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      After Hollywood’s #MeToo Reckoning, a Fear It Was Only Short-Lived

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      Harvey Weinstein’s second sex crimes trial began Monday in Los Angeles. “She Said,” about the journalistic investigation that took him down and helped ignite the #MeToo movement, arrives in theaters on Nov. 18. “The Woman King” opened to strong ticket sales last month, with Viola Davis saying she thought about the man who sexually assaulted her to power her visceral performance as the leader of an all-female group of African warriors.The convergence is a reminder of just how earthshaking #MeToo was for Hollywood.It helped touch off a broader reckoning in the entertainment industry around diversity, equity and inclusion on both sides of the camera — who gets to make movies, who gets to be the subject of them. Activists say that studios and sets have been permanently changed for the better. Zero tolerance for workplace sexual harassment and discrimination is real.In recent months, however, Hollywood’s business culture has started to regress in subtle ways.New problems — widespread cost-cutting as the box office continues to struggle, coming union contract negotiations that producers worry will result in a filming shutdown — have become a higher priority. Fearing blowback, media companies that were vocal about #MeToo and Black Lives Matter have been quieter on more recent political debates over cultural issues.Diversity, equity and inclusion executives say they are exhausted by an old-boy network that is continuously trying to reconstitute itself: Women who were hired for big jobs and held up as triumphant examples of a new era have been pushed aside, while some of the men who were sidelined by misconduct accusations are working again.“The Woman King,” starring Viola Davis as the leader of an all-female group of African warriors, opened to strong ticket sales last month.Ilze Kitshoff/Sony PicturesIf asked to speak on the record about their continued dedication to change, Hollywood executives refuse or scramble in terror toward the “we remain staunchly committed” talking points written by publicists. But what they say privately is a different story. Some revert to sexist and racist language. Certainly, much of the fervor is gone.This article is based on interviews with more than two dozen industry leaders — including top studio executives, agents, activists, marketers and producers — who spoke on condition of anonymity to candidly discuss the current state of the entertainment business. They varied in age, race, ethnicity and gender.“For three years, we hired nothing but women and people of color,” said a senior film executive, who like many leaders in the industry is a white male. He added that he did not think some of them were able to do the jobs they got.In hushed conversations over lunch at Toscana Brentwood and cocktails at the San Vicente Inn, some powerful producers and agents have started to question the commercial viability of inclusion-minded films and shows.They point to terrible ticket sales for films like “Bros,” the first gay rom-com from a major studio, and “Easter Sunday,” a comedy positioned as a watershed moment for Filipino representation. “Ms. Marvel,” a critically adored Disney+ series about a teenage Muslim superhero, was lightly viewed, according to Nielsen’s measurements.“There was an overcorrection,” one studio head said.At another major studio, a top production executive pointed to the implosion of Time’s Up, the anti-harassment organization founded by influential Hollywood women, as a turning point. “For a while, we all lived in complete fear,” he said. “That fear remains, but it has lessened. There is more room for gray and more benefit of the doubt and a bit of cringing about the rush-to-judgment that went on at the height of #MeToo.”“Bros,” the first gay rom-com from a major studio, had disappointing box office results.Nicole Rivelli/Universal PicturesIs this a pendulum swing back to the bad old days?“Amazing progress has been made that is not going away, and that should not be discounted or overlooked,” said Amy Baer, a producer, former studio executive and the board president of Women in Film, an advocacy organization. “But there is fatigue. It is hard to maintain momentum.”Entertainment companies are not backing off the tough sexual harassment policies that have been introduced in recent years, in part because board members are worried they will face shareholder lawsuits. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently recommitted to its diversification campaign. Despite years of aggressive efforts to invite women and people of color to become members, the academy is currently 66 percent male and 81 percent white..css-1v2n82w{max-width:600px;width:calc(100% – 40px);margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:25px;height:auto;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;font-family:nyt-franklin;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1v2n82w{margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;}}@media only screen and (min-width:1024px){.css-1v2n82w{width:600px;}}.css-161d8zr{width:40px;margin-bottom:18px;text-align:left;margin-left:0;color:var(–color-content-primary,#121212);border:1px solid var(–color-content-primary,#121212);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-161d8zr{width:30px;margin-bottom:15px;}}.css-tjtq43{line-height:25px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-tjtq43{line-height:24px;}}.css-x1k33h{font-family:nyt-cheltenham;font-size:19px;font-weight:700;line-height:25px;}.css-1hvpcve{font-size:17px;font-weight:300;line-height:25px;}.css-1hvpcve em{font-style:italic;}.css-1hvpcve strong{font-weight:bold;}.css-1hvpcve a{font-weight:500;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}.css-1c013uz{margin-top:18px;margin-bottom:22px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz{font-size:14px;margin-top:15px;margin-bottom:20px;}}.css-1c013uz a{color:var(–color-signal-editorial,#326891);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;font-weight:500;font-size:16px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz a{font-size:13px;}}.css-1c013uz a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? What’s their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source.Learn more about our process.Studios remain focused on inclusive casting, most notably Disney, which has a live-action “Little Mermaid” movie on the way with a Black actress playing the title role, and a “Snow White” movie in production with a Latina lead.The moment is nonetheless unnerving, said Sarah Ann Masse, an actress who appears in “She Said” — which is based on a book by The New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey — and who serves on two sexual harassment prevention committees for SAG-AFTRA, the omnipotent actors union. In 2017, Ms. Masse accused Mr. Weinstein of sexually assaulting her in 2008. He has denied wrongdoing.“I’m not naïve enough to think that a system that is unequal and oftentimes oppressive — yes, still, very much so — is going to change overnight,” Ms. Masse said. “At the same time, I find it incredibly frustrating. People at the top of the food chain, in particular, seem to have gotten distracted by new concerns.”In August, Warner Bros. Discovery shelved “Batgirl,” a nearly finished movie starring a Latina actress, featuring a transgender actress in a supporting role, written by a woman, produced by women and directed by two Muslim men. Warner Bros. Discovery never publicly explained its decision, but signaled that it found “Batgirl” to be creatively lacking.Dan Lin, a producer whose credits include “Aladdin” (2019) and “The Lego Movie,” was among those who inferred something else.“It’s no longer about optics,” Mr. Lin said. “A recession is coming, budgets are tightening and I’m really worried that diversity is going to be the first thing that goes.”The producer Dan Lin recently started a nonprofit that aims to help budding minority filmmakers and writers.Todd Williamson/Invision, via APLast week, Warner Bros. Television, as part of wider cost cutting, shut down “new voices” programs for emerging writers and directors, prompting a fiery reaction from the Directors Guild of America. “The D.G.A. will not stand idly by while WB/Discovery seeks to roll back decades of advancement for women and directors of color,” the guild said in a statement.Within a day, Warner Bros. Discovery had scrambled to clarify that, while the “new voices” programs would indeed end, it had planned all along to expand talent pipeline programs in its diversity, equity and inclusion department.“The resolve is still there to have more women and people of color in writers’ rooms and directing and up on the screen” Mr. Lin said. “The problem is that there is so little training and support. Those things cost money.” To help, Mr. Lin recently started a nonprofit accelerator called Rideback Rise that focuses on budding minority filmmakers and writers.There is no longer across-the-board banishment for men who have been accused of misconduct. Johnny Depp is directing a film, having largely won a court case in which his former spouse, the actress Amber Heard, accused him of sexual and domestic violence. John Lasseter, the animation titan at Disney and Pixar, was toppled in 2018 by allegations about his behavior and unwanted hugging and apologized for “missteps” that made some staff members feel “disrespected or uncomfortable.” He is now making big-budget films for Apple TV+. James Franco’s acting career imploded in 2018 amid sexual misconduct allegations. Four years later, after a $2.2 million settlement in which he admitted no wrongdoing, he has at least three movies lined up.Johnny Depp largely won a court case in which his former spouse, the actress Amber Heard, accused him of sexual and domestic violence.Craig Hudson/Associated PressStudios have also started to take more risks with content — backing scripts, for instance, that would have been radioactive in 2018, at the height of #MeToo, or in 2020, when Black Lives Matter was at the forefront of the culture.Examples include “Blonde,” the Netflix drama about Marilyn Monroe that has been derided by critics as exploitative and misogynistic. (It features an aborted fetus that talks.) Paramount Pictures is working on a live-action musical comedy about slave trade reparations; it comes from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the politically incorrect creative forces behind “South Park” and “The Book of Mormon.”Two ride-along reality shows that glorified the police, “Cops” and “Live PD,” and were canceled in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing in police custody have both been reconstituted. “Cops” was picked up by Fox Nation, a streaming service from Fox News, and “On Patrol: Live,” a thinly disguised copy of “Live PD,” debuted over the summer on Reelz, a cable network.At the same time, some movies and shows that overtly showcase diversity and inclusion have either struggled in the marketplace or failed to get off the runway. The takeaway, at least to some agents and studio executives: We tried — these “woke” projects don’t work.Of course, most of what Hollywood makes struggles to get noticed, and almost never for a single reason; nobody looks at poor ticket sales for a Brad Pitt movie and concludes that no one wants to see older white men onscreen. But entertainment is a reactive business — chase whatever worked over the weekend — and there is a risk that “go woke, go broke” jokes could calcify into conventional Hollywood wisdom.“When the real question should be whether comedies generally can succeed at the box office, my concern is that the question is becoming ‘can a Filipino comedy work’ or ‘can a gay comedy work,’” said Mr. Lin, who produced “Easter Sunday,” which starred Jo Koy and collected $13 million in theaters before stalling out. “If you are a woman or a minority, you still do not get repeated chances.” More

