George Pimentel/WireImage(LOS ANGELES) — Dave Franco’s directorial debut The Rental is available on demand this weekend, and at drive-in movie theaters. The thriller is about a group of friends who rent a house for a weekend when things go terribly wrong, which was actually inspired by Franco’s own paranoia about the concept of home sharing.
“You know, thinking about how the country is as divided as it’s ever been and no one trusts each other yet. We trust staying in the home of a stranger simply because of a few, you know, five star reviews online,” he tells ABC audio, adding that lots of articles about homeowners with hidden cameras in their place came out during filming.
Since working on The Rental, Franco admits his paranoia has only gotten more extreme. However, it hasn’t stopped him from renting.
“I stayed in an Air BnB while filming this movie. But since filming… my levels of paranoia have definitely reached their peak,” he confesses. “Now when I stay in a rental home, I’m not thinking I wonder if there are cameras here. I’m more thinking I know there are cameras here. And it’s just about whether or not I find them.”
He adds, “I have not found one yet but you will find me standing on chairs and shining my cell phone flashlight around in the nooks and crannies.”
As for how Franco would prefer moviegoers to watch The Rental? However they want.
“There’s charms in watching it at home and kind of feeling that creepiness within your own home. And then there’s the obvious charms of just going to a drive in. And just like… experiencing something with a group of other people, which is not something that we get to do a lot these days,” he explains.
EMI Nashville/Joseph Llanes Most people know Chrissy Metz as one of the breakout stars of TV’s This Is Us. But after Saturday night, more folks will recognize her as an up-and-coming country singer, as she makes her Grand Ole Opry debut.
Based on her childhood, the actress could’ve chosen any number of musical paths.
“I grew up in Japan,” Chrissy explains. “My dad was in the Navy, so I grew up there, my first nine years. And my parents were like melting pots of music. So we grew up with everything from like Motown to the Doobie Brothers, the Righteous Brothers to Charlie Daniels Band. I mean, everything, anything. Charley Pride, you know, just everything.”
“And I always just loved the storytelling of country music,” she points out. “And then obviously, being from a small town in Florida, country music was always playing. And I just, I just loved it.”
Chrissy believes playing Kate Pearson on This Is Us helped clarify her musical direction.
“For me, country music just made sense,” she continues, “because I feel like I’m vulnerable enough to be comfortable with being uncomfortable in the storytelling. And I think that obviously through the character that I play on This Is Us, it’s lended [sic] my heart to be really open and exposed.”
You can watch Chrissy’s Opry debut Saturday night starting at 8 p.m. ET via Circle All Access on YouTube. Expect to hear her debut country single, “Talking to God,” as well as the new track, “Actress.” Both will be featured on her debut EP, which is expected sometime this fall.
Chrissy’s busy finishing the record in Nashville as she waits for production to resume on the new season of This Is Us.
It’s round two for power couple Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, who released their second duet “Happy Anywhere,” right as the clock struck 12 a.m. ET on Friday.
The two previously topped the country chart with “Nobody but You.”
Now with their latest, “Happy Anywhere,” the two aim to bring smiles to faces everywhere with their whimsically effervescent collaboration that they created while in quarantine together.
“Even though Gwen and I just had a single out we decided that, under the circumstances, this year…man, there’s never been a better time for ‘Happy Anywhere,'” Blake, 44, previously said in a statement. “We’ve all been in quarantine and lockdown, and hopefully we’ve been doing that with somebody that we really love and enjoy being around.”
“Happy Anywhere” chronicles how Shelton and Stefani lived a rough and tumble life on the road that never fully slowed down to let them appreciate the little things in life until their paths collided.
“I’m running wide open/ I was born with my feet in motion/ But since I met you, I swear/ I could be happy anywhere,” Croons Shelton as Stefani harmonizes, saying that’s true because “You’re always my destination.”
The two agree that life is all the more sweeter now that they are spending the rest of it together, vowing, “So girl, I hope you know/ Wherever you go, I go, I know.”
The song is now available for purchase and stream, well, anywhere.
“Happy Anywhere” is the first taste of new music from Blake since he released his Fully Loaded: God’s Country greatest hits collection in December.
It’s unknown if this track is one piece of a larger album the Grammy-nominee is cooking up. However, he did previously indicate he’s perfectly content issuing one-off singles for the meantime.
ABCBY ASHAN SINGH, DEBORAH KIM, and ALLIE YANG, ABC NEWS
(NEW YORK) — For almost a year now, Taylor Cassidy has been creating TikToks. However, her short, creatively edited videos have been so much more than viral dance challenges.
One of Cassidy’s latest videos posted to her nearly two million followers is an explainer on “Blaxploitation.” In the video, which racked up nearly 400,000 views in one day, she teaches viewers that the genre emerged in the 1970s as films made by Black creators featured Black characters at the forefront. She also notes the characters often played into negative stereotypes.
At 17 years old, Cassidy’s account has been verified on the social platform and her videos have amassed over 38 million likes.
