actress

Diane Ladd, the Oscar-nominated actor who received acclaim for her work in films including “Rambling Rose,” “Wild at Heart” and “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” has died. She was 89.

Oscar winner Laura Dern, Ladd’s daughter with Oscar-nominated actor Bruce Dern, announced her mother’s death in a statement shared Monday. “My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai,” Dern wrote. A cause of death was not revealed.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” “Marriage Story” star Dern said in her statement. “We were blessed to have her.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

FORMER Corrie actress Michelle Keegan is being courted for her first Hollywood film role.

US screen star Reese Witherspoon is keen for the 38-year-old to play the lead in a big-budget movie adaptation of her new novel.

Oscar-winner Reese, 49, wrote crime thriller Gone Before Goodbye with American author Harlan Coben, who was behind Michelle’s Netflix hit show Fool Me Once.

Harlan introduced the women to each other at the launch of the book at the ­London Literature Festival, held at the capital’s Festival Hall last weekend.

A source said: “Harlan has been singing Michelle’s praises to Reese and she was keen to meet her. They got on really well and it was clear Reese was really taken with Michelle.

“The plan is to turn the book into a film and Michelle is their first choice to take on the role of the lead character, Maggie McCabe.

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“She is a combat surgeon and Michelle previously played an Army medic in Our Girl on the BBC, so it’s a role they know she could take on with style.

“It’s early days but Harlan and Reese think Michelle is tailor-made for this role and would love her to come on board when the time is right.”

Ex-soap star Michelle became a global success after the mystery drama Fool Me Once was released last year.

The series became one of Netflix’s most watched TV shows of 2024 — with more than 107 million people streaming it worldwide in the first 90 days.

Best-selling author Harlan said of his leading lady: “I think what Michelle has, besides tremendous talent and all the other stuff, is a genuine authenticity.

“I think the audience, loves her, people want to follow her life, because they sense that there’s a kindness and a gentleness.

“And that’s really her, she’s truly authentic.”

Speaking last year, 63-year-old Harlan insisted he would be keen to work with her again and reckoned: “If we could get Michelle, we’d love to get Michelle.”

Fans of Michelle, from Stockport — who has a daughter with Heart FM DJ husband Mark Wright — will next see her on screen in ITV crime drama The Blame.

She plays Detective Inspector Emma Crane in the six-parter, which is an adaptation of ­Charlotte Langley’s 2023 debut novel of the same name.

Michelle is also known for her roles in the Sky One comedy drama Brassic and BBC drama Ten Pound Poms, about Brits who migrated to Australia in the 1950s.

U2 legend Bono looked unrecognisable as he flew in luxury on a private jet with his actress daughter, Eve Hewson.

The famous rocker donned his trademark coloured glasses as his thespian daughter copied his style by wearing her own blue-tinted shades.

Eve, 34, is the second of four children born to Ali Hewson and U2‘s lead singer, Bono, 65.

The Bad Sisters star posted the photo with her famous dad to her Instagram stories.

Bono was sat in one of the private jet’s seats as Eve cuddled up close to him.

“Gene vs environment,” Eve captioned the post, perhaps referring to scientific research into how genetics and a person’s environment can shape them.

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Eve has been acting since she was a teenager and spoke to The Irish Sun about developing a “heart of stone” to help her get over rejection at auditions.

“I have a heart of stone at this point. I can’t feel anything anymore,” she said last year.

“When I was younger I used to cry my eyes out but now I’m just dead.”

Eve added: “One good piece of advice that I got which went on for years and years – when you get really, really close to a job and then you get heartbroken.

“And someone said to me, ‘If you’re getting close, it’s a matter of time’.”

Eve has also opened up about how being the daughter of a famous rock star has helped her career, but also how being labelled a “nepo baby” has affected her.

Speaking further on her very famous dad, Eve said: “The only thing you can do is crack a joke and move on.”

And back in 2023, the TV star poked fun at the situation on Twitter saying: “2023 goals: be successful enough to get recognized as a nepo baby.”

Eve previously said her famous father both helped and hindered her career.

She told the Radio Times: “In the beginning, I think it was easier for me to get in the door.

“Some of the friends I went to Tisch with are the most talented actors but have found it difficult to get an agent or an audition.

