
'I am so spoiled by so many of the projects I've done'': Jennifer Beals talks The L Word, Flashdance prior to Calgary Expo appearance
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It seems unthinkable now, but Jennifer Beals almost didn't accept her star-making role as an 18-year-old welder with aspirations of being a dancer in the 1983 drama, Flashdance.
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Adrian Lyne's sexy dance drama was a big hit at the box office and helped usher in a new style of filmmaking influenced by music videos. The poster featuring Beals in her cut-off sweatshirt became one of the most iconic images in 1980s pop culture.
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The only film work Beals had done before Flashdance was a small and uncredited role in the 1980 family drama My Bodyguard. Still, she almost turned it down.
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'I was offered the part, but they wanted me to do nudity and I said no,'' she says. 'So then they said they would work around that, and I didn't have to do that.'
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She still had reservations. At the time, she had just been accepted into Yale University.
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'I was going to college and I wasn't going to take it if I couldn't defer a term,' says Beals, who will be appearing at Calgary Expo in the new BMO Centre on Saturday and Sunday. 'So I went to my dean and asked if I could defer for a term to go do the film. At that time, and I'm sure still now, people at university were taking time off to go write a novel, to do scientific research and to do all kinds of things.'
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So she deferred a term and became a star.
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But after the film, she went to Yale as a freshman studying American literature, taking only a few roles, such as the 1985 Gothic romance The Bride opposite Sting. It wasn't a complete novelty. Jodie Foster was attending Yale at the same time. Nevertheless, it did seem a bit unusual for an actress to wait a few years before capitalizing on a star-making performance.
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But Beals has never had what could be considered a typical career arc. Her role as passionate young dancer Alex Owens earned her a place in cinematic history, but she says she tends to be asked more about the groundbreaking TV series The L Word and her recurring role as the elegant Twi'lek Garsa Fwip in the Disney+ Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett at fan conventions these days.
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Her event in Calgary may be called Dancing Queen: Spotlight on Jennifer Beals, but she never considered herself a dancer. In 2011, she famously turned down a chance to compete on Dancing With the Stars. 'I am not a dancer,' she emphatically told People Magazine at the time. Flashdance may have made her a 1980s dance-movie icon on the same level as Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing and Kevin Bacon in Footloose, but the footwork in the film was mostly done by a body double.
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In 2004, Beals signed on to play affluent Ivy League-educated art curator and biracial lesbian Bette Porter in The L Word, a show that followed the lives of lesbians and bisexual women in West Hollywood. She played the role for five years in the series and reprised Porter for the sequel, The L Word: Generation Q, which ran from 2019 to 2021.
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Toronto Star
16 hours ago
- Toronto Star
New crime novels feature a locked-room mystery, a Scarborough stabbing and a Jan. 6 insurrectionist
Fever Beach Carl Hiaasen Alfred A. Knopf, 384 pages, $39.99 It's a weird time in American politics, which means it's a perfect time for Florida novelist Carl Hiaasen to plumb the satirical depths of corruption and malfeasance in his home state. His last novel, 2020's 'Squeeze Me,' suffered from a subplot that attempted to satirize the once-and-current occupant of the White House, a Falstaffian spray-tanned figure so outrageous as to be almost impervious to satire. For 'Fever Beach,' Hiaasen wisely steers clear of POTUS and his inept administration, preferring instead to focus on wanton corruption at a lower level. 'Fever Beach,' by Carl Hiaasen, Alfred A. Knopf, $34.99. The new novel begins with a meet-cute on an airplane between Twilly Spree and Viva Morales. Twilly is a stock Hiaasen character: an independently wealthy Florida do-gooder who spends his time making life miserable for folks who litter, antagonize the local wildlife or otherwise cause environmental or social havoc. Viva's job is administering the foundation of a couple of rich right-wing octogenarians whose fundraising operates as a money-laundering front to finance the campaign of far-right (and profoundly stupid) congressman Clure Boyette, in hot water with his obstreperous father over a scandal involving an underage prostitute named Galaxy. Add in Viva's landlord — a Jan. 6 insurrectionist named Dale Figgo who heads the Strokers for Freedom (a white nationalist militia whose name is a rebuke to the Proud Boys' insistence on refraining from masturbation) — and his cohort, the violent and reckless Jonas Onus, and you have all the ingredients for a classic Hiaasen caper. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Big Bad Wool: A Sheep Detective Mystery Leonie Swann; translated by Amy Bojang Soho Crime, 384 pages, $38.95 Twenty years ago, German-born author Leonie Swann debuted one of the most delightful detective teams in genre history: a flock of sheep on the trail of the person responsible for killing their shepherd with a spade through the chest. After a two-decade absence, Miss Maple, Othello, Mopple the Whale, and the other woolly sleuths are back on the case, this time on behalf of their new herder, Rebecca, the daughter of the early book's victim. 'Big Bad Wool,' by Leonie Swann, Soho Crime, $38.95. Rebecca, her intrusive Mum, and the sheep are overwintering in the lee of a French chateau where there are rumours of a marauding Garou — a werewolf — that is responsible for mutilating deer in the nearby woods. Among other strange occurrences, Rebecca's red clothing is found torn to pieces and some sheep go missing — and soon enough there's a dead human for the flock, in the uncomfortable company of a group of local goats, to deal with. 'Big Bad Wool' is a charming romp, whose pleasure comes largely from the ironic distance between the sheep's understanding of the world and that of the people who surround them. ('The humans in the stories did plenty of ridiculous things. Spring cleaning, revenge and diets.') Their enthusiasm and excitement results in prose that is a bit too reliant on exclamation points, and some of the more heavy-handed puns (like the sheep's insistence on 'woolpower') seem forced, but this is nevertheless a fun variation on the traditional country cosy. Detective Aunty Uzma Jalaluddin HarperCollins, 336 pages, $25.99 Romance novelist Uzma Jalaluddin takes a turn into mystery with this new book about amateur sleuth Kausar Khan. A widow in her late 50s, Kausar returns to Toronto from North Bay to help her daughter, Sana, who has been accused of stabbing her landlord to death in her Scarborough mall boutique. The police — including Sana's old flame, Ilyas — are convinced Sana is the prime suspect, but Kausar is determined to prove her daughter innocent. 'Detective Aunty,' by Uzma Jalaluddin, HarperCollins, $25.99. Her investigation involves a couple of competing developers, both of whom want to purchase the land on which the mall stands, along with members of the dead man's family and fellow shopkeepers. On the domestic front, Kausar finds herself concerned with Sana's deteriorating marriage to her husband, Hamza, and her teenage granddaughter's sullenness and mysterious nighttime disappearances. Jalaluddin does a good job integrating the various elements of her plot, and the familial relationships are nicely calibrated. The momentum is impeded, however, by a preponderance of clichés ('Playing devil's advocate, Kausar asked …'; 'Kausar's blood ran cold') and a tendency to hold the reader's hand by defining every easily Googleable Urdu word or greeting too programmatically. More attention to the writing on the line level would have helped move this one along. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The Labyrinth House Murders Yukito Ayatsuji; translated by Ho-Ling Wong Pushkin Vertigo, 272 pages, $24.95 Yukito Ayatsuji's clever postmodern locked-room mystery was first published in Japanese in 2009; it appears for the first time in English translation, which is good news for genre fans. 'The Labyrinth House Murders,' by Yukito Ayatsuji, Pushkin Vertigo, $24.95. Ayatsuji's narrative is framed by Shimada, a mystery aficionado, who is presented with a novelization about murders that took place at the home of famed mystery writer Miyagaki Yotaro, found dead by his own hand soon after the manuscript opens. Miyagaki has left a bizarre challenge for the writers gathered at his Byzantine Labyrinth House: each must write a story featuring a murder, and the victim must be the writer him- or herself. The winning author, as adjudicated by a group of critics also convened at Labyrinth House, will inherit Miyagaki's sizable fortune. As the writers compete for the reward, bodies start falling in real life and Ayatsuji has a grand time playing metafictional games with his readers, challenging them to figure out who the culprit is in the context of a story that owes more than a small debt to Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None.' But Ayatsuji does Christie one better; it is only once the afterword, which closes the framed narrative, has unfolded that the reader fully understands how cleverly the author has conceived his multi-layered fictional trap.


CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
‘Lilo & Stitch' cruises to No. 1 again; John Wick spinoff ‘Ballerina' dances to 2nd place
Stitch arrives at the premiere of "Lilo and Stitch" on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) In the box office showdown between a deadly assassin and a chaotic CG alien, 'Lilo & Stitch' still had the edge. The Disney juggernaut celebrated a third weekend at the top of the charts, while the John Wick spinoff 'Ballerina' did not jeté as high as expected. According to studio estimates Sunday, 'From the World of John Wick: Ballerina' earned US$25 million from 3,409 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. Several weeks ago it was tracking to open in the $35 to $40 million range, but that was adjusted down several times. Ultimately, it still came in lower than forecasts. The movie, directed by Len Wiseman, makes a sideline character out of Keanu Reeves' John Wick and focuses on Ana de Armas. It takes place during the events of 'John Wick 3.' The box office performance is a bit perplexing result considering that 'Ballerina' got good critic reviews and audience exit polls. Conventional wisdom would say that word of mouth might have given it a boost over the weekend. But, recently, opening weekend isn't the end all that it used to be. 'Ballerina' could be in the game for the long haul. The Lionsgate release, a Thunder Road Films and 87Eleven Entertainment production, had a hefty production price tag reported to be in the $90 million range. But much of that cost has already been offset by foreign pre-sales. Internationally, it earned $26 million from 82 countries, bringing its global opening to $51 million. As the first spinoff, it's the second lowest opening of the five-film franchise – above only the first film which opened just over $14 million in 2014, which does not account for inflation. The franchise overall has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. First place once again went to 'Lilo & Stitch,' which added another $32.5 million in North America, bringing its domestic total to $335.8 and global tally to $772.6 million. In just 17 days, it's already made more domestically than the live-action 'The Little Mermaid' did in its entire run ($298 million). 'Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning' slid to third place with $15 million, bringing its worldwide total to $450.4 million. 'Karate Kid: Legends' earned $8.7 million to take fourth place. And 'Final Destination: Bloodlines' rounded out the top five with $6.5 million. The new Wes Anderson movie 'The Phoenician Scheme' expanded beyond New York and Los Angeles to 1,678 theaters nationwide. The Focus Features release starring Benicio del Toro made an estimated $6.3 million and landed in sixth place. Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press


Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
Box office: ‘Lilo and Stitch' cruises to No. 1 again; John Wick spinoff ‘Ballerina' dances to 2nd place
Published Jun 08, 2025 • Last updated 0 minutes ago • 2 minute read Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. In the box office showdown between a deadly assassin and a chaotic CG alien, 'Lilo & Stitch' still had the edge. The Disney juggernaut celebrated a third weekend at the top of the charts, while the John Wick spinoff 'Ballerina' did not jete as high as expected. According to studio estimates Sunday, 'From the World of John Wick: Ballerina' earned $25 million from 3,409 theatres in the U.S. and Canada. Several weeks ago it was tracking to open in the $35 to $40 million range, but that was adjusted down several times. Ultimately, it still came in lower than forecasts. The movie, directed by Len Wiseman, makes a sideline character out of Keanu Reeves' John Wick and focuses on Ana de Armas. It takes place during the events of 'John Wick 3.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The box office performance is a bit perplexing result considering that 'Ballerina' got good critic reviews and audience exit polls. Conventional wisdom would say that word of mouth might have given it a boost over the weekend. But, recently, opening weekend isn't the end all that it used to be. 'Ballerina' could be in the game for the long haul. The Lionsgate release, a Thunder Road Films and 87Eleven Entertainment production, had a hefty production price tag reported to be in the $90 million range. But much of that cost has already been offset by foreign pre-sales. Internationally, it earned $26 million from 82 countries, bringing its global opening to $51 million. As the first spinoff, it's the second lowest opening of the five-film franchise — above only the first film which opened just over $14 million in 2014, which does not account for inflation. The franchise overall has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. First place once again went to 'Lilo & Stitch,' which added another $32.5 million in North America, bringing its domestic total to $335.8 and global tally to $772.6 million. In just 17 days, it's already made more domestically than the live-action 'The Little Mermaid' did in its entire run ($298 million). 'Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning' slid to third place with $15 million, bringing its worldwide total to $450.4 million. 'Karate Kid: Legends' earned $8.7 million to take fourth place. And 'Final Destination: Bloodlines' rounded out the top five with $6.5 million. The new Wes Anderson movie 'The Phoenician Scheme' expanded beyond New York and Los Angeles to 1,678 theatres nationwide. The Focus Features release starring Benicio del Toro made an estimated $6.3 million and landed in sixth place. Read More Sports Canada Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Columnists