Latest news with #InglouriousBasterds
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Scott Caan and Elizabeth Debicki join Once Upon A Time In Hollywood sequel
Scott Caan and Elizabeth Debicki have joined the cast of the new 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' movie. The pair will join Brad Pitt in David Fincher's follow-up to Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film, which starred Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it is unclear who Caan and Debicki will play in the upcoming movie. The story is said to feature two key female roles, 'one who runs a bar and mud wrestling establishment and one a trophy wife' but it has not been revealed if Debicki will play once of these or an entirely new part. It will be a reunion for Pitt and Caan, who previously worked together on the 'Ocean's' movie series. Brad, 61, will reprise his role as stuntman Cliff Booth, in the upcoming film, which Fincher will direct for Netflix from a Tarantino script. It's said that Tarantino retains the rights to the characters in 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood', while Sony - which financed and released the movie - retains the film itself, which is why the upcoming project is not seen as a sequel or prequel despite using the Booth character. It's unclear if Leonardo DiCaprio will return as Western TV star Rick Dalton. Tarantino won't be at the helm, which means the film won't count as his 10th and final film. The director had had been set to reunite with Pitt - who also appeared in 'Inglourious Basterds in 2009 - for third collaboration on 'The Movie Critic. According to Deadline, Tarantino has "simply changed his mind" after delaying production to rewrite the script. Now, he's expected to go back to the drawing board in a bid to find a firm idea for what will be his final film.
Times
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Sarah Vaughan: ‘I feared I'd push my baby into the path of traffic'
T he stairs of my Edwardian rented house are steep and the drop is sheer. The tiles at the bottom, hard and unforgiving. My ten-month-old son squirms in my arms and, as I sway at the top of them, I see myself dropping him, his tender head smashing on alternate steps as he bounces down. I'm sleep deprived, in chronic pain, and at that moment the descent seems impossible: even holding the banister, I can't force myself to take a step and, as I hesitate, the incline sharpens. But my inquisitive three-year-old is in the kitchen where there's a kettle and knives. Gingerly, I sit on my bottom, and with my baby clutched to me with my right hand, put my left on the banister, then twist so that he's safe against the stairwell while I manoeuvre backwards. As I've taught my eldest to come down the stairs safely, so I inch my way down, shaking as I do so — 10 steps, 11, 12, 13, 14 … Fast forward 16 years and I'm on a film set in Budapest, walking up a set of stairs down which the ethereally beautiful Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds, Troy) will imagine dropping a two-week-old baby. The exterior of this house overlooks Richmond Green, and all the other house interiors are in leafy parts of southwest London, but due to the demands of production, including the fact that the stairs are surrounded by scaffolding from which bright lights can be directed, the stairs, the bedrooms and the kitchen are being filmed here. Kruger, with whom I've just been chatting in her trailer, has already filmed a scene in which these stairs appear to tip and sway, and a second in which she unpeels her socks for fear of slipping, then, with the baby clutched to her chest, shuffles down on her bottom. That scene will open episode five of Little Disasters, a six-part TV series that dropped on Paramount+ last week. When I watch the edits, back in my study, months later, I begin to cry. It's perhaps not surprising, given that the show is based on my 2020 psychological thriller of the same name about the darkest reaches of motherhood. Kruger plays Jess, the seemingly perfect mother among a quartet of women who meet at an antenatal class and, despite having little in common but their due dates, remain friends for ten years. But perfection is an illusion, as every parent knows and every psychological thriller reveals, and here it rapidly starts to crumble when Jess turns up at A&E with a baby with a bang to the back of her head and a story that doesn't add up. When police and social services are called in, Jess's evasiveness intensifies along with her shame. Through Liz (Jo Joyner, The Wives, Shakespeare & Hathaway), the harried paediatrician and Jess's one-time friend, we come to understand that Jess's perfectionism and overprotectiveness mask an anxiety disorder triggered by the traumatic birth of her third baby, Betsey: perinatal obsessive compulsive disorder (or OCD). In what felt to me like an original set-up for a psychological thriller, Jess is so confounded by her vivid intrusive thoughts of deliberately harming Betsey, she effectively gaslights herself. When I started writing Little Disasters in 2017, perinatal (then maternal) OCD wasn't something I'd ever read about. Yet I knew it existed. Though I was never diagnosed, I experienced it mildly after having my second baby, when a perfect storm of circumstances — a difficult pregnancy in which I was unable