Netflix

Director Na Hong-jin’s action movie “Hope” opened in 1,500 U.S. cinemas this month, marking the biggest domestic theatrical footprint for a Korean-language film since the Academy Award-winning “Parasite.”

That’s a big bet, particularly for a foreign film. But after the success of “Parasite,” the growth of Korean shows such as Netflix’s “Squid Game” on streaming and the broader acceptance of subtitles in film and television, it was a bet Neon was willing to make.

The indie studio snapped up North American and English language rights to “Hope” for an undisclosed price before the film’s world premiere in the spring at the Cannes Film Festival.

Right off the bat, Neon knew the film would be positioned in South Korea as a big action thriller and massive event film for director Na, and wanted to match that.

In the film, which includes Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender in its cast, a group of people fight back against a creature that rampages through a Korean village.

“The reality is that just because a movie has subtitles, doesn’t make it an art film or a niche film,” Elissa Federoff, Neon’s chief distribution officer, told me this month. “And this, to us, felt like a big action blockbuster.”

She continued, “To me, it was this movie that certainly cinephiles were going to be curious about. But I also knew that we could cross over to a broader audience if we gave it a shot.”

So far, “Hope” has grossed more than $8 million domestically and $45.6 million worldwide on a reported production budget of at least $45 million.

Neon expected to reach Korean and Korean American audiences with “Hope,” but the film also over-indexed with Latinos, who represented 27% of the audience, according to PostTrak theatrical data.

Such a wide national release is unusual for foreign films, which typically play in specialty theaters on fewer than 100 screens. Though its domestic box office total doesn’t indicate that the film fully crossed over to mainstream audiences, “for a foreign film, it’s very successful” and has done “solid business,” said David A. Gross, who writes the FranchiseRe movie industry newsletter.

Neon, of course, has experience with Korean cinema. It distributed 2019’s “Parasite,” which became the first non-English-language film to win Best Picture. After “Parasite” won the Oscar, it was shown on 2,000 screens, about 17 weeks after its release. The Bong Joon Ho-directed film ended up grossing more than $53 million domestically and brought in more than $263 million worldwide.

The film put Neon on the map in many ways, Federoff said, and also pushed the boundaries for what the industry considered a best picture nominee. Films such as “Parasite” and “Hope” should also expand what studios consider to be mainstream fare.

“Studios and distributors are still boxing things out a little bit and thinking of these as not as accessible or not for a general commercial audience,” Federoff said. “And I would totally disagree with it.”

Though “Hope” is a long way from the domestic box-office success of “Parasite,” these kinds of swings are important to keep the pipeline of original films humming and to vary the types of fare mainstream audiences can see at their local theaters.

Although art house films once skewed toward older audiences, indie films are now popular with younger generations, who have also become accustomed to reading subtitles.

That could bode well for future foreign language films looking to make inroads with mainstream audiences. While giving a wide release to a foreign language film could be seen as risky, it’s a move Federoff believes can help bolster creative filmmaking and keep people engaged at cinemas.

“My hope is that studios start to trust their audience and respect their audiences a little bit more,” she said. “I think we can all do this. I think we can all say that we just have to have more risk taking involved with what we do. There’s a lot of incredible international cinema out there that should be seen by everybody.”

Paramount and the states fight back

Paramount Skydance and the state attorneys general are defending their proposed settlement in the face of skeptical questions from Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), arguing that the judge overseeing the case should approve the agreement without the deeper review the senator has requested.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín told both sides to answer Booker’s questions before she ruled on whether to approve the proposed consent decree. She said at the time that she would issue a ruling “in due course.”

On Monday, both sides issued separate filings that argued the terms of the settlement were adequate. In particular, the states pushed back on assertions that the consent decree was too weak, saying it “reflects a reasonable compromise that addresses the competitive issues posed by the proposed merger in the markets alleged in the complaint.”

“The decree’s enforcement provisions have teeth,” the states wrote in their filing.

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

A bipartisan group of lawmakers formally introduced a bill last week to create a federal film and television tax credit.

The proposed legislation would provide a 20% credit on above-the-line and below-the-line U.S. labor costs for eligible productions, including postproduction and visual effects work — two industries that have increasingly moved overseas.

The uncapped credit could increase to 30% with several uplifts, including for independent productions or filming in a federally declared disaster area, such as Los Angeles County.

What I’m watching

It’s fall, which means I’m all in on “Dancing with the Stars,” as I have been since Season 2, when Drew Lachey won with pro partner Cheryl Burke back in 2006.

This season feels like it was made for millennials like me, with contestants such as Julia Stiles, Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Dewan. But my favorite dance last week was actually Guillermo Rodriguez’s paso doble.

Friends star Matthew Perry will be the subject of a moving new documentary series about his life and struggles with addiction

Netflix has unveiled a trailer for its documentary series about Matthew Perry.

The One About Matthew Perry will focus on the late Friends star’s life, career and struggles with addiction. In the trailer, Perry’s close friends and family members open up about the 17 Again and The Whole Nine Yards star.

The trailer prominently features Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, who shares details about the huge sums of money her sibling had spent trying to beat addiction. The footage also includes some of Perry’s most iconic on-screen moments from Friends.

In a particularly poignant moment, one person reveals how Perry “saved my life” through his own advocacy to help fellow addicts. There is also touching archival footage of Perry discussing his demons in his own words.

A logline for the upcoming series reads: “Told through intimate testimonies from close family and friends, this documentary event reveals the real Matthew Perry—generous, funny, vulnerable, larger than life—and the battles he fought to become the man behind the icon. A raw record of a life lived in full, and the honesty that became his greatest legacy.”

The One About Matthew Perry is the first in-depth documentary about the actor since his death. The series will shed light on the different facets of his life from the comedy genius to the man struggling with addiction and also a campaigner to help others get sober.

A Netflix description goes on to state: “Tender and unflinching, the series doesn’t separate Matthew’s humor from his pain, or his fame from his addiction. It sits with both, the way the people who loved him had to. Millions around the world are touched by addiction – their own, or someone they love – and this series speaks directly to them.”

The streaming platform is releasing the three-part factual series The One About Matthew Perry on October 27. The programme will be coming out a day before the third anniversary of the star’s death.

Perry tragically died on October 28, 2023 at the age of 54. He was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. His cause of death was the acute effects of ketamine, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner.

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His death sent the world into mourning with his Friends co-stars paying tribute to Perry. Prior to his death, Perry had released his 2022 autobiography – Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir.

Reflecting on the decision to open up about her brother’s death, Mia Perry Bowick said: “It’s taken time for me to feel ready to share these memories and what it was like to love Matthew through all the complexity of his life—to see him as a whole person, not just as Chandler, and not just as someone who struggled with addiction. As his sister, he shaped who I am today, the person I strive to be, and the work to which I’ve devoted my life.

“Matthew had a beautiful heart and a generous spirit, and even in his darkest moments, he could still make you laugh and feel loved. I hope this series gives everyone who loved him, whether personally or from afar, a deeper appreciation for who he truly was, and the legacy he leaves behind.”

The One About Matthew Perry will be released on Netflix on October 27

Netflix viewers have hailed this latest ITV release as an “utterly absorbing” watch.

ITV viewers can’t get enough of this forgotten “brilliant” drama from a Peaky Blinders legend.

Peaky Blinders might be over but fans are still discovering some of its stars’ best work years before they even stepped foot into Tommy Shelby’s (played by Cillian Murphy) chaotic world.

One series that’s just started to grab fans’ attention is three-part ITV drama Leaving which originally made its debut 13 years ago.

Leading the cast is none other than actress Helen McCrory who portrayed Polly Gray, the dangerous matriarch of the Shelby family in Peaky Blinders’ first five seasons.

She isn’t the only recognisable face though in Leaving as McCrory is joined by Masters of the Air star Callum Turner who married singer Dua Lipa earlier this year.

Leaving revolves around 45-year-old wife Julie Ranmore (Helen McCrory) whose job as a hotel events manager keeps her from thinking too much about her loveless marriage. But things quickly change when she is introduced to unemployed 21-year-old Aaron (Callum Turner) who is still living with his parents.

They start working at the same hotel and what starts off as a flirtationship quickly escalates into a full-blown affair with the couple having to deal with the consequences.

Taking to IMdB to sing the show’s praises, someone simply described it as a “little gem”.

A fellow viewer said it was “utterly absorbing”, adding: “Brilliantly acted, often tense and heartbreaking, this is an outstanding drama…the late Helen McCrory gives an unforgettable performance.”

Another labelled it as “maddening all the right ways” and others hailing it as perfect for a “little binge on a rainy afternoon”.

McCrory sadly died of breast cancer in 2021 at the age of 52, keeping her illness private and only telling those closest to her.

She died ahead of the sixth series of Peaky Blinders being filmed which was postponed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Her husband and Homeland star Damian Lewis said at the time she had a “heroic battle with cancer”, stating that she was a “beautiful and mighty woman”.

He added: “She died as she lived. Fearlessly. God we love her and we know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives.”

Leaving is available to watch on Netflix.

The new Netflix thriller is currently sitting at number one on the streaming platform’s most-watched films

The true-story thriller has been slammed by furious viewers who ‘wasted an hour and a half of their lives’.

Brand new film Unabomber is based on the real story of lone wolf American terrorist Theodore Kaczynski, who carried out a mail bombing campaign that killed 3 people and injured 23 more. Known as the Unabomber, he committed his crimes between 1978 and 1995.

