Latest news with #SAG-AFTRAFoundation
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Handmaid's Tale's Ann Dowd, EPs on a Shaken Aunt Lydia as the Series Ends and Sequel The Testaments Begins: ‘She's Lost Her Way'
We've come a long way from the cattle prod. The most recent Handmaid's Tale episode found Aunt Lydia, the violent and staunch Gilead apologist played by Ann Dowd, sobbing on the floor as she beseeched God for help. What sent one of the series' scariest characters to her knees, you might wonder? A conversation with June that forced the older woman to come to terms with the reality of her role as a fixer for religious rape. (Read a full episode recap here.) More from TVLine Grey's Anatomy's Hot New Doc: Did Your First Impression Leave You Wanting Seconds? TVLine Asks: Would The Handmaid's Tale Weaponized Wedding Cake Have Worked on You? Say It Ain't So, Jo: Grey's Anatomy Wouldn't Really Make Link's Bride a Widow... Would It? The scene (which earned Dowd a Performer of the Week spot) was the season's most stark — though certainly not the first — reminder that Aunt Lydia has changed drastically over the course of the series. During a SAG-AFTRA Foundation panel I moderated earlier this year, Dowd offered some insight into her character's gradual change of heart. 'I think she's aging,' she said, noting that Lydia's day-to-day experience in Gilead and her relationship with the handmaids 'over time, it affects her. It changes her. It changes her health, her mental health, her physical health. It begins to show up.' Elisabeth Moss, series star/executive producer, chimed in. 'The vulnerability that I think Ann brings to this season, it's always been there, which is what has made Lydia so interesting and so complicated. But I do think… that there are not many actresses willing to go to the vulnerable, open place, the complicated place that she goes to this season, and I don't know of anyone else who could do it the way that she did it.' (Press PLAY on the video above to watch the complete conversation. The Aunt Lydia part starts around the 10:33 mark.) Hulu currently is in production on The Testaments, a Handmaid's sequel series based on Margaret Atwood's 2019 novel. The show will follow Lydia (played by Dowd, reprising her Handmaid's role), as well as two young women (played by Presumed Innocent's Chase Infiniti and newcomer Lucy Halliday) with complicated, intertwining stories. The Testaments: Everything We Know About The Handmaid's Tale Sequel Series View List 'A lot of the stuff that happens in Season 6 [of Handmaid's] is lighting a fuse for Lydia in The Testaments, who eventually comes to the idea that maybe the whole Gilead experiment needs to be washed out of the sheets,' says Bruce Miller, an executive producer on both series. As such, he adds, the events of Episode 6 are part of 'the radicalization of Lydia — but I don't think June's telling her anything she doesn't already know.' EP Warren Littlefield notes that 'Lydia has absolutely lost her way. We've [previously] seen her learn that Gilead is an imperfect place, but she's never rejected it.' He points out that Lydia's finding Janine working at Jezebel's earlier in the season was 'an awakening, for her, of how truly flawed it is.' He ends with a tease about the series' ending. 'The Lydia we're left with says things that we never would have heard from — you'll see in the final two episodes — words that Lydia never would have spoken. That's incredibly powerful, and it's part of how we end our journey.' streams new episodes Tuesdays on Hulu. The series finale is set for Tuesday, May 27. Best of TVLine Young Sheldon Easter Eggs: Every Nod to The Big Bang Theory (and Every Future Reveal) Across 7 Seasons Weirdest TV Crossovers: Always Sunny Meets Abbott, Family Guy vs. Simpsons, Nine-Nine Recruits New Girl and More ER Turns 30: See the Original County General Crew, Then and Now
USA Today
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Lar Park Lincoln, known for 'Knots Landing' and 'Friday the 13th,' dies at 63
Lar Park Lincoln, known for 'Knots Landing' and 'Friday the 13th,' dies at 63 Actor Lar Park Lincoln, best known for her roles in the "Friday the 13th" horror franchise and the soap opera "Knots Landing" has died at the age of 63. The Dallas-based audition coach and entrepreneur died April 22 after a 45-year career in Hollywood performing and mentoring other actors, Lincoln's company Actors Audition Studios confirmed on Facebook. The TV star's death came after having previously battled breast cancer, according to The Hollywood Reporter, though a cause of death was not confirmed. Her late husband of 14 years, Michael, died in late 2015 after battling cancer, the outlet reported. Her brothers Jack Jr. and Pat also died before her, as well as her parents Jack and Marjorie Dale, Actors Audition Studios said. A mother of two, Lincoln is survived by her daughter Piper and her son Trevor as well her sister Karen, brother Michael, four grandchildren and countless others. The family is requesting privacy and is referring all donations be made to either the SAG-AFTRA Foundation or The Entertainment Community Fund. Lincoln best known for role as Linda Fairgate Throughout her illustrious in Hollywood, Lincoln performed in various film and television projects. However, she is arguably most recognized for her reoccurring role as Karen Fairgate in "Knots Landing." The soap opera aired between 1979 and 1993 and starred Michelle Phillips, Michele Lee, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, Ted Shackelford, Kevin Dobson and more. She is also widely recognized for portraying telekinetic Tina Shepard in 1988's "Friday the 13th: The New Blood." In 2008, she published a memoir titled "Get Started Not Scammed," where she shared insight across the acting, modeling and pageant industries. More than a decade later she founded Actors Audition Studios in Dallas, where she offered a unique audition and on-camera training program venturing away from traditional coaching methods, according its website.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Richard Kind on Reuniting With the 'Only Murders in the Building' Cast
