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In this week’s episode of The Envelope podcast, “The Pitt’s” Noah Wyle reflects on 25 Emmy nominations for the series, responds to criticism of casting decisions, and previews Season 3 of the HBO Max medical drama, now in production.

Kelvin Washington: Hello, and welcome back to The Envelope. It’s been a little while. Kelvin Washington alongside Yvonne Villarreal. We also have Mark Olsen. Good to see you. This is one of my favorite things, because I learn so much from you two. And by the way, I got a big shout-out from somebody at the other job that I do —

Yvonne Villarreal: You have another job?

Washington: Which one do you want to talk about? I have 17 of them. But she was saying how she was listening to something and then she said, “I want to hear more about it.” So she Googled, we came up and she was blown away to see it, and we did such great jobs. So she’s a big fan of you two. Shout out to Larissa if she watches again. But let’s get into, of course, Emmy nominations. You have surprises, you have ones you kind of expected, snubs, the whole nine. Let’s start with you, Yvonne. Anything jump out?

Villarreal: Leading the pack was “The Pitt,” which I think everyone expected, and coming in close second was “Hacks.” But I think the third most-nominated show that was thrilling to see have a big showing was “Widow’s Bay.” It was this latecomer to the race, and it’s just this show that has taken people by storm. The word of mouth has really grown. And I know, Mark, you got Matthew [Rhys] in an upcoming episode here. It’s just nice to see how that show’s performed.

I was a little bummed that we didn’t get a [big] showing of “The Comeback,” the third season. That was maybe my snub mark.

Mark Olsen: Not that it’s a causal thing, but I was excited to see a guest from the [podcast], Riz Ahmed, was nominated for the show “Bait,” [which is] kind of like a meta-psycho-emotional biography of an actor caught in conflict between his community and his career. And then also, I have to say, Meg Stalter from “Hacks,” I thought was exciting. For no other reason than to have her on that red carpet, to maybe get a little time on the telecast and the chaos that that just promises.

Villarreal: I want to know who she’s going to come dressed as. She always stuns on the red carpet with who she is sort of making fun of.

Washington: You need a little bit of that, a little chaos. That’s what makes those things interesting. For me, I was just thinking about, again, how we’ve had so many folks who were known for films now all of a sudden becoming television stars. Seems a little weird to say it, but Jason Bateman being one of them, nominated for a couple of shows. So it’s just been incredible to see some people’s transition into that, where 15, 20 years ago, it‘d almost be the downfall of your career to do so much TV. Now it’s a cool addition to your career. Let’s get into it. You mentioned “The Pitt,” Yvonne. And Noah Wyle, you had a chance to have a chat with him. Tell me a little bit more about it.

Villarreal: They got the big news about their 25 nominations while on set. They’re in production on Season 3. And when we caught up with Noah, he had just wrapped filming the episode that he wrote and directed this season, Episode 3. And it was really fun to catch up with him, especially considering how much he’s shouldered in portraying Dr. Michael Rabinovitch, a.k.a. Dr. Robby. You know, this is a character that’s had a really deep mental health journey the past two seasons. Season 2 picked up with him on the eve of a three-month sabbatical, and we think he’s finally going to get this break that he needs to deal with some of the things he’s been going through. But as the season progresses, we see him really confronting just how much of a mental breakdown he’s at right now. And we talked about that. He shared a lot about what’s coming up in Season 3. And we also get into some of the advocacy efforts he’s been involved with.

Washington: You know what I find interesting about that is, when you look at the folks from “Law & Order: SVU” and some other shows, [they’re] just a character, but all of a sudden folks really look at you as this advocate and they’ve turned around and become very passionate about those things, and I can see how that would be the case [here] as well. All right, let’s get into it. Yvonne and Noah, here’s their conversation.

Wyle on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank in June.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Yvonne Villarreal: Noah, thanks so much for taking the time. We’re on the Warner Bros. lot inside an office space because you are deep in the throes of production on Season 3 while navigating the awards circuit. Tell me what that’s like. What is your headspace right now? Have you learned anything from last year?

Noah Wyle: It feels like we’ve just come back, even though today we started shooting Episode 4 already, which is amazing that we’re almost a third of the way through the season. It feels really good to be back. It’s odd that this is Season 3. It still feels like a new show. Everybody’s still energetic and excited to be there. The awards stuff hasn’t really kicked into overdrive yet, so it hasn’t been too much of a distraction. It’s just been really exciting, especially for our cast and crew who are so well represented in the nominations.

Villarreal: It was really staggering. Is there a moment from the last award season that stands out? An interaction or an experience going through that?

Wyle: The first one that comes to mind was an impromptu meeting I had with Stephen Graham after the Emmys where we bumped into each other on the street and he said some lovely things to me, and I said some lovely things to him. It was the first time I’d ever met him, then Keith David walked by, who was an old friend. It was a very collegiate moment. That was the time I actually took a breath that night and was like, “Hey, look at this — oh, my God, look at all of this.”

Villarreal: Where are the trophies?

Wyle: They’re on the mantle at the moment, at home.

Villarreal: Next to the Golden Globe made by your daughter?

Wyle: Yep, it’s right there in the center.

Villarreal: I want to review the show’s chart. “The Pitt” leads this year’s Emmy nominees with 25 nominations overall. You are nominated in the lead actor category, as well as directing. Do you feel like you’re better equipped or prepared to deal with the spotlight and attention that the show’s receiving now versus when you were doing “ER” at the height of its moment?

Wyle: Oh, I thought you were going to compare it to last year. Comparing it to 30 years ago, yes, I’m way better equipped.

Villarreal: Tell me.

Wyle: Just older, wiser. You’ve been to the dance before, know it for what it is. There’s nothing that’s going to be shocking about the process. Also, I have enough life perspective to just be extremely grateful and present for it and just be really excited about it.

Villarreal: How aware are you that the spotlight is on you? What does that feel like?

Wyle: I’m not that aware of it because I feel mostly cloistered once we start production on Soundstages 21 and 22. Occasionally the tours go by and I see [people] get all excited. But for the most part, I live a pretty hermetic life when we’re working. So except for when I Instagram scroll or one of my kids brings me news from out there, I don’t really get out much.

Villarreal: Your mom is a nurse. What does she think of this moment? Does it feel any different than during your “ER” days?

Wyle: Yes. I think back then it was just a novelty that she was working in a hospital and her son was on this extraordinarily popular medical drama at the same time. Now we’ve had an opportunity, especially the last couple years, through the [medical apparel] company Figs, to go to Washington and do some lobbying together, which allows her career, my career, to sort of work hand in hand. And for me to have a different perspective on who she was as a woman while she was a nurse working, because I only really saw her as Mom through those years. To answer your question, how was her perspective different? I think she’s, dare I say it, maybe a little more proud of me than she used to be. She’s said as much. I think in the old days she was proud of me being successful in having my dream of becoming an actor come true. Now she’s proud of me because she feels that I’ve used that platform to do some humanitarian good works outside of personal aggrandizement.

Villarreal: How many times is she visiting the set?

Wyle: Oh, I don’t let anybody visit this. By design, we keep a very closed set. In fact, if you come as a visitor, you have to put on scrubs so you fit in — and you feel really uncomfortable and you can’t wait to leave. That’s how we roll.

Villarreal: I want to dig into Season 2. When we pick up with Robby, it’s the eve of his three-month sabbatical, and we think maybe it’s this much-needed break. But as hour by hour goes by, it becomes clear that he’s maybe viewing this as a death sentence. What intrigued you, what worried you, about what he was facing in Season 2?

Wyle: Once we decided that we wanted to put, at the center of this medical drama that was an exposé and sharp look at the medical world, in 2026, a mental health journey of one particular person and have as part of that mental health journey be suicidal ideation, which speaks to a lot of the prevalence of that in this profession, once we committed to that idea, it was really exciting to walk it through. And to play the first half of the season as a guy going on vacation to get his head clear and play the second half of a season as a man buttoning up every aspect of his life in the event that this was a one-way trip. And leaving that almost to the Fates to decide as the day unfolded, looking for signs and signals to determine which way that should go. And increasingly as the day goes on, to be met with both the increasing desire to make it a one-way trip and the community that desperately don’t want him to, and ultimately keep him on this side of that edge.

Villarreal: You wrote two episodes in Season 2, and in “8 p.m.” we really see Robby’s mental health journey come to a head. What was that like, to put dialogue to what he was feeling internally, for you as the actor playing him?

Wyle: That particular dialogue was gifted to me by a doctor who shared with me that that was exactly what he said to his wife one morning when he was going through something very similar. And the way that it resonated with me when he said it, the way it went straight to my heart, I knew if I spoke it as simply, it would speak to other people. And rather profoundly, I got a letter by a young man who said that exact dialogue was so reminiscent of what was going inside his own head that it kept him from harming himself and was the catalyst for having him reach out to get help. Because it was so truthful, because it came from such a truthful place, it had a multiplier effect when we put it on TV. So to get to voice it to the world, that was extremely significant to me. It was the masks just really starting to fall to the point where you can no longer keep it in. And the Duke character [played by guest actor nominee Jeff Kober] is the only person who he felt he could share it with, because it’s enough objectivity, away from the hospital, without any kind of preconceived history. And it’s obviously somebody who’s been down a very bumpy road himself and won’t judge the decision one way or the other. He’ll just sit there, almost Buddha-like, and absorb it.

Villarreal: I know during the pandemic — this was sort of what was the impetus for the show — you were getting a lot of messages during that time, people messaging you about “ER” and what that did for them. How do you shoulder those types of interactions?

Wyle: That one made me cry. My hands started shaking. … You always want your work to have impact, you want it to have meaning, you want people to glean something from it that’s relevant to their own lives. And I’ve been very fortunate in my career. I remember back in the “ER” days, when Carter got sober, people would write me and say, “You helped me deal with my drug addiction.” When I was on “Falling Skies” and played the grievous loss of a spouse, people reached out to me. I’ve been a lightning rod for pain a couple of times in my career. And you asked me, how do I shoulder it? I think I sort of see it as a gift. When you have that connection to somebody, when they respond that way, it’s the ultimate compliment. And you’ve built a bridge where there didn’t exist one before. It’s even better if you build them between two strangers that don’t know each other, that now have commonality that has nothing to do with you.

Villarreal: Not to compare the two professions, but does it make you see the work you do as an actor a form of public service? We see how, when people are at their lowest moments in the hospital, they’re watching TV, they’re connecting with characters, with their family members, in these rooms. And then also what you just described, the interactions that you’ve had with these people [who were] inspired to become healthcare workers, shows you how they connect with the characters.

Wyle: As you’re saying that, that’s what birthed “The Pitt.” I was getting letters from people telling me that my work had meaning to them at the very moment when I didn’t feel like my work had meaning at all, because it had no relevance, because we were in the middle of a pandemic. Who wants to see a guy jump around in a costume while people are out there really being sick? And suddenly, I felt like I didn’t have a skill that actually could hurt or help anybody. It was only sort of a frivolous skill. Then those letters turned into the DNA that the show became.

Villarreal: Seeing what Robby is facing, how do you establish boundaries for yourself in terms of taking it in — dealing with the burnout, and overwhelming emotion of it?

Wyle: It’s a process. I am engaged in several modes of therapy to offload this and be able to surf it from both an artistic curiosity perspective and a need for balance. It’s interesting work, this work, and I do it with the full support of a loving wife and family who understand that this is different than what most people do for a living.

Villarreal: You seem to be giving yourself a lot of work these days in addition to acting in this hit show. As the No. 1, you’re writing and your directing. Do you like stress, Noah?

