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Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese is joining the ranks of entertainment industry power players embracing generative AI.

Black Forest Labs, the German AI startup behind the text-to-image model Flux, announced Tuesday that Scorsese is joining the company as an advisor.

The company unveiled the collaboration on its website with a video of the auteur using Flux to storyboard scenes, which involves mocking up shots before filming.

“This conveys a cinematic intelligence,” he said in the video, discussing the program’s uses with Black Forest Labs co-founder and Chief Executive Robin Rombach and Creative Artists Agency co-founder Michael Ovitz. According to the New York Times, Ovitz, an investor in Black Forest Labs, helped bring Scorsese aboard, along with Rick Yorn, Scorsese’s talent manager, whose investment firm BroadLight Capital is also an investor.

In a statement, Scorsese emphasized the potential for AI to transform the storyboarding process.

“For 70 years, I’ve been creating my own storyboards. There’s always been this problem of how do you communicate what you see in your head to your cast and crew. There are some things you have to see and feel,” he said. “I’m interested in the intersection of technology and storytelling, and seeing how that can push the bounds of creativity to create deeper and richer experiences for audiences.”

Traditionally, storyboarding is done by hand or digital illustration through a collaboration between directors and storyboard artists.

Scorsese’s public espousal of this technology marks the latest shift in attitude about AI from powerful Hollywood creatives. Since generative AI became widely accessible in 2022, Hollywood has struggled to navigate its power to rapidly upend industry norms.

Scorsese is not the first decorated filmmaker to embrace AI. James Cameron, the Oscar-winning “Avatar” director, is on the board of directors for Stability AI, where Rombach worked before launching Black Forest Labs. In his keynote address at the AI on the Lot conference last week, director and screenwriter Paul Schrader expressed a mixture of admiration and caution toward the technology.

“AI does not create — it combines,” Shrader said. “If AI wants an idea, it has to go to where that idea already exists. Of course, you can make the argument that that’s all artists do anyway, and to a degree that’s a valid argument. But you still have to come up with something.”

Not everybody is on board with generative AI’s potential transformations. Guillermo del Toro and Seth Rogen spoke out against the technology at Cannes last month, and below-the-line wokers, screenwriters and actors have continued to express apprehension and even horror at the prospect of being replaced by generative AI.

Scorsese’s entry into the AI field might especially shock fans given his traditionalist approach to filmmaking. In 2019, he famously criticized Marvel movies, calling them “theme parks” and “not cinema.”

“It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being,” he said in a 2019 interview with Empire Magazine.

Even if his filmmaking centers humanity, Scorsese’s partnership with Black Forest Labs demonstrates his willingness to incorporate non-human assistance.

“Remember, cinema is a young medium, only around 125 years old, so we have to be open to how it can evolve,” he said in the statement on Black Forest Labs’ website.

Eleanor Tomlinson, Matthew Lewis and Callum Woodhouse star in Channel 5 series The Fortune

Viewers of The Fortune were left disappointed as the new psychological drama made its debut on Channel 5.

The series centres on waitress Amanda Blakefield, portrayed by Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson, whose world is thrown into chaos when a solicitor arrives at her workplace to inform her she stands to inherit a vast estate from a complete stranger.

She continues to dodge the solicitor yet pays a visit to the deceased man’s widow Fiona (Rebecca Front) and son Anthony, played by All Creatures Great and Small’s Callum Woodhouse, who are outraged and make abundantly clear their intention to contest it.

Meanwhile, Amanda’s husband Jimmy (Harry Potter star Matthew Lewis) appears to be embroiled in a mystery of his own, repeatedly receiving suspicious phone calls.

As the opening episode aired on Tuesday night (June 2), numerous viewers took to X to voice their scepticism, with some calling the storyline into question, reports Wales Online.

“Wouldn’t they phone her and ask her into their office instead of just barging into her workplace?” wondered one viewer.

Another posted on the platform, formerly known as Twitter: “How to sort out an unexpected inheritance: (a) consult a solicitor, and get it sorted out; or: (b) throw away the solicitor’s letter and barge in uninvited to a grieving family.”

One viewer branded the show “a dud” while another confessed: “Oh I really want to like this but so far I’m struggling.”

“This is absolute s***e,” insisted another viewer, as one posted: “Mrs Poldark the only thing saving this so far…”

“Channel 5 either do b****y brilliant dramas or shockingly bad am/dram… #thefortune is tipping ever so slowly to the latter… ludicrous,” remarked another viewer, while one complained about the “exaggerated sighs” and “pauses”.

Meanwhile, The Telegraph awarded it merely one star out of five in its review, branding it “rubbish”.

Yet others felt the series – shot on location across Hartlepool, Northumberland, Newcastle and north Yorkshire last year – showed potential.

“So far looking good,” observed one viewer. Another highlighted the impressive ensemble, which also features Denis Lawson, Stephen Tompkinson, Paula Wilcox, Danielle Walters and Nina Wadia.

“It’s got a really good cast too,” they wrote. “Well known faves.”

The Fortune is airing on Channel 5.

The Fortune sees a woman mysteriously inherit £2 million and a country estate from a stranger.

The Fortune has landed on Channel 5, with audiences eager to discover everything about the drama.

Following the unexpected inheritance of a substantial fortune from a stranger, mother and wife Amanda (portrayed by Eleanor Tomlinson) finds herself in conflict with the deceased man’s relatives.

She simultaneously starts uncovering the truth regarding her own family’s sinister history, which may shed light on why she’s been selected as the beneficiary of the enigmatic man’s estate.

Where was The Fortune on Channel 5 filmed?

Filming for Channel 5’s The Fortune occurred during autumn 2025 across Hartlepool, Northumberland, Newcastle and North Yorkshire.

The bulk of shooting took place in Hartlepool, with the historic Headland district serving as a crucial location.

Another significant filming venue was Hartlepool Marina, where the exterior alongside local establishments and eateries were utilised to depict Amanda’s everyday existence.

The programme’s principal production headquarters was also situated in Hartlepool at The Northern Studios on Lynn Street.

Certain scenes were additionally captured in Newcastle, with the drama produced by Newcastle-based Lonesome Pine Productions.

The cast and crew travelled to Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, where the mid-Victorian country residence Cleveland Lodge served as the Worrall family estate in the Channel 5 series.

The Grade II listed building was constructed between 1848 and 1851 and sits within approximately 35 acres of private parkland, featuring paddocks and a tennis court. Meanwhile, the more rural and coastal scenes were shot in and around the Northumberland region.

All Creatures Great and Small star Callum Woodhouse, who plays vengeful son Anthony Worrall in the series, hails originally from Stockton in the North East.

The Hartlepool Mail reported Woodhouse describing the experience of filming The Fortune as something of “a homecoming”.

He said: “Obviously, staying with my parents and filming in places I grew up visiting was a huge draw, but also being able to do something set in the modern day was really exciting.

“We were filming just over the road from where my mum works, so we’d meet up for lunch sometimes.”

The Fortune is available to watch on Channel 5.

Mindy Kaling was in her early 30s when the first TV series she created, “The Mindy Project,” made its debut and set in motion her attempt at forging an identity as a prolific multi-hyphenate after “The Office,” where she was a writer and cast member for eight seasons. But if you ask her to reflect on that time of her life, she says, it’s a bit of a blur.

As she explained recently, “I remember it, but not all that distinctly. It was such a grind — waking up at 6 a.m. to be on camera, wrapping late. And I did that for 117 episodes.”

But ask her about her 20s, when she was living in New York City and trying to figure out how she could break into the industry as a comedy writer? “I remember incredibly vividly,” she says. “I’m like, did I feel things more intensely back then? I’m not sure. But that period of time … there was just so many highs and lows. And it felt cinematic to me.”

So she made a TV show about it.

Premiering Tuesday with three episodes, “Not Suitable for Work” follows five ambitious 20-somethings living in Manhattan who are navigating the early stages of their careers while trying to have a semblance of a life and the heightened emotions they experience during this period. Kaling calls it the third chapter in her semi-autobiographical TV trilogy, which includes “Never Have I Ever,” about a first-generation Indian American teenager coping with her father’s death while trying to be popular (or at least not super uncool), and “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” about four young women who dorm together and boldly maneuver their new, uninhibited lives on campus.

In the new Hulu series, viewers are introduced to AJ Pascarelli (Ella Hunt), a hard-working and disciplined young woman who moves to town to start a high-pressure finance job, and her roommate Abhinaya “Abby” Chilukuri (Avantika), a savvy and fashion-obsessed assistant to a celebrity stylist. They live across the hall from Josh Teitelbaum (Jack Martin), an idealistic nepo baby of a media titan — he’ll lean into his privilege when it suits him while also trying to distance himself from it — with ambitions of making it in journalism. His two roommates are Kel Washington (Nicholas Duvernay), an insecure but earnest med student who would rather be acting, and Davis Beau Bradley Barrett III (Will Angus), a high-energy, bumbling financial analyst who works at the same corporate firm as AJ and is an undercover hopeless romantic. As one might expect, there are some messy entanglements within and outside the group.

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1. Abby (Avantika), left, and AJ (Ella Hunt) move in together. 2. Across the hall live Davis (Will Angus), left, Josh (Jack Martin) and Kel (Nicholas Duvernay). (Gwen Capistran / Disney)

“I hope that young people will respond to the show, “ Kaling says. “We did so much research in it because at a certain point it is funny — I’m in my 40s, and I am often like, ‘I wonder if young people are suspicious about why I’m so obsessed with writing shows about young people.’”

So, why is she?

“Because I find it almost impossible to reflect on the current time I’m in,” she says. “It would be too painful to be too introspective about the time that I’m in. I need a real sense of distance to look back on it, especially since having kids. Once you have kids, it triggers these memories of your own childhood.”

Over video call from New York City, Kaling reflected on the series and her early years of trying to make it. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

How did you land on the professions that your characters would be pursuing and what did you want to say about ambition at this stage of life?