“That’s never been a problem for me, and I think that’s because of my family.

“That’s not the way the system should work, of course, but if the door is open, walk through the door.”

You don’t have to be afraid to put your dream in action, because you’ll never fade, Trina Vega, you’ll be the main attraction — in a “Victorious” spinoff.

Netflix announced Friday that “Hollywood Arts,” a spinoff of the Nickelodeon teen sitcom following a group of students attending a performing arts high school, is now in production. The new show will see Daniella Monet reprise her Trina role from the original series, which aired for four seasons on the kid-centric network.

“Coming back as Trina alongside such a dynamic, powerful cast of newcomers is something I feel very lucky and grateful to do,” Monet said in a news release, which announced the “Hollywood Arts” cast will also include young actors Alyssa Miles, Emmy Liu-Wang, Peyton Jackson, Martin Kamm and Erika Swayze.

“‘Victorious’ was in a lot of ways life changing for all of us, our cast is forever bonded by that experience, and to think that I have an opportunity to steward anything close to that is a feeling I can’t begin to describe,” Monet continued. “As an actress, producer, and mom, I am so eager to create something we can all be proud to share with the world.”

According to the logline, “Hollywood Arts” will see Trina return to her alma mater as “an unqualified substitute teacher” after struggling to make it as an actress. There, she will both clash and “unexpectedly” inspire the next generation of ambitious and talented performing arts school students.

In “Victorious,” which originally ran from 2010 to 2013, Trina was the untalented but overly confident older sister of Tori Vega, played by Victoria Justice. The cast of the hit teen series also included Ariana Grande, Avan Jogia, Elizabeth Gillies, Leon Thomas III and Matt Bennett.

The spinoff will also feature Yvette Nicole Brown as a guest star. Brown briefly appeared in “Victorious” as school principal Helen Dubois — a character who originated on Nickelodeon’s “Drake & Josh,” which ran from 2004 to 2007.

In addition to starring on “Hollywood Arts,” Monet will serve as an executive producer alongside showrunners Jake Farrow and Samantha Martin and director Jonathan Judge. (Dan Schneider, who created “Victorious” and whose alleged misconduct was at the center of the 2024 docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” is not involved.)

The 26-episode first season is expected to debut on Netflix in 2026 before hitting Nickelodeon and Paramount+. The series is currently in production in Ontario, Canada.

Diane Keaton died in Los Angeles on Saturday at age 79, and her family says the cause was pneumonia.

Family members of the Oscar-winning actress shared a statement with People confirming Keaton’s cause of death and saying they were “very grateful for the extraordinary messages of love and support” they had received in recent days.

The outlet first reported the news of the screen icon’s death Saturday, saying the Los Angeles Fire Department had responded to her home that morning and transported a 79-year-old woman to an area hospital. Initially, the family did not disclose the cause of death and asked for privacy as they processed their grief.

In Wednesday’s statement, Keaton’s family members said the star had a deep love for animals and was passionate about supporting the unhoused community. They encouraged people to honor her memory by donating to a food bank or animal shelter.

Keaton was known for her powerful performances in iconic pictures such as Francis Ford Coppola’s “Godfather” movies and Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall,” which earned her the 1978 Academy Award for lead actress. She was also nominated for lead actress for her roles in “Reds” (1981), “Marvin’s Room” (1996) and “Something’s Gotta Give” (2003).

Born in Los Angeles in 1946, Keaton rose to fame through her late 1960s New York stage career, earning a Tony nomination at age 25 for her role in Allen’s 1969 theatrical production of “Play It Again, Sam.”

Later in her career, she became a muse for writer-director-producer Nancy Meyers and starred in four of her movies. She was a noted trendsetter known for her fabulous on-screen outfits and, more recently, for sharing her style on Instagram, where she amassed 2.6 million followers.

Keaton’s death was widely mourned by theater, movie and fashion lovers alike.

“She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star,” wrote actor Bette Midler on Instagram. “What you saw was who she was.”

“Diane Keaton wasn’t just an actress: she was a force,” wrote actor Octavia Spencer on Instagram, “a woman who showed us that being yourself is the most powerful thing you can be. From Annie Hall to Something’s Gotta Give, she made every role unforgettable.”

Times film editor Joshua Rothkopf contributed to this report.