Wyle: I know it sounds odd, but my brain works really fast and it works nonstop. I don’t know what to do with myself most of the time. But when I’m engaged in [creative work], especially directing, it is a full-course meal for me. I feel totally alive and in my happy place. This last week, getting to direct a piece that I wrote, was even more fun because I’d pictured it already in my mind when I was writing it, which is a form of prep. But then you get to give it to everybody else to see what they want to do with it and what you’re creating communally suddenly becomes the third version of it, which I think is really great.

Villarreal: We like a tease here. Is there a note from this recent episode that you wrote and directed that was interesting to give that won’t make sense to us until we watch it?

Wyle: A directorial note? More glitter!

Villarreal: The episode you directed in Season 2, you had the interesting job of dealing with vomit.

Wyle: Yes. Vomit is hard. We’ve been making movies for a long time and we still haven’t come up with a decent vomit rig. I’m not selling Rob Nary, our special effects supervisor, down the drain here with this comment, but it is really hard to come up with a piece that doesn’t look like it’s on the side of a guy’s mouth when he’s throwing up. And you can put stuff in a guy’s mouth and have him spit it out, but to really get a good projectile vomit, you need to have some sort of cannon apparatus. And it has to come from a place that looks localized to the mouth, and it has to be the same diameter of the actor’s mouth. We went through, I don’t know, five designs on that thing and still ended up with something I thought was passable but not impressive — not “Pitt”- level impressive.

Villarreal: Interesting. Do you feel like you’ve upped the ante —

Wyle: I feel like I’ve put a challenge out there to somebody to come up with a decent vomit [effect]. It’s not as easy as it sounds.

Villarreal: It was also the episode where we get the passing of Louie [guest actor nominee Ernest Harden Jr.], and it was such a heartfelt moment and a reminder of the people that are there day-to-day or frequently, and the humanity that you still want to show them.

Wyle: Valerie Chu wrote a hell of a script. Valerie is a wonderful writer, and that episode just dramaturgically was a little different than the other ones because it did put more of an emphasis on the nursing staff than it did the doctors. Usually, we walk into a room and walk out of a room with a doctor. This time, we walked into rooms and out of rooms with the nurses, and we really tried to highlight the whole range of services that nurses give — pushing medications, double-checking doctor’s orders, holding hands, bringing blankets, wiping asses; all of the dirty work that goes into palliative care and treatment. That was the thesis. How do we exemplify those actions? Then, of course, at the center of it was Louie’s passing and the conferring of dignity to somebody after they’ve died was the theme I wanted to focus on. In the beginning, he’s a bloody mess, almost unrecognizable, and certainly not dignified. Then, through the cleaning and the preparation and then eventually the service — that’s on a clock because we’ve got other Louies to treat — we confer him his dignity. We fill in the backstory of his narrative. We give context to his life and honor the man. That was the lens progression we were going for and heart progression we were looking for.

Villarreal: What did it say to you that Robby committed those life details to memory from those interactions?

Wyle: To me, that is what you carry with you. It’s odd, the things you remember about somebody. It’s odd, the things that land with you. Usually, they resonate with something that you’re vulnerable to or have experienced. But with Robby, who never had a family and always seemingly wanted one but never allowed himself, the idea of somebody who had one and lost one is particularly profound. And as we get into subsequent episodes that we’re dealing with now, we see that Robby’s sense of loss predates Louie and his mentor, Adamson, and it goes back to almost an original sin.

Villarreal: A lot of people wanted you to take home Baby Jane Doe to heal and deal with some of your stuff.

Wyle: I don’t think you should throw a drowning man a baby. It doesn’t seem like a good, logical thing to do for either one of them. I think Robby went home and wished that he had the capacity to be someone who could have taken that baby home for a little while. And that was probably one of the things that nagged at him along that trip. If you wish you were better, then why wouldn’t you come back and try? And as we watch him begin to try to evolve and work through some of the things that have been stumbling blocks for him in becoming a fully evolved human, that’ll be one of them, hopefully.

Villarreal: I want to return to an earlier point, which is, you’ve done a lot of advocacy work. Even before “The Pitt,” you were arrested in 2012 in Washington, D.C., alongside 100 activists from the disability rights group ADAPT during a demonstration urging Congress not to cut Medicaid. Recently, you joined healthcare workers along with your mom at a rally on Capitol Hill. You also spoke at a congressional hearing focused on declining entertainment jobs in L.A. and the push for federal production tax incentives. How has using this spotlight and your voice for causes that are important to you deepened your experience with “The Pitt”?

Wyle: Well, that’s a very apropos question because I wrote into Episode 3 [of Season 3] a character based on a guy I was with when I was arrested with back then. A really wonderful guy, sort of a self-advocate and kind of a grump, total badass activist who has muscular dystrophy and has a tracheotomy. And so I thought, why don’t we put that character on the show and put him as a patient? And then I thought, “Well, who the hell is going to play that guy?” I called this guy and said, “Hey, I got a part for you, man. I need you to do it for me.” And we flew him out with his aide. And he came in, shot two days last week. He was phenomenal. The representation that we are going to give people in that community is going to be unprecedented, but it comes from a 30-year friendship I’ve had with this guy from some of the wars we fought together through the years, so it all dovetails together. I’m using one to feed the other at the moment and seeing where it’s applicable and where I think it could do the most good.

It’s just an amazing confluence of events. I’m an Angeleno who thinks there should be work here. I have an opportunity to bring a show here and employ 300 people nine months a year and be an advocate for other shows to follow a similar economic model to try and take full advantage of the generational talent that’s here. That’s just an alignment of my values and opportunities that seems almost blessed at the moment, but it’s not effortful. When you read it like that, it makes it sound like Mr. Smith.

Villarreal: Well, so many choose not to put their voice out there in those ways, but you’ve decided to do it

Wyle: I’ll speak up for my city.

Villarreal: What’s so great about a show like “The Pitt” is we get to watch regular, decent people doing competent work. Some call it competency porn. What do you think is our attraction to that?

Wyle: I think it’s twofold. I think on one hand, it’s wish fulfillment. You want to believe that there’s really competent, smart people in those jobs, so that, God forbid, if anything happens to you, that’s what you’re gonna encounter. And then I just read an article, I forget who wrote it, I wish I could cite it, that talked about this other aspect of watching people do work that has meaning, that actually makes a difference, touches a vacuum that we feel we don’t have in our lives and it’s a different kind of wish fulfillment. It’s almost like, “I want to be doing something more with my life that has absolute physical and tangible connection to another human being that makes a difference, that has a net positive.” And I think that’s interesting.

Villarreal: Sort of what you were feeling during the pandemic.

Wyle: It’s exactly what I was feeling during the pandemic: “How can I make more of this time on Earth and serve more than myself?”

Villarreal: I want to talk about “The Pitt” fandom because they are passionate and vocal. Has anything surprised you about their response to the show?

Wyle: Only everything. The embracement, the passion, the creativity, the advocacy, the identification, the continued support. It’s really been incredibly gratifying. It’s exactly what you hope, you know, that your work will do, spark a conversation and maybe a bit of change. But you certainly, you never anticipate reaching the levels that this one has where people are just gaga for it.

Villarreal: Recent cast departures have obviously drawn some criticism. As the No. 1 on the show and an executive producer, how do you navigate fan response when it’s negative? What are you learning about how to take that in?

Wyle: It’s nuanced. It’s new for me, new for all of us in a way. You try to put it in perspective, and it’s relatively small in relation to the overall [response], in terms of the more vocal critics. But at the same time, this is who’s watching. This is why you’re telling a story. If it’s touching a nerve that’s unintended, address it. Figure out a way to do it more sensitively, to come at it from a different point of view. We’re certainly doing the best that we can in there, but it’s impossible to anticipate what’s going to resonate and why. And I can’t tell you how many times I was surprised at what people thought was funny or what people thought was horrific or offensive. And it’s an interesting barometer of where we are as a country. It’s an interesting cross section of where the population’s at. But in terms of how it affects the creative work, it becomes a slippery slope if that’s the tail that wags the dog. So every year, we come in and we sort of have to gut-check ourselves and do a postmortem on the season. What worked well, what didn’t work well. And what is going to be part of this narrative as we go forward? Cast changes are gonna be part of that. That’s inevitable.

Villarreal: How about in relation to your character? Some of the discussion about what’s playing out onscreen, it’s been interesting to see how people look at Robby and maybe some of his flaws that come out. What do you see as his blind spot?

Wyle: Well, can we start with [we’re] watching a guy who’s going to kill himself? The guy is going to kill himself today, most likely. He’s going to leave and not come back. And as that reality gets increasingly clear to him, he acts continually beneath his grace. He doesn’t necessarily want people to miss him. He doesn’t necessarily want [them] to overidealize him because he doesn’t want them to mythologize him. So some people he was really tender with, and some people he was really harsh with, and some he will carry regret with, and some he probably wishes he had gone further. But all of that pathology was on display as a cry for help for anybody that was really looking to see it, more than I felt it was indicative of how he felt in a normal frame of mind in those relationships. I think he pushed Abbot [Shawn Hatosy] so far away. He pushed Dana [Katherine LaNasa] so far away. He was overly harsh with Mohan [Supriya Ganesh]. He was almost paternal with Javadi [Shabana Azeez]. He had a different vibe and energy with everybody. But ultimately, it was to sort of say goodbye in a way that he felt would be most appropriate. And I’m glad people felt that it wasn’t appropriate, because it was a man setting fire.

I did say in casting, I was like, “Can we cast some guys that are like my size that I could yell at that so people feel like it’s a good, fair fight?”

Villarreal: And you were vetoed?

Wyle: No, no, we’re going to sort of figure that out because it’s nice to show volatility in character, but if it’s a character that’s surrounded by women, it’s very difficult thing to depict without it seeming disproportionate in power. So it’s something I was conscious of when I came back this year. I was like, “It‘s difficult to show this character’s rage when it would be super inappropriate to express it with every single person in this room.” So, bring somebody in that can handle it and match it a little bit. And for my money, that’s what Al-Hashimi [Sepideh Moafi] was. She gave as good as she got, and those scenes between us were terrific.

Villarreal: Season 3 will be taking place on Nov.r 12, 2026, right? A lot of that had to do with the anticipation of and preparation for the ramifications of the Big Beautiful Bill on people’s lives. Tell me about that.

Wyle: It’s Thursday, November 12th, which means that tomorrow is Friday the 13th. And there was something fun about playing with the eve of a day that is usually fraught with peril. But this day is fraught with peril for all sorts of reasons. And it isn’t Friday the 13th. It also is coming into the holidays and it’s getting colder. A lot of the social issues that Pittsburgh and a lot [of places] with colder climates deal with are going to come up. People are turning on their heaters for the first time, if they can afford to turn on their heaters; people that don’t have access to housing are gonna be feeling the pinch even more than that. All of that goes into our narrative. And then, as I think you were alluding to, this is in preparation for what’s gonna take place in January [2027] with [provisions of] the Big Beautiful Bill [going into effect], which is gonna throw a lot of people off the rolls in a lot of states and cause a whole ripple effect through the healthcare industry. In anticipation of that happening, people are gonna have to make some very hard choices. They’re going to probably want to hoard medication if they can. They’re gonna try and load up on as many treatments as possible, put as many things into place as they can for that eventuality. And we wanted to highlight what some of those struggles are gonna be because I don’t know that they’re gonna be reported in January.

Villarreal: How fast, when that decision came through, were you getting outreach from healthcare professionals wanting to meet with you, with the writers room, about how can they can help you think about what’s going to happen?

