Real

Marc Guehi tempted by Real Madrid move, Barcelona keep tabs on Erling Haaland and Liverpool interested in Carlos Baleba.

Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, 25, has informed his advisors he would prefer to join Real Madrid after his summer move to Liverpool collapsed. (Mirror), external

Barcelona have identified Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, 25, as a long-term replacement for forward Robert Lewandowski. (Football Insider), external

Premier League champions Liverpool are monitoring Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba. The 21-year-old Cameroon international also remains a target for Manchester United. (Teamtalk), external

Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are among a number of Premier League sides keeping tabs on Athletic Club and Spain midfielder Oihan Sancet, 25. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external

Manchester United are ready to offer England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, 20, plus cash in order to sign Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde. However, Real see the Uruguayan midfielder, 27, as not for sale. (Goal), external

Bayern Munich and Manchester United are interested in signing Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, 28, with the Netherlands international’s contract set to expire next summer. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external

Marcus Rashford’s hopes of a transfer to Barcelona have been dented by La Liga’s wage constraints. The Manchester United and England forward, 27, is currently on loan at the Spanish club but financial rules could impact any permanent deal. (Daily Mail), external

Senne Lammens turned down a move to Aston Villa in the summer in favour of joining Manchester United. The 23-year-old Belgian goalkeeper was identified as a potential replacement for Emiliano Martinez if he had left the club. (Birmingham Live), external

The agent of Spurs midfielder Xavi Simons says the 22-year-old Dutch international has “no regrets” following the collapse of his move to Chelsea over the summer. (Metro), external

Son Heung-min secured his first MLS hat trick on a sliding finish in the 82nd minute and LAFC beat Real Salt Lake 4-1 on Wednesday night.

Salt Lake (10-15-4) has lost four of its last five matches.

Son, who joined LAFC (13-7-8) a month ago from the English Premier League, scored on a breakaway in the third minute for a 1-0 lead. He was left wide open in the middle of the field in the 16th and scored from distance to make it 2-0.

Son ran with Denis Bouanga from midfield on a 2-on-1 breakaway and scored an easy tap-in for a 3-1 advantage. Bouanga scored six minutes later on another breakaway to break a tie with league legend Carlos Vela for the most goals in club history with 94.

RSL missed a penalty kick in the 45th when Rwan Cruz’s attempt hit off the right post and went across the goal line to goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who had gone the other way.

Teenager Zavier Gozo scored on a beautiful bicycle kick for RSL in the 76th.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says there’s a “business plan” to turn Gaza into a “real estate bonanza.” Speaking at an urban renewal conference in Tel Aviv, the far-right minister said he is discussing with the Trump administration how to share the proceeds.

The teenager, with three senior caps for Argentina, has already made an impression in his native land.

“Franco’s passage through our club left an indelible mark.” Roberto Binzuna, the president of Cemento Armado, where Mastantuono earned his stripes before joining River, tells BBC Sport.

“Only time will decide how long it lives on in our memory.

“He’s a sensational young man, with outstanding human and sporting characteristics, distinctive in whatever sport he played – an exceptional tennis player and an even better footballer.

“His presence always stands out over the other players, even the older ones, and he has an incredible shot on him.”

Indeed, Mastantuono’s ability to strike the ball from range has caught the eye. Most notable was his free-kick against Superclasico rivals Boca Juniors in April, swept into the top corner from about 30 yards.

That aside, the left-footer is agile, quickly shifting the ball one way and the other when dribbling. Such has been evident from the start.

“I remember he was restless behind the ball. But what I saw set him apart,” says Marcelo Olariaga, the vice president of Club Atletico River Plate Azuleno, Mastantuono’s first home.

“Compared to the rest, he ran very lightly with the ball. But he always had it tied to his feet.”

Although the teenager often starts on the right wing, much of his impact comes in central positions.

In River’s first Club World Cup outing this summer, a 3-1 win against Urawa Red Diamonds, Mastantuono roamed inside and bent a pass to the left, eventually leading to Facundo Colidio’s opening goal.

As for the statistics, Mastantuono has featured 64 times for River, scoring 10 goals and assisting seven. At 16, he was the youngest to score for the Argentine giants with the famous red sash.

Meanwhile, he is the youngest to feature competitively for Argentina’s senior team, reaching that landmark against Chile in June.

Kylian Mbappe converted two penalties, and 10-man Real Madrid came back to beat visiting Marseille 2-1 on the opening night of the new Champions League season.

The victory on Tuesday meant that 15-time champion Madrid became the first team in competition history – since the rebranding in the early 1990s – to reach 200 wins.

It also gave former Madrid-playing standout Xabi Alonso a victory in his Champions League debut as the club’s coach.

Timothy Weah put visiting Marseille ahead early on, but Mbappe struck back from the penalty spot in the 29th and 81st.

The first penalty came after a foul on Rodrygo, and the second was for a handball by a defender.

Mbappe now has 50 goals in 64 matches with Madrid, moving level with former Real and Manchester United forward Ruud van Nistelrooy.

“We are happy that he keeps scoring goals and has been feeling more and more comfortable,” Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde said of the France player.

“Our job is to make sure the ball gets to him and that he can have even more scoring opportunities than he is having now.”

