‘Blatant rip-off': Hit Aussie film slapped with copyright lawsuit in US
The stars and director of the Australian-made horror movie Together have been sued in the US for allegedly 'blatantly ripping-off' an independent 2023 film.
Filmmaker Michael Shanks, married stars Alison Brie (Community) and Dave Franco (21 Jump Street), their agency WME, and distributor Neon were served with a copyright infringement lawsuit on Tuesday (US time) over the film, which is set to open the Sydney Film Festival next month.
The suit claims the concept of Together was stolen from Better Half, a satirical romcom directed by US filmmaker Patrick Henry Phelan.
The suit, which was filed by Better Half 's production Company StudioFest, also accuses the Together team of copying other thematic elements, including a direct reference to Plato's Symposium, and other pivotal plot points.
'Both works end in the same way, with the couple pulling out a vinyl record of the Spice Girls album Spiceworld in the scene where they accept their fate,' the suit states.
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According to the lawsuit, Phelan wrote the screenplay for Better Half in 2019. The script was allegedly pitched to Franco, Brie and the agency that represents them both, WME, in August 2020, and the two actors were offered roles in the film.
However, Franco and his representatives reportedly rejected it.
'The script was shared in confidence and with the understanding that it would not be disclosed or used beyond the limits of the confidence without StudioFest's consent,' the suit claims.
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Courier-Mail
27 minutes ago
- Courier-Mail
Julia Savage talks 12-day filming schedule on new Aussie miniseries Mix Tape
Don't miss out on the headlines from TV. Followed categories will be added to My News. Aussie actress Julia Savage is just 18 years old, but already she has marked more than a decade in the industry. The teenager has a Best Actress AACTA nomination under her belt for her incredible performance in the 2022 psychological drama Blaze, and has starred opposite leading Australian actors Simon Baker and Guy Pearce. Savage will now appear alongside fellow AACTA nominee Teresa Palmer and British actor Jim Sturgess in the upcoming four-part Aussie miniseries Mix Tape, which premieres on BINGE on June 12. And even though she began acting at seven years old, starring on hits such as The Clearing and Mr Inbetween, the young star doesn't take any of it for granted and is always ready to give it her all. Julia Savage stars in the upcoming Binge Original Series Mix Tape. Picture: LisaThe 18-year-old has been in the acting industry since she was seven years old. Picture:'Every time I'm on a set and I'm lucky enough to be invited to come on, I'm so grateful,' she told from the Sydney set. 'I've been very lucky to grow up in an environment surrounded by adults who are validating me in my craft and following creative physics pursuits and my passions. But sets are my favourite place in the world. It's something I'm very lucky to be able to do at the level and with the people that I do.' In Mix Tape, Palmer and Sturgess play former 80s high-school sweethearts Alison and Daniel who are now living in Sydney and Sheffield, respectively, but reconnect in the modern world through songs from their shared past. Stream Mix Tape on BINGE from June 12, available on Hubbl. The cast of Mix Tape (from left to right) Ben Lawson, Julia Savage, Teresa Palmer, Jim Sturgess, Chika Ikogwe and Jacqueline McKenzie filmed for 12 days in Sydney and the Southern Highlands. Photo credit BINGE Savage plays Alison's daughter Stella, who triggers her memories about Daniel. And when a chance encounter brings the former flames together after 20 years, they are forced to confront their past. Savage and Palmer filmed intensely for 12 days in Sydney and the NSW Southern Highlands before production on the Lucy Gaffy-directed film moved to Dublin, Ireland. The filming schedule was intense, but Savage was ready to do the hard work on the miniseries, which is based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same name by Jane Sanderson. Filming of the flashback scenes then took place in Dublin with Rory Walton-Smith and Florence Hunt playing the younger versions of Palmer and Sturgess' characters. Photo: Binge 'It has been a whirlwind, but it's been amazing. I just take it one day at a time every day and do the best I can do,' Savage said. 'I think in an industry where the projects you create can't go forward without every single person giving their 100 per cent, it's so important to remember that this really is the most collaborative kind of art you can make and it's the most labour-intensive art you can make. 'I think remembering that and remembering that everyone here is doing a job and they're all here to make art and make something beautiful.' Sturgess and Palmer play high school sweethearts Daniel and Alison who reconnect through songs from their past. Picture: Binge Young Alison (Hunt) and Daniel (Walton-Smith) fall in love as teenagers before life takes them in different directions. Picture: Supplied Naturally, Palmer – a soon to be mum-of-five – took Savage under her wing on set and the young star can't sing her praises enough. 