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Gary Oldman reveals Demi Moore's response after he was ‘unprofessional' and ‘destructive' on set

Gary Oldman reveals Demi Moore's response after he was ‘unprofessional' and ‘destructive' on set

New York Post02-05-2025

Gary Oldman revealed that he was forced to apologize to former co-star Demi Moore for his 'destructive' behavior on the set of the 1995 film, 'The Scarlet Letter.'
The Oscar winner, 67, opened up about his 'unprofessional' behavior, saying his past issue with alcohol caused him to act out while filming the romance film.
In the film, Oldman starred as Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale opposite Moore, 62, who played Hester Prynne.
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4 Gary Oldman revealed that he has apologized to former co-star Demi Moore for his 'destructive' behavior on the set of the 1995 film, 'The Scarlet Letter.'
Jay L. Clendenin/Shutterstock for SAG
'I think the worst thing you can do is inspire disappointment,' the 'Slow Horses' actor told Radio Times.
'I was in The Scarlet Letter with Demi Moore, and I had intermittent bouts of boozing during filming. It was towards the end of [my drinking] where I thought, 'If I carry on like this…'
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The British actor, who was 36 when the film was released, said he was 'in a very dark place' at the time.
'I drank too much in the lunch hour. It was such a destructive thing. I got back on the set to do quite a big scene and I got through it,' he said.
4 The Oscar winner, 67, opened up about his 'unprofessional' behavior, saying his past issue with alcohol caused him to act out while filming the romance film.
©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
'You wouldn't really know but I was quite tipsy. And the next day, I said to her, 'I'm so sorry, you must hate me.''
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'I was mortified that I'd been so unprofessional. And she said to me, 'I don't hate you. It's okay. I'm just disappointed,'' he added.
Oldman's past issues with booze landed him in rehab in 1994 after he was arrested for drunk driving three years prior.
4 Oldman's past issues with booze landed him in rehab in 1994 after he was arrested for drunk driving three years prior.
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The actor has now been sober for 28 years and previously credited Alcoholics Anonymous for helping him overcome his addiction.
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These days, he has 'no desire to even take a sip.'
Earlier this year, Oldman heaped praise on Moore for her success in the hit film 'The Substance.'
Speaking exclusively to The Post at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards in February, Oldman said that the 'Ghost' actress 'is very special.'
'I've not really been that in touch with her, but I just actually reconnected with her because I've seen her recently. She is such a wonderful person, Demi,' he said.
'I couldn't be happier for her in this moment with this film and this role. I think it's such a wonderful thing. And she's loving it and really riding the wave.'
4 Oldman recently heaped praise on Moore for her recent success in the hit film 'The Substance.'
Larry Busacca
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Moore enjoyed a glittering awards season on the back of the horror film, which saw her star as Elisabeth Sparkle.
The Hollywood icon has taken home a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for best actress, and was also nominated for a BAFTA but lost to 'Anora' star Mikey Madison — to whom she also lost the Oscar.

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Peter Brown rebooted ‘The Wild Robot' for the preschool set. His underlying message remains

Los Angeles Times

time30 minutes ago

  • Los Angeles Times

Peter Brown rebooted ‘The Wild Robot' for the preschool set. His underlying message remains

There are rare moments in the culture when a children's book resonates with everyone. Parents who buy the book for their kids find themselves moved by a story that is not intended for them but somehow speaks to them. Peter Brown's 'The Wild Robot' is one such book. A tender-hearted fable about a robot who washes ashore on a remote island and goes native, the 2016 middle-grade novel from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has spawned two sequels and last year's hit (and Oscar-nominated) adaptation from DreamWorks Animation, with book sales for the series topping 6.5 million worldwide. Brown has now created a picture book titled 'The Wild Robot on the Island,' a gateway for those still too young to read the original work. 'This new book gave me a chance to create these big, colorful, detailed illustrations, while still maintaining the emotional tone of the novel,' says Brown, who is Zooming from the Maine home he shares with his wife and young son. 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As Roz explores this strange new world, she encounters angry bears, a loquacious squirrel and industrious beavers, who regard her as a malevolent force. But the robot's confusion, and the animal's hostility, soon dissolve into a mutual understanding. Roz is the reader's proxy, an innocent who acclimates to the complex rhythms of the natural world. Eventually she is subsumed into this alien universe, a creature of nature who allows birds to roost on her chromium shoulder. 'Roz has been programmed to learn, but her creators, the men who built her, don't expect her to learn in this particular way,' says Brown. 'And so she uses that learning ability to mimic the animals' behavior and learns how to communicate with them. Roz is the embodiment of the value of learning, and part of that is adapting, changing, growing.' The story isn't always a rosy fairy tale. There are predators on the island; animals are eaten for sustenance. Real life, in short, rears its ugly head. 'It gets tricky. Life is complicated, right?', says Brown. 'But thanks to Roz's influence, all the animals discover how they are all a part of this interconnected community.' Roz adopts an abandoned gosling that she names Brightbill, and the man-made machine is now a mother, flooded with compassion for her young charge. Their relationship is the emotional core of Brown's series. At a time when the world is grappling with the increasing presence of robotic technology in everyday life, Brown offers an alternative view: What if we can create robots that are capable of benevolence and empathy? Roz reminds us of our own humanity, our capacity to love and feel deeply. This is why 'The Wild Robot' isn't just a kid's book. It is in fact one of the most insightful novels about our present techno-anxious moment, camouflaged as a children's book. 'Technology is a double-edged sword,' says Brown. 'There's obviously a lot of good that is happening, and will continue to happen, but in the wrong hands it can be dangerous.' He mentions Jonathan Haidt's bestselling book 'The Anxious Generation,' and Haidt's prescriptions for restricting internet use among children, which Brown endorses. 'I don't have a lot of answers, but I just think we need to reinvest in our own humanity,' he says. 'We have to make sure things are going in the right direction.' In subsequent books, the outside world impinges on Roz's idyll. 'The Wild Robot Escapes' finds Roz navigating the dangers of urban life and humans with guns, while a toxic tide in 'The Wild Robot Protects' leaves the animals scrambling for ever more scarce resources. None of this is pedantic, nor is it puffed up with moral outrage. Brown knows children can spot such flaws a mile away. Like all great adventure tales, Brown's 'Wild Robot' stories embrace the wild world in all of its splendor, without ever flinching away from it. 'In the books, I just wanted to acknowledge that the world is complicated, and that people we think are bad aren't necessarily so,' says Brown, who is currently writing the fourth novel in the 'Wild Robot' series. 'Behind every bad action is a really complicated story, and I think kids can handle that. They want to be told the truth about things, they want to grapple with the tough parts of life.'

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