Madrid captain Dani Carvajal was sent off in the 72nd for head-butting Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.

Weah, a United States international and the son of former Ballon d’Or winner George Weah, was set up by Mason Greenwood, who stripped Madrid’s Arda Guler near midfield.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Champions League debut for Madrid lasted only five minutes. The England defender was replaced by Carvajal because of an apparent muscle injury.

Spanish police clashed with Marseille fans before the match, but the situation was controlled quickly.

Dortmund and Juventus share eight-goal thriller

An early own goal from goalkeeper Luiz Junior gave Tottenham a 1-0 win over visiting Villarreal.

Borussia Dortmund and Juventus drew 4-4 in Turin. Juventus substitute Dusan Vlahovic scored one goal in stoppage time. He then set up the equaliser for English defender Lloyd Kelly. The game had been 0-0 at halftime.

Qarabag came from two goals down to win 3-2 at Benfica.

In the second season of the new league-phase format, the top eight teams advance to the round of 16. The next 16 teams enter a two-leg playoff, with eight advancing.

MADNESS 😱🤯#UCL pic.twitter.com/Fu1aZyXzxe

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 16, 2025

Arsenal subs decisive against Bilbao

Viktor Gyokeres was off target in his Champions League debut for Arsenal.

The London club’s substitutes were decisive, though, in a 2-0 win for the Gunners at Athletic Bilbao.

Gabriel Martinelli scored less than a minute after he came on, and Leandro Trossard, who had replaced Gyokeres, doubled the lead 15 minutes later.

Gyokeres, Arsenal’s prized signing who scored six Champions League goals for Sporting Lisbon last season, missed a golden chance shortly after the break. The Sweden international evaded his marker with ease and rose to meet a well-placed free kick from Declan Rice, but his header went well wide of the target.

Martinelli and Trossard also provided the assists on each other’s goals.

Union’s memorable debut in Eindhoven

Competition newcomer Union Saint-Gilloise made a memorable debut, as the Belgian club won 3-1 across the border at PSV Eindhoven.

The first goal of this season’s competition was a penalty kick converted by Canada international Promise David.

The penalty was awarded when United States international Ricardo Pepi harshly landed his boot into the leg of Union’s English centre back, Christian Burgess.

Goalkeeper Matej Kovar then went the wrong way on the spot kick in the ninth minute.

Another error by Pepi led to Union’s second before the break, a dribbling exhibition and expert finish by Anouar Ait El Hadj.

Union, who qualified by winning the Belgian league for the first time in 90 years, is one of four clubs making their competition debuts this season. The others are Bodø/Glimt (Norway), Kairat (Kazakhstan) and Pafos (Cyprus).

Argentinian defender Kevin Mac Allister, who is named for Macaulay Culkin’s character in Home Alone, made it 3-0 from close range in the 81st.

Ruben van Bommel, the son of former Netherlands standout Mark van Bommel, scored for PSV in the 90th.

PSV had gone unbeaten in its previous 11 group or league matches in the UEFA competition.

Fans were prevented from taking Palastine flags into Real Madrid’s stadium on heated night with Marseille fans in Spain.

Spanish police clashed with Marseille fans ahead of the Champions League match between the French club and Real Madrid.

The confrontation began in the Spanish capital on Tuesday, as the fans waited to get into the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium before the game.

Police in riot gear and horse-riding officers used batons to disperse the French supporters as they apparently tried to move out of the spot allocated for them while waiting outside the Bernabeu gates.

A few thousand French fans were expected for the match, and a heavy police presence was in attendance for the game.

The situation was controlled quickly, and the fans entered the stadium in time for the match.

Bernabeu security personnel did not allow fans to enter the stadium with Palestinian flags, enforcing a policy that was in place even before pro-Palestinian protests made headlines for disrupting the Spanish Vuelta cycling race this weekend.

The flags were confiscated from fans who tried to enter with them.

The anti-Israeli government protests disrupted several stages of the three-week-long Vuelta.

Protesters, who demanded that team Israel Premier Tech be expelled from the Grand Tour event, threw barriers onto the road and clashed with police on Sunday to keep the final stage from being completed as originally planned.

A REAL life Coronation Street couple have shared a slew of snaps from their dreamy getaway to the posh Greek island of Santorini.

Actress Sally Carman and her co-star husband Joe Duttine appear to have had the trip of a lifetime after jetting off to the sought-after location in the Mediterranean.

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The Abi Webster actress looked glam as she uploaded a series of snaps from hers and Joe’s loved-up getaway.

Joe, who plays Tim Metcalfe, could be seen beaming alongside his proud wife in one of the couple’s shots from the getaway.

Sally simply captioned the snaps with: “Santorini sun.”

It appeared to be no expense spared as Sally shared a photo of the pool at their resort which overlooked the sea and featured a floating bed in the middle of the water.

In another candid snap, Sally looked the picture of happiness as she sipped on a cocktail through a straw as she enjoying a sunset tipple.

She wore a leopard-print headband in the picture and kept her make-up simple.

In one of the other photos, Sally could be seen laid by the front of a boat wrapped in blankets as it appeared she had taken a tumble.