He was apprehended in 1996 and later pleaded guilty to his crimes. Theodore was consequently given multiple life sentences and spent over two decades in prison. He died by suicide on June 10, 2023, at the age of 81.

Netflix’s take on the late criminal’s story explores his transformation from a bright Harvard student into the infamous Unabomber. It stars 19-year-old actor Jacob Tremblay as the title character.

The main cast also features Oscar winner Russell Crowe, playing a Harvard professor who gets caught in Theodore’s orbit. While beloved actress Shailene Woodley portrays an FBI agent determined to get to the bottom of the Unabomber’s crimes.

The film has already climbed to Number 1 on Netflix’s most-watched charts after just one day on the streaming platform. But many viewers have urged others to skip the star-studded drama.

Writing on Rotten Tomatoes, one disappointed viewer said: “What an absolute waste of time. As far as movies go this had an okay cast. The story was based on real life so interesting I guess as it did happen. It’s sad it happened though but it did. I watched it and was expecting more than I receive.”

Someone else joined in to add: “A word that comes to mind is HOW. HOW DO THEY GET SO MANY BRILLIANT ACTORS IN 1 MOVIE AND STILL FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THE MOVIE SUCK. I WAS BARLEY ABLE TO FINISH IT. COULD OF USED THESE ACTORS TO MAKE SOMETHING GREAT. LET DOWN.”

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Someone else simply wrote on X: ” #unabomber on Netflix is an hour and a half of my life I’m not getting back.” At the time of writing, the thriller has a sour 22% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

But others have rushed to the movie’s defence, with one sharing: “Surprised by the negative reviews. I found the film very well done and with a captivating story, quite well engineered. Acting is brilliant and everything is top notch (costume, music, etc). Great film.”

While a second fan added: “I actually loved this. I was just hooked at the very start. And I’m not easily entertained by movies. First of all I loved the switch from the 50s to the 90s it was refreshing. “

Unabomber is streaming now on Netflix

For many celebrities, getting a Funko Pop! doll modeled after themselves is a sign they’ve made it in Hollywood. The 4-inch vinyl “Pop!” figurines, with their oversize heads and black dot eyes, symbolize being ingrained in pop culture — objects fans buy, celebrate and display.

At Funko’s flagship Hollywood store, there are thousands to choose from, ranging from NFL players to Disney princesses and characters from the Netflix period drama “Bridgerton.”

But the publicly traded company behind the popular dolls has been facing significant headwinds.

Funko Inc. last year posted a loss of $67.4 million on sales of $908.2 million, down 13% from the previous year. The company disclosed it had debts of $225 million.

The Everett, Wash.-based company warned investors in filings that there was “substantial doubt” about its ability to generate enough cash to meet its debt payments, citing the effects of tariffs in China, where most of its toys were made, canceled retail orders and loan covenants it expected to breach.

Funko Chief Executive Josh Simon, pictured at the Pokémon convention, says he took over the company at an “inflection point.”

(Carolyn Fong / For The Times)

Now the company is looking to stage a comeback.

Leading the turnaround challenge is Josh Simon, who left his job running global consumer products at Netflix to become Funko’s chief executive in September 2025 — the third person to hold the title in two years.

“Funko was at an interesting inflection point,” said 48-year-old Simon, who lives in Los Feliz. “I felt there was still a lot of really deep fandom and enthusiasm from retailers and at the same time, there were a lot of problems that had to be sorted out at the company. I thought it would be an interesting adventure and hopefully a way to help turn things around a bit and restore it back to that level of fan passion and glory that existed years ago.”

The rise and fall of Funko

Funko began in 1998 when entrepreneur Mike Becker decided bobbleheads would be the next big thing and shipped them out of his garage. After entrepreneur Brian Mariotti bought Funko in 2005, the business began licensing more characters. Sales took off with the launch of its big-headed “Pop!” figurines in 2010.

The company changed ownership over the years, added backpacks and other products, and went public in 2017. Most of its revenue still comes from making licensed characters and selling them through retailers, online and at events.

Funko survived a decline in sales with the rise of kidults — adults who collect toys.

(Carolyn Fong / For The Times)

But Funko’s sales plunged in 2025 following a global trade war.

The company overestimated demand, picked the wrong characters and made too many of dolls, said Gerrick Johnson, senior research analyst at Seaport Research Partners, which has a buy rating on Funko.

President Trump’s heavy tariffs imposed on China substantially raised the costs of making Funko dolls.

Amid lagging sales, retailers marked down the figurines, alienating collectors who want to see items appreciate in value.

“Collectors hate buying things 50% off,” Johnson said. “One of the biggest turnoffs in collectibles is a bargain bin.”

What kept the brand alive through the slump was the rise of kidults — adults who collect toys. Simon was one, picking up Pop! figurines from “Toy Story” and “Back to the Future” long before he worked there. Funko’s job, he said, is to distill what people love about a character into a stylized version of it.

“The number of inbound requests we get from musicians and athletes and celebrities — everyone is excited and pitching us they want a Funko Pop! made of themselves, because in some ways it suggests a mark of establishment in pop culture,” Simon said. “It’s like akin to getting your star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in some way.”

Convention-goers create custom dolls at a Funko Pop! kiosk.

(Carolyn Fong / For The Times)

One expert said Funko’s job is to distill what people love about a character into a stylized version of it.

(Carolyn Fong / For The Times)

A turnaround plan

Though based in Washington, Funko has a large presence in L.A., where most of its senior leadership is based. They work out of the same offices as the flagship Hollywood store. The company also has employees in Arizona, London, Hong Kong and other markets.

Under Simon, Funko has diversified its supply chain, shifting production out of China to Vietnam and other countries. To improve cash flow, Funko renegotiated the timing of its debt payments and pushed products to market faster.

For example, Funko turned around figurines of the characters from “KPop Demon Hunters” — the Netflix film that became the streamer’s most-watched movie ever after its June 2025 release — in about four months, well ahead of Mattel, whose first items reached stores this spring.

When John Cena stepped into the ring for his final WWE match in December, there were pre-orders for a Funko figure wearing the same outfit down to the shirt reading, “The Last Time is Now,” built from an image Funko received a week earlier. The doll became a bestseller, said Scott Zanghellini, executive vice president of WWE Consumer Products.

“It’s happening in real time and his team being able to move quickly, and us always moving quickly in this world of we have seven hours of programming a week — how do you take advantage of that and give the fans what they want?” Zanghellini said.

Funko is also widening what counts as a license, making figures from “The Folk of the Air,” Holly Black’s fantasy series revived by book lovers on TikTok, as well as creating more original characters that aren’t licensed.

“We really want to make sure that we can be a part of these cultural moments while they’re happening,” Simon said.

Reaching out to fans is another priority. At PokémonXP, the first official Pokémon fan convention held last month at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, Funko ran a Pop! Yourself booth where attendees built custom figures in exclusive Trainer uniforms with a Pokémon of their choice.

“We really want to make sure that we can be a part of these cultural moments while they’re happening,” Funko’s chief executive said.

(Carolyn Fong / For The Times)

Jeff Leu, 40, of San Francisco spent about $100 there on two figures modeled after his kids. He already owns 40 to 50 “The Simpsons” Pop! figures and tracks his collection in a spreadsheet.

“I feel like there is a Funko for everything,” Leu said.

Now he feels the pull of the Pokémon ones.

“As they add more, there’s more pressure to buy it because I like to collect things,” Leu said. “Luckily I have a lot of room to display my toys.”

So far, the turnaround plan has yielded some positive signs.

Second-quarter sales rose 7% to $207.7 million and the company reported net income of $15.4 million, against a $40.5-million loss a year earlier. The quarter, however, included a $25.4-million benefit from expected tariff refunds, without which Funko would have lost money.

Funko’s share price closed Friday around $5.50, up about 1%. The stock has climbed 38% in the last year but is 60% below what it trade at in January 2025.

“It’s way too early to make any sort of calls on Josh at this point, but I like what he’s doing,” Johnson said. “It’s an interesting point in Funko’s history, and it’s a great opportunity for him to grow this business.”

Not everyone has to pay – and there’s a simple and legal way to avoid paying this £180 annual fee

People with a Netflix subscription – regardless of their tier – may need to pay a fee of £180, depending on what they watch.

UK households currently pay £180 a year for a colour TV Licence, or £60.50 for a black-and-white set, after the fee increased on April 1, 2026. Failure to pay when needed could land people in hot water, and a fine of £1,000.

Although many people assume a TV Licence only applies to watching the BBC, that is not true. A TV Licence covers far more than BBC content, including:

• All TV channels like BBC, ITV, Channel 4, U&Dave and international channels
• Pay TV services like Sky, Virgin Media and EE TV
• Live TV on streaming services – like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video
• Everything on BBC iPlayer
• Watching, recording and downloading on any device

Do I need a TV Licence to watch Netflix?

It depends. Officials note: “If you are watching a TV programme that is being broadcast live on Netflix, you need to be covered by a TV Licence. You don’t need a TV Licence to watch on-demand programmes on Netflix.”

If you want to keep watching Netflix and avoid paying the Licence fee, simply do not watch any live TV or events on the platform and watch your usual on-demand content. This means you can watch classics like Gilmore Girls, Manifest, Breaking Bad, and the latest competition series, Wonka’s The Golden Ticket – without the need for a TV Licence.

If you live in a shared household, the UK Government confirms: “You need your own TV Licence if you have separate tenancy agreements and you watch TV in your own room.”

