Latest news with #BloodKnot
The Advertiser
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Michael Douglas has 'no burning desire' to act again
Michael Douglas doesn't have a "burning desire" to act again. The 80-year-old actor was last seen on screen as Benjamin Franklin in 2024 Apple TV+ miniseries Franklin but has been focusing on working with his production company, Further Films, in the months since then and he is "enjoying" having more time to spend with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones. Douglas - who has Cameron, 46, from his first marriage to Diandra Douglas and Dylan, 24, and Carys, 22, with Catherine - told Deadline: "I'm enjoying my hiatus and enjoying my life. "It was overwhelming running the production company and acting at the same time." The Wall Street star isn't giving up acting entirely but he'd only get back on camera for the right project. Asked if he will act again, he said: "Yes. If something good comes up that I really like. But I don't feel a burning desire. "I'm still producing. I still love bringing people together." Douglas played Dr. Hank Pym in Marvel's Ant-Man movie series but he's admitted 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was his last outing in the role. Asked if he'd play the part again, he said: "I don't think so. I had the experience, and I was excited to do it. I'd never done a green screen picture before." Douglas has filmed Blood Knot alongside his son Cameron, but he isn't sure when fans will get to see it. He said: "I believe it's looking for distribution." Douglas previously admitted he begged for a "serious" death in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Speaking on The View, he said: "(Getting killed off) actually was my request for the third one. I said I'd like to have a serious (death), with all these great special effects. "There's got to be some fantastic way where I can shrink to an ant size and explode, whatever it is. I want to use all those effects." And while Douglas didn't get his wish, he admitted then he was unlikely to return as Hank - who also had a brief appearance in Avengers: Endgame - for another movie. He said: "But, that was on the last one. Now, I don't think I'm going to show up (for a fourth)." Michael Douglas doesn't have a "burning desire" to act again. The 80-year-old actor was last seen on screen as Benjamin Franklin in 2024 Apple TV+ miniseries Franklin but has been focusing on working with his production company, Further Films, in the months since then and he is "enjoying" having more time to spend with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones. Douglas - who has Cameron, 46, from his first marriage to Diandra Douglas and Dylan, 24, and Carys, 22, with Catherine - told Deadline: "I'm enjoying my hiatus and enjoying my life. "It was overwhelming running the production company and acting at the same time." The Wall Street star isn't giving up acting entirely but he'd only get back on camera for the right project. Asked if he will act again, he said: "Yes. If something good comes up that I really like. But I don't feel a burning desire. "I'm still producing. I still love bringing people together." Douglas played Dr. Hank Pym in Marvel's Ant-Man movie series but he's admitted 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was his last outing in the role. Asked if he'd play the part again, he said: "I don't think so. I had the experience, and I was excited to do it. I'd never done a green screen picture before." Douglas has filmed Blood Knot alongside his son Cameron, but he isn't sure when fans will get to see it. He said: "I believe it's looking for distribution." Douglas previously admitted he begged for a "serious" death in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Speaking on The View, he said: "(Getting killed off) actually was my request for the third one. I said I'd like to have a serious (death), with all these great special effects. "There's got to be some fantastic way where I can shrink to an ant size and explode, whatever it is. I want to use all those effects." And while Douglas didn't get his wish, he admitted then he was unlikely to return as Hank - who also had a brief appearance in Avengers: Endgame - for another movie. He said: "But, that was on the last one. Now, I don't think I'm going to show up (for a fourth)." Michael Douglas doesn't have a "burning desire" to act again. The 80-year-old actor was last seen on screen as Benjamin Franklin in 2024 Apple TV+ miniseries Franklin but has been focusing on working with his production company, Further Films, in the months since then and he is "enjoying" having more time to spend with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones. Douglas - who has Cameron, 46, from his first marriage to Diandra Douglas and Dylan, 24, and Carys, 22, with Catherine - told Deadline: "I'm enjoying my hiatus and enjoying my life. "It was overwhelming running the production company and acting at the same time." The Wall Street star isn't giving up acting entirely but he'd only get back on camera for the right project. Asked if he will act again, he said: "Yes. If something good comes up that I really like. But I don't feel a burning desire. "I'm still producing. I still love bringing people together." Douglas played Dr. Hank Pym in Marvel's Ant-Man movie series but he's admitted 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was his last outing in the role. Asked if he'd play the part again, he said: "I don't think so. I had the experience, and I was excited to do it. I'd never done a green screen picture before." Douglas has filmed Blood Knot alongside his son Cameron, but he isn't sure when fans will get to see it. He said: "I believe it's looking for