News

Brian Cox has given a frank response to one of his iconic stage roles going to Anthony Hopkins onscreen. Cox is an award-winning performer on both stage and screen. Since his career began in the 1960s, he has been nominated for two British Theatre Association Drama Awards, five Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes, and seven BAFTA Awards.

Cox is best known in the modern age as one of the leads of the Succession cast, having played patriarch Logan Roy across all four seasons of the popular HBO drama. However, he has held a variety of onscreen roles in iconic properties over the years, including playing Samara's father in The Ring, William Stryker in X2: X-Men United, CIA Deputy Director Ward Abbott in The Bourne Identity and its sequel The Bourne Supremacy, Captain O'Hagan in the Super Troopers movies, and more.

Brian Cox Shares His Thoughts On Not Being Cast...

Tony Sokol Jul 10, 2019

Rip Torn, who played characters from Judas Iscariot to the producer on The Larry Sanders Show, dies at 88.

Respected and versatile character actor Rip Torn died Tuesday in Lakeville, Conn., according to Variety. Publicist Rick Miramontez did not release a cause of death, but said Torn was with his wife, Amy Wright, and two daughters, Katie and Angelica. He was 88.

Torn believed actors should “play drama as comedy and comedy as drama,” according to the statement, and the actor was equally at home both. He starred in comedies like Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life and the Men in Black films, as well as TV comedies 30 Rock, playing General Electric CEO Don Geiss, mentor to Alec Baldwin’s Jack Donaghy, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Torn won an Emmy for his part in HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, and was nominated for a Tony award in...

Rip Torn, who played Garry Shandling’s profane, fiercely loyal producer on HBO’s The Larry Sanders Show, co-starred in the original Men in Black films and was a major star of Broadway and Off Broadway during a seven-decade career, died today surrounded by family at his home in Lakeville, Ct. He was 88.

The prolific Torn played the unstoppable and unflappable Artie on Larry Sanders, which aired from 1992-98 and followed the behind-the-scenes and onstage antics of a successful late-night network talk show. Along with scoring a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Emmy in 1996, he was nominated for each of the show’s six seasons.

The year Torn won his Emmy, he also had been up for Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his turn on CBS’ Chicago Hope. In 2008, he earned his ninth and final Emmy nom, for his recurring role as Don Geiss on NBC’s 30 Rock.

Actor Rip Torn, who earned Oscar and Tony nominations as well as an Emmy Award and two Obies, has died Tuesday in Lakeville Conn., his representative confirmed. He was 88.

Torn was equally at home in the comedy of the “Men in Black” film series or TV’s “The Larry Sanders Show” (for which he won his Emmy) and in the drama of “Sweet Bird of Youth” or “Anna Christie,” to name two of the numerous classic works of theater in which he appeared.

The actor was nominated for a supporting-actor Oscar in 1984 for his work as a father who confronts tragedy in Martin Ritt’s “Cross Creek,” one of many rural dramas in which he appeared during his career.

He drew a Tony nomination in 1960 for his first performance on Broadway, as the sadistic son of the town boss in Elia Kazan’s original production of Tennessee Williams’ “Sweet Bird of Youth.

With a pair of Oscars and a pair of Emmys under her belt, Glenda Jackson is only a Tony Award away from completing the Triple Crown of acting. And that could change this June as Jackson makes her eagerly anticipated return to Broadway in a revival of Edward Albee‘s “Three Tall Women.”

Jackson lost all four of her previous Tony Awards bids: “The Persecution and Assassination of Marat, as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton, Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade” (1966); “Rose” (1981); “Strange Interlude” (1985); and “Macbeth” (1988). She retired from acting in 1992 and served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons until 2015. Since then, she has dipped her toe back into acting and was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2017 for her work in the title role of “King Lear.”

In “Three Tall Women,” which won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, Jackson...

The new Film Comment features pieces on Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, Virgil Vernier's Mercuriales, Riley Stearns's Faults, Guillaume Nicloux's The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, Kornél Mundruczó's White God, Robert Kenner's Merchants of Doubt, Noah Baumbach's While We’re Young, Rupert Goold's True Story, Richard Laxton's Effie Gray, Kirby Dick's The Hunting Ground, David Zellner and Nathan Zellner's Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, Kristian Levring's The Salvation and more. Also in today's news: Sight & Sound on women film critics, Adrian Martin on Ernst Lubitsch, David Bordwell on Strange Interlude (1932), the Paris Review on John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) and lots more. » - David Hudson...

The new Film Comment features pieces on Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, Virgil Vernier's Mercuriales, Riley Stearns's Faults, Guillaume Nicloux's The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, Kornél Mundruczó's White God, Robert Kenner's Merchants of Doubt, Noah Baumbach's While We’re Young, Rupert Goold's True Story, Richard Laxton's Effie Gray, Kirby Dick's The Hunting Ground, David Zellner and Nathan Zellner's Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, Kristian Levring's The Salvation and more. Also in today's news: Sight & Sound on women film critics, Adrian Martin on Ernst Lubitsch, David Bordwell on Strange Interlude (1932), the Paris Review on John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) and lots more. » - David Hudson...