I love people who have big wants, and sometimes the audience is like, “Maybe you want the wrong thing” and they [the characters] don’t quite know that yet. I love writing about the underdog. And with their particular professions, they’re all things that I had some interest in researching. I’ve always been fascinated by investment bankers. I went to Dartmouth, so I have a lot of friends who went into that, and I swear I’ve had my friends explain their job so many times to me, and I still didn’t totally understand it. We were lucky; a very famous investment bank very generously offered to let me come for a day and meet with young bankers. I also … write about the children of immigrants. I’m very, very interested in that story, and so we got to research what it’s like being the child of Nigerian immigrants. But every single character has a journey, or there’s an aspect of them that I feel like I really relate to, and that is in almost all my shows.

What was it like observing young people in the investment banking world?

They were wary — because they’re smart — of someone from Hollywood coming in to document what they were doing and asking questions. It helped that a lot of the guys liked “The Office” and a lot of the women liked “The Mindy Project” and “Sex Lives of College Girls” because they’re all kind of young. I think that made them trust me a little bit more. For the AJ and Davis characters, so much of what I researched when I was there fed into their plot line … almost all the characters have a boss they fear and idolize, and the way that first-year bankers feel about their managing directors is not dissimilar to the way I felt about Greg Daniels when I started at “The Office.” And the hours are actually not dissimilar.

There’s a moment early on where Jay Ellis’ character, Bill, who is a managing director at this fictional investment banking firm, is asked about work-life balance. I’m curious how you thought about that at the start of your career versus now.

I didn’t care at all about anything except my job for 16 years. It was my entire personality and purpose. When I was in my 20s, the only thing that mattered was being a good comedy writer and succeeding, and one day maybe being able to create my own shows. There was no balance. I didn’t want balance. I wanted to live and breathe comedy writing for my entire life. I hated the weekends, actually. And who wouldn’t? I was a friendless transplant in Los Angeles and I just wanted to get back to working at “The Office.” Every year I was there, I got more ambitious and I wanted to go off and create my own show and have a bigger part as an actor and everything.

It wasn’t until after I did that on “The Mindy Project” … that I just felt like, “OK, I get this. I want to now try being a mom.” Once I had my daughter, Katherine [at 37], it wasn’t that the balance changed, it was my first real, legitimate interest outside of work — that I cared about more than work.

“When I was in my 20s, the only thing that mattered was being a good comedy writer and succeeding, and one day maybe being able to create my own shows,” Kaling says. “There was no balance. I didn’t want balance.”

(Ebru Yildiz / For The Times)

After college, you moved to Brooklyn with two Dartmouth friends to pursue a career in comedy. You eventually got a full-time job as a production assistant on “Crossing Over with John Edward,” a program where people would receive psychic readings. Tell me about that time in your life.

I remember feeling like I had no access and that I didn’t have any place to put my ambition. It was so far away from anything I wanted to do — scripted comedy and reality television could not be further apart. It was a fascinating time because there were such highs and lows. There was the excitement of new crushes and having fun in a new city with two friends, but there was also the crushing disappointment of feeling like I was never gonna make it. I didn’t even have a path forward to making it, but I was lucky, because I lived with my two best friends. We would go to open mic nights, and we would go to restaurant week and see how the rich people in Manhattan were living. We would take the subway uptown to Central Park and walk along Fifth Avenue and like look at these amazing homes and just dream what it was like to be like a wealthy New Yorker who could buy everything that they read about on DailyCandy — now I’m really dating myself here, back when DailyCandy was a thing. But that’s what it was like, I just I felt a lot of extreme emotions.

How did you approach that job?

My boss was a producer and would approach the families and get their information, and then we would have to do research on them, but it was mostly because they would do a little clip package on the different families. I had to get them to sign releases to be on the show and get photographs of their deceased [loved ones] and them. I actually thought it was pretty interesting work. It just had nothing to do with comedy writing, and that job was not clearly going to lead anywhere toward comedy writing, and I came to New York because of “Saturday Night Live.” When I was working there is when my friend Brenda [Withers] … and I started writing this play “Matt & Ben” [a satirical play that imagines the story of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck before “Good Will Hunting” made them famous] in the time we had off. We started writing it, then I got that job as a PA, then the show went up at the Fringe Festival, and then it was going to go off off Broadway, and when it went off-off-Broadway, and I had a steady income, that’s when I quit my job there. I was only at “Crossing Over” for three or so months.

Greg Daniels attended a performance of “Matt & Ben” and it’s what led to you getting on “The Office” at 24. What was that first meeting like?

Back then, because the internet was so different, when I looked up Greg, besides his credits, you couldn’t find a lot of biographical information about him, or even a photo. I don’t think I even knew what he looked like. When I met him, I don’t think I had seen the British “Office” yet; I wasn’t cool. At that time, I had put so much pressure on this job. I only had two interviews — it was this and there was a show that ended up getting canceled while I was waiting to meet the showrunner. It was a pilot called “Nevermind Nirvana,” about an Indian man who married a white woman, and Ajay Sahgal was the writer. I was like, “Oh my God, if anyone is going to get hired to work on the show, it has to be me.” I was pretty excited about that meeting, but when I was sitting in the waiting room at the production offices to meet with Ajay, they told them they weren’t going to pick up the pilot, so I never even got to meet him, and they just told me I could leave.

I’d only had that interview, and then I met with Greg. This is my memory: it was a high-rise building in Century City, in the offices of “King of the Hill,” so there was a lot of like “King of the Hill” cutouts and stuff there. And he’s just a very thoughtful, quiet guy who doesn’t push conversation … I’m someone who’s pathologically chatty, and so talking to Greg, who is completely fine with there being pauses in conversation, and is just a confident grown-up, it was incredibly intimidating. I was very stressed out in our meeting, but I also was blown away by him.

That first season, you were also the only female writer on staff and the youngest —

B.J.[Novak] is a month younger than me. I want to correct that because he’ll read this and go, “Hey … !”

How did that play into how you felt in the room?

I haven’t really ever had imposter syndrome. And this is my probably my personality defect — I felt that even if I hadn’t seen anyone like me in these roles, that I was just going to be the first one, and I was going to work really hard and prove it to them. The staff was super competitive, but they were smart feminist guys. It was hierarchical and stressful, but it was not because of my fellow writers, except that I wanted to impress them. I felt nervous because I wanted to be contributing, but I don’t know why — I just loved the pilot so much that Greg had made, and I loved these characters, and this world — I was like, I can’t possibly lose my job, I love it too much. Which is probably really stupid, I didn’t ever think there’s a possibility that I could get fired here.

Phyllis (Phyllis Smith), Kelly (Mindy Kaling), Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Michael (Steve Carell) in a scene from Season 2 of “The Office.”

(Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

We see how AJ wants to impress the boss and takes on more than she can chew and screws up some data before a big presentation. What was that first big mistake or misstep that you made in those early years that you still think about?

I remember Season 2 — because I just wanted to prove to Greg and to the cast and to the director, the cinematographer, and everyone that I was super invested — we were shooting “The Dundies” [episode]. I was an actor on the show as well, but I wasn’t acting in this scene, but it was my episode [that I wrote], and in between takes, John [Krasinski, who played Jim Halpert] and Jenna [Fischer, who played Pam Beesly] were just on set, and I remember going up to them and being like, “Guys, that take was so great!” And I walked away. Greg came up to me and was like, “You know, we really should let just the director talk to the cast between takes.” Greg, he’s my mentor, but he definitely, over the course of the eight years I lived there, had corrected me many times, as he should have, but that was one of the first times. I remember I was so embarrassed, but I didn’t understand it’s not the role of a story editor to be giving feedback to the cast between takes on a show.

The bosses on the show all have different styles and expectations that may seem demanding or annoying on the surface. How do they reflect where you’re at now?

No one trains you on how to be a good boss. And bad bosses are so prevalent. The entire premise of “The Office” hinges on this funny concept that terrible bosses exist. It wasn’t until I was on “The Mindy Project” that I was the employer for the first time. Every single year of that show, it was a battle getting a new season. One of the challenges of being a good boss is being able to put aside those personal, professional battles you’re fighting … but then also realizing that you’re a mentor to other people, and you have to start thinking about things that you never thought you needed to — overtime, maternity leave, respect in the workplace, the things that make the workplace enjoyable for everyone else who’s there working for you. And it’s not like that comes naturally.

The double blessing of having a good boss, which I did in Greg Daniels and Howard Klein [an executive producer on “The Office”], is that they modeled that for me. Even though I could not be more different than Greg. Even to this day, I’m realizing I have all the unique challenges of being a single mom, being the creator of these shows with crews and casts, but then also being able to be empathetic for all the people that work for me and making sure I make time to listen to them when they want to talk to me about an issue that they’re having; it’s a continual challenge that I’m hoping I’m getting better and better at [managing].

When Bill is asked about work-life balance, he’s also asked if he has inspirational words to impart. It’s very much about overworking and being productive. How do you tackle the question today?

I used to say “you have to write your own part.” And everyone would get annoyed because they’re like, “I’m not a writer.” I’ve had to really think about the question so I could be helpful. We all want a linear path to success. And if my career has taught me anything, it’s that the linear path just was not how I got my job. You know when you go on Google Maps and it shows you all the different paths — the fastest, one path with the toll road and one path that’s going to take seven minutes longer. I’ve only ever taken the one that’s seven minutes longer, or the toll; it’s never been the easy way. The sooner I got used to that, the better.

Before I let you go, in the show, one of the celebrity clients Abby is dealing with is Austin Blanchett, Cate Blanchett’s fictional nephew. Was it always going to be Cate? What other celebs were in the running?

It was Cate Blanchett’s nephew before we had Harry Richardson. When I worked on “Ocean’s Eight,” one of the biggest surprises on it was that Cate Blanchett was incredibly funny and did not take herself seriously at all. I suspect if anyone was going to think it was funny that in this fictional world of the show she had this useless nepo nephew that she had to help get jobs, it would be Cate. I hope she doesn’t sue me. I think she would think it was funny.

Tiki, an offshoot of the Midcentury Modern movement, flourished in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, but began to experience a decline in the ’70s. Thus, by the ’90s, there were concerns at Disney that the Enchanted Tiki Room — the pivotal 1963 attraction that pioneered audio-animatronics — was no longer in vogue, its singing birds, totems and flowers a relic of another era.