You can have one TV Licence for the whole household if you either:

• watch TV in a single shared area
• have a joint tenancy agreement

I have a Netflix subscription – so why do I need a TV Licence?

TV Licensing explains: “Paying for a Netflix subscription grants you access to a large and varied catalogue of movies, series, documentaries and more. Paying for a TV Licence lets you legally watch and record TV on any channel via a range of TV services, including Sky, Freeview, Virgin and Freesat.

“With a TV Licence, you can also watch live on streaming services (e.g. Amazon Prime and Channel 4) and access the full suite of award-winning movies, series and documentaries on BBC iPlayer.

“Some households enjoy having access to Netflix as well as being covered by a licence. Other households prefer to only pay for a TV Licence to watch live on TV and streaming services, including iPlayer, on any device.”

Netflix isn’t the only streaming service you may need to buy a TV Licence for, on top of the subscription fee. TV Licensing further states: “If you’re watching TV showing live on Amazon Prime, you need to be covered by a TV Licence. You don’t need a TV Licence if you’re only watching on-demand programmes on Amazon Prime.”

You could be fined £1,000

You can be fined up to £1,000 if you watch or record live TV without a Licence. TV Licensing warns: “You could be prosecuted if we find that you have been watching, recording or downloading programmes illegally.

“The maximum penalty is a £1,000 fine plus any legal costs and/or compensation you may be ordered to pay. The maximum fine is £2,000 in Guernsey.”

The Damned United tells an unbelievable true story that’s perfect for Ted Lasso fans.

Netflix’s The Damned United stars legends from the worlds of Harry Potter, The Good Omens and Adolescence.

After dropping on Netflix at the weekend, sports drama The Damned United has soared into the streamer’s Top 10 most-watched list and continues to rise in the charts.

Originally released in 2009 and based on a novel by David Peace three years prior, The Damned United tells the turbulent tale of Brian Clough and his disastrous run as the manager of Leeds United in 1974. Only lasting 44 days in the job, Clough was quickly able to alienate the players and the board, leading to the collapse of his professional football career.

As Netflix subscribers continue to discover the classic sports film, here’s everything there is to know about The Damned United cast.

The Damned United cast in full

Brian Clough – Michael Sheen

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Arrogant and fiercely outspoken Brian Clough wasn’t quiet when it came to criticising Leeds United’s former manager Don Revie.

So it took Clough by surprise when he was asked by the team’s board to take over managing the reigning champions.

Actor Michael Sheen has starred in an abundance of hit shows and films throughout his career including The Queen, Good Omens, Masters of Sex, The Twilight Saga and Frost/Nixon.

Peter Taylor – Timothy Spall

Peter Taylor is Clough’s loyal assistant manager and best friend who helps ground the fiery manager when needed.

He is portrayed by actor Timothy Spall who is best remembered for his work in Mr Turner, The King’s Speech and in the Harry Potter franchise as the villainous Peter Pettigrew.

Billy Bremner – Stephen Graham

Billy Bremner is the hard-working captain of Leeds United who is Clough’s main antagonist, leading the resistance that brings about the manager’s infamously short 44-day run at the club.

Bremner is brought to life in The Damned United by Emmy Award-winning actor Stephen Graham, renowned for his work in Netflix’s Adolescence, This is England, A Thousand Blows and Boardwalk Empire.

John O’Hare – Martin Compston

John O’Hare is the team’s striker, known for his aggressive team spirit while playing under Clough.

He is portrayed by none other than Martin Compston, famed for starring as DI Steve Arnott in the unforgettable Line of Duty.

Before becoming a household name in the BBC crime drama, Compston was a professional footballer in Scotland and made a couple of appearances playing for Greenock Morton.

Don Revie – Colm Meaney

Don Revie is the legendary, formidable Leeds United manager who leaves to manage the England national team. It is his exit from the team that leads his rival Clough to begin his chaotic short stint at Leeds.

Don is played by actor Colm Meaney who stars in Remarkably Bright Creatures, In the Land of Saints and Sinners and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Sam Longson – Jim Broadbent

Prior to Clough joining Leeds United, he was the manager of Derby County with Sam Longson acting as its chairman.

Actor Jim Broadbent is recognised for starring in the Harry Potter and Bridget Jones franchises, as well as Game of Thrones and Only Fools and Horses.

The Damned United is available to watch on Netflix.

Fans of dark crime dramas have a new thriller to look forward to, with a familiar face set to lead Sky’s latest big adaptation.

Fans of dark, gripping crime dramas have a new series to add to their watchlists.

David Oyelowo is set to lead the cast in Sky’s new series The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, alongside rising star Viola Prettejohn, who is known for playing young Princess Elizabeth in the sixth season of The Crown.

The eight-part Sky Original is adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s bestselling Millennium novels. It could be perfect for viewers who enjoyed shows such as The Fall and The Capture, with a dark mystery, complex characters and a dangerous investigation at its heart.

David, who is known for his roles in Selma and Interstellar will take on the role of investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist. Viola Prettejohn will play Lisbeth Salander, the brilliant but troubled hacker at the centre of Larsson’s story.

The story follows Blomkvist as he is hired by wealthy businessman Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance of his niece Harriet.

Harriet vanished more than 30 years earlier from the Vanger family’s isolated island home, but Henrik remains convinced that a member of his own family was responsible.

Blomkvist soon teams up with Salander, an exceptionally talented hacker with a complicated past and a fierce determination to uncover the truth.

Together, they begin to uncover secrets buried within the Vanger family, leading them towards a far more dangerous mystery than they initially expected.

The new adaptation will bring Larsson’s story into the modern day, exploring themes including power, misogyny, secrecy and technology.

The original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo novel was published in 2005 and went on to become an international bestseller. The Millennium books have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and have already been adapted for both Swedish and English-language audiences.

The first English-language film adaptation was released in 2011 and starred Daniel Craig as Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Salander, with David Fincher directing.

The new Sky series will offer a fresh interpretation of the characters and story for a new audience and it comes from Left Bank Pictures, the production company behind The Crown and The Day of the Jackal.

Meghan Lyvers, Managing Director, Scripted Originals, Sky, said: “Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are two of modern fiction’s most iconic and compelling characters, and we’re thrilled to have Viola and David bringing them to life for a new generation.”

She added: “Our brilliant writing team, Reinaldo Marcus Green’s bold vision and our fantastic partners at Left Bank Pictures are creating a series that honours everything audiences love about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, while taking its characters, mystery and themes into a world that feels unmistakably of the moment. We can’t wait for audiences to experience it.”

Filming is due to begin in Lithuania next month, with the series set to air on Sky and NOW in the UK and Ireland, as well as Sky platforms across Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo lands on Sky soon

TILLY Ramsay has celebrated her fourth anniversary with her very rarely seen boyfriend in a new social media snap.

The daughter of chef Gordon took to Instagram to mark the occasion by sharing a new loved-up image with her man, Henry Farrow.

Tilly and Henry have been dating for four years but unlike her sister Holly in her union with Adam Peaty, Tilly has aimed to keep the romance private where possible.

Sharing a snap from a recent luxe getaway together, Tilly paid tribute to Henry with a gushing post.

Tilly captioned the snap with: “Four years with the best.”

She then shared another mirror selfie of the pair with the caption: “Love love love you.”

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Who is Tilly Ramsay’s boyfriend Henry Farrow?

Tilly and Harry have largely kept their romance out of view and only went public for the first time on Valentine’s Day 2023.

He only briefly appeared alongside her on the family’s Netflix programme and Harry has largely shunned taking on any of his own media appearances.

In episode 5 viewers caught a glimpse of Henry smiling supportively at Tilly.

He travels down with her family to surprise her whilst she is training in Cork, Ireland.

Henry is from Bristol and is the Son of an entrepreneur father.

Little else is known about him but he is believed to have graduated from Nottingham University in 2024 alongside Tilly.

A three-part series following investigative reporters and police investigators who were instrumental in holding Gary Glitter accountable for his sex abuse crimes has been paused

Netflix has paused the release of an investigative docuseries into disgraced Gary Glitter’s history of sexually abusing minors.

The streaming giant has issued a statement confirming that the three-part series will no longer be released on October 14 as they originally announced.

A spokesperson for Netflix said: “We have made the decision to pause the release of Hunting Gary Glitter originally due to launch on October 14.

“This follows new legal information we recently became aware of. We’re not able to share further detail at this time, but we’ll provide an update as soon as we’re in a position to do so.”

The synopsis for the series states: “A string of dogged journalists chases fugitive pop star Gary Glitter across the globe — from Cuba to Cambodia to Vietnam — determined to expose the child sexual abuse he concealed behind decades of chart-topping fame.

“This documentary follows their pursuit alongside the survivors who speak out, charting Glitter’s 1997 conviction, through to his years on the run, and eventual incarceration.”

The rocker, real name Paul Gadd, was a popular British glam rocker in the 1970s and sang numerous hits like Do You Wanna Touch Me and I Love You Love Me Love.

In 1999, his popularity was derailed by numerous allegations of child sexual abuse and subsequent conviction for possession of child pornography.

Later, in 2006, he was jailed in Vietnam for the sexual abuse of two girls. In 2015, he was convicted of sexually abusing three additional young girls.

In 2023, Gadd was released for a short time on probation before being reincarcerated. Police did not publicly say how he violated the terms of his release.

Featured in the trailer of Hunting Gary Glitter, the docuseries uses first-person interviews to detail Gladd’s original convictions and years hopping from country to country, including Vietnam, Cuba, and Cambodia to avoid prosecution and jail time.