Wyle: We have a great organization that’s an adjunct to the Norman Lear Foundation called Hollywood Health. And they broker all sorts of meetings for us in the writers room with experts from every aspect of the healthcare spectrum you can imagine. And so we really were curious to find out from those experts what the statistics were going to be. And they run models on best-case scenario to worst-case scenario and tell us pretty much with a high degree of certainty what the bandwidth is gonna be. And then we take that data and try to figure out the storyline that would be most effective to tell it. But it starts with trying to get it as accurate as possible in our crystal ball, looking forward to where we’re gonna be.

Villarreal: If you could give one word to Dr. Robby’s mental state in Season 3, what would that word be? Or what would the song he’d be listening to at that moment, walking back into work?

Wyle: I don’t want to tip the bit on a song that we might use and the ones that are in my head are so corny and cheesy that I don’t want anybody to suddenly start cutting memes to it. [Looks at camera.] Because you know you will.

Villarreal: Come on, Noah. Give us a ’90s throwback.

Wyle: “Scar Tissue” [by the Red Hot Chili Peppers].

Villarreal: Oh, that’s a good one. OK, before I let you go, is there any PSA you want to give folks right now about whether they should be consuming lettuce? Is Dr. Robby consuming lettuce?

Wyle: Oh, my God, don’t ask me. My wife and I have huge fights about produce every night. I don’t know what the hell’s going on.

Villarreal: I’m always like: What would Dr. Robby do?

Wyle: I don’t know that Dr. Robby eats a lot of vegetables. I think all of your canned vegetables are safe, says Dr. Robby.

Gillian Anderson was once a young person experimenting.

“I don’t even know if I was questioning my sexuality but there were a couple of moments during my teen years where I was with women,” Anderson tells me candidly on a recent afternoon at a Beverly Hills hotel. “I haven’t really spoken about that very much.”

Though she won’t go into details about those early interactions, she remembers the isolation that plagued her. “In interviews, I’ve alluded to a relationship that I had later in my post-college life, but not about that particular time and how not even confused, but just alone I felt and how different I felt to the rest of the kids in my high school,” she adds.

For some time now, the once and forever “X-Files” star has leaned into episodic television (Netflix, she says, has become a great partner). She earned her second Emmy in 2021 for her blistering turn as polarizing British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in “The Crown.” Yet a major shade of her public persona has become her activism around sex positivity, encouraging women to open up about their needs and wants, both in the bedroom and as individuals in every aspect of their lives.

“It seems to still be an important topic for women to hear other women speak about,” she says. “I have come to love talking about it in the context of women’s empowerment, finding ways to embrace their own integral agency.”

Clad in a sleeveless bright green dress, Anderson, 57, radiates an ageless grace, undeniably sophisticated yet unpretentious in her demeanor. Her hair in a braid evokes the look of a figure from ancient Rome. When speaking in her unmistakable throaty voice, her expressive body language (hand movements often complement her sentences) reveals her assertiveness. That confidence makes it difficult to imagine she ever was a fragile teen.

Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson in the movie “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.”

(Mubi)

In Anderson’s latest movie, the horror-tinged, dreamlike “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” (in theaters Friday), Anderson plays Billy Presley, a reclusive former scream queen who was one of those “final girls” from a popular 1980s slasher horror franchise in which the killer was aptly called Little Death (a nickname for an orgasm, derived from a French phrase). Now Billy spends her days alone living in the woodsy location where her breakout movie was filmed long ago.

That is until auspicious indie filmmaker Kris (“Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder) comes to visit Billy with the intention of persuading her to act in a reboot. The two develop a friendship that empowers Kris to dive into her unspoken sexual yearnings — desires drenched in fear, violence and curiosity — with Billy as her mentor and, eventually, patient lover.

On top of her ability with accents (she does a Southern one here), Anderson physically commands the screen from the moment she makes an entrance worthy of a timeless diva. Her regal aura contrasts with the grotesque sensuality of a scene where fried chicken and dipping sauces take on an almost pornographic lure. Her Billy, a woman who can fluctuate between a loud cackle and an introspective speech about the lust-inducing “flesh and fluids” of horror movies, feels equal parts otherworldly and tethered to earthly urges.

“I knew on a deep level that I wanted to be a part of it, but it’s only in retrospect that I completely understand why it was so meaningful to me,” Anderson says. “It feels like such a salve for so many.”

“She put everyone at ease during those moments in a really beautiful way,” says director Jane Schoenbrun of Anderson’s work with Einbinder on their most daring scenes. “She is so physically tapped into her own abilities.”

(Mubi)

Einbinder, with whom Anderson shares scenes of blood-soaked eroticism, describes the veteran star as meticulous and diligent while also having a “lot of access to spontaneity.”

“I was a fan of her from, of course, ‘The X Files’ and a lot of her other work, so she just held this significance to me as an artist,” Einbinder tells me over the phone, “but meeting her, my expectations were surpassed because she’s really cool.”

“I didn’t want Billy to come across as a predator,” Anderson says. “I didn’t want her to be creepy or too maternal and so there were moments where she shows care, and it was a really fine line of how to play those beats. Even our first kiss and our sex scenes were very specific so that it didn’t feel not OK to be witnessing or representing.”

To Jane Schoenbrun, the movie’s writer and director, Anderson has the “elegance of old Hollywood, a classic mystique.” The filmmaker describes meeting her as a “strange coming home feeling,” since her “X-Files” character Scully held a special place in Schoenbrun’s formative years. “I spent as much time with her as I did with my siblings,” they add.

Schoenbrun credits Anderson as a “calming and nurturing presence” during the sex scenes between her and Einbinder — the first sex scenes the filmmaker had ever directed.

“Gillian had such an elegant, serious, professional but also caring perspective on how to talk about it and how to guide through it in a way that felt like it was going to be very present and alive on screen,” Schoenbrun recalls. “She put everyone at ease during those moments in a really beautiful way. She is so physically tapped into her own abilities.”

Anderson, seated with director Schoenbrun on the set of “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.”

(David Astorga / Mubi)

Anderson found her way into playing Billy through the character’s distinct accent. Having played the tragically romantic Blanche DuBois from “A Streetcar Named Desire” on stage in the past, she aimed for a different version of Southern. “What I liked about it was this particular pitch that holds strength and vulnerability in it, which I think is very much where Billy lives at all times, from minute to minute,” she says.

Other recent TV roles have steered Anderson in the direction of an unabashedly queer storyteller like Schoenbrun. Jean Milburn, Anderson’s humorously matter-of-fact sex therapist from the series “Sex Education,” represented a watershed beginning in 2019.

It was because of the success of that show that she was approached to write “Want,” a 2024 book that collected the sexual fantasies of anonymous women (a follow-up, “More,” is out in September from Abrams Press).

“Sex Education” also inspired Anderson to launch her own brand of soft drinks cheekily called G Spot (they are caffeine-free and infused with vitamins and minerals). Some retailers, she says, have refused to use the drink’s name. “We’ve had so much pushback on the name and I refuse to be cowed, to be shut down, to be told that it’s a dirty word or that it shouldn’t be in public spaces,” she says.

“The strange thing is I don’t identify with Scully in the same way I do with other characters that I played for much less time,” Anderson says. “Part of that is because of how square she was. I have such an intrinsically rebellious nature.”

(Ian Spanier / For The Times)

For Anderson, humor is an important component of the conversations she wants people to have about sex and sexuality. During her time on “Sex Education,” she started posting pictures on Instagram of props on set that resembled both male and female genitalia. Some of her posts kept getting blocked.

“There were all these amazing things, from chess pieces that were phallic to a soap holder that was a yoni,” she says, smiling. “We started to call them ‘penis or yoni of the day.’ Then fans started posting back to me pictures of penises or yonis of the day they would see in nature.”

Anderson doesn’t quite understand the swath of Gen Zers who deride sex in movies and is, in general, uncomfortable with the subject of physical connection.

“For my younger kids, who are late-teens, the thought of picking up a phone to [call] somebody that they’re interested in feels so intimate,” Anderson says. “If a phone call is intimate and your conversations on a regular basis are snapshots of your face making funny images, then the idea of going into deep intimacy must be absolutely terrifying.”

She’s hopeful that young people might start to turn toward in-person activities to bond. But while the subjects of pleasure and open-mindedness captivate her, on screen Anderson is not letting the industry pigeonhole her.

Anderson’s recent output includes playing a shadowy operative with icy conviction in the thriller “Animals” opposite Ben Affleck, and a Nazi guard in the limited series “The Boys From Brazil,” both coming to Netflix in the near future. And in last year’s “Trespasses,” another TV show, she became a Northern Irish alcoholic mother. “I wouldn’t have guessed that at my age I would be having so many different and varied opportunities,” Anderson says.

In the aftermath of her time on “The X Files,” Anderson moved to London, both because she longed for the city where she partially grew up and for a chance at reinventing herself professionally.

“I’d never had my own publicist before that,” she says. “Had I had one, they probably would’ve tried to convince me that moving to London was the worst thing I could do for my career.”

For a long time, Anderson’s relationship with Dana Scully was complicated. “I felt like everything that I did was in an effort to get away from Scully,” Anderson admits. “Then when people would bring it up or I would do a 45-minute interview and they would ask one question about ‘The X-Files,’ they would use my refusing to talk about it as an excuse to make it the headline.”

It made it challenging for her to be considered for film roles and even for TV projects of a different vein.

“Now you have A-list actors, the Nicole Kidmans, moving between TV and film,” she says, “but back during ‘The X-Files,’ if you were on telly, it was the B, if not C version of what an actor’s life could be.”

In England, though, the likes of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith or Glenda Jackson had always navigated effortlessly between the big and small screen and the stage. “That’s the life that I wanted,” Anderson adds. “The minute I moved there, the quality of the stuff and also the range of characters that I was being offered was so different from what I’d been doing for almost 10 years as Scully.”

“The House of Mirth,” Terence Davies’ 2000 period drama based on the satirical 1905 novel by Edith Wharton, represented a breakthrough. “At the very beginning, I remember I was so surprised that there were other people who thought that I might be able to do something else other than Scully.” (When I tell her how extraordinary she is in “Mirth” as a socialite caught between stability and something more passionate, Anderson replies with a bashful, whispered “Thank you.”)

And while she can now think of “The X Files” as the “blessing” that it signified in her career, Anderson is clear that she has more often seen herself reflected in other women she’s inhabited, such as Blanche or Stella Gibson, the detective she played in the series “The Fall” starting in 2013.

“The strange thing is I don’t identify with Scully in the same way I do with other characters that I played for much less time,” Anderson confesses. “Part of that is because of how square she was. I have such an intrinsically rebellious nature. I can, obviously, play square, but I think because of that, she didn’t necessarily get her hooks inside me in the way that some of these other characters that really push against the establishment did.”

Anderson is not entirely opposed to appearing on Ryan Coogler’s just-announced “X-Files” reboot, but she is far more excited about several sci-fi projects she is currently developing (one of them she describes as “huge” in scale). They will bring her back to similar territory, but this time on her own terms.

“It’s the first time that I’m properly going into the genre and embracing it and instigating that work,” Anderson says. “I’m very excited about those but no doubt when it comes time to do press around them, there’s going to be a lot of ‘X Files’ talk, inevitably.”

She’ll be ready for it. At once pragmatic and playful, Anderson seems to be taking on the world these days like someone who’s unraveled a deeper mystery.

THIS was the moment thousands of disappointed music fans were left drastically booing after an iconic music act’s gig was cut short.

Fans who had descended on Milton Keynes to see The Fugees perform were left stunned when the concert was pulled after less than an hour.

Sounds of boos echoed around the Milton Keynes National Bowl from disgruntled fans who were left saddended that the performance by Lauryn Hill and co. had been sensationally axed.

The venue was forced to end the concert early due to licensing restrictions which prevented it from continuing on past 11pm.

