actor

Former child star Bobb’e J. Thompson, who acted in “That’s So Raven” and “30 Rock,” has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison.

Thompson was arrested last fall after police said he was driving 104 mph — more than 30 mph over the speed limit — in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. A news release issued by U.S. attorney’s office of the Northern District of Iowa said an officer stopped the vehicle and spotted Thompson and the passenger switching seats. The officer reported that, when he approached the car, there was a smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle.

Officers searched the vehicle and, according to the news release, found a backpack holding bags of dispensary-bought marijuana and a .40-caliber handgun that was fully loaded with a 15-round magazine. Police said the gun had been reported stolen from a car in Kansas City, Mo.

Actor Bobb’e J. Thompson speaks at Spike TV’s 2009 Guys Choice Awards at Sony Studios in Culver City.

(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

The “Role Models” and “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” actor was also convicted of battery and assault in 2020. Then in 2022 he was convicted of possession of a firearm, which was prohibited because he was a felon.

In April, Thompson pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm, and last week he was sentenced by an Iowa district judge to more than two years in prison.

Thompson’s “That’s So Raven” co-star Kyle Massey told TMZ on Monday that he loved his former co-star no matter what.

“Free Bobb’e J., man, that’s my brother,” he said. “We love you, we support you, we got your back, whatever you need, man, we’re gonna take care of you. It just always sucks to see one of your friends or someone that you love go through something hard like that. So we’re just gonna be rooting for him no matter what.

“Keep your head up, we’re here and we love you,” he added. “We love you so much, bro. No matter what.”

Sept. 21, 2026 12:58 PM PT

The Queen of Country is being honored with a special day on Californians’ calendars.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Sunday that establishes Sept. 25 as Dolly Parton Day. The date’s significance may be obvious to fans of the late country legend: 9-2-5 references Parton’s hit single “9 to 5” from the soundtrack of the 1980 comedy film of the same name that starred Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

“Dolly Parton was an icon,” Newsom said in a video accompanied by his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, announcing the bill’s passage. “Dolly was larger than life with big hair and a bigger heart. People around the world have been touched by her music, by her philanthropy, and by her humor.”

Parton died Aug. 25 at 80 years old following a battle with cancer. The beloved songwriter, recording artist, actor and businesswoman was an honored musician, earning 10 Grammy Awards and 10 Country Music Assn. Awards, as well as two Academy Award nominations and a Primetime Emmy. She was the recipient of the National Medal of the Arts in 2005 and the Kennedy Center for the Arts Award in 2006. Parton was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

“Her legacy goes well beyond her music,” Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), who co-authored the bill with Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), said in a statement. “Through the Imagination Library, she put books into the hands of millions of children, and throughout her life she led with kindness, acceptance, and a belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. She was also no stranger to the Central Coast, where she performed for packed crowds and spent time over the years. Now, every 9-2-5, California gets to celebrate Dolly and the remarkable legacy she shared with all of us.”

The In Memoriam segment at the 78th Emmy Awards opened with a tribute to Catherine O’Hara from her movie and TV kids — Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy.

“There are all kinds of words I could use to describe Catherine,” Culkin said as he took the stage with the “Schitt’s Creek” stars. “She was encouraging, she was warm, she was funny, but the word that I think of is ‘mama.’”

O’Hara, of course, played Culkin’s mother in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2.”

“She wasn’t just a wife and mother to [husband] Bo and [sons] Matthew and Luke. She was my mom. She was our mama,” Culkin said, looking toward Murphy and Levy. “And by extension, she’s all of our mama…. She may have forgotten me twice, but we will always remember her.”

Murphy and Levy also shared personal anecdotes about their TV mom. Murphy spoke about O’Hara’s laugh, and the many interactions she’s had with fans “that remind [her] how profoundly Catherine has impacted the world … because she brought us joy.” Levy shared what it was like to work with O’Hara and how she taught him to “always say yes.”

Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan performed a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” as images of actors, writers, directors and other industry figures who died this year were projected onto the stage.

Among those honored in the segment were James Van Der Beek, Hayden Panettiere, Eric Dane, Vincent Pastore, Hal Williams, Tim Curry, Shelley Fabares, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Anthony Head, Diane Ladd, Sid Krofft, Ted Turner and Bob Mackie.

The segment closed with tributes to James Burrows and Rob Reiner from Jamie Lee Curtis.

“For over 1,000 episodes of television, the great James Burrows set a standard of comedy directing that will be cherished and studied for generations to come,” Curtis said. “And sadly, last year, we lost another cherished legend. Our beloved Meathead, Rob Reiner.”

Reiner won a posthumous Emmy for guest actor in a comedy series for his work on “The Bear” earlier this month. Curtis said Reiner broke the record set by his father, Carl Reiner, for the longest gap between acting Emmys.

“He was generous and kind and funny as hell and a friend to all,” Curtis said. “We all miss Rob and Michele [Singer] and all those we lost this year.”

The ceremony also featured a tribute to Dolly Parton earlier in the evening with Sally Field and Reba McEntire.

The staging is simple. A circle of nine stately wood chairs on a bare stage. Four actors, affixed with in-ear monitors, occupy different seats as testimony is elicited, provided and undermined.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is back in session in “The Ford/Hill Project,” now at REDCAT through Saturday. What follows is some of the most riveting and distressing testimony ever delivered in such a setting.

Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford are called back to testify under oath about the Supreme Court nominations of Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, respectively. This documentary drama, created by Elizabeth Marvel and director Lee Sunday Evans, is composed from the verbatim transcripts of these painful proceedings.

In 1991, Hill testified that Thomas had repeatedly sexually harassed her when he was her supervisor at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Education. In 2018, Ford testified that she had been sexually assaulted in 1982 by a 17-year-old Kavanaugh when she was 15.

Marvel and Evans create a double helix from excerpts of these two hearings, which are separated by nearly 30 years yet reveal highly entrenched patriarchal patterns. Two women, summoning the courage to tell what they know about two men who are about to be entrusted with the most consequential governmental power, are put through the wringer as the political machine shifts into gear.

The actors wear in-ear monitors that feed them edited clips from the real audio of the hearings.

(Angel Origgi / REDCAT)

Marvel, one of the treasures of New York theater, takes on the role of Ford at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in a run that ends Sunday. (The piece premiered at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in 2024.) At REDCAT, the superb Rosemarie DeWitt assumes Marvel’s place, standing in for Ford but never attempting anything as crass as an impersonation.

The production, under Evans’ precise direction, manages to find a tone that might be paradoxically described as emotionally resonant neutrality. Those in-ear monitors that the actors are wearing feed them edited clips from the real audio of the hearings.

Ford, a psychology professor with an expertise in biostatistics, answers prosecutorial questions about a life-altering trauma in a manner that leans on her scientific training for security. Hill, a Yale-educated lawyer asked to elaborate on the prurient conduct she was chronically subjected to at work, never loses her professional composure.

“Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter,” Ford tells Sen. Patrick Leahy when asked about the strongest memory she has of the incident. (Ford’s voice, resounding at the start of the production, keeps the brutality of the assault at the forefront of our minds.)

Hill, played by Betty Gabriel, describes the threatening nature of the unwanted advances that created such a toxic work environment. Aware of the damage that Thomas could inflict on her young career, Hill was determined to do what she could to salvage an extraordinary legal opportunity.

At times during Thursday’s performance, Gabriel appeared to stumble on her lines, but it was hard to tell because Hill is speaking extempore in the most difficult of public forums and she doubles back on her sentences, carefully parsing out her words. What both DeWitt and Gabriel honor exquisitely in their performances is the quiet integrity of these women as they willingly expose themselves to political attacks for the sake of causes greater than themselves — the truth, first and foremost, but also gender equality and the Senate’s advisory role as a cornerstone of American democracy.

The actors change not only their seats but also their roles.

(Angel Origgi / REDCAT)

Dulé Hill channels the presence of Thomas, who eventually theatrically hijacks the hearing by referring to the experience as a “high-tech lynching for uppity Blacks.” Rich Sommer gives us the voice of Kavanaugh extolling the pleasures of beer and barking at senators who pointedly ask about the extent of his drinking.

The actors change not only their seats but also their roles. The interrogated become the interrogators in a way that gets a little blurry when the focus initially shifts from Hill and Ford to Thomas and Kavanaugh. But the murkiness doesn’t last long in a production that achieves an admirable balance between objectivity and emotion, abstraction and representation.

The restraint imposed by the production adds to its power. There’s no need to editorialize. The proceedings skewer themselves.

When Sen. Alan Simpson quotes from “Othello” in defense of Thomas, he uses Shakespeare’s lyrical authority but fails to realize that he is in fact invoking the false words of the tragedy’s villain, Iago. Not that the easily impressed senators, eager to exculpate a favored man, took note of the irony.

The patriarchy cares mostly about shoring up its own power. Thomas and Kavanaugh were part of the Supreme Court majority that voted to overturn Roe vs. Wade.

The ending, the only time when Evans’ direction loses its poise, blares “make it right,” performed by the Tune-Yards, as Thomas and Kavanaugh, adorning themselves in black robes, find their seated place according to seniority among the nine chairs. The theatrical flourish seems jarring, but so too is the historic moment.

“The Ford/Hill Project” filled me with sadness but not despair. The bravery of Hill, who educated a nation on sexual harassment, and the emotional strength of Ford, who bared her trauma for public enlightenment, live on in the American consciousness as it progresses, in fits and starts, toward justice.

Frankie Muniz had a vulnerable moment on social media Friday, revealing he’s hit rock bottom following the announcement of his split from wife Paige Price.

The “Malcolm in the Middle” star announced he and Price were calling it quits after seven years of marriage in July, and now the actor is revealing he’s experienced some painful introspection in recent weeks.

“The last 6 weeks of my life have been a nightmare I’m praying to wake up from,” he wrote on Instagram. “Everything felt heavy, unclear, and like it was falling apart at the same time. I wouldn’t wish this season on anyone.”

He continued that despite the painful experience, “the unexpected gift in the middle of it is that I’ve had nowhere to hide.”

The actor-turned-race car driver said he’s spent the last several weeks reflecting and can now see the areas of his life where he thinks he can improve.

“I want to become a better version of me. Not the polished version I show the world … the actual one,” he wrote.

“I read that sometimes hitting rock bottom is the thing that wakes you up. It forces the changes you needed to make all along so you can live the best life possible. That idea has been sitting with me. In five years I believe I’ll look back at this exact low point and feel grateful for it, because the high I’ll be standing on then only exists because I went through this.”

He told his followers that this period isn’t the end of the story, but the catalyst for change.

“It’s the part where I start doing the work … the uncomfortable, unglamorous, necessary work. I’m choosing to treat this season as the foundation, not the finish line.”

Shortly after Muniz’s post, Price posted an Instagram story with a message that some followers speculated may be a response to the actor’s admission.

“Life is all about perspective. If you ask the grass, the zebra is the monster and the lion is the protector,” Price wrote.

Muniz is best known for his titular starring role in the beloved Fox sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle,” which ran for seven seasons in the early aughts. In April, the series returned for a four-episode reunion arc on Hulu starring returning fan favorites Bryan Cranston as Hal, Jane Kaczmarek as Lois and a couple of Malcolm’s TV siblings.

In 2006, when “Malcolm in the Middle” wrapped, Muniz transitioned away from acting and pursued race car driving.

With a boisterous laugh, Giselle Bonilla recalls her introduction to Hollywood at the age of 12: on the set of “Freedom Writers,” the 2007 drama about at-risk high school students in Long Beach. She played a young version of Eva, one of the film’s main characters.

“I remember the first thing we shot was an initiation scene where I get the s— beat out of me,” she tells De Los, sitting at a coffee shop in Silver Lake on Sept. 11 (more on this date later). “They put this candy blood in my mouth, and I thought it was so fun.”

In retrospect, Bonilla, 31, finds great irony in how that initial foray into professional acting fictionally materialized her Mexican immigrant parents’ worst nightmare.

“We don’t come from money. They hustled all their lives and put my sister and I in private education, because they had this irrational fear that I would join a gang … then the first thing I ended up booking as an actor was getting initiated into a gang,” she says grinning.

Since that unique formative experience, Bonilla has traveled a winding path in and out of the industry, which ultimately led her to direct her first feature: the dark comedy “The Musical,” in theaters Friday.

