Actors and Actresses

Subterms

    More stories

    • 138 Shares119 Views

      in Movies

      Zoey Deutch Enjoys ‘The Joy of Cooking’ and the Occasional Tracksuit

      by

      The actor, now in the movie “Something From Tiffany’s,” thrives on regular readings of “Our Town,” discussions of “Sapiens” and whiffs of her dog’s paws.Zoey Deutch wanted to be honest. “Rarely am I drawn to super joyful material,” she said. “I have, at least in the last couple of years, been interested in darker, tonally strange pieces.”An influencer who fakes surviving a terrorist attack in “Not Okay.” An F.B.I. informant in “The Outfit.”But four years ago, she recalled, Reese Witherspoon tweeted that she’d seen and loved Deutch in “Set It Up,” about a couple of overworked assistants who try to create some breathing room by getting their bosses together.The two women started talking, which resulted in Melissa Hill’s novel “Something From Tiffany’s” being sent to Deutch. That led to their collaboration on the Amazon Prime Video adaptation (Witherspoon as a producer, Deutch as the star and an executive producer) about mixed-up Tiffany’s bags, a zingy New York baker (Deutch) stunned by an engagement ring from the boyfriend she’s not sure about, and a captivating widower (Kendrick Sampson) whose proposal is sabotaged when his girlfriend opens her own blue box — and the ring isn’t there.Rarely has so much bread been consumed onscreen in pursuit of diamonds and love.“So now we get to share our great, feel-good romantic movie,” Deutch said, not sounding remotely dark on a video call from her home in Los Angeles, before elaborating on the deliciousness of her dog’s paws, the significance of her grandmother’s paintings and the lessons to be found in Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town.” These are edited excerpts from the conversation.The Projectionist Chronicles a New Awards SeasonThe Oscars aren’t until March, but the campaigns have begun. Kyle Buchanan is covering the films, personalities and events along the way.Best-Actress Battle Royal: A banner crop of leading ladies, including Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett, rule the Oscars’ deepest and most dynamic race.Golden Globe Nominations: Here are some of the most eyebrow-raising snubs and surprises from this year’s list of nominees.Gotham Awards: At the first official show of the season, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” won big.Governors Awards: Stars like Jamie Lee Curtis and Brendan Fraser worked a room full of academy voters at the event, which is considered a barometer of film industry enthusiasm.1. “The Book of Symbols” It was brought into my life by my Alexander technique teacher many years ago when I was preparing for a movie. One of the reasons he gave it to me is because when we’re working on a new character or a new project, we like to pick animals and colors and symbols and create a visual board for the character. This became sort of a guiding light. I have a million copies downstairs because I always give them to people.2. Farmers’ Markets I went to an acupuncturist once who said something that stuck with me: that it’s so important, especially in this day and age when we get our groceries sent to our house, to go to the grocery store or to the farmers’ market and look at the food, because we are going further and further and further away from our instincts. And we have great instincts about what our bodies need if we listen to them. The more I started to grow and pick out my own food, the more I realized that things looked good to me not just because they were necessarily pretty, but because my body was craving them and needed those specific nutrients.3. My Dog’s Paws You know that specific smell of dogs’ paws when they’re asleep? They smell like corn chips, like Fritos. It’s actually a thing. They have some sort of bacteria in their paws and the odor smells similar to corn chips and it’s released when they’re asleep.4. “The Joy of Cooking” The basics in there are really fantastic. I put my own spin on things, but I always go back to that roast chicken recipe with just butter and salt.5. Grandma’s Paintings My grandma was an amazing, prolific artist and a spiritual, eccentric woman. She has inspired me in every way, and I carry her with me always. Specifically, I carry with me a painting I have above my fireplace that I designed my whole house around. She painted a lot of abstract stuff, but oddly this one is a naked woman on a red background. It feels right to be able to see her work every day.6. “Our Town” I prefer reading plays to books or scripts. It’s very soothing for me. I read “Our Town” for the first time when I was 14 or 15, and I’ve read it every two years since. It’s just a heartbreaking, beautiful story that gets me every time. It’s about how little we appreciate the simple joys of life and don’t understand the value of life while we’re living it.7. Ceramics My love of ceramics began with my great-grandmother, who had a small box of Atomic Starburst, a dinnerware that’s kind of famous. I saw that in my mom’s garage and I loved them. Then I started collecting them and now I have a whole set. I think the hunt is very fun, with that one specifically, because I know exactly what I’m looking for. And I have started collecting ceramics in Ischia, in Ravello, in Oaxaca.8. “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari The way he explains things works for my brain. It’s like the intersection between natural sciences and social sciences. It’s very stimulating. It’s also very fun to discuss — dinner-table conversations that are very, like, “Whoa, I never thought about it that way.”9. Matching Tracksuits As a little girl I had aspirations of both being an actress and a fashion designer. So it sounds a little counterintuitive to say I love matching tracksuits, which are essentially just pajamas that you wear out. But after spending half of my life in fittings for jobs or events or whatever, the last thing I want to do is try on clothes. I just want to be comfortable.10. Adventure My parents worked so hard when we were growing up and didn’t really take a lot of time for themselves. And what happened as a result is I became obsessed with traveling and planning and doing things and enjoying the fruits of my labor and experiencing the world and having a really full life. It’s hard not to feel guilty because I have the part of my brain that’s like, “Work all the time.” And then I have to go to the other part of my brain, which is, “Enjoy your life.” I’m trying to reframe my American mind-set of live to work, not work to live. In the spirit of “Our Town,” you never know how good it is until it’s gone. More