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      Leslie Jordan, ‘Will & Grace’ Actor and Instagram Star, Dies at 67

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      Shows like “Will & Grace” made him a familiar face, then the pandemic brought new fame. He was killed in a car crash in Hollywood.Leslie Jordan, a comic actor who after a late start in his performing career became a recognizable face from roles on numerous television shows, most notably “Will & Grace,” then achieved even more fame during the pandemic when his quirky homemade videos attracted millions of Instagram followers, died on Monday in a car crash in Hollywood, Calif. He was 67.David Shaul of the BRS/Gage Talent Agency, which represented him, confirmed the death. News reports quoting the police said Mr. Jordan’s car crashed into the side of a building after he had apparently experienced a medical emergency. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that someone driving a BMW collided with a wall in Hollywood at 9:30 a.m. and died, but he declined to identify the victim.“Not only was he a mega-talent and joy to work with,” Mr. Shaul said of Mr. Jordan by email, “but he provided an emotional sanctuary to the nation at one of its most difficult times.”That was a reference to Mr. Jordan’s surprising foray into viral videos during the pandemic. Sitting out Covid-19 in Tennessee, near his family, he began posting vignettes on Instagram — simple, amusing moments from his life — and was surprised to find his number of followers balloon into the millions. He had accumulated more than 130 television and film credits, so he hadn’t been exactly undiscovered, but the Instagram stardom at age 65 was an unexpected treat.“I’ve loved attention, wanted it my whole career,” he told The New York Times in 2020, “and I’ve never gotten this kind of attention.”He also found that he had become a sort of de facto comforter to those fans.“What I love, though,” he said, “are people that pull me aside and say: ‘Listen, I don’t want to bother you, but I’ve had a rough go. I’ve been locked down. I’ve got kids, and I looked forward to your posts and you really, really helped me through this tough time.’ When people tell you things like that, you realize comedy is important.”Mr. Jordan in 2020. The popular home videos he made during the Covid-19 pandemic “provided an emotional sanctuary to the nation at one of its most difficult times,” his agent said.Michelle Groskopf for The New York TimesComedy came easily to Mr. Jordan, though it took him a while to find his way to a performing career. At under five feet tall, he was small enough that in his 20s he made a stab at becoming a jockey. But in his later 20s he gave up that idea, earned a theater degree and in 1982 took a bus to Hollywood.It was a difficult period for a gay actor like Mr. Jordan to find work, but he began getting jobs, first in commercials.“I was like Flo,” he said in the 2020 interview, a reference to the Progressive Insurance pitchwoman. “People would recognize me. I was the PIP Printing guy. I was the elevator operator to Hamburger Hell for Taco Bell, where you went if you didn’t eat tacos.”He began to get TV roles in 1986 — guests spots on “The Fall Guy,” “Murphy Brown,” “Newhart” and others, then recurring roles on “The People Next Door,” “Top of the Heap,” “Reasonable Doubts,” “Hearts Afire” and more.He made a particular impression on the sitcom “Will & Grace,” about the friendship between a gay lawyer and a straight interior designer sharing a New York City apartment. Mr. Jordan played the tart-tongued socialite Beverley Leslie, appearing both in the original series beginning in 2001 and in the recent reboot.In 2006, he won an Emmy for the role, for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series.Leslie Allen Jordan was born on April 29, 1955, in Memphis to Allen and Peggy Ann Jordan and was raised in Chattanooga, Tenn. His Southern drawl was as distinctive a part of his résumé as his height.Mr. Jordan said he knew from early in life that he was gay — he liked to say that he went directly from his mother’s womb into her high heels and had been “on the prance ever since.”The household was conservative, and his father, who was in the Army and died in a plane crash when Leslie was 11, was concerned enough about Leslie’s effeminate qualities to send his son to an all-boys summer camp one year. As Mr. Jordan told the story to The Times in 2020, at the camp’s parents day, awards were handed out, with the moms and dads looking on.“So here’s one for the best archer, here’s for the best horseback rider, here’s for the best swim person,” he said, “and I didn’t win anything. And my mother said my dad was just sinking lower and lower.”But the staff eventually brought out a trophy, presented it to Leslie, and someone announced: “This is for the best all-around camper. We have this kid who wasn’t actually the best at anything, but boy, he sure did make us laugh.”He loved horses but realized he wasn’t suited to be a jockey.“People think it’s size, or something,” he told The Telegraph of Britain in 2021. “It has nothing to do with that. You have to weigh about 104 pounds, and honey, my ass alone weighs 104.”When he decided to try showbiz, he said, “I had $1,200 that mother pinned into my underpants,” and he had to decide which direction to go from Tennessee, to New York or Hollywood.“If I was going to starve, I wanted to starve with a tan,” he said. He headed west.Mr. Jordan in 2010. In recent years he was much in demand, with recurring roles on several TV series.Richard Perry/The New York TimesAs he wrote in his book “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet” (2008), he knew that being gay might not help his prospects in Hollywood.“I decided I was going to make a real effort to ‘butch it up’ and hide any signs that I was a Big Homo,” he wrote. “The funny thing is, I am, without a doubt, the gayest man I know.”Once he began landing roles, they came quickly, but Mr. Jordan also had substance abuse problems.“I tell people: If you want to get sober, try 27 days in the L.A. men’s county jail,” he told The Guardian in 2021. At 42, he kicked his addictions to alcohol and crystal meth.Information on his survivors was not immediately available.Most of Mr. Jordan’s work was in television, but he also took the occasional film role, including in “The Help” (2011). He also had a one-man stage show that he performed frequently, titled, like his first book, “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet.” It was an autobiographical collection of stories.“I am a high school cheerleader stuck in a 55-year-old man’s body,” he confessed in one memorable line. “If you were to cut me open, Hannah Montana would jump out.”David Rooney reviewed it for The Times when the show was presented in New York in 2010.“Many gay rites-of-passage stories are echoed here: hostile small-town environment (Chattanooga, Tenn.); rigidly masculine father; humor as armor against bullies; unrequited loves; drug and alcohol dependency; internal homophobia; weakness for rough trade,” Mr. Rooney wrote. “But Mr. Jordan’s candor gives them a fresh spin.”In recent years Mr. Jordan was much in demand, with recurring roles in the TV series “American Horror Story,” “Call Me Kat,” “The Cool Kids” and “Living the Dream.” In 2021 he published another book, “How Y’All Doing? Misadventures and Mischief From a Life Well Lived.”Alex Traub contributed reporting. More