The company explored some early concepts to remake the Enchanted Tiki Room. One idea was to transform it into an ecological, save-the-rainforest show. Another was to redesign it with a “Lion King” theme.

“Let me tell you, we hated it,” says artist and designer Kevin Kidney of the latter concept.

Kidney, who worked in Disneyland’s art department in the ’90s, says he and his longtime collaborator Jody Daily were “terrified” the Enchanted Tiki Room would disappear, so much so that they began making fliers to advertise the show and putting them up all over L.A., in restaurants, bars and museums. “We started an underground movement to save the Tiki Room even while we were working on these projects. We tried to frame it in a cool, hip way, like, ‘Everyone needs to go and re-experience this amazing show.’”

Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar took its influence from Disneyland’s Adventureland attractions, namely the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Jungle Cruise.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, and the Enchanted Tiki Room remains to this day a vital piece of Disneyland history. And now with the modern tiki revival, it’s no longer an archival curiosity. In fact, the connection between Disney and tiki may be as strong as it has ever been, as this spring the Disneyland Hotel’s Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar turned 15. Trader Sam’s took its cues heavily from the Adventureland attraction, its bar flanked by tiki totems with slowly wandering eyes. And watching over guests and bartenders is a re-creation of one of the show’s tiki gods.

“The totem pole on the bar, and Koro up in the rafters above the bar, are all original designs and sculpts for the Tiki Room at Disneyland,” Kidney says. “They made new castings for the bar off of the elements from the attraction.”

Kidney and Daily collaborated with Walt Disney Imagineering, the arm of the company devoted to theme park experiences, on some of the early designs for Trader Sam’s. It’s their mug collection, for instance, that was seen in the bar on opening day. And the pair designed a magnificent glowing ship in a bottle, which thanks to a Pepper’s ghost illusion, occasionally looks as if it’s breaking apart and sinking.

Trader Sam’s, says author and historian Sven Kirsten, writer of “The Book of Tiki,” is one of the more influential bars on the modern tiki landscape. Though it didn’t kickstart today’s movement, says Kirsten, it often serves as “a gateway,” introducing Disney’s millions of guests to the scene.

Kirsten says Trader Sam’s has rightfully earned its place among SoCal’s most respected tiki bars. And most popular. An unofficial Instagram page devoted to the bar, keeping tabs on its mug releases and off-menu bartender creations, has more than 39,000 followers.

The erupting volcano “windows” of Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

“In the early 2010s the craft cocktail revival brought forth these so-called tiki bars that thought if they had a tiki cocktail menu they were a tiki bar,” Kirsten says. “But it was basket lamps and palm leaf wallpaper and that was it. Places like Trader Sam’s and Strong Water and Royal Hawaiian are floor-to-ceiling fully decorated. They’re what a tiki bar should be.”

Before the Disneyland Hotel had Trader Sam’s, the space was home to Hook’s Pointe, which was lightly themed to “Peter Pan.” Yet about a decade after the Walt Disney Co. completed a purchase to assume control of the Disneyland Hotel, Hook’s Pointe was earmaked for renovation.

“We were designing a Caribbean-style bar where Trader Sam’s is now, and that was where I said, ‘Let’s rethink this,’” said Kyle Barnes, an Imagineer who was instrumental in the creation of Trader Sam’s. Barnes was speaking at a recent event hosted by Disney’s fan club D23 on the history of Adventureland and Trader Sam’s.

“I said, ‘That’s more East Coast. This is West Coast.’ Hawaii and Midcentury really fit together with the tiki theme,” Barnes said, noting that the park’s Enchanted Tiki Room was initially pitched as a restaurant and once sat next to the Tahitian Terrace, a Polynesian-themed restaurant complete with hula dancers.

Trader Sam’s is home to many show elements. In addition to the sinking ship, there are bar seats that will begin to drop the longer guests sit in them. Also, there are two theatrical windows looking out toward a volcano, which will erupt when guests order a specific drink. The ship in a bottle and dipping barstools, said Barnes, were inspired by the Adventurers Club at Florida’s Walt Disney World, while the volcano windows were influenced by Florida’s version of the Enchanted Tiki Room.

The Kungaloosh cocktail at Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

The Adventurers Club closed in 2008, but I was fortunate enough to visit it as a child, and it was instrumental in my love of Disney, theater and, well, bars. Full of actors, puppets and walls filled with artifacts that seemed to spring to life, the Adventurers Club was a place of play, and I still remember as a kid being asked by one of the actors to join the imaginary guild. It was a glimpse into a grown-up world full of revelry, silliness and colorful cocktails.

Trader Sam’s fills a similar niche for me today, and as part of its 15th anniversary, it added the Adventurers Club signature drink, the sweetly tropical Kungaloosh, to its menu. As a kid, I longed to enter an adult world. As a grown-up, I love an adult world with a childlike playfulness.

Tiki bars aren’t perfect, and have occasionally come under criticism as escapist fantasy that appropriates Hawaiian or Polynesian iconography. As such, Trader Sam’s has changed over the years. Shrunken heads, for instance, that once hung from the walls, were years ago removed.

Progress, and part of Trader Sam’s enduring appeal. “The jokes that we accepted long ago, they were jokes for only a part of the population,” says Kidney.

And Trader Sam’s remains full of absurdities — spend some time just soaking up the puns and ephemera that dot the walls. Just be prepared to duck when you see the bartenders reach for a spray bottle.

So cheers to another 15 years, and I hope to see you at the bar.

This week in SoCal theme parks

Space Mountain at night.

(Paul Hiffmeyer / Disneyland Resort)

• A refreshed cartoon world. Magic Mountain will on Saturday unveil its new kid-targeted Looney Tunes Land, which is a makeover of its previous Bugs Bunny-focused area. Expect a brand new live show, and spaces designed to represent the personality of characters such as Bugs, Daffy Duck, the Tasmanian Devil, and Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. Each of the attractions, such as calming train and balloon rides, has received a tune-up. I’ll take a closer look next week!
• ‘The Odyssey’ comes to Universal. While theme park fans await the opening date of Universal Studios Hollywood’s new “Fast & Furious” coaster, the park is zooming ahead with its Mega Movie Summer promotion. As part of the latter, a ship from Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” will be added to the park’s tram tour. Elsewhere, Minions from “Minions & Monsters” will start meeting with guests, and various dining locations will receive light makeovers to represent films such as “Jaws” and the “Fast & Furious” franchise.
• Changes afoot at CityWalk. Universal’s CityWalk is in the midst of a multiyear transformation. New spaces, such as one from Malibu Brewing Co., are on the way, while some legacy retailers are unfortunately disappearing. The latest: Publisher Dark Horse Comics is closing its Things From Another World retail location. The pop-culture shop is slated to close in September. No word yet on what may move into the space.
• Space Mountain is back! After a brief overlay as the “Star Wars”-themed Hyperspace Mountain, Disneyland’s classic Space Mountain has returned just in time for the busy summer season. The coaster, which tops off at about 32 mph in near total darkness, should be back in all its vintage glory as of today.
• A renewal perk. The Disneyland Resort in a move to create more loyalty among its Magic Key passholders is offering a bonus for those who opt to stick around for another year. A dining promotion, in which annual passholders can receive a dining gift card for as much as $100 if they choose to re-up, is underway through May of next year.

Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.

Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.

Ride on,

Todd Martens

P.S.

I’m curious if any longtime Disneyland fans have any memories of the Carousel of Progress. I’d love to hear them. The theater show, built around a rotating auditorium, debuted at the 1964 World’s Fair before making its way to Disneyland in 1967. It was moved to Florida’s Walt Disney World in 1975.

In case anyone missed it, the Walt Disney Co. announced last week that Carousel of Progress would be undergoing a top-to-bottom overhaul to update the show. No longer will it begin in the distant past, as the refreshed attraction will now start in the 1960s and take guests into the ’80s, the late ’90s and beyond. An ode to technological optimism, the original show was overseen by Walt Disney, but had undergone multiple changes throughout the decades, most notably in its final scene.

I’ll miss its glimpses of the 1920s and 1940s, but concede the attraction was notable today more for its Disney history than its cultural relevancy. Thus, I’m cautiously hopeful that this makeover can ensure the Carousel of Progress remains a Disney staple for decades to come.

An A-list actress has broken her silence on one of the most anticipated TV events of the next few years

One of the show’s A-list cast members has teased filming could start soon.

A critically acclaimed television drama watched by millions of fans globally will be returning for a third series, with fresh episodes anticipated to broadcast following an almost decade-long absence.

Big Little Lies first premiered on HBO in 2017, adapted from Liane Moriarty’s bestselling novel of the identical title and boasting Hollywood legends Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley amongst the cast.

A second series was swiftly commissioned and progressed the narrative with three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep joining the exceptional ensemble.

One IMDb user described it as “breathtaking” and “a masterpiece of art in every possible way”. Another audaciously declared: “It’s a big statement but this is possibly the best program on television, EVER!!”

Yet, despite the programme’s popularity and outstanding ratings, including an impressive 89 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, there had been no developments regarding a third instalment until September last year, reports the Express.

The inaugural series tracked young single mum Jane Chapman (played by Woodley), who relocates to the coastal city of Monterey, California with her troubled son, Ziggy (Iain Armitage). She quickly becomes entangled in the turbulent lives of a circle of affluent women, whose picture-perfect existence is torn apart by a catastrophic incident at their local school.

The second series picks up immediately in the wake of the events, with the women desperately attempting to conceal a murder, yet the appearance of one of their mothers-in-law (Streep) places them under an extraordinary amount of pressure. There’s only so much they can endure before things begin to unravel.

Now, series regular Woodley has verified reports that a third season is currently in development, though viewers should anticipate significant changes when the story resumes.

“I mean, what I know about it is that supposedly it is happening. That is what I know,” she told Deadline.

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When pushed for further details, the actress enthused, “Oh my gosh. I love my girls. That’s what makes it so special. We’re each other’s people”.

A production schedule has yet to be confirmed, meaning Big Little Lies’ third series may not emerge until late-2027 or 2028.

Nevertheless, Woodley did verify that the new instalment will acknowledge the considerable gap between series, hinting that the likes of Armitage and Kathryn Newton, who played Madeline’s (Witherspoon) daughter Abigail, could make a comeback.