    • 113 Shares129 Views

      in Theater

      The Artists We Lost in 2022, in Their Words

      by

      Music innovators who sang of coal country and “Great Balls of Fire.” An actress who made a signature role out of a devilish baker who meets a fiery end. The trailblazing heart of “In the Heat of the Night.”The creative people who died this year include many whose lives helped shape our own — through the art they made, and through the words they said. Here is a tribute to just some of them, in their own voices.Sidney Poitier.Sam Falk/The New York Times“Life offered no auditions for the many roles I had to play.”— Sidney Poitier, actor, born 1927 (Read the obituary.)“People in the past have done what we’re trying to do infinitely better. That’s why, for one’s own sanity, to keep one’s own sense of proportion, one must regularly go back to them.”— Peter Brook, director, born 1925 (Read the obituary.)Ronnie Spector.Art Zelin/Getty Images“Every song is a little piece of my life.”— Ronnie Spector, singer, born 1943 (Read the obituary.)Yuriko.Jack Mitchell/Getty Images“Dance is living. Dance is, for me, it’s survival.”— Yuriko, dancer, born 1920 (Read the obituary.)Kirstie Alley.Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives, via Getty Images“The question is, how do you create with what you have?”— Kirstie Alley, actress, born 1951 (Read the obituary.)Carmen Herrera.Todd Heisler/The New York Times“Every painting has been a fight between the painting and me. I tend to win. But you know how many paintings I threw in the garbage?”— Carmen Herrera, artist, born 1915 (Read the obituary.)“I decided that in every scene, you’re naked. If you’re dressed in a parka, what’s the difference if you’re dressed in nothing at all, if you’re exploring yourself?”— William Hurt, actor, born 1950 (Read the obituary.)Takeoff.Rich Fury/Getty Images For Global Citizen“You gotta have fun with a song, make somebody laugh. You gotta have character. A hard punchline can make you laugh, but you gotta know how to say it.”— Takeoff, rapper, born 1994 (Read the obituary.)“I love watching people get hit in the crotch. But only if they get back up.”— Bob Saget, comedian and actor, born 1956 (Read the obituary.)Olivia Newton-John.Las Vegas News Bureau/EPA, via Shutterstock“I do like to be alone at times, just to breathe.”— Olivia Newton-John, singer, born 1948 (Read the obituary.)“Movies are like clouds that sit over reality: If I do cinema well, I can uncover what is beneath, my friends, my allies, what I am, where I come from.”— Jean-Luc Godard, director, born 1930 (Read the obituary.)Sam Gilliam.Anthony Barboza/Getty Images“The expressive act of making a mark and hanging it in space is always political.”— Sam Gilliam, artist, born 1933 (Read the obituary.)“Everyone says that I was a role model. But I never thought of it when I was doing the music and when I was performing. I just wanted to make good music.”— Betty Davis, singer-songwriter, born 1944 (Read the obituary.)Nichelle Nichols.Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images“The next Einstein might have a Black face — and she’s female.”— Nichelle Nichols, actress, born 1932 (Read the obituary.)“If I could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, it would be with Albert Einstein at Panzanella.”— Judy Tenuta, comedian, born 1949 (Read the obituary.)“In time, writers learn that good fiction editors care as much about the story as the writer does, or almost, anyway. And you really often end up, the three of you — the writer, and the editor, and the story — working on this obdurate, beautiful thing, this brand-new creation.”— Roger Angell, writer and editor, born 1920 (Read the obituary.)Jennifer Bartlett.Susan Wood/Getty Images“I spent 30 years trying to convince people and myself that I was smart, that I was a good painter, that I was this or that. It’s not going to happen. The only person that it should happen for is me. This is what I was meant to do.”— Jennifer Bartlett, artist, born 1941 (Read the obituary.)Christine McVie.P. Floyd/Daily Express, via Hulton Archive and Getty Images“I didn’t aspire to be on the stage playing piano, let alone singing, because I never thought I had much of a voice. But my option was window-dresser or jump off the cliff and try this. So I jumped off the cliff.”— Christine McVie, musician and songwriter, born 1943 (Read the obituary.)“Sometimes you have to put yourself on the edge. You go to the precipice and lean over it.”— Maria Ewing, opera singer, born 1950 (Read the obituary.)Taylor Hawkins.John Atashian/Getty Images“There’s so much in what I do that is beyond hard work — there’s luck and timing and just being in the right place at the right time with the right hairdo.”— Taylor Hawkins, drummer, born 1972 (Read the obituary.)“I was primarily an actress and not a pretty face.”— Angela Lansbury, actress, born 1925 (Read the obituary.)“I always try to improve upon what I’ve done. If something’s not working, I’ll change it to make it better. I’m an artist and a performer above all, and I don’t limit myself.”— Elza Soares, singer, born 1930 (Read the obituary.)Leslie Jordan.Fred Prouser/Reuters“I’m always working, always. I got to keep the ship afloat.”— Leslie Jordan, actor, born 1955 (Read the obituary.)“The reward of the work has always been the work itself.”— David McCullough, historian and author, born 1933 (Read the obituary.)“To me, sitting at a desk all day was not only a privilege but a duty: something I owed to all those people in my life, living and dead, who’d had so much more to say than anyone ever got to hear.”— Barbara Ehrenreich, author, born 1941 (Read the obituary.)James Caan.Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images“Passion is such an important thing to have in life because it ends so soon, and my passion was to grow up with my son.”— James Caan, actor, born 1940 (Read the obituary.)Tina Ramirez.Michael Falco for The New York Times“Words are unnecessary when movement and feeling and expression can say it all.”— Tina Ramirez, dancer and founder of Ballet Hispánico, born 1929 (Read the obituary.)Claes Oldenburg.Tony Evans/Getty Images“I haven’t done anything on the subject of flies. It’s the sort of thing that could interest me. Anything could interest me, actually.”— Claes Oldenburg, artist, born 1929 (Read the obituary.)“A skull is a beautiful thing.”— Lee Bontecou, artist, born 1931 (Read the obituary.)“I like to write strong characters who are no better or worse than anybody else on earth.”— Charles Fuller, playwright, born 1939 (Read the obituary.)Ray Liotta.Aaron Rapoport/Corbis, via Getty Images“One review said I played a sleazy, heartless, cold person who you don’t really care about. Great! I love it; that’s what I played.”— Ray Liotta, actor, born around 1954 (Read the obituary.)Jerry Lee Lewis.Thomas S. England/Getty Images“There’s a difference between a phenomenon and a stylist. I’m a stylist, Elvis was the phenomenon, and don’t you forget it.”— Jerry Lee Lewis, musician, born 1935 (Read the obituary.)“All of us have something built into our ears that comes from the place where we grow up and where we were as children.”— George Crumb, composer, born 1929 (Read the obituary.)Anne Heche. SGranitz/WireImage, via Getty Images“People wonder why I am so forthcoming with the truths that have happened in my life, and it’s because the lies that I have been surrounded with and the denial that I was raised in, for better or worse, bore a child of truth and love.”— Anne Heche, actress, born 1969 (Read the obituary.)Louie Anderson.Gary Null/NBCUniversal, via Getty Images“That’s my goal every night: Hopefully at some point in my act, you have forgotten whatever trouble you had when you came in.”— Louie Anderson, comedian and actor, born 1953 (Read the obituary.)“Adult human beings live with the certainty of grief, which deepens us and opens us to other people, who have been there, too.”— Peter Straub, author, born 1943 (Read the obituary.)Ned Rorem.Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times“I believe in the importance of the unimportant — in the quotidian pathos.”— Ned Rorem, composer, born 1923 (Read the obituary.)Gilbert Gottfried.Fred Hermansky/NBC, via Getty Images“I don’t always mean to offend. I only sometimes mean to offend.”— Gilbert Gottfried, comedian, born 1955 (Read the obituary.)“Merce Cunningham is quoted somewhere as saying he wanted a company that danced the way he danced. I kept doing the same thing. And I began to wonder why I was insisting that they be as limited as I am.”— David Gordon, choreographer, born 1936 (Read the obituary.)Hilary Mantel.Ellie Smith for The New York Times“The universe is not limited by what I can imagine.”— Hilary Mantel, author, born 1952 (Read the obituary.)“Getting the right people with a shared vision is three-quarters of the battle.”— Anne Parsons, arts administrator, born 1957 (Read the obituary.)Paula Rego.Rita Barros/Getty Images“My paintings are stories, but they are not narratives, in that they have no past and future.”— Paula Rego, artist, born 1935 (Read the obituary.)Javier Marías.Quim Llenas/Getty Images“When you are addressing your fellow citizens, you have to give some hope sometimes, even if you want to say that everything is terrible, that we are governed by a bunch of gangsters. In a novel, you can be much more pessimistic. You are more savage, you are wilder, you are freer, you think truer, you think better.”— Javier Marías, author, born 1951 (Read the obituary.)“Art is not blameless. Art can inflict harm.”— Richard Taruskin, musicologist, born 1945 (Read the obituary.)“I am a worker who labors with songs, doing in my own way what I know best, like any other Cuban worker. I am faithful to my reality, to my revolution and the way in which I have been brought up.”— Pablo Milanés, musician, born 1943 (Read the obituary.)Peter Bogdanovich.Evening Standard/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images“Success is very hard. Nobody prepares you for it. You think you’re infallible. You pretend you know more than you do.”— Peter Bogdanovich, director, born 1939 (Read the obituary.)Loretta Lynn.CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images“I think the highest point of my career was in the late ’70s. I had No. 1 songs, a best-selling book and a movie made about my life. But I think it was also the lowest point for me as well. Life gets away from you so fast when you move fast.”— Loretta Lynn, singer-songwriter, born 1932 (Read the obituary.)Thich Nhat Hanh.Golding/Fairfax Media, via Getty Images“Many of us have been running all our lives. Practice stopping.”— Thich Nhat Hanh, monk and author, born 1926 (Read the obituary.)Photographs at top via CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images; Anthony Barboza/Getty Images; Evening Standard/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images; Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images. More