Richard Kind talks about reuniting with the 'Only Murders in the Building' cast at the SAG Awards. Plus, he talks about why it is important to him to show support to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Behind the scenes with the best supporting actor nominees for the 2025 Oscars
Watch scenes from the performances nominated in the category of best supporting actor at the 97th annual Academy Awards, as well as interviews with the nominees below. The 2025 Oscars will be presented on Sunday, March 2. Yura Borisov, "Anora" "Anora," the Palme d'Or winner at last year's Cannes Film Festival, is a sly and at times uproarious comic-drama of Anora, a Brooklyn sex worker, who enters into a Cinderella romance and marriage with the flighty son of Russian oligarchs. But Russian oligarchs are not to be taken lightly, nor the strongmen that are tasked with righting a perceived wrong. However, writer-director Sean Baker is not interested in familiar, stereotypical mob muscle. When two guys who are used to wielding fists or baseball bats to make a point are confronted with the determined Anora (best actress nominee Mikey Madison) who refuses to be a damsel in distress, one in particular – Igor (played by best supporting actor nominee Yura Borisov) – finds himself torn by his allegiance to his bosses, and by his fascination with Anora's moxie. Throughout most of the film, Borisov's performance is not dependent upon dialogue; he's an observer, an instrument of others, and a guardian. In this scene, Igor and Anora seem to recognize that – for all that has happened between them – there is nonetheless a connection that transcends their circumstances. Non-spoiler alert: I will not give away the actions preceding and following this clip, but they are at the heart of the film's tremendous emotional impact: In an interview for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Borisov was asked to describe his character's transition, from being a threat to Anora, to becoming a vulnerable, empathetic confidant, feeling things about her he didn't expect. [Indeed, Igor shows more compassion to Anora than anyone else in the movie.] "I don't know how to answer, 'cause if I could explain it by words, I better to be a writer than an actor," he said. "That's why I tried to explain by [actions]. It's thanks to Sean, his editing, because he used some right moments, and that's why you could feel what [Igor] feels. … And thanks to Mikey, she just going forward to her goal, I'm just going behind her and trying to help and protect. That's it." Borisov told the Associated Press that the theme of the film was about making connections: "Connection between people, between mentalities and nationalities and cultures. Especially today, because I think that it's possible, this connection, between everybody of us. Of course, it's not easy. I know, and everybody knows, but it's possible. And during this shoot I feel this – that we are different but at the same time we're absolutely similar. And I feel that humans, in the most important things, are similar and I feel everybody of us like children and souls, you know. For me, it's about connection between souls, and it's possible." Born in Moscow, Borisov's credits include "The Bull," "Kalashnikov," "Compartment No. 6," and the Netflix film "Silver Skates." For his performance in "Anora" he received Golden Globe, BAFTA and two Screen Actors Guild nominations. He tied with Kieran Culkin ("A Real Pain") for best supporting performance from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. He was in a car with his wife and two daughters when he heard the Oscar nominations being announced. "My [category] was first, and my name was first. And after that, she starts screaming and crying. And after that, I lose everything. … It's a very emotional moment, I can say, for everybody." "Anora," a Neon release, is now playing in theaters and is available via VOD. See also: Sean Baker's "Anora" wins Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's top honor Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain" Kieran Culkin won an Emmy Award for "Succession," playing the snarky son of a tycoon whose media empire is seemingly up for grabs among his duplicitous offspring. In the movie "A Real Pain," Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg (who wrote and directed) play cousins on a trip to Poland to see where their late beloved grandmother was raised – and take a Holocaust heritage tour. Culkin's character, Benji, is a charming but rudderless man-child. Asked why he connected with the role, Culkin told "Sunday Morning," "I don't really know what it was with me, but … I instantly knew who this guy was. I understood the dynamic, and I really wanted to play." Speaking of Benji, Culkin has described himself as being "one quick little misstep away from being that person." That person