them don’t reference force majeure — and, according to attorneys with whom THR spoke on background, there’s a clear reason: The WGA’s collective bargaining agreement says a strike itself is justification. Under Article 7 of the WGA Minimum Basic Agreement, the writers’ employment agreements at struck companies “shall be deemed automatically suspended, both as to service and compensation, while such strike is in effect.” Hollywood’s top attorneys…

Five years ago, just days before she led NBCUniversal’s upfront pitch on the stage of Radio City Music Hall, Linda Yaccarino addressed the crowd at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Video Symposium in New York City. In a critical address, she took aim squarely at the big social media companies like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube over data breaches and brand safety concerns. “We are feeling really great about where NBCU is. We feel confident talking about where we are because there are a lot of companies feeling a lot worse,” Yaccarino, then NBCU’s top advertising and partnerships executive, told the crowd at Convene in midtown Manhattan. “It is no secret that a lot of our social media friends are under quite a microscope — some of us would say, under fire.…

Stiffed PRODUCED BY Crooked Media, iHeartMedia AGENCY WME What happens when porn publishing magnate Bob Guccione launches an erotic magazine for women? This series, hosted by Jennifer Romolini, follows the creation of Viva and how the mag failed to live up to its mission of sexually empowering women. High Strange PRODUCED BY Tenderfoot TV AGENCY UTA Host Payne Lindsey returns for an investigative series on UFOs and life outside planet Earth, aimed at separating the truth from the conspiracy. The eight-part series launched in late March and peaked at No. 2 on Apple Podcasts.…

Just about six weeks before artificial intelligence became a hot-button issue in the writers strike, a Berlin-based photographer took the internet by storm with Harry Potter by Balenciaga, a video melding characters from the wizarding world with avant-garde models representing the luxury fashion brand. Even more recently, a company called Curious Refuge used AI to create a viral trailer for a Wes Anderson Star Wars film called The Galactic Menagerie. While clearly these are spoofs that aren’t trying to fool anyone, they show that re-creating someone’s likeness and voice using AI is no longer merely sci-fi fodder — in fact, Robert Zemeckis’ upcoming movie Here will use a tool called Metaphysic Live to de-age Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. Just as AI became a sticking point during the Writers Guild’s…

Jonathan Anderson, the fashion designer of Loewe and his own line JW Anderson, is on the phone from Rome, calling from the set of Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, based on the novel by William S. Burroughs. “He’s the only person I would do this for,” Anderson says of his costume design work for Guadagnino. “Luca creates an amazing type of escape from the job I normally do, but it also allows me to see a different viewpoint on how clothing can articulate thoughts and emotions in the world today.” Queer is the follow-up to Anderson’s inaugural foray into costume design on another Guadagnino film, the upcoming Challengers, which stars Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, who appears in Loewe’s ad campaigns. This year, the designer cel-ebrates a decade as the creative director of…

Abbott Elementary After winning Emmys last year for its debut season — including best writing for a comedy series (creator Quinta Brunson, pictured) and best supporting actress (Sheryl Lee Ralph) — the ABC sitcom won Critics Choice Awards for best comedy and supporting actress (Ralph), Golden Globes for best actress (Brunson) and supporting actor (Tyler James Williams) and a SAG Award for best ensemble. Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Emmy winner Evan Peters (pictured) won a Golden Globe for his chilling portrayal of the infamous serial killer in Ryan Murphy’s latest anthology series for Netflix, while Niecy Nash-Betts — a four-time Emmy nominee — scored a Critics Choice Award and a Golden Globe for her supporting role. The White Lotus The second season of HBO’s star-studded satire has…

Apple TV+’s Platonic knows it’s going to draw comparisons to When Harry Met Sally. The characters themselves call out parallels within the first 10 minutes, when Will (Seth Rogen) insists the ’80s classic “proves” it’s possible for him to remain platonic with his ex-BFF Sylvia (Rose Byrne) — only to be disabused of the notion when it’s pointed out to him that the film actually ends with Harry and Sally getting hitched. In truth, though, the When Harry Met Sally references are a feint. Platonic, created by Nicholas Stoller and Francesca Delbanco (Netflix’s Friends From College), is less concerned with whether men and women can maintain friendships in general than with what Will and Sylvia are getting out of this particular friendship at this particular moment. And while answers prove…

During a fraught time for L.A., the team behind the 1992 original White Men Can’t Jump took a shot on a personal story about the bonds forged through pickup basketball. Writer-director Ron Shelton — who had helmed 1989’s Bull Durham, earning himself an Oscar nom for the script — got the idea for the film from his weekday routine: After working on screenplays in the morning, he would head to the Hollywood YMCA near his office to shoot hoops at lunch. White Men producer David V. Lester recalls Shelton’s fascination with the athletes’ squabbles and chatter. “It annoyed him at first because he just wanted a workout, but the writer in him saw the magic of these moment-to-moment relationships on the basketball court,” Lester tells THR. In the comedy, L.A.…