Lauryn Hill, 51, and Wyclef Jean, 56, took to the stage shortly after 10pm, following an introduction from comedian Dave Chappelle – leaving little time for them to complete their full performance.

Fans were left bitterly disappointed when the pair were unable to perform some of the group’s biggest hits, including their 1996 multi-platinum smash Killing Me Softly With His Song as a result of the venue curfew.

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The pair, who first reunited in London ahead of the music and arts festival, attempted to address the crowd but their microphones were switched off.

Moments later, the giant on-stage screens also went black at the 65,000-capacity venue.

Fan-shot footage showed the pair complain to the crew on stage, with Lauryn pleading to finish the set as boos rang out across the crowd.

Lauryn did remain on the stage, according to eyewitnesses, thanking fans as they broke into an impromptu a cappella rendition of her hit, Ready Or Not.

Speaking following the abrupt end to the show, Wyclef Jean told us: “We’re really sad how it ended.

“We was just getting started, so we’re hoping to continue next year.”

He added: “We had so much surprises on the line up and everybody showed up and we really felt the crowd, that love and that energy, it’s something that they need, something they feel, it just reminds you of unity.

“With so much division, the diaspora calling is just to remind everybody to come together.”

Prior to the disruption, Lauryn performed a packed set featuring tracks from her landmark 1998 debut album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, including Doo Wop (That Thing) and Ex-Factor.

She was also joined on stage by her sons, including Zion Marley and YG Marley — but some fans were left criticising the additional performances for eating into the Fugees’ already limited set time.

British athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson shared sweet memories of her dad, including his ‘full beam smile’.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson has remembered her late dad in an emotional on-screen moment.

The Olympic athlete is looking into her family heritage in a new episode of BBC ’s Who Do You Think You Are?

During the episode, Katarina, 33, who grew up with her mum in Liverpool, visits the Bahamas to learn about her dad’s family, after his death in 2017.

He died aged 59, having lived in the Bahamas and apart from Katarina since she was just a year old.

However, she recalled her memories of him in an emotional moment with her mum.

In a clip shared ahead of the episode airing, Katarina’s mum Tracey spoke about the moment she met her dad Ricardo.

Former dancer Tracey explained: “I went to dance in a show at the Crystal Palace Casino and I used to get this little bus, which was a free bus for all the workers. Your dad used to get the bus as well, so that’s how we originally met.”

She went on: “At first we were really good friends, he came across as a kind, generous person. It was around Christmas time, we were on the bus, I happened to mention that I was quite homesick for Christmas.

“The next day, there was a knock on my door, and as I opened my apartment door, all you could see was this great big tree.

“And then this face came around, that’s when he won my heart and before long, everything happened very, very quickly.”

“We’re both so happy there,” she added, looking back on a picture of their wedding day.

Katarina added: “The smile is definitely how I remember him, this full beam.”

The athlete has previously spoken about the relationship she had with her dad, and the “difficult” time she faced after his death.

“What happened with my dad is why I have been so switched on in competitions,” she told The Daily Mail. “He didn’t see me win and that has actually made me want to win in front of my mum even more, if that makes sense.

“She comes to see me in every single competition and I always feel for her when I don’t do well, or I let myself down, or I don’t reach my potential.”

She later told the Guardian: “I am proud of myself because there have been some hard and difficult times. But dad definitely spurred me on this year. I wanted to start winning things. I wanted my family to see me doing well. And I think I have done that for sure.”

Who Do You Think You Are? airs at 9pm on Thursday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Jeremy Clarkson was lost for words during an episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

An “unbelievable” moment was aired during a beloved ITV quiz show.

A repeat episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? was broadcast on Wednesday (August 5), with host Jeremy Clarkson welcoming more quizzing hopefuls to the hot seat.

The first contestant walked away with just £1,000, after getting a question about actress Emma Stone wrong. Hopes were therefore dwindling as retired IT analyst Roman Dubowski stepped up to take on the game.

“Right, you know the rules, don’t you? We ask questions, one of them’s about Emma Stone and some silly Gucci film, you get it wrong and then we move on to the next contestant. That seems to be the form today,” Jeremy began by saying.

However, it soon became clear that Roman was bucking the trend, as he continued to answer the questions correctly, with the help of the audience and his sister, Danuta.

“It looks like we’ve got a proper encyclopaedia in a shirt here!” Jeremy said after Roman won £250,000.

Roman later reached the million-pound question with two lifelines remaining. “Strangely, I’ve become less nervous as it’s gone on,” he said, moments before Jeremy read out the final question.

The 15th question was: “Used since 1876, which trademarked logo is described in the James Joyce novel Ulysses and depicted in works by Manet and Picasso?”

The options were Bass Ale, The Famous Grouse, Coca-Cola, and Stella Artois.

Roman quickly said: “I’ve got something in my head, but I’m not sure it’s right,” before Jeremy shared: “I’ve got something in my head and it’s called hope!”

After using his 50/50 lifeline, the contestant explained that he had previously seen a Manet painting with the Bass Ale trademark on it, leading him to declare it as his “final answer”.

A nervous wait began, shortly before Jeremy confirmed: “You’ve won a million pounds!” and the audience erupted into cheers. Jeremy added: “It’s an extraordinary thing! That’s fantastic! Only the second man [to do it].”

He went on to say: “It happens so infrequently, I don’t even know what to say. And you did it without my help! Well, that’s just extraordinary.”

Roman revealed that his win hadn’t sunk in just yet, adding: “It’s one of those slow-motion things that’ll probably sink in a bit later today, but at the moment, I just take things one at a time.”

The contestant took a moment to thank his sister, who helped him correctly answer an earlier question, with Jeremy then admitting: “That was at a time when, I’m sure, the whole audience and me, and everybody watching at home, was thinking, ‘Oh, here’s another one. He’ll be gone at 32.’ Not a bit of it. Million pounds. Unbelievable.

“I mean, I don’t even know what to say, other than enjoy it! Because all of your life, assimilating that knowledge, has paid off. So well done you.”

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is available to stream on ITVX

Here’s to the ones who dream.

The anthemic thesis of “La La Land” — the Ryan Gosling/Emma Stone movie musical celebrating its 10th anniversary — became a moment of musical reality in May when a 21-year-old student in Sydney, Australia, was plucked from the crowd at a live concert of the film during intermission. Sterling Nasa proceeded to stun composer-conductor Justin Hurwitz and the 2,000-person audience with his flawless, impromptu performance.

“Jumping into that concert in Sydney, and having an earpiece and seeing all this, was a little bit crazy,” says Nasa with well-mannered modesty, “but we somehow got through it.”

Conductor Justin Hurwitz with pianist Sterling Nasa performing the soundtrack of “La La Land” at the Greek Theatre.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

Nasa is sitting backstage at the Greek Theatre between rehearsals, preparing to make his Los Angeles debut. After that remarkable incident, an international feel-good news story, Hurwitz invited Nasa to fly out and play the entire concert at the anniversary screening here, in Griffith Park, where many of the film’s iconic scenes were shot.

“He’s playing better than most of the professional pianists I’ve worked with,” says Hurwitz, who regularly conducts “La La Land in Concert.”

“He’s nailing it,” Hurwitz explains during a break. “Those Sebastian solos, the ones that Ryan Gosling plays in the movie, he’s playing those as perfectly and cleanly as I’ve heard them in a very long time. Very few of the pianists I work with around the world — and they’re all great professionals — but very few of them play it this well in sync with the picture.”

Saturday’s rehearsals took place under a scorching sun. Half of the assembled musicians played on the film’s original soundtrack; star trumpet soloist Bijon Watson can even be seen wailing in the Lighthouse jazz scenes. Sitting in the midst of these veteran L.A. sessions players, Nasa looked focused but confident, his youthful face belying his easy, fleet-fingered playing.

Pianist Sterling Nasa heads to the stage Saturday after intermission during the 10th anniversary show featuring a full orchestra and jazz band performing the “La La Land” soundtrack at the Greek Theatre.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

He flew in from Sydney on Thursday, leaving a rainy Australian winter for a California heat wave. The initial jet leg was rough, he says, but he had mostly adjusted by Saturday. Hurwitz took some one-on-one practice time with him before the orchestra arrived, and Nasa had also been practicing his part for six weeks.

Nasa (an Anglicized Lebanese name) has been playing piano since he was 3. His parents encouraged his musical education, and he’s performed enough in bands and local musical theater not to suffer from stage fright. He also plays the bagpipes, and has played with 300 bagpipers for 10,000 people at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle.

“I’ve always had a bit of an inkling that I’d love to be a musician,” Nasa says, “or if I can find some opportunity in the artistic world, or in musical theater or in music, that I would love too. But I did sort of get the ‘real’ degree.”

He was finishing his studies in international relations at the University of Sydney when the cosmic moment happened in May. His friend Scarlett was the one who enthusiastically pushed Nasa’s hand up when Hurwitz, panicking, asked if anyone in the audience was an “amazing sight reader.”

“I owe so much of this to her,” Nasa says. “I really probably would not have done it.”

The 10th anniversary show of “La La Land” featured a full orchestra and jazz band.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

He played the entire second half of the concert that night. (The hired pianist fell ill and had to leave.) Nasa says he thinks Australians were inclined to root for an underdog — “the audience that night really just wanted it to work” — but for this big L.A. moment, “I think now there’s obviously a bit more of an expectation.”

As the twilight concert began, Hurwitz addressed the sold-out Greek Theatre — a lively crowd filled with yellow dresses — and surprised them by announcing that the “kid from Sydney” was here to play the entire show. Nasa absorbed his ovation, then took his bench in the middle of the orchestra with a little monitor displaying the movie on his piano.

He played the melancholy strains of “Mia and Sebastian’s Theme,” a solo piano motif that Gosling’s character plays throughout the film; he accompanied their flirty “City of Stars” duet, and he performed all of Sebastian’s acrobatic jazz solos — many of them meticulously synced to corresponding shots of fingers on a keyboard.

“La La Land” plays on the screen at the Greek Theatre while an orchestra and jazz band accompany the film.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

The film itself was projected over the stage, but monitors on either side showed Nasa and the other live musicians. A young woman in front of me watched his hands, perfectly aligned with Gosling’s, with her jaw dropped. Nasa never missed a note, and he received another outsized ovation after the rousing end credits.

“I’ve thought a lot about opportunity, and how there’s so much talent in the world,” says Hurwitz, reflecting on the moment in Sydney. “And there’s also so much lost talent in the world, talent that just isn’t realized. And I just love that there was this talented guy, who’s a great musician, but he was in school studying something else — because he didn’t know if he could or should go into music. And then there was this opportunity, and he took it, and he showed everybody — and he showed himself — that he can do it.”

Nasa says he’s not sure what he’ll do now that he’s graduated, but one thing he’s interested in is composing for musical theater — or possibly scoring films.

Given that impressive 2025 she had, the pressure was on O’Connor to at least win a medal in Glasgow and it only ramped up after Katerina Johnson-Thompson, who had won gold ahead of her in 2022, pulled out.

The Englishwoman’s withdrawal paved the way for a good shot at that coveted gold, but she still had to go out and deliver.

O’Connor ended on 6,569 points, 291 ahead of her nearest challenger, England’s Jade O’Dowda, but it wasn’t all straightforward.

Resilience is a key trait for any sportsperson, but particularly a heptathlete.

Fortunes can fluctuate across the seven events so it is needed in ample supply to come out on top at the end of two days of competition.

It was particularly pertinent for O’Connor in a rain-soaked second session of the event on Tuesday evening.

After a good start in the morning, that brought a third-place finish in the 100m hurdles and a season’s best 1.82m in the high jump, O’Connor struggled in the shot put and dipped well below her high standards by throwing just 12.85m as the torrential rain hammered down.

