All posts tagged: character

Heat 2 star Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly unsure what character to play

Heat 2 star Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly unsure what character to play

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Heat 2 is gaining momentum, with Michael Mann currently preparing to film the prequel to his 1995 crime classic – but in an unusual situation, the director is yet to firm up who will play certain roles, with reports claiming Leonardo DiCaprio is unsure which character to take on. The new film will be based on Mann’s 2022 novel Heat 2, which he co-wrote with Meg Gardiner, and it serves as both a prequel and a sequel to the original starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Val Kilmer. DiCaprio is set to shoot the movie after finishing filming Martin Scorsese’s next release, the psychological drama What Happens at Night, co-starring Jennifer Lawrence. Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly unsure what ‘Heat 2’ role to pick (AFP via Getty Images) But French outlet Premiere reports that DiCaprio is unsure whether to play the …

Industry star Marisa Abela reveals hopes for Yasmin in season 5 after very dark character transformation

Industry star Marisa Abela reveals hopes for Yasmin in season 5 after very dark character transformation

Published by Daniella Wilson

Industry star Marisa Abela has opened up about hopes for her character, who stooped to disturbing lows in the latest season of the BBC and HBO’s buzzy drama series. After starting out as a promising young trader working for investment bank Pierpoint & Co, Yasmin Kara-Hanani (played by Abela) has since scrapped any illusion of legitimacy for a much darker form of business. When we parted ways with her at the end of season 4, she had begun brokering seedy encounters between ultra-wealthy, often far-right men and young women – sometimes even underage girls. It was a storyline that, grimly, felt ripped from the headlines, amid widespread reporting of the Epstein files, exposing the powerful connections of the disgraced financier and convicted paedophile. As all eyes turn to the confirmed fifth and final season of Industry, Abela reflected on the unflinching storyline in an interview with Deadline. “What was crazy was that, even when we were shooting, [the Epstein scandal] wasn’t as much in the public consciousness,” she recalled. “As the show was coming out, …

How Being Under a Microscope for ‘Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette’ Helped Stars Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon Get Into Character

How Being Under a Microscope for ‘Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette’ Helped Stars Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon Get Into Character

Published by Sam Flores

Sarah Pidgeon: I put [myself] on tape, and then a few weeks later, I happened to be in LA finishing up a project I was working on and was told that the producers liked it, and I was gonna go in for my callback, but then within, like, 24 hours, that changed to a test. I went in and I totally blacked out. As soon as I finished the first scene, Ryan [Murphy] was like, “Okay, and moving on.” And I was like, “Oh shoot, I definitely didn’t get this.” He asked me a few questions, where I was from, and then I called my team, and I was like, “I think I did what I wanted to do, but I don’t think I got that job.” And three days went by, Friday came and went, and I woke up Saturday morning, and my team called and told me that I got it, and then the real process started of trying to find JFK Jr. It was such a wonderful moment when Paul walked in …

Democrats Have to Choose Between Character and Power

Democrats Have to Choose Between Character and Power

Published by Daniella Wilson

The Maine Senate race is far from the first time that an American political party has had to choose between character and power. In 2017, Alabama Republicans nominated a state supreme court judge named Roy Moore for U.S. Senate. A month before election day, The Washington Post published a report that when Moore was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney, he initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl. Three other women alleged that Moore had also pursued them when they, too, were underage. Asked on Sean Hannity’s radio show whether he had ever dated underage girls, Moore replied, “Not generally, no.” Then a fifth woman stepped forward to accuse Moore of sexually assaulting her in her teens. Four days after the Post story broke, local Alabama media reported that it was common knowledge in the area that Moore stalked teenage girls—so flagrantly that a local mall banned him from setting foot on their property. By Moore’s own account, he had become interested in the woman he subsequently married when she was in her mid-teens and he …

Toy Story 5’s Character VFX Are Next-Level Thanks to Tech Advances. And No, It’s Not AI

Toy Story 5’s Character VFX Are Next-Level Thanks to Tech Advances. And No, It’s Not AI

Published by skeptic

For Toy Story 2, Pixar wanted to animate 50 Buzz Lightyears at a time. In Toy Story 5, it finally succeeded. In the opening scene of the new movie, due for release on June 19, a gang of Buzzes patrols a dense desert-island jungle, each moving individually, while remaining roughly in sync. It’s a complex feat of animation — the kind Pixar has dreamed of achieving for years, said Thomas Jordan, the company’s VFX supervisor, while speaking at SXSW London. To ensure that every Buzz looked the same but different, the animation team created a library of Buzz Lightyear short animation loops that could be reused across multiple shots and then layered on top of one another. “Sequels are an appealing testing ground for technology because the look of the movie is already established, and we can reuse characters and their environments from past films,” said Jordan. Jordan has a storied career at Pixar (his favorite film he’s worked on is Up), and he explained that each Pixar movie borrows and builds on VFX breakthroughs …

Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’ creator on character she couldn’t kill off

Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’ creator on character she couldn’t kill off

Published by Sam Flores

I am not a baller. I said this over a telephone, standing in a field of sheep. It was an anxiety-riddled confession, so more like, I’m so sorry. I am not a baller. I had pitched to Netflix a first season of “The Diplomat” that ended with Stuart Hayford, the beloved character played by Ato Essandoh, getting killed. I, like everyone, had watched “Game of Thrones” slack-jawed when Ned Stark met his end. Such a baller move. That’s how we discussed it in the writers’ room. It was muscular and devastating, and we should do it. Build a character we’d adore and kill them, from nowhere, in the second to last episode of the season. We had backstory for Kate and Hal. They fell in love on the job, stopping wars from starting or bringing violent conflicts to an end. But there was a wound in the relationship. They worked in dangerous places. Hal had taken risks Kate thought were reckless. People had died. Young, idealistic people who saw Hal as a mentor and would …

Star City’s Anna Maxwell Martin teases “monstrous” character

Star City’s Anna Maxwell Martin teases “monstrous” character

Published by Daniella Wilson

Anna Maxwell Martin has given us a glimpse into what we can expect from her new “monstrous” character in Star City. The For All Mankind prequel, which also stars Rhys Ifans, takes us back in time to the 1970s to imagine what might have happened had the Soviet Union won the space race, delving into the lives of cosmonauts, engineers, and intelligence officers. It sees Martin play ruthless KGB handler Colonel Lyudmilla Raskova – but she’s teased there’s more to the character than meets the eye. Speaking exclusively to Radio Times, the Motherland legend said: “With Lyudmilla, we learn that she’s not an android, that she does have a slither of humanity – that’s all I can say. “ At the moment she seems like an automaton, but she’s gonna break out of that. Not much! But a little bit. “But that side of her being seeming like a monster and trying to control every fibre of oxygen in a room is really great about her. We do see a bit later on that there’s a …

Doctor Who teases return of beloved character last seen 11 years ago

Doctor Who teases return of beloved character last seen 11 years ago

Published by Daniella Wilson

We’re now less than a month away from the release of new Doctor Who global multi-platform story, Circuit Breaker, and we’ve just got our first look at the return of a beloved character. As was previously announced when the project was unveiled, Ingrid Oliver will be reprising her role as Petronella Osgood, having previously played the character opposite the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors. The character first appeared in 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor, and was last seen in season 9’s The Zygon Inversion, released in 2015. Circuit Breaker, which launches on 25 June, is a story which will unfold throughout the summer across audio, publishing, gaming and digital, bringing together a range of Doctor Who partners including Titan Comics, Doctor Who Magazine, BBC Audiobooks, East Side Games, Puffin, BBC Books and Big Finish. The new image teasing Osgood’s return was posted to the show’s official social channels, alongside the caption: “Osgood is awaiting YOU in the Black Archive! Sign up to UNIT HQ on the #DoctorWho website for exclusive access to the …

EastEnders airs unannounced exit for beloved character in BBC iPlayer release

EastEnders airs unannounced exit for beloved character in BBC iPlayer release

Published by Daniella Wilson

It’s the end of an era in EastEnders… Julie Bates (Karen Henthorn) has left Albert Square to travel across India. Henthorn reprised her role after 27 years away in July last year. This followed a brief voice-only appearance in the previous January. Julie was seeking estranged husband Nigel (Paul Bradley), who had come to Walford after receiving a young-onset dementia diagnosis. He didn’t want to burden her, and had instead struck up an agreement with old pal Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), where he would live with him and eventually act as his carer when the time came. She gave Phil a frosty reception, believing he was in the wrong for harbouring Nigel’s ill health from her, though eventually softened upon learning that they were her husband’s wishes. After settling in Walford, and getting a job at the high school, Julie has become a pillar of support within the community. She even became an unlikely player in the ‘Manosphere’ storyline involving Joel Marshall (Max Murray). Karen Henthorn and Paul Bradley as Julie and Nigel Bates. BBC It’s …

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: Posh Grandpa is fashion’s new main character | Fashion

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: Posh Grandpa is fashion’s new main character | Fashion

Published by Sam Flores

Welcome to the season of the Posh Grandpa, fashion’s newest main character. We’ve had Brat, we did Coastal Grandma, we loved Tomato Girl Summer. The world is pretty heavy right now, as you’ll have noticed, so any opportunity to lighten up is precious. The nonsense is the point. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Character dressing is style that makes you smile, but it’s not just that. There is infinitely more joy in these looks, however silly they are, than there is in aspiring to look rich and pretty, which is where the aesthetic centre of gravity of our culture swings back to again and again. The esoteric sides of fashion’s personality capture something important about style, which is that it needs a bit of friction to make it interesting. The pebble in the boot, the surprise to snag the eye. This is where the magic happens. I am all in with Posh Grandpa dressing, and not just for the lols, although …