“Hundreds of thousands of people started coming to this little Black girl’s channel just to support her,” Cassidy told “Nightline.” “I still can’t fully fathom it, but I’m so thankful that I have an audience that I can educate and they want to be educated.”
Cassidy quickly realized the platform’s potential as a megaphone for social issues.
“I had started doing these little motivational pep talks on Instagram,” she said. “Whenever I was on TikTok, I was like, ‘I’m just going to see what happens and put it on here, too.’ And then people really loved it.”
She’s covered a range of topics on her page, from figures in Black history to speaking out about the killing of Breonna Taylor to the history of the United States’ two-party system.
One story she shared with her followers that really caught her attention was that of the Black American creator of the famous Playboy bunny costume.
“I had found out about Zelda Wynn Valdés a few months prior,” Cassidy said. “I was really captivated that this Black woman created such an iconic costume. I was like, ‘I need to share this woman.’”
Cassidy said it was especially important to make her voice heard during this time of reckoning for generations of racial inequality in the United States.
“I think that the representation of Black creators on this app really proves how important this is, that we provide authentic information and real information so that people don’t mistake the Black Lives Matter movement as something that it’s not,” she said.
TikTok, best known as a launch pad for chart-topping hits, eye-popping stunts and endless dance crazes, is now becoming a go-to space for young people itching to voice their opinions and enact change.
Kudzi Chikumbu, the director of TikTok’s creator community, says the new role the app has taken on is an organic progression for the platform.
“People have really been opened up to be able to express their authentic voice and things that they also care about … not just only having fun, but inspiring people, educating people, informing people,” Chikumbu told “Nightline.”
On TikTok, the Black Lives Matter hashtag has racked up more than 17 billion views, pride hashtags have surpassed seven billion views and posts about safe quarantining have amassed more than 21 billion views.
“TikTok is a place where teenagers go to post information about how to protest, where protests are happening, what’s happening on the ground,” Taylor Lorenz, a tech reporter for The New York Times, told “Nightline.” “TikTok is the real time news platform for Gen Z.”
The platform is also a hotbed of political commentary, most notably from the conservative end of the political spectrum. Among the conservative voices is Cam Higby.
“There was a period of time where I posted, like, just normal TikTok. I tried to be funny or whatever on my personal account, but it didn’t really work out,” he told “Nightline.” “But then I noticed I would start making like Trump-related videos or something, talking about what I agree with or disagree with. … They just were massively successful.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called TikTok a national security threat because it’s a Chinese-owned company. And White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said last week that a ban could come in “weeks, not months.”
“I would be upset if it gets banned. I really don’t think it’s going to get banned,” Higby said. “I think there’s very little likelihood of it. But I would also understand why he’s doing it.”
In a statement to “Nightline,” TikTok refuted the White House’s claim saying in a statement, “There’s a lot of misinformation about TikTok out there. TikTok has an American CEO … and a U.S. team that works diligently to develop a best-in-class security infrastructure. TikTok U.S. user data is stored in the U.S. and Singapore, with strict controls on employee access. These are the facts.”
Both Higby and Cassidy find that TikTok is an important place for people to express their ideologies.
“It’s better that people both on the right and left start getting into politics when they’re younger,” Higby said. “Because then by the time they’re an adult, maybe they’ll actually know what’s happening.”
Still a minor and unable to vote in a presidential election until 2024, Cassidy uses the platform to amplify her voice.
“If I can’t vote, I can influence others to vote for the candidate that best suits their beliefs and what can really improve our society,” she said. “If you can vote, you can help spark that change.”
Cassidy also offered advice to other young activists.
“If you’re going to go on TikTok to use your voice to make a change, make sure that your heart is in the right place to make [an] impact first,” she said. “That’s how you’re going to reach people. That’s how you’re going to make an impact.”
ABC/Gavin BondLuke Bryan’s Farm Tour is the latest 2020 event to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The singer made the sad announcement on social media this week, admitting that after 11 years running, it’s an event that’s particularly close to his heart.
“We’ve been going strong for the past 11 consecutive years, so this one really hurts,” Luke wrote. “We have looked at all kinds of ways to continue with the shows this year, but couldn’t come up with a solution to give y’all the full Farm Tour experience while keeping everyone safe.”
Still, he stressed that Farm Tour will resume in 2021: “Until next year!” Luke added. “Love y’all.”
Each year since 2010, Luke’s fall Farm Tour finds the country superstar and his musical friends playing shows on farms in small towns across America. Last year, he brought acts like Cole Swindell and Mitchell Tenpenny along for the ride.
While Luke’s touring plans may be on hold for now due to the pandemic, he’s still got an exciting month ahead: The singer plans to release his next album, Born Here, Live Here, Die Here, on August 7. The project includes Luke’s current single, “One Margarita,” which became his twenty-fifth number-one hit this month.
George Pimentel/WireImage(LOS ANGELES) — Dave Franco’s directorial debut The Rental is available on demand this weekend, and at drive-in movie theaters. The thriller is about a group of friends who rent a house for a weekend when things go terribly wrong, which was actually inspired by Franco’s own paranoia about the concept of home sharing.