The movie’s antihero, Doug (Will Brill), is a middle school theater teacher plotting his revenge against his ex-girlfriend Abigail (Gillian Jacobs), also a teacher — and her new boyfriend, the more charming Principal Brady (Rob Lowe).

Doug’s plan? To secretly persuade his young students to put on a musical about the horrors of 9/11 and its aftermath that’s certain to cause controversy and get the principal in trouble.

“I feel like you can be more honest with comedy,” says Bonilla about why this genre appeals to her. “You can get away with everything that you’re angry about and want to yell about. If you make them laugh first, people tend to listen.”

Left to right, back row: Alex Heller (screenwriter), Will Brill (center row) Gillian Jacobs, Giselle Bonilla (director) and Rob Lowe (on the floor) from “The Musical” at the Los Angeles Times 2026 Sundance Film Festival studio presented by Chase Sapphire in Park City, Utah on Jan. 24.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Though the actual show is only a small element of the narrative, it turned off distributors, who argued they wouldn’t be able to market a comedy that involved such a delicate subject.

Still, “The Musical” is making it to the big screen as a self-released title thanks to its executive producers, who believed in the film enough to put in more money for a release.

“I’m going to make sure people watch it regardless,” Bonilla says about being very involved in the marketing. “Even though it didn’t sell at Sundance, we still found a way, which is how we made the whole movie. It was nonstop fighting against the universe just to make a comedy.”

Less than a week before production started, Bonilla lost the actors who were originally playing Principal Brady and Abigail. As her film fell apart, she reached out to the industry contacts she had made after working as an assistant for a few years. Miraculously, the screenplay piqued Lowe’s interest. He came on board, essentially saving the project.

Will Brill and Rob Lowe star in “The Musical.”

(Blue Harbor Entertainment)

As a student at the AFI Conservatory, Bonilla had directed a short film version of “The Musical” that writer Alexander Heller, aware of her affinity for comedy, had conceived for Bonilla to direct. The core group of artists who made the short also worked on the feature.

And though she has always pushed for diversity on screen — including in her short films “Virgencita” and “Bullfighter” — for “The Musical,” Bonilla believed the adults had to be white.

“It would be way more damaging if I had pinned a brown person to be behind the staging of a musical about 9/11,” she explains. “It was very clear to me that this was a comedy about white liberalism and how people weaponize tragedy for their own agenda.”

When it came to the kids in Doug’s class, Bonilla wanted to reflect the multicultural mosaic that is the Los Angeles Unified School District. To be able to see herself in “The Musical,” Bonilla wanted a Latina girl as the child with the most ambition to succeed in the arts. That character became Lata: played in the feature by Melanie Herrera in her first acting credit.

“She’s a dancer. But she’s very precocious and has a really confident, type-A personality,” Bonilla says of the young actor. “Melanie gives Reese Witherspoon in ‘Election,’ like, ‘I will do whatever I have to do for the part,’ and I recognized that in myself as a kid.”

Filmmaker Giselle Bonilla on the set of “The Musical.”

(Peter McCollough)

An L.A. native raised in North Hollywood, Bonilla started doing improv at a young age encouraged by her father, Art Bonilla, who grew up in Tijuana and has worked as an actor in the U.S. for over 40 years.

Her mother, originally from Sinaloa, does workers’ compensation insurance, which provided a stable income and allowed her partner to pursue acting.

“It was tough seeing him struggle and not have any agency over work,” Bonilla says of her father. “He’s such a great actor and he’s really funny, but he’s always getting cast in these very small bit parts as a gardener or an immigrant crossing on the border.”

Unsurprisingly, when Bonilla began auditioning for roles as a teenager, similarly one-dimensional and stereotypical characters from a “troubling perspective” came her way.

“They always make the main character in those stories a white person,” she says. “And then we’re painted as these puppies that just keep getting beat up. I didn’t want to contribute to that.”

Bonilla’s interest in being on the other side of the camera solidified after playing an illiterate South Central high school student in the Byron Allen sitcom “Mr. Box Office.” She attended Pasadena City College, where she studied film production, then used the residuals from the show to help pay for her tuition at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Attending film school on the East Coast was, as she puts it, a necessary experience, because she grew up rather sheltered.

“I’m a first-gen Mexican American woman and I was supposed to live at home until I get married,” she explains; but it also exposed her to the concept of impostor syndrome.

“I always had this impostor syndrome at NYU, because that was where I first really confronted wealthy people,” she explains. “I had never been in a predominantly white institution before. And that was really eye-opening.”

It was only when COVID restrictions were lifted that Bonilla decided to apply to the AFI Conservatory, where she regained her confidence and met her now close collaborators.

She has, however, never forgotten her biggest and earliest supporters. Since she started directing, Bonilla has cast her father in many of her short films. And in “The Musical,” you can see both of her parents in the audience during the culminating school show.

“My dad is the one that yells at Rob Lowe at the end in slow motion. He’s pissed that I cut his line, but it was a union film, and we couldn’t afford to give my dad a line,” she says. “But he will be the first one to tell you that he’s not an extra. He did a ‘cameo!’”

“The Musical” director Gisella Bonilla poses at the Los Angeles Times 2026 Sundance Film Festival studio presented by Chase Sapphire in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 24.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Bonilla’s next project takes inspiration from her memories attending a Catholic school run by nuns in Sun Valley, where a teacher was discovered to be a pedophile. She describes it as “an erotic thriller told from the perspective of virgins.”

Once again, she’ll tackle an unsavory topic and figure out how to bring it to fruition; then distribute it come what may, because she refuses to be boxed in by the industry’s expectations.

“Identity stories are very important. If someone wants to do that, they should be able to do that,” Bonilla says. “But I don’t think our opportunity as Latinos should be limited to painting ourselves as victims against the supremacists.”

Wunmi Mosaku has confirmed the birth of her second child — with style.

The “Sinners” actor posed for photos with her two children, a then-10-week-old son and nearly 3-year-old daughter, for the October issue of British Vogue. In the cover story, the 2026 Oscar nominee reflected on her childhood in Manchester, being pregnant during awards season and her commitment to maintaining a joyful workplace.

Mosaku described this past awards season as “the most inclusive red carpet run I’d ever had.”

“Designers happily embraced my growing bump with no pushback or compromise,” the British Nigerian actor said to the outlet. “I really hope designers remain equally excited about dressing regular curves, not just pregnancy bumps. I’m nervous about what comes next. I am hoping not to go back to sample sizes being sent and forking out for tailoring out of pocket. Long may it continue where designers actually dress me and my body as I am!”

But she also admitted to “struggling with pain, stretching ligaments and exhaustion” as she made the rounds for “Sinners’” awards season run. In addition to Mosaku’s Academy Award nomination for supporting actress, “Sinners’” Oscars haul included wins for filmmaker Ryan Coogler, star Michael B. Jordan, cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw and composer Ludwig Göransson.

Mosaku, who is married to talent agent Tash Moseley, announced her pregnancy in January in an essay for Vogue timed to the 2026 Golden Globe Awards, where she walked the red carpet in a custom yellow dress that did not hide her baby bump.

“In my Nigerian culture, we don’t really announce this kind of news,” she wrote then. “It’s meant to be protected. Everything in me resists sharing it publicly — not because I’m not grateful or joyful, but because this feels like one of the few things that truly belongs to me.”

In addition to sharing her news, the actor also addressed her hope that “we could let women simply be” without scrutinizing their bodies as well as the specific worries that comes with pregnancy as a Black woman.

“Being pregnant as a Black woman, you’re not just worrying about whether your baby will be okay: You’re praying you will be too,” she wrote. “Holding joy and fear at the same time is not abstract; it’s rooted in lived experience, medical bias, and real statistics.”

Mosaku also discussed her forthcoming maternity wear line, Iyadé, in her latest British Vogue interview. The brand’s name is a Yoruba word that means “mother has arrived.”

“I’m so proud of all my designs,” Mosaku told the outlet. “And I know Iyadé needs to exist. I can’t be the only mother who is disappointed with maternity and nursing wear. I cannot be the only person.”

TORONTO — An actor from last year’s Toronto International Film Festival has been turning heads around town this week: Inde Navarrette, whose “Obsession” went from a modest 2025 Midnight Madness slot to a box office behemoth.

But if you had to pick this year’s Navarrette, who would it be? Among the breakout names of TIFF 2026 is unquestionably Rosalind Eleazar, the London-born 38-year-old star of “Misty Green,” the first film written and directed by Chris Rock since 2014’s “Top Five” and among the most notable world premieres at this year’s festival.

Misty is a Hollywood survivor who was never able to make the most of her own success, winning an Emmy a few years back but now losing the apartment she has been living in because the widow of the man she was cheating with wants it back. With her bad attitude and personal problems, Misty has burned many bridges along the way. There’s a chance she could be cast in a remake of “Dreamgirls” that would turn everything around for her, but Misty’s brother, Jay (Daniel Kaluuya, in his first major screen role since 2022’s “Nope”), was recently released from a mental facility and needs monitoring.

Though there are comedic moments along the way, “Misty Green” is very much a character study, as well as an unsparring examination of the systemic pressures on Black women in Hollywood — one executive interrupts Misty’s audition to ask if she is “mixed.” She does herself no favors, frequently self-sabotaging and getting in her own way.

“Being an actor is hard,” Eleazar said in an interview at The Times’ photo and video studio in Toronto on Sunday with a sense of well-earned candor. “I could totally relate to Misty’s journey and the setbacks and the constant picking yourself back up after multiple rejections and just going again. And trying not to have armor because as an actor you want to keep yourself open and you don’t want to harden too much. But it can be easy to harden yourself to an industry that can be unforgiving.”

Though “Misty Green” is Eleazar’s first lead in a film, she has had a steadily building career. She is probably most familiar to American audiences from her role as an MI5 agent on the Apple TV series “Slow Horses.” But soon she will likely be known for the explosive announcement that is “Misty Green.” The film will go on to play at the New York Film Festival and the London Film Festival and be released by distributor A24 on Oct. 9.

“It can be easy to harden yourself to an industry that can be unforgiving,” Eleazar says.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

After her movie’s TIFF world premiere in a coveted Saturday night slot at Roy Thompson Hall, Eleazar was included among those celebrated at the annual TIFF Tribute Awards, a fundraising gala put on by the festival. She was recognized alongside such actors as Helen Mirren, Penélope Cruz and Isabelle Huppert, whom she called “extraordinary company.”

“I grew up watching them and admired their work,” Eleazar says earlier in the day. “It’s just such an honor to be considered amongst heavyweights like that. Dame Helen Mirren. Crikey.”

With a warm smile she adds, “Just went very British.”

In accepting the prize, Eleazar recalled how when she came to Toronto for the premiere of her first feature film, 2019’s “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” she stepped away from a party to call her mother at 4 a.m. London time. Not wanting to make that same mistake again, she made sure her mother was there with her in Toronto for this year’s Sunday gala, sitting at a table with Eleazar’s husband, the actor and producer Gabriele Lo Giudice.

Eleazar performs two songs in the film, a heartbreakingly vulnerable cabaret version of Radiohead’s “Creep” and a stripped-down, tender reading of “One Night Only” from “Dreamgirls.” (Eleazar does not consider herself a singer and took vocal lessons before shooting.) Then, in a scene in which Misty demands she be allowed to finish an audition, she flashes into someone else in a bit of pure craft that leaves those in the room astonished.

It was important that Misty be seen as someone who is in fact immensely talented, who may even be worth all the bother and strife that she brings along with her.

“I think we’ve seen movies before where the character isn’t talented and it’s about the hustle and the dream of making it in Hollywood,” says Eleazar. “But I think it’s really interesting seeing someone that cannot get out of their own way — someone that is railing against the industry and is fighting Hollywood, fighting herself, fighting the people around her. It becomes quite a universal subject. It is about our industry but it’s also just about someone who is trying to escape herself.”

Despite Misty’s obvious talents, acting simply may not be the best career for her anymore; it strains her emotional and mental health and enables her substance abuse. Over the course of her own career, Eleazar has at times had to check in with herself to make sure she was heading down the right path.

“There are definitely times that I’ve questioned it,” she says. “For me it does really feed my soul and therefore, at my low points, I’ve managed better. But it can be really heavy. And maybe I shouldn’t but I feel like I’m pretty happy being an actor.”

