The body of a hostage returned by Hamas via the Red Cross in Gaza has been identified as Israeli-American soldier Itay Chen, Israel has confirmed.
The 19-year-old soldier’s remains were returned on Tuesday as part of a Gaza ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump last month.
“Following the completion of the identification process… IDF representatives informed the family of the fallen hostage, Staff Sergeant Itay Chen, that their loved one has been returned to Israel and positively identified,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said.
Earlier, Hamas’s military wing said it had recovered the body of an Israeli soldier in the eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Israel had allowed members of the group and Red Cross staff to search for the remains in the area, which is inside territory still controlled by Israeli forces.
Chen was working at his base on the Gaza border when Hamas and its allies launched their attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
His family lost communication with him after he told them his base was under attack.
Chen was initially believed to have been taken hostage by jihadists was actually killed in the 7 October attacks, the Israeli military said in March 2024. It said he had died in combat and his body had been taken to Gaza.
The Israeli government has accused Hamas of deliberately delaying the recovery of the dead hostages since a US-brokered ceasefire deal took effect on 10 October.
Hamas has insisted it is difficult to locate the bodies under rubble.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hamas agreed to return the 20 living and 28 dead hostages it was still holding within 72 hours.
All the living Israeli hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.
Israel has handed over the bodies of 270 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of the 19 Israeli hostages returned by Hamas, along with those of two foreign hostages – one of them Thai and the other Nepalese.
Five of the seven dead hostages still in Gaza are Israelis, one is Tanzanian, and one is Thai.
All but one of the dead hostages still in Gaza were among the 251 people abducted during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 other people were killed.
Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 68,800 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Earlier on Tuesday, a hospital official in Gaza City said a man was killed by Israeli fire in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza.
The Israeli military said its troops killed a “terrorist” who had crossed the “Yellow Line”, which demarcates Israeli-controlled territory, and posed a threat to them.
“Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc,” the Japanese anime from Crunchyroll and Sony, claimed the top spot at the domestic box office this weekend, taking in an estimated $17.25 million, according to Comscore.
The R-rated movie, based on Tatsuki Fujimoto’s popular manga series, follows teen demon hunter Denji, who is betrayed by the yakuza and killed as he attempts to pay off the debts he inherited from his parents. His beloved chainsaw-powered dog Pochita makes a deal and sacrifices his life, fusing with Denji who is reborn with the ability to transform parts of his body into chainsaws.
“Chainsaw Man,” already a global hit, delivered a blow to Disney and 20th Century’s biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” starring Jeremy Allen White, which came in a disappointing fourth place with an estimated $9.1 million.
Based on the 2023 Warren Zanes book of the same name, the film plumbs Springsteen’s life and career through the creative process, during the making of his 1982 acoustic album “Nebraska.”
The Times described the movie as a “thoughtful exploration of the creative process” that runs out of steam by the end, “meandering aimlessly into a depressive period of Springsteen’s, and it never quite regains its footing.”
In its second week out, the horror sequel “Black Phone 2” took the No. 2 slot, earning an estimated $13 million over the weekend, giving the Universal and Blumhouse movie a domestic total of $49.1 million.
Rounding out the third spot is Paramount’s romantic drama “Regretting You,” the latest film adaptation of novelist Colleen Hoover (“It Ends With Us”). Starring Allison Williams and Dave Franco, it opened to an estimated $12.5 million domestically.
Lío Mehiel has been working for a moment like “After the Hunt” for a long time.
Directed by Luca Guadagnino, this thorny morality play of a film set at Yale University pits well-liked professor Alma (played by Julia Roberts) against both her protegé, Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), as well as her longtime friend and colleague Hank (Andrew Garfield) during a scandal that risks her entire academic career.
Amid that starry A-list cast, the actor plays Maggie’s partner, Alex. The film, which had its world premiere in August at the Venice Film Festival, is Mehiel’s most high-profile project yet.
“There is so much time as an artist where you are doing the work and nobody cares and you have to find within yourself the motivation and the commitment and the drive to keep going,” Mehiel tells The Times. “Because you know that when you are going to be able to reach people, it will be worth it.”
Such a step has been years in the making. Mehiel, who lived in Puerto Rico until they were 5 years old, began their creative endeavors almost as soon as they arrived in New York City, first as a salsa dancer and later as an actor. By the time they were in fifth grade they were attending Broadway auditions, eventually booking a role in the 2003 revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” starring Ashley Judd and Jason Patric.
(L to R) Lio Mehiel as Alex and Ayo Edebiri as Maggie in AFTER THE HUNT, from Amazon MGM Studios.
But as they began finding their own sense of self and body, they also found the kind of opportunities that led them to “After the Hunt.” That began in earnest back in 2023, when they starred in Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s film “Mutt” as Feña, a role they booked after cold-emailing the director and telling them they’d do anything to win that part. The film chronicled a particularly hectic day in the life of a young trans man in New York City, as he struggles to rekindle old relationships he’d severed since he’d transitioned. Mehiel’s soulful performance won them a Special Jury Award for Acting at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, putting them on the map as a trans Latine performer to watch.
“Moving forward from ‘Mutt,’ I was really interested in building on that momentum to what’s next,” they say. Not just in terms of their career but in the broader cultural conversation around contemporary queer and trans representation. The following year, they returned to Sundance with Alessandra Lacorazza’s “In the Summers,” which walked away from the festival with the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury prize — the first for a film directed by a Latina director. Like “Mutt,” that sun-dappled film found Mehiel breathing life into a trans character navigating a thorny relationship with their father (played by renowned Puerto Rican rapper Residente).
Mehiel has long been building a body of work that centers on the very work of having a body. Just this past summer, they visited the Salton Sea for a performance installation titled “angels of a drowning myth.” In photos from that day, Mehiel is seen naked and half-submerged into that so-called sea, posing alongside a bust of their own chest made six months after they’d received top surgery. A portrait of a body twice represented, Mehiel’s piece stressed the solidity and malleability of their own body, and the beauty they find within and around it. Their work moves past familiar ideas of the body in transition, gleefully embracing the messiness of the queer experience and refusing the easy siren call of visibility.
“‘After the Hunt,’ is such a beautiful example of that because Alex is a queer and trans character, but we just see them getting home from a run, taking their shirt off, being with their partner, dealing with stuff that has nothing to do with their queerness,” Mehiel says.
That moment Alex first appears on screen is quintessential Mehiel. Not just because of the honeyed intimacy their sweaty, bare chest exudes. But because their appearance immediately reframes everything audiences have heard about this seemingly militant, radical social justice warrior. Alex at first appears as a figure of “woke” culture there to defy the older generation Roberts’ Alma comes to stand for. But there’s more to them than that.
“Alex doesn’t represent all queer people who have a political orientation in the world, all queer people who might attend a protest,” they explain. “I think what Luca did and what Nora did in the script was to give us all an opportunity to move away from identity politics. Instead, they gave each of the characters enough meat on their bones that they get to be complex, messy characters.”