Keaton was best known for her roles in Annie Hall, Reds and The Godfather films.

American actress Diane Keaton, known for her Oscar-winning performance in 1977’s Annie Hall and her role in The Godfather films, has died at the age of 79.

Keaton died in California and her loved ones have asked for privacy, a family spokesperson told People magazine on Saturday.

Keaton, who appeared in more than 60 films, stood out in Hollywood with a personal style that favoured androgynous looks: suits, turtleneck sweaters and her trademark hats.

The actress shot to fame in the 1970s with her role as Kay Adams, the girlfriend and eventual wife of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy as well as her collaborations with director Woody Allen.

Keaton frequently worked with Allen, portraying the titular character in Annie Hall, the charming girlfriend of Allen’s comic Alvy Singer.

“It was an idealised version of me, let’s put it that way,” Keaton said about the film in an interview with the United States TV network CBS News in 2004.

The film also garnered Oscars for best picture, best director and best original screenplay, cementing Keaton’s place as one of the industry’s top actresses and an offbeat style icon as well.

She made a total of eight films with Allen, including 1979’s Manhattan.

Her star-making performances in the 1970s were not a flash in the pan as she would continue to charm new generations for decades, thanks in part to a longstanding collaboration with filmmaker Nancy Meyers, with whom she made four films.

A BAFTA and Golden Globe winner, Keaton scored Oscar nominations three other times for best actress for Reds, Marvin’s Room and Something’s Gotta Give.

Her many beloved films included The First Wives Club, Father of the Bride, The Family Stone and the Book Club movies.

Born Diane Hall in Los Angeles on January 5, 1946, Keaton was romantically involved with Allen, Pacino and Warren Beatty (her Reds costar), but she never married.

“I think I was really afraid of men and also very attracted to extremely talented people that were dazzling,” she told Elle magazine in 2015. “I don’t think that makes for a good marriage with a person like me, someone who just didn’t adjust well.”

Keaton is survived by her two children, Dexter and Duke, whom she adopted in her 50s.

Sept. 30 (UPI) — Hollywood’s actors union SAG-AFTRA on Tuesday sounded the alarm over reports that talent agents are interested in signing Tilly Norwood, an actress generated by artificial intelligence.

SAG-AFTRA’s statement opposing the replacement of “human performers by synthetics” comes days after Deadline reported that AI studio Xicoia has engaged with multiple agents who are interested in signing the digital creation Tilly Norwood for representation.

Studios’ use of AI technology was a central issue in the 2023 SAG-AFTRA-led strike that was the longest actors’ work stoppage in Hollywood history. Now, Norwood’s emergence points to an ongoing source of dispute between studios and actors.

“To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers – without permission or compensation,” SAG-AFTRA said in the statement. “It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience.”

The union said that Norwood relies on “stolen performances” and will put actors out of work.

Norwood resembles a brunette twenty-something who speaks with a British accent and made her debut over the summer in a short AI-generated film. She already has an online presence.

Eline Van der Velden, an actor and technologist, revealed Saturday during a panel at the Zurich Summit that agents were interested in signing Norwood, the creation of the AI production studio Particle6 she founded, according to Deadline. She also said that studios and other entertainment companies were quietly embracing the technology.

“We were in a lot of boardrooms around February time, and everyone was like, ‘No, this is nothing. It’s not going to happen’. Then, by May, people were like, ‘We need to do something with you guys.’ When we first launched Tilly, people were like, ‘What’s that?’, and now we’re going to be announcing which agency is going to be representing her in the next few months,” said Van der Velden.

Van der Velden later responded to the initial backlash over Norwood, with a statement saying she is “not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art.”

But concerns about what Norwood means for the industry remain. Actress and producer Anne-Marie Johnson told Los Angeles NBC affiliate KNBC that “this is no laughing matter.”

“Our agents and our managers have to be partners in this because when we don’t get hired, they don’t get their commission,” she said.

With so much uncertainty in the earliest round, consensus No. 1 picks are rare, but that’s just what Jessie Buckley of “Hamnet” is — one of only two in the entire BuzzMeter poll. She has double the points of runner-up Renate Reinsve, who is just one tally ahead of Emma Stone.

