Paul

TELLURIDE, Colo. — Standing ovations at film festivals are a rite: part appreciation, part obligation, part a need to stretch your legs after sitting for a couple of hours.

But for an audience to explode and roar their approval in the middle of a movie? That rarely, if ever, happens.

Except it did, midway through the Telluride Film Festival world premiere of Jesse Eisenberg‘s delightful comedy “The Debut.” The applause followed a scene between Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti that took its audience on such an exhilarating journey that there was almost no choice but to cheer in admiration, as if to say: What did we just see?

Sitting in the theater, Eisenberg, producer Emma Stone and Paul Giamatti looked at each other and asked themselves the same question but for a different reason.

“It was hard to process and, at the same time, just so affirming,” Eisenberg told me a couple of hours after the premiere.

The next day, sitting down to grab a quick bite with Moore and Giamatti, that giddy feeling had not dissipated, though, truth be told, they knew this scene was an all-timer from the moment they read it.

Let’s set the stage for you in a way that won’t spoil this constantly surprising film when it arrives in theaters in December and starts piling up acclaim and awards for all concerned.

Moore plays Mona, a meek, thoroughly unseen wife and mother who impulsively decides to audition for a community theater production of a musical titled “Nosy Neighbors,” despite having no experience apart from singing in the church choir when she was 13. The director Jerry (Giamatti) cuts her tryout short, sending her home, only to relent when the woman he’d already cast (Bernadette Peters!) drops out and he has nowhere else to turn.

Mona is, as Moore puts it, a “nice lady.” But she’s not a natural performer. She can’t get into character playing Miss Danielle, the show’s tough, toolbelt-wearing building super. So Jerry takes Mona aside because that’s what he does. As her cast mates note, “He’s going to drag you through the s— and the mud and you have to be ready for the s— and the mud.”

It turns out, though, that Jerry is the one who isn’t ready for what’s about to happen. Sitting in a chair on the theater stage, Jerry holds an envelope containing cash, telling Mona that it’s her job to make him hand over the rent. It’s an acting-class exercise designed to make you listen, react and dig into your character’s truth. Moore begins with a whisper and builds to a roar as Mona improvises a manic rant that involves rats and the plague.

Suffice to say, Jerry hands over the rent.

“When I read that scene, I stood up, put my iPad down and started doing laps around my dining room table,” Moore remembers. “I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. I was just like, ‘Oh my God! Aaaaaaagh!‘”

“It was five pages long,” Giamatti marvels. “Jerry just needs Mona to be better. And then he sees that maybe she could actually be kind of great. He cracks her open and he’s like, ‘Oh wow, who is this lady? Who the hell is this?’ The funny thing about that scene is s— like that happens in classes.” He turns to Moore. “Did that ever happen to you?”

“I had an audition for a university, actually, where they threw chairs in front of me while I did the monologue and made me climb over the chairs,” Moore says, laughing. “I look back on that now. I was 18 years old and I was like, “What?’ Yeah. It was really strange. They’re trying to get you to react authentically and be alive.”

She smiles at Giamatti. “Hopefully when you get to be our age, you don’t need that.”

Though the scene has Mona improvising, it was performed as written, down to every last pause.

“Everyone keeps asking if we improvised and I’m like, ‘Hell, no,’” Moore says. “Jesse’s like the Coens. Everything’s there on the page.”

Adds Giamatti, “It’s incredibly specific. You follow his punctuation. The commas matter in his writing.”

“What’s so f—ing delightful about about working with Paul is that his sense of timing and rhythm is so tight,” Moore continues. “That scene is a set piece that requires you to work in tandem and you need somebody to hit it back with the same intensity and the same speed.”

When Eisenberg first met Moore, he told her flat-out, “I don’t want you to worry about this scene.” He knew it was a bear, with pages and pages of lines, so he told her he’d have a teleprompter on set.

“That section, all that crazy s— she goes off on, that would be really hard,” Giamatti says.

“And I was like, ‘Phew, that’s fantastic,’ because I knew all I would do would be to worry about all those lines and be so scared,” Moore says. “But because he said that to me, I never worried. And I didn’t need the teleprompter.”

They shot the scene in one morning, just Moore and Giamatti alone on the stage with the rest of the crew downstairs in the video village. There was an energy on set, spiked by an unusual number of visitors (“People knew,” Giamatti says) and then they went to work.

“I remember the first time you really hit that speech and they called cut, I just couldn’t stop grinning,” Giamatti tells Moore. “And I reached out and just kind of held you for a second because I was like, ‘That was amazing.’ I wanted to convey just how great it was, what you were doing.”

Moore beams. “I just love him. Just love him, love him, love him. I have so much gratitude for Paul.”