She said trying to grip the shot put in that rain was akin to trying to lift a bar of soap and that she was “gutted” as she “made it a lot easier for the rest of them to beat me”.

Her resilience was shown in abundance in the 200m that followed as she defied the elements to easily win her heat in a time of 24.14.

The Newry-born athlete added she had to “work really hard” on Wednesday and that she did, finishing with a flourish.

First came a big leap of 6.37m in the long jump, then another season’s best, this time in the javelin, of 52.85m that far exceeded those around her.

It will be particularly satisfying as that was an event she had worked hard at improving heading into 2026.

All that was left was to hold her nerve in the 800m and she did that and more, cruising to victory in a time of 2:10.46 just as the sun broke through for the celebrations at Scotstoun.

“I came here expecting a lot from myself and I really wanted to score like 6,600 or 6,700 and open up my season because that’s the shape I felt I was in,” she added.

“After day one I had to raincheck myself a bit, it’s not always about getting huge big scores but competing and getting the best out of yourself with the elements and challenges.

“I tried to navigate it as best as I could. The shot put didn’t go to plan, it needs work in those conditions, but I’m happy overall with how I did.

“There’s a lot of positives to take from it. I’ve got a gold medal round my neck so I can’t say much more.”

THIS is the moment reality TV star Samie Elishi was escorted off the Love Island set by security after being banned from watching the final.

The 26-year-old, who originally appeared on season nine of the ITV show, flew out to Majorca to watch her man Tyrique Hyde on the last episode of Aftersun.

But, after spending hours getting glammed up for the “special day” she was refused entry into the villa.

In a video posted to her TikTok, Samie could be seen filming behind the cameras and production crew as she approached the set.

She filmed stunning Love Island host Maya Jama and her beau Ty all ready to film before things “took a turn for the worst.”

“We got told that we weren’t actually allowed to watch the show,” confessed Samie.

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“Before everyone in the comments starts asking why, we don’t know why we had no explanation.

“The three of us [her, Harry Cooksley and Kane Ruddach] did actually have seats in the audience but they just got taken away, escorted, back to the holding villa.”

She continued: “God knows how I managed it but I got the show up on my phone, found a place with actually good signal and watched from my phone on a tripod.

Samie explained that while “it wasn’t quite” how they expected to spend their evening “Ty did amazing as always.”

The Love Island alum was banned from watching the final Aftersun alongside the partners of the other panelists – Shakira Khan and Joe Baggs.

Samie and Tyrique began dating back in March just weeks after she returned from Love Island All Stars in South Africa.

They were first spotted together at a Baller League match but The Sun revealed they had actually been out on a string of dates before then.

The loved up couple have since been on multiple holidays, barely leaving each other’s sides after going Instagram official.

Samie has publicly been a big supporter of Ty’s career, cheering on his Aftersun gig and his daily Love Island themed streams.

EDDIE MARSAN is to play Harry Redknapp in a film about one of football’s most incredible stories, I can reveal.

The actor, a Spurs fan, will put his allegenices to one side when he takes on the role of the West Ham favourite when he was their assistant boss in 1994.

The film by Sir Ridley Scott re-tells the moment Harry actually invited a loudmouth Hammers fan to play up front for the Premier League outfit after hurling abuse at players from the stands — and he went on to score.

Eddie plays gaffer Harry in Halftime Hero, alongside Anson Boon as angry fan Steve Davies.

West Ham were struggling against non-league Oxford City in the pre-season friendly when Steve was told to put on a kit and prove he could do better . . .  and did.

A source said: “Eddie has been cast as Harry in Halftime Hero and will be filming his scenes in the coming weeks.

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“As a huge football fan, Eddie knows this tale well and to take on such a prominent part in a film about such a huge moment in the game is hugely exciting for him.”

Like me, Sherlock Holmes actor Eddie is a Tottenham fanatic, so it will be a dream role to play Harry, who went on to manage Spurs years later.

It’s just a shame he’s going to have to wear a West Ham coaching kit to do it.

I revealed last month that Ridley’s production company was working on the film about Harry’s famous game, which has become part of football folklore.

Steve could be heard heckling striker Lee Chapman and repeatedly branded him a “donkey” for his poor performance.

Harry went into the stands and got him to play, with Steve going on to score and helping West Ham to a 4-0 win.

The historic moment was never caught on camera, so now Anson, Eddie and Ellie Bamber — who plays Steve’s girlfriend — are bringing it to life.

Harry has spoken fondly about the wild episode over the years, admitting he told the stadium announcer that he was bringing on a “great Bulgarian” called “Tittyshev”.

Steve previously said: “It was the greatest moment of my life.

“After that, I was exhausted.

“I was on 30 cigarettes a day back then.

“I had a couple of cigs and a couple of beers in the first half.”

Good on you, Steve.

Me, I’m Jase relaxing

TAKE THAT have just finished their hit Circus Tour, but there’s been no clowning around for former member Jason Orange.

The ex-boybander, who quit the group in 2014 to lead a quieter life, was seen enjoying a peaceful afternoon in a park in Cheshire on Monday.

He now has a successful property portfolio and has declined offers to rejoin the group.

And judging by how zen he looks here, I can’t say I blame him.

LEIGH-ANNE PINNOCK is feathering her nest with a few quid from her fans by becoming a mumfluencer as she prepares to give birth to her third child.

The Little Mix star has started a page where fans can subscribe for £5 a month for “behind the scenes content” and a “private community” to find out what’s going on with her pregnancy.

Announcing the move, Leigh-Anne said: “I’m excited to announce I’ve started a Patreon to share more of my pregnancy, bump updates, everyday life and all of the things in between as I prepare to be a mum of three.

“This is going to be a complete safe space to be open and honest, share advice and give you a little more insight into life right now.”

Leigh-Anne, who will perform at Brighton Pride on Saturday, already has twin daughters with her footballer husband Andre Gray.

Kaia and Homer channel parents

KAIA GERBER and Homer Gere looked like proper Hollywood stars at the premiere of new Disney+ thriller series The Shards – maybe because of their A-lister parents.

Kaia’s supermodel mum Cindy Crawford wed Homer’s old man, Richard Gere in 1991, although the golden couple divorced four years later and went on to have kids with new partners.

Now, their actor offspring are appearing opposite each other in the Shards, which launches next week.

Speaking on the red carpet, Kaia said of Homer: “I’d never met him but I was really, really excited to meet Homer and he’s such a wonderful actor, my god.

“This is his second thing he ever did and he has this confidence and charisma – he’s so magnetic to watch.

“He made my job much easier because of how talented he is.”

Looking forward to tuning in.

Niall hits the clubs

IT’S tee time for golf nut Niall Horan ahead of his Dinner Party Live Tour.

The ex-One Direction singer hit the greens at Royal Lytham & St Annes in Lancashire before the AIG Women’s Open this weekend.

He will soon be heading out on the road, kicking off his tour at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on September 22.

But the long spells playing shows across the UK, Europe, Australia and North America until next May won’t stop him hitting the greens.

He said earlier this year: “It’s Niall’s golf tour with music, especially in the States.

“Florida is great.

“There’s so much good golf in Florida, and we’ll hit random places in Ohio.

“If we do 30-something shows, I’ll try to get in ten rounds.”

TULISA HAS MAXED OUT ON LOVE

TULISA’s romance with medicinal cannabis kingpin and influencer Maximillian White has gone up in smoke, it seems.

One of my pals has spotted the N Dubz singer back on celebrity dating app Raya.

I told you last autumn that the pair had started dating.

But on Raya, the former X Factor judge has listed her occupation as “singer/investor/author” while her bio simply says, “Lara Croft”.

As for her interests, she’s into, “Music, fitness, deep belly laughs, cheeky bottle of red, all things weird and wonderful.”

Sounds like a fun time to me.

Harry Potter actor Tom Felton and Kingsman star Taron Egerton have both been spotted on the exclusive app, so she has her pick of handsome fellas.

Mel C met her husband Chris Dingwall on Raya, and Lily Allen found her now-ex David Harbour on there too, although the less said about that, the better.

Tulisa was also on there before meeting billionaire Maximillian but insisted she was a “spectator” and said: “I never like or message anyone first . . .  just letting you know.

“I’ve only gone on one date from there, and that was because of a recent rebound.”

Live a little, Tulisa.

ELLIE MUSIC OF LOVE FOR HER BEAU

IT has been dubbed her “divorce album” but Ellie Goulding’s new record will feature at least one song about falling head over heels for her new beau, called, err, Beau.

I first revealed their romance last July when I told how she had jetted off to Italy with actor Beau Minniear, when they stayed at the Four Seasons in Florence together.

Now Ellie, who gave birth to their daughter Iris in March, has written a song about how she was swept off her feet by him during the trip to that very hotel.

On the track, titled 4 Seasons, she sings: “Daydreaming, faint feelings, f**k around at the Four Seasons. I think that I might be falling in love with you.

“I need it, wanna keep it. We mess around, put the damn key in. I think that I might be falling in love.”

The song will be on her sixth album, I Know Too Much, which will be released on September 4.

And from what I’ve heard so far, it’s going to be another brilliant record.

PRINCE’s cult movie Purple Rain is being adapted for the stage and will debut on Broadway next March.

The hit film was accompanied by Prince’s album and song of the same name, with the projects being released in 1984.

The news of the stage musical was announced on the 42nd anniversary of its release and will launch next spring.

ARIANA SUES SONG HACKERS

ARIANA GRANDE has understandably seen red and filed a lawsuit against hackers who leaked unreleased tunes.

The Thank U, Next singer has alleged that two unidentified hackers broke into devices from people she had worked with to get songs and footage of her which was sold for “significant sums of money” on the dark web.

Legal papers have been lodged in Los Angeles to try and unmask those responsible.

The documents claim: “In 2023 alone, 45 unreleased songs belonging to Ms Grande were hacked, stolen, and leaked.

“Since her music debut in 2011, hundreds of similar leaks have taken place.”

And it sounds like Ariana, whose new album Petal will be out on Friday, won’t stop pursuing them until they’re in prison.

‘Here’s a more natural flowing version of that section…’
Canadian politician Bill Oliver has gone viral after he appeared to accidentally read AI-generated editing instructions aloud, not once, but twice, during a speech to lawmakers in early June.

A HUGE US singer shared the agonising moment that a fish hook was stuck in his HEAD.

In a gruesome video, Tyler Hubbard, who is best known for the band Florida Georgia Line, was seen with a wounded head as his wife Hayley pulled the hook out.

The horrifying moment came during a family fishing trip with his wife and their three kids.

The family were camping by the lake, when their vacation took a turn.

Posting on Instagram, the American star shared a video called: “Breakfast had to wait.”

Next fans were shown Tyler’s wife wrestling with the hook in his head.

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Although he didn’t reveal how he ended up with the fish hook buried in his head, Hayley was seen gently trying to prise it out.

She was then heard asking her family: “Are there any tricks to this?”

One of their children then reassured their dad that there was “no need to worry”.

“Mom is just going to pull it out right away,” the kid said.

After much wrestling with the hook, Hayley finally said: “Oh, we got it!”

The horrifying fish hook moment comes just days after Tyler teased more reunion plans with his former Florida Georgia Line bandmate Brian Kelley.

The pair called it quits four years ago after being together for a decade.

However this summer they reunited for a several performances, which included CMA Fest in June.

THIS is the shocking moment former glamour model Katie Price left her son Junior mortified as she talked about her “hairy bits.”

Katie made the comments on series three of her daughter’s show The Princess Diaries after finally being “allowed” to film.

During a glamping trip with her kids, Katie was asked by Princess when she started her first business.

The 48-year-old confessed she launched raunchy ironing board covers when she was just 18.