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      What’s on TV This Week: ‘The White Lotus’ and Lots of Spooky Movies

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      The HBO series begins its second season. And we rounded up some scary movies to get you prepped for Halloween.Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, Oct. 24-30. Details and times are subject to change.MondayTHE SURREAL LIFE 9 p.m. on VH1. In a world where we have an abundance of reality shows that throw a handful of strangers together (see: “Big Brother,” “The Real World”), why not add one more? This one isn’t exactly new (the last season that aired was in 2006). This time, eight celebrities, including Frankie Muniz, Stormy Daniels and Dennis Rodman, move into a house together and moments of chaos certainly ensue.TuesdayMAKING BLACK AMERICA: THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). This four-part series, hosted by Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., is wrapping up this week. Gates Jr. speaks to politicians and scholars about organizations and social networks that have been created by Black people, for Black people. The final episode discusses the media phenomenon of Black Twitter as a safe space for debate and celebration.WednesdayA still from “A Tree Of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting.”Courtesy of HBOA TREE OF LIFE: THE PITTSBURGH SYNAGOGUE SHOOTING 9 p.m. on HBO. On Oct. 27, 2018 a man armed with an assault riffle and several handguns killed 11 congregants at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, making it one of the deadliest attacks against the Jewish community in the U.S. This feature documentary tells the stories of victims, survivors and family members as the community works toward healing.VICE NEWS TONIGHT INVESTIGATES: WHEN MURDER ISN’T MURDER 11 p.m. on Vice. In 2015, LaKeith Smith was 15 years old, he and three of his friends burglarized a house in Alabama. When the police showed up, they shot and killed his friend A’Donte Washington, but because of a law in Alabama, Smith is now serving 30 years in prison for Washington’s murder. The accomplice liability law means that someone not involved in a murder can nevertheless be charged for it, if that person is committing a felony, like robbery, at the same time. This one-hour special tells the story through previously unreleased police interrogation tapes and body-camera footage while also spotlighting the movement to free Smith from prison.ThursdaySIESTA KEY 8 p.m. on MTV. The residents of “Siesta Key” are moving down to Miami this season. Most of the original cast is returning, including Juliette Porter, the de facto narrator and star, but Kelsey Owens and Garrett Miller said they were unceremoniously cut from the show. Though some familiar faces will be missing, we can be sure to expect gorgeous overhead shots of southern Florida, plenty of altercations and some romance sprinkled in.CRIBS 9 p.m. on MTV. Going on 22 years, this iconic reality show, where we get to have a sneak peak of celebrity homes, is back. This season we’ll be welcomed into the houses of Matt James of “The Bachelor” fame, the model Olivia Culpo and current “Dancing with the Stars” contestant Jessie James Decker.FridayHeather O’Rourke in “Poltergeist.”MGMPOLTERGEIST (1982) 8 p.m. on TCM. This film, directed by Tobe Hooper and written in part by Steven Spielberg, teaches us that friendly ghosts communicating through your television isn’t always as fun as it seems. For the Freelings family, the spirits quickly turn scary and menacing, and when their 5-year-old daughter (Heather O’Rourke) goes missing, a parapsychologist and exorcist are brought in to help. “‘Poltergeist’ is like a thoroughly enjoyable nightmare, one that you know that you can always wake up from, and one in which, at the end, no one has permanently been damaged,” Vincent Canby wrote in his review for The New York Times.SaturdayHOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (2012) 7:20 p.m. on Freeform. In this animated movie, the titular hotel acts as a safe haven for all sorts of monsters. But things go awry when Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) throws a 118th birthday party for his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) and a human (Andy Samberg) crashes the party and falls for Mavis. It’s that classic star-crossed, human-monster love story.Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia in “The Addams Family.”AP Photo/Paramount PicturesTHE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991) 7:30 p.m. on Paramount. Based on a cartoon and a 1964 TV show of the same name, this version stars Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia as Morticia and Gomez Addams. When a man claiming to be Fester (Christopher Lloyd), Gomez’s long lost brother, shows up, the family is thrilled — until suspicions arise that he isn’t who is he says and he aims to steal the family’s fortune. The film is a “funny revival that goes well beyond the limits of its original sources, thanks to ingenious casting, droll production design, spirited direction and dazzling camera tricks,” Janet Maslin wrote in her review for The Times.SundaySILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) 8 p.m. on BBC. If you’ve watched Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” you’ll find chilling similarities in Anthony Hopkins’s portrayal of Hannibal Lecter. In this film, Jodie Foster plays a student at the F.B.I.’s training academy who interviews Lecter as he is serving life in prison. Vincent Canby wrote in his review for The Times that “the gruesome details are vivid without being exploited.”THE WHITE LOTUS 9 p.m. on HBO. After a successful first season (and several Emmy wins), the anthology show is back with a whole new group of vacationers jetting off to another White Lotus resort in Sicily. The new cast includes Aubrey Plaza, Theo James and Tom Hollander with one familiar face: Jennifer Coolidge is reprising her Emmy Award-winning role as the daffy heiress Tanya McQuoid. More

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      Guillermo del Toro Opens His ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’

