For the Record - Feb. 19, 2025
'SNL50': In the Feb. 18 Entertainment section, an article on 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' misstated actor Aidy Bryant's first name as Andy. Also, Will Forte appeared as Elmo, not Cookie Monster.
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Los Angeles Times
40 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
With federal employees under ‘grievous' threat, CIA office drama ‘The Agency' pushes back
The spy is the most devoted of employees. His or her line of work demands utter commitment, if not active contempt for the very concept of a 'personal life.' Cunningly, Jez and John-Henry Butterworth's 'The Agency' — a remake of the French series 'Le Bureau des Légendes'— pushes its central character to question that arrangement. Michael Fassbender stars as Martian, a CIA spy who's recalled to London after years of living deep undercover in Ethiopia. Once a free agent, he's now constrained by the rigid bureaucratic machinations of desk work and office politics, often pitting him against his boss, Henry Ogletree (Jeffrey Wright), and London Station bureau chief James 'Bosko' Bradley (Richard Gere). As escalating geopolitical tensions bubble up around them all — in Belarus, Sudan and beyond — Martian wonders what he might be willing to risk when his former lover, Samia Fatima Zahir (Jodie Turner-Smith), reappears in his life. Stoic and self-aware, Fassbender's Martian is a slippery figure whose sense of self begins to unravel as the show's thrilling first season unfurls. 'He's really addicted to the juice of the job,' Fassbender tells The Times, sitting between Gere and Wright. 'That's where he gets his kicks from. He has this loving relationship that is the only real thing for him that will connect him to his humanity. But he's great at his job and he's kind of addicted to it. That's where I wondered, 'Does Bosko miss being out in the field?'' 'Oh, yeah,' Gere says, nodding. 'He does. He was good at it. It was the trench-warfare mentality of it. The danger. The addiction to the energy and the adrenaline of it. He's an alcoholic for it. They all are. There's no one who walks away from this safely.' The job of the actor is to reveal, that of the spy to withhold. It's why Gere pushed for Bosko to be even more of a cipher than he was on the page. 'I felt like I instinctively knew this guy,' Gere says, recalling his initial conversations with Joe Wright ('Atonement,' 'Darkest Hour'), who directed the first two episodes of the Paramount+ With Showtime series. 'We weren't totally on the same wavelength of who this character was. I think I was positing a more unknowable, nuanced character than he was. I even removed mentions of my own home life, of my backstory. 'It's in here,' he says, gesturing at his temples. 'I know it. And that's enough.' As the agency struggles to contain an increasingly volatile situation involving a missing asset on the front lines of Russia's war in Ukraine, the former field agents in London find that their preferred tactics can create friction in an office environment, where politicking requires a defter touch. 'For Martian, it's about being the sharp end of the stick and being out there,' Fassbender says. 'And being your own boss. Martian has an ego. He has his own set of rules. He does everything his own way.' Henry, in tweed suits and suitably nebbishy glasses, feels more like a company man than his two colleagues. Jeffrey Wright, an Emmy winner for 'Angels in America' in 2004, channeled the Washington, D.C., world he grew up in to create a portrait of a dutiful government employee. 'I have a great deal of respect for federal employees, particularly more so now in a time when they're under such grievous and biased attack,' Wright says. 'I think we conflate, at times, our criticism of the government with criticism that should be leveled at the politicians. But I have a great deal more respect for the people who go to work every day to be a part of the government than I do for many of the politicians who are playing theatrics in the public eye.' The London office where much of 'The Agency' takes place captures the contradictions of this contemporary espionage drama. With wall-to-wall windows that look out over the city — re-created on soundstages with the use of giant LED screens — and a glassed-in conference room at the heart of the floor, the environment itself suggests the possibility of omnipresent surveillance. The space reminds viewers and characters alike how precious and precarious privacy is in this world. Such immersion helped the trio of actors lose themselves in 'The Agency's' high-stakes workplace drama, where government secrets and transactional dynamics rule day-to-day operations. 'There's an argument to be made that the only time that you could unconsciously have an artistic experience with a piece is through architecture,' says Wright, 'walking through spaces where we're taking in this design but where we're not necessarily conscious of it. I was thinking about it in terms of what we do as actors, that we actually have an opportunity to experience art in a very intimate way, in a way that no other profession does. We get to live inside this literary experience and place ourselves inside of it.' It's not hard to see parallels between what agents like Martian go through when going deep undercover and what actors are called to do. Just don't ask Fassbender to be up for the job. 'It is terrifying, pretending to do this,' Fassbender points out. 'Constantly I'm thinking, 'Jesus, the reality of it is just terrifying.' And I would be so bad at it.'