is someone who – in his cousin's view – says the wrong thing, acts inappropriately, and raises the discomfort level in social situations. In this scene, Benji reacts to the absurdity of riding a train in comfort compared to the situation facing Jews on trains in 1940s Poland: "I feel like I easily could've gone down that path," Culkin said of Benji. "There was something in that that I recognized as myself, but I'm not that guy at all. But I think I'm worried that I easily could've become that guy, [had I not] married, kids, or figured out how to, you know, get my s*** together." Jesse Eisenberg, the writer-director of "A Real Pain," told "Sunday Morning" he hadn't seen Culkin's work on-screen (he avoided watching "Succession," he said, because he was afraid of how great it might be). But he had auditioned with him for 2009's "Adventureland." "He came into this audition room and started, like, beating me up like in the script and making fun of me… and being so brilliantly funny, and then walked out of the room, and we were like, 'That was brilliant and aggressive, fascinating and so brazen.' And so, when I was thinking about who would work well with me in this movie playing a character who comes on that trip that I plan and who kind of beats me up but also charms the group at my expense, I was thinking, Oh yeah, that's the relationship I had briefly with this brilliant actor … That seemed to me just so perfect. "And then, Kieran showed up on set and within two seconds it just felt like we had been doing this for years." Culkin, an Emmy Award-winner for "Succession," won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and the Screen Actors Guild awards for "A Real Pain." This is his first Academy Award nomination. "A Real Pain" is streaming on Hulu and Disney+, and is available via VOD. See also: Jesse Eisenberg on the bitter and sweet of "A Real Pain" ("Sunday Morning")Sundance 2024 highlights: "A Real Pain" Edward Norton, "A Complete Unknown" Edward Norton has previously been nominated for three Oscars – for playing a homicide defendant in "Primal Fear," a neo-Nazi in "American History X," and a Method actor in "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)." For "A Complete Unknown," a biography of Bob Dylan, Norton portrays legendary folk singer Pete Seeger, who became a mentor of Dylan's. In this early scene, Seeger, having been found guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to name names in a political witch hunt, responds to the developments with a patriotic song: Norton told "CBS Sunday Morning" that playing a music legend like Seeger was both sublime, and terrifying. "I think every actor, some part of 'em wants to be a rock star, you know?" he said. "I think every actor holds the dream in some sense. I mean, I almost started crying at the idea of it, because, well, I was nervous about it. I was nervous about the whole enterprise. Because I thought the idea of a biopic about Dylan – if you just said it that way, I was, like, Oooh, like, I'm not sure. 'Cause to me, it has a mythical kind of place in me, and I thought, this could be really, really a bad idea." Just one of the challenges: Seeger was an accomplished banjo player, so Norton had to become one as well. "Yeah, I made the joke that I googled, you know, 'Is there an AI that can replace my hands with Steve Martin's?'" Norton laughed. "Or, you know, that thing where you put your arms behind your back and Steve Martin puts his hands under my armpits and does the playing for me? Which I'm not saying is not what happened, you know? It might have. Who knows?" In the finished film, his playing looks and sounds authentic, because it is: He said the film offered him a chance to channel greatness: "If channeling their frequency gets people refocused on what it looked like when people were using the talents they had to further ideas and values that were bigger than themselves, then that is what makes it worth doing. Can we get people to re-engage with and be moved by and inspired by the idea of artists as agents of change?" Watch an extended interview with Edward Norton: In addition to his Oscar nod, Norton was nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Nominated for 8 Academy Awards (including best picture and best director), "A Complete Unknown," released by Searchlight Pictures, is playing in theaters and is available via VOD. Guy Pearce, "The Brutalist" In "The Brutalist," architect László Tóth (best actor nominee Adrien Brody) emigrates from post-war Europe to the United States, where he hopes to revive his career. He gets his chance with a job that tantalizes industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (best supporting actor nominee Guy Pearce). In this scene, Van Buren announces to Tóth that he has decided he wants the architect, an apostle of the Brutalist style of architecture, to design a grand edifice in honor of his mother – a community center in the hinterlands of Pennsylvania. But Van Buren also hints that he doesn't expect Tóth, or anyone, to deny him his wishes, as Van Buren begins to take ownership over Tóth: At the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Pearce spoke of the dynamic between his character and that of Brody's: "The interesting kind of position that Van Buren takes, or tries to take, in life generally is that he is the top dog, that he is the one in control, that he is the one who has the power, that he is the one who decides. And I think a lot of that does come from insecurity, from feeling