Their Corrie co-star Samia Longchambon commented on the snaps: “Gorgeous every bit”

Another fan added: “Lovely photo of you Sally. Enjoy yourself.”

As fellow soap actress Sue Devaney added: “Oooooooh I want to hug you in all that there cuteness of yours!!

“Stunning stylish sexy Sal in Santorini! So beautiful xx.”

Sally and Joe began romancing one another after meeting on the set of the ITV soap opera.

They tied the knot in Salford in 2022.

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BBC’s chief football writer Phil McNulty: My pick to win it are Liverpool, purely on the basis of the huge strengthening they have carried out this summer. Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak are two high-class players who are Champions League-ready.

The vagaries of the new league system last season saw Liverpool meet eventual winners PSG in the last 16, where they lost on penalties at Anfield.

If Liverpool reach the knockout phase, which they surely will, then the Anfield factor grows with every game.

PSG will be the big danger once again, a superb side who deserve the status as the best team in Europe, while Real Madrid come into every Champions League conversation as potential winners.

BBC’s senior football correspondent Sami Mokbel: I’m going for Liverpool. Four wins from four in the Premier League and they haven’t even nearly hit top gear yet. Oh, and Isak is waiting in the wings. Arne Slot’s side are the team to beat.

Former Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger: Real are usually the club with the strongest mentality in this competition, but PSG have to be one of the favourites and Liverpool are too, given that they had such a good Premier League season then invested so much in their squad.

Those two teams come immediately to mind when I think about who will play in the final, and if I have to pick one to win it then I will go with Liverpool. Their squad depth is excellent, the quality was already there and now they have got Isak up front as well.

BBC Radio 5 Live football correspondent John Murray: When a team wins Europe’s richest league at a comparative canter then spends the best part of half a billion pounds on new players, while at the same time securing the services of two of the club’s greatest servants, it’s difficult to tip anyone other than Liverpool.

Last season they lost out only narrowly to the eventual winners in a penalty shootout. It would be a tremendous prospect if this season Liverpool and PSG were to make it all the way to the final in Budapest.

Match of the Day commentator Steve Wilson: Tipping Real Madrid to win the Champions League is hardly the work of a soothsayer, but you are not likely to be far wrong. I thought Xabi Alonso did some interesting things with his squad in the Club World Cup – and getting Arda Guler more involved can only be a good thing.

His progress was held back by the affection everyone at the Bernabeu had for Luka Modric, now he has licence to really spread his wings.

The Observer football correspondent Rory Smith: It’s been a frankly unacceptable one season since Real Madrid won the trophy the club sees as its birthright, and Alonso’s main task as manager is to put that right. Real are never the most coherent team in Europe, but they have more individual talent than anyone, and often that is what matters.

Former England captain Steph Houghton: I am backing PSG to win it again. They are a young squad that has experienced winning already, plus they are athletic and forward thinking.

Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin: For a change, I went with my head over my heart. I love PSG and the way they play, and the way they have changed the way football is being played now with their attacking attitude. I also love that they love their wingers!

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague: I feel PSG have started a new era of success that has to do with using cleverly the predominant model of our times – positional football – mixed with quality, clear leadership and top players in each position.

Barcelona will be close, but I’m not sure they will sort out their defensive deficiencies.

BBC Champions League analyst Stephen Warnock: I think Barcelona will win it – and I am going with Lamine Yamal to be the tournament’s star player.

Former Arsenal defender Matt Upson: I have gone for Barcelona, who are a young team that have grown from the experience of their cracking run to the semi-finals last season.

They were very unlucky not to make the final, and played brilliantly against Inter Milan – they just got exposed by a really rigid Inter team that had a way of playing and did what it said on the tin. But Barca will have learned from that.

The club appears a little bit unstable off the pitch at the moment but on it they have a nice balance of special young talent and know-how – with the likes of Robert Lewandowski to come on and impact games.

He scored 15 goals in 58 games last season, with Los Blancos losing the league title to Barcelona and knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Arsenal.

Bellingham’s fellow Englishman Trent Alexander-Arnold is also in the squad for the visit of the Ligue 1 side.

Former Liverpool defender Alexander-Arnold played the last eight minutes of their 2-1 win over Real Sociedad at the weekend having struggled to displace experienced Spain full-back Dani Carvajal in the starting line-up.

Alonso said Carvajal’s “competitive spirit” and “the influence he holds as a captain” are a vital asset for Real.

“He [Carvajal] was still recovering while we were in the United States, but now he’s fit enough to play, you can see what a positive impact he has on everyone around him,” added Alonso.

“We need to have those kinds of leaders in a dressing room, they’re crucial. Carva is an example of that. There are lots of others and we need that strong core to guide the rest.”

HONOLULU — Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, moved to dismiss a lawsuit filed last month accusing them of causing a Hawaii real estate investor and broker to be fired from a $240-million luxury housing development on the Big Island’s Hapuna Coast.

Ohtani and Balelo were sued Aug. 8 in Hawaii Circuit Court for the First Circuit by developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto, West Point Investment Corp. and Hapuna Estates Property Owners, who accused them of “abuse of power” that allegedly resulted in tortious interference and unjust enrichment.