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      For the first season of his horror anthology for Netflix, the filmmaker handpicked eight directors to tell a series of strange and macabre tales.When Guillermo del Toro was a child in Guadalajara, Mexico, he used to stay up late watching TV with his older brother. One night they happened upon an episode of the 1960s science fiction anthology series “The Outer Limits” called “The Mutant.” In it, Warren Oates plays an astronaut who gets caught in radioactive rain on another planet.“There’s a moment where he removes his goggles and his eyes are as big as the goggles,” del Toro recalled in a recent video interview. “And I started screaming. My brother put me to bed. You could say the rest of my life has been a counterphobic reaction to the fear I felt seeing that episode.”Today, del Toro, 58, elicits screams from others, with movies like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and TV series like “The Strain.” And now he has his own anthology series, “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.” The first season, which debuts Tuesday on Netflix, is a collection of eight hourlong horror tales, each from a different director. Del Toro handpicked the eight directors featured in the first season: some of the world’s brightest horror minds, including Ana Lily Amirpour (“The Bad Batch”), Panos Cosmatos (“Mandy”) and Jennifer Kent (“The Babadook”).Two episodes are based on original stories written by del Toro, who created the series. Another two are based on classic tales from the macabre master H.P. Lovecraft. All have sky-high production value.“I got to spend all that Netflix money,” Amirpour said in a recent video interview; her wickedly funny chapter, “The Outside,” tells the story of a woman (Kate Micucci) who develops an unhealthy relationship with a new beauty product.“With Guillermo, when you work with someone who has that level of power, you can really thrive and make something cool,” she added.Del Toro entered the project as a curator and a fan, with the goal of highlighting stories, storytellers and filmmakers he loves.“I was hoping to select some stories that I like, that have not been adapted, or have not been adapted with a very protected production environment,” he said. “And I wanted to find directors that I was curious about. I wanted to almost collect and curate a group of directors and stories and then give them all the support and freedom, final cut, the chance to feel that the resources were there.”Kate Micucci’s character develops an unhealthy relationship with a beauty product in “The Outside.”Ken Woroner/NetflixPeter Weller (“Robocop”) plays an eccentric wealthy recluse in “The Viewing.”Ken Woroner/Netflix There were major challenges. In practical terms, the “Cabinet” really contains eight one-hour films, with settings including rustic 1909 Massachusetts (“Pickman’s Model,” directed by Keith Thomas) and a late-1970s version of future shock (“The Viewing,” Cosmatos). The directors were essentially their own showrunners.“This really does feel like a movie of mine,” Amirpour said. “It was a whole and total creation, from having my hand on the script to completion. It felt so completely and totally mine.”Multiple cinematographers and editors worked on the series, but there was only one industrious production designer, the del Toro regular Tamara Deverell (“Nightmare Alley,” “The Strain”), who embraced the task of designing everything, such as a giant animatronic rat (for “The Graveyard Rats,” Vincenzo Natali) and a sketchy storage facility (for “Lot 36,” Guillermo Navarro).In a video interview, Deverell recalled that “Cabinet” had reused a set from del Toro’s 2021 film “Nightmare Alley” for both “Lot 36” and “Graveyard Rats.” She also noted the complexities of carrying out the vision of eight different filmmakers. But she’s not complaining. She sees del Toro as the perfect collaborator, an artist who knows that storytelling is visual as well as verbal.“He understands space and things like ceiling heights and square footage and the shapes of things in a way that a lot of directors don’t,” Deverell said. “He makes it so easy. The set is of equal importance as the actors or the story. It’s part of the same world that he’s trying to create.”Describing an episode of “The Outer Limits” he watched as a child, del Toro said, “You could say the rest of my life has been a counterphobic reaction to the fear I felt.”Austin Hargrave/NetflixDel Toro is an avid collector of books and comics; as he spoke from his office in Santa Monica, Calif., stacks and stacks of volumes loomed in the background. He’s a particular fan of anthologies, those that come between two covers — the first book he ever bought with his own money was a horror anthology edited by the science fiction writer Forrest J. Ackerman — and onscreen. When he wasn’t screaming at “The Outer Limits,” he was watching “The Twilight Zone,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “One Step Beyond,” “Night Gallery” and “Ghost Story,” among others.“They were my favorite things to watch,” he said. “It’s the same way I loved reading short stories, more than any other form. I just find them immersive and self-contained and incredibly attractive. If you come to the library of my horror wing, most of what I collect is anthologies.”He worships the material and its history, a fact that isn’t lost on the actor Tim Blake Nelson. Nelson, also featured in del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” and the coming “Pinocchio” movie, is the star of “Lot 36,” the story of a racist scavenger who swoops in on delinquent customers’ storage containers and sells their belongings. Yes, he receives a ghoulish — and many tentacled — comeuppance.To Nelson, del Toro’s passion for the macabre pushes his work beyond the realm of genre.“I believe that Guillermo’s reverence for horror is so deep that it’s no longer horror,” he said in a video interview. “You’re dealing with someone who’s able to see the macabre as reality, not fear-driven fantasy. You no longer think of it as occult or genre; you think of it as reality, and that makes it all the more terrifying.”Tim Blake Nelson (left, with Sebastian Roché) plays a racist scavenger in “Lot 36.”Ken Woroner/Netflix“Pickman’s Model,” starring Ben Barnes, is set in 1909 Massachusetts.Ken Woroner/NetflixDel Toro was originally supposed to direct an episode, but the pandemic delayed production of both “Nightmare Alley” and “Pinocchio.” So, instead, he offered to host. At the beginning of each installment, he saunters out of the darkness up to what appears to be an elaborate model mansion with drawers.He pulls out a miniature ivory figurine of each director and offers an introduction. (Originally, cabinets of curiosities contained anatomical specimens, talismans and the like, all reflecting the curator’s tastes and instinct for showmanship.) These introductions play like the classic openings of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”But if “Cabinet of Curiosities” has a spiritual forbear, it is someone more sinister. The writer H.P. Lovecraft, who lived from 1890 to 1937, has inspired memorable movies (“Re-Animator”) and television (“Lovecraft Country”). The episodes of “Cabinet” his stories inspired are “Dreams in the Witch House,” directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and “Pickman’s Model,” about a painter (Crispin Glover) with dark and devilish muses. (“Pickman’s Model” was also the basis of a 1971 “Night Gallery” episode that gave this reporter childhood nightmares.)Known for what del Toro called “overwrought prose and arcane adjectives,” Lovecraft is also terrifying in his dark view of humanity.“He was cosmically misanthropic,” del Toro said. “He was the outsider of the outsiders. It’s very hard to imagine anyone overtaken by more fear. His idea was that the cosmos is malevolent by the mere notion of how large it is. You cannot encompass it, and that alone is madness. That resonates through the ages.”Del Toro, by all accounts, is no Lovecraft. He is a jovial guy and supportive colleague who is nonetheless drawn to the darkness. He is on the side of the artists, and the monsters. He’s the happy frightener.“He’s never imposing his will on anybody,” Amirpour said. “He’s just trying to help you find the best way to do what you’re trying to do. What truly sets him apart is his generosity of spirit. I’m ruined now. It’s like having courtside seats and then having to go sit somewhere else.” More

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      Kevin Spacey Is Cleared of Anthony Rapp’s Battery Claim