Chris Rock and Rosalind Eleazar in the movie “Misty Green.”

(A24)

To land the role, after a few meetings with Rock over Zoom, Eleazar flew herself from London to Los Angeles so she could read in the room. As it happened, it made for an intense few days: First she had a chemistry read with Ralph Fiennes in the U.K. for a stage role (she would appear opposite Fiennes in “Small Hotel” in 2025) and then immediately flew to L.A. to read with Rock.

“What a mad, amazing three days,” she recalls. Similarly, Eleazar would be ending her whirlwind few days in Toronto by heading to Los Angeles to be with the “Slow Horses” team for the Emmys on Monday.

In introducing her tribute on Sunday night, Rock recalled when Eleazar auditioned for the part.

“The room just changed,” he said. “She was funny, she was dangerous, she was moving and completely in command. Misty Green is a woman whose life is coming apart. Rosalind never played her as a victim. She made you see the intelligence, the appetite and the fight underneath all the chaos. The audition was supposed to help me decide who to play Misty, but halfway through, the decision had already been made.”

“It becomes quite a universal subject,” Eleazar says of Chris Rock’s latest movie. “It is about our industry but it’s also just about someone who is trying to escape herself.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

There is something poetic about the fact that playing a mid-career actress struggling to land her next job may be the very thing that brings Eleazar wider recognition.

“It’s kind of meta, isn’t it?” she says with a laugh. “Look, I’m so happy that people are responding to the film and my performance. That really is the cherry on top because for me — I know it sounds rather cheesy — but I literally felt like I won once I did that film. I had such a great time exploring who she was and working with Chris and Daniel and Adam [Driver] and that cast. So everything else is just so lovely.”

In accepting her own tribute award on Sunday, Helen Mirren went off-script from her prepared remarks to say how moved she had been by Eleazar’s earlier speech, adding, “It’s exciting to see the generations coming up, especially women.”

As Rock succinctly added in his speech, “Misty Green wishes she could be Rosalind Eleazar.”

Regardless of what happens with “Misty Green” commercially or throughout awards season, Eleazar will continue tending her steady climb. Production will begin soon on season 7 of “Slow Horses” and Eleazar is currently shooting a film role that she isn’t yet allowed to talk about.

But Misty and the experience of bringing her to life on the screen will remain transformative.

“It almost reminded me of like a Shakespearean character in a way,” Eleazar says. “She’s so self-destructive and flawed and contradictory and at times it’s hard to get onside with her. We see it a lot of the time with male roles and I’d love to see it more with female roles — these really complex and messy characters.”

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards saw a number of firsts: A first-time host, a first-time Emmy winner and the first to win two lead acting Emmys in a night. These notable achievements were coupled with moments of remembrance for legendary actors and creators, like Dolly Parton, Rob Reiner and Catherine O’Hara, among many others.

With Mariska Hargitay at the helm, the show ran at a quick pace without feeling rushed, giving room to winners to say their thanks in acceptance speeches while still having moments of fun in between. Here, our writers discuss some of the best moments of the ceremony. — Maira Garcia

Best moment of overdue recognition: Rhea Seehorn

Rhea Seehorn finally won an acting Emmy, an accolade that was long overdue.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

If you appreciate Rhea Seehorn’s complex, subtle acting, her dynamic range and her deadpan humor, then you’ve probably found the Emmys to be maddening over the years. She famously wasn’t nominated for playing poker-faced attorney Kim Wexler on “Better Call Saul” until the show’s two-part final season. And she never won, not even for the raw, heartbreaking work she did in those last episodes. So seeing her win, finally, for her lead turn on “Pluribus” was thrilling, long overdue recognition that, given her history, made you wonder if it would ever come. Awards voters typically don’t appreciate nuanced acting, too often equating “best” with “most.” But Seehorn’s work on “Pluribus” was undeniable. Playing Carol Sturka, a sad woman forced to save the world from happiness and hive mind, Seehorn had the role of a lifetime and ran with it. This Emmy was a long time coming, and you could feel that when she choked up on stage accepting it. Her palpable joy thanking “Pluribus” creator Vince Gilligan, wiping away tears, is one reason why we keep watching the ceremony. — Glenn Whipp

Best double Emmy haul: Matthew Rhys

Matthew Rhys with his double Emmy haul for “The Beast in Me” and “Widow’s Bay.”

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

It was the sort of epic night that might make life vest-wearing mayor Tom Loftis jolt from his boat seat in shock or compel the villainous real estate heir Nile Jarvis to scarf down a whole rotisserie chicken with a glint in his eye — Matthew Rhys, the actor who brought both characters to life on screen, won two Emmys during Monday’s ceremony.

In doing so, he achieved a feat no actor has accomplished in 78 editions of the Emmy Awards: he won two lead acting Emmys in the same night. He was recognized for lead actor in a limited series for his turn in Netflix’s psychological thriller “The Beast in Me,” where he played Nile equal parts charming and terrifying. Later, he took the stage to accept the lead comedy actor prize for his optimistic but skeptical take on a mayor of a small, haunted island town in Apple TV’s horror comedy “Widow’s Bay.”

Rhys didn’t react like his characters might have — instead, he thanked his homeland: “To the great and good people of Wales… we are a small but mighty nation!”) And he took in the moment being feted by his partner, Keri Russell, who hung on him with pride as he made his way back to the main seating area after his first win.

The double wins add to Rhys’s collection of gold across the acting categories. In 2018, he took home the prize for lead drama actor for “The Americans.” — Yvonne Villarreal

Best reaction to someone else winning: Martin Short

Martin Short, left, with his “Only Murders in the Building” co-star Steve Martin on the red carpet at the Emmys.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Rhys may have taken home lead actor Emmys for limited series and comedy series, but the award for best reaction belongs to Martin Short.

During Rhys’ acceptance speech for lead actor in a comedy, the camera briefly panned to Short, who was nominated for “Only Murders in the Building,” just in time to catch him ripping paper into pieces — presumably his speech — and throwing it on the floor in anger and disbelief.

It lasted only a few seconds, but Short took advantage of the moment.

The timing. The commitment. The expressive performance. Short’s full comedic arsenal was on display before the camera moved on. It was the kind of quick visual gag that was easy to miss, and plenty of people probably did. But for those who caught it, I hope it was worth the spit-take. I am certainly glad I had a napkin at hand.

Short may have lost the Emmy, but his comedic timing remains undefeated. Stay funny, Short. — Anthony Solorzano

Best emotional moment that emptied our tissue box: Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his work and advocacy on Parkinson’s disease.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

In an Emmys telecast full of genuine emotion — Reba McEntire’s musical celebration of Dolly Parton, a heartbreaking In Memoriam segment that ended with Jamie Lee Curtis’ personal tribute to Rob Reiner — the most moving moments were claimed by Michael J. Fox, receiving the Bob Hope Humanitarian award.

Fox’s decades-long battle with Parkinson‘s disease, and for those who suffer from it, is well known, as is his refusal to let it define him or his career — he received his 19th Emmy nomination this year, for guest actor in “Shrinking.” But when he first came out on stage, in a wheelchair and classic black, he spoke first about his admiration for Bob Hope, a man whose tireless support of soldiers “and military families like mine” illuminated, for Fox, the necessity of showing up for others. “When it starts to get tough, you show up, you help, and if you add a little joy while you’re doing it, that’s so you know it’s even better.”

The utter silence of that room as he spoke, the admiration on all those famous faces said it all. Fox remains as he has long been — funny, sincere, wildly talented and one of the most courageous people many of us will ever know. — Mary McNamara

Best self-depricating host: Mariska Hargitay

Mariska Hargitay didn’t take herself too seriously as host, cracking a number of silly jokes throughout the night.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Host Mariska Hargitay was refreshingly lewd and charmingly self-deprecating as the first female host of the Emmys in 15 years.

By not taking herself too seriously, she set a laid-back tone for a high pressure show that for many nominees feels like a life or death moment.

Winning is not everything, Hargitay regularly reminded the crowd, with bits that grounded actors’ experience, like a clip from a 1984 B-horror film she starred in called, “Ghoulies,” which, as she explained to everyone, is a film, “where a monster pops out of a toilet.”

“Jamie Lee Curtis isn’t the only scream queen around here,” Hargitay quipped.

That joke came after an ongoing series of goofy, blue wisecracks, including one about “Law & Order” producer Dick Wolf, saying his real name was “Richard Penis;” that her “SVU” character, Olivia Benson, was “America’s sweetheart sex cop;” that aging fans who once loved and watched “Hannah Montana” would soon need “Hannah Mammogramas;” and an aside about her packed work schedule, noting that “Margo may have money troubles, but Mariska’s doing just fine.”

She ended the night with a mic drop by introducing Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as “my two favorite flavors of vape.” — Jessica Gelt

Best changes to a host’s hair: Hargitay and her hairstylist

A sampling of Mariska Hargitay’s hairstyles at the Emmy Awards.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Beach waves, bombshell, Targaryen-inspired twists, luscious locks and a tousled bob. Mariska Hargitay changed her hairstyle so many times throughout the Emmy Awards it was hard to keep track. One can only imagine the quick work happening backstage to get her hair coiffed amid costume changes. And one can only hope there was a wig wall somewhere inspired by Catherine O’Hara’s Moira Rose. The bombshell blowout was reportedly a tribute to her late mother, ‘50s starlet Jayne Mansfield — Hargitay took home two Emmys earlier this month for a documentary she directed about her. Her quick-turn tresses were yet another example of the first-time host’s infectious enthusiasm. — Brittany Levine Beckman

Best presenter who should host the next awards show: John Mulaney

John Mulaney introduced the award for lead actor in a drama series, but not before sending up men.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

I’ll say it: I’m not sure how I feel about John Mulaney. I’ve waffled over the years. I used to love his work, then I found it tired, then I fell off the bandwagon altogether. So believe me when I tell you: I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about him presenting lead actor in a drama series. I wasn’t primed to like his speech. And yet.

He won me — I’m not necessarily a certified Mulaney hater, but certainly not a full-blooded Mulaney lover — over with a truly funny arpeggio of riffs about the mediocrity we accept from men and male actors. I was trepidatious, as was the live audience. (“This award is for the guys. Just men being men,” is a scary start.)

But then Mulaney rounded the curve with a tongue-in-cheek reference to the “Bluey” dad controversy and I sat up straighter. If the line, “some of the men in this category do method acting, and some do regular, less annoying acting” didn’t get me, then “they can play anything, these nominees, not just doctors — they can play a cop or an FBI agent or a secret agent, and then that’s it, no other examples,” certainly did. Don’t get me started on the DJ Khaled quote (I loved it).

Let this man host an awards show, as he is clearly trying to do. I recognize the game, and I respect it.

Also: a very honorable mention to Meg Stalter dressed as a literal Emmy statue. Meg, you are the only method actor I respect. — Laura Zornosa

Best Targaryen family reunion: Emma D’Arcy and Emilia Clarke

Emma D’Arcy and Emilia Clarke nodded to “Game of Thrones” before presenting the award for lead actress in a limited series or television movie .

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

One of the last things I ever expected to see on an awards show in 2026 is the Mother of Dragons speaking in High Valyrian on stage. So “Game of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke hitting the stage with “House of the Dragon’s” Emma D’Arcy to present the award for lead actress in a limited series or television movie was a pleasant surprise.

“In the ‘Game of Thrones’ universe, Emilia is my great-great-great-great-really-great granddaughter,” D’Arcy said. “And in honor of our shared Targaryen lineage, Emilia is going to address you in High Valyrian — our mother tongue — and I will translate.”

Clarke earned four Emmy nominations during “Game of Thrones’” run for portraying Daenerys Targaryen, one of the last surviving members of the family that long reigned over Westeros. D’Arcy, meanwhile, plays Rhaenyra Targaryen in “House of the Dragons,” which is set at a time when there are so many Targaryens that a war of succession became inevitable.

