Latest news with #PrimaryColors
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Billy Bob Thornton Shocks Kathy Bates by Revealing He Almost Starred in ‘Misery' and Their Surprise ‘Matlock' Connection
It's been quite a year for Kathy Bates and Billy Bob Thornton, who both lead hit shows. Bates stars in CBS' 'Matlock,' a reimagining of the '80s drama, playing a scheming attorney who hides her true identity from her colleagues to obtain justice for her daughter. Meanwhile, Thornton transforms into the chain-smoking, ruthless oil company executive Tommy Norris on Taylor Sheridan's 'Landman' on Paramount+. While on completely different paths as actors, they've known each other for three decades, first teaming up on Mike Nichols' 'Primary Colors,' where Bates tried to learn from the legendary director, and turned to him for advice. 'I said, 'What can you tell me about working with an actor?'' Bates recalls asking Nichols. 'And he said, 'Just love them.'' More from Variety Kristen Bell Texts Adam Scott When She's Angry About 'Severance' Cliffhangers and Delays: 'Why Is It Taking So F--ing Long' for New Episodes? Keri Russell and Scott Speedman on Nearly 30 Years of 'Felicity' and Friendship, From His Last-Minute Audition to Her Regrets: 'Why Didn't I Have More Fun?' Kate Hudson and Kathryn Hahn Relive Their Sweaty 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' Audition and Cry Over Taking Hollywood Risks: 'People Don't Have the Guts to Go For It' But as it turns out, the pair almost met before 'Primary Colors' — on the set of Bates' most famous, and Oscar-winning, movie. BILLY BOB THORNTON: There was a time I went in and read for Rob Reiner for 'Misery.' KATHY BATES: You did not. THORNTON: I swear to God. Originally, Richard Farnsworth, who played the sheriff, had a deputy. I saw Rob Reiner for it. And Rob said right in the room, 'You're the guy. We can send everybody else home.' I was very excited. And I got a call from Rob Reiner — not many directors would do this — he called me and he said, 'Listen, I've been looking at the script and been planning out what I'm going to do with this movie.' He said, 'You can come up here and shoot this for the money or the insurance or whatever you need, but I'm just telling you, it's not going to be in the movie.' BATES: Oh, wow. THORNTON: He said, 'I don't want you to come up here expecting that this is going to be in the movie. And I didn't want you to be disappointed.' He said, 'But I'll leave it up to you. Do you want to come shoot it anyway?' And I said, 'No.' I thought that was very cool of him. BATES: Yeah, very cool. Can we talk about 'Landman'? I have so many questions. THORNTON: I'm happy to answer. BATES: We had this cocktail thing; Sharon Stone and I hosted. I was asking you about how you played this part, and she interrupted. I was so fucking pissed off! Did you have any time to really get together [with the cast] and get to know each other, or did you just jump in? THORNTON: We had to kind of jump in. We had one cast dinner before we started. I don't know if this makes any sense or not, but they're all such specific personalities that the chemistry almost happened. Ali Larter [who plays Thornton's feisty ex-wife] bursts through the room wearing half a sarong and starts bossing me around. It just makes you go, 'What are you talking about, honey? Leave me alone. I'm trying to watch TV.' And Michelle Randolph's like a kitten. BATES: Oh my God. THORNTON: I've got a 20-year-old daughter in college, so that's why it's so easy for me to play that. At the same time, the stuff she says to me? Oh my God. We really did become a family, and I know people say that a lot, but it really is true in this case. The first television role I ever did was 'Matlock.' BATES: I didn't watch it. Everybody always asked me that — did I watch the show? THORNTON: And that was a conscious choice. BATES: Well, let's say it was a conscious choice. I watched a couple to see what I could get out of it, but our show is just so different. I feel like this part was written with me in mind. Jennie Snyder Urman created it. And I'm lucky because I heard, originally, they wanted to make [my character] Andy Griffith's great-great-granddaughter. So she'd be 30-something. But Jennie took a walk, and it came to her that she wanted to write something about older women and feeling invisible. When I first read the script, I thought, this is just episodic, and I'm not interested in doing that. And then I finally got to the end, and there's this twist. I said, 'Oh, yeah, I'm in. I'm in.' Because I really had one foot out the door. THORNTON: Really? BATES: I just felt that I was getting small roles in films that I loved that people were not seeing. I just began to ask myself, 'Is this what I want to keep doing? Do I want to sell the house and maybe move to France and call it a day?' And then I got this script. It just fit me like a glove. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Prominent pundit wonders if left wing 'nuttiness' has damaged Democratic Party beyond repair
Prominent mainstream media journalist and author Joe Klein savaged the Democratic Party, claiming that its recent Democratic National Committee meeting proves the party's "intellectual corrosion is comprehensive." In a new article for his "Sanity Clause" Substack series, Klein pointed out the various gender rules that the DNC rolled out during its meeting last week as proof that the party may be damaged beyond anything he's ever seen. "Yes, friends, still crazy after all these years…and the encroaching dementia is not benign. Can this party be saved? I have my doubts," Klein wrote after quoting multiple articles detailing the complex gender rules established at the meeting. Democrats Elect New Chair Who Branded Trump A 'Traitor' As Party Aims To Rebound From Disastrous 2024 Election He began with The Atlantic staff writer Jonathan Chait's account of the proceedings. In his article, headlined, The Democrats Show Why They Lost," Chait wrote that "outgoing chair, Jaime Harrison, attempted to explain a point about its rules concerning gender balance for its vice-chair race. 