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
King Charles to Sit Out Major Royal Event in Stunning Break From Tradition
King Charles to Sit Out Major Royal Event in Stunning Break From Tradition originally appeared on Parade. will reportedly sit out a major royal event—the 2025 Trooping the Colour parade—in a stunning break from tradition amid his cancer battle. On Saturday, June 14, the annual event celebrating the birthday of the British sovereign will be held. Part of the day steeped in tradition includes a parade, for which the reigning monarch rides on horseback. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 However, King Charles, 76, will not ride on a horse for the 2025 Trooping the Colour, The Times reported. The eldest child of the late will instead ride in a horse-drawn carriage during the procession from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade and back. King Charles brought back the riding-on-horseback tradition for the 2023 Trooping the Colour parade, his first as monarch after Queen Elizabeth died at 96 in September 2022. Before then, Queen Elizabeth last rode on horseback for the procession in 1986. The royal also rode in a carriage with his wife, , 77, in 2024, four months after announcing his cancer diagnosis. According to The Times, King Charles is not expected to ride on horseback again at Trooping the Colour. Related: Meanwhile, , 40, and , 43, will sit out the 2025 Trooping the Colour completely amid an ongoing rift between them and the rest of the royal family after the Sussexes relocated to the U.S. in 2020. Luckily for royal fans, , 42, , 43, and their three children—Prince George, 11, , 10, and , 7—are expected to participate in the Trooping the Colour on June 14. We can't wait to see photos! Next: King Charles to Sit Out Major Royal Event in Stunning Break From Tradition first appeared on Parade on Jun 10, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
Paramount lays off several hundred employees amid linear TV declines and 'dynamic macro-environment'
Paramount Global will lay off 3.5% of its domestic workforce, which amounts to several hundred jobs, as the media and entertainment company continues to navigate a difficult industrywide decline in linear television. The majority of the affected employees were notified Tuesday, according to a letter sent Tuesday morning to employees that was obtained by The Times. In addition to the decline in linear TV, the company also cited a "dynamic macro-economic environment" and the continued priority of streaming business investments as the backdrop to these layoffs. The affected departments were not disclosed. "We recognize how difficult this is and are very thankful for everyone's hard work and contributions," Paramount co-chief executives George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins wrote in the letter. "These changes are necessary to address the environment we are operating in and best position Paramount for success." The layoffs come just one day after Paramount said its chief financial officer, Naveen Chopra, would be resigning at the end of the month. The company said in a regulatory filing that Chopra's resignation was not the result of disagreement with the company or its board of directors. Paramount is just one of several studios across Hollywood that are downsizing. Last week, Walt Disney Co. announced layoffs for several hundred employees in the U.S. and abroad, citing the decline in linear TV. The layoffs largely affected the film and television marketing teams, television publicity, casting and development as well as corporate financial operations. The move came just three months after the company cut 200 workers, including at ABC News and Disney-owned entertainment networks. Warner Bros. Discovery also laid off employees from its cable TV channels last week, cutting several dozen positions. On Monday, the media and entertainment company said it would split into two separate firms — one entity that includes the film studio, television production, HBO and HBO Max and DC Studios and the other with cable channels such as CNN and TNT as well as its European over-the-air networks. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