The Targaryen team-up was my favorite but it wasn’t the only name-based collaboration of the night. An earlier segment saw Olivia Benson, the fan-favorite “Law & Order: SVU” character played by Hargitay, share the screen with another Olivia Benson — Taylor Swift’s cat that is named after her. The cat made a surprise cameo along with the mega pop star in a pre-recorded segment about the likelihood of Swift appearing at the Emmys. — Tracy Brown

Best invitation to dinner at their house: Marcello Hernández

Marcello Hernández presented an award, but not before presenting some dinner invitations to a few people in the crowd.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

When I saw “SNL’s” Marcello Hernández would be presenting at the Emmys, I knew it would be a special moment, and he didn’t let me down. The actor, who presented the award for directing for a comedy series, promptly made himself at home, shouting out, “Donde ‘tan los Latinos?” He then took the opportunity to say hello to a few fellow actors in the room.

“Very quickly, I would like to say hello to Harrison Ford,” he said, looking at the actor sitting in the audience, who gave an exasperated look and waved. “You are a legend and a real inspiration to me and I would like to invite you to have dinner at my house.”

The room erupted in laughter, but he wasn’t finished. He then extended an invitation to Zendaya and her partner, Tom Holland: “I want to say hi to Zendaya, you’re a beast and you’re amazing. And I saw you and I wanted to play it cool, and I decided I can’t do that. So I would like to invite you and Spider-Man to have dinner at my house.”

Then he proceeded to invite Oscar Isaac, the Guatemalan actor who utilizes his given name professionally, suggesting they might be related. “You are so good in ‘Beef’ and you are also Hernández, like I am. So we could be cousins, you never know. And I will see you at Christmas, I will cook you whatever you want.”

Lastly, he said a hello to Matthew McConaughey, and quoted his Cuban tía, who told him if he works very hard, he can hang out with “Matthew McCon-i-purse.” It was a light-hearted speech that spoke to anyone who suddenly finds themselves in a room wondering how they got there. — M.G.

It’s never too late to run away and join the circus.

That’s a major theme of the Tony-nominated musical “Water for Elephants,” and living proof is on stage at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre an hour before the curtain rises on opening night. The show — about a traveling circus — boasts an ensemble with as many acrobats as actors, all of whom must warm up prior to performing. This nightly routine is a show in and of itself, with acrobats stretching, tumbling and throwing one another in the air. Another ensemble member is juggling nearby as someone spins in a giant hoop at an unnatural speed.

The night includes a special treat: The company is breaking in a new piece of equipment known as the Chinese pole, a nearly 20-foot-high cylinder the performers climb up, slide down and generally defy laws of gravity on. This pole won’t be used just yet — it arrives with a texture that can be slick or uneven, so the troupe must spend a couple weeks prepping it for better gripping and friction.

Adam Fullick, of the touring production of Broadway’s “Water for Elephants,” practices using a Cyr wheel on stage at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

There’s an almost comically blasé way in which the performers — who are used to such spectacles — go about their work an hour before thousands of audience members will gasp and clap at the same tricks. That’s not to mention the gorgeous puppetry work done by another set of performers as the play reveals a series of detailed circus animals.

“It’s really fun to hear the audience react to this show,” says Serafina Walker, an actor and acrobat in the ensemble who also serves as circus captain. “There’s a lot of moments that come as a surprise, you can definitely hear the audience reaction, and that is what fuels us on stage as performers.”

Walker got into competitive gymnastics at the age of 3, and at 13 she began working with a Vermont-based traveling youth circus called Circus Smirkus. She graduated from École Nationale de Cirque in Montreal a year ago and is now on her first musical tour. She is one of several performers who play the roles known collectively as “Kinker & Roust,” slang terms for acrobats/aerialists and “roustabouts,” a.k.a. circus laborers. It’s a deceptively simple title for a role that will soon have her spinning from hoops and being thrown high into the air — not to mention singing, dancing and acting alongside the ensemble.

Actor and acrobat Serafina Walker backstage at the Pantages.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

Walker is one of many performers who has to blend specialty skills with traditional acting to form one flawless company. Co-choreographer Jesse Robb comes from a concert and theater background while his co-choreographer/circus designer Shana Carroll emerged from the circus world, having directed and choreographed for Cirque du Soleil. Carroll is also a co-founding artistic director of the acclaimed circus collective the 7 Fingers

“What makes the collaboration so special is that we don’t simply bring our separate perspectives to the table—we truly meld into each other in the work,” Robb says. “The boundaries between circus, Broadway, and concert language become fluid, and something new emerges from that intersection.”

Based on Sara Gruen’s 2006 novel, “Water for Elephants” tells the story of Jacob Jankowski, a 93-year-old man who reflects on his time in the 1930s with a traveling circus. As a young veterinarian student, Jacob loses his parents in a tragic accident and jumps a moving train that just happens to belong to the Benzini Bros. Circus. He is hired by the owner and ringmaster August Rosenbluth, but complications ensue when Jacob falls for August’s wife, Marlena, as they work together to train a stubborn elephant named Rosie for their star act.

Helen Krushinski and Zachary Keller perform in the touring production of “Water for Elephants” at the Pantages, which has as many acrobats as it does actors in its ensemble.

(Matthew Murphy)

The story was previously adapted into a 2011 film before being reworked as a musical with music and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Company, a book by Rick Elice and directed by Jessica Stone. After an Atlanta run in 2023, “Water for Elephants” hit Broadway in March 2024, where it earned seven Tony nominations, including best musical. The first national tour is in Los Angeles through Sept. 27 before playing the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa Nov. 10-22.

Also displaying massive versatility is Summer Severin, who, in addition to being an ensemble swing member, serves as dance captain and understudies the role of Marlena. While Severin had an extensive background in acting, singing and dancing, she has found herself learning skills she never imagined, from standing on people’s shoulders to aerial work.

Dance captain and ensemble swing member Summer Severin in her Pantages dressing room.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

“I’ve never trained in acrobatics or circus or anything,” says Severin, who had to learn a trapeze act for her part as Marlena. Severin says she came in “completely raw” and took four weeks to learn the routine. And while one might think her background in movement helped, she says it actually provided a challenge. “That was the most difficult thing to learn because, as a dancer, you have such a relationship to the floor and you have to dance with an apparatus that doesn’t quite move with you.”

Fortunately, Severin says everyone has been more than generous with their time and knowledge. “Circus performers are not gatekeepers in any way,” she notes. “They want to share what they love with everyone else, and it’s completely mutual. All of the different worlds [this show] bridges, it’s infectious.”

Co-choreographer Robb gives much of the credit for cast synchronicity and camaraderie to the director. “Our fearless leader, Jessica Stone, always believed that ‘Water for Elephants’ should feel like one company,” he says. “Everyone needed to feel like they were part of the same circus troupe traveling across the country. There weren’t separate camps of actors, circus artists, dancers, musicians, puppeteers or singers. ”

Tyler West juggles on stage ahead of the production.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

This philosophy also extended to his collaboration with Carroll. Though they had both worked with Cirque du Soleil, the two had never met when they entered into what he jokingly calls “an arranged marriage.” Fortunately, it worked. “We were constantly looking for the place where our disciplines could overlap and strengthen one another. The whole production became an exercise in that same idea: Take what you know, learn what you don’t, and trust the people around you enough to try something new.”

It’s one of the reasons the performers say they always feel safe, despite some of the death-defying acts seen on stage. While Walker admits two-show days can be tiring and she spends a lot of time concentrating on “energy conservation,” the performance itself is a joy.

Severin agrees, “There’s never really scary moments,” she says. “You know somebody’s going to catch you. I trust all of these people with my life, every day. It’s built into the choreography. It’s built into the nature of the show.”

VENICE, Italy: “Woman Unknown,” a drama about Denmark in the aftermath of the Nazi occupation directed by May el-Toukhy, won the prestigious Golden Lion at the 83rd Venice Film Festival on Saturday.

The Maggie Gyllenhaal -led jury announced the winners, which included a best actor prize for John Malkovich for his performance in the dark CIA comedy “Wild Horse Nine.”

Malkovich was not in attendance at the ceremony, but he sent a video message, explaining that he is shooting in Montreal.

“I am humbled to be chosen for this award which has been given to so many wonderful actors,” Malkovich said.

Only 8 women have won a Golden Lion

El-Toukhy, who was the only woman to have solely directed a film in the main competition this year, is the eighth woman to have won the festival’s top prize.

“To me personally, ‘Woman Unknown’ is about the female body as a battleground,” el-Toukhy said. “At the same time the film tells the tale of women who are unseen, invisible and voiceless.”

She thanked Gyllenhaal for using her voice to shine a light on unequal opportunities for women in moviemaking.

The film, which does not yet have distribution in North America, is centered on a young nanny and housemaid who is about to marry her wealthy employer in the immediate aftermath of the war. But she harbors a secret past intimate relationship with a German soldier that threatens to upend her reputation. The lead, Mathilde Arcel, won the festival’s best actress prize.

Arcel was visibly emotional as she accepted the award, which she placed on the floor as she spoke as she said it was very heavy.

“This is my first lead role in a movie and my first time at a film festival,” she said. “I’m extremely honored.”

South Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong’s poetic portrait of class and labor, “Possible Love,” won the Silver Lion grand jury prize. “Possible Love” is Lee’s first film in eight years, following his acclaimed “Burning.”

“We are living in an era where the meaning of labor is fading and human connections are increasingly becoming severed,” Lee said through a translator. “I made this film to ask what cinema can and should do in times like these. I take this award as a sign that you want me to keep asking these questions.”

Gaza documentary takes special jury prize

“NAZA,” a harrowing documentary about military strategies employed in the war in Gaza from Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, was awarded a special jury prize.

“It’s honestly not very easy to stand here, thinking of all the people, the Israeli politicians, the journalists back home who are attacking this film, denying it without even seeing it,” Abraham said. “It is really, really especially important to us that Israelis watch this film.”

The was added to the main competition late — at the request of the filmmakers — and debuted late in the schedule as well, but its impact was felt as it received a record-breaking standing ovation, lasting some 25 minutes, after its premiere.

Shot on the rooftops of Tel Aviv at night in extreme secrecy over three years, “NAZA” features testimony from 24 Israeli military insiders including intelligence officers and soldiers give who insight into the war in Gaza and what they say is the systemic killing of Palestinian civilians.

The jury gave the Silver Lion for directing to Ilya Krzhanovsky for his film “Dau,” a project about the Soviet physicists who built the atomic bomb that has taken over 20 years to make. Krzhanovsky, who renounced his Russian citizenship in protest of the war in Ukraine, dedicated the prize to Ukrainians, including his mother who was born there.

French director Stéphane Brizé’s won the screenplay prize for his corporate drama “A Good Little Soldier.” Malou Khebizi was given the Marcello Mastroianni award for emerging actor for her role in Cédric Kahn’s “A Place to Heal,” which is set in an adolescent psychiatric ward in a public hospital.

The jury this year included “The Voice of Hind Rajab” director Kaouther Ben Hania, English composer Daniel Blumberg, French filmmaker Xavier Giannoli, Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat and Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To.

Malkovich’s Oscar chances just went up

Aside from Malkovich’s win, the starrier, Hollywood films playing in competition were shut out of the awards, including “Primetime,” “Bunker” and “Ink.”

Some look to the Venice Film Festival awards for early indications of who might be in with a shot at Oscar nominations and wins. In recent years, Venice has launched winning best actor campaigns for people like Brendan Fraser and Adrien Brody.

Malkovich has yet to win an Oscar.

TORONTO — It’s not everyday that we take photos of Oscar winners, unless we happen to be at the Toronto International Film Festival, when it is everyday.

On Friday, during our first session of operations alone, we had the pleasure of shooting Academy Award winners Michelle Yeoh and “Boyhood” mom Patricia Arquette, not to mention two-time Cannes Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu, most recently of the upcoming “Fjord.”

You should bookmark this link and check it regularly to see Jason Armond’s beautiful portraits. Courteney Cox? Jodie Comer? Sebastian Stan doing his serious face? It’s all here.

Our first wave of video interviews is live

Want a quick hit of festival buzz? How about Courteney Cox, Arquette and David Harbour getting scrappy over their favorite pizza toppings? They’re here to promote the Cox-directed “Evil Genius,” about the notorious pizza bomber incident.

Ten years after “The Love Witch” rocked audiences, writer-director Anna Biller is back with “The Face of Horror,” a medieval ghost story and a Technicolor-styled riot of design. She dropped by and mixed it up with our Mark Olsen.