Hayes and Matsumoto had been dropped from the development deal by Kingsbarn Realty Capital, the joint venture’s majority owner.

In papers filed Sunday, lawyers for Ohtani and Balelo said Hayes and Matsumoto in 2023 acquired rights for a joint venture in which they owned a minority percentage to use Ohtani’s name, image and likeness under an endorsement agreement to market the venture’s real estate development at the Mauna Kea Resort. The lawyers said Ohtani was a “victim of NIL violations.”

“Unbeknownst to Ohtani and his agent Nez Balelo, plaintiffs exploited Ohtani’s name and photograph to drum up traffic to a website that marketed plaintiffs’ own side project development,” the lawyers wrote. “They engaged in this self-dealing without authorization, and without paying Ohtani for that use, in a selfish and wrongful effort to take advantage of their proximity to the most famous baseball player in the world.”

The lawyers claimed Hayes and Matsumoto sued after “Balelo did his job and protected his client by expressing justifiable concern about this misuse and threatening to take legal action against this clear misappropriation.” They called Balelo’s actions “clearly protected speech “

In a statement issued after the suit was filed last month, Kingsbarn called the allegations “completely frivolous and without merit.”

Ohtani is a three-time MVP on the defending World Series champion Dodgers.

“Nez Balelo has always prioritized Shohei Ohtani’s best interests, including protecting his name, image, and likeness from unauthorized use,” a lawyer for Ohtani and Balelo, said in a statement. “This frivolous lawsuit is a desperate attempt by plaintiffs to distract from their myriad of failures and blatant misappropriation of Mr. Ohtani’s rights.”

Lawyers for Hayes and Matsumoto did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With rooms starting at less than £180, mum of two Hannah Britt reveals how this under the radar Balearic hotel should be firmly on your bucket list

As a family who love to travel, when I find a good deal I just have to share it. And this is one I simply cannot keep to myself. Mallorca is super popular with Brits, we flock there in our thousands year on year. With good reason, of course – it’s gorgeous, the beaches are flawless and there are plenty of things to do for all ages from water parks to markets to nightlife. There are hotels catering to all tastes too. But it’s the Hilton Mallorca Galatzo I’m going to talk about today. Because you need to add it to your family holiday bucket list right now…

DEALS TO BE HAD

Let’s start with the price, shall we? Rooms at the HMG start from just €207 per night, which works out at just less than £180. For that you get a Superior Lateral Sea View room, which comes with a king bed, room for a cot, floor-to-ceiling windows and a Balearic style design.

A recent revamp has seen decor throughout the accommodation updated and it’s all very swish indeed – modern, stylish, super clean and well considered. All rooms have a balcony with some variation of a sea view.

MEGA LOCATION

The Hilton Mallorca Galatzo is ideally located for exploration and ease. 20 minutes by car gets you to the airport, or to Palma de Mallorca for a day of shopping or sightseeing. The hotel is sat atop a hill with a gorgeous view looking down over Costa de la Calma, and a complimentary daily shuttle takes guests down to the beaches and eateries below. Taxis are easy to summon too, and cost just a few Euros to do the same.

The marinas of Andratz and Puerto Portals and the beaches of Peguera are a must. Or, for the intrepid, white sands, hiking trails and Insta-worthy landscape moments are less than 2km away on foot.

PLENTY TO DO ON SITE

If you fancy wiling away a day at the hotel, there’s lots to keep the whole family busy, with an indoor pool, outdoor pool, spa and tennis facilities to enjoy. The pool area was particularly lovely from a family point of view as there was a large shallow area, plus a fenced off baby pool. Towering palm and pine trees provided much welcomed dappled shade throughout the day.

There’s a beautifully bright and well-equipped kids’ club too, which offers fun for 4 to 14 year olds and provides games, crafting, soft play and more.

DELICIOUS FOOD

Breakfast at La Cocina is busy but ordered, with lots of choice from porridge and cereals to fruit, baked treats and full-English options like eggs, sausage, bacon and beans. Freshly made pancakes and omelettes were a nice touch and very popular, especially with my children. The same restaurant does a popular buffet for dinner too.

Elsewhere, the Alma bar was comfy and chic, serving ice cold cava and tasty tapas – the garlic prawns, padron peppers and iberico ham were delightful. There was a children’s menu too, and the staff couldn’t have been more welcoming.

But my favourite eatery at HMG was the Paradis Pool Bar. The food was really good here, with mouthwatering poke bowls and pizza to munch. Cocktails, too, were moreish and well made.

How does one care for their aging parent without losing sight of their own identity?

The first thing Roxana Ortega will say is: “We have to not abandon ourselves.”

The L.A.-born Latina actress outlines the deeply emotional process of caring for an aging parent in her first play, “Am I Roxie?,” which premieres Sept. 11 and kicks off the Geffen Playhouse’s 2025-26 season.

The production will remain through Oct. 5 at the Gil Cates Theater and is directed by Bernardo Cubría, (“Crabs in a Bucket” and “The Play You Want”).

Ortega’s one-woman show was inspired by her mother, Carmen, whose memory is in decline due to Alzheimer’s disease. Bounded by her commitment to being the perfect Latina daughter, Ortega illustrates how she stepped up to provide caregiving duties, while trying to sustain her acting career — even if it was just a Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich commercial.