to walk, chronic pain, giving up the job that had validated me, a move 50 miles away at 30 weeks pregnant, and my subsequent social isolation — meant I experienced intrusive thoughts about my baby son and tiny daughter being harmed. • Parental guilt: the topic mothers often want to talk to me about My disproportionate sense of risk had been heightened by my previous job as a news reporter on The Guardian, where I'd covered the abduction and murder of Sarah Payne, and subsequent trial of Roy Whiting, and the Soham murders. I knew all about little girls being snatched from country lanes as they raced out of sight — something my three-year-old loved to do on her scooter — because that had happened to five-year-old Sarah; I knew little girls disappeared in sleepy Cambridgeshire towns, because for 11 days I'd been based in Soham covering the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman; and I knew children disappeared from bedrooms while abroad on holiday, something that might happen if we left a window open, because, when my daughter was two and I was four months pregnant with her brother, Madeleine McCann vanished. The cast of Little Disasters OUGHCUT/PARAMOUNT GLOBAL. PHOTOGRAPHER: MATT TOWERS As with OCD in the wider population, perinatal OCD is characterised by recurrent unwelcome thoughts, images and ideas — but here they usually revolve around fear of harm to the baby. Dropping the baby is such a typical intrusive thought that a key psychiatric textbook takes this as its title, but Jess sees herself pushing Betsey's buggy into traffic, or smothering her, or a kettle boiling over, or knives spinning from a knife block and falling on her, or chemicals contaminating a bottle of breastmilk that she's pumped. Fear of germs is common and, as with regular OCD, rituals or compulsive behaviours become a means of managing these perceived dangers. As well as her idiosyncratic approach to going downstairs, Jess hides away the knives, toasters and kettle, spins the rings on her finger, and cleans rigorously — the last initially misinterpreted as a perfectionist desire for an immaculate home. • I had postpartum insomnia — here's how I cured it Such thoughts and behaviours can cause considerable distress, even though the mother may feel 'split' and understand this isn't happening in reality. 'These are very intrusive, ego-dystonic thoughts,' explains the consultant perinatal psychiatrist Dr Maddalena Miele, who points out that these are very different from the fleeting worries new parents habitually experience. 'They can be very graphic and very intense, and although you rationally know you're not doing this [unlike with psychosis, where women believe the thoughts are true] it is very anxiety provoking.' Thankfully we're becoming more aware of the condition. When I researched my thriller, only 1-2 per cent of mothers were understood to experience perinatal OCD (the same prevalence as OCD in the general population), compared with 10 per cent of mothers with postnatal depression. But better-trained health professionals and a wider understanding of maternal mental health has led to far greater recognition. We now know that perinatal OCD affects 2-9 per cent of women antenatally and 2-16 per cent postnatally, according to a raft of recent studies (the different figures are due to the different criteria applied, from clinical criteria to self-reporting). So what prompts it? There is no single cause, but a culmination of risk factors, says Miele, an honorary consultant psychiatrist at St Mary's Hospital, London. Being a perfectionist predisposes you, as does having OCD previously or, given that there's a genetic component, having family members who have suffered from OCD. A precipitating factor would be a sick baby, a complicated pregnancy, or a traumatic birth. A consultant obstetrician once told me that 'birth is the most dangerous day of a baby's life'. One in three first-time births require assisted delivery (ventouse or forceps) in the UK, and 23 per cent of all births here are by emergency caesarean section, and yet expectant mothers aren't necessarily clear about these risks and, in my case, have unrealistic expectations. Jess, who successfully has a home birth with a doula for her first baby, is unprepared for the trauma of her third delivery in which Betsey is stuck and she requires a blood transfusion after a massive post-partum haemorrhage. The sense of an extreme loss of control, and the perceived failure of her body, triggers her perinatal OCD. And then there are the perpetuating factors, such as social isolation. If you're a perfectionist, used to excelling in your career or at home, admitting to struggling when confronted with something that's supposed to be as natural as motherhood seems impossible. Those suffering tend to be highly skilled at appearing to cope. I knew I wasn't depressed, and I gave every impression of being a competent mother, taking my children to baby groups, cooking everything from scratch and striving to be a domestic goddess. I clearly didn't resemble Diane Kruger, whose character experiences perinatal OCD to a far more extreme degree than me, but I washed my hair and wore mascara every day. I was hardly going to tell a health visitor that I'd stood at the side of the road with my buggy, terrified to cross for fear of pushing it into an oncoming car. • Read more parenting advice, interviews, real-life stories and opinion If perfectionism predisposes mothers to perinatal OCD, then it also exacerbates the problem. 