'The rules specify that when we have a gender-nonbinary candidate or officer, the nonbinary individual is counted as neither male nor female, and the remaining six officers must be gender balanced,' Harrison announced." As Chait's account said, Harrison "labored" over explaining the committee's efforts to provide inclusion to "male, female, and nonbinary candidates." Read On The Fox News App Klein followed up by quoting Wall Street Journal reporter Molly Ball's account."Later in the program, an audience member stood up to lament that there was only one at-large seat set aside for a transgender person, and called on the candidates to add another seat and for 'making sure those appointments reflect the gender and ethnic diversity of the transgender community.'" Klein is best well known for writing for Time magazine and as the author of "Primary Colors," which he authored anonymously back in 1996. After sharing these accounts, Klein remarked on how he saw the party as out of touch. "The intellectual corrosion is comprehensive; it is only matched by the self-righteous arrogance. But what's the alternative?" he said. "I've been through Dems in Disarray syndrome multiple times in the past: in 1972, in 1980, in 1988, in 2016…but, gotta say, this is the worst I've ever seen it." 'Important Opportunity': Dnc Chair Candidates Reveal How They Will Rebound After Disastrous 2024 Results Further on, the commentator bashed the Democratic Party's descent into its current state for enabling President Trump's rise to power. "The Democrats have twice now enabled a World-Historic Demagogue to be elected President of the United States. One wonders if Trump's reelection will stand with Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon," Klein stated, adding that former President Biden's policy alignment with Sen. Bernie Sanders', I-Ver., progressive wing of the party ahead of Biden's election brought in "left-nuttiness below the radar throughout the government." Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture "Every so often, the nuttiness would surface—as with the chaos at the Southern border—and Biden would do nothing about it," he wrote. Elsewhere in the column, Klein advocated for a major shakeup to the Democratic Party. He began citing The Free Press' Ruy Teixeira's points for fixing the party, which include, avoiding calling Trump a "fascist," moderating on the border issue, helping Trump with stuff he's "right" about, and embracing "energy abundance." Klein added his own two cents, stating, "The Democratic Party needs to be challenged—from the outside, by like-minded people, as it was in the early 1990s by the Democratic Leadership Conference." He noted that a similar revival needs to be driven by competent reform movement that is backed by "big-time financial support" as well as "big-time courage from Dem politicians." Still, he concluded by admitting such reform seems like a long shot, remarking, "But, yeah, I'm dreaming…."Original article source: Prominent pundit wonders if left wing 'nuttiness' has damaged Democratic Party beyond repair
Fox News
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Prominent pundit wonders if left wing 'nuttiness' has damaged Democratic Party beyond repair
Prominent mainstream media journalist and author Joe Klein savaged the Democratic Party, claiming that its recent Democratic National Committee meeting proves the party's "intellectual corrosion is comprehensive." In a new article for his "Sanity Clause" Substack series, Klein pointed out the various gender rules that the DNC rolled out during its meeting last week as proof that the party may be damaged beyond anything he's ever seen. "Yes, friends, still crazy after all these years…and the encroaching dementia is not benign. Can this party be saved? I have my doubts," Klein wrote after quoting multiple articles detailing the complex gender rules established at the meeting. He began with The Atlantic staff writer Jonathan Chait's account of the proceedings. In his article, headlined, The Democrats Show Why They Lost," Chait wrote that "outgoing chair, Jaime Harrison, attempted to explain a point about its rules concerning gender balance for its vice-chair race. 'The rules specify that when we have a gender-nonbinary candidate or officer, the nonbinary individual is counted as neither male nor female, and the remaining six officers must be gender balanced,' Harrison announced." As Chait's account said, Harrison "labored" over explaining the committee's efforts to provide inclusion to "male, female, and nonbinary candidates." Klein followed up by quoting Wall Street Journal reporter Molly Ball's account,"Later in the program, an audience member stood up to lament that there was only one at-large seat set aside for a transgender person, and called on the candidates to add another seat and for 'making sure those appointments reflect the gender and ethnic diversity of the transgender community.'" Klein is best well known for writing for Time magazine and as the author of "Primary Colors," which he wrote anonymously back in 1996. After sharing these accounts, Klein remarked on how he saw the party as out of touch. "The intellectual corrosion is comprehensive; it is only matched by the self-righteous arrogance. But what's the alternative?" he said. "I've been through Dems in Disarray syndrome multiple times in the past: in 1972, in 1980, in 1988, in 2016…but, gotta say, this is the worst I've ever seen it." Further on, the commentator bashed the Democratic Party's descent into its current state for enabling President Trump's rise to power. "The Democrats have twice now enabled a World-Historic Demagogue to be elected President of the United States. One wonders if Trump's reelection will stand with Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon," Klein stated, adding that former President Biden's policy alignment with Sen. Bernie Sanders', I-Ver., progressive wing of the party ahead of Biden's election brought in "left-nuttiness below the radar throughout the government." "Every so often, the nuttiness would surface—as with the chaos at the Southern border—and Biden would do nothing about it," he wrote. Elsewhere in the column, Klein advocated for a major shakeup to the Democratic Party. He began citing The Free Press' Ruy Teixeira's points for fixing the party, which include, avoiding calling Trump a "fascist," moderating on the border issue, helping Trump with stuff he's "right" about, and embracing "energy abundance." Klein added his own two cents, stating, "The Democratic Party needs to be challenged—from the outside, by like-minded people, as it was in the early 1990s by the Democratic Leadership Conference." He noted that a similar revival needs to be driven by competent reform movement that is backed by "big-time financial support" as well as "And big-time courage from Dem politicians." Still, he concluded by admitting such reform seems like a long shot, remarking, "But, yeah, I'm dreaming…."