“We love each other and we’re here for each other and, also, it’s a blast to play these characters,” she continued.

“I’m really excited about the third season, and for the opportunity that might exist in exploring who these ladies are 10 years later. We’re all 10 years older. The children are all 10 years older.

“They’re not really children anymore and most of them are adults now. So the prospect of that is very cool.”

Big Little Lies is available to stream on Sky, NOW, and HBO Max.

DUA Lipa and her new husband Callum Turner have been spotted looking more in love than ever while on a dog walk, just days after getting married.

The couple tied the knot in an intimate ceremony on Sunday at Old Marylebone, which was attended by a handful of their loved ones.

The newlyweds were pictured enjoying a stroll in London today as they continue to bask in their happiness.

Callum, 36, put his arm around his new wife as they locked hands in a sweet embrace.

They dressed down for the outing as she wore a grey trench coat-style jacket with joggers and a pair of Ugg boots.

The singer, 30, went make-up free as she concealed her face with a pair of sunglasses and tied up her hair in a ponytail.

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Meanwhile, the actor opted for a white open shirt with a white t-shirt underneath, which he paired with a baggy pair of jeans and hiking boots.

He had a cross body bag across his shoulder as their pet pooch ran in front of them.

The new husband and wife looked the picture of love as they beamed from ear to ear as they chatted away.

The two later bumped into a pal as they enjoyed a catch up before getting into their car and driving off.

At their wedding, Dua stunned in a white hat, dress and gloves while Callum looked suave in a navy suit and tie.

Eight friends and family stood on both sides of the stairs at Marylebone Registry and tossed confetti as the beaming couple headed into a black cab.

The pair will be heading to Sicily, Italy for their lavish second wedding this week.

Showbiz pals including singers Charli XCX and Tove Lo are on the guestlist.

There are even whispers that Sir Elton John, who Dua collaborated with on the 2021 song Cold Heart, could perform.

“They have rented out multiple huge venues for the multi-event extravaganza,” a source told The Sun.

Fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, the man behind the label Jacquemus, is believed to have created at least one of the dresses Dua will wear for her wedding celebrations.

The Sun first revealed James Bond contender Callum had popped the question to New Rules singer Dua in December 2024 after just a year of dating, and she confirmed the news in an interview with British Vogue last June.

Dua, who completed her 81-date, £100million-grossing Radical Optimism Tour in December, said at the time: “I want to finish my tour – Callum’s shooting, so we’re just enjoying this period.

“I’ve never been someone who’s really thought about a wedding, or dreamt about what kind of bride I would be. All of a sudden I’m like, ‘Oh, what would I wear?’.

“This decision to grow old together, to see a life and just be best friends forever – it’s a really special feeling.”

The performer also revealed Callum had her engagement ring made especially for her, after discussing it with her sister Rina, who is expected to be a bridesmaid along with her best friends.

“It’s very exciting,” said Dua. “I’m obsessed with it. It’s so me. It’s nice to know the person that you’re going to spend the rest of your life with knows you very well.”

HEIDI Klum looks half her age in a tiny zebra-print bikini for a sizzling and steamy beach photoshoot.

The America’s Got Talent alum, 53, has posed in an array of tiny bikinis as part of a brand collaboration with Calzedonia.

Posing on a sandy beach, the ageless beauty looked sensational as she smiled for the camera.

In one photo, Heidi rocked a zebra print number which showed off her sensational figure thanks to the plunging bikini top and low rise bottoms.

Another snap saw her lounging around in a brown glittery two-piece string bikini.

Heidi then rocked a bronze string bikini, which left very little to the imagination.

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She also wore a yellow gold number, which displayed her svelte figure seamlessly.

Last month, Heidi went topless in just a pair of tiny thong bikini bottoms as she sunbathed on her swanky hotel balcony.

Heidi was accompanied by her husband, Tokio Hotel guitarist Tom Kaulitz, who wore what appeared to be a polka-dot pyjama top and sunglasses before taking off his shirt.

Just weeks before her topless moment in the sun, the costume-loving star was completely unrecognizable as she transformed into a living statue at A-list fashion event The Met Gala.

Heidi and her husband Tom got engaged in 2018 and then got married in California in February 2019.

The pair then had a second ceremony in Capri, Italy later that same year in August 2019.

Speaking about Tom in an interview in 2022, Heidi gushed that she had “finally found the one” in her husband.

“I just know him so well. We just gel really well,” Heidi spilled in an interview with E! News.

“I just feel like, ‘Finally, I found the one.’ So far so good. I hope it stays that way.”

And in 2024 she even lifted the lid on their sex life.

Speaking about their “bedroom sports”, Heidi told The Sunday Times: “Sport en chambre is my favorite exercise – it sounds better in French.

“I have a younger husband,” she gushed.

She then revealed how the Tokio Hotel guitarist is “very good” and she even called her husband “my match”.

Heidi is also a mother and shares Leni, 22; Henry, 20; Johan, 19; and Lou, 16, with her ex-husband Seal.

At the AI on the Lot media conference last week in Culver City, speakers laid out a view of artificial intelligence that was very much complementary to human workers.

Artificial intelligence is a tool that must be wielded by humans, several said. The idea was to help skilled artists and production specialists do their jobs and experiment, others said.

Of course, to many in Hollywood, AI is not that simple.

Guardrails on its usage emerged as a central issue in the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes, and additional rules were added in the recent Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Writers Guild of America contracts. There are still big questions about AI’s effect on jobs in the entertainment business, as well as copyright and ethical concerns.

Whether it’s good or bad or some combination of both, AI, in some form, is probably here to stay.

So, eight months ago Amazon MGM Studios opened an AI Studios division to start work on Project Nara, an AI production toolkit built on Amazon’s AWS cloud computing platform that could be used by teams of filmmakers. Project Nara is still in beta mode, and the company set up a GenAI Creators’ Fund to give filmmakers interested in using the toolkit financial support, while also giving the studio feedback.

The beta testers got eight weeks to produce an animated short and, out of those, the company greenlighted three animated series.

Shortly after the conference, filmmaker Jorge Gutierrez, whose stop-motion-style “Punky Duck” was chosen as one of the greenlighted series, pulled out after an online backlash over his use of AI.

“We respect Jorge’s decision, as well as his incredible talent, his voice and the world he created with ‘Punky Duck,’” an Amazon MGM Studios spokesperson said in a statement. “We continue to be excited about the innovative work moving forward at our studio and the GenAI Creators’ Fund.”

Before the flap over “Punky Duck,” I spoke with Albert Cheng, head of Amazon MGM Studios’ AI Studios, about the goal of the division, what’s next for AI and his belief that humans are at the center of creativity. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Why was AI Studios formed?

AI Studios was started last fall because we wanted to learn how to leverage AI technology to build tools that would help enhance or redefine the workflows for film and TV production.

When you look at the horizon of what it takes to drive continued engagement of a global streaming service like Prime Video, we need more original programs. So if you can figure out how we take the same amount of money that we spend and be able to make more shows, that’s ultimately what we want, and we think AI is going to be a help to drive that.

With AI, now we’re looking at how does technology change the way we actually create our cinematic storytelling? It could mean that with AI, we will hear from a lot more voices. If we can actually get the biggest costs down, we will be able to have more voices, be able to take more risks and creative risks most of all.

There’s always concern about what does AI mean for jobs. We believe that it actually creates more jobs and different types of jobs. In fact, people with experience, plus the tools, become even more valuable in terms of their ability to produce excellent quality work. So it’s always about the human behind it.

You mentioned that some of these production crews had more than 100 people, but crews in the past would have been much larger. How do you respond to concerns about that?

You may have smaller crews, but we’ll do more of them [productions], and more in a short period of time. When you actually have smaller productions and you do more of them, you’re increasing your throughput. Your turnover rate of the available jobs is much faster, so your job totals are actually going to be bigger.

You spoke about the idea of AI filmmaking bringing jobs back to L.A. and expanding California’s production incentive eligibility to include AI-assisted filmmaking. Can you elaborate on that?

When you look at AI production, it can be done on a soundstage. We don’t need to go to London, we don’t need to go to other places.

We do have technology companies in California that are driving this, we have people here in the city that have experience, if given the AI tools, can produce great work. So, how can we not incentivize more companies to use our soundstages and finally make productions and make more of them?

Have you or anyone else at Amazon spoken with government officials about this idea of expanding the incentive criteria?

We’ve been talking to a number of bodies about whether it’s possible. The question is, who’s going to take the ball?

How much can you decrease a show’s production budget by using AI?

I think we can get a show to half the cost, [or] to almost a fifth of the cost.

What was the thinking behind the GenAI Creators’ Fund?

We wanted to provide a support and invest in creators who wanted to try it, and then also give us feedback.

We also wanted to show that storytelling is the thing that drives the content. It’s not the technology; the technology just enabled them to make it.

What is the biggest misconception of AI use in production?

There’s a narrative that AI can do so many things by itself, that you don’t need people. That’s absolutely not true. It’s just a technology, it can’t make decisions.

In order for something actually quality to be made, a person actually needs to be behind that, and that’s been proven over and over again. People are still responsible for the output.

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

Internet culture drove the box office over weekend, with A24’s “Backrooms” hauling in $81.4 million in the U.S. and Canada.

The $10-million horror flick, which stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as a furniture store owner who finds a mysterious portal in his basement, was directed by 20-year-old YouTuber Kane Parsons and is based on his online series of the same name. Worldwide, the film made nearly $118 million in its debut weekend.

Focus Features’ “Obsession” also had a big weekend with a 10% jump in domestic box-office revenue in its third outing. The horror movie, which had a production budget of less than $1 million, was directed by Curry Barker, who also built his reputation on YouTube.

Together, the two films highlight the growing power of YouTube — and online culture as a whole — on the big screen. They beat out franchise film “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” which dropped 69% from its debut last weekend to rank third at the box office.

What I’m watching

I’m just one episode away from finishing this season of “Bridgerton” on Netflix. While I liked that the show dived into the social class dynamics behind Benedict and Sophie’s romance, I have to say that I loved the secondary focus on Violet Bridgerton and Lord Anderson finding a second chance at love.

