logo
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Joins Anya Taylor-Joy In Apple TV+ Series ‘Lucky'

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Joins Anya Taylor-Joy In Apple TV+ Series ‘Lucky'

Yahoo25-02-2025
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is joining the cast of Apple TV+ limited series Lucky.
According to Deadline, Ellis-Taylor joins a cast led by Anya Taylor-Joy, who also executive produces with Reese Witherspoon and series creator Jonathan Tropper.
The series follows Lucky (Taylor-Joy), a woman who turned her back on her criminal past. But in order to fully put the past behind her, she must dive back into the criminal underworld one more time.
Ellis-Taylor's character is FBI Agent Billie Rand. There's no description of her character, but it stands to reason that Rand would be after Lucky and the criminal world she's involved in.
Lucky is based on the book by Marissa Stapley and was part of Witherspoon's 'Reese's Book Club' at Hello Sunshine (which also serves as the film's producer with Topper's Tropper Ink). Hello Sunshine's Lauren Neustadter also executive produces with director Jonathan Van Tulleken. Taylor-Joy executive produces through her company Ladykiller.
Ellis-Taylor was recently honored with the Excellence in the Arts award at the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) Honors ceremony. She can currently be seen in the Oscar-nominated film Nickel Boys.
She can also be heard on the Radiotopia from PRX's narrative podcast Red for Revolution alongside Rutina Wesley, Jennifer Beals, Loretta Devine, Jordan Hull, S. Epatha Merkerson, Renée Wilson, Danny Glover, Vanessa E. Williams, Alimi Ballard and adrienne maree brown.The post Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Joins Anya Taylor-Joy In Apple TV+ Series 'Lucky' appeared first on Blavity.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Teyana Taylor must pay ex-husband Iman Shumpert $70,000 after dispute over leaked divorce details
Teyana Taylor must pay ex-husband Iman Shumpert $70,000 after dispute over leaked divorce details

Los Angeles Times

time7 hours ago

  • Los Angeles Times

Teyana Taylor must pay ex-husband Iman Shumpert $70,000 after dispute over leaked divorce details

Teyana Taylor was ordered to cover ex-husband Iman Shumpert's $70,000 in attorney fees after she was found in contempt of court for violating terms of her 2024 divorce agreement. Taylor, 34, and Shumpert, 35, both had been accusing each other of violating the agreement by leaking their settlement terms to blogs, according to court documents filed Aug. 5 in Georgia's Fulton County Superior Court. The court found the 'Gonna Love Me' singer had violated the 'prohibition against disclosure of 'summaries, abstracts, portions and descriptions'' of the final judgment in their divorce. Taylor confirmed her marriage to the former NBA pro during a 2016 appearance on 'The Wendy Williams Show' and the couple appeared that same year in the official music video of the track 'Fade' by Kanye West (now known as Ye). The exes have two children together, Iman 'Junie' Tayla and Rue Rose, now 9 and 4, respectively. Shumpert helped Taylor deliver both babies at home in the couple's bathroom. The couple separated in 2023 and she filed for divorce that November. The split was finalized in July 2024, then in March of this year details of the agreement suddenly appeared online, leading to the filings in civil court. Taylor had asked the court to order Shumpert to pay her legal fees, but after she refused to show proof of income, the answer was no. The 'Coming 2 America' actor did not answer questions about her assets and her income, stating the information was 'completely irrelevant to any issue.' The court ordered Taylor to pay for Shumpert's fees, saying she had the means to pay because she has been in three movies since the divorced was finalized and has TV series booked for this fall. During the hearing, Taylor failed to prove that Shumpert had provided details from their divorce case to entertainment blogs.

Basic, But Never Boring—Why Canvas Sneakers Are Having a Resurgence
Basic, But Never Boring—Why Canvas Sneakers Are Having a Resurgence

Vogue

time9 hours ago

  • Vogue

Basic, But Never Boring—Why Canvas Sneakers Are Having a Resurgence

Simple in design and easy to wear, the best canvas sneakers are shoe closet essentials—and perennial classics that never lose their appeal. Despite the comings and goings of seasonal sneaker trends, you can always count on canvas styles as a solid choice, thanks to their breathable fabrication and versatility in styling. Vogue's Favorite Canvas Sneakers Recently, Natalie Portman was spotted on the streets of New York City in the iconic Ked canvas Champion (a favorite of Taylor Swift and Emma Stone, as well), inspiring us to dig up a fresh crop of canvas sneakers to compliment our end-of-summer wardrobes. She paired the simple lace-ups with an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants, demonstrating their effortless, downtown ease—but these needn't be reserved for only off-duty ensembles. Jennifer Lawrence has been spotted a few times wearing the Vans Authentic sneaker in canvas, styling them with everything from oversized, button-down shirts and baggy blue jeans, to chic suiting separates, and tailored leather jackets. Olivia Rodrigo keeps her low-top Converse on rotation, wearing them regularly with easy basics such as fitted tanks and khaki pants during the day. Gigi Hadid, another noted fan, has a penchant for Vans slip-ons, which she uses to anchor her effortless sneaker-and-dress combinations. Whatever your mood or style preference, remember to keep things simple. A clean and classic, white or ecru model goes a long way. You'll find plenty in our edit, including preppy classics from Sperry and Polo Ralph Lauren, designer takes from Toteme and The Row, plus all the aforementioned celeb-approved favorites. Below, shop the best canvas sneakers to take you through the end of summer, straight into fall.