“After the Hunt” may focus on complicated ethical questions surrounding sexual assault allegations at a university, but within that plot, Mehiel sees also a chance for viewers to catch a glimpse of characters like Maggie and Alex who may not otherwise be centered in such stories.
“I’m just excited that there is more exposure that people are having to queer and trans people and to queer relationships, and how that can fit in the context of a ‘normative’ world,” they add. “This is a movie with Julia Roberts, one of our biggest stars and crown jewels of Hollywood and of American cinema. There’s going to be a lot of folks that are going to see it because Julia is in it. And then they’re also going to get to experience a queer and trans person on screen who is likable in some moments and unlikable in others, just as much as every other character.”
That’s been Mehiel’s purpose for years now: to expand what queer and trans characters can look like on stage, on screen and, in turn, in real life. At a time when these communities are vilified by those who wish to harm them, Mehiel insists on the importance of such normalized visibility.
Lio Mehiel seen at the Los Angeles Premiere of Amazon MGM Studios’ “After The Hunt” at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 04, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
(Photo by Stewart Cook / Amazon MGM Studios via Getty Images)
“Honestly, exposure to these experiences creates connection more than anything and allows people to feel comfortable,” they add. “Because the political climate right now — for the Latine community and for the trans community — is really hard and heartbreaking and challenging. And I think so much of it has to do with people feeling like they don’t know who these people are.”
A central kernel of the premise of “After the Hunt” is that you never know what someone is going through. And, more to the point, that making assumptions about other people’s experience can be extremely dangerous.
“This movie really serves as a mirror to the people that are watching it,” Mehiel insists. The film confronts audiences with their own biases and refuses any tidy conclusions.
But for Mehiel, the film will forever be remembered as a highlight of a career that is only bound to get bigger and more exciting. Just this year, they spent the summer at the Williamstown Theatre Festival starring in Jeremy O. Harris’ new play as well as serving as head of production for “Mother, Daughter, Holy Spirit,” a grassroots fundraiser for the Trans Justice Funding Project, all while continuing to pursue their various interests as artist, writer, and filmmaker. In that context, “After the Hunt” stands now less as a calling card than as a reminder of how far they’ve come and yet how much further they want to go. That film, now playing in theaters and coming soon to Prime Video, will widen the scope and reach of their artistry.
“Watching it, I was like, ‘I fit right into the fabric of the movie,’” they say. “On a personal journey level, I feel confident that I have the skill, the talent and the experience at this point to work with the masters that I dream of working with (if the sexy French filmmaker, Julia Ducournau, ever reads this interview, she should know that I want to work with her).”
Or, in much simpler terms that echo an ethos they’ve brought to bear on and off screen: “I just feel ready and able to actualize the things that I have been dreaming about for a long time.”
POP icon Nelly Furtado has announced at she’s no longer going to be performing her music after a huge comeback last year.
It comes after she hit back at a flood of cruel comments about her figure after returning to the spotlight.
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Nelly Furtado is stepping back from performing after a huge comeback last yearCredit: SplashNelly is a pop music iconCredit: Getty
Nelly proudly embraced her natural curves while headlining Manchester Pride earlier this year.
Taking to Instagram, the Grammy winner made an emotional post expressing gratitude for all her career gave her and that she feels it’s now time for her to “step down”.
She celebrated 25 years in the industry, before adding: “I have decided to step away from performance for the foreseeable future and pursue some other creative and personal endeavours that I feel would better suit this next phase of my life.
“I have enjoyed my career immensely, and I still love writing music as I have always seen it as a hobby I was lucky enough to make into a career. I’ll identify as a songwriter forever.”
The star, 46, took over radio stations throughout the 2000s, well-known for her song Promiscuous as well as her feature on James Morrison’s ‘Broken Strings’.
The body of a Thai farm worker killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack was returned home to Thailand. Sonthaya Oakkharasri’s body had been held in the Gaza Strip. Thai officials say 45 nationals have died in the conflict — the highest foreign toll among Israel’s foreign workers.
JENNY Powell showcased her age-defying body following ‘game-changing’ treatment.
The radio and TV presenter, 57, took to Instagram and posted videos highlighting her incredible features.
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Jenny Powell revealed the results following “game changing” treatmentCredit: Refer to sourceThe former Wheel of Fortune star showcased her age defying-looks to her followersCredit: Refer to sourceJenny is no stranger to wowing fans with her stunning looksCredit: Splash
Addressing her followers, Jenny revealed the results of lymphatic drainage treatment.
It is intended to help move lymphatic fluid in the body, which can boost immune function, as well as reduce swelling and inflammation.
She captioned the post: “Ever tried lymphatic drainage?”
Jenny revealed to the camera: “I just had the best lymphatic drainage treatment. It’s so nurturing.”
Her updates also included before and after photos highlighting the treatment.
She told her followers: “I feel lighter, less sluggish and more in tune with my body.
“This lymphatic drainage treatment @thelymphclinic_ has changed the game for me.
“You know me , I like to find holistic alternatives to help me in my wellbeing journey
“A little lymphatic drainage around the tummy goes a long way!
“It helps shift that stubborn bloating, boosts digestion, and gets everything flowing again — think flatter, lighter and less puffy.
“It’s like a gentle wake-up call for your gut, your glow and your energy!”
Last month, Jenny sent her followers wild with stunning snaps from an Ibiza holiday.
The formerWheel of Fortunestar looked incredible in a patterned bikini as she unwoundafter watching her friends tie the knot.
She wrote on Instagram: “We chilled, did nothing, did everything and celebrated the marriage of two beautiful souls @positivepsychotherapyandyoga and all amongst the natural beauty and cosmic energy of @atzaro_hotel what a magical energy we all created.
“Thank you Steve and Lyndsey, thank you @leanelacase .. more magical moments incoming!!”
Jenny reclined on a large outdoor bed surrounded by plants and foliage and basked in the golden sun.
The hotel she stayed at calls itself the “best luxury hotel Ibiza” and it has plenty of five star reviews from happy customers.
Rooms at the ‘nature-connected’ accommodation start from £225 for a standard double room for a night, while suites can cost £774-a-night.
Jenny’s fans complimented her snaps with one writing: “A bronze goddess looking beautiful as always.”
The popstar was absent from Mel’s happy day at St Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday, which saw Emma Bunton, 49, the sole other girl group member in attendance.
The Wannabe singer stunned in a gown adorned with dazzling pearl detail around the collar and sleeves and a long flowing veil as she stepped out of the iconic venue.
She uploaded a snap showing the happy couple together with the words: “So so happy for you both and beyond gutted I couldn’t be there.
“Excited to celebrate with you really soon. Yipee!”