“To watch you be a bad actor was so hilarious and then you would you would modulate it and change it,” Giamatti continues. “Watching her was the experience that Jerry was having. It was such a joy.”

The scene is the beginning of a simpatico relationship between Jerry and Mona, mentor and protege, predicated on the power of imagination and how it can make outcasts feel seen and heard.

“Everyone wants to be known as who we are, even though it’s so scary for us to really reveal it,” Moore says. “There’s a real mind-altering power in just being yourself.”

NEW YORK: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will be under the microscope again on Sunday taking on 20th-seeded American Tommy Paul for a place in the US Open quarter-finals.

The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since a four-month absence with a wrist injury, acknowledges he has yet to play his best but says he’s “getting there” with both the sharpness of his shots and his on-court decision making.

He headlines a day that also features women’s two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and third-ranked American Jessica Pegula — just one of the players with a chance to supplant Sabalenka atop the world rankings in New York.

Surprise Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova will try to continue her progress toward another Grand Slam against dangerous Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk while US hope Frances Tiafoe faces the always tricky former champion Daniil Medvedev.

AFP Sport looks at three matches to watch on Day 8 of the US Open:

Tommy Paul (USA x20) v Carlos Alcaraz (ESP x2)

Alcaraz leads head to head 6-2

— Although Alcaraz has dominated their meetings — Paul’s last win over the Spaniard was back in 2023 — the defending champion said the American is “really dangerous for everyone on the tour.

“The way he plays, the way he hits the ball, it’s really complicated to dominate the ball, dominate the points,” said Alcaraz, who won their last meeting in the Australian open quarter-finals on the way to the title that made him the youngest man to claim a career Grand Slam.

Alcaraz said he was looking forward to another great battle — and having some fun.

“We pull off great points, great shots,” he said. “It’s going to be really fun to watch, fun to play, as well.”

Ben Shelton (USA X8) v Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)

Tsitsipas leads head to head 1-0

— A resurgent Tsitsipas has Shelton’s attention. The former top-five player from Greece upset red-hot Arthur Fils in the first round and ousted 18th-seeded Jiri Lehecka in the third and is deeper into a Grand Slam than he’s been in more than two years.

Playing pain free after back problems derailed his 2025 campaign, the two-time Grand Slam finalist is also working with a new coach, having replaced his father Apostolos in that role.

“I have been watching his matches,” Shelton said. “I think he’s playing great. I think that his style of tennis can be very, very effective on all surfaces, all-court game, great athlete.”

Shelton said his three four-set wins in the first three rounds — against Tallon Griekspoor, Hubert Hurkacz and Denis Shapovalov — had him well prepared for anything Tsitsipas might throw at him.

“I think this is a great way to start the tournament in terms of variety. I have dealt with a lefty, dealt with a big hitter, dealt with a feel guy, dealt with a massive server, dealt with a spot server, serve and volleyer.”

Aryna Sabalenka (BLR x1) v Taylor Townsend (USA)

First meeting

— Sabalenka knows she’ll be in hostile territory when she takes on 96th-ranked American Townsend on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“I think I’m ready for the crowd situation,” Sabalenka said. “She’s, I’d say, tricky player, because she brings the variety — comes to the net, really make you think during the game.”

Townsend is in the fourth round for a second straight year, but it has been anything but a straightforward 12 months for the 30-year-old, who says she has “been through a lot over this past year.” It hasn’t dimmed her desire to win, and Townsend said she was “pumped” to take on Sabalenka in a quest for a first Grand Slam singles quarter-final.

“I’m built for these moments,” Townsend, a three-time Grand Slam doubles winner, said. “I’m ready to take it. I’m ready to go.”

Alcaraz said after his third-round win that he was happy with the level of fitness he had shown in the early rounds following his lengthy absence, while he demonstrated against Paul that the quality of his shot-making is as good as ever.

One sensational cross-court forehand winner early in the second set, which landed in from an almost impossible angle, was measured at 103mph.

That came shortly after Alcaraz had broken Paul’s serve in the 10th game of a tight, high-quality opening set to take it 6-4.

Paul, who was attempting to reach the quarter-finals of his home Grand Slam for the first time, battled hard throughout but Alcaraz proved to be too strong.

Paul had two break points when Alcaraz served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, but the two-time US Open champion put together a run of four straight points to seal victory.

Former British number one Tim Henman told Sky Sports: “When you haven’t played tennis for four weeks, it seems a lot and you can be a bit rusty. This is four and a half months.

“If you would have given Alcaraz a blank piece of paper at the beginning of the tournament and asked how he’d want the first four matches to go, he would have scripted it exactly like that.

“He’s had a few slightly challenging moments but, in the important moments, he’s just come up with incredible tennis. That’s got to give him so much confidence moving forward.”