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      A jury found Mr. Spacey not liable in a civil trial. Mr. Rapp, an original cast member in “Rent,” had filed a lawsuit accusing Mr. Spacey of making a sexual advance when Mr. Rapp was 14.A federal jury in Manhattan found Kevin Spacey not liable for battery on Thursday after the actor Anthony Rapp filed a lawsuit accusing Mr. Spacey of climbing on top of him and making a sexual advance in 1986, when Mr. Rapp was 14.Mr. Rapp’s claim was one of the most prominent in the early days of the #MeToo movement, as accusers started to come forward with allegations against high-profile men in the entertainment, political and business worlds. Mr. Spacey, a star of the political drama “House of Cards” and a lauded actor who had hosted the Tony Awards months earlier, quickly experienced career blowback.The disclosure by Mr. Rapp, which BuzzFeed News published in October 2017, was followed by more than a dozen other sexual misconduct accusations against Mr. Spacey. He has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault charges in Britain, and outside the courthouse on Thursday, one of his lawyers, Jennifer L. Keller, said he would be proven innocent in all cases.The civil trial to consider Mr. Rapp’s claim of battery hinged on his account of a night in 1986, when, he said, he attended a party at Mr. Spacey’s New York apartment during a Broadway season in which both of them were acting in plays. Mr. Spacey, who was 26 at the time, denied that such an encounter ever occurred.After less than an hour and a half of deliberation, an 11-person jury in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan decided in favor of Mr. Spacey, whose lawyers had hammered Mr. Rapp with questions that challenged his memory of events said to have occurred more than 36 years ago.Following the verdict, Mr. Spacey stood up with tears in his eyes and hugged his lawyers. He was silent during his exit from the courthouse, but Ms. Keller told reporters, “We’re just grateful that the jury saw the truth.”Anthony Rapp sued Mr. Spacey, accusing him of making a sexual advance when Mr. Rapp was 14.Eduardo Munoz/ReutersMr. Rapp was straight-faced in response to the decision. In a statement later posted to his Twitter account, Mr. Rapp said he was “deeply grateful” for the opportunity to have his case heard before a jury.“Bringing this lawsuit was always about shining a light,” the statement said, “as part of the larger movement to stand up against all forms of sexual violence.”Mr. Rapp, an actor on “Star Trek: Discovery” and who is best known for his originating role in the musical “Rent,” was able to bring his claim under a New York State law, the Child Victims Act. The law included a temporary “look-back” window during which old claims that had already passed the statute of limitations could be revived.The jury determined that there was not enough evidence to prove that Mr. Spacey had touched one of Mr. Rapp’s “sexual or intimate” parts, meaning the claim could not be revived under the law. Mr. Rapp testified that when Mr. Spacey picked him up, one of his hands “grazed” his buttocks.Mr. Rapp’s lawyers presented testimony from three men who said he had told them in the mid-1990s or earlier about an encounter with Mr. Spacey. The defense focused on inconsistencies and picked at vagueness in his account, highlighting that Mr. Rapp, 50, presented no third-party corroboration of the gathering on the night that he said the encounter had occurred. Midway through the trial, the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, dismissed a claim against Mr. Spacey, 63, of intentional infliction of emotional distress.“There is no evidence that this happened and plenty of evidence that it didn’t,” Ms. Keller said in closing arguments.Both actors took the stand to testify, presenting disparate accounts about what happened in the spring of 1986, when Mr. Rapp was a teenage actor in the play “Precious Sons” and Mr. Spacey was in “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.”Mr. Rapp testified that he had withdrawn to the bedroom to watch late-night TV during Mr. Spacey’s party because he did not know any other guests. Once the party wound down, Mr. Rapp testified, Mr. Spacey approached him, picked him up, laid him on the bed and climbed on top of him, pressing his groin into Mr. Rapp’s hip.“I knew something was really wrong now,” Mr. Rapp said, recalling feeling frozen in place.He testified that he was able to wriggle out from under Mr. Spacey, who appeared intoxicated, and escape to the nearby bathroom. Mr. Rapp recalled that before he exited the apartment, Mr. Spacey said, “Are you sure you want to leave?”The defense contended that Mr. Rapp had fabricated the claim to get attention for himself and his career, which he denied.“Does it look like he is enjoying the attention of this?” a lawyer for Mr. Rapp, Richard M. Steigman, said in closing arguments. “He is doing this to hold Kevin Spacey accountable.”Despite issuing an apology shortly after Mr. Rapp made public his allegation, Mr. Spacey testified that the encounter never happened, that he had never been alone with Mr. Rapp and that he had not had a party at his apartment in the time frame Mr. Rapp described.Peter Gallagher and Mr. Spacey in the Broadway show “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” in 1986.Jim Wilson/The New York TimesMr. Spacey said he did recall that Mr. Rapp had attended with a friend a performance of “Long Day’s Journey,” and that afterward, Mr. Spacey had invited them to dinner, then to a nightclub and then back to his apartment.Mr. Spacey said he had flirted with Mr. Rapp’s friend, John Barrowman, who was 19 at the time. Back at Mr. Spacey’s apartment, he said, he pushed Mr. Barrowman gently back onto the bed when Mr. Rapp left for the bathroom. Feeling that Mr. Rapp was too young to see them in a romantic situation, Mr. Spacey said, the two men sat up when Mr. Rapp returned.“I had no interest in Mr. Rapp joining us,” Mr. Spacey testified.Mr. Rapp testified that on the night they all went to the nightclub — which he described as his second time meeting Mr. Spacey — they did not go back to the apartment. In a videotaped deposition, Mr. Barrowman, an actor known for his role in the TV show “Doctor Who,” recalled the series of events that night as Mr. Spacey had.Mr. Rapp called the alleged encounter with Mr. Spacey the most traumatic event of his life. Mr. Rapp testified about moments when he later saw Mr. Spacey onscreen — in films like “American Beauty” and “Working Girl” — and felt startled, sometimes feeling as if “poked with a cattle prod.”Mr. Spacey’s lawyers suggested throughout the trial that Mr. Rapp was motivated to fabricate the accusation because he was envious of Mr. Spacey’s career or frustrated that Mr. Spacey was not public about his relationships with men.Mr. Rapp denied those motivations, asserting that he had come forward to seek belated justice for himself. But during a lengthy and tense cross-examination, he acknowledged that he might have been mistaken about a couple details, including that the alleged encounter had occurred in a separate bedroom in Mr. Spacey’s apartment.Mr. Spacey’s lawyers also questioned Mr. Rapp on similarities between his account and moments of staging in “Precious Sons.” In the play, the character of Mr. Rapp’s father, who was played by Ed Harris, had picked up the character of Mr. Rapp in the same manner that he described Mr. Spacey picking him up — like a groom carrying a bride. Mr. Harris also climbed on Mr. Rapp twice during the play.Mr. Rapp dismissed the idea that there was any connection, saying the staging had been done “with care and consent.”Mr. Rapp’s lawyers pointed to Mr. Spacey’s initial response to Mr. Rapp’s accusation, in which he did not categorically deny the encounter, as supporting evidence for their client. In a statement Mr. Spacey posted after the BuzzFeed article, he said he had no memory of the encounter, adding, “But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”In his testimony, Mr. Spacey said he regretted making that apology, attributing the decision to advisers who feared that people would call Mr. Spacey a “victim blamer” if he denied the allegation outright.“I’ve learned a lesson,” Mr. Spacey testified, “which is, never apologize for something you didn’t do.”One additional accuser, Andy Holtzman, testified during the trial that Mr. Spacey had groped him in an office in 1981, when Mr. Holtzman was 27 and Mr. Spacey was several years younger. Mr. Spacey denied doing so. No other accusations were discussed in front of the jury, and Judge Kaplan instructed the jury to disregard two instances when Mr. Rapp had alluded to other allegations against Mr. Spacey during his testimony.As a result of the sexual misconduct allegations against him, Mr. Spacey — who has won two Oscars and a Tony — lost major roles, with an arbitrator ordering him to pay $31 million to the “House of Cards” studio for breach of contract.But the jury’s verdict on Thursday adds to the list of legal victories for Mr. Spacey. Prosecutors dropped a sexual assault charge in Massachusetts, and an anonymous accuser who had originally sued alongside Mr. Rapp decided not to continue his claim when Judge Kaplan ruled that the plaintiff would need to identify himself publicly.“What’s next,” Ms. Keller said outside the courthouse on Thursday, “is that Kevin Spacey is going to be proven innocent of anything he’s been accused of.” More

