December 17, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

John Phillips/Getty Images(LONDON) — Just weeks after mourning the loss of friend David Prowse, the man who gave Darth Vader his imposing physical presence in the original Star Wars Trilogy, Jeremy Bulloch, the man who played Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, has died. 

He was 75. 

According to a post on his official website, “Jeremy died peacefully on 17th December 2020 following health complications, including several years living with Parkinson’s disease.”

“He spent his final weeks in the wonderful care of staff at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, close to the house where he and his wife Maureen had lived together for more than fifty years,” the memoriam continued, adding, “Maureen and two of his sons, Jamie and Robbie, were with him during his final days.”

Bulloch didn’t provide the voice of the mysterious Mandalorian bounty hunter who was first glimpsed in animated form in the widely-panned Star Wars Holiday Special, but he filled the fan favorite character’s battle-scarred armor in the second and third Star Wars films, likening the character’s cool to Eastwood’s iconic “Man With No Name” under the helmet. 

“There’s such a fascinating thing about the character that people will want to talk to you for, I don’t know, half an hour, ” Bulloch told ABC Audio, “[saying] ‘Mr. Bulloch, I love that part. I just think it’s so fantastic. Thank you so much for bringing that to us.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)

For all his popularity, Fett only had four lines of dialog in the original films; Archie Bunker’s Place actor Jason Wingreen provided the voice for the character initially; actor Temuera Morrison’s voice was later dubbed over Wingreen’s, to provide continuity with the prequel series’ origin story of Fett being a clone of his father Jango.

The character’s legacy continues to this day; The Mandalorian thrilled fans when it was recently revealed that Fett survived his apparent death in Return of the Jedi — with Morrison, the new voice under the helmet, taking over the role.

Bulloch also appeared out of armor as an Imperial officer in The Empire Strikes Back, sharing the screen, through the magic of editing, with himself as Fett in one sequence. He also played a pilot in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and appeared in shows like Dr. Who, and many others. 

He was a mainstay in the comic convention circuit, and loved interacting with fans — he even appeared at a fan’s wedding in his iconic armor.

Bulloch retired from the convention life in 2018, saying at the time, the decision came, “with a heavy heart,” adding, “It has been a privilege to have had the opportunity to inspire so many generations of Star Wars fans.”

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

December 17, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

McElhenney in “The Quarantine Episode”/Apple TV+(LOS ANGELES) — (NOTE LANGUAGE) As previously reported, CBS’ Radford lot in Studio City, California has seen dozens of positive COVID-19 cases; 12 of those on the set of the AppleTV+ show Mythic Quest.

Now some of those who were infected are speaking out to Variety, to slam the show’s producers’ response to the outbreak — the show’s second.

Star and co-creator Rob McElhenney sent an encouraging message to the show’s employees following the outbreak, Variety reports: the message stated, in part, “… to date there remains ZERO evidence of any transmission at work. Our set continues to be one of the safest places you can be outside of your homes.”

Plainly, one of the infected staffers told the trade, “That’s horsesh**. Utter horsesh**.”

Another commented that new COVID protocols were being followed at first, but as the pressure grew to finish the season and “get everybody off CBS Radford,” the safety slipped.

The infected employee added, “This is our m.o. — get it done…But we can’t go on standard operating procedure because people are getting sick.”

He added, “Not a single person is surprised this spread like it did,” the staffer said.

McElhenney told Variety the show was in compliance according to the company charged with overseeing the production’s COVID rules. He said, “Our medical staff has made every effort to ensure the health and safety of our crew…As all productions are seeing, it’s impossible to mitigate one hundred percent of the risk. …We will continue to follow the science and work in the safest way possible.”

Ironically, in May, a special installment of the Apple TV+ workplace comedy, called “The Quarantine Episode,” was shot remotely by cast members on iPhones, with couriers later picking up and sanitizing each device before the footage was edited.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

December 17, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Courtesy of Karamo(NEW YORK) — Tonight at 7 p.m. ET, Queer Eye star and therapist Karamo Brown is hosting Karamo’s Holiday Spectacular. Presented by online payment company Zelle, the event will allow fans to interact with Brown and other celebrity guests, and will see three lucky — and worthy — winners of Zelle’s “Send Cheer” contest being gifted $75,000.