ACTRESS Mariah Ann Martin has been left devastated by discovering her husband has had an affair – resulting in a secret baby.

The Perception actress has claimed her ‘love of her life’ husband has fathered a child outside of their 13-year marriage – just months after welcoming their fourth child.

The Son of Phantom star took to social media to share her profound heartbreak – documenting her grief just an hour after the shock discovery.

According to the stunned 32-year-old, her husband Jon has recently welcomed a newborn with another woman.

The heart-breaking revelation marks a bitter conclusion for the couple who have been together over a decade.

She wrote alongside the emotive footage: “I’m usually insanely private… But I’m good at hiding my shame… my pain…

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“But I think it’s time I do something different.. I’m so embarrassed. I’m so heartbroken that I could crawl into a cave and decompose… but I won’t… I can’t…”

She added: “To my friends. Buy a plane ticket and come help me pack my house.”

A video on Instagram shows the earth-shattering aftermath as she found out about the deception.

She tearfully said: “It’s been an hour since I found out the love of my life, my college sweetheart, the father of my four children, my husband, has a baby that’s one week old. And I’m devastated.”

The star continued: “And I tend to keep these things to myself because of shame and embarrassment — but it really caught me off guard.

“And I’m so hurt. But, I’m okay. And, I’m wondering what God’s hand in this is. I’ve always believed it was something divine, but sometimes, maybe your grace runs out – for him.

“He’s never cheated on me before and when he does, he gets a baby out of it. And that’s just something I won’t be able to do…. I feel like this is a bottom I never deserved.”

Reams of followers rushed to her rescue and shared their sorrow for her.

Paloma Faith sympathised: “I feel sorry for your husband because he will probably realise too late that he squandered the greatest woman he ever or will ever meet and hopefully you will live a better life than ever before.”

Nadia Sawalha penned: “I can see you have a huge heart, a deep soul, an unshakeable moral code, the strength of a lioness, a strong faith, exquisite beauty and the ability to be vulnerable. A 360 degree woman for whom anything is possible.”

Former Towie star Georgia Kousoulou added: “Sending you so much love. Bigger things are coming for you.”

Sit at a table with a bunch of actors and it inevitably becomes an impromptu acting class, one in which even the Michelle Pfeiffer is leaning over to observe. At least that’s what happened on a recent afternoon when The Envelope gathered six actors from some of this season’s most talked about television series for its 2026 Emmy Drama Roundtable.

It all began when Pfeiffer (“The Madison”) shared that, while studying acting, she couldn’t grasp the technique created by Sanford Meisner, which trains actors to stop overthinking and encourages them to listen and respond actively to their scene partners. The revelation immediately activated Katherine LaNasa (“The Pitt”), who beckoned Tom Pelphrey (“Task”) to join her in a spontaneous application. (Both had studied the method.)

“I like your jacket,” LaNasa said, locking eyes with Pelphrey.

“You like my jacket?” he replied playfully.

“I do like your jacket … You’re smiling at me.”

The exchange, which had a flirtatious energy, continued for a minute, before Pelphrey and LaNasa emphasized that it’s essentially looking at and listening to what the other person is doing.

“Somehow I was doing it wrong and I didn’t understand why I was doing it wrong,” Pfeiffer said.

This openness and encouragement carried the entire conversation, which brought together Pfeiffer, who plays Stacy Clyburn, a wealthy New York City matriarch whose life is upended by the tragic death of her husband, which compels her to move to Montana; LaNasa, who brings depth to the burnout plaguing steadfast, straight-talking charge nurse Dana Evans; Pelphrey, in his turn as Robbie Prendergast, a sanitation worker who robs drug houses at night to provide for his family; Zahn McClarnon, who stars as Det. Joe Leaphorn, a stoic man battling his past and the loss of his son in “Dark Winds”; Billy Magnussen, who portrays Duncan Park, the eccentric and profit-hungry CEO of a tech company in “The Audacity”; and Karolina Wydra, who plays Zosia, the eternally cheerful liaison to a utopian, hive-minded collective in “Pluribus.” Read on for excerpts from our discussion.

I know all your characters are going through some personal things, but if you were to transform into them for 24 hours, what would you do with that day?

Magnussen: I live with Duncan daily because I think your job as an actor is to check the morality of the character you’re playing. And at the same time, you have to question your own morality, see where you stand, to then deal with that character. Duncan’s a really messed-up guy, and doing it for five months … I was on set 16 hours a day every day. I was with him nonstop. And his temperament and pace was just out of this world. It’s exhausting. So what would I do? I would try to go to a spa, personally, because it’s exhausting.

Wydra: Do you find that it gets blurry after a little while?

Magnussen: I still know who Billy is.

McClarnon: But there’s times where you can’t see that line between [fiction and] reality, just moments. I’ve found myself in those moments where I know the difference, obviously, but I’m so emotionally attached to Deanna Allison, who plays my wife on the show, where I can’t separate them anymore. It’s not like 24 hours, but just moments where I’m like, “Wait a second, where am I? Am I in the show? Is this Joe Leaphorn or is this Zahn?” Usually in the middle of the season, it starts to get a little blurry for me.

Magnussen: Do you think it’s the job, though, to keep it separated? Or do you guys believe in Method acting?

Wydra: Rhea Seehorn, who is on “Pluribus,” who’s incredible, who’s my partner in crime, she gave me a book about Method [acting] — the Method and what really Method was. And it’s not what we think it is. We all do Method acting, but it’s not staying in the character and living in the character forever. … And that’s what people think Method is, is that you never break the character, you take the character home, but it’s not. It’s building a world. Building it, personalizing it.

Pfeiffer: Isn’t that what we all do? Some actors will go live on the ranch. They won’t take a bath for six months. They really take it to another level, which I’m not willing to do … From the minute I commit to something, it’s right there [in my head], I’m thinking about it. It can be a year away, and it’s right here torturing me, which is I think why I’m a bit of a commitment-phobe. My agents always call me “Dr. No” because I know no matter what, even if I’m not consciously aware of it, it’s there just badgering me.

LaNasa: I have found that people want Dana, want my character, in real life. And it’s cool because she’s very comforting to people. But I had an experience recently in New York where this table of girls, they were having some party, and someone said, “Oh, you mean a lot to us.” And I said, “Oh, are they nurses?” Well, some of them are. And then they asked at the end of their dinner would I take a picture. And then one girl told the other people to leave and then she told me her illness journey. And I had breast cancer. She was going through breast cancer. And it was really interesting. And it was the most meaningful that I’d ever felt about taking a character home where it’s like … I think I spoke about my wellness journey because I was playing the role. It ended up coming up through the press. … And for some reason, because I was Dana in someone’s mind, it meant something. And I thought, “Well, this was actually useful. This breaking of that wall between character and person was actually useful.”

Tom, you get the call that you’re cast as Robbie in “Task.” What’s the first thing you do to figure him out?

Pelphrey: When I read the first two episodes, I felt like I understood Robbie’s soul perfectly, but I knew that I would have to break my ass to get that accent right. So that was where I focused most of my conscious energy and discipline and time, was just [on the] technical, just on the accent. The fun part was, because he would be my age, thinking about growing up in Philly at that time and who his heroes would be, having ideas for tattoos, stuff like that. We had more time than you get sometimes before we had to start filming because we knew and then the writers’ strike happened. I had a lot of months to sit with him and emotionally and spiritually. And I’d just become a father. Obviously [with] Robbie, everything he does is for his kids.

Pfeiffer: It changes everything. It opens your heart.

Pelphrey: I was a new person. And I understood him in that regard perfectly and I couldn’t have before. I could have imagined it and now I knew for sure.

For “The Audacity,” Billy, you spoke with some tech folks. What did you come to understand about what they’re after as innovators versus what you’re after as a creative?

Magnussen: Listen, no one’s a villain in their own story. I believe that from Day 1, these people probably came to the Valley with genuine ideas. The genesis of their idea was to connect and really bring something powerful and important to society and people. And, “Oh wait, we’re making a lot of f— money.” And through that lens, you start being blinded by this humanity that’s around you or caring for people around you rather than a bottom line. When you’re in an incestuous pool or in a small bubble, culture is created. And like Facebook, their slogan was “Move fast and break things.” Being a bull in a china shop is not a good idea anywhere, but for some reason that was the culture. People just started doing that more and more and breaking things and breaking things and breaking things. I don’t think they started off that way, but the culture just bred them to become this way. I personally relate that to, I don’t want to say Hollywood or the entertainment world, but we’ve seen the toxicity. And we’ve been slowly trying to filter that out, I think, of Hollywood. But when you have a microclimate kind of culture feeding in toxic behavior and rewarding toxic behavior over and over again, it breeds it. So you start to have to scrape away that cancer. But again, the genesis of all these ideas were pure. We were 6 years old just dreaming to be something or being like, “I could do this.”

Pfeiffer: Pretending to be something else, other than what we were.

Magnussen: I empathize with that. I don’t think people are bad. I just think they’re lost sometimes.

Karolina, your character in “Pluribus,” Zosia, is carrying the weight of almost every person in the world. What do you remember about those discussions with [creator] Vince Gilligan and how he helped you unpack this character and the relationship with Carol, Rhea [Seehorn]’s character?

Wydra: I took a break for five years from acting before Zosia came into my life. I walked away at 39 to have kids and my agent and my manager dropped me and it was really terrifying to also be a woman and turning 40, to have children at that time. When Lou [her second son] was maybe a year-and-a-half [old], I got the itch of like, “God, I miss acting so much. How am I ever going to come back? How am I going to get an opportunity?” And I was 43 at the time and out of nowhere I got an email being like, “Hey, there’s this thing …” from a commercial agent that I was on their roster, but I did not work with them. And they said, “There’s this audition.” And I go, “OK.” I read it and I said, “Who wrote it?” And she said, “Vince Gilligan for Apple TV.” I went, “What? OK.” And I didn’t know anything about the project and it was always my dream to work with Vince from when I saw “Breaking Bad.”

