Vincent D'Onofrio reveals what he is still learning about Kingpin after 10 years
'As an actor, every day you go to work, something new happens,' D'Onofrio tells Gold Derby during a brief break from filming Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. 'You either fail and learn something from that, or you succeed and learn something from that. And throughout the day, both things can happen. So, yeah, I'm totally, constantly learning about Fisk and about how to execute the character. That never stops, it's continuous.'
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Of course, it helps to have new material to play, and Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again put both D'Onofrio and his character in a whole new place after Fisk successfully ran for mayor of New York City. During a rare meet-up with his rival Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) in the premiere episode, Fisk promised that he was done with his criminal ways and ready to be an upright politician. But D'Onofrio knew that things wouldn't go that way, even if his character didn't.
'You can't take these characters and then suddenly turn them into good people, or even less complicated people,' D'Onofrio says. 'I knew that the idea of putting him in the light and having him run for mayor was going to cause a lot of frustration and a lot of struggle for that character. As the actor, I knew that it would never work out. I even felt that putting him in those situations were some of the most difficult things to play. To put a broken person, who really belongs in the dark, in the light is an interesting choice. As the actor, I could feel the frustration of it. I didn't like it myself, but it was good to play it that way.'
But despite Fisk's new office, there's also plenty of continuity in the form of his wife, Vanessa Fisk. Though Sandrine Holt was originally cast to play Vanessa during the first attempt at Daredevil: Born Again, after the show's creative revamp the role was recast with Ayelet Zurer (who had played Vanessa on the original Daredevil series), and she and D'Onofrio picked up where they left off.
'Ayelet Zurer is an amazing actress,' D'Onofrio says. 'I've known her for years now, we're very close friends, and to work with her is incredible. Vanessa helps a lot to tell Wilson Fisk's story, like it did in the comics years ago. It defines who he is as a man, not just as a villain.'
Vanessa is her husband's moral compass, but not in a good way. During the time he's been absent from New York City (depicted in the Disney+ series Echo), Vanessa took control of his criminal empire, and she's the one who helps him re-embrace his Kingpin side even after becoming mayor.
'Whenever you show somebody that's supposedly a bad guy and you humanize him, it's more scary for everybody,' D'Onofrio says. 'So we did whatever we could in the first season to humanize Fisk, to make sure that people understood that he was a man who didn't consider himself to be a villain, but that the actor who plays him considers him to be broken.'
Criminal mayors are not relegated solely to the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eric Adams, the real-life mayor of New York City, was indicted last year on criminal corruption charges from the FBI.
'I don't have any interest in all that,' D'Onofrio says. 'I have my own personal views about all that, but I don't connect those to the show in any way. I think other people may or may not, that's up to them, but I've been playing this character a long time now, and I'm on that track. I'm on that evolution of the character. If it's somehow, in some uncanny way, following what's going on out there in the world, then I guess that's all the better for everybody. That means it's good storytelling, and if people are getting pissed about it or happy about it, that's good storytelling.'
Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again is streaming now on Disney+.
