ACTOR Dennis Haskins, best known for playing beloved Principal Richard Belding on Saved by the Bell, has died aged 75.
Jay Schachter, Haskins’ agent of more than 20 years, confirmed the “tragic loss” in a touching tribute.
Veteran actor Dennis Haskins has died aged 75Credit: GettyHaskins (top left) as the lovable but stern Mr Belding in Saved by the BellCredit: Getty Images – Getty
He wrote: “Everyone loved Mr. Belding, and those of us who got to know Dennis loved him even more.
“He was a great person, and he loved, I mean absolutely LOVED his fans.
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“He always had time for them, no matter what. He was my client and dear friend for over 20 years, and I will miss him terribly.”
The star’s cause of death has not yet been disclosed.
Haskins, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, initially played the role of Principal Belding on the show Good Morning, Miss Bliss from 1988-1989.
The series then became Saved by the Bell, which aired on NBC until 1993, followed by Saved by the Bell: The New Class from 1993-2000.
Haskins earned the nickname “America’s Favourite Principal” for his performance.
His character’s exasperated ‘Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?’ as he struggled to control his students became one of the show’s most iconic lines.
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Haskins’ agent described him as a ‘great person’ who truly loved his fansCredit: GettyHis role as Mr Belding earned him the nickname ‘America’s Favourite Principal’Credit: Getty
Haskins also reprised his role in the spinoff specials Saved by the Bell: The College Years in 1993 and Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas in 1994.
Before launching his TV career, Haskins attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where the school said he was deeply involved in campus life.
Bianca Dyke appeared in series six of ITV’s Benidorm – but who is the actress’ real-life soap star father?
Benidorm Bianca Dyke star has famous actor dad in real life and fans will be floored
Benidorm fans will be stunned to find out that Bianca Dyke star Bel Powley is not the only famous member in her family.
Bel joined the cast of the ITV sitcom back in 2014, with the rest of the Dyke family: dad Clive (Perry Benson), mum Tonya (Hannah Waddingham) and brother Tiger (Danny Walters).
During their stint on the show, the family became firm favourites and famously had a rivalry with the Garveys who were also stopping at the Solana resort.
As for Bianca, she turned her attention to fellow holiday-goer Martin Weedon (Nicholas Burns), thinking he was a wealthy businessman, only to end things after realising he wasn’t.
Benidorm was not actress Bel’s first time on the screen. She shot to fame playing Daisy Millar in CBBC’s M.I. High from 2007 to 2008. Her other acting credits include the TV series Everything I Know about Love and the 2015 coming-of-age film The Diary of a Teenage Girl.
She also played Claire Conway in The Morning Show from 2019 to 2025 and is currently portraying Petunia Dursley in the upcoming new Harry Potter television series.
In real life though, Bel is the daughter of actor Mark Powley, who is best known for playing P.C Melvin in police drama The Bill from 1987 to 1990. He’s also appeared in several soaps including Coronation Street in 2001 as Rob Lucas and Emmerdale in 1999 playing Liam Hammond.
Talking about her childhood, Bel told Hollywood Authentic: “I never even really wanted to be an actor. I was really academic. But my dad’s an actor [Mark Powley], and my mum’s a casting director [Janis Jaffa]. So it was always kind of in the family.
“I went to a Saturday drama group called Youngblood Theatre Company, which was all improvisation-based, where I met a lot of my mates. A casting director came in once to cast a CBBC show called M.I. High about child spies, and I got the job.”
She added: “So I basically ended up being a child actor, to my parents’ dismay, because they thought I was going to be the first academic of the family. I ended up following in my dad’s footsteps.”
Bel is also married to fellow actor Douglas Booth. Douglas has starred in the likes of Great Expectations, Romeo and Juliet and ITV’s recent cop drama The Blame, alongside Michelle Keegan.
Douglas and Bel first met at a chemistry read audition over 10 years ago. Three years later in 2016, they worked together on the film Mary Shelley and a romance quickly blossomed.
Going from strength to strength Douglas proposed to Bel in July 2021 on Primrose Hill in London. Then in October 2023, Douglas and Bel made things official by getting married at Petersham Nurseries in Richmond.
“I woke up in the morning, and I was like, ‘I just want to do it all over again, right now’,” Bel told Hollywood Authentic before sharing: “I think in 10 years’ time, we’ll get married again.”
On Wednesday, Taylor Lautner and his wife Tay Lautner (née Dome) announced the arrival of their first child in a shared Instagram post, a baby girl they named … drumroll please … Lennon Taylor Lautner.
“One week loving our sweet little Lenny,” the couple wrote in the Instagram caption. Lennon arrived Sept. 16, according to the social media post, which showed a partial image of the infant.
The new parents have been married since 2022 and met through the 34-year-old “Twilight” actor’s younger sister, Makena Moore.
They announced the pregnancy in March on their Instagram accounts, hinting that the future baby could share a matching name, with the photo carousel’s caption: “What’s better than two Taylor Lautners?”
A “weight lifted” off her shoulders when she shared the news, Tay said in April on her podcast “The Squeeze.” She was afraid the news would leak when she went among the public.
“It was really exciting that Taylor and I got to do that on our own terms,” Tay continued.
In June, the two revealed the baby‘s sex in an emotional Instagram Reel, with the “Twilight” actor later writing on his personal Instagram stories that his dream “has always been to become a girl dad,” according to People.
“All I wanted was a healthy baby but deep down this moment is what I was dreaming of. The weight that was lifted off my shoulders in this moment knowing that dream came true was unlike anything I’ve felt,” the actor wrote.
In her third trimester, Tay, a 29-year-old registered nurse who has been open about mental health, expressed her thoughts and feelings about pregnancy, sharing in an Aug. 12 episode of “The Squeeze” that she gained 50 pounds, experienced swelling and had stretch marks.
“Women don’t get enough credit for what we put our bodies through because it is truly just insane,” she said in the podcast. “Let the pregnant women live a little more. We need to just applaud them, praise them and give them a little more respect.”
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.”
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.
“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.”
Water for Elephants
Where: Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. (Check schedule for exceptions.) Ends Sept 27