    • 100 Shares99 Views

      in Television

      Sonya Eddy, ‘General Hospital’ Actress, Dies at 55

      by

      Ms. Eddy played Epiphany Johnson, the head nurse on the long-running ABC daytime series, for 16 years.Sonya Eddy, who played the no-nonsense head nurse Epiphany Johnson in more than 500 episodes of the enduring ABC soap opera “General Hospital,” died on Monday at a hospital in Burbank, Calif. She was 55.The cause was an infection following nonemergency surgery, said Tyler Ford, her producing partner.Ms. Eddy joined the cast of “General Hospital” in 2006 and quickly established herself as a fan favorite as the head nurse of the hospital where much of the show is set. “General Hospital,” a fixture of ABC’s daytime lineup for nearly six decades, follows the adventures of characters who live in the fictional town of Port Charles, N.Y.Ms. Eddy, right, as the head nurse Epiphany Johnson with the actors Jason Thompson and Kimberly McCullough in a scene from “General Hospital.”Ron Tom/ABC, via Associated PressFrank Valentini, the executive producer of “General Hospital,” said in a statement, “The lights in the hub of the nurse’s station will now be a little dimmer, but her spirit and light will live on in both the show and our set.”Ms. Eddy appeared in 543 episodes in 16 years on the show, the most recent of which aired on Oct. 20. She also played Epiphany in 25 episodes in the spinoff “General Hospital: Night Shift” in 2007 and 2008. The character was the mother of Stan Johnson, who was killed in a mob hit.Sonya Eddy was born on June 17, 1967, in Concord, Calif. She was a theater and dance major at the University of California, Davis, where she received her bachelor’s degree in 1992, according to IMDb.com. While she was a student there, she made her acting debut onstage in a production of “Zora Is My Name!”Ms. Eddy recalled the experience in an interview with the website stonecoldandthejackal.com. “I loved the sense of being able to influence the audience, to open a door in their mind that they otherwise may not have opened,” she said.She later performed in stage productions of “Comedy of Errors,” “The Crucible,” “Into the Woods” and “South Pacific.”Ms. Eddy’s is survived by her mother, Robbie Jean Eddy, and a brother, Lee Eddy.Ms. Eddy made her first television appearance, as “Woman No. 2,” in an episode of “The Drew Carey Show” in 1995, and went on to find steady work with roles on “ER,” “Seinfeld,” “Glee” and other hit programs. Her film credits include “Barbershop,” “Coach Carter” and “Matchstick Men.”But her most enduring role was as Epiphany on “General Hospital.” She must have appeared credible as a nurse because she played one several times throughout her career, including in the film “Seven Pounds,” from 2008, starring Will Smith, and “Year of the Dog,” from 2007. She also appeared as a nurse in the thriller “Frank and Penelope,” which was released this year.She was a supporter of real-life nurses, and led a campaign this year to raise money for scholarships for nursing students.Ms. Eddy was also a singer. On “General Hospital,” she showcased her singing skills during memorial services and nurses’ balls. On Tuesday, the “General Hospital” Instagram account shared a clip of Ms. Eddy’s character leading other nurses on the show as they sang “Hallelujah” in a 2017 episode.Sheelagh McNeill More