In her next slide, Mel showcased a snap of her performing in Stockholm, Sweden.
She added the words: “Bit of a soggy one last night.”
Mel shows off her musclesCredit: ErotemeThe toned Spice Girl, 51, wore a leotard and red boots to help launch her new musicCredit: Unknown
Members of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights United Teachers L.A., Unite Here Local 11 and many other unions and immigrant rights groups march to the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles on October 4. A federal judge in Chicago ordered ICE agents to wear body cameras when interacting with protestors. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 16 (UPI) — A federal judge in Chicago ruled Thursday that immigration agents must begin wearing body cameras to record their actions during enforcement operations.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued the order in federal court in Chicago after reports of immigration agents clashing with residents of the city’s Southeast Side, incidents that ended with officers spraying people with tear gas and other chemical agents.
Ellis’ decision comes following a temporary restraining order that she issued on Oct. 9 restricting immigration agents’ use of non-lethal weapons on civilians.
“I am profoundly disappointed about what has been happening over the last week since I entered this order,” Ellis said, the Chicago Sun Times reported. “I live in Chicago, if folks haven’t noticed, and I’m not blind, right? So, I don’t live in a cave. I have a phone. I have a TV. I have a computer and I tend to get news.”
Ellis said she believes the Trump administration is not following her orders to stand down on the clashes, which is causing her “serious concerns,” she said.
Ellis said Thursday that she will expand her restraining order to require all federal agents who are part of Operation Midway Blitz, and who wear body cameras, to have them on when encountering protesters.
She initially required all immigration agents to wear body cameras, but moderated after a Trump administration attorney said equipping all officers to wear cameras was logistically impossible and would be cost prohibitive.
The Justice Department continued in opposition, saying it would be challenging to review body camera footage of every officer in response to every allegation.
Ellis issued the restraining order after a group of local journalists and protesters sued the Trump administration, alleging that agents targeted people engaging in peaceful protests, including multiple reporters who claimed they were shot with pepper balls despite being identified as members of the media.
Ellis ordered a Homeland Security official to appear in court on Monday to discuss the matter.
According to local reports, Ellis ordered a top Homeland Security official to appear in court on Monday to address the issue.
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday warned Hamas “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them” if internal bloodshed persists in Gaza.
The grim warning from Trump came after he previously downplayed the internal violence in the territory since a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect last week.
Trump said Tuesday that Hamas had taken out “a couple of gangs that were very bad” and had killed a number of gang members. “That didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you,” he said.
The president did not say how he would follow through on his threat posted on his Truth Social platform, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking clarity.
But Trump also made clear he had limited patience for the killings that Hamas was carrying out against rival factions inside the devastated territory.
“They will disarm, and if they don’t do so, we will disarm them, and it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently,” Trump said.
The Hamas-run police maintained a high degree of public security after the militants seized power in Gaza 18 years ago while also cracking down on dissent. They largely melted away in recent months as Israeli forces seized large areas of Gaza and targeted Hamas security forces with airstrikes.
Powerful local families and armed gangs, including some anti-Hamas factions backed by Israel, stepped into the void. Many are accused of hijacking humanitarian aid and selling it for profit, contributing to Gaza’s starvation crisis.
The ceasefire plan introduced by Trump had called for all hostages — living and dead — to be handed over by a deadline that expired Monday. But under the deal, if that didn’t happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand them over as soon as possible.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel “will not compromise” and demanded that Hamas fulfill the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal about the return of hostages’ bodies.
Hamas’ armed wing said in a statement Wednesday that the group honored the ceasefire’s terms and handed over the remains of the hostages it had access to.
The United States announced last week that it is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of a team that includes partner nations and nongovernmental organizations. But U.S. officials have stressed that U.S. forces would not set foot in Gaza.
Israeli officials have also been angered by the pace of the return of the remains of dead hostages the militant group had been holding in captivity. Hamas had agreed to return 28 bodies as part of the ceasefire deal in addition to 20 living hostages, who were released earlier this week.
Hamas has assured the U.S. through intermediaries that it is working to return dead hostages, according to two senior U.S. advisors. The advisors, who were not authorized to comment publicly and briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, said they do not believe Hamas has violated the deal.
CHICAGO — Federal immigration officers in the Chicago area will be required to wear body cameras, a judge said Thursday after seeing tear gas and other aggressive steps used against protesters.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said she was a “little startled” after seeing TV images of clashes between agents and the public during President Donald Trump’s administration’s immigration crackdown.
“I live in Chicago if folks haven’t noticed,” she said. “And I’m not blind, right?”
Community efforts to oppose U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have ramped up in the nation’s third-largest city, where neighborhood groups have assembled to monitor ICE activity and film incidents involving agents. More than 1,000 immigrants have been arrested since September.
Separately, the Trump administration has tried to deploy National Guard troops, but the strategy was halted last week by a different judge.
Ellis last week said agents in the area must wear badges, and she banned them from using certain riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists.
“I’m having concerns about my order being followed,” the judge said.
“I am adding that all agents who are operating in Operation Midway Blitz are to wear body-worn cameras, and they are to be on,” Ellis said, referring to the government’s name for the crackdown.
U.S. Justice Department attorney Sean Skedzielewski laid blame with “one-sided and selectively edited media reports.” He also said it wouldn’t be possible to immediately distribute cameras.
“I understand that. I would not be expecting agents to wear body-worn cameras they do not have,” Ellis said, adding that the details could be worked out later.
She said the field director of the enforcement effort must appear in court Monday.
In 2024, Immigration and Customs Enforcement began deploying about 1,600 body cameras to agents assigned to Enforcement and Removal Operations.
At the time, officials said they would be provided to agents in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, Buffalo, New York and Detroit. Other Homeland Security Department agencies require some agents to wear cameras. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has released body-camera video when force has been used by its agents or officers.
A curse befell Jacob Elordi when he was a child. It happened in the aisle of a Blockbuster Video. The culprit for the incantation was the image of the now emblematic Pale Man from “Pan’s Labyrinth,” flaunting eyes on his palms on the back cover of the DVD.
“My mother remembers this,” an energetic Elordi tells me in a Hollywood conference room. “I came running through the corridor and I was like, ‘I need this DVD.’ And she was like, ‘That’s so much blood and gore. You can’t watch it.’”
“She told you, ‘I’ll get it if you promise never to work with that director,’” Guillermo del Toro, the filmmaker behind the Oscar-winning dark fantasy, chimes in, sitting next to Elordi.
His wish granted, Elordi watched “Pan’s Labyrinth” at a young age. The fable set against the Spanish Civil War forever changed him. “From that moment, because of the way that Guillermo wills magic into the world and into his life, I feel like there was some kind of curse set upon me,” the actor says. “I do genuinely believe that, as out there as it sounds.”
