Sydney Sweeney's dream comes true in 'Echo Valley'
Sydney Sweeney's dream came true when she got to work with Oscar-winner Julianne Moore in the new Apple Original Films thriller "Echo Valley.'" But her "vicious" character has left Sweeney hoping she gets to work with Moore again and not be "so cruel." Sweeney says she let her character's heartless nature come through her "like a vessel." (June 4)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Billy Joel shares first message with fans since brain disorder diagnosis
Billy Joel is taking his recent brain disorder diagnosis in his stride, according to the director of Billy Joel: And So It Goes. The legendary singer-songwriter, 76, who last month announced he had been diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH), was notably absent from Wednesday's screening of the new documentary at Tribeca Film Festival. But that didn't stop him from relaying a message to the crowd through the movie's co-director, Susan Lacy. 'We know Billy wishes he were here tonight, and he asked us to convey that to you all. In fact, he said, 'Getting old sucks, but it's preferable to getting cremated,'' Lacy told the audience, per Deadline, assuring them that 'he will be back.' Tribeca Film Festival co-founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal additionally addressed the auditorium, with the latter saying: 'Billy wanted to be with us tonight, but as you may have heard, he's dealing with a health issue and had to postpone his performances, including this one tonight. We know you will join us in wishing him a speedy recovery.' 'He's our piano man, a wonderful, integral part of the heartbeat of our city,' De Niro added. 'Tonight, we get to see the man behind the music and behind the legend. You're in for a real treat.' Directed by Lacy and Jessica Levin, Billy Joel: And So It Goes charts the meteoric rise of the five-time Grammy-winner from his humble Long Island beginnings to international stardom. Pulling back the curtain on Joel's private world, it includes unreleased performances, intimate home movies, and never-before-seen behind-the-scenes moments. Billy Joel: And So It Goes will debut on HBO and be available to stream on Max in July. The documentary's world premiere comes weeks after Joel canceled all of his upcoming concerts and tour dates due to his NPH diagnosis. NPH is a condition caused by excess cerebrospinal fluid building up in the brain's ventricles, which leads to increased pressure that compresses brain tissue and can lead to neurological symptoms. The NHS describes it as an uncommon and poorly understood condition that typically affects people over the age of 60. Patients are often diagnosed after they see a doctor because they or a family member are concerned they might be developing dementia, as the symptoms – from memory loss, bladder control issues and trouble walking – can be similar. A statement shared to his official Instagram at the time read: 'This condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision, and balance. 'Under his doctor's instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period. Billy is thankful for the excellent care he is receiving and is fully committed to prioritizing his health,' it continued. 'He is grateful for the support from fans during this time and looks forward to the day when he can once again take the stage.'
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Leah Remini reveals where she and Jennifer Lopez stand after Ben Affleck caused friendship fallout
Leah Remini revealed where she and Jennifer Lopez stand after their fallout over Ben Affleck. The 'King of Queens' alum shared that she and the pop star started communicating again when they both filed for divorce from their respective spouses in August 2024. 'We'd text each other loving messages of support,' Remini told Us Weekly in an interview published Wednesday. The 'Kevin Can Wait' actress also insisted she was never feuding with Lopez, explaining, 'Sometimes you don't talk to people every day like you used to, but that doesn't mean the love is lost.' She added, 'Friendships ebb and flow. That doesn't mean we're at odds.' Remini, 54, filed for divorce from Angelo Pagán on Aug. 29, 2024, after 21 years of marriage. Remini, who shares a 20-year-old daughter, Sofia Bella, with Pagán, cited 'irreconcilable differences' in her filing. Lopez, meanwhile, pulled the plug on her union with Affleck on Aug. 20, 2024, after two years of marriage. The 'On the Floor' songstress, 55, waited to file the papers until the anniversary of their Georgia wedding ceremony — despite being separated from the Oscar-winning actor since April 2024. Rumors of Lopez and Remini's falling-out began swirling when the latter was notably absent from her BFF's 2022 wedding to the 'Gone Girl' star. At the time, TMZ reported that Remini was busy helping her daughter prepare for college. However, Page Six later learned that the former Scientologist skipped the ceremony because she didn't agree with Lopez's decision to wed Affleck. An insider told us that Remini warned the 'Let's Get Loud' singer to remember why she called off her first engagement to Affleck back in 2004. Per our source, Remini told Lopez that the actor was 'selfish' and 'not fully committed as a partner.' ' was so mad, she cut off all ties,' we were told. But we learned in May 2024 that the longtime friends had reconciled.