    • 138 Shares149 Views

      in Television

      ‘Emily in Paris’ Star Lily Collins On Her Own Trauma Haircut

      by

      The cast also talked about berets and big life choices at a screening and reception at the French Consulate General to celebrate Season 3.It was a gloomy, rainy 40-degree evening, but on a blue carpet inside the French Consulate General on the Upper East Side before a special screening of Season 3 of “Emily in Paris” last week, the cast was as colorful as the show.Lucien Laviscount, who plays Emily’s British boyfriend, Alfie, flashed a grin as he strolled along the line of reporters in a neon pink suit with matching sneakers. Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, who plays Emily’s French boss, Sylvie, cocked an eyebrow coyly at the cameras as she tilted her head to show off a big silver arrow piercing her right ear above an asymmetrical black gown.Kate Walsh, who plays Emily’s American boss, Madeline, struck a pose in a long white gown, thrusting out her left leg to showcase a daring thigh-high slit above a sheer black mesh panel. She was accompanied by her fiancé, Andrew Nixon.The show’s star, Lily Collins, appeared in a sparkling white long-sleeved minidress covered with silver bows, black tights and sparkling silver platform heels, and the blunt bangs her character, Emily, cuts in the first episode of the new season. (“Trauma bangs,” as Emily’s roommate Mindy, played by Ashley Park, terms them.)Emily is under pressure at the beginning of the third season of the Netflix series, which returns Wednesday. She faces big choices at work and in love. Should she stick with her Chicago boss, Madeline, at Savoir or join her French boss, Sylvie, at her new marketing firm? And should she hold out hope for the unavailable Gabriel, played by Lucas Bravo, or embrace a long-distance relationship with her flame in London, Alfie?Ms. Collins and Ms. Park said they found it relatable that Emily would reach for the scissors amid paralyzing indecision.“I had a life change haircut when I was, I think, 26,” Ms. Collins said. “I cut all my hair off — it was a pixie haircut — and I went to the Vanity Fair Oscars party and people were like, ‘What happened?’”The actress and model Camille Razat and her partner, the photographer Etienne Baret.Dolly Faibyshev for The New York TimesLucien Laviscount and Lucas Bravo, who are “Emily in Paris” cast members.Dolly Faibyshev for The New York TimesMs. Park, who wore a purple-and-black zebra print gown and black latex boots, said that when she was in seventh grade, she wanted wavy hair. “But I got a perm, and it was way too much, so I had to wear my hair in this topknot that I called ‘the pineapple’ for a year!” said Ms. Park, her dark brown eyes set off by bold purple eye shadow.Jeremy O. Harris, the “Slave Play” playwright who plays the designer Gregory Dupree on the show, didn’t hesitate when asked if Emily should return to Chicago.“She just needs to get away from men,” he said, dressed in a white patterned jumpsuit and long-sleeved red shrug.“There’s too much romance in Paris,” he added. “I think she should stay in Europe, but I want to see ‘Emily in Berlin’ or ‘Emily in Italy.’”The playwright Jeremy O. Harris plays the designer Gregory Dupree in “Emily in Paris.”Dolly Faibyshev for The New York TimesDarren Star, who created the series, said the show will be sticking to its title, though — at least for this season.“Emily is in Paris for the moment,” said Mr. Star, who wearing a black suit. The series was renewed for a fourth season, and, he hopes, it will extend beyond that.“If they want us back, we’re coming back,” he said. “I think there’s more story to tell.”Paris has, of course, proven thus far an inexhaustible sense of amusement for viewers as Emily navigates cultural differences like a double cheek kiss greeting and an office that doesn’t open before 10:30 a.m.“Emily going into the office that early was definitely funny,” said Camille Razat, who plays Camille, a Parisian socialite and a rival for Gabriel’s affections. Ms. Razat wore a long-sleeved red dress with matching opera gloves. “We work to live, not live to work,” she said.The French actor William Abadie agreed. He plays Antoine, the owner of a perfume company that is a client of Savoir’s. “I live in America, and I came here because I wanted to be an actor, but also because I respect the professionalism,” he said.The actor William Abadie.Dolly Faibyshev for The New York TimesDarren Star, the creator of “Emily in Paris.”Dolly Faibyshev for The New York TimesThe show’s French and American cast members shared one thing, though: affection for the beret, the round, flattish felt cap that Emily wears at least half a dozen of in the show’s first two seasons.“I have lots of berets,” said Mr. Harris, his eyes lighting up.“I have a winter beret, a summer beret. …” Ms. Walsh said.The show’s French cast members had little personal experience wearing them, though they were not opposed to the idea.“Why not?” said Mr. Bravo, who was wearing a black velvet suit.“I never wear them,” Mr. Arnold said. “I think I would,” he added, “But I like my hair too much.”Quick Question is a collection of dispatches from red carpets, gala dinners and other events that coax celebrities out of hiding. More