Now, Elordi, 28, has become one of the Mexican director’s monsters in his long-gestating adaptation of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” (in theaters Friday, then on Netflix Nov. 7). Under intricate prosthetics and makeup, Elordi plays the Creature that arrogant scientist Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) breathes life into — an assemblage of dead limbs and organs imbued with a new consciousness.
Elordi with writer-director Guillermo del Toro on the set of “Frankenstein.”
(Ken Woroner / Netflix)
Receptive to tenderness but prone to violence, the nameless Creature now has, in Elordi, a performer suited for all its unruly emotions. “It was the innocence in Jacob’s portrayal that kept getting me,” says makeup artist and prosthetics designer Mike Hill. “The Creature could snap on a dime like an animal.”
Capable of complex thought, Del Toro’s version of the monster ponders the punishment of existence and the cruelty of its maker. “They’re almost like John Milton questions to the creator,” the director says of the Creature’s dialogue. “You have to give it a physicality that is heartbreakingly uncanny but also hypnotically human.”
The imposingly lanky, gracefully handsome Elordi, born in Australia, has risen in profile over the last few years, thanks to roles in the hit series “Euphoria” and the psychosexual class-climbing thriller “Saltburn.”
“It came from some other place,” Elordi says about the pull to the role of the Creature. “It felt like a growth, like a cancer in my stomach that told me that I had to play this thing.”
(Bexx Francois / For The Times)
“Frankenstein,” however, seems to have been calling his name for a long time.
“Early in my career, I had been reading what folks on the internet would say about me and someone had written after my first film, ‘The only thing this plank of wood could play is Frankenstein’s Creature. Get him off my screen!’” Elordi recalls. “I went, ‘That’s an absolutely fantastic idea.’”
The thought reentered Elordi’s mind while making Sofia Coppola’s 2023 “Priscilla,” in which he played a moody, internal Elvis Presley to Cailee Spaeny’s title character. Long before he was offered the part, the hair and makeup team on “Priscilla” shared with him their next job was, in fact, Del Toro’s “Frankenstein.”
“I looked at [hair designer] Cliona [Furey] and I said, ‘I’m supposed to be in that movie.’ And she said, ‘Did you audition?’ And I was like, ‘No, but I’m meant to be in that movie.’”
“It came from some other place,” Elordi further explains. “It felt like a growth, like a cancer in my stomach that told me that I had to play this thing. I’ve heard stories about this from actors, and when you hear them, you kind of go, ‘Sure, you were meant to play this thing.’ But I really feel like I was.”
Due to scheduling conflicts, Andrew Garfield, originally cast as the Creature, dropped out in late 2023. With production set to start in early 2024, Del Toro had limited time to find a new actor. When Elordi finally heard he was being considered, he had to read the screenplay within hours of receiving it, and be willing to dive into the darkness.
“I had a few weeks to prepare, but I was lucky to have also had my whole life — and I mean that sincerely,” he says, a grin crossing his face. “Playing this was an exploration into a cave of the self, into every experience with my father, with my mother, my experience with cinema, my scraped knees when I was 7.”
Del Toro says he knew Elordi would make the perfect Creature from speaking with him over Zoom. He remembers immediately messaging Isaac, his Victor, convinced that Elordi could play both “Adam and Jesus,” which are the two facets that the creature represents for the director.
Jacob Elordi as the Creature in the movie “Frankenstein.”
(Ken Woroner / Netflix)
“I don’t think I’ve experienced miracles many times in my life,” Del Toro says. “And when somebody comes to your life in any capacity that transforms it, that happened here. This man is a miracle for this film.”
As he typically does for all the actors in his films, Del Toro sent Elordi several books ahead of working together. Elordi’s deep-dive reading list included the bedrock Taoist guide “Tao Te Ching,” Stephen Mitchell’s well-regarded translation of the Book of Job and a text on the developmental stages of a baby.
The most complex element of the performance, Del Toro believes, is playing “nothing,” meaning the blank, pure state of mind of a living being in infancy. “A baby is everything at once,” Elordi says. “It’s deep pain, deep joy, curiosity. And you don’t have chambers for your thoughts yet.”
Right before “Frankenstein,” Elordi had been shooting Prime’s World War II miniseries “The Narrow Road to the Deep North” in Australia, an experience he describes as “grueling,” one that involved losing substantial weight. He repurposed his body’s subsequent fragility as a dramatic tool.
“My brain was kind of all over the place,” he remembers. “I had these moments of great anguish at around 3 a.m. in the morning. I’d wake and my body was in such pain. And I just realized that it was a blessing with ‘Frankenstein’ coming up, because I could articulate these feelings, this suffering.”
Aside from being an outlet for his exhaustion, the transformation also helped Elordi to recalibrate. “Frankenstein” arrived at a time where he found himself wrestling with a crisis of purpose.
“At that time in my life I really wanted to hide,” Elordi says. “I really wanted to go away for a while. I was desperate to find some kind of normalcy and rebuild the way that I acted and how I approached making movies,” Elordi says. “And when the film came along, I remember being like, ‘Ugh, I really wanted to go away right now.’ And I realized immediately the Creature was where I was supposed to go away to. I was supposed to go into that mask of freedom.”
Was he trying to escape the pressures of dawning fame? Elordi says it was much more philosophical than that.
“Who do I think I am? Who do I present myself as? What do I like? What don’t I like? Do I love? Can I love? What is love? Every single thing of being alive,” he says with a radiant smile. “The unbearable weight of being.”
“At that time in my life I really wanted to hide,” Elordi says of the moment just before taking on Del Toro’s version of the classic. “I really wanted to go away for a while. I was desperate to find some kind of normalcy and rebuild the way that I acted and how I approached making movies.”
(Bexx Francois / For The Times)
The part entailed physically burying himself in another body. It allowed Elordi to renounce any hang-ups, surrendering to a fugue state of mind. Every moment felt like a discovery.
“I was liberated in this makeup,” he adds. “I didn’t have to be this version of myself anymore. In those six months, I completely rebuilt myself. And I came out of this film with a whole new skin.”
Elordi sat for 10 hours in the makeup chair on days that required full body makeup — only four if they were only shooting the Creature’s face. “Jacob wanted to wear the makeup and he knew it would be grueling,” Hill says.
“It was nothing short of a religious experience,” Elordi says. “The excitement I had even just getting my body cast — I was buzzing.”
Hill believes that the decision to make the Creature bald for the scenes where he is a “baby” is what makes Del Toro’s take unique within the “Frankenstein” mythos.
“Instead of what happens in cloning where a baby grows, Victor literally did make a baby, just a big one,” says Hill. “The Creature learns quickly because its brain and its bodies have already lived once. God knows what this Creature knew before he forgot and needed to be reminded.”
As for the skin, Del Toro envisioned a marble-statue look that he had been pursuing in earlier movies like “Cronos,” “Blade II” and “The Devil’s Backbone.”