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      ‘Modern Love’ Goes Global in New Television Series

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      The latest iteration of the “Modern Love” franchise, “Modern Love Tokyo,” begins streaming on Oct. 21.Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.Daniel Jones, the senior editor of The New York Times’s Modern Love column, remembers when, a dozen years ago, it was just him selecting stories from a stack of nearly a thousand monthly submissions and editing each one for the essay series. “It was kind of lonely,” he said.This week, he has plenty of company. He is in Japan to attend the premiere of the television series “Modern Love Tokyo,” the latest installment in Amazon’s global “Modern Love” franchise. The seven-episode show will begin streaming on Amazon Prime Video on Oct. 21. The episodes are set in Tokyo, feature the work of actors, of directors and of a creative team from Japan, and are based on essays published in the column that were reimagined to make them more familiar to Japanese audiences. (In a “Modern Love” first, one of the episodes will be animated.)“I love that the process includes all these other talented people who are interpreting stories and amplifying emotions, putting in music,” Mr. Jones said in an interview last week. “It’s just exploded the job into a whole new realm.”Since the original “Modern Love” show was released on Amazon in October 2019, three international spinoffs have debuted in three languages: “Modern Love Mumbai,” in Hindi; “Modern Love Hyderabad,” in Telugu; and the Tokyo series, in Japanese. A fourth series, “Modern Love Chennai,” in Tamil, is forthcoming, and a fifth, “Modern Love Amsterdam,” offered in Dutch, is set to be released in mid-December.Mr. Jones reflected on the television franchise’s expansion abroad, on the process of adapting American stories for each series and on the longevity of the Modern Love column. Read the edited interview below.When did the idea to create international versions of the show come about?The original series, set in New York City, came out in 2019, and pretty soon after that, we started talking about other cities around the world where we might be able to do versions of it. Of course, then the pandemic hit, which made everything harder and a little delayed. And so the international versions we began talking about several years ago are just now coming out.What is your role on the series?I’m a co-producer on all the international versions. I see the episodes as they’re being edited; I read the scripts. I try to maintain a sense of what Modern Love is and has been for more than 18 years now, meaning realistic love stories, not sweeping romances. No overt sex or Bollywood plots or anything that would push the boundaries and make it seem outside what the column does. But the people working on this at Amazon Studios know this and get it. In fact, that’s what they value most about these series and what makes the work distinctive in these markets. We’re all on the same page.Also, the Modern Love archive is enormous — it’s 900-some essays at this point. While the teams in different countries who are picking content completely reimagine the stories for their audiences, the shows’ creators often stick close to the plot, so I’m helpful to them if they want a certain kind of story; I know the archive better than anyone. But I’ve been so impressed with the local teams’ approach and research and passion for this project.Daniel Jones attending the “Modern Love Tokyo” premiere. Phoebe JonesHow does the process of adapting an American story for an audience in another country work?For one of the Mumbai episodes, the creative team in Mumbai took an essay about a woman in Brooklyn who had separated from her husband and who was feeling down in every way — she was in bad physical shape, emotionally wrung out. And she now needed to get herself to work by bicycle.She started riding across the Manhattan Bridge, but she didn’t have the stamina to go all the way up, so the story was about the empowerment — both physical and emotional — of building herself back up. It was a very New York story, but when they took it to Mumbai, they made her character a domestic servant in a wealthy family, highlighting the class divide there. There’s a bridge in Mumbai, called the Flyway, that goes from a gritty area to the gleaming city center, and it was the same basic process of her building herself back up. It speaks to the universality of these conflicts — you can get a divorce in Mumbai, and you can get a divorce in Brooklyn. The emotions and struggle and all that can be so similar.All of the versions of the show are available to stream on Amazon Prime in the United States, right?Yes. Now, with the success of series like “Squid Game,” it’s become clear that subtitles are not a barrier. I hope people check out the versions set in the other cities, too.What’s been the most exciting part of working on the international versions?When these teams discover stories that I’d long forgotten about in the archive, and then reintroduce me to them in a new way. It’s great to have other people look at the archive with fresh eyes, find such gems and see how to reimagine them for the screen.What’s next for the “Modern Love” television franchise?Our fifth international series, “Modern Love Amsterdam,” premieres in mid-December. Beyond that, stay tuned, because we have ambitions for all over the world. More

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      ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 1, Episode 9 Recap: A Convenient Mistake