    • 188 Shares149 Views

      in Movies

      Cuarón, Del Toro y González Iñarritu recuerdan sus experiencias al trabajar con Daniel Giménez Cacho

      by

      Los tres cineastas más importantes del México contemporáneo recuerdan sus proyectos con el actor. “El mejor actor de nuestra generación”, dice Del Toro, quien le dio un papel en ‘Cronos’, su ópera prima.A los 24 años, cuando ya llevaba dos años de la licenciatura en Física, Daniel Giménez Cacho recibió una invitación informal para asistir a una clase de canto. Para consternación de su padre, que era ingeniero, aquella oferta inesperada desbarató el plan de una carrera científica y encendió en él un fervor por la actuación que duraría toda la vida.“Fue un descubrimiento físico, un renacimiento para mi cuerpo”, dijo Giménez Cacho durante una entrevista reciente en un restaurante mexicano de la histórica calle Olvera de Los Ángeles.Giménez Cacho, el aclamado actor que nació en Madrid pero se crio en el corazón de Ciudad de México, y quien ahora tiene 61 años, ha desarrollado un currículo ecléctico que muestra tanto su seriedad como sus dotes cómicas a lo largo de casi cuatro décadas.Desde el viernes lo podemos ver en Netflix como el alter ego del director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Silverio Gama, en Bardo, falsa crónica de unas cuantas verdades, una fantasía onírica de reflexiones personales y políticas.Después de iniciarse en el teatro, Giménez Cacho se dio a conocer más ampliamente a través de la televisión en 1989 con Teresa, la popular telenovela que protagonizó junto a una joven Salma Hayek en el personaje protagónico.En aquella época, en México solo se producían unas pocas películas al año pero, poco a poco, una joven cohorte de cineastas comenzó a impresionar con historias audaces tanto en la pantalla chica como en la grande. El actor estuvo presente en los mismos círculos artísticos y desarrolló su carrera en paralelo a la de quienes estaban detrás de la cámara.Ser el único actor que ha colaborado con los directores mexicanos reconocidos con el Oscar y conocidos colectivamente como los Tres Amigos: primero Alfonso Cuarón, luego Guillermo del Toro y ahora Iñárritu, es evidencia del papel fundamental que Giménez Cacho tuvo a la hora de sentar las bases para el surgimiento del nuevo cine mexicano. Iñárritu comentó, riendo a carcajadas: “Hay que levantarle una estatua por ser el único sobreviviente de los Tres Amigos”.Fuera de México, lo han convocado titanes del cine como Pedro Almodóvar (La mala educación), Lucrecia Martel (Zama) y Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Memoria).Les pedí a Cuarón, Del Toro y González Iñárritu que recordaran cuándo conocieron al actor y cómo fue la experiencia de trabajar con él.El actor como alter ego del director Alejandro González Iñárritu en ‘Bardo, falsa crónica de un puñado de verdades’.Limbo Films, S. de R. L. de C. V. Cortesía de NetflixAlfonso Cuarón: ‘Se convirtió no solo en colaborador, sino en cocreador’El actor y el director se conocieron en el rodaje de Camino largo a Tijuana (1988), de Luis Estrada, donde Cuarón fue productor y ayudante de cámara.Cuarón señaló que se arrepintió de considerarlo de inmediato para protagonizar su ópera prima, la comedia Sólo con tu pareja de 1991, a pesar de que lo impresionó el lenguaje corporal preciso y dancístico del actor.“Tenía miedo de no haber visto todas las opciones, cuando en realidad fue muy tonto eso porque la mejor opción estaba enfrente de mi”, dijo Cuarón por teléfono.Giménez Cacho acabó protagonizando la película y Cuarón se siente afortunado. Al recordar que un invitado a una cena comparó al actor con Marcello Mastroianni por su capacidad para infundir levedad a dramas más bien emotivos, el director explicó que su ópera prima “dependía del interprete. Él tenía que llevar la película con una gracia y una ligereza”. Cuarón añadió que “Daniel se convirtió no solo en colaborador, sino en cocreador de lo que terminó siendo la película”.Giménez Cacho recuerda que estaba indeciso, pues era su primer papel protagónico en una película.“Yo tuve siempre muchas dudas” respecto al papel de un mujeriego cuyas travesuras le pasan factura, dijo Giménez Cacho. “Todavía las tengo, pero ya tengo 61. Siempre tuve mucha inseguridad, entonces fue muy lindo descubrir mi vena cómica”.Después de Sólo con tu pareja, Cuarón animó a Giménez Cacho para que probara suerte en Hollywood y lo ayudó a concertar reuniones con agentes.“Vine y dije: ‘Esto no es para mí’. Me dijeron: ‘Do you want to be rich and famous?’. Y yo les dije: ‘Quiero hacer películas chingonas de las que pueda estar orgulloso’”, recuerda el actor. “La gente William Morris Endeavor creo que me entendieron por ahí y dijeron: ‘Está bien, vete a México y ahí te vamos mandando cosas’. Nunca pasó y yo no lo busqué después”.Una década después, para su conmovedora película Y tu mamá también, Cuarón quería un narrador masculino que evocara a los de Masculino femenino y Banda aparte, de Jean-Luc Godard.“Hay un don que pueden tener ciertos actores, que no lo puedes cultivar, que es que la cámara los sigue, el público está atento”, dijo Guillermo del Toro. “Y esa es una de las virtudes que Daniel tiene”.Ricardo Nagaoka para The New York TimesMientras buscaba una voz objetiva que añadiera un contexto irónico, pensó en alguien con acento español y le pidió al director Fernando Trueba que lo intentara.Al final, Cuarón recurrió a Giménez Cacho (a pesar de que pensó que el tono del actor podría ser demasiado cálido para esa tarea) y se sorprendió por la concordancia orgánica entre la voz y las imágenes. El actor grabó el texto antes de ver el material visual.