WIRED
an hour ago
- WIRED
'Ballerina' Deserves an Oscar Nod for Stunts—But It'll Never Get One
Jun 6, 2025 7:30 AM The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a new Oscar category for stunt performers earlier this year. Unfortunately, none of the performers in the latest John Wick movie will qualify. Still from Ballerina. Photograph: Larry D. Horricks/Lionsgate If anyone knows how to take a fall, it's Cara Marie Chooljian. As a stunt performer in everything from Everything Everywhere All at Once to this Friday's Ballerina , she's used to taking blows and getting back up. There's just one blow she wishes she didn't have to take, at least not right now—that she won't win an Oscar. To be clear, it's not that she can't win an Oscar or that she doesn't have the skill. It's that until April of this year there just wasn't a category for stunt performers. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a new trophy specifically for stunt design this spring, but no movie will be eligible for the award until 2027—long after Ballerina is out of theaters. 'Kill me,' Chooljian jokes when I ask about the Academy's announcement and the timing of her latest movie. 'I was like, why aren't we pushing it' back? Stunt work has been a part of filmmaking since there have been movies. In an industry where actors are literally worth millions of dollars, there's often someone on set willing to do the really dangerous stuff to save their skin. Many stars—Keanu Reeves, Tom Cruise, Chooljian's Ballerina counterpart Ana de Armas—participate in the stunt work, but for a lot of the big life-or-death action, there's a double. They're named in the credits, but because of the nature of their work, they're also invisible to much of the audience. Going back to the 1990s, stunt performers have been asking for Academy recognition only to be shut down. But when movies like Furious 7, John Wick , and Mad Max: Fury Road started hitting theaters, the stunts were so unbelievable it became more clear that stunt work was as essential to some movies as the script or director. There was no movie without the action. Still, the creators behind it never got the same Academy recognition as, say, visual effects artists or costume designers. As part of the John Wick franchise, Ballerina was tailor-made for the Oscars' new category. In it, Chooljian and de Armas have to fight in every possible scenario with every possible weapon—plates, flamethrowers, every kind of gun imaginable. There are shoot-outs in clubs and hand-to-hand combat. David Leitch, a former stunt performer who cocreated Wick and went on to direct action-heavy movies like Atomic Blonde and Deadpool , was at the forefront of the campaign to get the Academy to create an award for stunts. If Ballerina was coming out just a bit later, it'd be at the forefront of the pack. Not that it'd be a shoo-in. It's coming out mere weeks after Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning , in which Tom Cruise once again hangs off of some flying object that he definitely shouldn't be. But, if anything, the existence of two highly competitive films in the category would prove why it's long overdue. The quest to put stunt performers on the Oscar ballot has been a long one. As Leitch's Wick cocreator Chad Stahelski told Variety in April 'the [stunt] department has been around since the very inception of films' going back to the black-and-white days of Buster Keaton and has never been recognized. Veteran stunt performer Jack Gill has been calling for the Academy to recognize the profession since 1991, getting backing from filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, but it never stuck. 'Every year I think, this is going to be the year,' Gill told The Los Angeles Times in 2015, but the Academy would ultimately not make the move. There aren't enough stunt-filled movies released in a given year for a competitive field, some argued. Others doubted that stunts rose to the level of a movie-making art or science. When the Academy finally announced the creation of the stunt design category, performers like Leitch celebrated the end of a long fight. Fall Guy stunt designer 'Chris O'Hara and I have spent years working to bring this moment to life,' he said in a statement at the time, 'standing on the shoulders of the stunt professionals who've fought tirelessly for recognition over the decades.' For Chooljian the award also promises to highlight what stunt performers actually do. Often, it's not just a matter of putting on a wig and flirting with danger so a more highly paid actor doesn't have to. She notes that often she'll get a script that just says 'fight ensues' and it's her job and that of her colleagues to design and plan that fight. People in the industry don't want to talk about stunt doubles, she continues, 'because they're supposed to be hidden, and if they're not hidden we're not doing our job.' But hidden perhaps shouldn't mean unrecognized. For Ballerina , Chooljian and de Armas, who Choolijan says did quite a bit of her own stunts and 'smashed it,' had to fight off multiple assailants, wield guns, and use ice skates as weapons. Like the other Wick films before, every move seems almost impossible but far more realistic than any action sequence in a superhero movie. Without those scenes, there is no story. It's Oscar-worthy—even if it's technically not.