“This show to me is about how to not abandon ourselves in a time of such great darkness,” says Ortega through a video call.

Onstage, Ortega masterfully transforms her solo act into an ensemble performance, through her many quirky accents and mannerisms alone; her characters range from her three Peruvian tías to an imaginary cholo critic and a perky, silicone-bloated nurse.

Capturing a broad emotional spectrum, from joy to grief, it is clear that Ortega — a former troupe member of the Groundlings Sunday Company — showcases a lifetime of skills on the Westwood stage.

“Everything just merged as I was trying to write about what was happening,” says Ortega. “I was also leaving sketch comedy [group] the Groundlings, so I was finding my own voice. All those things merged to birth this, a perfect combination of so many desires and dreams I’ve had.”

With over 80 acting credits to her name, the multi-hyphenate artist is best known for voicing the melodramatic Frida Casagrande from Nickelodeon’s Emmy-winning show “The Casagrandes,” an animated sitcom about a family living in the fictional Great Lakes City. Other notable credits include Netflix’s “Grand-Daddy Day Care” and “Santa Clarita Diet,” Warner Bros.‘ “Miss Congeniality 2” as well as the popular Fox series “New Girl.”

Audiences should buckle up — preferably with tissues at the ready — for a roller coaster of emotions, as they witness Ortega relinquish control over an unchangeable fate, while holding compassion for her mother and herself in “Am I Roxie?”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Your one-woman show, “Am I Roxie?,” explores your personal journey as a caretaker for your aging parent, but it also focuses on your artistic aspirations. Can you walk me through your decision to make this the subject of your next project?

I’ve always wanted to turn my personal material into art; most artists do feel that way. I had been doing it for quite a while in sketch comedy, [by] taking characters like my tías, who I find to be so hysterical, and trying to put them into things. So I knew somewhere in the back of my brain — or in the middle — that I wanted to do a show about my family. I watched Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s “Lackawanna Blues,” so I always wanted to do that.

This play approaches heavy topics with humor. How did you strike that balance?

I think that’s just the way my brain works. I think a lot of comedians are this way; we’re always looking for laughs and maybe that’s how we survive ’cause we are very sensitive people — I’m very sensitive and very intense, so laughter is that levity.

Through the development process, we did have some discussions about certain moments. Do we want people to laugh when I’m in the chaise longue texting, “Is [my mom] still alive?” We had more “Shark Tank” sounds running through that and then changed it.

Caregiving is obviously a huge endeavor for Latinos — Latina women, more specifically. How do you make sense of the idea of care now?

I [think of] abandonment. There’s something so primal when somebody is aging and you can tell, “This person was in charge of me; they’re so vulnerable; now they need me. Oh my god, I can’t abandon them, right?” You feel like, “I don’t want to be abandoned, so I don’t want to abandon them.” It really shocked me how strong that urge was and I think we also have to not abandon ourselves. We absolutely cannot.

If you go into the caregiving world, they talk about care like: “Here’s your pills, here’s the food and we have some music coming in.” Maybe if you’re lucky, there’s bingo — but my mom wouldn’t play bingo! Are you f— kidding me? Care should be individualized. It should address the spirit.

Guilt creeps up in this play disguised as your inner Latina critic every time you do something that feels selfish in light of your mom’s situation. What relationship do you have with your inner critic now?

I definitely feel like I’ve gone through a journey from fear to love with the task of caregiving and even in relation to myself; I learned to love myself more, which is part of caring for yourself.

In this process of putting [my story] out there, of just being so gentle with myself and saying, “No matter what happens, no matter how it’s received, I’m not going to put my identity on the line.” There will be no beating myself up. There will be no, “Now you’re terrible because this, this, this …” It’s always a practice. Life is too short for us to feel bad.

There’s no benefit to suffering, and most of our suffering we do to ourselves through that critic by giving it power. And in our culture, sometimes it’s glorified.

You’re an overachiever, a Berkeley grad and former Groundlings member. But in “Am I Roxie?,” you balance the urgency of achieving your goals with the grief of losing a parent who is still alive. How did it feel to not give up on your dreams?

I felt like a terrible daughter. It’s hard. There’s a point in the show when I leave my mom and she says, “Don’t leave me here,” and I leave her and go to an audition. That’s a hard moment and I can tell that the audience is like, “How could you do that?” It feels vulnerable to show that I did that. But then, how does a mother leave their child at kindergarten? How can you find the balance where you are nurturing yourself and nurturing somebody else?

It was hard. I would beat myself up a lot and cry about feeling so terrible. And then go the next day to absolve myself. The more [my mom] found other relationships with a caregiver, the more I felt like, “Okay, she’s safe.”

Motherhood is also at the core of your story — not just with your mother, but as you explore your own fertility journey. How did your concept of motherhood change after caring for your mother?

What I didn’t explicitly say in the play is that I am a mother. I mothered my mother. Now, not everyone who is a mother by having a baby is necessarily a “mothering mother.” Something that this disease taught me is what these words really mean. What is it to be a sister? What is it to be a mother? What I learned in caring for my mom is that I am a mother, because I was able to nurture on such a deep level. Even when all the signs showed that she’s not there anymore. A mother knows her baby. She was my baby at the end.