The advert was released alongside the initial announcement but has now been pulled as has all the other assets from Netflix’s media website.

Hunting Gary Glitter was due to be released on Netflix on October 14 but has been paused

Filming a broadcast television show can leave even the most seasoned actors feeling like they’ve lost sense of time. But by afternoon on a recent weekday, Josh Charles actually looks like he teleported to the past as he collapses into a seat inside his production trailer in upstate New York.

He’s in the throes of filming Season 2 of “Best Medicine,” the Fox dramedy he headlines that’s set in a small fishing village in Maine, and the reason he’s shed his character’s usual suit and tie for gaitered trousers and a navy coat with red facings eventually reveals itself: Port Wenn, the show’s fictional town, is putting on a Revolutionary War reenactment. And if you’re familiar with Martin Best, the curmudgeonly doctor with an almost permanently furrowed brow portrayed by Charles, the character’s willingness to don such a getup likely took some coaxing.

That’s the fun of it all for Charles.

He’s been a working actor since childhood — making his debut at 15 in John Waters’ cult classic “Hairspray,” followed soon after by his turn as Knox Overstreet in “Dead Poets Society” — and a fixture in TV and film ever since.

While best known for dramatic roles like high-powered lawyer Will Gardner in “The Good Wife,” Charles easily pivots to comedy — like the time he memorably played the triple-collared, snobby camp ringleader in “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.” Now, “Best Medicine” lets Charles leans into the push and pull of the comedy and drama within his tightly wound alter ego.

Josh Charles as Martin Best in Fox’s “Best Medicine.”

(Francisco Roman / Fox)

Created by Liz Tuccillo (“How to Be Single,” “Sex and the City”), the series follows a brilliant but cranky heart surgeon who, after developing a crippling blood phobia spurred by a traumatic medical case, abandons his thriving career in Boston to become a general practitioner in the town where he spent summers as a child. Martin Best is a doc whose bedside manner could use some TLC, but he came to town hoping he can still practice medicine — that is, if the townspeople would actually do as he says.

“I have been really wanting to do more comedy lately and looking — especially if I was going to call a place home for a particular period of time, like you do in a television show — for something that was a little more lighter air than I had been networking in of late,” says Charles, whose recent credits include dystopian drama “The Handmaid’s Tale” and spy thriller “The Veil.”

The series is based on the beloved British dramedy “Doc Martin,” which starred Martin Clunes as a doctor with a similar storyline, that aired between 2004 and 2022. Tuccillo says Charles brought an elegance and depth to the fish-out-of-water dynamic his character navigates in the quirky town.

“He never hits a false note,” she says in a separate video call. “I knew the material would be in great hands in that he would always elevate it just by his artistry and being. I knew he was going to be able to play the gruffness, but any time that you’re doing a show, there is a question mark on so many things. To be honest, we were like, ‘But is he going to be super funny? Is he going to want to do pratfalls? Is he going to be game for the comedy part of it?’ When we started working, it was clear he was game for all the shenanigans … he likes to laugh. So I try to devise things that I think will amuse him.”

A special advance preview of the Season 2 premiere aired Sunday, but the show will move into its regular time slot Tuesday. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation with Charles.

Josh Charles poses for photos on the “Best Medicine” set in upstate New York. He says he was drawn to the Fox dramedy because it was “a little more lighter air” than the other work he had done recently.

(Ebru Yildiz / For The Times)

“Best Medicine” hit Netflix after its first season aired. Building an audience outside the traditional linear viewing has become such a key component of television today. How do you feel about it?

One of my dad’s best friends told me, “I’m watching the show on Netflix!” He’s like, “I just can’t watch shows with commercials anymore” — as people are programmed now. That is the new shift. You go into these platforms for periods of time, build your audience in a different way and hopefully keep growing that audience. [Television] keeps evolving and growing in a way that I don’t fully understand, but I do know that it’s a different world right now. Netflix has a great reach, and it’s great that we’re on there and that people are discovering it. And apparently we did very well.

Season 2 opens with Martin on probation and under review by the medical board. What is Martin in for this season?

When it starts off, he’s really in it. Eden [Martin’s ex-girlfriend played by Eliza Coupe] is now back in the picture. She’s coming from Boston every weekend, and she’s rubbed a lot of people in town the wrong way. And the progress that Martin made, we see him maybe take a few steps back in the way that he interacts with people. He’s with her and I think there’s feelings there, but I think their relationship feels very — I don’t know, it’s interesting. It doesn’t have the fire. But she doesn’t make him feel bad about himself. She respects him, and I think those things are important. And he’s around in this town where nobody’s listening to him half the time. People are just always mad at him about something, and she’s not. She puts him a little bit on a pedestal, and I think he really needs that.

All that presents an obstacle for the show’s slow burn: Martin and Louisa (Abigail Spencer). There’s been some discourse about the art of the slow burn and how the pacing has changed in an era of short episode orders and unpredictable renewals. You have experience in this department with “The Good Wife.”

Liz and I have talked about it a little bit. You don’t want to muck bait it and drag it out for the sake of dragging it out. I think they’ve done a good job of putting the obstacles in a way that still feels organic and genuine and not yet a reach. In the British show, things accelerated so much faster. They only made eight [episodes] a year. We want to also have it feel like it’s plausible. It is really fun to have Eliza Coupe here. It’s fun to play scenes with her and [see] the different side that brought out in Martin. That is the challenge because I don’t think we’re as interested in doing it quite that fast [as the British show]. I have faith in them that we’ll land it in a good way.

Ellen Soraya Nikbakht as a peculiar patient and Josh Charles as Martin Best in the Season 2 premiere of “Best Medicine.”

(Danielle Mathias / Fox)

You’ve played in comedy and drama in your career. It’s fun to watch you straddle both sides with this character. How has it been finding the rhythm or tone with him?

A lot of the comedy I’ve done, I’ve done some stuff that’s more silly and kind of over the top. I love playing the fool. What’s really fun [here], to me, are the circumstances they put Martin in where things are blowing up in front of him and he’s just trying to deal. I’ve enjoyed doing a lot of the physical comedy on the show.

I [also] found it really interesting to have a character who doesn’t want to be around people, but he actually does. He just doesn’t really know how to do it, and he’s never really had any kind of practice at it in his life. And he’s gone through a lot of trauma in his life. He’s a really specific kind of workaholic. For him to grow up with what he did, and losing his sister really young in his life — I did research on that and what that does to people and how that can sort of frame your life. I imagine he went to private school, maybe a boarding school, then he goes on the track of going to college and medical school — we know how hard that is, the kind of hours they put in; then to be really successful at it, you put everything you have into your work. There’s this other side of his life that is completely empty. This town kind of just softens off the edges of him a little bit and helps him become a little more authentic version of who he was maybe meant to be. That gives me some place to build off of and to go with the character, other than it feeling kind of just very one-note.

Matthew Goode, left, as Finn Polmar and Josh Charles as Will Gardner in a scene from Season 5 of “The Good Wife.”

(CBS)

This series marks your return to broadcast television after leaving “The Good Wife” in its fifth season. You’ve done TV since then, of course. But a big reason you left broadcast was because of the grind of a 20-plus episode season. With “Best Medicine,” you’re the lead and the second season will have 14 episodes. Does that feel like the sweet spot?

If “The Good Wife” was “The Good Fight,” I would have done that until the wheels come off. I would have never wanted to leave that because I would have had a life. I could have been able to go do a play, travel with my family, see my kids. At the time of “The Good Wife,” I didn’t have kids, but we were about to get married and wanted to have children. I was only going to do 18 [episodes] at most with this show, if they wanted it. And then I asked them this year, “Well, we’re just at 14. What was the decision [there]?” And I’m happy about it. They also agree. This just feels like where the show wants to live creatively. You work really hard for four or five months, and then you get to go explore other projects and travel and live your life.

Your departure from “The Good Wife,” with your character Will Gardner dying, felt like an out–of–body viewing experience as it happened. The fact that it was kept under wraps —

I can’t believe we did it, honestly. There was one journalist who obviously had a source somewhere and did find out. Part of being able to keep that silent until the moment was an agreement that they would come to set and be there as long as it was [kept secret]. I remember like when the episode aired, I was in the editing bay with the editors in L.A. [for an episode I directed]. I’m seeing things come in and I was like, “Oh my God!” I thought it was going to get ruined for people on the West Coast. These days, you know how they make something, how much this cost, how they did this scene … we used to be surprised by things. To be able to truly shock people you know like in an Orson Welles-style “War of the Worlds” way. I felt like in our own sort of network TV way, this was the equivalent of that. We really got to narratively pack a punch. That season was one of the great treats of my career. I just felt the writing on that show that season was at another level.

Lizzie Borden is the latest infamous figure to step into Netflix’s spotlight in Ryan Murphy’s Monster.

Lizzie Borden’s disturbing children’s rhyme might be entertaining but it is false.

Monster on Netflix is back following the global success of season three which told the horrific story of Ed Gein, starring Sons of Anarchy legend Charlie Hunnam.

This time around, all eyes are on Lizzie Borden who was accused of the brutal murder of her dad and step-mother in the late 19th Century before she was acquitted.

Despite Lizzie being set free, her reputation was never restored and for more than 100 years, a gruesome children’s rhyme has immortalised the crimes.

But even though this is why Lizzie Borden remains a familiar name in criminal history, the chant is far from factually correct.

Lizzie Borden rhyme explained

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Here is the Lizzie Borden rhyme in full: “Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother 40 whacks.