“Mike took it and made it incredibly subtle: flesh with the violets and the purples and the pearlescence,” Del Toro says. “He bested every concept I’ve ever imagined by making it look like parts of exsanguine bodies. That was so brilliant.”
“It was the innocence in Jacob’s portrayal that kept getting me,” says makeup artist and creature designer Mike Hill, here seen working on a model for “Frankenstein.”
(John P. Johnson / Netflix)
A Frankenstein’s monster with rainbow-colored flesh, Hill says, could only exist in the context of a Del Toro picture.
“He had to look beautiful, like a phrenology head or an anatomical manual,” Del Toro adds. “We agreed — no scars. No sutures. No vulgarity.”
Del Toro’s casting of Elordi was fully validated when the actor walked on set for the first time in full makeup. “The whole process was anticipation,” Elordi says. “And then I opened my eyes and he was looking back at me, and it was exactly what I thought it would be when I first read the screenplay.”
For Hill, it was watching Elordi doing an interview, where his limbs seemed loose and relaxed, that convinced him he was the right actor to sculpt the Creature on. “I was like, ‘Look at those wrists.’ And then he turns, and he has these lashes,” Hill says. “Big eyes are beautiful for makeup. And structurally, Jacob has an unassuming nose, so you can build on that.”
“And he has a big chin,” Hill continues amid Del Toro’s boisterous laughter. “I was like, ‘I’m not going to glue one on.’”
Amused at his anatomy being dissected in front of him, Elordi claps back, mock-defensively: “He was grotesque to look at, but he was somewhat gifted. A deformed skinny freak.”
By the time Elordi got out of the makeup chair, he says, the electricity in his body had shifted. He stepped on set physically depleted but in the ideal headspace to embody the creature as it navigates an inhospitable reality.
“He’ll forever be fused into my chemistry,” Elordi says. “He was always there and now I have a little place for him. But I can’t rationalize him.”
Whether by curse or by miracle, Elordi’s Creature lives. And the actor feels reborn.
Oct. 15 (UPI) — Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that one of the four bodies returned from Gaza in this week’s cease-fire deal did not belong to any of the hostages taken by Hamas.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it has completed the identification process and informed that the families of Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levy that their remains have been returned to Israel.
“The government of Israel shares in the deep sorrow of the Baruch, Nimrodi and Levy families, and the families of the fallen hostages,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
The IDF said the fourth body has yet to be identified.
“Following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages,” the IDF said, according to NBC News. Hamas has returned the bodies of seven hostages out of the 28 bodies believed to be held in Gaza.
Israel’s far-right security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, called for a halt on humanitarian aid into Gaza, accusing Hamas of not putting enough effort into recovering the remaining dead hostages, The Guardian reported. Hamas negotiators said nine of the bodies weren’t able to be recovered amid rubbling from bombing.
“Enough with the disgrace,” Ben Gvir said.
“Moments after opening the crossings to hundreds of trucks, Hamas very quickly returned to its known methods — to lie, to cheat, and to abuse families and the bodies. This Nazi terror understands only force, and the only way to deal with it is to erase it from the face of the earth.”
The Israel Defense Forces said Nimrodi, a member of the IDF, was taken alive at the age of 18 from the Coordination and Liaison Headquarters base in the Gaza Division, and is believed to have been killed at the beginning of the war.
Baruch, 35, a husband and father of two, was killed on Oct. 7, 2023. The IDF said he was fleeing the Nova music festival and his body was taken back into Gaza. The military had confirmed on March 26, 2024, that he had died.
Levy, 53, was also killed on Oct. 7, 2023, and his body was taken back into Gaza, the IDF said, adding that officials confirmed on Dec. 8, 2023, that he was dead. He leaves behind a son and a sister.
“The IDF shares in the families’ grief, continues to invest all efforts in returning the bodies of the fallen hostages and is preparing to continue implementing the agreement,” the military said.
Israel said Tuesday night that it had received the remains of four deceased hostages that Hamas had kidnapped during its surprise attack on Israel Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited the two-year-long war. A total 251 hostages were taken that day.
The bodies were returned as part of the first phase of a 20-point peace plan that began to be implemented Monday when Hamas released 20 living hostages to Israel and Israel released nearly 2,000 detainees into Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
No living hostages remain in Gaza following Monday’s exchange, though it is believed that the bodies of 20 deceased hostages remain in Gaza.
Israel had said Tuesday that the bodies of the four deceased hostages were transferred to the IDF via the Red Cross inside the Palestinian enclave and were transported into Israel where they were received in a military ceremony.
A LITTLE Mix feud has arisen once more after Perrie Edwards mysteriously removed her like on Jesy Nelson’s body positivity post – just hours after her “olive branch”.
Jesy Nelson wowed fans with this candid post about her post-pregnancy bodyCredit: Instagram/JesynelsonThe star was inundated with praise from celebrity mum’s – and even one of her former Little Mix bandmates liked itCredit: Instagram/JesynelsonHowever, Perrie Edwards has appeared to have removed her ‘like’ from Jesy’s postCredit: Shutterstock EditorialThe two women fell out when Jesy left Little MixCredit: Alamy
The singer told fans she had “never felt prouder” of her body, having always struggled with self image.
However, in what appeared to be an “olive branch” following a five year fall out, her former Little Mix bandmate Perrie Edwards “liked” the candid post.
This didn’t go unnoticed by fans who shared their excitement on X/Twitter.
Jesy quit the band in 2020 for health reasons, with the others taking a break since 2022.
Speaking about how their friendship ended after Jesy left Little Mix, Perrie said told Glamour UK: “It’s about a friendship that I once had, that I no longer have anymore.
“We talk about breakups and heartbreak, but we don’t normally talk about friendships that break down.
‘And it was like losing a limb. I was with her every day. We lived in each other’s pockets.”
Jesy and Perrie, along with Leigh-Anne and jade found fame in 2010Credit: Getty
Although Perrie may have removed her ‘like’, Jesy’s post did receive a lot of positive feedback from fellow celebrity mums:
Singer Jessie J wrote: “This is the energy for life. YOU are beautiful.”
While Geordie Shore star Holly Hagan said: “I wish you could have seen yourself through our eyes, you have always been so beautiful.”
However, Jesy left Little Mix in 2020Credit: Getty
Jesy’s full inspiring post read: “I never thought it would have taken two beautiful girls, that I could’ve potentially lost, to make me realise how incredible my body actually is.
“I can honestly say I’ve never felt prouder of my body and what it has been through!
“Yes my boobs hang lower and my belly is bigger and squishier — it doesn’t look how it used to, but my god it created the best gift that has happened to me.”
Jesy was trolled about her weight in her Little Mix fame.
She hit back in 2018, posing naked with bandmates Perrie, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jade Thirlwall, with slurs written on their bodies to plug single Strip.
She adds: “I never want my girls to feel the way I did about my body for so many years.