Being a scream queen is a serious honor for Jane Levy and Jessica Rothe, in town with the excellent new slasher “River” but already our favorites for, respectively, “Evil Dead” and “Happy Death Day.”

What are we watching tonight?

‘Misty Green’

Rosalind Eleazar in the movie “Misty Green,” directed by Chris Rock.

(Merrick Morton / TIFF)

Misty Green is an actor — played with searing conviction by Rosalind Eleazar in a star-making performance — who may have missed her moment.

Though the industry has not made things easy for her as she suffers racist and sexist slights both big and small, Misty has not done herself any favors either, at times self-sabotaging with a careless attitude toward her undeniable talent and the work that must go with it.

The past few films Chris Rock has written and directed himself, including 2014’s “Top Five,” have felt distinctly personal, as if he is working out his own feelings about his career and the world.

“Misty Green” points toward redemption and hope on the other side of darkness: a pitiless examination of contemporary Hollywood and the difficulty of holding it all together. — Mark Olsen

‘Closing Night’

Sarah Paulson in the movie “Closing Night.”

(TIFF)

The first half of Cody Fern’s strong debut is about the sweet schadenfreude of watching estranged sisters Sandra (Sarah Paulson) and April (Naomi Watts) scream at each other.

The second half pivots to ask if it’s as cathartic to leave things unsaid. Sandra, a stern Broadway actor, has hit the end of her career. April, an anxious Michigan hairdresser, is in Manhattan to see her dopey son Theo (Toby Wallace) and his pregnant girlfriend Lucy (Odessa A’zion) — who, after the family’s controlling matriarch Diane (Dianne Wiest) shows up, should start having second thoughts about passing down their dysfunctional DNA.

Both Fern and his co-screenwriter Devon are actors themselves, so they’ve written their leads one show-stopper scene after another.

Impressively, Paulson even manages to steal the climax away from Watts’ flighty kleptomaniac as her hard luck character takes her lumps with the courage of someone facing down a firing squad, chin held high. — Amy Nicholson

‘Elsinore’

Andrew Scott in the movie “Elsinore.”

(Anthony Dickenson / Focus Features)

Already becoming a must-see out of Telluride and now Toronto, this extraordinary actor’s showcase (arriving in theaters Nov. 20) is carried by a fascinatingly complex turn by Andrew Scott, who just might finally earn some of the hardware he deserved for 2023’s “All of Us Strangers.”

Scott plays real-life Scottish actor Ian Charleson, the bright presence of “Chariots of Fire” and “Gandhi” who never quite had the movie career he deserved. But near the end of his career, in defiance of an AIDS diagnosis, he took on the stage role of Hamlet and left a burning impression.

It’s a performance that consistently elevates “Elsinore” from its recognizable trajectory. Scott deepens Charleson’s race against his own mortality with notes of humor, desperation, guilt, self-delusional avoidance and ultimately the deftness of someone who likes playing pretend. — Joshua Rothkopf

TELLURIDE, Colo. — Do you believe in ghosts?

Andrew Scott considers the question and looks at me with a mischievous grin, retreating to a corner of the restaurant booth where we’re catching up a few hours before his new movie, “Elsinore,” the most personal film he has ever made, premieres at the Telluride Film Festival.

Scott turns over the question again. “Do I believe in ghosts?”

It feels like a reasonable thing to ask. Three years ago at Telluride, the yearning romantic fantasy “All of Us Strangers” memorably premiered, featuring Scott playing a character who worked through unresolved trauma by talking to the dead. Ghosts are elsewhere in his work, metaphorical (“Vanya”) and literal (“Hamlet”).

“If I had a gun put to my head — which you don’t have to — I would say that I don’t believe in them,” Scott says. “But the idea of the afterlife and where we will go is still really fascinating to me. Dreams and the subconscious, too. I don’t know what went on consciously in the world outside my hotel room here last night. I was perfectly content to be asleep. And I like the idea of thinking about death that way. I’ll just be asleep. It’ll be OK. It’s the undiscovered country.”

“The movie for me is about time,” says Andrew Scott. “What are you going to do with your time? Ian decided to to live and to be a light and to be around people for the glory of the theater.”

(Anthony Dickenson / Focus Features)

Dropping a line from Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy in this context feels unavoidable. In the powerfully moving “Elsinore,” Scott plays the real-life actor Ian Charleson, who, as he was secretly dying from AIDS, played Hamlet in a 1989 Royal National Theatre production, still considered one of the great performances in London theater history. Charleson was 40 at the time, known for playing Scottish Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in “Chariots of Fire.” He died eight weeks after leaving the National Theatre stage. “Elsinore” captures that journey in all of its glories and taxing challenges.

“That he would go for treatment in the morning and then play this Olympian role is just endlessly moving,” Scott says. “I don’t know how he did it.”

With our pint glasses filled with water as we adjust to Telluride’s altitude, we try to figure it out.

Charleson playing Hamlet, scaling the Everest for actors, reminded me of David Bowie making “Blackstar” as he was dying. As an artist, you’re not often given the chance to shape the narrative of your own end.

Being offered Hamlet doesn’t happen to every actor. To take it and turn it into something generous and useful — useful is a word I love about acting, that it’s useful to people.

When people are feeling down, they can watch a movie they love.

And see themselves. That can’t be underestimated.

What’s your go-to movie?

I will always watch “Bridesmaids” when it comes on TV. Comedy is precious to me. Laughing is precious to me. I don’t see it as the antithesis of tragedy. I think they’re one and the same.

The last time we talked, around the time of “Ripley,” you wanted to put out into the universe the idea of starring in a musical or a comedy. That hasn’t happened by the strictest definition. But you seem to be saying that genre labels don’t matter.

The reason, hopefully, that “Elsinore” is moving is that we approach some of the stuff with quite a bit of lightness. The effect is tragic and there are some heavy things in it. But my job, what I prioritized, is keeping it light.

You are seen dancing to Ethel Merman’s disco album. It doesn’t get much lighter than that.

My favorite actors are the ones that are funny. I worked with Lisa Kudrow last year on “The Comeback,” and yes, of course, she’s very funny. But if you look at that performance she gives toward the end, it’s so moving. People come away from things that are labeled comedies and go, “I just laughed at that.” Or people come away from things that maybe were really sad and say, “I was just devastated by that.” I think the job is to get rid of categorizing and make it more fluid.

Like life. Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes, the bear, he eats you.

Exactly! I don’t love things that are overly serious. One of my big dreams for this film — and I do wish so much for this film because it’s so personal — is that people don’t feel like that they’re going to see something that’s depressing. I didn’t want to fetishize Ian’s death.

What do you hope audiences take away from watching it?

That they see themselves in it. You know, it doesn’t end well for any of us. The movie for me is about time. What are you going to do with your time? Ian decided to to live and to be a light and to be around people for the glory of the theater.

Speaking of time, next month you’re going to be celebrating a milestone, turning 50. Or not celebrating. I don’t know how you feel about birthdays.

I don’t love my birthday.

Any year?

My friends have said to me, “You gotta make some plans.” I love a party. Which is to say, I love other people’s parties. What I usually do is I leave it to the last minute and send texts around, saying, “I understand if you don’t want to come, but I might do this.” And then you do something small. I read something yesterday where you should go to your own parties like you’re a guest. I think that’s a very good way to to do it.

What about just being around for half a century? Is that in your head? You’re the one who just said it doesn’t end well for any of us.

I’ve definitely thought about it more. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I’ve thought, “Jesus, what?” I’m sure that’s because of my mom dying and that I’m approaching my mortality. Again, how am I going to use my time? One of the reasons I was so ferocious about getting “Elsinore” made was that I would put all of myself into this and then maybe I can chill out a bit more.

Andrew Scott in the movie “Elsinore.”

(Anthony Dickenson / Focus Features)

The personal aspects of this movie are striking. In addition to producing “Elsinore,” you yourself have played Hamlet on stage. You’re also a gay actor portraying someone who, at the time, would have torpedoed his career by coming out.

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the movies and would read Premiere and Empire magazine. Around 16 or 17, I started to realize that maybe if you’re gay, you wouldn’t be invited to movies. And I wasn’t wrong in thinking that, because there weren’t many examples. So I would omit things in interviews. I wouldn’t lie, but I really understood that about Ian’s generation.

There’s a melancholy moment in the movie where he says, “I wanted to be in the movies. I didn’t scale the heights.”

What a gorgeous little dream. A young boy goes, “I want to be in the movies.” And then to have that knocked out of you bit by bit. You’re not even going to be seen for the audition. Or, “Are you being a little fruity there?”

Did people tell you not to talk about being gay?

Very well-meaning people said to me, “Just keep that [private] because you’re not obviously gay,” which I often think is such an insult to say to people. “So maybe you can get away with it.” And I was like, OK. And I did that for awhile. But it was so insidious. When audiences think of acting, they think of actors pretending, like you’re putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes. So the fact that there was this whole section of gay actors who weren’t allowed to do that is awful. I’m so grateful that I get to do that.

What do you remember about the late ’80s and early ’90s in terms of navigating the AIDS epidemic?

It makes me emotional. It was extraordinary just to to have lived through that time and to be completely abandoned by your government, who wouldn’t even say the name of the illness. When I was a young adult, that’s what I was scared of. If you go for a sexual health screening, you go, “My God, am I going to die?” I remember going into those situations, and with no cause for such concern, feeling like I’m going to be punished for expressing myself in that way, because that’s the way the world was set up.

Let’s get back to Ethel Merman.

Please! [Laughs]

There’s that stanza in “There’s No Business Like Show Business” that goes: “There’s no people like show people / They smile when they are low.” Would you say that sums up the spirit of “Elsinore” about as well as any couplet could?

Yes, it’s so much about the power of community and show people. It’s about show people and smiling and getting on with the show.

When did you first feel that power of community?

Putting on “The Wizard of Oz” in a school play when I was about 10.

What part did you play?

Guess.

Dorothy?

[Laughs] No, a friend of Dorothy. Oh, come on. One more guess.

The Cowardly Lion?

No. The Tin Man. My mom sprayed me silver, in my hair and everything. We had a probably bit of aluminum foil and I had a funnel. I loved it so much. And I remember having a really extraordinary feeling of surprise, knowing the audience was there. For such a shy boy, when I had to do the big number, “If I Only Had a Heart,” it went to another level, better than rehearsal. I suppose the little showman, the little 10-year-old silver showman, came out.

George Rainsford is returning to Casualty tonight as fan favourite Dr Ethan Hardy for the BBC medical drama’s 40th anniversary three years after his last apperance

A former Casualty actor has admitted he was “ready to have a break” after nine years working on the medical drama.

George Rainsford is putting his scrubs back on and resuming his role as Dr Ethan Hardy for the BBC show’s huge 40th anniversary, which airs tonight (Saturday, September 5).

The actor played the popular doctor for almost a decade before leaving the BBC medical drama in 2023. Fans will know George’s charatcer Ethan was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease and left the E.D. three years ago to spend more time with his son, Bodhi.

Speaking exclusively to Betway about his exit, George explained: “At the time, I definitely wanted that time away. I was ready to have a break. It’s a fantastic place to work.

“I loved how generous they were with all the storylines I had over the years, and I loved everybody there but it’s filmed in Cardiff, and I’m not based there, so I needed to spend a bit more time at home. When you’re an actor, sometimes you want to challenge yourself and see what else is out there.

“After nine years, that feeling had gotten a bit stronger. I was keen to go back and do theatre for a bit and see what other screen work was out there.

“I’m glad we were able to have the conversation with the producers that it wasn’t final because I really enjoyed going back and I do think there would be a storyline there but at the same time, I was ready for a little break”

Since leaving Casualty, Jimmy has appeared in seven episodes of popular BBC period drama Call the Midwife as Jimmy Wilson and more recently played the role of Miles is movie Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger.

Ethan isn’t the only familar face returning to Casualty this week with Derek Thompson also reprising his iconic role as nurse Charlie Fairhead. Fans last saw him during his final appearance in March 2024, where he retired after 38 years in the NHS.

Although bosses haven’t shared too many details of Ethan and Charlie’s involvement in the 40th anniversary, they have said: “The gripping, anniversary event centres on a high-stakes major incident that throws Holby into chaos.

“Lives hang in the balance and the ED team are pushed to their limits in a tense and emotionally charged story that brings together some of the show’s most beloved characters.