Later on Sunday, home hope Frances Tiafoe delighted American fans with a entertaining victory over 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev.

Tiafoe saved a set point in the third-set tie-break before wrapping up a 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 7-6 (8-6) win moments later to maintain his perfect record on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The 11th seed has won all 10 of his matches on the US Open’s secondary show court, while it is just his second win in eight appearances against Russian Medvedev.

Tiafoe, a two-time semi-finalist in New York, will face fellow American Alex Michelsen in the last eight after the 22-year-old beat Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 6-4 to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.

Nigella Lawson will be joining Paul Hollywood on the upcoming series of Bake Off and now insiders have claimed that their “flirty and fiery” relationship will play out on screen

The “flirty and fiery” relationship between Nigella Lawson and Paul Hollywood on The Great British Bake Off will have viewers gripped, according to insiders.

Channel 4 believe the pair, who are working together as judges for the first time on the upcoming 17th series, are “TV gold” – and unlike anything that’s been seen before.

Newly arrived Nigella, who has replaced Dame Prue Leith on the hit show, is not afraid to poke fun at Paul or engage in flirty banter – and he is said to enjoy it. At one point, when they disagree on something, she challenges him to a physical challenge. And another time, when the bakers are toiling over a particular cake, she compares it to his sun-tan.

One insider said: “Paul just loves the attention! He’s met his match with Nigella because she might be new but she’s not afraid to poke fun at him.

She then challenges him to an arm wrestle. And she also makes a joke about a walnut cake being the same colour as him.

“She can come across as seductive and flirty – not just with him, with everyone – but that’s just who she is, she can’t help herself! It’s her trademark. Some of the things she comes out with are so funny. There are some iconic moments.

“The great thing is that Nigella hasn’t changed anything about herself for the show, and the show hasn’t changed anything for her. She’s come along and done her thing and it’s worked wonderfully.

“Their chemistry gives this series a whole different feel which gives it a freshness. Viewers are in for a treat.”

Yesterday Channel 4’s director of content strategy Kiran Nataraja said she was “really excited” to have Nigella on the show. And referring to a report suggesting she’d been dismayed to see Paul arriving on the set in Berkshire using his own personal mode of “showing off” transport, Kiran added: “She and Paul are not arguing about helicopters the whole time.”

In a clip shown at the Edinburgh TV Festival Nigella, 60, is heard telling one contestant: “Don’t let the sugar shout. Let it sing.”

And she tells another: “I like the fact that there is something a bit sort of jumbly about them. A treat to look at and a treat to eat.” Another critique she provides is: “There is nothing wrong in restraint. Restraint is a very good partner to indulge.”

She and Paul are also shown sitting back and relaxing as, for the first time, they are not called upon to set the Technical Challenge – thanks to the newly introduced “audience choice week”.

Paul, 66, previously got on well with both Dame Prue and her predecessor, Dame Mary Berry. The long-running series, presented by Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond, already has a reputation for being packed with saucy innuendoes.

The Great British Bake Off is due to air on Channel 4 next month.

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McCartney reflected on his history with Parton, which began when he met her in Nashville at the Grande Ole Opry right before starting her solo musical career.

“She was so bubbly and full of life, it is difficult to take in the news that she has passed,” he said. “Her songwriting, her singing and her philanthropy were unrivaled in the world of country music and it is hard to imagine living in a world without Dolly.”

John said he was “shocked and devastated” over the news. “A giant of an artist – unique and irreplaceable, with the kindest heart”.

Swift, who began her professional career in country music as a teen after moving to Nashville, has paid tribute to Parton’s “true grace and true grit, all in one dazzling person”.

“A world without Dolly doesn’t feel possible, real, or right,” the singer said in a statement shared with the BBC. “But because of the eternally generous way she spent her time on this earth and the countless lives she changed for the better, her legacy will be an everlasting one.”

As well as “melodies and lyrics she wrote that thawed even the coldest of hearts,” Swift acknowledged “the millions of books she provided children all over the world so that they might fall in love with stories the way she did”.

She thanked Parton “for the tightropes she walked so that young girls like me could grow up dreaming of joining the circus too”.

Beyoncé said Parton was the “barometer” and the “north star”.

“Bold and brilliant. Talented and tenacious. You taught so many lessons on how to be uniquely oneself. I am grateful for your art, your heart, your generosity, your humor, your entrepreneurship,” Beyoncé wrote.

Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé’s 2024 country album, famously featured a rendition of Parton’s song Jolene.

Former talk-show host Winfrey wrote that one of her fondest memories with Parton was “having a hoot and a holler while wearing Bob Mackie gowns on her show Dolly”.

“This girl from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee dreamed a life and then lived a life bigger than she could have ever imagined, giving so generously to others in ways we saw and ways we didn’t.”