'Teresa is one of the most beautiful people inside and out. She's really a ray of sunshine. She always makes me laugh on set,' Savage said. 'In terms of having to play mother-daughter, it's always felt very easy with Theresa. It's never felt there was anything forced and there was always just this amazing sense of trust between us and I'm really grateful to have had that.' Savage puts on an incredible performance as Palmer's troubled daughter Stella in the miniseries. Picture: Binge Palmer's Alison is triggered by Stella's circumstances and grows nostalgic of her life with Daniel. Picture: Binge And it's not just Palmer who has given Savage some sage advice on set. The rising star says Simon Baker was a great father-figure three years ago when they filmed Blaze, where she played a young girl who, after witnessing a violent event summons an imaginary dragon to help her process her trauma. 'When I worked with him on Blaze, he was very nurturing as my father,' she said. 'I've learned a lot of amazing things from the actors I've worked with. They've given me lots of life lessons, especially to do with my craft. I really take with me things like pause, take your time and to not think about what's going on around me and just do what I'm here to do.' Savage and Simon Baker in the 2022 film Blaze, which earned her a Best Actress nomination at the AACTAs. Picture: Causeway films 'It's been very validating, especially in an industry where I'm usually the youngest person on set, to have older actors trusting me and trusting what I'm doing and helping me to do the work.' Despite her success at such a young age, Savage says she has faced her fair share of criticism. But she drowns out the noise by surrounding herself with the right people. 'I'm younger, so there's obviously a little bit of scepticism regarding whether I'm happy doing what I'm doing,' she said. 'I can attest to the fact that I definitely love this job, but it's definitely something that you learn to deal with. 'But everyone's been super supportive. It's amazing to have such a strong foundation of support, be it on crew, be it your family, be it your friends. It's a very valuable thing to have.' Mix Tape premieres Thursday, June 12 at 8:30pm on BINGE, available on Hubbl and watch On Demand on Foxtel Originally published as Rising star Julia Savage talks 'whirlwind' 12-day filming schedule on new Aussie miniseries Mix Tape
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
A game of deception and extraction: How influencers embody the logic of social media - ABC Religion & Ethics
If you want to know how something ends, consider how it begins. Social media, we were told, was about connection, a new frontier for community, dialogue and shared experience. But its origin story tells a different truth. These lofty ideals, if they ever existed, were championed by an anti-social Harvard drop-out who launched a site to rate women's appearances side-by-side. From its inception, this technology was less about connection and more about control, comparison and commodification. We were told that social media would connect us all. It was implied, therefore, that we were deficient in connection — that we needed a new media, a 'social' media, to bring us together. This media would strengthen communities, forge new ties among disparate peoples; they could find and bond with each other in our messy, lonely, world. If you want someone to buy something or use something, first tell them they are lacking. Social media told us what we lacked was each other . What we were given was a euphemism, an appeal to our longing for each other: used to build systems that monetise our attention, our trust and our behaviour. If there was ever any semblance of real connection on social media — if, for instance, in 2010, connection meant sharing images of your dinner or updating your status as Roman does in Easy A to 'is having an OK day and bought a coke zero at the gas station, raise the roof' — it no longer exists. In 2025, 'social' media is a marketing machine: if you're online, you're either marketing, being marketed to, or often, both . At the centre of this online circus is the influencer. Enter … the influencer These characters, the dramatis personae in this digital narrative, present themselves as relatable, authentic, just-like-you-but-a-bit-better, friends. But peel back the thick, thick layers of performance and what remains is simple: they are salespeople. Their job is to blur the line between personal expression and commercial transaction — to make persuasion look like friendship. Influencers are the foot soldiers of the algorithms that dictate the plot of these online theatrics. They execute the narrative demands of the platforms that created them — platforms built not for connection and truth, but for squeezing every morsel of attention out of the audience as possible. Out of you . Influencers form so-called 'parasocial' bonds with their followers. Parasocial bonds are one-sided relationships designed to feel 'authentic', intimate and personal, but which are in reality strategies of marketing co-dependency to convert intrinsic human need into profit. In this light, 'para' might as well stand for para- sitic , given the way this dynamic drains the audience of its most precious resource: time. These commercial