“So to all the future mummies or those who have just given birth, if you’re struggling with how you are feeling in yourself or are maybe even feeling the pressure to ‘snap back’ just take a moment to remember what you did!
“Be kinder to yourself, and remember you are incredible.”
If you’re looking to change your body shape, we’ve got you covered.
Here, Laura Hoggins, a personal trainer and author, takes you through your new workout plan.
Your New Workout
Include a few compound movements in each workout, which work multiple muscles and joints at once. Do eight to 12 reps in each set.
“Women should lift heavy enough that the last two to three reps of a set are challenging but doable with good form,” says Laura.
You can use dumbbells or a barbell for these exercises:
SQUATS
5
Squat position, from how you start and in the squat itselfCredit: Getty
Hold a dumbbell in each hand, letting them hang at your sides. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and core tight.
Initiate the squat by pushing your hips back, as if you are reaching for a chair behind you.
Bend your knees and lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor (or as low as you can comfortably go while keeping your back straight and chest up). Keep the dumbbells close to your sides.
Push through your heels and the middle of your feet to powerfully drive back up to the starting position.
At the top, fully straighten your legs and squeeze your glutes for a complete repetition.
Try a goblet squat with one, heavier dumbbell held at the chest, or with a barbell on your upper back/neck.
DEADLIFTS
5
Here’s how to do the barbell deadliftCredit: Getty
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Bend over and grip the bar with your hands just outside your shins.
With the bar still on the floor, bend your knees until your shins touch the bar. The bar should be going across the mid-foot. Keep your hips low, chest up, and back straight. Take a big breath and brace your core.
Drive through your heels, pushing the floor away. Stand up by extending your knees and hips simultaneously. Keep the bar in contact with your body (dragging it up your shins).
Finish the lift by standing tall. Squeeze your glutes together and lock your hips and knees.
To lower the bar again, hinge at your hips first, keeping your back straight, and allow the bar to descend down your thighs. Once the bar passes your knees, bend your knees to lower it to the floor with control.
BENCH PRESS
5
Bench chest press with a barbellCredit: Getty
In the gym, set up a barbell on a rack with a flat bench underneath it. Lie on the bench and, planting your feet firmly on the floor, grab the bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width.
Squeeze your shoulder blades back and down (like you’re pinching a pencil between them). Arch your upper back slightly and drive your feet into the floor to lock in your entire body.
Take a deep breath and push the bar straight up and off the rack. Move it forward until it is balanced directly over your shoulders. This is your starting position (see illustration above).
Slowly lower the bar to your mid-chest, just below your collarbone. Keep your elbows tucked to a 45-to-70-degree angle from your body (avoid flaring them out wide).
When the bar lightly touches your chest, press it forcefully up and slightly back (not straight up) until your arms are fully extended over your shoulders. Exhale, and then repeat the movement for the next rep.
The 5 best exercise swaps for when you can’t be bothered to go to the gym
Try with dumbbells if you are at home or are new to the exercise and want more flexibility or range of motion, for example.
BENT OVER ROWS
5
Bent over rows – bring the elbows up to your ribsCredit: Getty
Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing each other (neutral grip). Bend your knees slightly, then hinge at your hips so your torso is close to a 45-degree angle to the floor.
Keep your back straight, chest up, and core tight. Let the dumbbells hang straight down, just below your knees.
Lead the movement by pulling your elbows up and back towards the ceiling, drawing the dumbbells toward the sides of your chest/lower rib cage.
At the top of the movement, squeeze your back muscles together (imagine pinching a pencil between your shoulder blades).
Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position with your arms fully extended, maintaining the bent-over posture for all repetitions.
Try with a barbell too.
OVERHEAD PRESS WITH SQUAT
5
The overhead press stepsCredit: Getty
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand by your sides (palms facing inward). Keep your chest up and core tight.
Initiate the squat by pushing your hips back, as if you are sitting down into a chair.
Bend your knees, keeping your back straight and the dumbbells hanging close to your body. Go down until your thighs are parallel to the floor, or as low as comfortable.
Push through your heels and the middle of your feet to drive your body back up to the starting position. Fully straighten your legs and squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement.
Add on a couple of accessory lifts, which target specific areas and work only one side of the body at a time.
Think biceps curls or single-leg glute bridges.
Short on time?
“I suggest pairing exercises together from opposite muscle groups (such as quads and hamstrings), or an upper and a lower exercise to get the biggest bang for your time spent in the gym,” says Laura.
Indonesia has denied visas to Israel athletes ahead of the upcoming world championships in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
Published On 10 Oct 202510 Oct 2025
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Gymnastics’ governing body has given a muted reaction to Indonesia’s announcement that it would block Israeli athletes from competing at the upcoming world championships in Jakarta.
“The FIG takes note of the Indonesian government’s decision not to issue visas to the Israeli delegation registered for the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics, which will be held in Jakarta from 19-25 October, and recognizes the challenges that the host country has faced in organizing this event,” it said in a short statement on Friday
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The statement did not threaten to take the event away from Indonesia, as stipulated in FIG statutes for cases where the host refuses to issue visas.
“The FIG hopes that an environment will be created as soon as possible where athletes around the world can enjoy sports safely and with peace of mind,” it said.
Indonesia’s decision to deny visas to the Israeli athletes came after their planned participation had prompted intense opposition in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, which has long been a staunch supporter of Palestinians.
Israel is among 86 countries registered to compete at the worlds, with a team highlighted by 2020 Olympic gold medallist and defending world champion Artem Dolgopyat in the men’s floor exercise.
Now its participation is in doubt, even though the Israeli Gymnastics Federation said in July that it had been assured by Indonesian officials that it would be welcome at the worlds. That would have gone against Indonesia’s longstanding policy of refusing to host Israeli sports delegations for major events.
On Thursday, Indonesia’s senior minister of law, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, made it clear the Israeli team will not be allowed into the country, despite Israel and Hamas having agreed to a ceasefire.
“We respect every decision taken by the government with various considerations,” Indonesian Olympic Committee president Raja Sapta Oktohari told a news conference in Jakarta on Friday.
Indonesian Gymnastics Federation chairwoman, Ita Yuliati, said that she has briefed FIG president Morinari Watanabe about the decision and claimed “the FIG has expressed support”.
The gymnastics spat is the latest example of how the global backlash against Israel over the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza has spread into the arenas of sports and culture.
Indonesia was stripped of hosting rights for football’s Under-20 World Cup in 2023, only two months before the start of the tournament, amid political turmoil regarding Israel’s participation.
Instead of disciplining Indonesia, FIFA awarded the country hosting rights to a different youth World Cup later that year, which Israel had not qualified for.
Indonesian football was seen to benefit from its leader Erick Thohir’s close ties with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who, like Thohir, is a member of the International Olympic Committee.