After our fertility journey, 10 years of trying, me birthing this piece of art was me mothering my creativity into existence.

 You don’t mention Alzheimer’s by name until that very end. Why?

Part of it was accepting the journey and being able to say the diagnosis. Sometimes there’s an avoidance around Alzheimer’s. Nobody wants to say the word or talk about the disease ’cause it’s sad. So I wanted to make it a moment when I actually said it so that we can see the weight of it. Hopefully viewers will leave the theater being able to speak about it and to know it in an intimate way. Naming it is so important, so we can take the sting and discomfort off.

There are tender moments onstage where you let out tears. What is it like to relive those real-life moments on stage every night?

It is so difficult, more difficult than I thought it would be. My mom is onstage with me when I walk out there. I take her hand and I put her in that little opera chair next to me and we are together. Saying goodbye to her every night is hard.

This article contains spoilers for the finale of Prime Video’s “The Girlfriend.”

After reading the pilot for “The Girlfriend,” Robin Wright could see how the entire series would unfold. She was initially approached to direct the first episode, but she was so entranced by the adaptation of Michelle Frances’ 2017 novel she came on board not just as a director, but as an executive producer.

And when it came to casting Laura, a fierce matriarch committed to protecting her son, Daniel, from his new girlfriend, everyone she pictured in the role was unavailable.

“My dream was Tilda Swinton,” Wright says, speaking from the Ham Yard Hotel in London alongside her co-star Olivia Cooke, whose Prime Video series premiered Wednesday. “The time crunch was getting narrower, so Jonathan Cavendish of Imaginarium [Productions] finally said, ‘Would you consider playing Laura? You know her so well.’ What interested me was expanding on each character and developing this show beyond the book, which was already very full and rich.”

Cooke was Wright’s first choice to play Cherry, Daniel’s working-class girlfriend, who may or may not have suspicious motives and a violent past. The actors hopped on a Zoom call at the end of 2023 and were immediately on the same page about the thriller series. Both were intrigued by the idea that each episode depicted the characters’ individual takes on the events, forcing viewers to frequently change their allegiance about who is right. Is Cherry deviously trying to push Laura aside for better access to Daniel, or is Laura paranoid and overbearing?

Cherry (Olivia Cooke), Daniel’s working-class girlfriend. (Christopher Raphael / Prime)

Laura (Robin Wright) is suspicious of Cherry and her motives. (Christopher Raphael / Prime)

“I was enticed by the dual perspectives and delving more into that reality because that is how we operate,” Wright says. “That is the human condition. You perceive [something] in a different way than I do. We’re all a hero of our own story and of our own perspective, but we could be the villain in someone else’s perspective. That’s what happens with Cherry and Laura. Jealousy turns into a power struggle.”

“It’s really fun to dial up the maliciousness and the duplicitous nature of a woman,” Cooke adds. “To play all these different sides and all these different faculties. And both our characters contain them all.”

“It was almost like having the variety pack of being a female,” Wright continues. “It’s easy for the viewer to go back and forth, where you’ll be in favor of this one and then not in favor. And it’s always rooted in true emotion. Wherever Laura or Cherry is coming from, that’s her truth. That’s her story.”

“You’ve always got to champion the characters you’re playing in order to play them honestly,” Cooke says. “I completely understood where Cherry was coming from. A lot of that is lack and fear and scarcity. Not having a parachute or a safety net, and having to constantly strive and move forward. She’s a survivor and she’s scrappy, and she will be the quickest and most ferocious to her own defense.”

The conflict between Laura and Cherry aggressively ratchets up over the course of six episodes. After a rock climbing accident that puts Daniel (Laurie Davidson) into a coma, Laura convinces Cherry that he’s died. Cherry later threatens Laura with a knife — or does she? Cooke says she loved “having the excuse to go f— feral.”

“What’s fun about Laura’s perspective is Cherry seems completely unhinged and that there’s a real malevolent undertone to her behavior,” Cooke says. “But in Cherry’s perspective, it’s all coming from a place of just scrambling. She’s tried to put her best foot forward when she meets Laura for the first time and she’s tried to cover up her past a little bit by saying the odd white lie. And a mum sniffs that out immediately.”

“What’s fun about Laura’s perspective is Cherry seems completely unhinged and that there’s a real malevolent undertone to her behavior,” Olivia Cooke says. “But in Cherry’s perspective, it’s all coming from a place of just scrambling.”

(Jennifer McCord / For The Times)

Cooke describes Cherry as an “underdog trying to claw herself up.” “I want the audience to really be of two minds about her,” she says. “And women usually have to be so buttoned up.

“It’s always, ‘You can’t say that or don’t emote that,’” Wright chimes in. “This gave us an opportunity to do what a lot of women would like to say or do, but they can’t. You always have to be a diplomat. This was about being a human being. Women are very layered individuals. We can do 16 things at once. That’s why we can carry children for nine months and then raise them. I wanted to show all of those colors of a woman.”

The role gave Cooke the chance to showcase her range and expressiveness.