'The baby's not an iPad,' says Miele, who practises at the Portland Hospital. 'You have to let things go and accept imperfections; accept uncertainty. Very driven high-achievers want to fix things; to use the rational, cognitive part of the brain, but you need to allow the limbic system to take over. We come to motherhood with preconceived ideas, but we need a more fluid approach. 'People who are perfectionist have overcompensatory mechanisms. When things go wrong, they do more of the same. And although that coping strategy might work in a work environment — and make you desirable as an employee — it's very risky in motherhood. It prevents you taking a rest. Every bit of spare time you'll be using to try to clean the house or being productive. You get run down. Sometimes you need to leave the dirty cups in the sink!' The good news is that perinatal OCD can be treated. While some mild cases may resolve spontaneously, mild and moderate cases should be treated with evidence-based psychological intervention such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and practical measures such as delegating childcare. 'If you're running around with three young children and an absent partner, it's not easy to spend the time required to do CBT,' Miele says. In more severe cases, medication is required, ideally in addition to therapy. The most severe can lead to admission to mother and baby units, but this is rare. In my case, I had four CBT sessions on the NHS after a perceptive GP asked how I was doing. I see my experience as something discrete, that happened postnatally: I have never experienced OCD since. Swimming once a week, sleeping more, beginning to make friends, being honest with my partner, who was obviously aware I was highly anxious, and growing physically stronger all helped, as did writing — this time fiction. As someone used to gaining validation through newspaper bylines, I gained a sense of myself that was distinct from being a mother, again. A final thing that strongly contributed to my recovery was the knowledge that perinatal OCD is a form of vigilance and that, as Liz stresses in Little Disasters, there has never been an instance of a mother with perinatal OCD harming her baby — a line we were keen to include in the scripts. 'There's an evolutionary basis to these thoughts,' Miele says. 'As a mammal you have to be vigilant. Motherhood comes with a natural motivation of safety mechanisms. Having an overprotective thought means that we love the baby and want to protect it but sometimes that mechanism goes awry because of the illness of OCD. 'These thoughts aren't a measure of parental malevolence. They come from a place of love.' Little Disasters streams on Paramount + on May 22. The original thriller is published by Simon & Schuster Page 2
Wales Online
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Diane Kruger opens up on 'challenging' Little Disasters role and 'pressures' of motherhood
Diane Kruger opens up on 'challenging' Little Disasters role and 'pressures' of motherhood Little Disasters sees actress Diane Kruger take on the role of Jess, a mother who is struggling to cope after taking her baby girl to A&E Diane Kruger opened up on motherhood Little Disasters is an adaptation of Sarah Vaughan's novel, following the lives of four friends who bond over antenatal classes. The glamorous Jess, portrayed by Diane Kruger, appears to be navigating motherhood with ease, particularly when it comes to her baby girl, Betsey. However, her friend Liz, an A&E doctor played by Jo Joyner, is taken aback when she encounters Jess and Betsey at the emergency department, where the baby is being treated for an unexplained head injury. Liz is faced with a difficult decision, torn between her loyalty to her friend and her concerns about Jess's honesty regarding the incident. In a recent interview with Reach and other press, Diane Kruger discussed her connection to her character, revealing that she empathised with Jess's struggles. She explained: "I had empathy for all the characters, Jess in particular I felt the was so hard on herself. I could feel her anguish and embarrassment with having these thoughts in her head, trying to make it all work, trying to be this perfect mum." Diane Kruger in Little Disasters Try Paramount+ free for a week This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more £7.99 £0 Amazon/Paramount+ Get Paramount+ here Product Description Telly fans can get seven days of free access to binge tantalising TV like Tulsa King and Dexter: Original Sin by signing up for a free trial via Amazon Prime's Paramount+ channel. This also includes a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime, just remember to cancel at the end and you won't be charged As a mother herself, Diane drew parallels between her own experiences and Jess's, saying: "Being a mum myself of course, some of that I recognised in myself. I felt for her and I just thought she was a really good person struggling and too embarrassed to ask for help." Article continues below Diane shares her daughter Nova with her partner, actor Norman Reedus, and has previously spoken about how she didn't initially plan on having children, but began to reconsider