actors, these merchants, surreptitiously deceive their followers by disguising their intent as care and guidance. Influencers convince their followers that they simply aim to help and serve — they just want to help you get your house in order. Whether it's supplements, diet tips, morning routines, Stoicism, lads' holidays to Afghanistan, self-help advice, every post is a sales pitch. The influencer's power lies in their ability to disguise commercial intent as information provision, to blur the line between personal expression and advertising. The result is a highly effective form of trickery: a follower believes they're receiving genuine guidance, when they are in fact being sold something — often underpinned by ulterior motives or undisclosed sponsorships. History isn't short on charlatans, quacks or snake oil salesmen. But today's influencer is more powerful and more pervasive. They speak over experts. They shape public opinion. And in many cases — vaccine hesitancy being just one example — they're winning. It's only 'content', after all … Influencers, many of whom shy away from the term (perhaps because of an awareness of its negative connotations), sometimes prefer to be referred to as 'content creators'. Creators of 'content'. It all seems rather innocuous. It's just content, after all. Content never hurt anyone, did it? Content is merely a benign, ethereal, substance, isn't it? In fact, what exactly is this content, anyway? What is this content that we are being force fed? Well, advertising, mostly. Advertising a lifestyle, a product, a belief system or an identity, a pursuit or hobby, a charity or a cause. A point of view or an ideology. We are advertised fake 'transformations', unhealthy diets, quack science on everything from the benefits of saunas and the importance of protein (has anyone else wondered why the cottage cheese is sold out at the moment?) to the unfounded dangers of vaccinating children — as if one of the greatest achievements in modern science is something to be suspicious of. Influencers are anything but friends. Nor are they neutral acquaintances. They're specialists in online manipulation and the attending offline effects. In fact, many influencers are so talented that they convince their followers that they are experts — and not only experts, but experts willing to convey their expertise pro bono and altruistically. And thanks to their more relatable appeal, influencers can compete, and win, against actual experts — thus spreading inaccurate information or worse. Influencer Brian 'Liver King' Johnson attends the UFC 276 event at T-Mobile Arena on 2 July 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC / Getty Images) The real-world ramifications of this can be disastrous — ranging from genocide to a rise in communicable diseases, to false or misleading 'bro science' about whichever 'wellness' fad is trending. And when it all goes wrong, an influencer unlike an expert, can throw up their hands and claim they're just a regular person, just giving their opinion — 'do your own research'. There's no real accountability, no check and balance on their power. There's no skin in the game. No concrete consequences for an influencer's negative actions. The result is a system where influence is high, but responsibility is low. These realities facilitate influencers having a fundamentally insincere relationship with their followers. Take Brian Johnson, otherwise known as 'Liver King', who convinced many of his followers his physique was built on an ancestral lifestyle, and not thousands of dollars' worth of performance enhancing drugs and supplements. He sold an ideal he didn't live by and profited from the deceit. He is but one extreme example in a broad-spectrum dishonesty part of a continuum where influencers blur the line between image and reality, often at the expense of those who trust them. Smoke and mirrors This seems to be what 'influencing' is: a game of deception and extraction. Perhaps (para) social media was always destined to become this. A host network for quackery and fakery. A mirror held up to us by a small, always on, aluminosilicate glass device — not to connect us, but to sell us back to ourselves. It began with comparison, with ranking humans against one another, turning people into objects to be judged on screen, and that cold logic never went away. Today, the same machinery, the unseen architecture dictating so much of these nefarious activities, drives influencers to package their lives as 'content' and compels audiences to 'consume' it in the hopes of filling a chasm that social media itself created. Cui bono ? Not the audience, drained of time, attention and trust. Not the public, misled by pseudo-experts with no accountability. The beneficiaries are those who profit from the illusion — platforms that sell our data, advertisers that sell us solutions to problems we didn't have, and influencers who sell themselves as friends. The only remedy is for users to be more discerning. To reject unsolicited advice masquerading as care. And to ask, seriously and soberly: Do these people really have your best interests at heart? Samuel Cornell is a PhD candidate in public health at the University of New South Wales. Prior to his academic studies and career, he briefly served in the Royal Navy.