distribution." Douglas previously admitted he begged for a "serious" death in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Speaking on The View, he said: "(Getting killed off) actually was my request for the third one. I said I'd like to have a serious (death), with all these great special effects. "There's got to be some fantastic way where I can shrink to an ant size and explode, whatever it is. I want to use all those effects." And while Douglas didn't get his wish, he admitted then he was unlikely to return as Hank - who also had a brief appearance in Avengers: Endgame - for another movie. He said: "But, that was on the last one. Now, I don't think I'm going to show up (for a fourth)." Michael Douglas doesn't have a "burning desire" to act again. The 80-year-old actor was last seen on screen as Benjamin Franklin in 2024 Apple TV+ miniseries Franklin but has been focusing on working with his production company, Further Films, in the months since then and he is "enjoying" having more time to spend with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones. Douglas - who has Cameron, 46, from his first marriage to Diandra Douglas and Dylan, 24, and Carys, 22, with Catherine - told Deadline: "I'm enjoying my hiatus and enjoying my life. "It was overwhelming running the production company and acting at the same time." The Wall Street star isn't giving up acting entirely but he'd only get back on camera for the right project. Asked if he will act again, he said: "Yes. If something good comes up that I really like. But I don't feel a burning desire. "I'm still producing. I still love bringing people together." Douglas played Dr. Hank Pym in Marvel's Ant-Man movie series but he's admitted 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was his last outing in the role. Asked if he'd play the part again, he said: "I don't think so. I had the experience, and I was excited to do it. I'd never done a green screen picture before." Douglas has filmed Blood Knot alongside his son Cameron, but he isn't sure when fans will get to see it. He said: "I believe it's looking for distribution." Douglas previously admitted he begged for a "serious" death in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Speaking on The View, he said: "(Getting killed off) actually was my request for the third one. I said I'd like to have a serious (death), with all these great special effects. "There's got to be some fantastic way where I can shrink to an ant size and explode, whatever it is. I want to use all those effects." And while Douglas didn't get his wish, he admitted then he was unlikely to return as Hank - who also had a brief appearance in Avengers: Endgame - for another movie. He said: "But, that was on the last one. Now, I don't think I'm going to show up (for a fourth)."
Washington Post
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
How Athol Fugard made political theater so riveting
Athol Fugard's work has the sharp, gleaming edge that culture can have when forged during political ordeals. But that's only one of the reasons we gravitate to the idiosyncratic plays of the great South African dramatist, who died Saturday at age 92. Riveting audiences around the world, Fugard explored tensions, tender bonds and explosive ruptures between people, often obliquely suggesting how the racially discriminatory apartheid system of the late 20th century roiled and distorted relationships. In works like his early play 'Blood Knot' (1961), about the tormented rapport between two half-brothers born with different skin tones, and ''Master Harold' … and the Boys' (1982), about a white teenager's painful exchange with two Black men in a tearoom, Fugard hinted at the way South Africa's political status quo flooded the whole of national life, exacerbating loneliness and misunderstanding and tinging even real human connections with desperation.
Boston Globe
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Athol Fugard was a model for politically engaged playwrights
For example, 'Blood Knot,' which was presented on Broadway in 1985, focuses on a pair of half-brothers who had the same Black mother but different white fathers. One of them, Morris, can pass for white, and the other, Zachariah, cannot. Advertisement When Morris moves to Zachariah's decrepit dwelling in the city's 'colored' section, and as Zachariah begins to explore the possibility of romance with a young white woman, the ugly power dynamic between white and Black — social, familial — asserts itself. In a 1990 essay in American Theatre magazine, Fugard wrote that in 'Blood Knot' he 'discovered what I wanted to talk about and how I wanted to talk about it." In the semi-autobiographical ' Sam has made Hally a kite and taught him to fly it, and also taught him ballroom dancing. But when Hally learns that his alcoholic, neglectful father is returning home after a lengthy hospital stay, his mood darkens. Finally, in a wrenching moment born of rage, shame, despair, and a deep-seated racism, Hally spits in Sam's face. An early champion of Fugard's work was Yale Repertory Theatre artistic director Lloyd Richards, who had won a Tony Award in 1960 for his direction of the Broadway premiere of Lorraine Hansberry's 'A Raisin in the Sun.' Richards had a keen eye for talent. There was another playwright whose work Richards ushered onto the Yale Rep stage in the 1980s: August Wilson. Advertisement Among other things, Fugard's career illustrated what is possible when dramatists are politically engaged. He set an example that could be a useful model for playwrights in our current moment, when Don Aucoin can be reached at
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Athol Fugard Dies: South African Playwright & ‘Tsotsi' Writer Was 92