“When she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41.”

It states that Lizzie killed her mother and father but the woman was actually her step-mother Abby Borden as her biological mum died when she was just a child.

The rhyme goes on to detail that her parents were “whacked” 40 and 40 times but this is an exaggeration as Abby was killed by 18 or 19 strikes and father Andrew by 10 or 11.

In addition, the rhyme states that the murders were committed with an axe but police and experts believe the weapon was a hatchet, a far smaller and compact tool meant for lighter tasks in comparison to an axe.

There’s also the matter that the children’s song states that Lizzie Borden was the one to commit these crimes.

However, a jury acquitted Lizzie of their murders in 1893, so legally, she didn’t kill Abby and Andrew Jackson Borden.

Despite this verdict, public suspicion remained throughout her life and to this day, especially since it was an all-male jury that didn’t think an upper-class woman could commit such a “feral” crime.

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is available to watch on Netflix

If you’re looking for a Netflix series to watch, this show already has two seasons available and it’s so good, viewers will happily stay up all night watching every episode

On the hunt for a new Netflix series? It can be hard finding something new to watch, but Netflix is showing a series so good viewers are binging all episodes within days.

The show is so addictive, viewers will happily stay up late to binge as many episodes as they can. Two seasons are currently available to watch and the streaming platform even confirmed in May this year a third season will be on the cards. Social media users recently shed light on the comedy series which stars Kate Hudson and Max Greenfield. So what show is everyone talking about?

Running Point, a sport comedy series, follows Isla Gordon (Kate Hudson), who’s unexpectedly put in charge of her family’s pro basketball team, the Los Angeles Waves.

The reformed party girl has a lot to prove as she soon learns that running a basketball team comes with its own set of challenges both on and off the court.

Over on Reddit, many people who have already watched both seasons had really good reviews about the Netflix series. One person wrote in the Running Point forum: “Just started this show, I LOVE IT!

“Last night I was endlessly scrolling through comedy shows on Netflix and nothing was sticking. I decided to start Running Point (with low expectations) and it immediately hooked me. I stayed up all night and just started season 2.”

Speaking about the entire cast, which also features Drew Tarver, who plays Sandy Gordon, Isla’s younger half-brother and chief financial officer of the Waves, Scott MacArthur as Ness Gordon, the older brother and general manager of the team, and Brenda Song as Ali Lee, Isla’s college roommate, best friend and chief of staff.

The person continued: “Kate Hudson absolutely crushes her role as President of the Waves.”

Over in the comments section, other people agreed Running Point has been a good watch. Someone said: “Oh my gosh yes! This was my first thought when I watched this show, all the similarities to Arrested Development.

“It’s so great. My personal favourite is Ness and all his quirkiness and how funny he is.”

A third admitted: “I came across it last weekend. Binged it in 2 days.” And a fourth chimed in: “My family and I started it like a week ago and we already finished it, so funny! Ness is hands down my favourite character, and I really like Sandy.”

Season 2 premiered in April this year, while Netflix announced a month later the series would be renewed for a third season. While an official release date is not finalised, previous release patterns suggest season 3 could be out around early 2027.

LONDON — Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have moved their two children to a new school over security concerns, a spokesperson said Tuesday, just weeks after the family returned to the U.K. to make a fresh start.

“The decision for the children to move school was taken following a discussion with the family’s security team about the practicalities of their current arrangements,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, had only just started the new school year in England after the family relocated from California in late August.

British media reported that the distance of the school run and the heavy traffic on the route were among the concerns raised by the couple and their security team. The family is living at a private, non-royal residence outside of London.

“This decision should in no way be interpreted as a reflection on the school or the exceptional care the children have received there,” the statement added.

The news followed reports that Harry and Meghan were awaiting a new risk assessment from the government committee that reviews protection of VIPs, including a decision on whether the family should be entitled to publicly funded security now that they live in the U.K.

Harry and Meghan gave up their royal duties and moved to California more than six years ago, saying they wanted to earn their own living. They later signed lucrative contracts with Netflix and Spotify.

Although relations with the rest of the royal family have soured since then, Harry has recently expressed an interest in reconciliation so he could spend more time with his father, King Charles III.

Harry has fought a long-running battle with Britain’s government for the restoration of publicly funded police protection, which was canceled when the couple gave up their royal roles.

He had previously said he couldn’t “see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K.” without a security guarantee.

Earlier this month, the king reiterated that Harry and Meghan remain non-working members of the royal family and would continue to refrain from using formal royal titles, such as his royal highness and her royal highness, as they have done since 2020. The couple said they were surprised by the way the monarch issued that statement because they were given little time to review it.

GUY RITCHIE is casting the net wide for the third series of The Gentlemen – in the hope of Baggin’ two huge Hollywood superstars.

Insiders have told me the hotshot director is trying to sign up Lord Of The Rings actors Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom for the hit Netflix show.

If he pulls off the move, it would reunite Orlando, who played Legolas, and Elijah, who starred as Frodo Baggins, two decades on from Peter Jackson’s hit film trilogy.

A source said: “The Gentlemen is the hottest TV show in town and Guy has big plans for the third series.

“Elijah is being courted to appear as a villain, while Orlando is also one of their key casting targets.

“For Lord Of The Rings fans working on the production, the idea of having Frodo and Legolas back together would be amazing. No deals are signed yet, but discussions are ongoing.”

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And those aren’t the only actors that Guy is lining up for a part.

Prince Harry’s wife Meghan’s name is being bandied about as a potential star of the third instalment.

And it seems Guy’s show needs a bit of a Hollywood rocket to give it a boost.

Streaming figures for The Gentlemen’s opening weekend of the second series were 50 per cent down on the initial run of shows, with 6.7million views in the first four days it was available to watch.

Season two saw Theo James reprising his role as aristocrat-turned-drug kingpin Eddie Horniman alongside Kaya Scodelario, who plays ice-cold crime boss Susie Glass.

Love Island host Maya Jama made her acting debut in the second series after being cast as mob wife Aisha.

And she is definitely back for the next run, admitting she loved working with Guy on set. Maya said: “He’s very personable and he would be like, ‘Yeah, you’re doing well’, and reassure me, which was really nice.

“He’s just really involved and kind of a genius to watch, because everyone’s practising their lines and then he says something that’s way better than the original.”

After Brian Koppelman and David Levien wrapped their hit Showtime series “Billions,” the co-creators were undecided about where they would go next. A more than hourlong visit from a Netflix executive settled it.

Netflix had been developing a Las Vegas drama with Martin Scorsese, who is executive producing through his Sikelia Productions. The streamer brought in Koppelman and Levien, and the pair pitched a present-day casino story. Jinny Howe, Netflix’s head of U.S. and Canada scripted series, went to their office to make the case.

“When she left our office, we looked at each other and said, ‘Well, whatever we do, we want to do it with her,’” said Koppelman, recalling their meeting from two years ago. Their new Las Vegas series, “The Roman” starring Oscar Issac as a casino president, is expected to be released year. Netflix ordered it in December.

Howe has one of the hardest jobs in Hollywood — finding must-see scripted programs that keep Netflix’s subscribers watching. The company said it had over 325 million paid subscribers worldwide at the end of 2025. Her instincts for creators, combined with years as an entertainment executive and a lifelong viewer have given her a track record of championing hits, including thriller “The Night Agent,” drama “The Diplomat” and Regency-era romance “Bridgerton.”

That led to her promotion last year as head of U.S. and Canada scripted series — her fourth advancement in four years. She succeeded Peter Friedlander, who left after nearly 14 years, and reports to Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria.

“In my role, I feel I am really ear to the ground, really listening to what audiences are asking for, and really trying to understand where the culture is, where the conversation is, to really make sure we’re giving these audiences what it is that they want and they crave,” said Howe, 48.

The pressure is on. Key franchises are in their final seasons. “Stranger Things” ended in December, “Outer Banks” concluded with its fifth season last month and “Emily in Paris” finishes with its sixth season in December. Netflix has confirmed that the fifth season of legal drama “The Lincoln Lawyer” will be its last.

Wall Street has soured. Netflix shares, which closed Thursday $76.01, are down 39% over the past 12 months, a slide that began with its $83-billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery in December — a deal it later walked away from — and continued through 2026 when the company lowered its growth projections.

Analysts have also flagged sluggish engagement growth. View hours rose about 2% in the first half of 2026 compared with a year earlier, even as content spending climbed.

After graduating from UCLA, Jinny Howe worked at Brillstein Entertainment Partners and John Wells Productions before joining Netflix in 2018.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Nonetheless, Howe is confident that Netflix continues to outshine its competitors, noting that the streamer is still in a “growth mindset” that bets on original ideas. The streamer also has franchises that continue to pull in large audiences, such as the fourth season of “Bridgerton,” she said.

“We’re not slowing down at all,” Howe said.

This year her department has a slate of 44 new and returning scripted series from the U.S. and Canada, excluding stand-up, comedy formats and adult animation. They span genres and mix seasoned showrunners and bets on emerging talent. Six are run by first-time female showrunners, a notable number at a time when the industry has cut back and women have historically had fewer chances to lead series. Those programs include “East of Eden,” a series based on the popular John Steinbeck novel; YA drama “The Body” and “A Different World,” a sequel series based on the NBC sitcom about Black students at a fictional college.

Howe leads a team of people spanning the U.S. and Canada, with hubs in Los Angeles and Toronto. While she is accountable for the U.S. and Canada scripted slate, the decisions are made in partnership with her team.