Katie said: “Ironing board covers. When you iron it, I go naked. Sorry Junior.”

“I’m doing my beauty range at 18 and that’s when you started,” said Princess.

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Katie replied: “That’s what I mean you’re following in my footsteps.”

Speaking candidly on her mum‘s cheeky venture, Princess said in her confessional: “It’s actually really interesting to hear mum talk about starting to build her career.

“Because like if a girl did that now at 18, it would be classed as very wrong so, it’s two different lives really.”

Podcast host Katie then went on to leave her kids – specifically Junior – gobsmacked by a surprise revelation.

She announced: “I had bit of a hairy muff back then though.”

Junior, who is following in his dad Peter’s footsteps as a singer, put his head in his hands.

Shaking his head he said: “Oh my god!”

Katie didn’t stop there, she added: “It was because I had red bikini on and the ironing board cover would take it off and I had like a little triangle.”

Junior said: “Mate that I…I don’t like…”

“It’s part of your mum’s journey and after that I bought out cups with me topless on them,” added Katie.

Mortified Junior decided to remain silent as his mum opened up on her sexy merch.

This comes as Katie has finally been “allowed” to film the show after previously being banned from production.

After fallout from Princess’ dad and his wife Emily being allowed on the show they both took a step back to avoid further drama.

Following Katie and Peter’s truce back in February, Princess hinted that both her parents would feature in series three – which they have.

In March, she said: “I mean, the good thing is now, obviously, my mum and dad have come out with an agreement to be fine.

“So hopefully season three, they will actually both be in it which is amazing. It’s so good now because there is just no issues.”

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake has hit Kumamoto on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, sending buildings swaying as people rushed to safety. Authorities have issued a tsunami alert following the quake.

Tom Holland is officially the first “Hot Ones” guest to really spill his guts during a spicy interview.

During a Thursday appearance on the popular talk show — where guests answer questions while eating chicken wings with increasingly spicy sauces — the actor struggled to keep his composure.

Host Sean Evans cranked up the heat with each burning question to Holland and fellow actor Jon Bernthal, his co-star in not one but two of the biggest cinematic events of the summer, “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” While Holland began the interview with an eloquent discussion of his two blockbuster films, Evans’ lineup of 10 hot sauces, each hotter than the one before, had the “Uncharted” star on the verge of blacking out.

After Holland bit into his chicken wing slathered with the second sauce — Hot Bergine, a roasted eggplant and tomato sauce with a 3/10 heat level — the actor described his first day on the set of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.”

“I wanted to get a bit of a jump on how Chris likes to work and just watch from afar,” he said, noting that he wasn’t filming any scenes that day, but watched his colleagues working from the beach. “I arrived at the beach, and I could not see a single crew member. You just see miles and miles of ships and extras and warriors and horses, and you’re asking yourself, ‘Where is the crew?’”

“So then they asked me to walk down this beach, and every 10 minutes you’d hear ‘Rolling!’ and I’d have to lie down and hide behind these dunes. And I kept asking myself, where are they rolling? I can’t see the crew anywhere. Then eventually I got down to where Matt [Damon] was and his men, and it really felt at that moment like we were a part of something that had never been done before.”

By sauce No. 4 — Chickpotle, a creamy chickpea sauce with smoky chipotle and ghost pepper with a 4/10 heat level — Holland and Bernthal were loosening up and trading barbs. Holland discussed how speaking in an American accent (rather than his native British) is almost like having a disguise, which makes his job as an actor easier.

“But I would love to explore some more British accents because you know, as an island, we have some of the most interesting, unique, and fun accents,” he told Evans. “I think there’s more accents in Britain than any other country.”

Bernthal, visibly uncomfortable from the heat of his own chicken wing, quipped, “Why does it always got to come to competition … I would go out on a on a limb to say there are more accents in America than there are in Britain.”

Holland said he would “drink a shot of that hottest hot sauce” to prove he’s right. After some quick fact checking, “Hot Ones” production confirmed that Holland was correct — among English-speaking countries, anyway.

By hot sauce No. 10 — The Last Dab: Thermageddon, described as a slow-building superhot sauce forged with Pepper X, Apollo, Carolina Reaper and Scorpion peppers, ranked at a heat level of 11/10 — the two actors had completely lost their composure and appeared nearly drunk on hot sauce.

Eyes red, cheeks tear-stained and foreheads pouring sweat, the two squirmed in their seats and Bernthal said he was going to be sick. Still, the “Odyssey” star appeared to have made it through without spewing any body fluids.

Then Holland got up to snap a photo with Bernthal and Evans and barfed on the floor. While the actor may have been embarrassed, Bernthal cheered and Evans crowned him the first guest to lose his lunch.

Last year, Evans told The Times that the interview format, with its squirm-inducing sauces, was a tactic to turn what might otherwise be a typical press tour interview into something raw and real.

“On ‘Hot Ones’ you have those moments of people who are struggling, who are vulnerable, who are in a borderline state of panic. You have emotions that are real, and all of these things are so hard to get to in a traditional interview setting,” he said. “The fact that we can create these moments, and then combine it with this thoughtful career-spanning interview, all of those elements working together, it just gives you a unique look at the celebrity guests … What we’re doing is knocking them off of that pedestal down to a level that everyone can relate to. It’s very human.”

Singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell first wrote the numbers for “Hadestown,” a folk musical based on Greek mythology, in 2006. Twenty years later, the Tony-winning smash musical comes to the big screen in a version filmed on the West End in 2025, directed by Brett Sullivan. The production reunites the original Broadway cast — André De Shields, Patrick Page, Reeve Carney, Eva Noblezada and Amber Gray — six years after the show debuted and swept the Tonys in 2019.

There is a timelessness to Mitchell’s work, thanks in large part to the ancient source material, the myths of Orpheus, Eurydice, Hades and Persephone. Developed in partnership with Rachel Chavkin, who directed the Broadway show, the action is set around the 1930s in the American Deep South. The story expresses evergreen themes of love, sacrifice, oppression, addiction and devotion, juxtaposing the tragedy of the way things are against a hope of the way they could be.

There are moments when Mitchell’s songs feel eerily prescient: The show’s villain, Hades (Page), rules the underworld of Hadestown as a fascistic industrialist; his Act I closing number is titled “Why We Build the Wall.” Factory workers sing back to him, “We build the wall to keep us free,” a chorus that foretells the Trumpian rhetoric of 2016 and a reminder that these patterns of division and otherization are the eternal tools of the oppressor.

“Hadestown” is a love story first and foremost, set in a joyous juke joint, the band ringing the stage. The camera follows our narrator, Hermes, played by American theater legend De Shields, as he takes the stage, kissing the heads of his company.

But the show doesn’t start until the 79-year-old De Shields nattily flips his jacket open, to the approving roar of the audience. He introduces doomed Orpheus (Carney), “touched by the Gods themselves,” a born yearner with a gift for song. When Eurydice (Noblezada), a scrappy, skeptical slip of a girl, rolls into town, Orpheus instantly falls head over heels. They have nothing except each other, their love symbolized by a red flower that Orpheus offers.

Party girl Persephone (Gray) brings the summer fun, but her jealous lover Hades wants to keep her all to himself in his domain, trapping the world in a long winter. Orpheus promises to write a song to summon spring again, but a struggling Eurydice is seduced by Hades’ promises of security in Hadestown, and she descends with him, signing her life away to work in his factory. Orpheus tries to rescue his love, but his faith in her is tested on their return to the top — if he turns back to see if she’s there, she’ll be banished to Hadestown forever.

Real-life couple Carney and Noblezada married several months after this production; they met at Noblezada’s audition. Their chemistry makes the emotional devastation of this tragedy that much more real: Every main actor sheds a real tear over the course of the show. Carney’s unique tenor ranges from Jeff Buckley to Freddie Mercury; his rock background and skill with the guitar is required for Orpheus’ lyre-playing and lends to the folk roots of Mitchell’s songs.

Cinematographer Clayton Jacobsen captures unexpected camera angles that a theatergoer wouldn’t get (even one with decent seats), both from down below in the circular pit and above it. He sends the camera soaring over the heads of the audience into intimate medium shots. Sullivan makes the animated and often rowdy crowd an integral part of the cinematic experience, including an extended curtain call with De Shields toasting the audience, sending them out with the warmth with which he brought them in.

There is such a temporal quality to theater, a shared moment in time and space. This production feels like a fleeting moment — a reunion of friends and collaborators retelling a myth that is recounted over and over again. “It’s a sad song, but we sing it anyway,” Hermes reminds us, and it’s a sentiment worth repeating. There may be tragedy, but the summer will inevitably return.

MELANIE C threw her ‘wedding bouquet’ to a crowd in Ibiza as she DJed just days after her magical ceremony in the UK.

The 52-year-old and Australian model Chris Dingwall said ‘I do’ in an intimate ceremony in the Lake District last weekend.

Just three days after their special day, Melanie jetted off to Spain to take to the decks at the Chinois Ibiza nightclub.

Melanie looked incredible in a hot pink jumpsuit and the club-goers cheered as she lifted up a bouquet of flowers while dancing away to the music.

The Spice Girls star then turned her back to her fans, chucked them behind her and laughed to herself as she got back to the decks.

Melanie has shared a first look at her wedding after tying the knot with her boyfriend of three years, Chris.

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And it came just days after their private legal civil ceremony in Sydney, Australia, where Chris is from.

The couple got married in a stunning ceremony in the grounds of The Country House Cumbria on Saturday.

They were joined by their loved ones, including her Spice Girls bandmates.

Mel B, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton were all in attendance as Victoria Beckham was noticeably absent from the big day – but she was unable to attend due to the World Cup final in the US.

Despite not being able to be there, she designed her pal’s beautiful backless, white wedding gown.

Melanie also wore a custom Adidas robe to get ready for the ceremony, made from ivory silk with white silk stripes and then changed into an Adidas tracksuit look for the evening.

A source told The Sun on Saturday: “Mel and Chris’ wedding was perfect, they couldn’t be happier.

“They chose a classy, laid-back ceremony before a reception with their closest friends and family.

“Mel B gave a speech which got a lot of laughs, as well as some tears — it was really beautiful.

“Geri was there but there was no awkwardness between her and Mel B.

“It was a day for celebrating Mel and Chris’s love for each other and that was all anyone wanted to do.”

Melanie told British Vogue the wedding was “low-key, relaxed, romantic and chic”.

She added: “I’m so excited for the world to know he’s my husband.”

The happy couple met on dating app Raya.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — This summer’s World Cup will be remembered for a lot of things.

It was the first to be played in three countries, the first with 48 teams and the overall attendance nearly doubled the previous record. Norway’s Erling Haaland and Cape Verde’s Vozinha were captivating while Egypt and Canada both won World Cup games for the first time, advancing to the Round of 16.

And Spain, glorious Spain, gave up just one goal in eight games to dethrone the reigning champions and become the first nation in history to own both the men’s and women’s World Cup titles at the same time.

But the tournament will also be remembered for a classless and churlish Argentina, which forever stained itself with a thuggish performance in the game and an ungracious one afterward.

If La Albiceleste had simply kept its composure it would have secured a place next to Brazil and Germany, the only other countries to reach three finals in four World Cups, as one of the greatest teams of all time. Instead, some of its players turned the postgame handshakes into a brawl, with Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes drawing a red card for grabbing Spain’s Eric Garcia by the throat and shoving him to the turf.

It was believed to be the only red card ever handed out after a World Cup final, and the ignominy it brought was well-deserved. But the childishness was just beginning. When Spain assembled on the podium to accept the World Cup trophy, which had been Argentina’s moments earlier, the South Americans turned their backs.