her priorities in her mid-30s. During the Little Disasters press event, she expressed the formidable pressures of being a mother: "For mothers there's an immense want to do well, I think we want the best for our children. "Those pressures are the strongest that we feel and we have the tendency to judge others. "We are very convinced about the choices we make as mothers and how we want to raise our children, and I know that from my own life, no one can go through that time without the support of other women and friendship groups." Little Disasters airs on Paramount Plus Acknowledging the hardships in portraying intense emotions on screen, the Inglourious Basterds actress shared her experience: "It was difficult at first, I wasn't quite clear on how we were going to film that, how do you visualise intrusive thoughts?" Article continues below "I had to rely a lot on the camera doing that for me. It was challenging also because we didn't shoot the show episodically, so for me that was tough because we had to go back and forth, but it got easier over time." The compelling drama spans six episodes and features a cast including Bridgerton's Shelley Conn and Ireland's own Emily Taaffe. Little Disasters is available to watch on Paramount Plus
Daily Mirror
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
EastEnders' Tanya Branning star displays huge hair makeover 12 years after exit
She was once caught up in the EastEnders rollercoaster. Now, former Tanya Branning star Jo Joyner stars as Diane Kruger's best friend in a brand new thriller for Paramount +. Diane Kruger has ditched Hollywood to star in a new British TV series alongside EastEnders ' Jo Joyner – and the experience has left her exhausted. Jo, 47, was once known to BBC One viewers as Tanya Branning, one of Walford's most loving mum. But Tanya had a dark side, which made her wise to any of the tricks her daughter Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) pulled. During her first stint in Albert Square, Tanya suffered heartache, with her husband Max (Jake Wood) embarking on an affair with his son's partner, Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner). But it was her daughter Abi's death that pushed her to leave Walford altogether in 2018, ending her 12-year tenure. Now, Jo dives into more sinister waters for Paramount+ in Little Disasters - a psychological thriller starring Diane Kruger. The pair portray best friends torn apart by secrets and duty. In the show, Jo no longer sports Tanya's golden locks - she's traded them for a darker mane as Liz. Diane, who's best known for blockbusters like Inglourious Basterds and National Treasure , was shocked by the fast-paced filming on Little Disasters , which was shot across Budapest, France and London. 'It was an exhausting job,' she says of the six-part drama. 'I don't do that much TV so you forget how fast it is and how much work you have to do in a day. It feels like you're putting out a thousand fires just to get through the day. I found it very tiring.' Diane, 48, stars as Jess, a mother teetering on the edge as she struggles to manage her young children – one of whom may be on the autism spectrum – while her marriage to Ed (played by JJ Feild) unravels under the pressure. 'Jess has a lot on her plate with her son possibly being on the spectrum. It's a lot of work,' Diane explains. 'Her youngest isn't an easy baby, either. There's a strain on her and she doesn't want to admit she needs help. She feels ashamed for failing.' Jess is part of a seemingly tight-knit group of friends: Liz (played by Jo), Charlotte (Shelley Conn) and Mel (Emily Taaffe). United by first-time motherhood, their friendship is built on shared holidays, gossip and support. But that bond is tested when Jess' 11-month-old baby is rushed to hospital with a head injury. Soon, her parenting is being scrutinised, her anti-vax views are questioned and suspicions escalate – especially after Liz, a doctor, reports the incident to social services. Liz is caught between friendship and professional duty. Actress Jo, 47, says, 'When you become a mother, your friendships refine. Liz and Jess are polar opposites in their parenting, but they're close. I loved playing someone who isn't afraid to speak her mind.' But the role also struck a chord. 'Liz feels like she's never enough for everyone,' Jo says. 'I identified with that. A lot of women do.' Jo has her own group of mum friends and admits the show's central dilemma hit close to home. 'We're all mums,' she says. 'It would put a bomb among us if one of us had to report another.' Diane admits that stepping into a British-led show sometimes made her feel like an outsider, mirroring Jess' own isolation. 'I wasn't familiar with all these great actors,' she says. 'I felt a little bit like Jess, like the odd one out. But I really enjoyed working with Jo. We have most of our scenes together. She was so great and so supportive.' Shelley Conn plays Charlotte, a woman who appears to have it all but quietly grapples with self-worth. 'There's something missing in her life,' Shelley says. 'That's a tough thing for any woman to confront, especially mothers.' Meanwhile, Emily Taaffe's character Mel hides a darker reality. Her partner Rob (Stephen Campbell Moore) is controlling and unpredictable. Emily says, 'There's so much going on behind closed doors. I liked playing that.' Despite the intensity of the subject matter, the set wasn't short of light moments. 