Karamo says he’s excited “to be able to say to three people, ‘Because you’ve been giving back, because you’ve been helping other people, even in this hard moment, here’s a gift for you.'”

He adds that this season in particular has been tricky for many people. Luckily, Brown was a licensed social worker, and mental health in this COVID Christmas season will be addressed.

“So many people are like, ‘How do I navigate relationships? How do I navigate family conversation, how do I navigate this..?'” Karamo says.  “And unfortunately, I can’t respond to a lot of DMs. But if you come to the IG Live, I can give you the advice you need. It’s your own little mini Queer Eye session through the IG Holiday Spectacular.”

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

December 17, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Clooney on the set of “The Midnight Sky” – Philippe Antonello/ NETFLIX(LOS ANGELES) — George Clooney says celebrities who claim that their job is tough have no idea how difficult life truly is.

Speaking to Page Six, the Midnight Sky actor opened up about his lack of sympathy for those who complain that acting is tiring work. 

“I’ve done physically rough films. Perfect Storm I got beat up in the water. In [The Midnight Sky], my character’s dying, so I had to lose weight. You get weakened,” explained Clooney, 59, who revealed last week that he was hospitalized with pancreatitis after losing 30 pounds for the role.

“Directing, you need to work out first, get into shape, because as the general you’re carrying all these people up the hill. Physically it was a lot,” he continued.

Despite it all, Clooney says those roles were a cakewalk compared to a job he held before he arrived at Hollywood.

“Listen, I once cut tobacco for a living for $3 an hour. When actors say how hard it is, I’m like, ‘Come cut tobacco for a day,'” challenged Clooney, who “also sold ladies’ shoes and insurance door to door” before becoming a TV star and heartthrob as Dr. Doug Ross on the 1990s medical drama ER.

“To do our job, to still be kids, play make-believe, we should enjoy it. We’re the lucky ones,” he vented.  

The two-time Oscar winner also remarked that actors need to take their job seriously on set because he says it’s a privilege.   

“If you do more takes on yourself than the other actors — you’re a schmuck,” advised Clooney. “You have to do your stuff as quickly as possible and get it over with.”

Clooney’s new film, The Midnight Sky arrives on Netflix on December 23, 2020.  It is currently available in theaters on a limited theatrical run.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

December 17, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

“Star Trek Beyond” – Paramount Pictures(LOS ANGELES) — Chris Pine is keeping his fingers crossed for a return to his Captain Kirk role in Star Trek, especially a potential R-rated version from Quentin Tarantino.

Pine, who last portrayed Kirk in 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, says that at the moment, he knows about as much as anyone else.

“I’m quite literally one of the last people ever to find out. So, I haven’t read that script, I don’t know where it is in development,” he tells ComicBook.com.

“But I love the character, I love the universe, I love my friends in it,” he continues.  “You know, to have a Quentin take on it would be tremendously interesting and entertaining.  You know, look, whatever happens, if I come back or not, it’s a great universe, it deserves to have a future, and I hope that is the case.”

Tarantino is rumored to have been working on his own chapter of the franchise, but there has been no official word on whether or not it’s actually happening.

In a recent interview with SFX magazine, screenwriter Mark L. Smith discussed penning a script for Tarantino that included some big plans for Kirk.

“I wrote a Star Trek with Tarantino, and that was a sci-fi script on which I could have fun and lean into some bigger, broader things,” said Smith.

“Tarantino and I had so much fun with him, because Kirk is just William Shatner, y’know?  It’s like: you’re not sure who is who, so you can kinda lean into that.  Because you watch Chris Pine and he’s playing Kirk, but he’s also playing William Shatner a touch,” he added.

In the meantime, Pine reprises his role as Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman 1984, hitting theaters and HBO Max on December 25.

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