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      This week’s episode focused on the immediate aftermath of the king’s death and on the misunderstanding that helped shape the consequences.Season 1, Episode 9: ‘The Green Council’Before we get started this week, let us have a moment of silence for Lord Beesbury.The ancient master of coin and his meandering financial reports had mostly been a source of light humor on the Small Council until Sunday, when he stood in defiance as one of the few people in the Red Keep with any sense of honor or loyalty. Then Ser Criston killed him for it.Adding insult to injury, the council left his corpse lying on the table while they plotted. But all in all, Lord Beesbury (Bill Paterson) was one of the lucky ones. His early exit meant that he didn’t have to stick around for an episode that, while it had its good points, was mostly a mess.As expected, the hour focused on the immediate aftermath of Viserys’s death, specifically the scramble undertaken by Otto and Alicent to install Aegon as king in defiance of Viserys’s stated wish that Rhaenyra succeed him. The episode title, “The Green Council,” signaled that we would be getting the Hightower show this week, and that was more or less how it turned out. (The season finale is called “The Black Queen,” suggesting that we’ll get the other side next Sunday.)The title also referred specifically to the non-Beesbury faction of the Small Council that, unbeknown to Queen Alicent, us or anyone else, has been working with Otto on a succession scheme for some time. The conspirators kicked these “long-laid plans,” as Tyland Lannister described them, into motion before the king’s body was even covered up.The plot, which amounted to a kind of palace coup, received serendipitous assistance in the form of Alicent’s bogus claim about the king’s deathbed reversal. (More on that in a minute.) It all led to a mad dash to implement Operation Usurp and Awe, which included securing the treasury, locking Rhaenys in her room, compelling bent knees from former Rhaenyra supporters (and seizing dissenters), searching out Aegon from his presumed whereabouts within the dicier precincts of King’s Landing and then, finally, crowning him in front of everybody to make it official. (I suppose Lord Beesbury’s death counts as the first casualty in the coming conflict to be known as the Dance of the Dragons.)However, a more fitting episode title would have been “Wait, What?” Because that’s what I kept muttering over and over in response to all the confusing details and jarring detours along the way.As in, wait, what? The White Worm found and “tucked away” Aegon beneath the altar in the sept, of all places? And she was motivated to do so partly because she wants to end the underground urchin fight club? Which we found out about only 40 seconds ago? And are Aegon’s bastards participating in it? Or just languishing outside the octagon?Return to Westeros in ‘House of the Dragon’HBO’s long-awaited “Game of Thrones” prequel series is here.Playing Kingmaker: Fabien Frankel plays Ser Criston Cole, who got to place the crown on the new King of Westeros’s head. He is still not sure how he landed the role.The Princess and the Queen: Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who portray the grown-up versions of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, talked about the forces that drive their characters apart — and pull them together.A Man’s Decline: By the eighth episode of the season, Viserys no longer looks like a proud Targaryen king. The actor Paddy Considine discussed the character’s transformation and its meaning.A Rogue Prince: Daemon Targaryen is an agent of chaos. But “he’s got a strange moral compass of his own,” Matt Smith, who portrays him, said.And wait, what? Larys does the bidding of the queen because she indulges his foot fetish? And the coronation is in the Dragonpit? And the Cargyll twins, those conflicted Kingsguard brothers who found Aegon before losing him to Criston and Aemond, are actually named Arryk and Erryk? (I guess that explains why I never knew which one was which. And why I still don’t.)I ID’d the Cargylls by consulting various online resources after I watched the episode screener. That was also how I confirmed that the Dragonpit was where Aegon was crowned, after cross-referencing its imposing exterior with HBO’s King’s Landing map. Were we supposed to understand that was the Dragonpit from the jump? Or was that part of the surprise of Rhaenys crashing up through the floor on her dragon? And why have a coronation in a Dragonpit anyway? Was that the only venue available on such short notice?I guess Rhaenys’s smile amid the scrum in the streets, as the plebes were herded toward the ceremony, happened because she, at least, realized where they were being herded, which would allow her to reunite with her precious Meleys. You might recall from earlier in the episode that Alicent did not want her to do that, because it would influence Rhaenyra’s willingness to negotiate for peace rather than declare war. (At least Rhaenys’s big entrance gave the great Eve Best something to do beyond tête-à-têtes in gloomy chambers.)Which is the good one and which is the bad one? Luke, left, and Elliott Tittensor in “House of the Dragon.”Ollie Upton/HBOThe upshot of all of the above was that I found myself constantly trying to sort out what I was seeing, at the expense of enjoying the story, or even following it at times. You shouldn’t have to do online research or remember details from the novel or watch after-show segments in order to understand an episode of television. I doubt I was the only confused viewer out there, but in case I was, feel free to let me know all the obvious cues I missed. (For the record, episode screeners don’t have a subtitles option, but those shouldn’t be required to understand the story either.)And all of this is before we even get to the thing that happened that was also the thing that I was most afraid would happen.Last week, I held out hope that Viserys’s addled prophecy sharing with Alicent would not amount to a big misunderstanding, à la Criston’s admission to the queen that he had slept with Rhaenyra. But no such luck.My main objection — besides the fact that, again, they already used this gimmick just a few weeks ago — is that the crazy misunderstanding is one of the lowest forms of sitcom writing, the kind of transparent plot contrivance you might forgive within a half-hour of yuk-yuks but don’t expect to see on a Sunday night on HBO.Then there is the abundance of Aegons in this story, which is slightly ridiculous on its own and consequently feels even more so when it is the source of a “Who’s on first?” deathbed routine. George R.R. Martin has explained that he patterned all his saga’s name-repeating after real-life royal dynasties — consider how many times England has had a King George or Charles.But such parallels are more legible within the context of a novel than when coming out of the mouths of characters in a TV show. (See also: Arryk and Erryk, the latter of which my spell-checker keeps changing to “Erik,” which is what they both sound like.) It is within the producers’ power to change the occasional name from the book.The most meaningful question posed by Alicent’s misunderstanding, from a character standpoint: Did she actually believe that after backing Rhaenyra for decades, Viserys changed his mind at the last minute? Or did she hear what she wanted to hear? Or just lie?For what it’s worth, in an interview with The New York Times, Olivia Cooke said she thought Alicent’s mishearing of Viserys happened in good faith and was not the product of the queen’s having created her own preferred reality. (“I genuinely think she thinks he’s talking about Aegon, her son,” Cooke said.) Conversely, when I clung to hope last week that they wouldn’t take this silly path, I think I knew they probably would but was projecting my own desire that they not. So perhaps I’m taking it harder than most people will — it definitely contributed to my general annoyance with this disjointed episode.Ultimately, because Otto’s scheme was already in place, the Greens’ power grab didn’t hinge on Alicent’s misunderstanding. But it certainly helped to sell the plan, and also, perhaps, to convince Alicent to go along with it. (I think she probably would have anyway, despite the support she expressed for Rhaenyra last week.) I guess we’ll see if Rhaenyra ever gets a chance to clear things up for her.As I said in the beginning, there were some nice moments this week. The dynamic between Aemond and Criston felt lived-in and affectionate, a reminder that, with the general lack of interest Viserys had in his second batch of children — Paddy Considine discussed this last week in an interview with The Times — Criston the sword-trainer likely functioned as a kind of mentor figure.I also enjoyed the promise of a growing rivalry between Alicent and Otto, based partly on their differing sympathies for Rhaenyra. It could complicate the Hightowers’ attempt to consolidate and hold onto their power.But overall … not my favorite episode. Here’s hoping next week’s season finale brings more enjoying and less Googling.Look out behind you. Bill Paterson, right, in “House of the Dragon.”Ollie Upton/HBOA few thoughts while we renew our license to killApparently Ser Criston can just murder anyone without consequences, including the longstanding lord of a noble house? I guess we’ll see next week or next season if killing Lord Beesbury comes back on him.In “Fire & Blood,” the Martin novel, Larys is also known as Larys Clubfoot. While the character has limped throughout the show, I believe this is the first time it has been explicit about both his twisted foot and his twisted foot obsession. (Update: As several readers have pointed out, the show briefly highlighted Larys’s disability during the royal hunt, in Episode 3.) His and Alicent’s arrangement was clearly well-established. You might recall that after Larys had his father burned up to make room for Otto’s return as Hand, he told Alicent, “I feel certain you will reward me when the time is right.” I guess this is what he was talking about?And here Otto thought he had the upper hand when what he really needed was a nice pair of feet. Mysaria, the White Worm, has been a reliable source of intel for him — even he was shocked that she knew the king was dead. (I assume Alicent’s handmaiden, part of the Red Keep spy network Larys mentioned, notified her when she lit those candles in the window.) But it looks as if Mysaria will need to find a new wormhole, if she survived the fire. (She probably did.)“You look so much like your mother in certain lights,” Otto told Alicent, dusting off his old manipulation standby. Her rolled-eyes response suggests that it doesn’t work anymore.Aegon was briefly one of the clearest thinkers in the episode. The king could have made me heir anytime in the past 20 years, he told his mother, but he didn’t because he didn’t like me, so why would he now? But then the magical dagger somehow convinced him it was all real, and by the end Aegon — whom nobody likes, for good reason — was basking in the crowd’s adulation.I guess either Arryk (Luke Tittensor) or Erryk (Elliott Tittensor), whichever one we saw letting his brother fight Ser Cristen and then walking away, did so because he somehow sold out to Alicent? (This was probably what Otto was referring to later with his line about Alicent’s reward of “a pouch of silver.”) Presumably it was the other brother who then freed Rhaenys before losing her in the streets of King’s Landing.With one puff, Rhaenys and Meleys could have ended the Dance of Dragons before it began. Rhaenys’s restraint called back to Alicent’s comments about the women’s inclinations toward peace, even as Meleys foreshadowed the pain the realm is about to endure, by wiping out a few dozen civilians with its arrival.What did you think? Will Rhaenys join Rhaenyra’s cause? Am I making too much of the Dragonpit? Which other sitcom cliché would you like to see “House of the Dragon” incorporate? A Very Special Comments Section awaits your input. More

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      ‘House of the Dragon’ Star Fabien Frankel on Playing Kingmaker