Long story short, I’m here and the whole journey has been so wild, so insane. When I first would talk to him about Zosia, I was like, “God, how am I going to tackle the world and someone that has the highest emotional intelligence, someone that does all these different things? And how do you see the Others? How do you want them to move about the world and the complexities of who they are?” Vince is such a beautiful human being. He’s like, “They’re just happy and content.” You go, “OK, yeah, but … what else?” For me, Zosia is extremely spiritual. Meditation was my key, my go-to to get into that zone of connection to humanity, not in the physical but very spiritual way where, [if] you meditate enough, the ego gets lifted and you truly feel connected, and you feel one with everyone. And the wild thing, I think the greatest gift, was becoming a mother; I understood what it means, unconditional love. Because my heart lives outside my body all the time. And so becoming a mother was a gift to play Zosia, because I unconditionally love Carol. And now, no matter what she throws at me, I just love her, and take care of her, and I want to nurture her.

Michelle, you get the call from Taylor Sheridan, who also created “Landman” and “Yellowstone.” He says he wants to meet with you and he wants to do it on his turf in Texas, not yours. There’s no script. What does someone like Taylor Sheridan say to someone like Michelle Pfeiffer that will get her to agree to the show?

Pfeiffer: Well, he gave me a lot of tequila.

LaNasa: Writing this down: Tequila, check.

Pfeiffer: I got a call that he wanted to meet with me, that he had an idea for something, “But you have to come to Texas.” And I said, “Is there anything? Is there an outline? Is there a paragraph?” “No, no. He wants to explain it to you in person.” I had to stay the night in Fort Worth and then met with him and he gave me tequila, and then after a while I had to stop drinking. He gave me a very rough outline of the show, of the character … She’s been with the love of her life for 50 years. It’s the marriage that we all dream of having. And he dies suddenly, tragically, and … all of a sudden the rug is really just emotionally and psychologically pulled out from underneath them. And it’s how do you rebuild a life and it’s the study of grief. He said that I had committed that night, which I did not. I’d had a few cocktails. We went back and forth a little bit about [the fact] that I really would like to read something. And he said, “Well, I would really like to cast this before I write anything.” Then I realized I wasn’t going to win this battle and I reached out to Helen Mirren [who starred in Sheridan’s “1923”], who I don’t know, but I figured she doesn’t suffer fools and she would give me the truth about what it’s like to do this. She couldn’t have spoken [more] highly of everything. She said the scripts are wonderful. The production is wonderful. And loves Montana. And so I took a leap of faith. I never do that.

What stands out to you about his process versus then working with your husband, David E. Kelley, also a prolific writer, who adapted “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”?

Pfeiffer: I couldn’t be luckier working for two of the most talented and prolific writers in the history of television. [They’re] not that much different. I purposefully didn’t want to bug David because it’s not like we had any hard-and-fast rules about not working together, but we weren’t really actively seeking it out because that can get a little dicey, just looking at it from afar. I really cherish my marriage, and our family, and I just didn’t want to mess it up. I really mostly went to the director and every now and then I might throw a little something his way. And [with] Taylor … I would go through Christina [Alexandra Voros], our director, because he’s just not honestly that accessible because he’s got a bit going on. I personally don’t like to spend my time trying to rewrite things. It’s more interesting to me to try to make something work and then I end up finding something I never would’ve decided. It just takes you to a new place and it’s so much more interesting than anything I would have conjured up.

Zahn, you’re not only the lead in “Dark Winds,” but also an executive producer and directing episodes. I know there was a moment where your character was supposed to shoot someone in the face early on. And you felt strongly, “My character’s not someone that would do this.” Talk to me about leaning into speaking your mind.

McClarnon: There’s not a lot of Native characters on television. The foundation of that character obviously comes from Tony Hillerman’s books. So the foundation was set for that character. And when I got to a point in the season where I’m supposed to kill a man, shoot him in the head in the middle of the desert — first off, I didn’t see that in the books. And I know it’s television and we want drama and all that stuff, but also, to be honest with you, I want Native kids — see, I’m going to cry now — to have something to look up to. We grew up with these stereotypes and we grew up with these tropes of Native Americans. The only one I can really remember that I really looked up to was Will Sampson in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” because he was playing a trope, but he becomes the hero at the end of the story. It’s one of my favorite films. So when it came to that point where the writer said, “He’s going to kill this rich white man in the desert and shoot him in the head,” morally, I think Joe Leaphorn is more than that.

And it was simple. I sat down with the showrunner [John Wirth] and we talked about it, and we went back and forth for about a week. And I’m so glad that I have access to somebody like that. I have access where they’re not telling me, “No, this is the way it’s written. This is what you’re going to do.” So yeah, we decided not to shoot the guy in the head, where I’d just leave him out in the desert to fend for himself.

Katherine, you’ve talked to nurses and medical professionals in the making of “The Pitt,” but you were also a patient during your breast cancer journey, interacting with them a lot from the other side. What is something that they’ve told you or even something you observed in that time that really spoke to you about what they’re going through on the day to day in these jobs?

LaNasa: It’s funny, I’d always wanted to work with John Wells. I go through this period of all this unemployment, and then I get this job for John Wells. I had had cancer a year before and then had complications up to like six months before. It wasn’t until I got to the emergency room set that I was like, “Oh, this whole period … ” — the spirituality of that. I really believe that we need to be grateful for our life while we’re living it, no matter what’s going on. Because I still have my children, and I have nature, and I have my husband, and cooking, and my dog, and so many wonderful things. And I was really trying to hold onto that. It’s always this idea that maybe something is for a reason or whatever — now I’m going to cry. The fact that that was so purposeful, that I understood so deeply what it was to be a patient, what it was to be terrified going into the emergency department. I also understood how much it mattered when a nurse took a little extra time and was a little bit kind.

Pfeiffer: You’re going to make me cry.

LaNasa: And there was one particular nurse — I had my cancer, went through my radiation and then [went] back and forth, back and forth [to the ER]. And there was a week, the second trip to the ER [they thought I might have multiple sclerosis]. “Now do I have MS on top of having had cancer?” And I had a breakdown in the ER. And she’s like, “Listen, first six months after cancer are really bumpy, and it’s not going to stay like this. Do you need an Ativan?”

Magnussen: Did not see that turn.

LaNasa: It was that human touch. Or when they would come and give you a warm blanket or something. There’s a nurse, Kathy Garvin at County, who told me she wouldn’t do the job that she does being the [emergency department] charge nurse if it wasn’t in a county hospital. She wants to do that hard work for people that really need her. For the most underprivileged, for the unhoused. And I try to honor that in the story and to just bring that to life — their generosity and their humility.

The Envelope’s 2026 Emmy Drama Roundtable: From left, Zahn McClarnon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tom Pelphrey, Katherine LaNasa, Billy Magnussen and Karolina Wydra.

There’s a lot of discussion in the industry right now about runaway production and can L.A. rebuild and what’s lost. I’m curious how you feel about this topic.

Magnussen: I live in Georgia and … one of our biggest exports as Americans is our culture. And if we just keep it isolated to Hollywood, I think we lose out at expressing everything we are as Americans.

McClarnon: We shoot on the Tesuque Pueblo. There’s 19 pueblos in New Mexico. We have taken over their old casino and we’ve converted it into a soundstage. We use their back lot. We obviously help out the tribe with renting the place out. And so I like shooting in New Mexico and supporting the local community, especially local Natives.

Pfeiffer: I think there’s room for all of it. We shot [a movie] in London that took place in Los Angeles. And it’s ridiculous that our entire industry has left. Los Angeles is really hurting. And a lot of people are hurting. All those jobs, all of those restaurants where people used to eat, people used to shop. And I think to not give the same sort of tax incentives that other states are doing — look, if it takes place in Georgia, you should go to Georgia. But I think Los Angeles was really built on the movie [industry].

LaNasa: I have a 34-year-old and a 12-year-old. I remember with my 34-year-old, even just being a young, starting-out mother, I would be like, “Well, I’m not going out of town. I have a child.” I would never go do a TV show out of town. I had a kid and the kid was in school and I needed to provide consistency for that child. And then with my second one, that was impossible. We would just not have been able to work. But it’s really hard on families. We are actors and we’ve come here to pursue the industry. We’ve moved here and we’ve risked something … L.A., for all of its problems, is a city of dreamers. It’s a city of people that came to pursue their art. And I am one of those people. And so in a way, I wasn’t really a citizen like the other citizens of Atlanta. I was outside. I didn’t have my community.

Magnussen: I know, but that’s the thing I have an issue with is this idea that, “It’s only there.”

Pelphrey: I’ll say this. Love that we get to film all over our beautiful country. Would love to keep the jobs in this country. That would be the nice part. Because when everybody’s like, “Oh great, we can go to Belarus or London.” Guess what? All of us get to go. Our crew doesn’t get to go — the people that we know that we need, that we work with, that we make these things with. We get to go wherever the f— we want, actors, directors, but the crew doesn’t.

VENEZUELA Fury has shown off her post-honeymoon sunkissed glow as fans say she’s ‘a model in the making’.

After sunning herself on her and husband Noah Price’s lavish £30,000 honeymoon in Marbella, the newlywed, 16, is keen to flaunt her sun tan.

In a new TikTok video uploaded to her page, Venezuela can be seen posing in a strapless pink corset and matching miniskirt.

She was standing by a white wall, which really made her tan pop and stand out.

In the video, Venezuela mimed along to a song and posed for the camera while showing off her figure.

She wore her long hair down and cascading over her shoulder, with bright red lipstick on her lips and barely any eye makeup.

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The reality star, who appears in At Home With The Furys on Netflix, tagged fashion brand Ego in the comments.

Fans were quick to swoon over the stunning video, with one even urging she is a “model in the making”.

“The legs! A model in the making,” penned one person.

Another added: “The beautifulist.”

While a third said: “Omg you look like heaven.”

And a fourth swooned: “You look so pretty.”

Venezuela and her husband Noah have just returned from their £30k honeymoon and are settling into life as a married couple.

Following her lavish wedding last month, Venezuela has traded her parents’ £8million mansion on the Isle of Man for a plush static home in East Riding of Yorkshire.

Before they headed off on their romantic trip, Venezuela gave fans a tour of her and Noah’s marital home.

Along with their wedding and their expensive honeymoon, Venezuela’s parents also paid for the static home and gave her a cash lump sum.