Saying it feels “inevitable” that Buckley will one day win, Robert Daniels calls her work in “Hamnet” “a gut-wrenching performance … Jessie Buckley’s fearless turn echoes with the force of a primal scream.”

Among the other contenders, Glenn Whipp asks of the upcoming “Wicked: For Good,” “Will voters be into it or over it? That’s a coin flip. More certain: Cynthia Erivo will rip out our hearts in the sequel.” Dave Karger wonders if one star has the makeup to land in the top five: “‘Christy’ star Sydney Sweeney will try to ride her strong Toronto buzz to a first nomination.”

Meanwhile, Katie Walsh highlights one of the perils of long-range predictions — occasional category uncertainty: “Should Emily Blunt go lead for ‘The Smashing Machine,’ or supporting?” Blunt’s roller-coaster performance as a champion wrestler’s love — and perhaps his most dangerous opponent — is hard to pin down.

As for Seyfried, at press time “The Testament of Ann Lee” doesn’t yet have a distributor. But perhaps the lead’s strong showing on the BuzzMeter will be an inducement to change that.

1. Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”
2. Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”
3. Emma Stone, “Bugonia”
4. Amanda Seyfried, “The Testament of Ann Lee”
5. Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked: For Good”
6. Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
7. Tessa Thompson, “Hedda”
8. Jennifer Lawrence, “Die, My Love”

RogerEbert.com

Robert Daniels

1. Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”
2. Amanda Seyfried, “The Testament of Ann Lee”
3. Emma Stone, “Bugonia”
4. Julia Roberts, “After the Hunt”
5. Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”

“With a gut-wrenching performance as Agnes Shakespeare, Jessie Buckley’s fearless turn echoes with the force of a primal scream. It feels inevitable that the previous nominee will win an Oscar at some point. It’s just a matter of time.”

Turner Classic Movies

Dave Karger

1. Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”
2. Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”
3. Emma Stone, “Bugonia”
4. Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked: For Good”
5. Sydney Sweeney, “Christy”

“International actresses headline this race, with ‘Hamnet’s’ Jessie Buckley and ‘Sentimental Value’s’ Renate Reinsve earning festival raves for their wonderful performances. Two-time winner Emma Stone and two-time acting nominee Cynthia Erivo are also likely to return, while ‘Christy’ star Sydney Sweeney will try to ride her strong Toronto buzz to a first nomination.”

Los Angeles Times

Amy Nicholson

1. Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”
2. Tessa Thompson, “Hedda”
3. Amanda Seyfried, “The Testament of Ann Lee”
4. Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
5. Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked: For Good”

“A Jessie Buckley win here as Shakespeare’s wild, witchy wife makes perfect sense. The Irish talent comes to the campaign with a supporting nom for ‘The Lost Daughter’ already under her sash and heaps of critical goodwill dating to 2018’s ‘Wild Rose.’ But I wouldn’t mind a Tessa Thompson upset.”

IndieWire

Anne Thompson

1. Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”
2. Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”
3. Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
4. Emma Stone, “Bugonia”
5. Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked: For Good”

“The win could go to Jessie Buckley for her heart-wrenching mother in ‘Hamnet.’ Her challengers are another troubled mother, Rose Byrne in ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,’ warbler Cynthia Erivo in ‘Wicked for Good,’ ‘Bugonia’ star Emma Stone, who has already won twice, and Renate Reinsve as a great actress in Norwegian Oscar submission ‘Sentimental Value.’ ”

Tribune News Service

Katie Walsh

1. Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”
2. Emma Stone, “Bugonia”
3. Jennifer Lawrence, “Die, My Love”
4. Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”
5. Amanda Seyfried, “The Testament of Ann Lee”

“I haven’t seen ‘Hamnet,’ but I’m hearing best actress is Jessie Buckley’s to lose. The TIFF People’s Choice Award gives it a boost too. Should Emily Blunt go lead for ‘The Smashing Machine,’ or supporting?”

Los Angeles Times

Glenn Whipp

1. Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”
2. Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”
3. Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked: For Good”
4. Emma Stone, “Bugonia”
5. Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”

“Get ready for the sequel Oscar campaign for Cynthia Erivo and ‘Wicked’ as the second installment of the musical adaptation lands in November. Will voters be into it or over it? That’s a coin flip. More certain: Erivo will rip out our hearts in the sequel.”