Scripted series out of the U.S. and Canada remain central to the business. Many of Netflix’s most-watched shows of all time come from the region, which accounts for about 40% of global revenue — the streamer’s largest market. Netflix reported 89.6 million memberships in the U.S. and Canada at the end of 2024, the last time it broke out regional numbers.

“There’s so many amazing creators and stories to be told from the U.S. and Canada and historically, English language scripted television for many, many years has traveled to lots of different countries around the world,” Bajaria said.

The region also drives Netflix’s awards profile. The streamer collected 111 Emmy nominations in July, second to HBO Max’s 122. Netflix says 83 of them came from scripted series and variety specials under Howe’s slate. “Beef” season 2 led Netflix’s titles receiving Emmy recognition with 16 nominations.

Competition for attention is fierce. Rival streamers are investing in live sports, and YouTube continues to take a significant share of TV viewing time in the U.S. Netflix has responded by adding video podcasts, sports and games to its lineup. It also lacks the deep historic library some competitors hold — the gap its failed Warner Bros. bid would have closed.

So finding new gems matters. In 2015 the streamer bet on Matt and Ross Duffer, then first-time showrunners, for “Stranger Things.” It became one of the biggest hits in the company’s history.

Then the Duffers agreed to produce a show created by Haley Z. Boston, the horror series “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen,” about a woman who is cursed and could die if she doesn’t marry her soulmate. Other studios didn’t see Boston as the showrunner, but Howe and Netflix did.

“We need people to take chances on us,” 31-year-old Boston said. “There is still a glass ceiling … I’m excited about new future where you don’t have to have done the job already to do it. All you need is the right support.”

The series debuted at No. 2 on the streamer’s global top 10 English language shows and reached 20.3 million views on Netflix in the first half of this year, according to the streamer.

“Netflix had the confidence that we can find the right audience for this,” she said.

Connecting with a range of storytellers early is part of the strategy. Howe’s relationship with creator Molly Smith Metzler goes back about a decade, to when Metzler submitted her play “Elemeno Pea” while Howe was working at John Wells Productions. Howe was impressed and recommended her for the “Shameless” writers room. Metzler went on to lead the critically acclaimed 2021 limited series “Maid” for Netflix, her first job as a showrunner, and signed an overall deal with the streamer in early 2022.

One of Howe’s ideas was to build a series out of “Elemeno Pea.” That became the drama “Sirens,” starring Meghann Fahy, Milly Alcock and Julianne Moore. Released in 2025, it debuted at No. 1 on Netflix’s global top 10 and earned four Emmy nominations, including a surprise lead actress nod for Fahy.

“We spent so many cups of coffee and walks talking about what that could be and what it could look like, and we really built it from the ground up,” Metzler said. “She is very hardworking, and she’s extremely committed to the projects she does. That commitment and that rigor is contagious.”

Jinny Howe, who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, is one of the few prominent Asian American content leaders in Hollywood.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

In her soul, Howe said, she’s a producer first. Koppelman and Levien said she was instrumental in the casting “The Roman,” including speaking with some of the leading actors. Alongside Isaac, the series stars Betty Gilpin, Alec Baldwin, Jimmy O. Yang and Jason Schwartzman.

“This would not have come together had Ginny not rolled up her sleeves,” Koppelman said. “When we look at this cast, sometimes we can’t really believe what got put together.”

Howe and Netflix also supported showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine’s push to make a version of “Little House on the Prairie” that includes more of the Osage perspective.

“She was very open to a vision that explored all the things that we wanted to explore in this show,” Sonnenshine said.

Howe grew up in Walnut, in the San Gabriel Valley, a self-described latchkey kid and the daughter of a residential real estate agent and a women’s clothing store owner. She was born in Seoul and immigrated to California when she was 15 months old.

“So I really am a California girl, I grew up just adjacent to the glittering lights of Hollywood, but close enough to know that there was a real business there,” Howe said.

While her parents worked, she and her brother watched a lot of TV, sitcoms like “Diff’rent Strokes” and “Small Wonder” and soaps like “Dynasty” and “Dallas.” That turned into a career. She graduated from UCLA with a bachelor of arts degree in theater, film and television, worked in the talent division at Brillstein Entertainment Partners and rose to executive vice president of television at John Wells Productions before joining Netflix in 2018.

She is one of the few prominent Asian American content leaders in Hollywood, in a position that helps shape what the world watches.

“I definitely do feel it’s not something I take for granted to be in these rooms and to know that my voice matters,” Howe said. “I get to be a decision-maker in a lot of these conversations. It’s really gratifying, and it’s something that I think is not lost on me at all.”

Crew Girl heartthrob Sam Braun is openly dating a fellow actress

Crew Girl viewers have been left curious about Sam Braun’s off-screen love life, and it’s not as tangled as his character’s.

The Canadian actor plays popular boy Josh Regis in the brand new young adult show, now available to stream on Netflix. The drama follows Teagan (played by Miku Martineau), a skilled teenage rower who is forced to move to a small town after a family scandal.

She hopes to have a fresh start at the prestigious Easton Prep, but soon discovers she will be the only female on her new school’s rowing team. A synopsis reveals: “Thrust into a world of old money and brutal competition, Teagan must find a way to lead a team that doesn’t want her and somehow bring them together.”

As well as juggling her rowing ambitions and family complications, Teagan also finds herself at the heart of a heated love triangle with Josh and Cam (Kyle Clark). We won’t spoil who she chooses in the end, but many fans have already rallied behind Team Josh.

But what is there to know about actor Sam’s real-life romances?

Who is Sam Braun’s partner?

Sam appears to be dating fellow actress Shanti Harris. The couple often posts loved-up pictures on Instagram, documenting everything from their romantic trips to work collaborations.

She has theatre experience as well as credits in short films, including Untethered, The First Dance, and Laundry. Sam and Shanti are also performing together on a new play called The Truth and Darers, which was written by Shanti.

It’s currently showing at the Vancouver Fringe and follows six teenagers who strike up a high-stakes game of Truth or Dare.

The first season of Crew Girl landed on Netflix on Thursday morning (September 10), and some fans are already hoping it’ll return for a second series. There’s no news yet on the future of the show, but the leading stars have ideas on where the story could go next.

“If we go to season 2, I think we should go on summer break or something, get lost in the woods,” Sam told Tudum. “It’d be really fun to do a summer bash and be on the lake boat and see what their life is [like] outside of rowing too.”

Meanwhile, Kyle added: “We really want to step it up if we have more time.” With leading lady Miku stating: “Who knows what can happen in season 2? A love square — is that even possible?”

Crew Girl is streaming now on Netflix

Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning has reportedly taken on a new role in a “darkly comedic” thriller.

Fans of disturbing thrillers like Baby Reindeer are urged to keep their eyes on an upcoming Netflix project starring one of its leads. For the first time since her big breakout moment with Baby Reindeer, Jessica Gunning is reportedly returning to the streamer for a new series.

The actress has reportedly been cast as one of the four leads in Netflix’s Feral, a “darkly comedic thriller series based on a 1987 novel by Shirley Conran”, Deadline shared. The news outlet teased: “In the series, four very different women learn to survive on a lethal tropical island after their mining exec husbands are kidnapped. The question is, can they put aside their differences, their self-doubts, and their vanities to stay alive?”

The Mirror has contacted Netflix for confirmation, but Deadline said Gunning plays Annie, a “quietly dutiful wife who has sacrificed her ambitions to raise four sons under her domineering husband, Duncan”. Gunning previously earned an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA TV Award, an Actor Award, a Critics’ Choice Award, and an Independent Spirit Award for her work in Baby Reindeer, which aired on Netflix in April 2024.

Her latest reported project is based on Shirley Conran’s novel, Savages, which “deals with five women, transformed from wives of the powerful rich executives to widows in the jungle, coming face to face with the savage inside themselves”. The story has been described by readers as a “female Lord of the Flies” and has recently been adapted into a TV series.

Fans took to Goodreads to share their thoughts on the original source material, with one saying: “I keep going back to this book; I’ve probably read it 7 or 8 times. I like the way she shows the relationships and how they change. The suspense is great.

“I like how you see the strengths come out, and the frailties, and how they cope with them. I find this book inspiring. It seems like just another fluffy beach read, but these women are tested to the limit and overcome overwhelming difficulty.”

Another added: “Oh my gosh. This book was so good. Engrossing. I had trouble putting it down to do anything else. It’s going on my list of favourite books. And, it was educational. I learned a lot about wilderness living. Just wow, really.”

A third commented, “I have never forgotten this female Lord of the Flies type book. Women get stuck on a deserted island, and what issues ensue. I loved this book and especially how the power struggle shook out. One of my favourite books!”

In March 2026, Gunning opened up about how her award-winning role in Baby Reindeer changed her life and catapulted her to global fame, telling Variety Australia: “The whole of the Baby Reindeer journey was just so surreal. What an amazing thing to be part of. I don’t feel like I’ve changed as a person, but I feel like I’ve had some amazing opportunities since.

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“I was over in America loads, and haven’t been before. And also the people I’ve met and the jobs I’ve had a chance to do since have just been so lovely.” She caught the eye of directors who have offered huge opportunities, adding: ” [There have been] a few things coming in which has been lovely.

“And I’ve just had, I suppose, more and more people have got to know who I am really, which is always nice. So yeah, hopefully more interesting [projects] will come my way.”