The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Sarah Snook picks up Tony Award for Dorian Gray
Succession star Sarah Snook has won a Tony Award for best leading actress in a play for her tour-de-force performance of more than two dozen roles in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Snook made her Broadway debut in the production and the Tony is the second major accolade she has won for the show after picking up an Olivier Award in London in 2024. "This means so much for a little Australian girl to be here on Broadway," Snook said as she accepted the award at New York's Radio City Music Hall on Sunday (Monday AEST). "I don't feel alone any night that I do this show," Snook said, dismissing the idea of her play as a one-woman show. "There are so many people onstage making it work and behind the stage making it work." Snook came to international attention for playing Shiv Roy in the TV series Succession, for which she won an Emmy. The 37-year-old was considered the frontrunner to claim the Tony for her astonishing performance inhabiting 26 characters, but admitted on Sunday her surroundings were daunting. "This is an intimidating room full of incredibly talented people," she said. She paid tribute to the show's Australian writer and director Kip Williams, who was also nominated, and thanked her husband Dave Lawson. "An exceptional thank you to my husband, my soulmate," she said. "You are so brilliant holding the fort down and keeping our family together." The Sydney Theatre Company production was nominated for a total of six awards, with Marg Horwell winning best costume design of a play, following her Olivier Award. The big musical winner of the night was Maybe Happy Ending, a sweet and futuristic story that follows two obsolete helper robots as they navigate isolation, affection and what it means to be human. The show won three big awards including best musical. Darren Criss won his first Tony for best leading actor in a musical for his role as the innocent Oliver, and its director Michael Arden won the award for best director of a musical. The modern reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic Sunset Blvd also won big, taking awards for best revival of a musical and for Nicole Scherzinger, who stars as the faded movie star Norma Desmond, won best actress in a musical. The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Purpose won the best play award. Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, the play follows a family whose carefully constructed legacy unravels when their youngest son returns home with an unexpected guest, exposing buried secrets and faith-based conflict. Host Cynthia Erivo, the Wicked film star, opened the show with a walk to the stage from the dressing room that mimicked actor Tom Francis' viral post-intermission live outdoor Manhattan stroll as he sings the title song in Sunset Blvd. Cole Escola won the Tony for best lead actor in a play for his creation Oh, Mary! The show, Escola's reimagining of Mary Todd Lincoln's life and relationship with husband Abraham Lincoln, blends historical satire with absurd camp. The show also earned Sam Pinkleton the Tony for best director of a play. Francis Jue won best actor in a featured role in a play for Yellow Face. He thanked the Asian American actors who came before him and addressed the next generation: "This community sees you and I hope that encourages you to be brave, and to dream and to dream big." Kara Young, who was nominated for a Tony in the role of featured actress in a play four years in a row, won for the second year in a row for her role in the 2025 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Purpose. Natalie Venetia Belcon won the award for best featured actress in a musical for her role as Cuban singer Omara Portuondo in Buena Vista Social Club. Jak Malone won the award for best featured actor in a musical for Operation Mincemeat, a fast-paced World War Two spy farce based on a bizarre true British plot to trick the Nazis with a dead body. Best revival of a play went to Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day, a sharp comedy about well-meaning parents at a progressive school whose unity cracks open over a vaccine debate. Four-time Tony-winning actor and writer Harvey Fierstein received a special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in the theatres. "I dedicate this award to the people in the dark," he said. with AP and AAP Succession star Sarah Snook has won a Tony Award for best leading actress in a play for her tour-de-force performance of more than two dozen roles in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Snook made her Broadway debut in the production and the Tony is the second major accolade she has won for the show after picking up an Olivier Award in London in 2024. "This means so much for a little Australian girl to be here on Broadway," Snook said as she accepted the award at New York's Radio City Music Hall on Sunday (Monday AEST). "I don't feel alone any night that I do this show," Snook said, dismissing the idea of her play as a one-woman show. "There are so many people onstage making it work and behind the stage making it work." Snook came to international attention for playing Shiv Roy in the TV series Succession, for which she won an Emmy. The 37-year-old was considered the frontrunner to claim the Tony for her astonishing performance inhabiting 26 characters, but admitted on Sunday her surroundings were daunting. "This is an intimidating room full of incredibly talented people," she said. She paid tribute to the show's Australian writer and director Kip Williams, who was also nominated, and thanked her husband Dave Lawson. "An exceptional thank you to my husband, my soulmate," she said. "You are so brilliant holding the fort down and keeping our family