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"I'd be up for that!" Liam Neeson wants to re-join the 'Star Wars' universe with Disney+'s 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' show

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ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) — While he admitted to not knowing a thing about the project, count Liam Neeson in if his old Padawan Ewan McGregor needs a hand in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+. 

Neeson played Kenobi’s master, Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. Although his physical self met his end at the end of Darth Maul’s lightsaber, his voice was heard as Qui-Gon communicated through the Force in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and at the climax of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

In an interview with Collider about his new number-one film, The Marksman, Neeson admitted that while he “hadn’t heard a thing about the [Kenobi] project,” he added enthusiastically, “Sure! I’d be up for it!”

The upcoming series from repeat Mandalorian director Deborah Chow, which begins filming in March and stars McGregor reprising his role from the Star Wars prequels, is set after the events of Episode III, aka Revenge of the Sith.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Blake Shelton commits to shedding 20 pounds before marrying Gwen Stefani

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Trae Patton/NBCBlake Shelton admits that he put on several pounds because of quarantine and lockdown.  However, he says he’s not trying to quickly lose the weight because of a New Year’s resolution — he wants to look good for his big wedding to Gwen Stefani.

The “God’s Country” singer recently confessed to pal Luke Bryan on Apple Music that his waistline expanded during the pandemic and now he’s working hard to melt off that quarantine weight.

His current goal is to shed about 20 pounds and, when asked about his chances, the Grammy-nominee asserted, “I feel like if I say 10, I have to do it… So 10. It’s out there now. I can’t let people down.”

As for how he’s psyching himself up for his new diet, Shelton touched upon his unconventional methods to boost his self esteem. 

“I’ve readjusted all the mirrors in the house, so they look like when you’re taking a selfie from up above, because I can’t even stand to look at myself in the mirror,” Shelton admitted. “So I’ve rearranged them where they’re kind of angled down, looking down on me, so I’m looking up and it’s not so bad.”

Previously, Shelton joked with Ellen DeGeneres in September that he feels like he “gained 117 pounds” while hunkering down at his Oklahoma ranch.  

While Shelton nor Stefani have revealed when they intend to walk down the aisle, Bryan tried to get his buddy to name him best man.

“You know I told you earlier that I’m not good at saying no,” Shelton huffed. “Perhaps I’ll just blame this on COVID, again, and say, well, I don’t know, Luke. Maybe we’re just going to have a private ceremony.”

Shelton and Stefani publicly announced their engagement in late October.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

'WandaVision' star Paul Bettany on his father's struggle to come out of the closet

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ABC(LOS ANGELES) — Paul Bettany, star of Marvel’s WandaVision, currently streaming on Disney+, opened up to People magazine recently about the pain he experienced when watching his father struggle to come to terms with his sexuality.  Bettany also spoke about how the experience shaped the way he’s raising his kids with actress Jennifer Connelly.

Bettany says his dad had a 20-year relationship with another man after divorcing his mother, but “went back in the closet” following his partner’s death.

“That really speaks to the power of his Catholicism, which sort of led him to a place of shame and inability to mourn his partner in a real way,” explains the 49-year-old actor.

As a result, Bettany, who has three kids with Connelly — sons Kai, 23, and Stellan, 17, and daughter Agnes, nine — says “I really want my children, and I want everybody, to just live authentically as the person they are, and however hard that is, it’s absolutely better than pretending to be something other than you are.”

“Having been through a thousand years of therapy, there’s real power in getting to know yourself…and I have so many things to be grateful for,” he adds.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

By George Costantino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Marathoner Aliphine Tuliamuk, Olympic trials winner, gives birth

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Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesBy ALEXANDRA SVOKOS, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Aliphine Tuliamuk, who won the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials last February, gave birth to a girl, her first child, she announced Monday morning.

“Our daughter Zoe Cherotich Gannon arrived on 1/13/2021 and she is absolutely perfect. Her dad and I are just so overwhelmed with joy love and gratitude, and we can’t stop staring at her,” she wrote on Twitter.

She made the announcement on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and noted on Instagram that her daughter was born just two days before the civil rights icon’s birthday — “so close!” In his memory, she wrote, “may we all be proactive and do the right thing.”

The marathoner announced she was pregnant in early December, posting on Instagram, “[Partner] Tim [Gannon] and I always knew that we wanted to have a family, the goal was post 2020 Olympics, well as it turned out this year had other plans, by mid April we were convinced that there will be no more races this season, and the darkness ahead was too much, we created our own light at the end of the tunnel!”

Gannon and Tuliamuk, 31, got engaged earlier this year.

“Her journey to this world was relatively long but ‘easy,'” Tuliamuk expanded on Instagram about her daughter’s birth, adding with some emojis, “I was up and walking around a few hours after she arrived, like give me a race right now …kidding.”

Tuliamuk, who was born in Kenya and became an American citizen in 2016, according to NBC Sports, is still planning to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, should they be held this summer.

Her running accomplishments includes national road titles over 25k, 20k and 5k, according to New York Road Runners, and she finished 12th for women at the 2019 New York City Marathon and second at the 2015 Pittsburgh Marathon.

“It’s not like in the past where women were told, well, you can just race until you’re done racing, and then you can start a family,” she told NBC Sports in December. “You can do both of them.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Steve Martin shares hilarious thoughts about getting the COVID-19 vaccine

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ABC/Craig Sjodin(NEW YORK) — Steve Martin says he has received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but admits he has mixed feelings about it.

Taking to social media over the weekend, the Cheaper by the Dozen star revealed that he received a shot in the arm and described what the process was like.

“Good news/Bad news,” Martin opened up his Saturday announcement on Twitter, “Good news: I just got vaccinated! Bad news: I got it because I’m 75. Ha!”

Martin says, age aside, getting the vaccine appeared to be the least of his worries, adding, “The operation in NYC was smooth as silk” — which he jokingly added he was aware of the cliché.

The Emmy and Academy Award-winning actor continued that the process was “hosted to perfection by the US Army and National Guard” and profusely thanked those who made it possible for him to get vaccinated.

“Thank you all, and thank you science,” concluded Martin.

It was previously announced by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that seven million New York residents are currently eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

New York’s COVID-19 vaccinations are by appointment only as supply is currently limited, says Cuomo.  Those interested in scheduling an appointment can do so on the state’s “Am I Eligible” website. 

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.