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      The man who placed the crown on the new King of Westeros’s head is still not quite sure how he got there.This interview includes spoilers for the first nine episodes of “House of the Dragon.”To this day, Fabien Frankel doesn’t really know how he wound up on “House of the Dragon.”“I got an email from my agent that said ‘Untitled HBO Television Series,’” he said. He was asked to audition for a character named “Clint.”Wearing all black, the startlingly photogenic English actor, who plays the lethal Kingsguard knight Ser Criston Cole, settled back into a couch at HBO’s New York headquarters last week to continue the story. “I did the audition, and heard nothing back other than that they were looking for a slightly more Jason Momoa type for the part. That certainly wasn’t me, and I really didn’t think about it again.”Six months later, by which point the word was out that a “Game of Thrones” prequel was in the works, he was offered the part. “What I still don’t know, and I’m fascinated to know, is whether they couldn’t find their Jason Momoa type, or if they decided to change their casting brief. If the opportunity arises to ask them, I will.”Judging from how things have been going in Westeros, Frankel has time to spare. In the show’s most recent episode, his Ser Criston struck the first blow in the internecine conflict for control of Westeros — known as the Dance of the Dragons in George R.R. Martin’s source novel, “Fire & Blood” — and placed the crown on the head of the new king, the creepy Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney). In the book, this earns Cole the sobriquet of “Kingmaker.” To hear Frankel tell it, though, the acclaim has not yet hit home.These are edited excerpts from the conversation.“House of the Dragon” is an enormous hit. How has your life changed?My life in London is more or less the same. I’m probably getting slightly more calls from my agents, and a weekly call from my brother and friends to talk about the episodes. But my day-to-day life is not very different at all.London’s a good city at keeping you grounded because people tend to be quite private and un-invasive. You hear all these stories of, “I couldn’t walk down the street,” but I don’t have any of that. I can count on two hands the amount of times people on the street have taken notice.I’m a bit surprised to hear that. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but you’ve become kind of a sex symbol among the fandom.I haven’t. I mean, I suppose it was inevitable for whoever was going to have a romance with Rhaenyra [the princess who seduces Cole, played by Milly Alcock and, later, Emma D’Arcy], but I can tell you now that no one in my close circle is swooning.Cole with Milly Alcock, as the younger version of Rhaenyra. The character shaped Cristen Cole’s trajectory in the show.Ollie Upton/HBOLet’s talk about Ser Criston’s journey from one side of the conflict to the other. When he first becomes romantically involved with Rhaenyra, he seems a little idealistic, a little naïve.I never felt that he was naïve. I felt that he was taken out of a life he understood into a life he didn’t.Return to Westeros in ‘House of the Dragon’HBO’s long-awaited “Game of Thrones” prequel series is here.Playing Kingmaker: Fabien Frankel plays Ser Criston Cole, who got to place the crown on the new King of Westeros’s head. He is still not sure how he landed the role.The Princess and the Queen: Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who portray the grown-up versions of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, talked about the forces that drive their characters apart — and pull them together.A Man’s Decline: By the eighth episode of the season, Viserys no longer looks like a proud Targaryen king. The actor Paddy Considine discussed the character’s transformation and its meaning.A Rogue Prince: Daemon Targaryen is an agent of chaos. But “he’s got a strange moral compass of his own,” Matt Smith, who portrays him, said.He’s a soldier. In the army, you don’t just become a sergeant or a captain; you work to become a sergeant or a captain. In King’s Landing, it’s hereditary names, titles, people who haven’t earned the right to be anywhere. You take this character, who has nothing in common with that entire world, and put him in the central circle. It takes him a beat to figure things out.Then, obviously, there is a darkness within him that a certain moment triggers, and he becomes what he is.Why does he react so fanatically when Rhaenyra rejects his marriage proposal and counters with a sort of indecent proposal of her own?There’s nothing extraordinary about it: He’s asked a girl to run away with him, and he’s been told no. That’s the basis. It doesn’t matter who she is — they’re two kids, and they’re young, and he has very strong feelings for her. And she said, “No, but I’ll keep you on the side, do what I need to do,” which is disrespectful unto itself.My justification, and this is probably somewhat controversial, was that Rhaenyra could have let him go at the end of that conversation, or at some point before her wedding. Instead, she made him sit through the whole thing. And he flips. It becomes very evident that he has a temper that we had not yet seen. That temper, for reasons he feels are profound, makes him flip.Frankel didn’t know what he was auditioning for when he first read for “House of the Dragon.” Peter Fisher for The New York TimesI like how you put it earlier, that there’s a darkness within him. It’s much closer to the surface now than it used to be.Yes. The sourness and bitterness of this world has washed off on him. You are your surroundings; you are the people you’re surrounded by. Ser Criston happens to be surrounded by an incredibly ambitious group of very Machiavellian human beings whose sole ambition is power. Eventually, you go: “Well, that’s the life I live. That’s what I am now. I’m in too deep.”And you become the Kingmaker. You draw first blood in the conflict between the so-called “Greens” and “Blacks,” bashing in the head of poor Lord Beesbury (Bill Paterson). Was that an accident, or did Cole kill him on purpose?I don’t want to say. If it comes from me, then it’s decided, and I’d rather “House of the Dragon” fans, who are so astute, watch it and decide for themselves.Then he puts the crown on King Aegon II’s head in full view of the public. He’s famous now. Is that a role he embraces?I think he sees it as his duty, by proxy of being Alicent’s sworn protector, to protect these boys. He’s been very close to a father figure to them. Criston Cole taught these kids to fight, taught these kids respect. There’s that bit where Aemond [Aegon’s younger brother, played by Ewan Mitchell] is talking, and Criston didn’t like how he was speaking, and he says something like — I don’t remember ——“Every woman is an image of the Mother, to be spoken of with reverence.”Yes. So I think that’s his duty now. He doesn’t want to be a big star or very famous. It’s not in his nature. That’s just what happened.That’s a very funny line given what we’ve seen and heard from Criston.I’m glad you found it funny because I remember thinking it was hilarious. There was a conversation between Sara [Hess, the episode’s writer]; Clare [Kilner], our director; and myself when we were in Spain shooting that scene about how it should be delivered. I said it can only be funny. I mean, he’s not exactly proved that every woman is an image of the Mother.Frankel said his life hasn’t changed much since “House of the Dragon” began airing. “My day-to-day life is not very different at all,” he said.Peter Fisher for The New York TimesThat sequence really built up the relationship between Criston and Aegon’s kid brother, Aemond One-Eye. There’s a mutual respect there, even among such shifty characters.Criston sees Aemond in himself, and himself in Aemond. Ewan and I talked a lot about that. He and I would spend a lot of time together, walking around Spain together, discussing this relationship. There’s a real closeness between them.They’re also the two coolest characters on the Green side, to be honest.Oh, mate, I’m loving you saying that. I’m very Team Green, and proud of it. That’s kind of how I’m programmed to think now. I’m glad to hear there’s some love for the Greens out there. I think we are a force to be reckoned with. It’s a good solid crew. I’d back us in a street fight.Perhaps it’s too late at this point to ask, but does some part of Ser Criston still love Rhaenyra?[Smiles ruefully.] First love is first love. I think everyone will always love the person that they fell in love with for the first time. From the first time you hear a beautiful piece of music, you’ll always love it, even if you’ve heard it a hundred times, because you remember that first time you heard it. So yeah, he will always love Rhaenyra. More