together." The Sydney Theatre Company production was nominated for a total of six awards, with Marg Horwell winning best costume design of a play, following her Olivier Award. The big musical winner of the night was Maybe Happy Ending, a sweet and futuristic story that follows two obsolete helper robots as they navigate isolation, affection and what it means to be human. The show won three big awards including best musical. Darren Criss won his first Tony for best leading actor in a musical for his role as the innocent Oliver, and its director Michael Arden won the award for best director of a musical. The modern reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic Sunset Blvd also won big, taking awards for best revival of a musical and for Nicole Scherzinger, who stars as the faded movie star Norma Desmond, won best actress in a musical. The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Purpose won the best play award. Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, the play follows a family whose carefully constructed legacy unravels when their youngest son returns home with an unexpected guest, exposing buried secrets and faith-based conflict. Host Cynthia Erivo, the Wicked film star, opened the show with a walk to the stage from the dressing room that mimicked actor Tom Francis' viral post-intermission live outdoor Manhattan stroll as he sings the title song in Sunset Blvd. Cole Escola won the Tony for best lead actor in a play for his creation Oh, Mary! The show, Escola's reimagining of Mary Todd Lincoln's life and relationship with husband Abraham Lincoln, blends historical satire with absurd camp. The show also earned Sam Pinkleton the Tony for best director of a play. Francis Jue won best actor in a featured role in a play for Yellow Face. He thanked the Asian American actors who came before him and addressed the next generation: "This community sees you and I hope that encourages you to be brave, and to dream and to dream big." Kara Young, who was nominated for a Tony in the role of featured actress in a play four years in a row, won for the second year in a row for her role in the 2025 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Purpose. Natalie Venetia Belcon won the award for best featured actress in a musical for her role as Cuban singer Omara Portuondo in Buena Vista Social Club. Jak Malone won the award for best featured actor in a musical for Operation Mincemeat, a fast-paced World War Two spy farce based on a bizarre true British plot to trick the Nazis with a dead body. Best revival of a play went to Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day, a sharp comedy about well-meaning parents at a progressive school whose unity cracks open over a vaccine debate. Four-time Tony-winning actor and writer Harvey Fierstein received a special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in the theatres. "I dedicate this award to the people in the dark," he said. with AP and AAP Succession star Sarah Snook has won a Tony Award for best leading actress in a play for her tour-de-force performance of more than two dozen roles in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Snook made her Broadway debut in the production and the Tony is the second major accolade she has won for the show after picking up an Olivier Award in London in 2024. "This means so much for a little Australian girl to be here on Broadway," Snook said as she accepted the award at New York's Radio City Music Hall on Sunday (Monday AEST). "I don't feel alone any night that I do this show," Snook said, dismissing the idea of her play as a one-woman show. "There are so many people onstage making it work and behind the stage making it work." Snook came to international attention for playing Shiv Roy in the TV series Succession, for which she won an Emmy. The 37-year-old was considered the frontrunner to claim the Tony for her astonishing performance inhabiting 26 characters, but admitted on Sunday her surroundings were daunting. "This is an intimidating room full of incredibly talented people," she said. She paid tribute to the show's Australian writer and director Kip Williams, who was also nominated, and thanked her husband Dave Lawson. "An exceptional thank you to my husband, my soulmate," she said. "You are so brilliant holding the fort down and keeping our family together." The Sydney Theatre Company production was nominated for a total of six awards, with Marg Horwell winning best costume design of a play, following her Olivier Award. The big musical winner of the night was Maybe Happy Ending, a sweet and futuristic story that follows two obsolete helper robots as they navigate isolation, affection and what it means to be human. The show won three big awards including best musical. Darren Criss won his first Tony for best leading actor in a musical for his role as the innocent Oliver, and its director Michael Arden won the award for best director of a musical. The modern reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic Sunset Blvd also won big, taking awards for best revival of a musical and for Nicole Scherzinger, who stars as the faded movie star Norma Desmond, won best actress in a musical. The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Purpose won the best play award. Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, the play follows a family whose carefully constructed legacy unravels when their youngest son returns home with an unexpected guest, exposing buried secrets and faith-based conflict. Host Cynthia Erivo, the Wicked film star, opened the show with a walk to the stage from the dressing room that mimicked actor Tom Francis' viral post-intermission live outdoor Manhattan stroll as he sings the title song in Sunset Blvd. Cole Escola won the Tony for best lead actor in a play for his creation Oh, Mary! The show, Escola's reimagining of Mary Todd Lincoln's life and relationship with husband Abraham Lincoln, blends historical satire with absurd camp. The show also earned Sam Pinkleton the Tony for best director of a play. Francis Jue won best actor in a featured role in a play for Yellow Face. He thanked the Asian American actors who came before him and addressed the next generation: "This community sees you and I hope that encourages you to be brave, and to dream and to dream big." Kara Young, who was nominated for a Tony in the role of featured actress in a play four years in a row, won for the second year in a row for her role in the 2025 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Purpose. Natalie Venetia Belcon won the award for best featured actress in a musical for her role as Cuban singer Omara Portuondo in Buena Vista Social Club. Jak Malone won the award for best featured actor in a musical for Operation Mincemeat, a fast-paced World War Two spy farce based on a bizarre true British plot to trick the Nazis with a dead body. Best revival of a play went to Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day, a sharp comedy about well-meaning parents at a progressive school whose unity cracks open over a vaccine debate. Four-time Tony-winning actor and writer Harvey Fierstein received a special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in the theatres. "I dedicate this award to the people in the dark," he said. with AP and AAP Succession star Sarah Snook has won a Tony Award for best leading actress in a play for her tour-de-force performance of more than two dozen roles in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Snook made her Broadway debut in the production and the Tony is the second major accolade she has won for the show after picking up an Olivier Award in London in 2024. "This means so much for a little Australian girl to be here on Broadway," Snook said as she accepted the award at New York's Radio City Music Hall on Sunday (Monday AEST). "I don't feel alone any night that I do this show," Snook said, dismissing the idea of her play as a one-woman show. "There are so many people onstage making it work and behind the stage making it work." Snook came to international attention for playing Shiv Roy in the TV series Succession, for which she won an Emmy. The 37-year-old was considered the frontrunner to claim the Tony for her astonishing performance inhabiting 26 characters, but admitted on Sunday her surroundings were daunting. "This is an intimidating room full of incredibly talented people," she said. She paid tribute to the show's Australian writer and director Kip Williams, who was also nominated, and thanked her husband Dave Lawson. "An exceptional thank you to my husband, my soulmate," she said. "You are so brilliant holding the fort down and keeping our family together." The Sydney Theatre Company production was nominated for a total of six awards, with Marg Horwell winning best costume design of a play, following her Olivier Award. The big musical winner of the night was Maybe Happy Ending, a sweet and futuristic story that follows two obsolete helper robots as they navigate isolation, affection and what it means to be human. The show won three big awards including best musical. Darren Criss won his first Tony for best leading actor in a musical for his role as the innocent Oliver, and its director Michael Arden won the award for best director of a musical. The modern reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic Sunset Blvd also won big, taking awards for best revival of a musical and for Nicole Scherzinger, who stars as the faded movie star Norma Desmond, won best actress in a musical. The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Purpose won the best play award. Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, the play follows a family whose carefully constructed legacy unravels when their youngest son returns home with an unexpected guest, exposing buried secrets and faith-based conflict. Host Cynthia Erivo, the Wicked film star, opened the show with a walk to the stage from the dressing room that mimicked actor Tom Francis' viral post-intermission live outdoor Manhattan stroll as he sings the title song in Sunset Blvd. Cole Escola won the Tony for best lead actor in a play for his creation Oh, Mary! The show, Escola's reimagining of Mary Todd Lincoln's life and relationship with husband Abraham Lincoln, blends historical satire with absurd camp. The show also earned Sam Pinkleton the Tony for best director of a play. Francis Jue won best actor in a featured role in a play for Yellow Face. He thanked the Asian American actors who came before him and addressed the next generation: "This community sees you and I hope that encourages you to be brave, and to dream and to dream big." Kara Young, who was nominated for a Tony in the role of featured actress in a play four years in a row, won for the second year in a row for her role in the 2025 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Purpose. Natalie Venetia Belcon won the award for best featured actress in a musical for her role as Cuban singer Omara Portuondo in Buena Vista Social Club. Jak Malone won the award for best featured actor in a musical for Operation Mincemeat, a fast-paced World War Two spy farce based on a bizarre true British plot to trick the Nazis with a dead body. Best revival of a play went to Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day, a sharp comedy about well-meaning parents at a progressive school whose unity cracks open over a vaccine debate. Four-time Tony-winning actor and writer Harvey Fierstein received a special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in the theatres. "I dedicate this award to the people in the dark," he said. with AP and AAP