The new Film Comment features pieces on Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, Virgil Vernier's Mercuriales, Riley Stearns's Faults, Guillaume Nicloux's The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, Kornél Mundruczó's White God, Robert Kenner's Merchants of Doubt, Noah Baumbach's While We’re Young, Rupert Goold's True Story, Richard Laxton's Effie Gray, Kirby Dick's The Hunting Ground, David Zellner and Nathan Zellner's Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, Kristian Levring's The Salvation and more. Also in today's news: Sight & Sound on women film critics, Adrian Martin on Ernst Lubitsch, David Bordwell on Strange Interlude (1932), the Paris Review on John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) and lots more. » - David Hudson...

The new Film Comment features pieces on Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, Virgil Vernier's Mercuriales, Riley Stearns's Faults, Guillaume Nicloux's The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, Kornél Mundruczó's White God, Robert Kenner's Merchants of Doubt, Noah Baumbach's While We’re Young, Rupert Goold's True Story, Richard Laxton's Effie Gray, Kirby Dick's The Hunting Ground, David Zellner and Nathan Zellner's Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, Kristian Levring's The Salvation and more. Also in today's news: Sight & Sound on women film critics, Adrian Martin on Ernst Lubitsch, David Bordwell on Strange Interlude (1932), the Paris Review on John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) and lots more. » - David Hudson...

Harry Potter alumni shortlisted for respective theatrical roles in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Mojo

Harry Potter graduates Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint are among the nominees shortlisted for the only major UK theatre awards voted for entirely by the public.

Radcliffe is nominated in the best actor category of the 14th WhatsOnStage awards for his performance as Billy in The Cripple of Inishmaan.

He is up against Ben Whishaw for Mojo and Peter and Alice, James McAvoy for Macbeth, Lenny Henry for Fences and Rory Kinnear for Iago in the National Theatre's production of Othello. Kinnear also appears in the best new play category for his writing debut, The Herd.

Grint, making his stage debut as the endearingly dim Sweets in Mojo, is nominated in the London newcomer of the year. The category also includes actors Jack Huston (Strangers on a Train), Kyle Scatliffe (The Scottsboro Boys), Olivia Vinall...

On the day the actor bids farewell to her character in the last episode of Shameless, she will open in a very different role in Eugene O'Neill's marathon, Strange Interlude, at the National

Anne-Marie Duff holds out her hand – a shy shake. She is wearing what looks like a child's white vest, jeans and no jewellery. There is nothing to give her away, apart from her face. Even her feet are bare – maroon nail varnish excepted. It is a sunny day – warm upstairs at the Jerwood rehearsal space in south London – and we have two reasons to meet. She is about to star in Strange Interlude at the National, a Eugene O'Neill marathon. And the final episode of Channel 4's Shameless (now in its 11th series) is about to be aired, featuring Fiona – peroxide hair and tarty Gypsy earrings to the fore – taking a last stand. Anne-Marie's range is incredible: Elizabeth I,...

James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff are Britain's new golden acting couple, tackling everything from classical theatres to action movies. But they are reluctant stars who are happy to live out of the limelight

Standards have been set when it comes to golden couples of stage and screen. Half a century ago, when Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton met on the set of Cleopatra, then the most expensive movie ever made, the powerful personal chemistry was immediately clear. In consequence, the love of the two British-born stars is now almost as fabled as the story of Antony and Cleopatra itself.

Since the 1960s there have been occasional challenges, one from Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, perhaps, for the title of Britain's premiere theatrical partners. But quietly, even reluctantly, since they do not desire it, a talented new pairing has staked a claim: Anne-Marie Duff and her husband James McAvoy.

Their screen...

London — The return of director Sam Mendes and a long-awaited musical by Tori Amos are among highlights announced Wednesday for the 50th anniversary season at Britain's National Theatre.

Mendes, who began his career in theater before moving into film, will direct a production of Shakespeare's "King Lear" starring Simon Russell Beale and opening next January. It was originally slated for 2012, but delayed while Mendes made the James Bond adventure "Skyfall."

The 2013 season will see "The Light Princess," a musical adaptation of a 19th-century fairytale with music and lyrics by Amos. First announced two years ago, it will finally open in October.

Artistic director Nicholas Hytner said Wednesday that "musicals just take a hell of a lot of writing and developing and testing out."

The season also includes a version of Shakespeare's "Othello" starring Adrian Lester, and a production of Christopher Marlowe's "Edward II." Two major American plays also are...

Surry Hills theatre company Belvoir has released a series of videos of its actors rehearsing to promote its new show Strange Interlude.