Feral is expected to air on Netflix

SPICE GIRLS, Girls Aloud and Little Mix are just some of the huge girl groups who have ruled the charts over the years.

Now the next generation is ready to get in on the action.

Step forward Manifest — Turkey’s picture-perfect group, who are taking the world by storm.

Despite being yet to release a single English-language track, the girls already have 7.3million monthly listeners on Spotify alone.

The group is made up of six amazing women: Sueda Uluca, Hilal Yelekci, Lidya Pinar, Mina Solak, Esin Bahat and Zeynep Sude Oktay.

And they have the backing of Dua Lipa, who personally invited them to perform as part of her Sunny Hill music festival in Kosovo earlier this summer, and has tipped them for greatness.

DUA LEAPER

Dua Lipa jumps for joy as she marks 31st birthday in Ibiza on 8th trip of year

TAUT & TANNED

Dua Lipa shows off bronzed body in a bikini as she sunbathes on girls’ trip

They said: “Dua was amazing. We really love her, and meeting with her was like a dream come true. We saw meeting Dua and playing her festival as a step to becoming global stars.

“She gave us some great advice and was keen for us to just remember to enjoy the show.

“She encouraged us to enjoy our time on stage and not worry too much. If we have fun, the fans have fun.”

Each member has their own distinct personality and style, and since being put together on a TV talent contest in Turkey last year, their popularity has skyrocketed.

Keen to take on the world, the girls invited Bizarre’s Jack to Izmir, on Turkey’s Aegean coast, to see them in action at their three-day festival, Manifestival.

He was blown away — not only by the vocals and the sharp choreography but by just how lovely the girls were backstage.

In their first UK interview, the group explained: “We have been manifesting ourselves to be a successful band for years. We have always believed we can do it and make it global.

“We believe people can manifest anything, so when it came to picking a name for us, as soon as someone mentioned Manifest, it stuck.

“We loved it. We didn’t want a name that was too cheesy.”

The group are putting in some serious hours to make themselves stars.

They explained: “We don’t have days off, we have hours. We are so busy, but that’s good. We are constantly in rehearsals.

“It only takes us one day to learn a dance but then we practise it over and over again.

“We want the show to be perfect. Sometimes we will practise a single routine for five days until it’s ready.”

Next month, Manifest will jet to the UK for their first ever headline show on British soil and, boy, are they starting big.

Leapfrogging smaller venues due to demand, they will headline London’s Wembley Arena on October 16.

As well as the gig, the girls are set to take part in a number of promo activities across the capital to show there’s a new band in town.

Admitting they still battle with nerves even though they have “made it” in their home country, the group said: “When we first started to perform, we were really nervous — it almost felt like you were having a heart attack from the nerves.

“But now it’s just excitement. Every time we perform, it’s still so exciting for us. It’s what we love to do.

“We have rituals to calm us down, and we pray to God before we take to the stage.”

In another sign Manifest are attracting all the right attention, they have also landed themselves a Netflix series which will show them on the road and take each member back to their home town.

Setting their sights as high as possible, the girls now hope they can emulate their Girl Power idols.

They added: “We would love to be as big as the Spice Girls; they are our inspiration.

“We have just recorded our first English song, which should be out soon, and we are coming to London.”

Take it from us, there are big things to come from Manifest.

Sam’s on £400m sales

SAM SMITH looked pleased as punch receiving this plaque celebrating the sale of 400million singles worldwide.

The Lay Me Down singer, whose latest album Hazel Eyes came out last month, beamed backstage at the London Coliseum.

Sam played the first show of an eight-night To Be Free residency there on Tuesday, and I’m sure this boost was most welcome before taking to the stage.

An ABBA Fab tribute

IN what I can only describe as the maddest musical mash-up I’ve heard of in a long time, Una Healy, Samantha Mumba, Duncan James and Antony Costa are teaming up for an ABBA extravaganza.

All Stars: The Music Of Abba is a new stage show ­celebrating the Swedish group’s biggest hits.

Across a 21-date tour, The Saturdays star Una, Samantha and the Blue bandmates will form a pop supergroup paying homage to the works of the chart legends, backed by a live band.

Further dates are expected down the line, but they will kick off in Croydon on February 26, before ­taking in shows in cities nationwide including Aberdeen and Edinburgh, Cardiff, Birmingham, Southend, Nottingham and Hull.

Tickets go on pre-sale from 10am today online at allstarsonstage.com.

SHAKIRA’S World Cup anthem Dai Dai with Burna Boy has surpassed one billion views on YouTube and made her the most-viewed female artist on the platform.

The achievement comes ahead of the launch next week of her sold-out 12-night residency at a purpose-built stadium in Madrid.

THE WEEKND has wrapped his 42-date After Hours Til Dawn 2026 tour, grossing £255million after performing in front of more than two million fans.

The gigs gave a massive boost to local economies and raised more than £1.6million in charitable donations for both the United Nations World Food Programme and the Global Citizen project.

Strike a pose Julia

JULIA GARNER is the spitting image of a young Madonna as she vows that the superstar’s biopic will be made.

The Ozark actress sported cropped blonde hair and a feathery gown in the October issue of Elle magazine after being cast in the film, which was canned amid budget rows.

Julia insisted: “I think the movie has to get made. But we’ll see . . .”

She and Vogue singer Madge filmed for Apple TV show The Studio together earlier this year. Their spoof storyline is inspired by the Queen of Pop’s axed film.

Julia said: “She’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. Like actually. And people don’t know that.”

Peter’s spaced out in new film role

WHATEVER you think about Peter Andre, it’s safe to say he likes to keep his career varied.

Last year he played a gangster trying to secure his nan’s £35,000 care home fee in comedy film Jafaican.

Now, I’m told the Mysterious Girl singer is about to start work on his next ­production.

Insiders tell me his latest foray into the movie world will be Love In Space, which has a similarly hilarious plot.

It will tell the story of a young man who falls in love with a charming female ­scientist after being abducted by UFOs.

A source said: “Pete just loves acting and if the project feels right and he likes the script, he goes for it.

“This film is really futuristic and Pete will be filming at the end of this month in a ready-made spaceship.”

Popcorn at the ready . . . 

A Biggie break for Swayvo

ANOTHER nepo baby has bagged a major role in Hollywood.

The son of neo-soul pioneers D’Angelo and Angie Stone has been cast as Biggie in the upcoming Snoop Dogg biopic.

Swayvo Twain, whose real name is Michael D’Angelo Archer II, will star in the Universal Pictures movie called Snoop, which is being produced by the rapper himself.

Biggie, also known as Notorious B.I.G., was one of the biggest names in hip-hop in the Nineties and had a mutual appreciation with Snoop, despite the fact they were on either side of the East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry.

Jonathan Daviss will play the main man himself in the flick, which is due to hit cinemas next August.

Nirvana go for a gong

NIRVANA will be honoured with the prestigious Video Vanguard Award at the MTV VMAs on September 27.

The gong is akin to a lifetime achievement award and has been won by Mariah Carey and Rihanna in recent years, with Nirvana being the first band to do so since Duran Duran in 2003.

They only released three albums before frontman Kurt Cobain died, but surviving members Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear are being tipped to attend, 34 years after winning the Best New Artist and Best Alternative Video prizes for Smells Like Teen Spirit.

The 2026 ceremony will take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with Madonna leading the nominations with 11.

In reach for Adela

WITH just one day of sales left, the battle for No1 is almost over but breakout star Adela is fighting for the top spot.

And it’s not just chart success she is hoping for but world domination, following the release of her brilliant debut album Prima on Friday.

More than a million videos have been made on TikTok using the audio for her single Ain’t In LA.

Now that single is set to enter the Top 20 tomorrow, plus A-lister Nicole Kidman has praised Adela after the Slovak singer named her next track after the actress.

Meanwhile, Adela has revealed her drive to become a pop star in the first place.

Speaking about her favourite Disney Channel show as a youngster, she told Bizarre’s Howell: “Hannah Montana’s where I first saw like, ‘Oh, you can sing and dance for a living and you can be a pop star. This is what that is like’.

“That’s literally where this all first began. For me, it was seeing that show and becoming obsessed with it.”

Of the show’s star Miley Cyrus, she added: “She’s like a mythical creature to me. I don’t think I can actually meet her.”

If Prima manages to clinch the No1 spot from competitors Kasabian, who she is just 332 copies behind, she will be the first solo female to go straight to No1 with her debut album since Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour in 2021.

And judging by Adela’s drive, talent and creativeness on this record, the world is her oyster.

VENICE, Italy — “My actual personality is not very friendly, I’m afraid,” claims Korean actor Jeon Do-yeon. “Myself and actor Sul Kyung-gu, we can be a little bit brusque. We don’t really have the talent to make the set fun.”

As she says it, though, Jeon and co-star Cho Yeo-jeong are laughing — making the assertion rather harder to believe when it arrives in English from Korean via an interpreter. Throughout our conversation, in fact, the pair chuckles, nods along to each other’s answers, interjects sounds of assent. Enough for me to understand that their chemistry comes naturally, whatever Jeon’s protestations.

“In the film I play a character that chases [Jeon’s character] and it really suited me, almost to the point where I didn’t really need to try and act this role,” as Cho puts it. “I was almost like a sunflower, constantly facing and chasing actor Jeon.”