THREE people have been arrested for murder after a woman’s body was tragically found in a canal.
The body was discovered before two waterways were drained by police in a canal in the Black Country on Tuesday, October 7.
Cops have now arrested two men and one woman in relation to the incident.
The trio, who are aged in their 20s, 40s, and 60s, currently remain in custody.
This comes after police responded to calls from Ryders Green Road in West Bromwich just before 11am on Tuesday.
Locals reported that part of the canal was drained while police worked in the area.
A large stretch of Walsall Canal was cordoned off and a blue forensic tent was also erected.
Two sections of the canal were drained while officers investigated the scene.
A spokesperson for West Midlands Police said: “Three people are in custody today after a woman’s body was found in water near Ryders Green Road, West Bromwich yesterday morning.
“Two men and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of murder as detectives continue with investigations into her death.
“Door-to-door enquiries are ongoing along with CCTV being retrieved and reviewed as we work to establish the exact circumstances.
“There will also be a more visible police presence in the area over the coming days as the investigation continues.
Murder cops called in after grim remains found washed up on banks of Loch Lomond
“The two men, one in his 60s and the second in his 20s, and a woman in her 40s, remain in police custody this afternoon.
“A forensic post mortem is being carried out to help establish the cause of death.”
Residents have been quick to share their devastation over this tragic discovery.
Taking to Facebook, one saddened local wrote: “R.I.P. and condolences to the family.”
Another added: “So sad rest in peace.”
The police statement continued: “Anyone with information can contact us on 101 or by messaging us on Live Chat on our website, quoting log 1587 of 7 October.
“If you’d prefer to remain anonymous please speak to independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Mattel announced Monday that it had assembled a team of four international rugby athletes to help encourage girls to embrace their confidence and stay in sports. The new “Team Barbie” campaign is to celebrate International Day of the Girl, which is Oct. 11.
“We all doubt ourselves at times, myself included,” Maher said in a statement. “If sharing my story can inspire other young girls to believe in themselves the way I have, then I’ll have truly made an impact. Being part of Team Barbie is about showing girls that confidence isn’t something to shy away from, but something to own.”
Also part of Team Barbie are Ellie Kildunne from the U.K., New Zealand’s Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Nassira Konde from France.
A breakout star at the 2024 Paris Olympics even before the rugby sevens team’s historic bronze medal, Maher became known for her social media videos that offered a humorous glimpse into the day-to-day life of an Olympic athlete. She has also used her platform to empower women, champion body positivity and help raise the profile of rugby in the U.S.
The Barbie doll versions of international rugby stars Ellie Kildunne, left, Ilona Maher, Nassira Konde and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe.
(Mattel)
“As women, a lot of times our body has been this object to be looked at and to be objectified, and I hate that there’s girls out there that feel like they don’t have a purpose for their body, and so they want to change it constantly,” Maher told The Times last year. “To get into sports and a sport like rugby, a sport like canoe, and track and field gives your body a purpose, shows what it can do and what it’s capable of. It’s not just something that is for others to judge.”
As part of its campaign, Mattel conducted a study to try to better understand why girls tend to stop participating in sports. The research found that only 53% of girls ages 6 to 14 feel confident while playing sports and that 1 in 3 girls stops playing sports by age 14 “primarily due to body confidence concerns, self-doubt, and a lack of visible female role models.”
“At Barbie … [w]e’re committed to breaking down the barriers — from gender stereotypes to self-doubt — that hold girls back from realizing their limitless potential,” Krista Berger, the senior vice president of Barbie, said in a news release for the new campaign. “By showcasing the stories of incredible role models whose confidence has fueled groundbreaking success, we’re showing girls that the future of sports — or wherever their passion takes them — is theirs to claim, with Team Barbie cheering them on.”
Other female athletes Barbie highlighted last year included tennis player Venus Williams, soccer stars Christine Sinclair and Mary Fowler, boxer Estelle Mossely, gymnasts Alexa Moreno and Rebeca Andrade, paratriathlete Susana Rodriguez, swimmer Federica Pellegrini and track and field sprinter Ewa Swoboda.
For my final day, I wanted to do something I’d never done before: swim straight out to sea. When I do open water swimming, I swim parallel to shore. This would be different. No markers. No sight line. Just the horizon. The currents. The waves. On top of this, we would be swimming from Bolinas, a quaint fishing town that is famously hostile to visitors and removes its signs to keep them out. This is where the Bolinas Lagoon opens out to the open ocean. Seals gather here, and the sharks supposedly come here to feast on the seals. I didn’t know if this was just a rumor to keep out-of-town surfers away, but the Farallon Islands just 20 miles south of Point Reyes are the winter playground for some of the world’s largest great white sharks. For this endeavor I enlisted the help of my friend, Greg, a local.
We wore wetsuits. He gave me a cozy neoprene hat to wear over my cap and goggles to keep my head warm. He also provided me with a special anti-shark amulet that I wore on my wrist like a watch. Developed in Australia, these wrist magnets repel the sharks, he said, and “feel like a punch in the nose” to the sharks if they get too close. Sounded good to me!
Swimming with the birds made me feel like I, too, was a wild creature — another element in the web of life rather than the apex predator detached from the natural world that I usually am in my everyday urban existence.
The day dawned foggy, but the low blanket of mist that hugged the land the day before had lifted. I was terrified of swimming straight out and losing sight of land. Greg assured me that even in dense fog you know where land is by sensing the direction of the waves. That may be true, but I wasn’t ready to swim by the feel of the currents yet. Greg also wore tiny flippers that looked like duck feet and a neon bubble attached to his waist to carry our valuables and make us visible to boats. We agreed to swim out 15 minutes.
The waves were big. The surfers were already out at a local spot known as the “patch.” We dove through the waves, swimming hard between. The water visibility was nil — just a blur of yellow, brown and eventually black. We wouldn’t be able to see a seal or shark if it swam right beneath us. I didn’t like the feeling.
But my friend was beside me. Finally my shallow, panicked breath slowed, my stroke evened out and I settled in. Out past the waveline we stopped. The early-morning sea was glassy and smooth. It felt viscous, velvety and otherworldly. Pelicans and terns swooped and dove around us. Surprisingly, once we swam out, I could see the land encircled us with long arms. Stinson Beach stretched out to the right, Bolinas to the left. We would not lose our way. We swam farther out. Every few strokes we stopped to take in the view. We were just specks in the ocean, as tiny as a velella or an anchovy, part of a big, watery world.
Out here my perspective changed. I realized we could swim forever and still see the shore. We lay on our backs and let the swells gently lift us, then fall. The words of my father, a second-generation submariner, often recited when I was a child, drifted through my head: “Rocked in the cradle of the deep, I lay me down in peace to sleep.” We swam to where the glassiness ended and the wind rippled the surface, 14 minutes out.