“Even just for my own personal life, it felt really cathartic to be able to be angry and be able to scream and be a person who wears their emotions so closely to the surface,” Cooke adds. “Cherry is effervescent. It’s always there waiting to come out. She’s so reactive. And I’m hypervigilant for the warning signs before I react. This was like a rage room.”

In the tumultuous finale, Laura drugs Daniel to keep him away from Cherry. After Cherry breaks into Laura’s house, the duo find themselves in a physical altercation in the basement swimming pool. An addled Daniel discovers them fighting and jumps in to protect Cherry, accidentally holding his mother under the water for too long. The immediate interpretation is that Laura dies at the hand of her son, which is what the actors shot on set in London last year.

“There was an aerial shot of mom dead in his arms,” Wright says. “It was beautiful. He was holding her and he looks at Cherry and mom was dead in his arms in the way I had held him in Spain. But the [producers] cut it out because it showed that she had died.”

Laurie Davidson, who plays Daniel, and Robin Wright in a scene from “The Girlfriend.”

(Christopher Raphael / Prime)

The decision to have Daniel accidentally kill (or not kill) Laura resulted from a “big discussion,” as Wright puts it. The obvious conclusion was to have Cherry purposefully murder Laura, but Wright pushed against that.

“I said, ‘It needs to be the son that kills his mother because he will never get out of her clutches when she’s alive,’” Wright says. “He’s going to be in the middle of this war zone for the rest of his life. When he comes down [to the pool], he’s in a stupor. He’s almost hallucinating. When he dives in the pool and he sees [Laura] trying to drown his girlfriend, he doesn’t know what’s happened prior to that moment, which is she’s tried to kill mom. He has no sense of time and space because he’s under the influence.”

Cooke says she didn’t play the scene as Cherry wanting Laura to die. “Maybe people will read it as that, but I didn’t,” Cooke says. “She knows it’s gone too far. That’s what I played in the moment, shouting at Daniel to snap out of it. But, you know, she did get the house.”

Shooting the pool altercation was a challenging day. Much of the series was filmed in a private house in London’s St. John’s Wood neighborhood, which had an actual swimming pool in the basement. Although the pool was supposedly heated, the actors didn’t experience any warmth.

“It was f— hard,” Wright recalls. “For me, it was like waterboarding. People think, ‘Oh, my God, so much fun to act in those scenes.’ No, it’s not. It’s really tough. We were all drowned rats and freezing cold.”

Still, Cooke says it was enjoyable to go to such intense limits emotionally.

“It’s fun being able to go to the very edge of your emotional capacity in a very safe, fun, embracing environment,” she says. “We wouldn’t have been able to do that in the pool, and be able to try and murder each other and then laugh, if it wasn’t built on trust and love. … These characters do very heightened, crazy stuff, but it’s still seeped in honesty and naturalism, which you need in order to go on this journey.”

Robin Wright recalls how difficult shooting the pool scene was: “For me, it was like waterboarding.” Nevertheless, Olivia Cooke says it was “fun being able to go to the very edge of your emotional capacity.” (Jennifer McCord / For The Times)

At the end of the finale, Cherry and Daniel move into Laura’s mansion with the blessing of Daniel’s father, Howard (Waleed Zuaiter). Daniel discovers a voicemail from Laura recounting how Cherry’s mother, Tracey (Karen Henthorn), warned of her daughter’s malicious motives. But while Daniel is clearly in trouble, Wright says you’re not necessarily meant to interpret it as Laura being completely out of the picture.

“We wanted to leave it a little bit open,” she says. “You see the pregnant family living in the Sanderson house and mommy’s gone. Could Laura still be alive? Did she really die? Has she just been shunned to the priory?”

Wright says they wanted to leave it to the audience to decide what happened.

“But Daniel is awakened,” she adds. “If Laura is alive, he could go back to her and say, ‘I now believe you and now I’m with a crazy woman and afraid she’s going to kill me in my sleep.’ There are many iterations where it can go if there is a Season 2.”

As of this interview, no announcement has been made about another season. Cooke, who also stars as Alicent Hightower in “House of the Dragon,” says she would have to get permission from HBO to be part of a concurrent episodic series. Plus, as Wright notes, it’s all about the algorithm. “You always have to wait and see if it’s a semi-success,” Wright says. She adds, turning to Cooke, “If there is a Season 2, I think you should kill the cat in Episode 1, gut it and wear it as a hat.”

For Wright, that’s part of the appeal of being an executive producer — she could brainstorm all the unhinged things that could happen between the characters. She loved coming up with story ideas and character backgrounds, and helping to sculpt the ending, which differs from the novel, was pure joy.

“This was my first opportunity to develop something from the ground up,” says Robin Wright, who executive produces and is a director on the series. “I took a bunch of personal stories, things that I’ve heard, and threw them in there.”

(Jennifer McCord / For The Times)

“This was my first opportunity to develop something from the ground up,” Wright says. “I took a bunch of personal stories, things that I’ve heard, and threw them in there. Like Laura kissing her son on the lips — that came from a friend of mine. And Laura spraying Cherry with her perfume in a shop and saying, ‘Daniel loves this,’ came from someone on set. Things were constantly percolating.”