“Daniel no se me había ocurrido porque estaba buscando voces, no estaba pensando en actores, y otra vez, esa fue una tontería”, admitió Cuarón. “Él supo perfectamente que tenía que tener un cierto distanciamiento Brechtiano, pero a la vez no permitió que se arribara a la sequedad”.El actor comentó con una sonrisa de satisfacción: “Nunca he sido su primera opción. Pero como luego no le gusta nadie, no le queda de otra que decir: ‘Bueno, ya que lo haga este cabrón’”.Guillermo del Toro: ‘Estábamos de acuerdo que era el mejor actor de nuestra generación’Mucho antes de convertirse en director, Del Toro fue maquillador de efectos especiales y conoció a Giménez Cacho en 1990, mientras le aplicaba lodo falso y una barba artificial durante el rodaje de Cabeza de Vaca, la obra de época de Nicolás Echevarría que está ambientada en territorio selvático.Con una curiosidad incisiva, Giménez Cacho le hizo preguntas detalladas a Del Toro sobre el proceso de transformación. El futuro cineasta se dio cuenta de que el actor tenía un compromiso obsesivo con cada aspecto de su trabajo, algo con lo que podía identificarse. De inmediato, se hicieron amigos.Del Toro lo apodó el Niño Sapo, al reconocer en Giménez Cacho una alteridad afín. “Decíamos que éramos un par de freaks”, recordó el cineasta a través de una videollamada. Poco después, Del Toro fabricó una réplica del brazo del actor para una escena de Sólo con tu pareja, la película de Cuarón.Según Del Toro, al principio de la carrera del actor, tanto él como Estrada, Cuarón, Carlos Marcovich y otros cineastas “estábamos de acuerdo que era el mejor actor de nuestra generación. Y lo sigo pensando”.A partir de su relación y en el trabajo del actor con el grupo de teatro de vanguardia El Milagro, Del Toro le ofreció el ahora emblemático papel de Tito, un director funerario malhablado pero entregado a su trabajo en Cronos, su ópera prima de 1994.“Estoy muy agradecido de que me invitó a hacer este pequeño papelito en Cronos porque, aunque es un papel pequeño, brillaba mucho, era memorable”, dijo Giménez Cacho.Hoy, después de más de 30 años de amistad, Del Toro se maravilla de cómo la intensidad de la juventud de Giménez Cacho ha evolucionado a una humildad admirable considerando su talento.“Hay un don que pueden tener ciertos actores, que no lo puedes cultivar, que es que la cámara los sigue, el público está atento”, dijo el director. “Y esa es una de las virtudes que Daniel tiene”.Alejandro González Iñárritu: ‘Sabía que me iba a hacer mi trabajo muy fácil’Giménez Cacho y González Iñárritu coincidieron por primera vez en una fiesta en Los Ángeles tras el estreno de Grandes esperanzas, de Cuarón, en 1998, pero pasó un buen tiempo antes de que pudieran trabajar juntos en una película.González Iñárritu describió su primera reunión para trabajar en Bardo como una “conexión cósmica”, pues la afinidad compartida por la meditación y una comprensión mutua de la similitud de sus viajes interiores se convirtieron en la base poco convencional de su trabajo juntos.Aunque Iñárritu no había escrito el papel de Silverio Gama pensando en un actor en particular, sabía que Giménez Cacho daría en el clavo incluso antes de haber leído una sola página del guion.“Me di cuenta que estaba en el mismo lugar que yo a nivel personal, filosófico, espiritual e intelectual”, dijo González Iñárritu durante una videollamada. “Más allá de sus dotes artísticos, que son muchísimos, sabía que me iba a hacer mi trabajo muy fácil porque él compartía la sensibilidad de lo que yo estaba buscando”.Aunque González Iñárritu abordó detalles íntimos de sus propios recuerdos en Silverio, un documentalista que navega tanto por su mortalidad como por su identidad mexicana en viñetas fantasiosas, veía al personaje como una entidad ficticia, no como un reflejo exacto de sí mismo.“Lo que siempre hago en cualquier personaje es traer lo que soy, mis experiencias y mis memorias”, dijo Giménez Cacho.Ricardo Nagaoka para The New York TimesEl director le pidió a su estrella que no reaccionara ante las situaciones, sino que solo las observara: el objetivo era crear una disonancia entre Silverio y el mundo bizarro que lo rodeaba porque la historia se cuenta desde la conciencia del personaje dentro de un sueño.Esa búsqueda de identidad hizo eco en Giménez Cacho, quien a principios de la primera década del siglo XXI intentó hacer carrera en España, pero descubrió que no podía verse a sí mismo más que como mexicano. Para encarnar a Silverio, no imitó a Iñárritu, sino que canalizó sus propias inquietudes y preguntas.“Lo que siempre hago en cualquier personaje es traer lo que soy, mis experiencias y mis memorias, pero aquí aún más”, señaló Giménez Cacho. “Al no haber un personaje diseñado pues lo tenía que tratar de buscar en mí”.El actor se comunica a través de su mirada penetrante y el movimiento corporal hipersensual que se muestra en una escena ambientada en la voz aislada de David Bowie en “Let’s Dance”.Iñárritu compara a Giménez Cacho con el actor británico Peter Sellers por la flexibilidad de su registro y lo describe como un haiku encarnado porque con una modulación mínima puede lograr la máxima emoción.“En Bardo hace lo que pocos actores son capaces de hacer, que es desaparecer el artificio de la actuación para llegar a la esencia y la presencia de algo honesto y verdadero”, concluyó González Iñárritu. “Se necesita mucha confianza interna para eso. Es lo más alto que hay en la actuación”. More