'We all got on really well,' says Shelley. 'We had so much in common.' Jo adds, 'It was a mix of good wine, nice meals and bed by 11pm.' However, Diane didn't always have the luxury of downtime. 'I have a six-year-old daughter,' she says. 'I can't bring Jess' intensity home.' Little Disasters delves into the emotional complexity of motherhood, including postnatal depression, which affects more than one in every 10 women in the UK, according to the NHS. Other studies, like one led by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, suggest that around 15–20% of women experience depression in the first year after birth. Jess' troubling behaviour is soon linked to the condition, something Diane found difficult but important to portray. 'It was the toughest part for me,' she says, 'but the more you talk about it, the more you realise how common it is.' Shelley agrees, adding, 'There's an illiteracy around these issues. We need to bring them into the open.' Diane reflects on another difficult side of motherhood, saying, 'The mum guilt is real. I wouldn't have survived without a community of other mothers. 'Motherhood can be extraordinary, but it brings out fears, too. We're judged by others, even by other women. But your harshest critic is always yourself.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Concentration Camp Drama ‘Each of Us,' Starring Diane Kruger, Boarded by Beta Cinema
Beta Cinema has secured the international sales rights for the concentration camp drama 'Each of Us,' starring Diane Kruger, whose credits include 'In the Fade,' for which she won best actress in Cannes, 'Inglourious Basterds,' and 'Amrum,' which premieres this week in Cannes. Other lead members of the cast include Carla Juri ('Blade Runner,' 'When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit,' 'Wetlands'), Aida Folch ('The Artist and the Model,' 'The Island,' 'Smoking Room') and Ninel Geiger ('Music,' 'Sound of Falling'). More from Variety Cannes Market Hot List: Will New Films From Seth Rogen, Pamela Anderson, Rachel Zegler and Jeremy Allen White Spark Bidding Wars? Indonesia's JAFF Market Sets Cannes Agenda With Film Slate, Global Partnerships '[REC]' Producer Filmax Brings to Market 'The Nest,' Drops Promo (EXCLUSIVE) The film tells a story of survival, resistance and sorority in the Ravensbrück women's concentration camp – the only one of its kind – during the final days of World War II. 'Each of Us' is directed by an all-female team of four European filmmakers: Anne Zohra Berrached ('24 Weeks'), Neus Ballús ('The Plague,' 'The Odd-Job Men'), Stina Werenfels ('Dora Or the Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents') and Anna Jadowska ('Woman on the Roof,' 'Wild Roses'). The film, inspired by true stories, is written by screenwriters Eva Pauné and Mirjam Ziegler. It follows the intertwined stories of four women from different countries who struggle to preserve their humanity amidst the brutal conditions of the camp. Their lives become linked through a young girl who brings both hardship to them but also hope. 'Each of Us' is lensed by Agnieszka Holland's favorite director of photography Jolanta Dylewska ('In Darkness,' 'Spoor,' 'Ayka') and edited by Pedro Almodovar's collaborator Teresa Font ('The Room Next Door,' 'Parallel Mothers'). The producers state: 'To allow for an authentic representation of our four protagonists' backgrounds, experiences, and identities, 'Each of Us' is filmed in a truly unique way: each director focused on a different protagonist, offering her individual attention from screenwriting to mise-en-scène. From the rushes, we can tell the result is an awe-inspiring experience — marked by emotional depth and a strong connection to the protagonists and their individual journeys, in which solidarity, the characters' quiet strength, and a sense of hope rise far above the harsh realities depicted.' The film is produced by Alhena Production (Spain), Bon Voyage Films (Germany), Turnus Film (Switzerland), and Blick Productions International (Poland), in co-production with Ramen Studio and EFD Group. The project was developed with the support of Media Creative Europe, and is also supported in Spain by ICAA, ICEC, TVE and TVC, in Germany by ARTE, SR, SWR, RBB, BR, MDM, MOIN and MBB, in Switzerland by BAK, Zurich Filmfund and RGB Stiftung, and in Poland by PISF and WFDIF. The film is in production and being shot in Poland, Germany and Spain. 'We are honored to represent 'Each of Us,' a film that brings together a remarkable team of female directors (two of whom we had the pleasure to work with before, Neus Ballús and Anne Zohra Berrached) and a compelling narrative that resonates universally,' said Thorsten Ritter, executive vice president of Beta Cinema. 'Its exploration of resilience and solidarity in the face of unimaginable adversity is both timely and timeless.' Beta Cinema's Cannes slate also includes Fatih Akin's new film 'Amrum,' screening in official selection, several English-language upcoming titles like the Bill Nighy-led road-movie '500 Miles,' and the market premieres of the Italian hit comedy 'U.S. Palmese' by directors Antonio and Marco Manetti, and the Spanish debut 'The Remnants of You' by Gala Gracia. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