Wright directed the first three episodes, setting the visual and thematic tone for the series, while Andrea Harkin took on the latter three. The actor says there was a real freedom on set, which was helped by the rehearsals the cast was able to do before filming. She made it a point to always give the actors their own take for each scene.

“Generally, I’d use the take where they went for a free-for-all,” she says. “You get locked in a box as actors. We all do. You pick a choice and you stick with that choice. But when you throw that out the window, the s— that comes out of actors is amazing. That’s what’s so beautiful about being able to direct and being an actor myself. I love watching how it evolves and the light that comes out of them and the emotion that’s brought to the surface.”

“I’ve never acted opposite my director before,” Cooke adds. “The chain of command was so short. Robin was acting with me, but also watching to see what I do and changing her performance to my reaction, which was amazing. It makes it very alive and kinetic.”

Ultimately, it’s up to the viewer to decide whether Laura or Cherry is the villain of “The Girlfriend.” And, as Wright says, it’s simply a matter of how you see things.

“You as the viewer get to decide: Is there a truth, or is it just subjective?” she says. “Because it is subjective for each of our perspectives and we own it. It happened the way you personally know it happened. But the truth lies somewhere in between.”

Ancestry has uncovered which Downton Abbey actors’ real-life family stories mirror their characters ahead of the hit ITV show’s upcoming third and final film

New research shows some of the cast of Downton Abbey have real life similarities in their families compared to their on screen roles

With a new third and final film about the ITV period drama released into cinemas this week on September 12, the results from family history site Ancestry uncover which actors’ real-life family stories mirror their characters and which tell a very different story.

Michael Fox who plays butler Andy Parker has a three-times-great-grandfather who was a butler and great-great-grandfather a chauffeur. It seems he was almost destined to play a loyal footman. This was uncovered using marriage and census records.

Allen Leech is well known as Chauffeur turned Estate Manager Tom Branson. Like Branson, Allen comes from a family of principled public servants. Using an obituary from the Drogheda Independent in 1962 it can be revealed his great-grandfather Thomas Leech was an Irish peace commissioner known for his honesty and integrity, and may well have inspired one of Branson’s iconic speeches.

Lesley Nichol’s character Mrs Patmore had a loveable role in the Downton kitchen, in real life her ancestors were shepherds, butchers and wine merchants showing a real-life passion for food and drink that mirrors Mrs Patmore.

The 1911 Census of England and Wales record shows Henry Thomas Isaac, butcher.

Harry Hadden-Paton was Bertie Pelham in the ITV series and Bertie is an expert at estate management.

This is similar to Harry’s three-times-great-grandfather, a banker called Henry G Marquand involved in major railroad interests who might have been able to save the Crawleys from financial ruin. This was discovered via a report in a copy of a Chicago Tribune newspaper from 1902.

Laura House, DNA and Family History Expert at Ancestry, said: “Downton Abbey has captivated audiences with its stories of class, conflict, and connection.

“These real-life discoveries show just how closely some of the cast’s personal histories align with the roles they play. From wartime heroes to world-travelling diplomats and hardworking cooks, it’s a reminder that fascinating stories lie in all of our family trees waiting to be discovered.”

The new third film follows the much-loved Crawley family and their staff as they enter the 1930s.

Lady Mary finds herself at the centre of a public scandal going through divorce, the family faces financial trouble, and the entire household grapples with the threat of social disgrace.

The Crawleys must embrace change as the staff prepares for a new chapter with the next generation leading Downton Abbey into the future and off into the sunset.

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ITV’s true crime drama I Fought the Law deeply touched viewers this evening as the final episode aired, with the real life Ann Ming making a cameo at the end of the finale

The final episode of I Fought the Law aired on ITV tonight, with viewers watching as Ann Ming successfully brought her daughter’s killer to justice after overturning the double jeopardy law. The emotional episode left many in tears, particularly as the real life Ann made a cameo alongside Sheridan Smith, who played her throughout the series.

In the final scenes, viewers watch as Ann and her husband Charlie head line dancing, with Ann seeing a vision of her daughter Julie across the dance floor after putting her killer behind bars. She then continues line dancing with Charlie as text on the screens tells viewers that at least ten people have been retried and convicted of murder since the double jeopardy law was overturned, with Ann receiving an MBE in 2007 for her services to criminal justice.

The show then revealed that Charlie (played by Daniel York Loh) battled with Parkinson’s Disease until his death in 2013 while Ann still lives in the North East and works with police forces across the country to improve how they engage with victims of violent crime.

READ MORE: Sheridan Smith reveals emotional way she has marked ‘connection’ with Ann MingREAD MORE: Loose Women star addresses son’s tragic death – ‘My gut has been wrenched out’

As the line dancing continued, the real Ann was seen sitting on the side before the camera cut to her dancing alongside Sheridan Smith. “She still enjoys line dancing, five times a week,” text on the screen reads.

Viewers took to social media to share how moved they were by the final episode, with one writing: “What incredibl final scene with the real Ann #IFoughtTheLaw.” Another said: “#IFoughtTheLaw God what a programme Sobbing mess Well done all involved.”