The actors needed every ounce of the sublime chemistry they forged to portray the magnetic but fatally flawed relationship at the heart of auteur Lee Chang-dong’s first film in eight years, “Possible Love,” which premiered Sunday at the Venice Film Festival. South Korea’s international feature submission for the 2027 Oscars, the Netflix film sees Ye-ji (Cho), a documentarian married to a wealthy businessman (Zo In-sung), cozy up to Mi-ok (Jeon), whose husband (Sul) has been seriously injured in a brutal crackdown on striking factory workers, in order to secure an interview with him — only for divisions of class and professional ambition to expose the fault lines in their relationship, and in turn their marriages.

“It seems like they want to be friends with each other, but then there seems to be a line that just cannot be crossed between them,” says Lee, also through an interpreter, of the actors’ accomplished double act, referring to a scene in which Ye-ji bristles at Mi-ok’s suggestion that her high-end clothes are out of place interviewing unemployed laborers. “[Jeon and Cho] knew of that and they went into shooting that scene knowing that it was quite challenging to express. There were, of course, some things that were up to the camera in bringing that about, but I think that was a scene where the two were able to express just how nuanced and quite strange the relationship can be.”

The film itself is just as slippery and multi-layered, down to Lee’s heady admixture of documentary and dramatic aesthetics. Inspired by real-life labor conflict in South Korea, “Possible Love” uses Ye-ji’s nonfiction study of laid-off workers as a window into the lives of ordinary people swept up in large-scale social change, against the backdrop of which the two women’s competing priorities are thrown into stark relief. Can a filmmaker who totes a $4,000 Lora Piana backpack, however well-intentioned, truly understand the plight of the working class? Is a subject eager to publicize a political struggle prepared for the risk that her personal privacy will be invaded in the process?

To choreograph the film within the film — so compelling that I almost missed seeing its conclusion when “Possible Love” shifts the focus to interpersonal fireworks in the third hour — Lee cast a real-life documentary director and cinematographer as Ye-ji’s crew, lending what Cho calls their “natural energy” to the movements of the camera. Cho herself prepared by consulting the late master of the form, Frederick Wiseman, who was unabashed about the tension between documentary filmaking’s often radical politics and the privilege required to turn it into a profession.

“[Wiseman] was posed the question by some students studying film and documentary: ‘How can I pursue this work in reality?’” she recalls. “And he replied with the immortal words, ‘Marry a rich man.’ And you know, I was preparing for the role of Ye-ji, so it was such an apt response for her situation.”

Jeon, left, and Cho in “Possible Love.”

(Joo Jae-bum/Netflix)

The potential for conflict bursts into the open at a seaside home that has been in Ye-ji’s husband’s family for years, where the group has decamped for a supposedly restorative holiday. Reminded of the setting by the location of our conversation — a set of green-curtained, pink-carpeted suites at the Hotel Excelsior, overlooking the northern shores of the Adriatic — I ask the actors what’s going through their characters’ minds when Mi-ok and Ye-ji’s promising connection ultimately severs.

Mi-ok “doesn’t really want to reveal to anyone else what’s going on in the family … She only wants to show the good side that they are trying to live their best life and trying to improve and move forward with hopefulness,” Jeon says, citing an early scene in which Mi-ok asks the crew not to film her son’s awkward taekwondo at a school field day. When the camera’s prying eye becomes more intrusive, though, she “feels a great sense of betrayal, that her family is being used and exploited.”

For Cho, who says Ye-ji is “constantly balancing the ethical dilemma” between documenting the truth and treating her subjects with care, the break was always inevitable, and no amount of Ye-ji’s remorse or guilt can repair the damage.

Against this microcosm of the class war Lee sets the emergence of artificial intelligence, which threatens to further destabilize labor across a range of industries — including his own. Although he’s uncertain if, when or how AI will “intrude” on the “entirely creative” filmmaking process, the “Poetry” and “Burning” director is already using it for everyday tasks.

“Before going to see the doctor, I like to ask AI all the symptoms that I have, ask what’s wrong with me. Or I would ask, you know, ‘What’s the weather like in Venice?’” he says. “AI gives us instant answers, and it goes even beyond that to where it gives you advice these days. And in that sense, AI has indeed really gotten deeply intertwined in my daily life.”

Similarly, Jeon is open to using AI for more “trivial” matters, such as simultaneous translation from English to Korean and vice versa. But she admits to more “extreme thoughts” than Lee about the technology’s role in the future of screen acting.

“I’m going to be starring in a [Korean-language adaptation] of Anton Chekov’s “The Cherry Orchard” upcoming in New York. And I was wondering, actually, is the stage the last place that cannot be conquered by AI, and will not be replaced by AI?”

Perhaps. But the scene in “Possible Love” that best captures the finely honed chemistry of its female leads, in which Mi-ok and Ye-ji drunkenly bond over soju and Korean barbecue as their bemused husbands look on, seems to me beyond the capabilities of AI — it’s too warm, too meticulously rendered to be anything other than fully human, the sort of acting one hopes the Venice jury will remember when it hands out the Volpi Cup for best actress on Saturday.

“It is quite difficult technically and practically — it was a scene that we shot all night long,” Cho says. “But I remember shooting it with a lot of pleasure.”

No protest there.

Many true crime fans said it was a ‘wild’ watch as they tune in for the first time

An “insane” true crime documentary available to stream online is guaranteed to have your jaw on the floor.

There is an abundance of documentaries and films to watch on Netflix, but there is one particular watch that viewers say did not get “enough recognition” when it was first released.

Premiering in 2019, Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator examines the dramatic rise and fall of the controversial founder of hot yoga, Bikram Choudhury.

Directed by Academy Award winner Eva Orner (Taxi to the Dark Side), the film details how the controversial founder built a global fitness empire before it collapsed following numerous sexual abuse allegations.

An official synopsis on Netflix reads: “Arriving in Beverly Hills from Calcutta, India in the early 1970s, Choudhury quickly cultivated a celebrity following and built a global fitness empire that furnished him with extreme wealth.

“But by the 2010s, as numerous sexual abuse allegations emerged and stories of his aggressive, cult-like training environment surfaced, the lawsuits started to mount and Choudhury’s unorthodox teaching style became front-page news.”

It later adds: “BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR, a Netflix original documentary, shines a light on the stories of the women who took him down and explores the contradiction of how this healing discipline could simultaneously help and hurt so many.”

Recently, one true crime reviewer took to social media having recently watched the documentary film, as they branded it an “insane” watch.

Sharing a video explaining the synopsis of the documentary, they wrote: “This true crime documentary will have your jaw on the ground.”

In the clip, they added: “This insane true crime documentary didn’t get enough recognition when it first came out.” One person replied: “Ohhh I loved this one crazzzyyyy”, as another commented: “Yes this was WILD!!!!”

A third added: “There’s a podcast about this too. Very strange, weird story.” A fourth wrote: “Oh yea this was a good one lol.”A fifth said: “That was a b***** crazy doc!! Too cray cray!!” Another stated: “I saw this already and I screamed at that ***!!! Absolutely insane!!”

Over on IMDb, one reviewer previously said: “The documentary was impeccably put together and a must watch for any yogi.”

Another wrote: “‘Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator’ is an exceptionally well made and well constructed documentary. It’s also one that, by the end, will probably also make you very angry for a variety of reasons.”

Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator can be streamed on Netflix

The Gentleman actress Jasmine Blackborow appeared on Sunday Brunch to promote the second season and conversation quickly turned to her co-star Maya Jama

One of Maya Jama’s The Gentleman co-star’s has revealed what the Love Island host was really like behind the scenes.

The presenter has has made her major scripted acting debut in the second series of Guy Ritchie’s comedy-drama Netflix’s The Gentleman as Aisha, a gangster’s moll and the wife of Prince Amir bin Abdullah al-Hadidi (Amra Mallassi).

She makes appearances during key moments of the season, notably featured in Episode 1 and Episode 4 and it has been reported that Maya will return for season three.

Actress Jasmine Blackborow, who plays Lady Charlotte “Charly” Horniman, the younger sister of the protagonist Eddie Horniman in The Gentleman, appeared on Sunday Brunch on September 6 so promote the show.

Conversation turned to Maya joining the cast with hosts Simon Rimmer and Tim Lovejoy keen to find out what the Celebrity Traitors was like when the cameras stopped rolling.

Jasmine said: “She was absolutely gorgeous on set and she was nervous because she’s not done this before. She was there running her lines again and again and when she did it she was just such a pro.”

Maya, who has been the host of Love Island since 2023, previously opened up about joining cast of the hit Netflix series and say director Guy made her feel comfortable while filming.

Speaking to Variety, she said: “He’s really kind and nice. He doesn’t feel as intimidating as you’d think, being who he is. He’s very personable and he would be like ‘yeah, you’re doing well’, and reassure me, which was really nice.

“He’s just really involved and kind of a genius to watch, because everyone’s practicing their lines and then he says something that’s way better than the original. You just feel like you’re in the presence of greatness.”

Hugh Bonneville and Michele Morrone are among other names joining season two of The Gentlemen, which is based on Guy’s film of the same name and explores the criminal underbelly of high society Britain.

The first series of The Gentleman premiered with an audience of 3.5 million and secured a place as one of UK’s most-watched TV shows of 2024.

The only other acting experience that 32-year-old Maya has had was in a brief cameo role for Katherine Ryan’s The Duchess on Netflix six years ago.

Speaking about the role at the time, Maya said: “I did the tiniest little cameo in a Netflix series called The Duchess” referring to her appearance as a dental nurse.

“But it was like one day filming, whereas this was my first one where I had to properly learn lines and be on set for a few days. But I was so, so excited because I loved the series.”

The Gentleman is now streaming on Netflix