The videos, which offer a satirical glimpse into the rehearsal process, were shot by director Toby Schmitz.

“We want people to experience the intimacy of the actors in the rehearsal room, so we took marketing out of the equation and let the actors create their own campaign,’ explained Belvoir’s marketing manager Tina Walsberger.

Elizabeth Olsen has revealed that she would love to star in a stage play. The actress discussed her career goals with The Wall Street Journal, explaining that she has always had a love of live theatre. "I think I am itching to do a great play," she declared. "I have dream roles that are actual characters in plays I would love to do." Olsen went on to reveal that she particularly loves the work of legendary playwright Eugene O'Neill. " would [love to] be the lead in Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude. I'd have to be a bit older to play it," (more)...

Actress Elizabeth Olsen is "itching" to make her mark in the theatre world and has her sights set on starring in a production by playwright Eugene O'Neill.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's little sister has already taken Hollywood by storm with her critically acclaimed performance in last year's Martha Marcy May Marlene, but the 23 year old admits she really wants to conquer the stage.

She tells the Wall Street Journal, "I have dream roles that are actual characters in plays I would love to do."

However, Olsen concedes she'll have to wait a little while to be able to take on her ideal theatre role.

She says, "One (of her dream roles) would be the lead in Eugene O’Neill’s Strange Interlude. I’d have to be a bit older to play it."

Strange Interlude follows the story of the daughter of a university professor whose fiance is killed during World War I. It was first staged on Broadway in 1928.

Getty Images Elizabeth Olsen attends the Chanel Haute-Couture Spring / Summer 2012 Show as part of Paris Fashion Week at Grand Palais on January 24, 2012 in Paris, France.

In today’s Friday Journal, Rachel Dodes interviews Elizabeth “Lizzie” Olsen, the 23-year-old actress who until recently was known—if she was known at all—as the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley, the “Full House” child stars who parlayed their fame into successful fashion careers. The younger Ms. Olsen, who is still a student at Nyu,...

New York — Ben Gazzara, whose powerful dramatic performances brought an intensity to a variety of roles and made him a memorable presence in such iconic productions over the decades as the original "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" on Broadway and the film "The Big Lebowski," has died at age 81.

Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.

Gazzara was a proponent of method acting, in which the performer attempts to take on the thoughts and emotions of the character he's playing, and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career with two stirring Broadway performances.

In 1955, he originated the role of Brick Pollitt,...

New York — Ben Gazzara, whose powerful dramatic performances brought an intensity to a variety of roles and made him a memorable presence in such iconic productions over the decades as the original "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" on Broadway and the film "The Big Lebowski," has died at age 81.

Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.

Gazzara was a proponent of method acting, in which the performer attempts to take on the thoughts and emotions of the character he's playing, and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career with two stirring Broadway performances.

In 1955, he originated the role of Brick Pollitt,...

Hello! Jose from "Movies Kick Ass" here. History has always been kinder to those who excel at "firsts" and the Disney studio has an impeccable record in such achievements (even when they come in the shape of fact manipulation and corporate machinations).

Today, we commemorate another of Disney's "firsts", on July 30th, 1932, the short animated film "Flowers and Trees" debuted at Sid Graummann's Chinese Theater, opening for "Strange Interlude" starring Clark Gable. The Disney short however had the distinction of being the first animated film to be shot in the three-strip Technicolor process.

As with everything pertaining to the Disney studio at the time, this project once again almost left the studio completely broke. The film was being made in black and white, but Disney had it cancelled and they began working on the color version from scratch. Three strip Technicolor was an expensive endeavor and very few people at...

Warner Brothers has developed an exciting new way for film buffs to get titles that might not exactly sell well on DVD. A collection of them are available on their website and you can either order a burned copy or a digital copy (for certain titles). This Norma Shearer, Clark Gable melodrama is one of them. Nina Leeds. (Norma Shearer) boyfriend has been killed in war. She.s going against the wishes of her Professor father (Henry B. Walthall) and going away to help in a military hospital. Family friend and author Charlie Marsden (Ralph Morgan) has come back into town and is anxious to see Nina since he secretly loves him. However, she only sees him as an...

Have you heard the news that Warner Bros has opened up their vaults? Seems at least one of the major studios has realized that those who truly love the cinema love the entire history of it. They'd like to see more of that history.

Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery live Private Lives but they

still want to show off their brand new DVD collections!

There's a reason that some former mega stars (Norma Shearer is a good example) fade in the public consciousness quicker than others. Actually there are many reasons: changing tastes, mediocre filmographies, undramatic personal lives -- especially if they don't end tragically, pop culture's rapid "who's next?" star meat grinder, lack of gay appeal (think about it: fascinating the gays insures a long shelf life for entertainers. I don't think I need to cite examples... they've probably popped into your head just reading that sentence). But I'm...