Athol Fugard, the Blood Knot, Master Harold… and the Boys and Tsotsi writer who is widely regarded as South Africa's greatest ever playwright, has died. He was 92. According to AP, the South African government has confirmed Fugard's death and said South Africa 'has lost one of its greatest literary and theatrical icons, whose work shaped the cultural and social landscape of our nation.' A cause of death was not given. More from Deadline 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries George Lowe Dies: Space Ghost Voice Actor Was 67 Michelle Trachtenberg Cause Of Death To Remain Undetermined After Family Declines Autopsy 'We were cursed with apartheid but blessed with great artists who shone a light on its impact and helped to guide us out of it. We owe a huge debt to this late, wonderful man,' South African Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie said of Fugard, as reported by AP. South African movie producer Anant Singh called Fugard a 'national treasure.' 'Athol's passing leaves a huge void in the South African theatre landscape, but he leaves a rich legacy of thought-provoking works for generations to come,' he added. Born in 1932, Fugard is widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright, and he was called 'the greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world' by Time in 1985. He published more than 30 plays and many of them were political in nature, searingly opposed to the South African apartheid, which ended when Nelson Mandela became President in 1994. Six of Fugard's plays ended up on Broadway, including The Blood Knot and two productions of Master Harold… and the Boys. The former tells of how the relationship between two Black half-brothers deteriorates because one has lighter skin and can pass for white, while the semi-autobiographical latter depicts how institutionalized racism, bigotry or hatred can become absorbed by those who live under it. Fugard also wrote the novel Tsotsi about a young street thug who steals a car only to discover a baby in the back seat, which was made into a movie by Gavin Hood and won the 2006 Oscar for Best International Feature. His other works included The Road to Mecca, My Children! My Africa! and, most recently, Concerning the Life of Babyboy Kleintjies. He is survived by his wife, the playwright Paula Fourie, and three children. Best of Deadline 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
BBC News
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Athol Fugard: A great South African playwright
Athol Fugard, who has died aged 92, was widely acclaimed as one of South Africa's greatest son of an Afrikaner mother, he was best known for his politically charged plays challenging the racist system of apartheid. Paying tribute to Fugard, South Africa's Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie hailed him as "a fearless storyteller who laid bare the harsh realities of apartheid through his plays". "We were cursed with apartheid, but blessed with great artists who shone a light on its impact and helped to guide us out of it. We owe a huge debt to this late, wonderful man," McKenzie wrote more than 30 plays in a career that spanned 70 years, making his mark with The Blood Knot in 1961. It was the first play in South Africa with a black and white actor - Fugard himself - performing in a front of a multiracial audience, before the apartheid regime introduced laws prohibiting mixed casts and Blood Knot catapulted Fugard onto the international stage - with the play shown in the US, and adapted for British television. It led to the apartheid regime confiscating his passport, but it strengthened Fugard's resolve to keep breaking racial barriers and exposing the injustices of went on to work with the Serpent Players, a group of black actors, and performed in black townships, despite harassment from the apartheid regime's security forces. Fugard's celebrated plays included Boesman and Lena, which looked at the difficult circumstances of a mixed-race couple. Having premiered in 1969, it was made into a film in 2000 starring Danny Glover and Angela novel, Tsotsi, was made into a film, winning the 2006 Oscar for best foreign language movie. Other well-known plays by him include Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and The Island, which he co-wrote with the actors John Kani and Winston a simple tribute on X, Kani posted: "I am deeply saddened by the passing of my dear friend Athol Fugard. May his soul rest in eternal peace. Elder 🌹"Fugard won several awards for his work, and received a lifetime achievement honour at the prestigious Tony awards in 2011, while Time magazine described him in the 1980s as the greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world. "Apartheid defined me, that is true... But I am proud of the work that came out of it, that carries my name," Fugard told the AFP news agency in feared that the end of apartheid in 1994 could leave him with little to do, but he still found enough material to a BBC interview in 2010, he said that he shared the view of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu that "we have lost our way" as a nation. "I think the present society in South Africa needs the vigilance of writers, every bit as much as the old one did. "It is a responsibility that young writers, playwrights, must really wake up to and understand that responsibility is theirs, just as it was mine and a host of other writers in the earlier years."Additional reporting by the BBC's Elettra Neysmith. More BBC stories on South Africa: How royal divorce papers have shaken the Zulu kingdomIs it checkmate for South Africa after Trump threats?Even in his final seconds of life, first gay imam pushed boundaries Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