More than an hour later Lionel Messi, who has cemented his stature as the greatest player in World Cup history, soiled that status by leading the players out of the locker room and through a back exit to the team bus, avoiding the media many had been so eager to speak with during the team’s unbeaten run to the final.

Argentina’s Nahuel Molina, top, reacts after Spain won the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J.

(Pamela Smith / Associated Press)

It was an attack on class and decorum as well as violation of FIFA rules, which require players to leave the stadium through a “mixed zone” accessible to media. They are not required to stop or speak, but certainly someone owed some accountability to the tens of thousands of fans in Argentine jerseys who packed Times Square and MetLife Stadium over the weekend and the millions in Argentine who filled plazas and town squares to watch the team play.

“We’ve been great in victory and we need to be great in defeat,” Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni said moments after Paredes was booked for assault. “We have shown today that we know how to lose, too. We lost the game and we accept that.”

Scaloni, who did address the media, later broke down in tears.

“I already cried all the tears I had in the dressing room,” he said in Spanish.

Scaloni, 48, may be out of a job when his contract expires in December, but his message for the fans was don’t cry for me, Argentina.

“It is hard to ask people to enjoy this equally. It is very hard to convince people that this is a triumph,” said Scaloni, who has lost just twice in 15 World Cup games.

“When you win, not everything is good. When you lose, not everything is bad.”

But while Argentina was being petty and petulant, Spain was practically perfect in every way. Not only did it concede just one goal in the tournament, it held Argentina without a shot into extra time Sunday — the first time that’s ever happened in a World Cup final — and ran its unbeaten streak to a record 38 games overall.

The win, which came on substitute Ferran Torres’ goal moments into the second extra-time period — and less than 20 minutes after Argentina was reduced to 10 men when Enzo Fernández was given a second yellow card for a foolish tackle — not only made Spain the first country to be the men’s and women’s world champion at the same time, it also made it the first to be the men’s world, European and Olympic champion at the same time.

No country in history has dominated the sport as Spain is dominating it now. And since Spain is the second-youngest team to win the World Cup in 56 years, La Roja could be on top for some time.

“After the match, some of the players who have been with us the longest asked me ‘coach, what is left for us win? We’ve won everything,’” said Spain’s manager Luis de la Fuente. “I told them, well the next match in September.”

That’s a UEFA Nations League match with England, which finished third in this World Cup. A little further down the road is the 2030 World Cup, which Spain will co-host, making it the first country in history to defend its title at home.

“When you arrive at a moment like today and think about the journey we’ve taken, you realize the importance of that process,” said De la Fuente, a former youth national team coach who managed many of the players on the World Cup team — among them Dani Olmo, Mikel Merino, Mikel Oyarzabal, Unai Simón, the tournament’s top goalkeeper, and Rodri, tournament’s top player — to U-19 and U-21 European titles.

“We certainly wouldn’t be here today — we wouldn’t have achieved anything — without the journey we’ve shared with these players,” the coach continued. “We have that raw material, those wonderful Spanish footballers. And they way they compete, that is what brought us here.

“That goes back many years.”

De la Fuente, soft-spoken and professorial, is also scrupulously polite, an example many of his players follow. And while it is undoubtedly easier to display grace and dignity in victory than it is in defeat, the difference in the way Argentina and Spain exited the World Cup was far greater than the gap that separated them on the scoreboard, something De la Fuente unwittingly highlighted in speaking about his team late Sunday.

“It seems people were surprised that, alongside talent and brilliance, good people can also play the game,” he said. “This proves that it is possible; that good, supportive, generous people with strong values can form a genuine team.

“We played against the best national teams in the world, yet we were the best team. We demonstrated that a team built on good people — supportive people, people who hold values and principles that prioritize the common good over individual interests. Traveling with people like that makes for a better, safer journey.”

In Spain’s case, it also makes a World Cup champion.

Staff writers Eduard Cauich and Jad El Reda contributed to this story.

Former Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham gave his first speech as prime minister outside No 10 today, after he replaced Sir Keir Starmer as leader of the Labour party.

In his speech he promised to give the public “more breathing room”, and said he would set out a new 10-year plan for Britain by the end of this year.

He also announced that his first instruction as prime minister would be to end rough sleeping, which was met with cheers from his supporters who’d gathered outside Downing Street.

His predecessor Starmer gave a farewell speech in the same spot this morning, before formally offering his resignation to the King.

More on this story.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The list of men who have won a World Cup final is less than 500 names long, making it among the most exclusive in sports.

Jurgen Klinsmann’s name is on that list. And if he had known what a special club he would join when he stepped on the pitch for the 1990 final, he might have taken more time to enjoy it.

“How big that actually was, you only realize when when you start traveling the world and you get basically approached everywhere in the world about those moments,” Klinsmann said Friday. “It’s pretty crazy.”

Several new names will be added to that list Sunday, when Spain and Argentina meet at MetLife Stadium to decide the winner of the largest, most complex World Cup in history. A record 48 teams started the tournament 39 days and 103 games ago. Now just two remain: Spain, the reigning European champion, a team that hasn’t lost in 37 games and 27 months, and top-ranked Argentina, the reigning World Cup champion seeking to become the first team to repeat in 64 years.

Argentina leads the tournament in goals with 19, 12 of them coming in the 75th minute or later. In all four of Argentina’s wins in the knockout stages, the go-ahead goal came in stoppage time or extra time. Its captain, Lionel Messi, finished the semifinals leading the tournament with contributions on 12 goals — eight goals and four assists. He‘s also the all-time World Cup leader in goals, assists and games played and seems a shoo-in for a third Golden Ball, which goes to the tournament’s best player. No one else has won that award more than once.

But if Argentina is the unstoppable force, Spain is the immovable object. It has given up just one goal in the tournament with its goalie, Unai Simón, pitching shutouts in seven of his last eight World Cup games, dating to 2022. Slowing Messi won’t be up to Simón alone, however. Midfielder Rodri, Spain’s captain and the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner as the best player in the world, is the team’s defensive anchor. He said the best way to try to control Messi is to keep him out of the box — although Messi’s two decisive assists in Argentina’s semifinal comeback against England came from outside the penalty area.

And while Klinsmann’s one-and-done experience in a World Cup final is typical of most players, Messi, 39, is the exception: When the whistle blows Sunday, he’ll become just the second player, after Brazil’s Cafu, to play in three World Cup finals. When he made his World Cup debut in 2006, two starters on Spain’s team — center back Pau Cubarsí and winger Lamine Yamal — had yet to be born.

East Rutherford was hit with heavy thunderstorms Saturday, which helped knock down the hazardous smoke from Canadian wildfires that had blanketed the tri-state area for days. The poor air quality, which is dangerous for both players and fans, led FIFA and the White House to hold informal discussions over moving the World Cup final.

So while the air won’t be clear Sunday, the greatest risk appears to have passed and the threat of rain or lightning interrupting the game has also decreased, with the forecast calling for temperatures in the mid- 80s and 55% humidity at kickoff.

President Trump is expected to attend the game, after which he will present the World Cup trophy to the victor. And Klinsmann’s advice to the players who will walk across that stage to get their winners’ medals is to savor every moment because they might not come again.

Jurgen Klinsmann, a World Cup champion with West Germany and the former U.S. men’s national team coach, understands players often forget to savor the moment of playing in soccer’s biggest game.

(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)

“Take it all in to and really enjoy every second of it,” he said. “Make it special. Don’t miss out on anything.”

Klinsmann was 25 and less than three years into his international career when he helped West Germany win the World Cup in 1990. So naturally he figured there would be more to come.

“I said, ‘Well, if this is so cool to win a title, then I want to win more titles,” he said. “The magnitude of it, I did not understand.”

In two more tournaments as a player, he never got past the quarterfinals and in two World Cups as a manager he made the semifinals once. Never again would he hold the most cherished trophy in sports, though his 11 World Cup goals are tied for ninth all-time, tied with Cristiano Ronaldo and one behind Pelé.

Mario Gotze scored only two goals in his World Cup career but the last one will never be forgotten. In the 88th minute of the 2014 final against Argentina, just before sending Gotze on as a sub, German manager Joachim Löw called Gotze over and said, “Show the world you are better than Messi and can decide the World Cup.”

With seven minutes left in extra time he did just that, chesting down a cross, then lobbing a volley into the net for the game’s only score, giving Germany its first title since Klinsmann’s team in 1990. It was a moment Gotze, then 22, had long dreamed of and one he had rehearsed as a kid.

Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon, shaking hands with France’s Kylian Mbappe after the World Cup semifinal, has given up only one goal in the tournament.

(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)

Yet it was also one he was not prepared for.

“That was a dream come true. But you can’t prepare for these kind of moments,” he said. “I get reminded about that goal and even speaking nowadays with people in Germany, and they say, ‘I still remember where I [was] in that moment.’ That’s very special. You have that connection to a lot of different people. I’m very happy about that.

“When I look back now, OK, I was there. I played 30 minutes of football in a World Cup final and I scored one goal. That impact is huge and to even be in that moment is rare.”

So rare Gotze never held the World Cup trophy again either. As a result he, like Klinsmann, would urge the players in Sunday’s game to drink in the memories, because win or lose, if your name isn’t Messi the odds are great you’ll never be back.

“You can’t describe the feelings because everything happens so fast,” he said. “You’re in the zone, you do a lot of things out of instinct, especially on the pitch. And then, at least with me, I had that relief after the final whistle.

“You get to understand over the years how special that moment was. Because in the end you only can play every four years. And then to be in the final and score a goal? That, of course, was very special.”

KATIE Price’s good friend and podcaster pal Lewis Nicholls shares sweet moment with her son Harvey on social media.

It follows husband Lee’s latest lock up in Dubai, whom Katie, 48, married in January just days after meeting him.

Lewis took to his Instagram to post a heartwarming video of him and Harvey, 24, in his apartment.

Harvey is filmed giving Lewis a flower as a gift as the two share a sweet moment.

As Lewis filmed the gesture, he said: “Best gift ever. Harvey, what did you give me? 

Harvey replied: “A flower.”

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“You got me a flower. It says to Lewis, you look handsome Lewis. Love from Harvey Daniel Price. Thank you so much,” he added.

The video then ends with Harvey sweetly kissing Lewis and saying “Love you”.

He captioned the post: “Harvey just melts my heart. Came back to the apartment and had this gift waiting for me (heart emoji)”

Lewis is close with the family and most recently went on holiday with Katie to Cornwall.

The pair snapped themselves whilst away, dressed in matching harnesses and helmets with Go Pro cameras attached to them. 

“What have we just done,” Lewis captioned the photo of them with an eye emoji.

Katie reshared the image on her Instagram Story and wrote: “Such a fun day with friends in Cornwall.”

She also hung out with Lewis’ parents at a pub, with Lewis sharing photos of them having dinner and cocktails. 

The pair grew close when Lewis hosted Katie and Kerry Katona’s tour around the UK, An Evening With Katie Price & Kerry Katona.

“Katie – well, what can I say, the most random, funniest and loyal person I have met and we have had lots of laughs from our daily shopping trips, sunbeds and car singalongs,” Lewis wrote alongside photos of them on tour in November.

Speaking of his relationship with Harvey, Lewis said: “Also spending a week with Harvey was the best and to see how much of an amazing mum she is and their bond is just the best, he loved my voice-over.” 

It comes several days after Lee was put into prison once again in Dubai.

The controversial businessman was arrested for unpaid debts.

Many of Lee’s victims have told The Sun he took thousands of pounds from them in supposed investment schemes only to be left high and dry.

Lee has already boasted he’s raised the cash to get out of Al-Awir prison and is expected to be a free man by the end of the week, The Sun exclusively revealed.

In another fresh blow it was then revealed, that Conman Lee Andrews’ father joined him in prison earlier this week, after being reported to officials by a third party. 