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USA Today
23 minutes ago
- USA Today
Adam Sandler's 15 best movies, ranked (including 'Happy Gilmore')
With Adam Sandler, it's been a tale of two careers: the goofy comedian of his "Saturday Night Live" and early film days, and the more accomplished thespian of his later years (who can still be goofy when needed). But whether or not you prefer his more serious outings to man-child Billy Madison and hockey-loving golf savant Happy Gilmore – who returns in the sequel "Happy Gilmore 2" (streaming now on Netflix) – Sandler has enjoyed a profound evolution as an actor and performer. It's only a matter of time until he nabs an Oscar nomination (and probably should have at least one by now). Who could have imagined that back when he was singing the Hanukkah song on "SNL"? In honor of his latest outing, we're ranking the Sandman's 15 best movies. (While the original "Happy" makes the cut, the cameo-filled follow-up sadly does not.) Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox 15. 'Murder Mystery' (2019) New York cop Nick (Sandler) and hairdresser wife Audrey (Jennifer Aniston) go on their dream European vacation, which goes awry when they're invited on a billionaire's yacht and are embroiled in a murder case. OK, they're no Sherlock and Watson, but Sandler and Aniston end up making a decent detective duo. 14. 'Happy Gilmore' (1996) The sports comedy is one of Sandler's sillier outings, playing the title hockey player who takes up pro golf to help save his beloved grandma's house. The high-profile cameos, though, are fantastic, from Bob Barker (as himself) brawling with Sandler to Carl Weathers in one of his best roles as Happy's one-handed coach. 13. 'Anger Management' (2003) In his comedy heyday, Sandler partnered with Jack Nicholson for this buddy flick, with Sandler as a dude sent to therapy after an in-flight incident and Nicholson as the doctor whose unorthodox techniques exacerbate his new patient's rage problems. On paper, it should have been better, but it's still worth watching two A-listers going at it. 12. '50 First Dates' (2004) "The Wedding Singer" might be the best Sandler/Drew Barrymore rom-com team-up but "First Dates" is the sweetest: A womanizing veterinarian (Sandler) becomes enamored with an art teacher (Barrymore) with amnesia and commits to winning her over day after day. 11. 'Airheads' (1994) Watching this gonzo music comedy 30 years ago, who could have imagined Brendan Fraser as an Oscar winner, Steve Buscemi with an Emmy and Sandler as a somewhat serious actor? They're cast as hard-rock goofballs who take a radio station hostage with water pistols filled with hot sauce to get their demo tape played. 10. 'Leo' (2023) Apologies to the "Hotel Transylvania" faithful: A 74-year-old fifth-grade pet lizard is the animated role Sandler was born to play. His title character Leo worries about his mortality and hatches an escape plan but instead makes a bunch of young friends in the delightfully weird and subtly touching musical comedy. 9. 'The Waterboy' (1998) As a great man once said, "That's some high-quality H2O!" Bullied by the football players he keeps hydrated, mother-loving Louisiana college waterboy Bobby Boucher (Sandler) finally snaps and unlocks an aggressive side that makes him a gridiron wunderkind. He can play outside linebacker for our team anytime. 8. 'The Meyerowitz Stories' (2017) Writer/director Noah Baumbach's dramedy cast Sandler and Ben Stiller as estranged half-brothers who reunite for an art retrospective for their aging sculptor dad (Dustin Hoffman). A lifetime of dysfunction and a health scare ignite a sibling rivalry that gives both Stiller and Sandler plum complex roles to play. 7. 'Spaceman' (2024) In a decidedly dramatic yet still oddball role, Sandler plays a Czech astronaut halfway through a lonely, one-man mission to investigate a cosmic purple cloud near Jupiter. Cracks form in the long-distance relationship with his wife (Carey Mulligan), and he works through his feelings by befriending a mysterious talking alien spider (Paul Dano). 6. 'You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah' (2023) Sandler takes a backseat to his real family in this delightful coming-of-age comedy. The role of devoted dad suits him well opposite wife Jackie and daughters Sadie and Sunny, the latter of whom plays a middle-schooler looking forward to her bat mitzvah and instead finds a whole heap of girl drama. 5. 'Funny People' (2009) Director Judd Apatow's darkly funny yet feel-good dramedy casts Sandler in a role he knows very well: mega-popular comedian/movie star. When he's diagnosed with a terminal disease, Sandler's character befriends a young stand-up (Seth Rogen), reconnects with the love who got away (Leslie Mann) and finds a new lease on life. 4. 'The Wedding Singer' (1998) The best of Sandler's straight-up comedies is a 1980s retro affair packed with style and cool music. A wedding singer (Sandler) hits it off with a reception waitress (Drew Barrymore) and he promises to play her wedding. Of course, they fall in love, but not without some crises of confidence, Reagan-era high jinks and old-lady rapping to make things interesting. 3. 'Hustle' (2022) Sandler marries his loves – acting and hoops – as a Philadelphia 76ers basketball scout who discovers a standout streetballer (ex-NBA player Juancho Hernangómez) in Spain and brings him to America. Both help each other out in a rousing narrative chock-full of real-life roundball stars and choice Sandler zingers. 2. 'Punch-Drunk Love' (2002) Paul Thomas Anderson's romantic dramedy is the first to really toss Sandler in the awards-season mix. The comedian earned a Golden Globe nod as a lonely plunger salesman with serious rage issues who starts dating his sister's co-worker (Emily Watson), though a phone-sex extortion scheme threatens the budding relationship. 1. 'Uncut Gems' (2019) Get ready for a two-hour anxiety-fest. Josh and Benny Safdie's intricately crafted crime thriller finds Sandler in prime form as a gambling jeweler who wants to make serious bank off a rare opal. He runs afoul of the wrong people, leading to an intensely stressful final act fueled by a close NBA playoff game.