A source previously revealed to us: “Tyson and Paris gave Venezuela and Noah a wedding present of £5million to kick-start their life, obviously, they were over the moon.

so there were some mixed feelings – but it’s up to Tyson and Paris.

“Tyson also paid for the honeymoon and got them a traditional gypsy wagon as a sentimental gift. Tyson’s got one in his front yard.”

We were also previously told: “Venezuela wants to start her married life in the traditional style of a traveller, just like her parents did.

“She has lived in luxury since she was born, but is willing to swap her home comforts to go and live in a static caravan.”

The Strictly Come Dancing star learns of her ancestor’s devastating fate in a new episode of Who Do You Think You Are?

Amy Dowden discovers a shocking family tragedy as she delves into her ancestry.

The Strictly Come Dancing icon has taken part in BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? where she learns about her lineage.

At one point, Amy is left in tears as she hears of a family member who suffered from breast cancer and died at a young age, leaving several children behind.

The Welsh dancer is left devastated, as she reflects on her own cancer battle, having been diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2023 and suffering health setbacks as she underwent treatment.

Elsewhere during the programme, Amy learns of a 13-year-old who was shot dead in an awful accident.

After hearing of a rumour of a murder from her mum’s side of the family, Amy begins her journey in west Wales, where she seeks to find out if her ancestor was the victim or the perpetrator.

“Was there a murder, was one of my family involved? Detective Dowden on a mission,” Amy declares.

She meets her distant cousin Wyn at his home in Ceredigion, where he shows Amy a family Bible that belonged to her three-times great-grandfather.

Inside it, she reads the name Elinor Jenkins, with information revealing that she was shot dead by the “cruel man Offley Owen” in November 1888, when she was just a teenager.

“Why would somebody want to shoot a 14-year-old girl?” Amy wonders, shocked to hear the distressing news of her ancestor’s murder.

“When I heard of this mysterious death, I didn’t think it would be somebody within our family who was killed, I assumed one of our family members shot somebody. I was not expecting this and not expecting a child,” she says.

Elinor was Amy’s three-times great aunt, and was killed at a nearby farm, Berthlwyd, where she worked as a servant.

The dancer meets historian Dr Angela Muir, who confirmed that Elinor was actually aged 13, and was working at the farm with a 17-year-old boy called Offley Owen.

She reads newspaper reports that detail what happened, revealing that Elinor had been sent to fetch water before a witness heard Owen saying “I’ve shot Nelly dead”.

Owen had taken up the gun “with a purpose of showing her”, but was unaware it was loaded, and was supposedly being playful.

He did, however, tragically kill her, with Elinor being shot in the mouth.

“This is awful,” Amy says. “That would have been an instant death.” The historian agrees, saying: “It’s quite horrific.”

However, Amy finds it difficult to believe the death came about as an accident. She wonders: “He obviously had intention to use that gun,” adding: “To me, this was planned.”

Amy hears about the coroner’s inquest that took place after Elinor’s death, leaving her “confused”.

The reports eventually confirmed that Owen was charged with manslaughter, and would have been tried in the assizes court in Carmarthen.

“I’m horrified by what I’ve read, it’s going to take a little time to process it,” Amy admits.

In Carmarthen, Amy meets another historian who explains that Owen pleaded not guilty at court and the prosecution announced they would call no witnesses.

She’s stunned to discover that Owen was discharged, which would often happen in cases like these during those times, as the court took into account that he had never been in trouble with the law before.

“Some part of me is not satisfied with this,” Amy says, hearing that the victim’s family didn’t get justice after the tragedy.

Seeking comfort after hearing of the outcome, Amy travels to a church in Blaenpennal, where Elinor was laid to rest.

She says: “At first when I heard that he was found not guilty, I was like, how did the family move on? How did they start to process the grief? But it does seem like it was an accident and I guess, after time, they started to forgive.”

She learns that Elinor was remembered “as a young person of more than ordinary ability”, and also that a valley near the farm where she lost her life is now named after her.

Amy says: “I never realised that a member of my family has landscape named after her, I think that’s something quite special, really touching.”

Amy Dowden’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? airs on Tuesday 2 June at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer

Euphoria’s creator Sam Levinson has claimed that Sydney Sweeney pushed him to include nude scenes for her character Cassie Howard as he defends himself from fan backlash

After the Euphoria season finale, fans were outraged by the inclusion of copious nude scenes for Cassie Howard, but Sam Levinson has claimed that Sydney Sweeney ‘forced’ him into it.

During the third and final season, Sweeney’s character was nude in multiple scenes, including a montage of nude fetish scenes, as her character started a career as an OnlyFans model. Some fans felt the show over sexualised Cassie and criticised Levinson for the direction the show took. But Levinson said in a podcast episode that it was Sweeney’s choice.

The showrunner said: “When I first wrote it, I thought, ‘Well maybe we shoot all of this and we don’t have any nudity.’ I was talking to her, and you know, [I said] ‘Maybe there’s ways to shoot around certain things?’

“She looked at me, and she was like, ‘Are you kidding? It’s like, I’m playing an OnlyFans model. You’re telling me you’re going to, like, skirt around it?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, OK, it’s a fair point.’ So there’s always a discussion of what works best for the character.”

He added the the New York Times podcast that Sweeney was a “totally fearless actor” and “wonderfully professional”. Levinson said: “I adore working with her, because there’s such a flexibility in terms of the performance.”

Fan backlash to the scenes was quite strong. Critics of the show questioned their inclusion and argued Cassie was being “degraded” in them and that it was a “humiliation ritual” for Sweeney.

Levinson addressed the fan backlash: “I believe very strongly that the best, most honest performances are when an actor feels free and safe. That’s how you get a great performance. You can’t if there is any tension, the emotion that is going to be blocked. And that’s something I’ve known from my days of studying acting.” He claimed his role on set was to “create the most conducive environment for the actor”.

Sweeney has also appears to have spoken about the nude scenes. She took to Instagram on 31 May to share a series of behind the scenes pics from the last season, including one from when she was nearly naked, with a python draped over her body. She said underneath the image: “It’s called… acting.”

Fans were also angry with the the season finale for killing off Zendaya’s character Rue via an accidental overdose. After being sober all season, the character was given pain pills that were laced fentanyl and died. Accidentally overdosing on fentanyl was the same way Euphoria star Angus Cloud died in in 2023.

Some fans felt the death was wrong as Rue had been sober all season. “What the hell is this show about ??? Rue has been sober since episode one how come she died from overdose in the last episode?” one wrote on X. Another added: “I think it’s safe to say that this was the worst season of Euphoria.”

But Levinson said this was an “honest” ending for Rue. “The honest ending is that people like Rue don’t make it. There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. I wanted to tell this story for Angus [Cloud] and for people who weren’t granted a second chance.”

For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

90s movie actress Ashley Judd looks worlds away from her Hollywood days as she rings in her birthday and sings into a hairbush.

The iconic star celebrated her 58th birthday in May and took to Instagram to share a note with her fans.

She was one of the most popular actresses in the 90s and has a strong filmography of work to prove it.

Ashley shared a video of herself singing into a hairbrush as she danced away in her garden with loved ones on her special day.

She popped her grey locks into ponytails as wore a navy plaid dress and went make-up free.

The actress also posted snaps of herself sat in front of a birthday cake as well as being serenaded by a group of musicians who played their instruments for her.

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She penned: “On my 58th birthday, my inner 12-year-old was ready to receive love, care, attunement, delight, protection, and provision.

“Have you ever considered, from your adult perspective, restaging for your sweet inner child an experience she either never had at all?

“Or an experience that did not unfold with the safety and attention it should have?

“I deeply enjoy doing this from a loving inner-parent perspective for my inner family.”

Ashley went on to open up about her childhood and her relationship with birthdays as her fans wished her well on her special day.

The movie star began her career back in 1991 with a guest role in the television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Over her three-decade long career, she’s starred in movies including thriller Double Jeopardy, crime drama Heat and in The Divergent Series.

Her last acting role was in thriller film Lazareth, which released in 2024.

She’s worked with the who’s who of Hollywood, including Robert Deniro, Al Pacino, Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L Jackson and Jim Carrey.

These days Ashley spends her time working as an activist and humanitarian and is an ambassador for UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), which is a sexual and reproductive health agency.

She isn’t the only famous person in her family as she’s the daughter of country music singer Naomi Judd.

Her half sister Wynonna also forayed into the country music world.

TWIN Peaks star Owain Rhys Davies has died aged 44.

Owain’s heartbroken family confirmed the news of his sudden death on social media, hailing him as “a brother to many” in a touching tribute.

The Welsh actor was best known for his role as Agent Wilson on Twin Peaks: The Return.

He also starred in Disney’s Alice Through The Looking Glass and A Serial Killer’s Guide To Life.

And his talents took him to the West End too, with appearances in London productions such as The Wizard of Oz and Mamma Mia!.

Owain’s brother Rhodri wrote: “It is with profound sadness that my father and I share the news that my brother, Owain, has passed away.

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“This news will come as a great shock to many. The reach of Owain’s love, friendship, and generosity was vast.

“While there are still questions that remain unanswered regarding the circumstances of his death, our understanding at this stage is that Owain passed suddenly, naturally, and peacefully.

“The outpouring of messages we have received over the past few days has been deeply moving and a testament to the impact he had on so many lives.

“Owain was fortunate enough to have more than one family.

“Alongside his biological one, he built extraordinary, family-like bonds with many of his closest friends, colleagues, and loved ones.

“I am incredibly proud that, while he was my brother, he was also a brother to so many others.

“We know that this loss will be felt by a great many people, and we take comfort in knowing how loved he was.”

Tributes have flooded in from celebs across the acting world, including Coronation Star Hayley Tamaddon.

The devastated actress, 49, described Owain as a “beautiful friend” in a heartbreaking tribute.

It read: “Heartbreaking to hear that my beautiful friend has passed away. Owain was loved by so many. He lit up Every room he went into.

“I have some wonderful memories of us together, we go back so many years.. but our time together in LA will always make me smile.

“Sleep well my love. My heart goes out to his friends, and family Rhodri and Conway.”

Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt said: “No words seem to convey my emotions. I am so sorry for your loss and the grief you must be feeling.

