January 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Netflix/Benjamin Loeb(LONDON) — Even if you didn’t know Mission: Impossible 7 was one of the first productions to spin back up after the COVID-19 pandemic all but shut Hollywood down, you’ve likely heard the Tom Cruise outburst directed towards crew members who broke the new safety rules.  Now co-star Vanessa Kirby is describing what it was like on set with what Cruise called “the gold standard” of safety protocols.

“The protocols, you get pretty used to them quite quickly,” she told Collider while promoting her intense new Netflix film Pieces of a Woman.

“Everyone’s always two meters apart, everyone’s tested three or four times a week. It’s really rigorous,” The Crown veteran says.  However, she explains that she’d had leg up in getting used to the “new normal.”

“My sister’s also a member of the crew on the film. She’s an [assistant director],” Kirby recalls. “She was on the first film [that got] back up [into production], Jurassic World, in July…and so I got to see her do it.”

Kirby added, “[I]t was such a wonderful moment because the industry had to shut down and cinemas are closed; to see the films that are getting back up and running and people being able to work was a really beautiful thing.”

Pieces of a Woman is reportedly on track for Oscar recognition, although Kirby’s co-star Shia LaBeouf was apparently deleted from Netflix’s awards consideration page following a lawsuit from his ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs that accused him of abuse.

In response, he released a statement to the New York Times in which he apologized for his past behavior, blaming his addiction issues. He said in part, “Although many of these allegations are not true, I am not in the position to defend any of my actions.”

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

January 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Courtesy of Netflix(LOS ANGELES) — Zendaya and John David Washington come to terms with their not-so-perfect relationship in the official trailer for Netflix’s& Malcolm & Marie.

The film, which was shot under strict COVID-19 safety protocols back in June 2020, follows Zendaya and Washington as a Hollywood couple who return home after a “celebratory movie premiere.”  Washington, who plays a filmmaker tensely waiting for critics reviews, is seen questioning his girlfriend about their issues.

“What is it Marie? What do you want?” asks Washington’s Malcolm in the promo.

“Really? Do you want to go there?” responds Zendaya’s Marie.

Directed by Eurphoria creator Sam Levinson, the black-and-white feature is already rumored to be an Oscar contender, with Netflix reportedly planning “to wage a full-fledged Oscar campaign” for the film.

Malcolm & Marie premieres on Netflix February 5.

By Candice Williams
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

STARZ(LOS ANGELES) — What’s worse than having lived a life full of death and loneliness?  How about learning that your dad could’ve helped, but didn’t?  That’s where we find the main character of the STARZ series American Gods as its third season debuts Sunday night at 8 p.m. 

Ricky Whittle stars as Shadow Moon, who last season discovered that Ian McShane’s Mr. Wednesday — the eccentric guy who hired him, and then revealed himself to be the Norse god Odin — is also his dad.

“It’s one of those things that’s really relatable in a world of fantasy: You’ve just found out who your father is. I mean, he could be working at a local store, but mine happens to be a god,” Whittle tells ABC Audio.

“So he’s angry. He’s had a terrible life where his mom died of cancer when he was 15. His wife died. He’s had no friends, no family, nothing,” Whittle continues. “And all this time, his father was right there as a god who could have helped him.”

So as season three opens, Shadow is “done” with Wednesday, says Whittle.  Hiding under an assumed name in the seemingly idyllic town of Lakeside, he becomes entangled in a murder mystery while trying to fit in with actual humans for the first time on the show.

“I’ve only ever shared the screen with a god, or my dead wife, [or] a leprechaun,” Whittle laughs of interacting with “basically, a brand-new cast for the season.”

But, Whittle notes, “Once again, he doesn’t fit. And that’s Shadow’s problem every single time. And until he figures out who he is, he’s no help to anyone.” 

Meanwhile, Wednesday is still planning a war against the New Gods.  Says Whittle,  Shadow’s “turned his back on destiny — but there’s only so long that you can do that.” 

By Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Jeopardy! Productions/Sony Pictures Television(LOS ANGELES) — As Alex Trebek’s last recorded episode of Jeopardy! airs tonight, the show’s executive producer, Mike Richards, is opening up about the game show host’s final days on set.

Trebek, who continued working throughout his lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer, recorded his final episode of Jeopardy! just 10 days before his death on November 8.

“I didn’t know how much pain he was in, but obviously he was battling,” Richards said on Good Morning America on Friday.  “For me, it was just emotional that he was there back at his lectern doing what he loved to do. And and that’s what was so special about it.”

“He didn’t know it was going to be his last show, the contestants didn’t know, we didn’t know,” Richards continued. “He signs off and says, ‘We’ll see you next time,’ so you’ll see a man at the peak of his powers.”

The last time Trebek addressed viewers directly was in the opening message that aired Monday evening. In it, the game show host urged viewers to show compassion during the ongoing pandemic.

“Open up your hands, and open up your heart to those still suffering with COVID-19,” he told viewers. “…We’re trying to build a gentler kinder society and if we all pitch in just a little bit — we’ll get there.”

Richards said the crew didn’t know that message was coming. “I think he was trying to lift us up as bad as he felt he was there with that speech, trying to lift us up,” he shared.

Starting next week, Jeopardy! all-time champ Ken Jennings will be one of several guest hosts who will take over “for the foreseeable future,” according to a statement Richards tweeted in late November.

By Good Morning America
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Eric McCandless(NEW YORK) — After fueling divorce rumors with a pair of Instagram pics without her wedding ring, Kim Kardashian West has the ring back.

After deleting one of the older images, Kim, 40, posted a new one of herself on Monday wearing the ring, according to E! Online.

She and Kanye West, 43, have not commented publicly on the status of their marriage, although sources tell the entertainment website the couple has been living apart for a while now.  Kim is reportedly in Los Angeles with their four kids and Kanye at his ranch in Wyoming.

“It’s gotten to the point where they haven’t spent time together as a married couple in months,” says the insider.

“They’ve seen each other for the sake of the kids but have been living separately,” adds the insider.  Kim knows the marriage is over. She’s known for a while.”

Another insider tells E! that “divorce talks have been on and off with them since the spring.”

However, a third source claims that “Kim and Kanye are still trying to work through things in their relationship. They are in therapy working on their marriage.  Divorce has been discussed, but Kim wants more than anything for their relationship to work.”

The couple tied the knot in 2014. It’s the first marriage for West and the third for Kardashian West.

By George Costantino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.