New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Joe Exotic says he will die in prison unless Trump pardons him
Would-be killer and ex-'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic claims he is now riddled with cancer and will die in prison unless President Trump pardons him — insisting to The Post, 'I will not make it another five years.' The 62-year-old felon — who is in federal lockup in Fort Worth, Texas, for a murder-for-hire plot against his rival — said he fears he won't even make it to his parole eligibility in 2030 because his cancer tumors just keep growing. 'I'm not gonna make it. I'm gonna die,' the ex-Netflix star said in an exclusive phone interview Monday while serving a 21-year sentence for plotting to kill big-cat arch-rival Carole Baskin and for violating federal wildlife laws. Advertisement 5 'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic told The Post he will likely die of cancer in prison — unless he is pardoned by President Trump. Netflix US/AFP via Getty Images 5 Exotic is serving a 21-year prison sentence for plotting to kill his rival Carole Baskin. Santa Rosa County Jail via AP, File 'My earliest out day right now is Oct. 30, 2030. And that's why I plead to President Trump so hard. … With the cancer that I have, let me get out and find some real medical care instead of the taxpayers paying for half-assed medical care. Advertisement 'Try going through that [chemo] for a year, puking your ass off by yourself in a concrete room,' he added. Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, announced he'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2021. The incarcerated former zookeeper now says the cancer has spread to his lungs — and doubled in size. 5 Exotic has been battling prostate cancer behind bars since 2021. AP Advertisement 5 Exotic is pleading with Trump to release him from prison so he can receive 'real medical care' for his cancer. Getty Images Exotic — who starred in Netflix's 2020 'Tiger King' true-crime series about his life and dark slide while caring for exotic big cats at his zoo in Oklahoma — insisted his health woes have only worsened due partly to the stress of his husband, Jorge Flores Maldonado, being deported to Mexico from the US earlier this year. 'I'm dealing with prostate cancer, lung cancer. I'm waiting for a [positron emission tomography] scan because I think the prostate cancer is in my ribs now,' Exotic said. 'And the stress of [Jorge] being in Mexico with nothing. He's living like a homeless person right now, and there's nothing I can do to help because I'm stuck in here.' Advertisement 5 Exotic's husband Jorge Flores Maldonado was deported to Mexico. Obtained by the New York Post The fallen star's migrant hubby was booted from the US by ICE in May after getting busted late last year for allegedly driving a car loaded with six other undocumented immigrants across the US-Mexican border. The pair met and fell in love while in prison when Maldonado was there on immigration raps. Exotic, betting Trump to step in and spring him early from the pokey, told The Post: 'Let me get up and pay my own bills and work and try and make it the next five years so I can bring Jorge back to America.' But he also suggested he has come to terms with the fact he'll likely die behind bars. 'I've already got my will done. So everything goes to Jorge so he can at least move on,' he said. 'I have nothing, absolutely nothing. So, you know at this point right now, I wish cancer would hurry up and take me before I have to endure five more years of hell in America.'

Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
I tried Martha Stewart's one-pan pasta and had dinner on the table in 20 minutes
Martha Stewart told me she loves making her one-pan pasta when she only has 20 minutes. Stewart's dish barely takes five minutes of prep and leaves almost zero mess. Her one-pan pasta is very light and simple. I'd make it again, with a few changes. Meghan Markle made headlines after making one-pan pasta on her Netflix show "With Love, Meghan," but she wasn't the first to bring it to the masses. That honor goes to another very famous woman. Martha Stewart told me that her magazine was the first to include one-pan pasta, and it's a recipe she swears by when she's short on time. "It's delicious, and you can do so many different kinds of pasta and so many different flavorings," she said. "Add tomatoes, the spaghetti and basil, and a little bit of salt and water, the cheese at the end. It cooks in 20 minutes and you're done!" Martha Stewart's one-pan pasta has made headlines in the past. Stewart released the recipe in 2014 and demonstrated how to make it on her PBS show, "Martha Stewart's Cooking School." "Here is the recipe that's taken the internet by storm," Stewart says in a clip posted on her official YouTube channel that year. "This is an odd dish because you'll never believe you can cook pasta in so little with all the other ingredients." "It's fragrant and well-cooked and just ready to eat," she added. "Can you imagine? This is it!" The dish requires just a few basic ingredients. And there's very minimal prep. Then, I thinly sliced my onion and a few cloves of garlic. You know that scene in "Goodfellas," when the mobsters are all in jail together and make that beautiful Italian feast? That is exactly how I felt as I carefully sliced through my onion and garlic, watching as they nestled together just as they had in Martin Scorsese's famous shot. I didn't use a razor like Paulie, but I was still pretty proud of my handiwork. Plus, my prep was already finished. Unlike most pasta recipes, you don't bring the water to a boil before throwing the noodles into the pan. Stewart's recipe requires that you throw everything into the pan at once for maximum ease. I accidentally put the 4 ½ cups of water into the pan first instead of last, as Stewart does in her cooking demo. Thankfully, it didn't make a difference. Then, I added my linguine, cherry tomatoes, onion, and garlic. I topped it off with Stewart's required seasonings. I added two basil leaves, two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes, two teaspoons of salt, and a few twists from my pepper grinder. The tomatoes and basil popped brightly against the yellow of the linguine, reminding me of spring. I wondered if the dish would taste as fresh as it looked. Then, I turned on the stove and struggled to mix everything. Stewart's recipe instructs you to stir and turn the pasta "frequently with tongs," which was a challenge at the start. I didn't want to break the pieces of linguine, so after a few failed attempts, I decided to let the pasta soften a little in the water. After a few minutes had passed, the pasta was fully submerged. The pan almost looked like a clear chicken noodle soup, or an Italian spin on pho. It felt weirdly therapeutic to watch the pasta move around in that clear broth as I delicately turned the linguine with my tongs. And it wasn't long before the water started to really boil. The top of the pan was covered in little bubbles as I continued to flip the pasta. It was around this time that the entire kitchen filled with an incredibly fresh aroma, just as Stewart had promised. I frequently checked to see if the pasta was al dente, per Stewart's instructions. I used my tongs to grab a noodle from the pan and drop it into my ladle, splashing some cold water on it before taking a bite to see if the pasta was ready. The second time I tested a noodle, around the 14-minute mark, I could tell that the flavors from the tomatoes, basil, and seasonings had infused into the linguine. Overall, it took 20 minutes for Stewart's pasta to cook. While Stewart's website said the pasta should take "about nine minutes," the recipe also states that the water will be "nearly evaporated" when the dish is ready. It wasn't until the 20-minute mark that I could see a significant drop in the pan's water level, and it took just as long for the noodles to cook. Since Stewart herself had told me that the pasta is usually ready in about 20 minutes, I wasn't too worried about waiting it out. After plating the noodles, I topped my pasta with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Stewart's one-pan pasta is really light, but the dish has a hint of richness thanks to the olive oil and tomatoes, which had a nice blistered texture. While the dish tasted fresh — and paired great with my glass of rosé — I thought it was just a tad plain. I got a lot more flavor out of the noodles once I added extra pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. I would make Stewart's one-pan pasta again — with a few changes. Next time, I'll add more basil, which I think could have really brightened up the flavors, as well as more tomatoes — my favorite part of the dish. I saw in the comments on Stewart's recipe that some had tried the dish with chicken stock instead of water, which I think is a great idea. Others discussed sautéing the onions and garlic first. While that technically defeats the purpose of a one-pan recipe, I do think it's a modification worth trying. Overall, I still enjoyed cooking Stewart's one-pan pasta, which surprised me given my ongoing case of kitchen fatigue. It was soothing to watch all those ingredients spin around one pan as my kitchen filled with delicious smells.