    • 75 Shares129 Views

      in Theater

      Jim Parsons Takes the Romantic Lead

      by

      The Emmy-winning “Big Bang Theory” actor “could’ve done anything he wanted.” Now starring in the tear-jerker film “Spoiler Alert,” he’s forging his own path.Ten years ago, the actor Jim Parsons, riding high on the success of the sitcom that would lead to his eventually making the Forbes list as the highest paid actor in television, casually told The New York Times that he was gay and in a long-term relationship. He remembers not wanting everything from 2012 forward to be about his sexual orientation.Now starring in the romantic drama “Spoiler Alert” (in theaters), of which he was also one of the producers, and having just wrapped an Off Broadway run of the musical “A Man of No Importance” — both of which have him playing gay leads — he says he wouldn’t trade the work he’s been able to do for anything.“Right after that piece came out, I felt power in being part of a group that I had not known I could feel,” Parsons, 49, said on a recent video call. He added that he was happy not to end up pigeonholed as an actor who could only do gay roles, even if more work came his way featuring gay characters.“It became a beautiful exploration of myself,” he said. “Not to say I feel completely satisfied and that there’s not plenty I still want to do, but I don’t know how I could be much happier or feel more fulfilled.”Parsons ties this feeling of catharsis to a lifelong quest to find himself worthy of love and acceptance. Growing up gay in a Houston suburb, he said he spent his first two decades with a “very real understanding that love would be lost” to him in certain corners of his life. Years into a successful career, he still considers himself on a journey to overcome the feeling that it is “overwhelming and a bit difficult to accept that much love from so many people at once.”He said that his recent projects have reflected that journey. “It’s kind of funny, since so many of them I didn’t pick,” he said, “but this chance to discover these things about myself, and other humans in the process, feels like a gift.”Parsons, center, as Alfie Byrne in the musical “A Man of No Importance.”Sara Krulwich/The New York Times“Spoiler Alert” is adapted from a memoir by the television journalist Michael Ausiello, recounting the cancer diagnosis of his husband, Kit Cowan, and the difficult path on which it set the two. It presented Parsons with an “open vein” of emotion that appealed to his lifelong fascination with mortality, one he said was deepened by the death of his father in a 2001 car accident, and the loss of his dog years later.“Both experiences were so painful, yet offered me a view of the preciousness of my time here that I had not experienced before, and I’ll forever now view my life through that lens of having loved and lost,” he said. “The thing that really crept up on me in the book was the story of two people who have this tragic, but also unique and rare, opportunity to go through an experience as close to two naked souls as you can be. It cracks open both of their hearts to see the risks that must be taken in order to live and love fully.”Parsons and Ausiello had interacted on red carpets and press junkets throughout the 12-season run of “The Big Bang Theory,” of which the journalist was a vocal fan, but it wasn’t until he asked Parsons to host a promotional Q. and A. for his book in 2018 that the actor learned Ausiello’s story.Jim Parsons’s Expanding UniverseThe actor stars in the tear-jerker romance “Spoiler Alert,” adapted from the memoir by the television journalist Michael Ausiello.‘Spoiler Alert’: The film follows the rocky romance — from meet cute to cancer — between Michael, played by Parsons, and Kit.On Stage: “He knows not only what marks to hit but exactly how to hit them,” our critic wrote of Parsons’s performance in “A Man of No Importance,” in which he starred this fall.‘The Big Bang Theory’: Parsons played the dorky physicist Sheldon Cooper in CBS’s hit comedy for 12 seasons. He won four Emmys for best actor in a comedy for the role.From the Archives: In 2012, Parsons led a Broadway cast for the first time in a revival of “Harvey.” He spoke with The Times about measuring up against Jimmy Stewart in the comedy.“I remember going back through Michael’s Instagram after reading the book, and seeing this picture of us at the Emmys,” Parsons said. “I saw the date on it and realized he’d been in the thick of all this when we took it, and I had no idea. I never met Kit, I didn’t know he was sick, I wasn’t friends enough with Michael to know, but I couldn’t shake that feeling.”Parsons became attached to the overlaps he saw between Ausiello and Cowan’s partnership and his own relationship with his husband and producing partner, Todd Spiewak. (A tweet from Ausiello, posted on the day of Parsons’s 2012 Times interview, points to two of these main parallels.)Ausiello recounted by phone always being drawn to Parsons’s comic rhythms, on- and offscreen, as well as his surprising career choices, like taking on a supporting role in the 2016 film “Hidden Figures” after having won four acting Emmys for “The Big Bang Theory.”Parsons, left, as Sheldon Cooper, with Mayim Bialik on “The Big Bang Theory.”Michael Yarish“We had this interesting rapport and snarky banter that made our interviews so much fun,” Ausiello said. “I looked forward to talking to him because it was going to be an entertaining experience; he was going to give me as much as I’d give him, and never miss a beat.”For the book Q. and A., this time it would be Parsons in the interviewer chair. “He shows up at this Barnes & Noble with pages of notes — he did his homework,” Ausiello said. “It was backstage, before we walked out, that Todd mentioned to me that they were interested in optioning the book; that was the first time I found out, and I was like a deer in the headlights.”For Parsons, the film proved to be the most involved he had been in any project. Though he mainly stayed out of its financial aspects, he played a central role in production, down to selecting his English co-star Ben Aldridge’s vocal coach — the same one he had as a student at the University of San Diego.The past few years have seen Parsons taking the reins more often through the production company he and Spiewak started in 2015, as well as stepping into more leading roles. This month, he finished a run in the Classic Stage Company revival of “A Man of No Importance,” about a closeted man’s efforts to lead a theater troupe. The Times critic Jesse Green wrote of his performance, “With his confident voice, unlined face and television polish, he never seems hopeless or, viewed from our time, too old for a new start.”His last stage outing before that, in the 2018 Broadway revival of “The Boys in the Band” (a 2020 film adaptation followed), saw him play opposite Matt Bomer, who also attained mainstream recognition through television before coming out as gay in 2012. In a phone interview, Bomer explained that he’d known Parsons as a “legend” in the suburban Houston high school drama circuit. (Though born a few years apart, both men grew up in Spring, Texas.)Parsons with Matt Bomer in the 2018 Broadway production of “The Boys in the Band.”Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesHe said he came to respect Parsons’s leadership and “fearless approach to the character” while working on the production, in which he played an often unlikable colead.“Jim achieved the type of television success that happens once in a generation, and he could have done anything he wanted after that,” Bomer said. “He’s translated it into these really thoughtful choices and performances, and taken creative responsibility for a lot of projects that are so interesting and that I really respect.”Three years removed from playing Sheldon, the role that made him a household name, Parsons isn’t sure that this new film and the recent musical point to a new career phase of leading roles, as opposed to the ensemble projects for which he’s been known.“Both projects required such tremendous, constant communication with my partners, and I like having a lot to do,” he said. “It’s much easier, if I’m a lead, to be constantly needed on set or onstage than it is to have swaths of time off, where I can get in my own head. Because I’ll find something else to do, I promise you, and it won’t be nearly as healthy as just doing the work.” More