“As the fallout continues, a major rescue operation unfolds, forcing impossible life-or-death decisions and testing the courage, resilience and leadership of those at the heart of the hospital.

“As Dylan Keogh (William Beck) battles personal tragedy while leading his team through their darkest hour, Stevie Nash (Elinor Lawless) and Flynn Byron (Olly Rix) find themselves fighting for survival in a race against time.”

Casualty’s 40th anniversary specials will air on Saturday, September 5 from 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer

Actor and playwright Ellen McLaughlin, who originated the role of the Angel in Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America,” has put her own modern spin on ancient Greek dramas. Her “Helen,” a satirical reworking of Euripides’ tragicomedy and the eternal beauty myth, ought to be better known.

McLaughlin’s modern verse “translation” of Shakespeare’s “Pericles” is now receiving its West Coast premiere at Boston Court Pasadena. I’m traditionally more resistant to playwrights fiddling around with Shakespeare than I am with them updating Greek tragedy. Making Shakespeare’s plays accessible is a noble goal, but there are other ways to go about this beyond modernizing the text and diluting its lyrical beauty and nuance.

When actors understand what they’re saying, audiences tend to catch their characters’ drift while absorbing poetry that’s still at the root of the English language. But “Pericles” isn’t a play that should raise purist hackles. There is an authorship question. The first two acts and the final three may have been written by different writers. There’s an assumption that the second half is Shakespeare’s, but scholars continue to quarrel over attribution.

Julanne Chidi Hill, Desiree Mee Jung, Adam J. Smith, Joel Swetow (center), Rio Rasch, Nicole Javier and Alexander Matos in “Pericles” at Boston Court Pasadena.

(Brian Hashimoto)

Whatever the scholarly truth, it’s safe to say that “Pericles, Prince of Tyre,” to give this late romance its full title, is a patchwork. A strange epic yarn ignited by incest and attempted murder, the play is crammed with shipwrecks and miraculous rescues, devastating suffering and last-minute recoveries. I don’t think I’ve ever read the final act without shedding tears. That said, the play requires an extra-strength dose of willing suspension of disbelief.

McLaughlin’s most notable change concerns the frame of the play, which now unfolds in a disaster relief center. The conceit is that the worried and impatient evacuees amuse themselves with an impromptu performance of “Pericles,” of all unlikely theatrical works.

Outside, a monstrous storm rages. Inside, under flickering lights, a group of reluctant strangers is coaxed into acting out, in a converted gymnasium, a wild tale promising redemption from agonizing tragedy.

Randolph Thompson, Nicole Javier, Joel Swetow Adam J. Smith, Desiree Mee Jung and Rio Rasch in “Pericles” at Boston Court Pasadena.

(Brian Hashimoto)

The production, directed by Margaret Shigeko Starbuck, runs with the makeshift energy and comical freedom that this contextual shift allows. The characters aren’t professional actors, so it’s fine for them to wear their masks loosely. Flashlights illuminate darkened spaces. And props are improvised so that pool noodles are used for jousting and an earbud case serves as an engagement ring.

Joel Swetow, in the role of Gower, smoothly marshals the narrative, advancing the story from one delightful implausibility to the next, recapping what’s happened in the meantime and, when necessary, urging some of the more reluctant characters to stay with the performance. He also takes on the role of malevolent and benevolent kings, whom Pericles (an excellent Randolph Thompson) encounters on his tumultuous odyssey.

Most of the lead players lock into their roles once the performance of “Pericles,” the play within the adaptation, is underway. Thompson is particularly skilled at emotionally investing in his character’s plight even as the spontaneous production refuses to take itself too seriously.

Randolph Thompson, Joel Swetow and Nicole Javier in “Pericles” at Boston Court Pasadena.

(Brian Hashimoto)

A little meta-theatrical hamminess goes a long way, and actors in general have a tendency to overdo the joke. I appreciated the restraint that the cast imposes on itself without spoiling the fun. Nicole Javier who plays Thaisa, Pericles’ seemingly doomed wife, and Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson, who plays Marina, Pericles’ transcendentally good daughter born into sorrow, ensure that we care about the fate of a man who trails disaster behind him.

Julanne Chidi Hill, Desiree Mee Jung, Adam J. Smith and Alexander Matos adroitly flesh out the world of a play that sets virtue and vice in neon opposition. Their sporting way of differentiating their roles keep the staging brisk and lighthearted, qualities that are cleverly maintained by a design team that conjures ocean swells with a metallic-looking sheet, royal garb out of contemporary casual wear and a deadly threat from a pocket umbrella.

I missed the rhythms of Shakespeare’s music, though the most compelling poetic imagery in the adaptation is from the original. But the biggest sacrifice, one that is never fully restored unlike Pericles’ grievous losses, is the emotional weight of the play’s climax. It’s hard to allow yourself to fully believe in the incredible turn of events when the prevailing attitude is so emphatically tongue-in-cheek.

Adam J. Smith, Joel Swetow, Nicole Javier, Julanne Chidi Hill, Jamie Gallo, Randolph Thompson and Rio Rasch in “Pericles” at Boston Court Pasadena.

(Brian Hashimoto)

Johnson’s Marina performs with lovely gravitas, as do Javier’s Thaisa and Thompson’s Pericles. But the rollicking jollity that accompanies the final two acts, which includes the entrance of pirates and the abduction of Marina to a brothel, robs the ending of some of its pathos. A touch more solemnity would not have been amiss.

My eyes for once failed to moisten. But I was nonetheless relieved that Pericles’ happy ending is intact — a reassuring sight in our age of successive disasters.

The star, who died aged 76, also presented the schools show Our World and pioneering deaf community shows Listening Eye and Insight.

One of the stars of Children’s ITV has died aged 76. Tributes are being paid to Peter Llewellyn-Jones, who played Mr Grimley in The Riddlers, which was a teatime fixture throughout the Nineties.

The Riddlers featured the adventures of Marjorie Dawe, played by Victoria Williams, her neighbour Montgomery Lancelot Grimley, played by Llewelyn-Jones, and two Riddlers – puppet creatures – called Mossop and Tiddler.

The show, which was produced by Yorkshire Television, was a huge success, running for 224 episodes on ITV from 1989 until 1998. Five videos, two DVDs and a series of Riddler books were also released.

Away from Riddleton End, Llewellyn-Jones also presented on Our World, an ITV schools series about how children approach life that ran during the Eighties and Nineties.

He was also a prominent British Sign Language (BSL) advocate and appeared in the children’s TV show Insight, which produced sketches and short stories for deaf and hard of hearing young people from 1980 to 1984.

Llewellyn-Jones also appeared on its successor, the BBC’s Listening Eye, a pioneering show for the deaf community which later became Sign On.

The British Deaf Association paid tribute in a signed video, saying: “Today the British Deaf Association is deeply saddened by the passing of Peter Llewellyn-Jones, a BSL champion and strong ally of the deaf community for over 50 years.

“Peter had a long and valued association with the BDA, supporting our work and contributing to BDA events over many decades.

“From the early BDA Summer Schools through to wider national Deaf community events, he played an important role in improving communication and access between Deaf and hearing people.

“Peter was a visionary leader and pioneering advocate for linguistic rights.”

One fan responded to the news, writing: “Sad to hear that Peter Llewellyn Jones has passed away, I love The Riddlers and I remember buying it on video, when I was a kid.”

Dozens of Jewish artists are defending Mark Ruffalo after Paramount Skydance branded the actor’s criticisms about software company Oracle Corp. as “antisemitic tropes.”

Support for the actor comes as Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison has struggled to get its $111-billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger over the finish line amid considerable opposition.

Ruffalo has long been an irritant to Paramount as he is a leading figure in a high-profile Hollywood campaign to block the merger. In an Instagram post late last month, Ruffalo blasted Larry Ellison’s Texas-based software company Oracle for assisting with technology to help Israeli military efforts, including in Gaza — a conflict that Ruffalo and other progressive activists have opposed because of the killing of Palestinians.

In an open letter, signed by more than 150 filmmakers, academics, writers and even a few rabbis, the group denounced “the outrageous smear campaign against our respected colleague Mark Ruffalo.”

“Enough with the false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism against those who are brave enough to point out the obvious: that the assault on the Palestinian people and the assault on our liberties at home are deeply interconnected, and there is nothing antisemitic about recognizing that fact,” the group wrote.

Tuesday’s letter was signed by several high-profile filmmakers, including Joel Coen, Hannah Einbinder, Tony Kushner, Lisa Cholodenko, Ilana Glazer, Frances Fisher, Todd Haynes and Sarah Kunstler.

The group tied David Ellison’s merger ambitions to his billionaire father’s expansive network of businesses, which now include TikTok. Larry Ellison is personally guaranteeing the equity needed for Paramount to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, and the family will become controlling owners of the merged entity.

However, the Hollywood merger is stalled because of an antitrust lawsuit brought by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and 11 other Democratic state attorneys general, including from New York, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon. Paramount agreed to pause the transaction until the court case can be decided.

A trial is set for March 2 in Oakland, but Paramount has been agitating for industry leaders and politicians to pressure Bonta to force a settlement that would allow the deal to go through.

“The proposed merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery is no mere combination of two huge multinational companies,” the group wrote in the letter. “Yes, it will destroy thousands upon thousands of livelihoods. Yes, it will further consolidate the oligarchic control of our media (witness the gutting of CBS News). Yes, it will strangle competition and creativity in film and television production and distribution.”

The group painted the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger as “part of a larger project of tech-driven domination, a project Larry Ellison and his partners have never been shy about trumpeting — and one they themselves have explicitly linked to their support for the ongoing depredations being visited on the people of Palestine and their silencing of critics of those horrors,” the group wrote.

Paramount declined to comment.

The merger fight has grown increasingly ugly in recent weeks after Paramount threatened to leave California if Bonta continued his court fight to unravel the deal. Paramount suggested it would pull up stakes from its Melrose Avenue film studio as soon as this fall.

Then, on Aug. 21, the company accused Ruffalo of injecting “antisemitic tropes” into the opposition campaign to thwart the industry-reshaping merger that would bring HBO, CBS News, CNN, TBS and the Warner Bros. and Paramount film and TV studios under the same roof.

Leaders of prominent Jewish organizations, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti-Defamation League, came to Paramount’s defense, blasting the Emmy-winning actor known for playing the Hulk and roles in productions for HBO.

Ruffalo defended himself, saying he was not being antisemitic. He said he was speaking out against Oracle’s use of technology to assist Israel’s military in the war in Gaza, “what we now have come to see as a genocide, which was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle,” Ruffalo wrote in his post.

Paramount leaders have branded some of the opposition to the deal as “antisemitic.”

“Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism,” the group wrote in the open letter. “It is, for us, the very essence of Jewish ethical duty.”

The letter cited recent polls that reflect a majority of “American Jews now agree that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza; and four in ten even agree that these crimes amount to genocide,” the group wrote. “Do those attacking Mark Ruffalo as an antisemite seriously believe that all these American Jews are antisemites too?”

Bonta abruptly canceled settlement talks last week, but extended an olive branch to Paramount by saying he would be willing to meet with the company to discuss ways to address his antitrust concerns.

A new three-part documentary series on Netflix will explore the life and struggles of Matthew Perry and feature an interview with his sister Mia Perry Bowick, along with unreleased photos and videos from the private archive of the Perry family.

“The One About Matthew Perry” will premiere on the streaming platform Oct. 27, according to an announcement by Netflix on Tuesday. The docuseries, directed and executive produced by award-winning director Mary Robertson (“Quiet on Set”), will tell the story of Perry and his journey from rising comedic star to the man behind the Emmy-nominated role of Chandler Bing on “Friends.”

“Through his many films, TV and stage performances, and his unforgettable portrayal of Chandler Bing, he made millions of us laugh, connect, and feel a little less alone,” Robertson said in a statement. “He also gave us so much more by bravely speaking about addiction. Yet the public only knew part of his story. That’s why we set out to make this series: to let the people who knew and loved Matthew reveal the person behind the public figure.”

The documentary will explore new details about Perry’s private struggles with prescription painkillers and alcohol through firsthand memories from his family and collaborators. The actor died in 2023 from acute effects of ketamine, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner. Five people were sentenced to prison for supplying Perry with the drug, including his assistant, two doctors, a former drug counselor and a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine queen.”