Father and son are understood to have seen one another inside the jail, with both believed to be facing allegations of fraud.

Lee is currently trying to raise funds to pay off his debts and be released, from where he faces extradition. He hopes to return to the UK, to be with his wife.

Sources say a patient Katie has finally snapped – and is now “at the end of her tether” with friends urging her to leave Lee once and for all.

This article contains many spoilers for “Heartstopper Forever.”

In the early minutes of “Heartstopper Forever” — the feature film finale of Netflix’s hit teen romantic dramedy series — Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) notices a crooked photo strip on his boyfriend Nick Nelson’s (Kit Connor) bedroom wall. Gently pulling down the pictures, taken on the beach day they made their relationship official, Charlie smiles wistfully at their younger selves: “We look like babies.”

It’s a line that applies to the characters as much as it does to Locke and Connor. Four years after being catapulted into global stardom, the pair are bidding a bittersweet farewell to the roles that have defined their own coming of age.

“Season 1 does feel like an immensely long time ago that I do look back and think, ‘Yeah, we do look like babies,’” Connor says, with Locke nodding in agreement next to him on a recent video call from London. “‘Heartstopper’ itself was this tiny little show that was clearly something quite special to us, but we didn’t really think or know anyone was going to watch. And, suddenly, it became this thing that was immensely important to a lot of people.”

Adapted by Alice Oseman from her own bestselling graphic novels, which originated as a webcomic in 2016, “Heartstopper” chronicles the endearing love story between high-strung, gay overthinker Charlie and kind-hearted, bisexual rugby player Nick at an all-boys’ school in England.

Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) in a scene from Season 1 of “Heartstopper.”

(Netflix)

Upon its debut in 2022, the show was lauded for its unabashedly joyful, tender portrayal of queer youth — a refreshing departure from the trauma-heavy narratives that dominate other teen dramas. Even as “Heartstopper” ventured into darker thematic territory, such as Charlie’s history of eating disorders and struggles with self-harm, Oseman’s writing never lost its deft, light touch.

From the outset, Oseman knew she wanted to end “Heartstopper” with Nick going off to university in Leeds and Charlie, who is a year younger, finding independence as head boy at school. But with her cast growing increasingly more in demand every year, the author-turned-screenwriter says it would have been logistically difficult to make a fourth and final season.

After Netflix greenlit a two-hour finale instead, Oseman elected to zero in on her protagonists — not unlike her comics — rather than give each character their own, heavily condensed arc. “I think that was definitely the right decision, because we really get to spend a lot of time with Nick and Charlie and not feel like we’re missing anything,” she says.

Directed by Wash Westmoreland (“Colette,” “Still Alice”), “Forever” finds the first loves grappling with the reality of an impending long-distance relationship, leading to a rash breakup and, ultimately, an emotional reconciliation. In a surprising role reversal, as Charlie confidently steps into a leadership role as an advocate for other LGBTQ+ students, Nick is left to discover his own identity and self-worth outside of being the protective, supportive boyfriend.

On the set of “Heartstopper Forever” as Connor and Locke film a scene from the movie.

(Samuel Dore / Netflix)

Connor, who also executive produced the film with Locke, felt Charlie and Nick’s romance would be better wrapped up in a feature-length format. “There were a few very important and crucial, but short and intense [plot points] — the breakup and the time apart, and the eventual makeup and the two of them discovering who they are without one another,” he explains. “Doing it in a shorter period, I thought, would make those things hit that much harder and feel that much more visceral.”

Unlike previous seasons in which she could rely on her existing comics as storyboards for the show, Oseman was working simultaneously last year on the sixth and final volume of the “Heartstopper” comics, released earlier this month, and the “Forever” screenplay.

Juggling the same story in two different formats turned out to benefit each end product. “When I finished writing the first draft of the script, it actually made me do a really big rewrite of the comic, because it helped me see which moments were really important and which moments didn’t need to be there,” she says. (One of the pivotal scenes was the Pride parade, filmed on the last morning of production.)

As first-time producers, Locke and Connor also provided script notes that directly influenced the story. For instance, “there was no scene between Charlie and Mr. Ajayi in the original script,” says Locke, referring to the gay art teacher, played by Fisayo Akinade, whose classroom became Charlie’s safe haven from bullying before he befriended Nick. “I was like, ‘That scene in Season 1 with them is so pivotal to the story. It would be really lovely to have just a little moment for them in the film that circles on that chapter of their relationship.’ And straight away, Alice was like, ‘Yeah, great idea. Let’s do this.’”

For his part, Connor always feared that the show’s “rose-tinted” approach, though part of the story’s appeal, “would not be nuanced enough to talk about the complexities of being human and being young.”

Locke says he proposed a scene with Fisayo Akinade, who plays art teacher Mr. Ajayi, as a way to circle back on their relationship.

(Netflix)

“There was one moment where I was like, ‘Oh God, I hope these young people watching “Heartstopper” don’t suddenly forget that these kids are human, and that these kids can make mistakes and still be lovely, delightful and good people,’” Connor says. With Oseman and Locke, Connor was adamant about “finding the place [where] these characters were being treated in a way that we all felt good about.”

According to Oseman, Locke and Connor were also heavily involved in selecting a new intimacy coordinator, Robbie Taylor Hunt. Over the years, the amount of sex — or lack thereof — in “Heartstopper” has been the subject of much discourse. “It always annoyed me slightly that people were like, ‘Oh, this is so unrealistic. They’re not having sex.’ They were underage. What do you want us to do?” Locke says with a wry laugh.

Oseman has learned to tune out that online chatter, accepting that she cannot please everyone — let alone represent the entire spectrum of the young queer experience. With each season and now this film, her creative team chose to age up the story slightly. After Charlie and Nick lost their virginity to each other at the end of Season 3, the film uses physical intimacy to reveal more about their maturing relationship.

Locke says those scenes were necessary to the plot. “The pier sex scene is this carnal lust between these two people who need to get it out. The sex scene in the pillow fort is a moment of connection for them,” he says. “And the big sex scene at the end of the film is the reconciliation of their relationship.”

In the end, Nick and Charlie decide to give their relationship another shot, confident that their love can defy the conventional wisdom that teen romances rarely last. But what they learn during their split is “that you can’t put all of your hopes and dreams, your mental health and your ability to survive into one person, because it’s not fair on yourself and on that other person,” Connor says.

Over the years, the amount of sex, or lack of it, in “Heartstopper” has been the subject of online discourse. The film shows more physical intimacy.

(Netflix)

The film’s epilogue, like in the comics, offers a brief glimpse of Charlie visiting Nick for a weekend in Leeds, ending with the two of them looking through the pages of a scrapbook that still has room for new photos. While Oseman has her own vision of Nick and Charlie’s future in 10 years — they’d be newly married with a dog, she believes — the actors who play them aren’t so sure.

“I feel like the beauty of ‘Heartstopper’ is that we get to see a chapter of these two young men’s lives, and it ends in a way that doesn’t promise anything,” Connor says. “Even if they were to not end up together eventually, it wouldn’t make the experience that they shared together any less special or pivotal to who they are as people. I think that’s kind of beautiful.”

Locke is reluctant to divulge his own interpretation of the characters’ future, preferring instead to let viewers make sense of the hopeful ending. “I hope they’re happy,” he says simply. (But for the record, the actors both believe that Charlie and Nick will stay together. “Of course, we all hope so,” Connor clarifies.)

Although she is ready to tell new stories, Oseman believes that she will be revisiting Nick and Charlie, who first appeared in her 2014 debut novel “Solitaire,” “in small ways for the rest of my life.”

“I think there definitely won’t be another 10-year-long webcomic — probably not — but I love thinking about what Nick and Charlie might be up to when they’re 40 or 60,” Oseman says. However, she adds, “I think the main story of ‘Heartstopper’ has concluded, and I do feel good about that.”

Like their high school characters, Locke and Connor are ready to graduate from the “Heartstopper” universe. Wary of being typecast, they have established themselves as versatile stage actors, making their Broadway debuts in “Sweeney Todd” and “Romeo + Juliet,” respectively. Onscreen, Locke joined the Marvel universe in “Agatha All Along,” while Connor has explored vastly different cinematic genres — his next major project, the film adaptation of the dark fantasy video game “Elden Ring,” will reunite him with “Warfare” director Alex Garland.

Even on the day of our interview, Connor and Locke looked a world away from Nick and Charlie. Locke wore an all-black designer outfit, while Connor — dressed in a light blue striped button-down over a white tank and khakis — had traded Nick’s signature floppy hair for designer stubble. Yet both actors have made peace with the reality that they will forever be linked to each other and their roles. “That’s part and parcel of the job,” Connor says.

Fittingly, the last scene Connor and Locke filmed as Nick and Charlie was the anniversary scene in the park where there is a fallen tree with the letters “N+C” carved into the trunk. “It was lovely because it was back to how a lot of the ‘Heartstopper’ experience has been, which is just me and Joe,” Connor says.

“I love thinking about what Nick and Charlie might be up to when they’re 40 or 60,” says creator Alice Oseman. However, she adds, “I think the main story of ‘Heartstopper’ has concluded, and I do feel good about that.”

(Netflix)

Would they be open to revisiting Charlie and Nick’s love story as older adults? “In 10, 15, 20 years, who knows? Maybe,” Connor says. “Even if Alice were to decide that they wanted to make a TV show about another character in the universe of ‘Heartstopper’ and they wanted us to cameo or something, then, hey, maybe.”

While the “Heartstopper” team expected the series to resonate with younger audiences, they have been particularly moved by the reactions of older queer viewers, who have marveled at the strides in LGBTQ+ representation onscreen. Coming from the world of young-adult fiction — where she notes stories of queer joy are abundant — Oseman recalls being surprised that “Heartstopper” was treated as an anomaly in mainstream media. Still, she is proud to have helped move the needle on LGBTQ+ representation, particularly when such characters remain underrepresented.

“My hope is that people will be able to look back … and say, ‘Hey, “Heartstopper” did really well. Let’s make another queer show that’s got the [same] ‘queer joy’ vibes,’” Oseman says. “I hope it’s been able to give that encouragement to the people in power to let there be more stories out there because we just need more, different kinds of queer stories.”

Connor believes that anyone can enjoy the show because “Heartstopper” simply captures the universality of “human beings being happy and being in love.”

“Obviously, the [queer] representation is incredibly important. I think that the very existence of the show and the comfort and safety that it can bring people is one of the things that makes it so special,” Connor says. And the demand for such stories “isn’t going to change,” he adds. “Queer people are always going to exist.”

THIS is the moment Matty Healy performed with a The 1975 tribute band – having booked the act for his stag do.

Brit Award winner Matty, 37, has been lead vocalist of pop rock band The 1975 since 2002.

The singer-songwriter put a unique spin on his stag do – as he joined a The 1975 tribute act on stage.

A clip of the moment begins with tribute group The 9075 singing The Sound, which was released in 2019.

Matty jumps on stage mid-performance and performs alongside the band.

One person commented: “Matty Healy attending a 1975 tribute is very Matty Healy coded.”

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Another added: “I thought the real Matty was the fake Matty until he started counting things on his fingers that don’t need to be counted, that’s when I knew.”

A third wrote: “He wanted to experience a 1975 concert for his stag party and I respect it.”

Matty – the son of Denise Welch and Tim Healy – is set to marry American model and singer Gabbriette.

He and the 28-year-old – whose real name is Gabriella Bechtel – announced their engagement in June 2024.

Gabbriette showed off a huge black ring on social media at the time and wrote: “Marrying the 1975 is very Brat.”

Back in February, The Sun revealed the couple had set a July 2026 wedding date.