    • 88 Shares199 Views

      in Theater

      New Broadway Labor Agreement Includes Pandemic-Prompted Changes

      by

      The deal, ratified by members of Actors’ Equity, provides salary increases for performers and stage managers, and allows producers to make short-term hires.The union representing theater actors and stage managers has ratified a new contract that provides pay increases for those working on Broadway and, in a move prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, allows producers to make short-term hires to cover absent actors.Actors’ Equity Association announced Monday that its membership had voted in favor of the three-year contract, which by late 2024 would raise the minimum salary for performers working on Broadway to $2,638 per week. That reflects three years of pay increases: 5 percent this year, 4 percent next year, and 4 percent the following year.The Broadway contract, negotiated by Equity and the Broadway League, applies to commercial productions on Broadway, as well as to so-called sit-down productions, which are extended runs of commercial shows elsewhere in the country.The contract is important because Broadway is the segment of the American theater world where artists can most reliably make a living wage, and also because provisions in this contract influence others in the industry. The union will next turn its attention to negotiating contracts for touring shows and regional theaters (the regional theater contract also applies to the four New York nonprofits that operate Broadway houses).This Broadway contract, which goes into effect immediately, is the first negotiated since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. As shows returned, the challenge of staying open when company members tested positive for the coronavirus called attention to the important work of understudies, swings and standbys who keep shows going when illness strikes, and also highlighted the tension between a historic show-must-go-on ethic and disease transmission.The contract is the first to provide paid sick leave for anyone working on an Equity contract; previously, those earning above a certain amount were not entitled to paid sick days. In another first, the contract caps how many roles a swing can cover in one performance.And the contract allows for the use of short-term actors, with rehearsal time, to cover performer absences. The provision was a concession by the union to the producers.The union also highlighted a few wins for its members: a limited number of very long rehearsal days, and fewer rehearsal hours post-opening.The contract includes several new provisions prompted by discussion within the industry, and the broader society, about diversity concerns. Among them: commitments to employ technicians for certain hair styles, to consider gender identity when identifying spaces for dressing rooms and bathrooms, to set up a committee to talk about onstage intimacy, and to improve casting notices for those with disabilities.Kate Shindle, the president of Actors’ Equity, said the deal was a compromise reflecting the economics of the moment. The contract was ratified by a smaller margin than some previous pacts, suggesting disagreement within the union’s membership about whether it was good enough.“The industry is not entirely back yet, and while we were looking to reinvent the whole way the theater industry operates, we’re also faced with real financial considerations,” Shindle said.She said the wage increases were significant at a time when inflation is high, as are real estate costs in New York (which, of course, is where many Broadway workers live). She also noted that many in the industry had not had work while theaters were shut down, making their current salaries more important.Charlotte St. Martin, the president of the Broadway League, said in a statement that she was pleased with the ratification of the agreement, “which we believe represents a significant step forward for our industry.”She said several provisions “were ultimately directly responsive to the push from the union for less time spent in rehearsal and more time off for actors,” and she also hailed the diversity provisions, which were, she said, “in the forefront of our priorities.”“A key component to these changes is language that will allow us to hold everyone, including actors working on our productions, to the same standards when creating a safe and inclusive working environment for all,” she said. “We were able to achieve all of these significant improvements for each side while providing a meaningful and yet responsible economic package.” More

    • 125 Shares99 Views

      in Music

      Quinta Brunson, Jack Harlow and More Breakout Stars of 2022

      by

      Here are the actors, pop stars, dancers and artists who broke away from the pack this year, delighting us and making us think.For many of us, 2022 was the year we emerged more fully from our pandemic cocoons, venturing out to movie theaters, museums, concerts — exploring our entertainment with eager, if weary, hearts and eyes before returning home to our TVs. Along the way, artists and performers across the world of the arts had, for the first time in years, the chance to connect more closely and fully with audiences, and deliver big. Here are seven stars who captured our attention in this moment and gave us a fresh perspective.TelevisionQuinta BrunsonIn 2014, Quinta Brunson had a viral Instagram hit on her hands: a series of videos called “The Girl Who’s Never Been on a Nice Date.” At BuzzFeed, where she was first paid for taste-testing Doritos, she made popular comedic videos for the site and then sold the streaming series “Broke” to YouTube Red. In 2019, she starred in and wrote for the debut season of HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show.”That trajectory set her up to deliver a rare feat: a warmhearted but not saccharine network sitcom with a pitch-perfect ensemble cast that has managed to delight critics and audiences — all while illuminating the problems of underfunded public schools. The mockumentary-style comedy, “Abbott Elementary,” which she created and stars in, debuted on ABC in December 2021 and was nominated for seven Emmy Awards this year, of which it won three.“I think a lot of people are enjoying having something that is light and nuanced,” Brunson, 32, told The New York Times Magazine earlier this year. “‘Abbott’ came at the right time.”MoviesStephanie HsuIn “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Stephanie Hsu plays a despairing daughter named Joy and the chaos-inducing villain Jobu Tupaki.A24When Stephanie Hsu was a child, she told her mother that she wanted to be an actor. Her mother “pointed at a TV screen and said, ‘There’s nobody that looks like you — that seems impossible,’” Hsu, 32, told Variety this year. Turns out, her presence onscreen was both possible and unforgettable, particularly her jaw-dropping performance in this year’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a mind-twisting acid trip through the multiverse (and the human condition) that was a box-office hit and had critics raving.In “Everything,” her first feature film, Hsu nailed the complex role of both a depressed, despairing daughter (opposite Michelle Yeoh as her mother) and the maniacally evil, chaos-inducing villain Jobu Tupaki.“I think it’s so rare that you get to experience the scope of range within one character in one movie,” Hsu told The Times.Next up for the actress is a role in the Disney+ action-comedy series “American Born Chinese”; in Rian Johnson’s Peacock series, “Poker Face,” alongside Natasha Lyonne; and in “The Fall Guy,” an action movie starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.Pop MusicJack HarlowThe rapper Jack Harlow, who released the album “Come Home the Kids Miss You” in May, earned three Grammy nominations in November.Eduardo Munoz/ReutersThose on TikTok probably first caught wind of the rapper Jack Harlow in 2020 with his viral track “Whats Poppin.” But it wasn’t until his verse on Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby” last year — the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 — that his star really began its ascent.The Highlights of 2022, According to Our CriticsCard 1 of 3Salamishah Tillet. More