Perry Bowick hopes the series gives everyone who loved him an appreciation of who he truly was and the legacy he leaves behind.

“It’s taken time for me to feel ready to share these memories and what it was like to love Matthew through all the complexity of his life — to see him as a whole person, not just as Chandler, and not just as someone who struggled with addiction,” she said in a statement.

“The One About Matthew Perry” is the latest documentary about the late actor; “Matthew Perry: An American Tragedy” was released on Peacock last year. The Netflix docuseries is produced by Maxine Productions, a part of Sony Pictures Television. Lisa Kalikow, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman are executive producers along with Robertson, Lora Moftah is co-executive producer and Jessica Call is producer.

Hollywood A-listers are more comfortable than ever with cloning their voice and likeness to create a new stream of income, despite the threat of viewer backlash to artificial intelligence.

Sunny Hostin of the popular daily talk show “The View” has licensed her image and likeness to AI production studio Fountain 0, which will make film adaptations of her novels.

“To be able to bring my novels to life in movie and TV form, and actually have my image inserted in the productions, so that audiences can relate to me through my stories beyond my role as an author, is incredibly exciting to me,” Hostin said in a statement.

“AI can give me a way to both more fully develop, and more fully immerse myself in, IP I have developed,” she said.

The Overton window for acceptable AI use in Hollywood continues to widen as Hollywood actors, television hosts, and influencers embrace cloning with protections and compensation. As high-quality synthetic re-creations become cheap and accessible, cloning has become a more desirable option for studios struggling with runaway production costs.

Audiences will be subject to more AI content on the big screen that’s indistinguishable from real human performances.

Fountain 0 is the producer behind “Dreams of Violets,” a fully AI-generated film inspired by anti-government protests in Tehran. The 75-minute drama was made with a budget of $2,000 without a cast or a crew, and was the first fully AI-generated film accepted at the Tribeca Film Festival.

“We are incredibly gratified that Sunny is willing to be the talent pioneer willing to step out and take advantage of this new form of creative expression,” said Ash Koosha, co-founder and CEO of Fountain 0, in a release.

The production company will be releasing its second fully AI-generated film, “Odysseus: The Fall,” later this year. The film uses the likeness of many people, including the film’s creator Koosha, who stars as Odysseus.

Fountain 0’s executive chariman told CNBC that the film is designed to ride the buzz around Christopher Nolan’s ‘’The Odyssey” and give people the opportunity to compare the height of human filmmaking with AI filmmaking.

Proponents of AI argue that it allows writers and creators to take on blockbuster-scale films without financial constraints. Many creators oppose AI because it could replace humans and was built using the unauthorized scraping of creative works used to train generative AI video and image models.

Online reactions to news of Hostin’s cloning were fierce.

“Basically, no film studio wants to give her the budget to turn her books into a movie with real actors, so she’s resorting to AI studios,” wrote one person on Reddit.

Hollywood has fought hard for protections from AI in the prolonged writers’ and actors’ strikes of 2023. SAG-AFTRA, the union representing about 160,000 actors and other performers, has been demanding informed consent, fair compensation, more control and transparency over the use of digital replicas.

The latest agreement, signed in June, introduced limits on studios’ use of digital replicas. The contract requires studios to notify actors before using their voices to create a replica. After a project is complete, actors must sign off and be paid the equivalent of an in-person performance if their replica is used.

Additionally, studios need to pay residuals to digital replicas used in reruns, and replicas cannot be used during a strike.

Hiring fully AI-generated characters such as Tilly Norwood, created without hiring a human performer, is not impossible but comes with a very high threshold for use under the 2026 union contract. Producers must notify the union in advance and prove the AI character brings “significant additional value” to the role.

Still, a fissure remains between those actors who stay morally opposed to cloning, and those who embrace this new reality.

ElevenLabs’ voice marketplace features clones of dozens of personalities — including actress Judy Garland, physicist Richard Feynman and popular characters such as Mr. Potato Head for creators to legally license and get compensated for their use.

This has created a contentious ecosystem in which A-listers are gaining millions from cloning with safeguards and building a new stream of passive income from their intellectual property, while early-career actors complain that their likenesses are being misappropriated and opportunities are being driven away. A massive lobbying effort is underway to institute a uniform standard for protecting an individual’s voice and likeness as property rights.

The back-to-back news this week of the deaths of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry — both at age 80 — felt like an unfair and twisted threat to our peace.

Both were extraordinary cultural forces whose screen and stage work lit up and shaped our lives, so its no wonder the emotional whirlpool led to one large group chat on social media, with fans posting favorite performance clips and interview soundbites. I took comfort in many, including Parton singing “Jolene” at the Grand Ole Opry in 1988 and eight minutes of Curry in the frantic “how it was done” climax in “Clue” (1985), which he reportedly performed so intensely he had to be taken to the hospital for high blood pressure.

Our writers captured the depth of the legacy each leaves behind.

Greg Braxton reflected on Curry’s significant contribution to the twisted image of clowns with his terrifying portrayal of Pennywise in “It.” Robert Lloyd took on highlighting the actor’s most memorable roles on TV. And in his appreciation of Curry, Steve Appleford praised how Curry’s roles “turned out wilder and more varied than he might have expected but his seriousness and sense of fun never faded, pushing boundaries and himself. No one was ever bored watching Tim Curry onscreen.” (Appleford spoke with Curry in 2025 for his final interview published in The Times; I encourage you to read it.)

Meanwhile, Mikael Wood waxed on Parton’s storytelling prowess in her music. Lloyd looked at her legacy on the small screen, where she appeared in variety shows (two of her own), specials, TV movies, guest shots, interviews and music videos — contending it’s where “much of America met Dolly.” Mary McNamara explored Parton’s unexpected persona as a feminist icon. And Emily St. Martin reminded us of Parton’s contributions to literacy.

The country music superstar’s performance in 1982’s “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” which earned her a Golden Globe nomination, is one of our streaming recommendations this week. (For those seeking community while celebrating the life of Parton, AMC Theatres announced screenings for the film, as well as “Steel Magnolias,” in select locations through Sept. 2.) Our other streaming suggestion, if you need a life vest to keep afloat through the tears, is a series featuring veteran fashion police partners reuniting again — this time, to dole out critiques of fictional characters.

Also in this week’s Screen Gab, we spoke with actor Kristen Johnston about the Season 2 return of “Leanne.” Best known for her role as Sally Solomon in the hit ’90s sitcom “3rd Rock From the Sun,” Johnston has built a career bringing laughs to comedies like TV Land’s “The Exes” and CBS’ “Mom.” Lately, she’s been bringing her seasoned comedy skills to Netflix’s multi-cam sitcom, which captures the messy (and funny) experiences of women navigating midlife — like dealing with menopause or the horrors of the modern dating scene. Stand-up comedian Leanne Morgan stars as the titular character, while Johnston plays her brutally honest sister, Carol.

“Not every show has to be, you know, medieval dragons,” Johnston says. “There’s room for a couple of silly women in their 50s trying to figure it out.” Read more from Johnston in Guest Spot. In the meantime, I’m off to mix and bake a cuppa flour, a cuppa sugar and a cuppa fruit cocktail with the juice at 350 till it’s gold and bubbly. See you next week. — Yvonne Villarreal

Turn on

Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

Dolly Parton as Miss Mona in the 1982 movie “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”

(Universal Pictures)

“The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (VOD)

Dolly Parton cemented her movie star status with her feature debut “9 to 5” alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. But outside of the irresistible title song, Parton did not sing in the film. She makes up for it with her second film, 1982’s “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Adapted from the Broadway musical, the country superstar dazzles as Miss Mona Stangley, the proprietress of the popular “Chicken Ranch” brothel. With her characteristic down-home charm, she makes her place of business seem as wholesome as apple (“There’s lots of goodwill and maybe one small thrill, but there’s nothing dirty going on,” she sings in the opening number). Parton also contributed two extra songs to the soundtrack alongside the original Broadway score, including her hit “I Will Always Love You.” — Greg Braxton

Clinton Kelly, left, and Stacy London in “Why’d They Wear That?”

(Jordan Petsy / Simple Alien)

“Why’d They Wear That?” (YouTube)

Stacy London and Clinton Kelly are back with a third “Wear” show, after “What Not To Wear” and last year’s “Wear Whatever the F You Want.” This one’s for the Stacy and Clinton fans, as it removes the clients and makeover elements and sits the hosts on a bed together in front of a TV as they critique what characters wear in the movies, viewing film through the lens of clothing, hair and makeup. (It’s very smart.) The films and actors they highlight are meaningful to one or the other — they don’t always agree — which is to say they broadly represent the tastes of people born in 1969. The range of subjects encompasses “Meatballs,” “Poltergeist,” “Best in Show,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” in which episode you will learn that London views Darth Vader as “the Karl Lagerfeld of outer space” (“monochromatic dressing … quiet luxury and he doesn’t change — he invests in his pieces”). One episode is a tribute to Catherine O’Hara. With no one’s feelings to dance around, they can be as critical as they like, but snark isn’t the point so much as celebration and the delight of old friends sharing their own, often self-deprecating stories. Come for the analysis, stay for the laughter, or vice versa. — Robert Lloyd

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

Leanne Morgan, left, and Kristen Johnston in Season 2 of “Leanne.”

(Patrick Mcelhenney / Netflix)

In “Leanne,” Kristen Johnston plays the ultimate ride-or-die sister you want in your corner — she turns chaotic moments into fun, tells the hard truths and provides unwavering emotional support. The Netflix sitcom stars comedienne Leanne Morgan as a woman trying to rebuild her life after her husband of 33 years left her for someone else. Helping her navigate the emotional rubble is her family, including her fiercely loyal, unfiltered, twice-divorced sister, Carol (Johnston). As Leanne confronts more change in Season 2, like turning 60 and coming to terms with aging parents that require more care, Carol remains a blunt support system. Over the phone, Johnston discussed her connection to the themes explored in the comedy and the genre of TV that has her hooked these days. — Y.V.

Change continues to be a theme in Season 2. It opens with Leanne resisting the idea of turning 60 and still not ready to be alone with herself. Carol is there to remind her that she’s capable. Tell me about your 50s, Kristen. How are you feeling about this stage of your life and the prospect of turning 60?

Oh my God! Honestly, I never even thought I’d make it to my 50s. So, the fact that I’m still here is a pretty big miracle. My 50s has just continued to be about trying to figure out my place in the world and deepening my friendships with my friends, my family. That’s about it.

Are there things you used to worry about that now you’re like, “I can handle that”?

I used to worry about everything, and now I really couldn’t give a s—. I don’t live for other people’s opinions anymore, and that was probably something I lived for for a long time. When you get fame really early, you just condition yourself to not make anyone upset and not get found out by the tabloids or be stalked. I don’t know. I do enjoy really just trying to live. Other people’s opinions matter to me, but they’re not the reason I do or don’t do anything.

You and Leanne both get a chance to play with the idea of getting older early in the season with a daydream sequence about being in the retirement home. What was that like? It hits at such a big topic that many people come to grips with at some point, which is the idea of caring for aging parents.

That’s a huge topic this season, and it one it matters to me because my mom is still here — thank God. But it’s stuff that really comes up a lot. When it’s time to get them into a home, it’s so hard, and of course, they never want to go. Who would? But literally doing that scene was so great because I’m so into prosthetics and makeup. We had a lot of fun coming up with what each of us would be.

Kristen Johnston, left, and Leanne Morgan in “Leanne.”

(Patrick Mcelhenney / Netflix)

The bond between Leanne and Carol is such an important element of the show. What do you think this show really gets right about sisterhood?

It feels very real. You have one who’s a black sheep and always blamed for everything, then you’ve got one who’s the Goody Two-shoes and got married at the right time and had kids. Carol did none of that. But throughout that, and much more important than the rivalry and being mad at each other or whatever, is just this absolute unending love. And I feel very sisterly towards Leanne. I get really emotional about her because I feel like she’s my sister. They’re pretty easy scenes to act.

You’ve worked in multi-cam sitcoms across broadcast, cable and streaming. Do you feel a difference?