Ben Folds on the depth of the new ‘Snoopy Presents' animated musical and why he left Trump's Kennedy Center
Ben Folds on the depth of the new ‘Snoopy Presents' animated musical and why he left Trump's Kennedy Center

Los Angeles Times

time10 hours ago

  • Los Angeles Times

Ben Folds on the depth of the new ‘Snoopy Presents' animated musical and why he left Trump's Kennedy Center

Snoopy is the superstar of the 'Peanuts' world, but Ben Folds is loyal to Charlie Brown. 'I'm going to have to go with Chuck because he's so emotionally compressed,' the singer-songwriter said when asked for a favorite. Folds didn't grow up poring over the Charles M. Schulz comics or memorizing the TV specials — 'I can't think of anything I really was a fan of outside of music' — but he loved Vince Guaraldi's music for the animated specials. He started studying Charlie Brown and the gang when he was hired to write the title song for 'It's the Small Things, Charlie Brown,' sung by Charlie's sister Sally in the 2022 Apple TV special. And he recently dove back into the world of these iconic characters when he returned to write the final three songs for 'Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical.' 'I think it's good that I came to fully appreciate the world of 'Peanuts' as an adult,' says Folds, although he adds that he was still starstruck about writing for Charlie Brown. 'It's a lot of responsibility,' he says. 'I was asking the Schulz family, 'Can I say this?' and they'd say, 'Yes, it's yours.'' Folds' best-known songs, such as 'Brick,' 'Song for the Dumped,' 'Army,' 'Rockin' the Suburbs' and 'Zak and Sara,' may seem too sardonic or dark for the sweet world of Snoopy and company. But he sees it differently. 'There's a lot of deep stuff there. 'Peanuts,' like 'Mister Rogers,' presents an empathetic and nuanced, not dumbed-down view of the world, and that is rare for kids programming,' he says. 'I was able to say stuff in my songs that kids will understand but that will go over the heads of many adults.' He also knows how to approach the storytelling aspect of musical writing pragmatically. Within the show's parameters, Folds is grateful to the creators for giving him his artistic freedom. 'They give me carte blanche and don't push back' Folds says, adding that when he puts in poetic imagery — 'I'm not calling myself f—ing Keats or anything,' he adds as an aside — director Erik Wiese would weave those ideas into the animation. 'That's really cool to see.' 'My ambition is to have them tell me that my lyrics meant they could delete pages of script,' he adds. 'That's what these songs are for.' Wiese says Folds was the ideal person to 'take the mantle' from Guaraldi: 'He brings a modern thing and his lyrics are so poetic; on his albums he always touches your heart.' Writer and executive producer Craig Schulz, who is Charles' son, was impressed by both Folds' songwriting and the responsibility the musician felt to the 'Peanuts' brand. 'He has a unique ability to really get into what each of the gang is thinking and drive the audience in the direction we want to,' says Schulz, adding that there was one day where the writers got on the phone with Folds to explain the emotions they needed a scene to convey 'and suddenly he says, 'I got it, I'm super-excited' and then he hangs up and runs to the piano and cranks it out.' The first song Folds wrote for 'A Summer Musical' was when Charlie Brown realizes that the camp he holds dear 'is going to get mown over in the name of progress. I wanted him to have the wisdom of his 60-year-old self to go back to 'when we were light as the clouds' to let him understand the future,' he says. So it's a poignant song even as he's writing about Charlie Brown looking through 'old pictures of people he met five days ago. That's the way kids are — they're taking in a whole world and learning a lot in five days.' (He did not write the show's first two songs, though you'll hear plenty of Folds-esque piano and melody in them because, Wiese says, 'We wanted it to sound cohesive.') In the final song, Folds' lyrics celebrate the saving of the camp (yeah, spoiler alert, but it's 'Peanuts,' so you know the ending will be happy), but he laces in the idea that these children are inheriting a lot of bad things from older generations, including climate change. But it's not cynical, instead adding an understanding that their parents did the best they could (with a 'Hello Mother, Hello Father' reference thrown in for the old-timers) and that this new generation will do the best they can and make their own mistakes. Folds says it's important for people in the arts and on the left to bring a realistic view but not to become doomsayers. 'I see how bad it could get, but there are two stories you can always tell that might be true — one way to talk about climate change will leave people saying, 'We're screwed anyway so I'll just drink out of plastic bottles and toss them in the garbage,' but the other way is to motivate people, to tell a story that shows an aspiration towards the future.' That does not mean, of course, that Folds is blind to the perils of the moment. He stepped down as the National Symphony Orchestra's artistic advisor at the Kennedy Center to protest Donald Trump's power play there. 'I couldn't be a pawn in that,' he says. 'Was I supposed to call my homies like Sara Bareilles and say, 'Hey, do you want to come play here?'' But he's focusing on the positive, noting that he's now working with other symphony orchestras with that free time. Folds has recently also tried countering the turmoil of our current era: Last year he released his first Christmas album, 'Sleigher,' and his 2023 album 'What Matters Most' opens with 'But Wait, There's More,' which offers political commentary but then talks about believing in the good of humankind, and closes with the uplifting 'Moments.' And obviously, Folds knows that a show that stars a beagle and a small yellow bird that defies classification is not the right place to get bogged down in the issues of the day. Even when the lyrics dip into melancholy waters, they find a positive place to land. 'In this era I don't want the art that passes through my world to not have some semblance of hope,' he says.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store