“I am devastated to lose our beautiful friend, he was more than a friend, he was joy and life and talent and kindness and fun and intelligence.

“He was everything and my brain can’t compute that we don’t get to hug him again.

“What I would give for one more hug. You’re forever in our hearts cariad.”

More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

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EastEnders spoilers for next week have teased the fallout to the big episodes airing this week, hinting at Jordan’s fate as well as Denise getting a sad update on the BBC soap

There’s some huge moments ahead on EastEnders, with spoilers for next week confirming bombshells and worrying scenes.

It’s the fallout to the show’s big week that “changes everything”, with new details confirmed about what happens. Not only that, but we see characters struggling in the fallout, and reacting to some big discoveries.

George clashes with Nicola about her deal with Eddie, leading to him heading to the boxing gym. A friendly session with Mark takes a turn though, when Mark punches George and he falls unconscious.

Phil reveals to a stunned Mark that George should never have been boxing due to his brain injury. A groggy and confused George refuses hospital treatment, so Phil takes him home and informs Nicola about George’s CTE.

Harry worries that George might tell Gina about Nicola’s deal with Eddie, fearing it will end their relationship. He does encourage Nicola to tell Gina before someone else does, while Nicola tries to get through to George.

Denise is shocked when doctors insist she be admitted immediately for treatment. Despite Jack’s pleas, Denise is determined to be there for Chelsea after Jordan’s accident involving Ian.

When Denise’s condition worsens, Jack shares the doctor’s warning with Yolande in a bid to encourage Denise to start her treatment. Denise refuses still, while later in the week Chelsea learns that Jordan’s rehabilitation may not work.

Kat plans a birthday dinner for Jasmine, while Oscar secretly juggles time seeing the twins separately. When Oscar finds out the circumstances around the death of the twins’ foster dad, and Jasmine’s departure from the family, he asks Jasmine about it, causing her to lash out.

Josh and Oscar give into temptation, but Kat spots them kissing. Kat confronts Oscar and tells him to stay away from Josh and Jasmine, before she tells Alfie what she saw.

Unaware of the situation, Zoe invites Oscar to the meal for Jasmine and Josh. It looks set to be another drama-filled week in Walford next week then!

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

KIM Kardashian is flogging her rare designer clobber on her fashion website — but you’ll need a 19-inch waist to wear it.

The reality star, 45, is selling items from her Disney+ series All’s Fair, including a 1995 John Galliano top and jacket for £43,000, and a £1,265 Thierry Mugler suit.

Kim has cinched her 24-26in waist to 19ins for red carpet events such as Met Galas.

And with her reported 43-inch bum many clothes are specially tailored for her shape.

Most items from her All’s Fair wardrobe are marked with a warning to buyers, with one assistant writing next to the Mugler suit: “Pants were altered to fit Kim’s body.”

A dress by the late French designer was also adjusted for the superstar.

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The John Galliano skirt was tweaked to fit her shapely derrière, along with a £1,300 three-piece suit from Patou.

A Christian Dior silk coat was also tailored to fit Kim’s waist — going from a UK size 18 to size six.

Kim’s family have been using the “Kardashian Kloset” website to flog used clothes since 2019.

It’s unknown if money from sales go into the family’s pockets or to charity.

Kim keeps every outfit she’s worn in storage — including her Met Gala designs and even the bridesmaids dress she wore to sister Khloe’s wedding to Lamar Odom in 2009.

She said of her archive: “This is its own time capsule.

“I have every look, every dress, every event.

“I love it, it’s like going down memory lane.”

DISGRACED reality TV star Stephen Bear has set up a market stall selling £2 smoothies with his pregnant teenage wife.

Bear, 36, was spotted on Sunday flogging fruit juice in Walthamstow, north-east London, with his Brazilian missus Miami, 19.

The former Ex on the Beach cast member was sentenced in March 2023 to 21 months in prison for uploading CCTV footage of himself having sex with ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison, 31, to his OnlyFans account without consent.  

An eyewitness who saw the Walthamstow-born sex offender, who won the 18th series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, said: “I was walking past the market at about 1pm on Sunday and spotted him and recognised him from Ex on the Beach.

“He had set up one of those folding tables and someone stopped and asked him for a selfie.

“By the time I went back that way around an hour later they had gone.

“They were doing different flavours like strawberry and mango, putting the fruit in a nutribullet blender and selling them for just £2 in those plastic cups with the round lid on the top.

“It’s hard to think he’s even making a profit at that price, fruit is so expensive at the moment.”  

Bear announced his intention to set up a stall in the market in a social media video posted three weeks ago.

But he said it would likely be after he makes his boxing debut on July 25.
He is due to fight Andy “The Silencer” Lee at York Hall in Bethnal Green, east London.

In the clip posted to his TikTok on May 10, in which he can be seen being driven by his brother Rob, Bear said: “We’ve got some breaking news guys.

“Me and Rob’s decided we’re going to inquire and get a market stall down Walthamstow market.

“We’re thinking you don’t want to travel far to sell your bits and pieces, and if you never need to store anything, the house is, like, five minutes away from Walthamstow market.

“So send me a DM, what you think we should sell on our stall and then we’re going to inquire.

“Probably going to be after my boxing match, July 25, I’m going to get that out of the way first.”

After Rob suggested selling T-shirts or fruit and veg, Bear said: “I think if you’re holding fruit and veg, it’s going to go off, so we’re not going to do that.

“But we’re going sell something out of the ordinary.

“Send us a DM, what you think we should sell on our market stall.”

Bear married then 18-year-old Miami in her native Brazil in July 2025, around 18 months after he was released from HMP Brixton.  

The couple – who post X-rated content together – announced in March that they are expecting their first child.

Bear, who served 10 and a half months of his sentence, was ordered to pay his former Love Island and The Only Way is Essex star ex Georgia £207,900 in civil damages.

In March 2024, Georgia later said that she had received “not one penny” of it or the £212,515 she was owed for lawyers’ fees.

Bear was then ordered to pay HM Treasury the £22,305 he made in profits from subscribers after uploading the video and £5,000 in compensation to Georgia.

The Sun asked Bear for comment.

MOVE over revenge dressing . . .  the new celebrity break-up power move is a revenge campaign.

Maya Jama, who has just split from Manchester City defender Ruben Dias, shared her sexiest looks yet for Agent Provocateur.

She is not the only one turning heartbreak into a big-brand deal.

From multi-million-pound ads to career switches designed to overshadow an ex, the new rule of uncoupling is success.

Celebrity publicist Emma Bunning says: “We’re seeing stars turn break-ups into business opportunities, launching new ventures, signing major partnerships and embarking on career blitzes just as their personal lives hit the headlines.

“It’s savvy PR because it shifts the narrative from heartbreak to success.”

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Maya Jama

AGE: 31

SPLIT FROM: Ruben Dias

Sizzled as she modelled swimwear for Agent Provocateur after her split from the Portuguese footballer last month.

The presenter’s deal with the sexy-yet-sophisticated brand is bound to bolster her bank balance even further.

Her career move comes hot on the heels of fronting the new Love Island series, which kicked off last night, and her upcoming gig on Celebrity Traitors – together bolstering her net worth of £2million.

Miley Cyrus

AGE: 33

SPLIT FROM: Liam Hemsworth

POP rebel Miley turned her 2020 divorce from the Hunger Games actor, 36, into a Grammy-winning, multi-million-pound empire.

After releasing anthem Flowers on Liam’s birthday in 2023, it became the fastest song in Spotify history to surpass one billion streams.

And she celebrated the track reaching No1, and pushing her net worth to an estimated £118million, by sharing a sexy bikini shot.

Bella Hadid

AGE: 29

SPLIT FROM: Adan Banuelos

The model parted ways with the 37-year-old cowboy in January after two years.

She threw herself into promoting her perfume brand Orebella and filming FX science-fiction series The Beauty.

It is a classic business move for Bella, who is one of the world’s highest-paid models and rakes in millions a year.

She also capitalised on her 2017 split from singer The Weeknd by modelling for the Victoria’s Secret campaign.

Sabrina Carpenter

AGE: 27

SPLIT FROM: Barry Keoghan

THE pop pixie hit the campaign trail following her split from actor Barry Keoghan, 33, in December 2024, after a year together.

First up was her massive Netflix holiday special, A Nonsense Christmas, wearing a black and white vintage Chanel ensemble.

Then, in April last year, the singer showed off her curves in Versace’s La Vacanza campaign cementing a total fortune that has skyrocketed to an estimated £16million.

Nicole Kidman

AGE: 58

SPLIT FROM: Tom Cruise

HOLLYWOOD icon Nicole, who also divorced Keith Urban, 58, in January, gave us the ultimate blueprint for post-split success following her 2001 divorce from Tom Cruise after 11 years.

Nicole launched a relentless solo career that culminated in her winning an Oscar for The Hours in 2003 and bagging a record-breaking multi-million-pound deal as the face of Chanel No.5, which paid her £500,000 per minute for a single commercial.

Khloe Kardashian

AGE: 41

SPLIT FROM: Lamar Odom

When it comes to turning a messy split into a business empire, we certainly have to hand it to Khloe.

Following her highly publicised divorce from the former NBA player in December 2016, Khloe stepped out in skin-tight dresses for her E! series Revenge Body in 2017.

Since then, she has stripped down for her fashion brand Good American, swelling her worth to £44million.

Lily Allen

AGE: 41

SPLIT FROM: David Harbour

SINGER Lily put her career centre stage following her split from her Stranger Things husband, David, 51, after four years of marriage.

Launching her highly anticipated comeback in October 2025, just one month after she filed for divorce, Lily released her fifth studio album, West End Girl.

The record detailed their divorce, and helped to build her a sturdy personal net worth of an estimated £1.5million.

Shakira

AGE: 49

SPLIT FROM: Gerard Pique

Latin superstar singer Shakira didn’t just move on from the former Barcelona centre-back, 39, she really cashed in.

After his alleged infidelity, Shakira launched her BZRP Music Sessions diss track and reportedly raked in £24million from her heartbreak trilogy.

She also stepped out for high-fashion brands, including in a sheer, diamond-encrusted gown for Burberry.