I don’t know if it’s as much that they’re different, but the times sure have been different. I’m from the era where we would have the head of the studio come to every taping and send us cards and thank you or call you to come over to his house for his 60th birthday or whatever. That doesn’t really happen anymore. I’m from this other era, which really felt more personal and felt more one-on-one. Now it really just feels like, “Don’t look at me. I just want thanks for the paycheck.”

And it seems hard to even gauge how well the shows are doing.

Exactly. Leanne was so nervous about all that at first, and I just said, “Look, all we can do is our our best. Let’s just be funny and have fun, and everything else is above our pay grade.” So she went with that. That’s how we kind of roll.

OK, tell me — how often are you asked about the “Splat!” episode of “Sex and the City”? How often do people come up to you about Lexi?

It’s crazy. It’s all anybody wants to talk about, any podcasters or anything. Really, I would say 80% of the conversations I’ve had in the last few weeks are focused mainly on that.

What does that tell you that a role that was a one-off could have that kind of lasting impact?

It’s the shock of what happens in that scene more than almost anything. There was kind of this angry “I’m gonna live no matter what” vibe to her. So to watch her fall to her death out of her own hubris, it’s just a perfect little encapsulation of a moment in New York City, and I think that’s why people love it. It’s also probably one of the bigger, bigger acting choices I’ve ever made. That was Michael Patrick King. I can’t believe it still matters to people, but obviously, I’m thrilled it does. I did like three takes [of the fall]. And it could have been the stunt woman [who made the cut]. I honestly don’t know who they cut to for what.

Because when people say, “Are you a Carrie? Are you a Charlotte?” A lot of people say, “I’m Lexi.”

They tell me that all the time. I just go, “Oh, babes.” I wouldn’t really want to cling to her as like an inspiration for your character, but I think what they mean is they’re probably bawdy. There are worse things to be in life.

What’s the most recent thing you watched that you’re obsessed with?

I’ve gone down the K-drama rabbit hole. And something I loved is this C-drama called “Pursuit of Jade” on Netflix. It’s so well-done, really good and very thrilling. A period show. Love it. I’ve been sucked into that. Oh, for K-drama — “Bon Appétit, Your Majesty.” That’s pretty much where I’ve been living.

What’s your go-to comfort watch?

I like spooky, weird stuff like “True Detective,” “Broadchurch.” I just did a rewatch. I can’t believe “Broadchurch” is my comfort show. Anything with really good character development, fantastic acting. I love it.

ICYMI

Must-read stories you might have missed

After Tim Curry finished playing the flamboyant Dr. Frank-N-Furter — first onstage, then in the 1975 film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” — the actor never returned to the role that made him famous. Not once, over decades of “Rocky Horror” revivals from the West End to Broadway, did he ever put those fishnets back on.

For Curry, who died Tuesday at 80 in Los Angeles, there were too many characters to play, and too much fun to be had, for him to spend much time looking back.

“I’ve always moved on,” Curry told me last year, sitting in the Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip, where he’d played Frank to great acclaim in 1974, after originating the role in London. “That was part of the attraction of being an actor. I really didn’t want to come out of the same box every time.”

Last year, as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” was being celebrated for its 50th anniversary, he agreed to meet at the Roxy, which he called “another home for me.” The stage show there had been a local sensation, and it was clear he still had pride and great affection for his role in the movie adaptation, which remains the longest continuous theatrical release in film history.

A stroke in 2012 left him partially paralyzed, interrupting a busy acting career. But he was quick to laugh and joke as he remembered playing Frank, including his nightly entrance at the Roxy, marching down a catwalk in heels and Dracula cape. The long life that “Rocky Horror” has enjoyed as a midnight movie, with shadow casts of costumed fans lip-syncing along, was a surprise to everyone.

Frank-N-Furter was a vivid invitation to fans to let their own freak flag fly. Even amid the era’s accelerating glam rock movement, “Rocky Horror” pushed the boundaries of mainstream pop culture as an outré musical about a mad scientist with a theme song called “Sweet Transvestite.”

“It was part of the sexual revolution, really,” Curry said of the film and its audience. “Experiment was in the air and it was palpable. I gave them permission to be who they discovered they wanted to be. I’m proud of that.”

He was also pleased with other roles that showed off his gifts, including a 1982 film version of “Annie,” directed by John Huston. Curry was the playfully crooked Rooster Hannigan, and had a standout scene singing and dancing in a pencil mustache and slicked back hair to “Easy Street,” alongside Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters.

Tim Curry, left, in the 1985 movie “Clue.”

(American Cinematheque)

In 1996’s “Muppet Treasure Island,” Curry was a duplicitous but layered Long John Silver, a wild-eyed pirate motivated by greed but with a hint of humanity, as he sang songs and grappled with the strange, felt-covered puppet heroes.

“I love the Muppets,” he said last year. “One of the things that used to fascinate me was that the Muppeteers, when they had the Muppet on their hand, would only speak to you as the character. If you said, ‘Hello’ or ‘What’s the weather like outside,’ they would tell you as the character.”

Never humorless, Curry played the ruthlessly villainous Cardinal Richelieu in the 1993 adaptation of “The Three Musketeers.” Conceived as a vehicle for several Brat Pack actors of the time including Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland, the film nonetheless belonged to Curry, who relished every line of villainy. The actor again stole the show with theatrical flair as the Lord of Darkness in Ridley Scott’s bleak 1985 fantasy “Legend,” playing a demonic horned figure opposite Tom Cruise.

Curry brought the same energy to more relatable comedic roles in the beloved ensemble mystery “Clue” as the highly suspect Wadsworth the Butler, and “Home Alone 2,” as a four-star hotel concierge outmatched by a 10-year-old boy hero.

“Rocky Horror” gave him a film career and even led to a music sideline, with the 1979 radio hit “I Do the Rock.”

“When I did ‘Hair’ in London, my first gig, I was not sure whether I wanted to be a singer or an actor,” Curry told me. “And doing that show kind of postponed the decision long enough and I realized that I really wanted to be an actor more than anything, and I took it very seriously. And worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I saw myself having the trajectory of a serious English actor.”

The roles turned out wilder and more varied than he might have expected but his seriousness and sense of fun never faded, pushing boundaries and himself. No one was ever bored watching Tim Curry onscreen.

British actor Tim Curry, who famously commanded attention as the seductive mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter in cult classic oddball musical “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” has died. He was 80.

The Daytime Emmy-winning actor’s longtime manager and friend Marcia Hurwitz confirmed that Curry died Wednesday at his home in Toluca Lake, in a statement shared with The Times. A cause of death was not revealed. The Cheshire native suffered a stroke in 2013, impairing his ability to walk. Though he remained in a wheelchair until his death, the actor continued working through his final years.

“Though widely known for his inimitable, flamboyant characters and colorful stage performances,” the statement said of Curry, “his greatest legacies to those who knew him were his curious, expansive mind and generous, gentle heart, both of which remained open and filled with anticipation until his final breath.”

Curry is best known for originating the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the self-proclaimed “Sweet Transvestite” and purveyor of pleasure who guides a stranded young couple — and audiences — through an unpredictable evening of sexual exploration and liberation. He debuted the offbeat experimental musical in fishnets and pearls in 1973 on the tiny stage upstairs at the Royal Court Theater in London, where it first became an underground sensation.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” hit the big screen in 1975, with Susan Sarandon as Janet and Barry Bostwick as Brad. A rock ‘n’ roll take on sci-fi and horror B-movies, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” became the original midnight movie that endeared generations of audiences with its flamboyant characters, spawned interactive screenings across the country and secured its spot in the pop culture lexicon.

“It was part of the sexual revolution, really,” Curry told The Times in 2025 upon the film’s 50th anniversary. “Experiment was in the air and it was palpable. I gave them permission to be who they discovered they wanted to be. I’m proud of that.”

Curry flexed his versatile acting through more than Frank-N-Furter’s showy elevator debut and his vulnerable “I’m Going Home” finale. He was also a sinister Pennywise in the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s “It,” a secretive butler named Wadsworth in “Clue,” and the evil Lord of Darkness in “Legend.” A screen chameleon capable of morphing from the supernatural to the pedestrian, Curry was also known for his work as fabled pirate Long John Silver in “Muppet Treasure Island” and as a skeptical hotel concierge in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”

He was a prolific voice actor known for the environmental classic “FernGully: The Last Rainforest” and TV series “The Wild Thornberries,” “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” “Over the Garden Wall” and “Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.”

Timothy James Curry was born April 19, 1946, to father Jim Curry, a Navy chaplain, and mother Maura Curry. After losing his father at age 12, Curry earned a scholarship to the Kingswood School in Bath. Curry’s grandfather took him to music halls, fostering his love for the art.

“I was really taken with the great Technicolor musicals; it’s the form that’s closest to my heart in a way,” Curry told The Times in 1992. “It’s the most comfortable synthesis of all the things I do.”

School productions eventually led Curry to the University of Birmingham, where he studied drama and English from 1965 to 1968, according to his website.

Curry made his professional debut in 1968 in the original London production of “Hair.” He had fibbed about having previous professional experience and an Equity card, but the production team thought Curry’s talents were reason enough to sponsor him. After he starred in several productions including “Titus Andronicus,” “Cinderella” and “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” co-star Richard O’Brien in 1973 invited the actor to audition for a new work — one that would later solidify Curry as a generational screen and stage icon.

With Curry anchoring as Frank-N-Furter, O’Brien’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show” first came to life at the Royal Court’s Theatre Upstairs. Then larger venues overseas included L.A.’s Roxy Theatre. Eventually, with the support of producer Lou Adler, the show made it to the screen. The same year “Rocky Horror Picture Show” hit cinemas in 1975, its Broadway run at the Belasco Theatre shuttered after 45 showings and negative reviews. Over the years, harsh criticism proved no match for “Rocky Horror Picture Show’s” unexpected staying power.

The musical had been revived numerous times in New York and London, including in 2001 with the Broadway revival earning multiple Tony Award nominations including a nomination for revival of a musical.

The “Rocky Horror Picture Show” film and Curry’s melodramatic Frank-N-Furter have remained cultural touchstones, spawning the popular “anticipation” online meme and inspiring spoofs on “Glee,” “The Simpsons” and a beloved character (with hormone-manipulating abilities) in the popular Japanese manga and anime “One Piece.”

To Curry, Frank-N-Furter was more than just that “sweet transvestite” obsessed with manufacturing the perfect man.

“He’s a fairly complex guy,” he told The Times in 1974. “He just takes anything he can get. He’s not fussy, really. Though I think he’s something of a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am.”

Through the late 70s to early aughts, Curry balanced stage commitments with screen projects and musical endeavors. His stage resumé includes productions of Tom Stoppard’s “Travesties” for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the title role in playwright Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus” (that would earn him a Tony nomination) and Joseph Papp’s take on “Pirates of Penzance.” All the while, he gained fame for roles in “Annie,” “Clue,” “Home Alone 2” and “Addams Family Reunion.” As a recording artist, Curry released three albums between 1978 and 1981: “Read My Lips,” “Fearless” and “Simplicity.”

In 1988 Curry returned stateside for a U.S. tour of “Me & My Girl,” which he followed with a residency at the Pantages. It was then the actor decided to permanently return to Los Angeles as a resident. His move to Southern California coincided with the beginning of his Emmy-winning voice acting career, which started with a role for Hanna Barbera’s animated adaptation of “The Creation.”

Curry won his Daytime Emmy Award in 1991 for voicing Captain Hook in “Peter Pan and the Pirates” and earned a Grammy nomination in 2002 for the audiobook of “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.” He performed voice roles for video games including television and film tie-ins “Brutal Legend” and “Dragon Age: Origins.”

The British star primarily worked in voice roles after he suffered a major stroke in 2013. Since then, Curry had been in a wheelchair, with on-screen cameos including as the criminologist in the 2016 TV remake of “Rocky Horror.” Still, the image of Curry’s fierce Frank-N-Furter continues to pervade pop culture — even if that wasn’t his original intention.

“None of it was planned, really. I just knew I had to take risks,” he told The Times in 1974. “Life is like acting in that way. You’ve got to take risks. If you take big risks, it’s then up to you whether or not you pull it off.”

More than 50 years after that interview, Curry told The Times that he had no doubt in what he was doing. Revisiting his home away from home, the Roxy Theatre, in the fall of 2025, Curry said it had become “my stomping ground.”

“I had to appear as though I owned it — and I kind of did.”