The magic of the open water experience was better shared. No GoPro or camera can capture the vastness of the ocean for someone back on shore. Or what it feels like to ride the slow heaving of the ocean, pulsing like the heartbeat of the world. We came ashore in a big set, swimming frantically in, then turning to face the waves so we didn’t get wiped out. We swam until our feet touched the sandy bottom and crawled out happy but exhausted.
My body carried the rocking of the ocean for the rest of the day. I could close my eyes and be back there, gently rising and falling under the low, gray sky. I held onto that feeling as long as I could.
My friend promised me that by next year, he would have more bodies of water and more secret swims. Already he had come up with new watering holes I never knew existed. But for me, the quest had been a success. Being in water every day helped me regain my equilibrium. Surfers say the ions in salt water make you happy. I don’t know if it’s true, but I’m 60% water and I felt I had moistened my dry skin, lightened the pull of gravity on my aging body and shed some of the heaviness of the first six months of the year.
When I first went to my therapist many years ago, she told me the story of the selkies. At the time I was feeling overwhelmed with work, marriage and motherhood. Much of our work has been my journey back to myself. After my vacation, I told her of my adventure. She said, “You were able to put your pelt back on. You’re spending more time in your seal suit.” Yes. On land and in the water. I am. Sometimes the metaphor is the medicine.
Of all the reams of words publicly spilled at Lakers media day Monday, only one really mattered.
When LeBron James was wrapping up his interview with the folks at Spectrum Sportsnet, host Chris McGee asked, “By the way, see you at next year’s media day?”
James’ laughing answer set the template for a season.
“Maybe.”
So the Lakers should treat the next eight months emptying their assets and foregoing their future and playing with the desperation of a team trying to earn one last piece of jewelry for arguably the greatest player ever?
Maybe.
So should the fans here and around the league show up in droves and line up around the block for their last live look at a living legend?
Maybe.
Or, if everything goes wrong and things get ugly, should the Lakers and James willingly part ways through a midseason buyout?
Maybe.
No matter what happens, the fact that James didn’t reveal his intentions in his first public appearance since last spring means that this Laker season has the chance to be a murky maybe mess.
Everybody knows where the Lakers stand, as Rob Pelinka said last week. He wants James to finish his career here.
“We would love if LeBron’s story would be he retire a Laker,” Pelinka said. “That would be a positive story.”
But still nobody knows where James stands, and it’s not obvious, because, while he’s 40 and entering his NBA-record 23rd season, he looks young, and acts energetic, and Monday at the Lakers facility he was at his charming best.
“Just excited about the journey and whatever this year has in store for me,” he said.
He’s probably not saying because he truly does not know. Next spring is a lifetime away. He doesn’t know how he’s going to feel. He doesn’t know how his basketball future could look.
But because he’s not saying, this season could seemingly go one of three ways.
It could go the Kershaw Way. James could once again be one of the top players in the league but get worn down by the strain on his body and in the last weeks of the season he could call it quits. The Crypto.com crowd gets a chance to say goodbye and his Lakers teammates can use his retirement as inspiration for a deep postseason run.
Or, it could go the Kobe Way. James could decide in the middle of the season that he’s had enough and embark on a league-wide farewell tour, the sort that once brought the tough Kobe Bryant to tears.
Or, given the organization’s recent sketchy history, it is entirely possible it could go the Typical Lakers Implosion Way.
LeBron James jokes with reporters as he arrives for interviews at Lakers media day on Monday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
James could spend the year making the Lakers dangle on that “maybe,” subtly fighting against the loss of his team leadership to Luka Doncic, passively aggressively chiding Pelinka to improve the roster at the trade deadline, even occasionally threatening to quit on the spot.
Because it’s too tough to trade him and the Lakers don’t want to spend the bucks to buy him out, they spend the rest of the season dodging his barbs, then, simply let James’ contract expire and watch him flee to home Cleveland for his swan song.
Three scenarios, but only two happy endings, and to make matters even more complicated, much depends not on James, but on the roster around him.
Are the Lakers going to be any good? Are you ready for it?
Maybe.
The Lakers only played 23 games with both James and the recently acquired Doncic last season, and they were 15-8 and grabbed a third seed and were acting like the best team in the NBA at one point before they disintegrated against Minnesota in the playoffs.
They added Deandre Ayton for length, Jake LaRavia for defense, Marcus Smart for toughness, and a new body for Doncic, a formerly pudgy and breathless kid who has acknowledged his very adult transformation.
“I’m in a better place for sure,” he said Monday.
Is that good enough to lead a team to a better place in the competitive West? Who knows?
Will it be good enough to convince James to ask for a new contract and stick around for yet another year? That doesn’t seem likely but then again, The Oldest Living Baller currently exists in the unlikely.
The only certainty is that James is going to make this decision on his own time, in his own voice, through his own podcast or social media or heck, maybe another 30-minute TV special called, “The Last Decision?”
How ever this plays out, he’s not saying anything now, which was obvious when he answered the first question at his media day news conference with dodgy utterances.
“I mean, I don’t know,” he said. “I mean, I’m excited about today, I’m excited about an opportunity to be able to play a game that I love for another season. And whatever the journey, however the journey lays out this year, I’m just super invested, because … I don’t know when the end is, but I know it’s a lot sooner than later.”
He provided his most telling hint that he’s leaning into retirement when he talked about appreciating his final tours around the league.
“Knowing that the end is soon, not taking for granted, you know, a Tuesday night in a city that maybe I don’t want to be in that night … let’s lock in because you don’t know how many times you get the opportunity to play the game or to be able to compete,” he said. “So there’s times where you wake up and you just feel like you just don’t have it. So those will be the days where I know I can lock back in real fast, like, OK, well, you won’t have many days like this, so let’s lock in and enjoy the moment, enjoy the rest of the ride.”
Bronny and LeBron James pose for photos at Lakers media day as Rui Hachimura takes a selfie in front of them.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
He was asked if, now that he’s played with son Bronny, would he stick around to play with his Arizona-freshman son Bryce? His answer was LeBron at his fatherly best.
“No, I’m not waiting on Bryce,’ he said. “No. I don’t know what his timeline is. He’s his own young man now, like he’s down in Tucson. We’ll see what happens this year, next year, you know, but he has his own timeline. I got my timeline, and I don’t know if they quite match up.”
He was asked if his decision would be influenced by a chance to play with Doncic. His answer was LeBron at his jabbing best.
“Ah, nah. As far as how long I go in my career? Nah. Zero,” he said. “The motivation to be able to play alongside him every night, that’s super motivating. That’s what I’m going to train my body for. Every night I go out there and try to be the best player I can for him, and we’re going to bounce that off one another. But as far as me weighing in on him and some other teammates of how far I go in my career, nah.”
It may be Luka Doncic’s team, but it’s still LeBron James’ world, and he’s going to control his narrative down to the last syllables of the last sentences of his final goodbye.