powerless, from feeling like he's not in control. And he's worked his way to seemingly a position in life where he has the dominance. And yet, László comes into his life, who he's intuitive enough and has enough taste to recognize not only his skill but also his artistry, etc. But the thing he really detects in László is, I believe, sort of an underlying sense of self-confidence, an ability to see the truth of the world, where my character is ... whatever truth he's feeling within himself, he's masking, hiding, being presentational, etc. "And so, I think the yearning for a man like this, to be a man like this, to perhaps possess a man like this is quite the mirror and quite the turmoil for Van Buren," Pearce said. Pearce described the dualism of his character in "The Brutalist" to the Associated Press: "I'm really aware of how precarious we are as human beings … Good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things. Moment to moment, we're trying to just get through the day. We're trying to be good. And we can do good things for ourselves and other people, but pretty easily we can be tipped off course." "There's a performative element to Van Buren," he said. "He exhausts himself because he's trying to dominate, to be the one in charge, be Mr. Charming. I don't think he can ever enter a room without being self-conscious. That's an exhausting way to be, I reckon." Born in England, Pearce moved to Australia and at age 20 starred in the popular soap opera "Neighbours." He shot to international fame starring in "L.A. Confidential" and Christopher Nolan's "Memento." And while he appeared in the best picture winners "The King's Speech" and "The Hurt Locker," and the "Alien" franchise, much of his resume has been in smaller films, such as "Animal Kingdom," "The Rover," and "Factory Girl" (playing Andy Warhol). He won an Emmy for the HBO mini-series "Mildred Pierce." This is Pearce's first Academy Award nomination. His "Brutalist" performance also received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. "The Brutalist," released by A24, is playing in select theaters in 70mm, and is available via VOD. See also: Adrien Brody on "The Brutalist" ("Sunday Morning") Jeremy Strong, "The Apprentice" "Attack, attack, attack. Deny, deny, deny. Never admit defeat." That is the lesson imparted on a young Donald Trump by his mentor, the notorious lawyer/fixer Roy Cohn, in "The Apprentice." Cohn (who'd served as Joe McCarthy's chief counsel during the 1950s McCarthy hearings) was a New York powerbroker who represented such figures as Cardinal Spellman, George Steinbrenner, and the Genovese crime family. Set in 1970s and '80s New York City, the film (written by journalist Gabriel Sherman and directed by Ali Abbasi) traces the origins of the real estate tycoon and future reality TV star/U.S. president through his relationship with Cohn, who, it could be said, helped make Trump what he is today. In this scene, Cohn (best supporting actor nominee Jeremy Strong) shares with Trump (best actor nominee Sebastian Stan) a cynical lesson about how to get ahead without letting such a thing as the rule of law get in the way: After it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, "The Apprentice" was attacked by the Trump campaign, which threatened to sue. They didn't, but potential distributors were cowed, until Briarcliff Entertainment released the film shortly before the election. In October, Strong told "CBS Mornings," "I think we knew that we're playing with fire making a film like this, coming out in the context that it's coming out in. But the role of cinema and art in general is to hold a mirror up to nature and to show us ourselves. So, I don't think we were afraid of doing it. It feels necessary. I also think, I personally think, it's like essential viewing for everyone. "I think the intention of the film is to hold a mirror up to this person's life, this relationship, and to show us, in a way, how Donald Trump was made, how he became the person that we know today, what his ideological and philosophical framework is and where it came from," Strong said. "And I think we in this country tend to have a kind of historical amnesia, and there's that famous thing that I'll probably botch but that Churchill said in 1948, that those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it. "So, I think that this movie is both an opportunity to learn about the past, but learn from the past in this really historically unprecedented election." This is the first Academy Award nomination for Strong, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of Kendall Roy in the HBO series "Succession." He received Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA nominations for his "Apprentice" performance as well. "The Apprentice," nominated for two Oscars, is available via VOD. See also: Has Hollywood abandoned the political movie? More on the 2025 Oscars: Behind the scenes with the best actor nomineesBehind the scenes with the best actress nomineesSee the full list of Oscar nominationsThe biggest Oscar nomination snubs of 2025 Sneak peek: The People v. Kouri Richins California neighborhood is slowly sliding toward the ocean Pope showing encouraging signs, Vatican says, unlike news over the weekend
CBS News
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Behind the scenes with the best supporting actor Oscar nominees at the 2025 Academy Awards
Watch scenes from the performances nominated in the category of best supporting actor at the 97th annual Academy Awards, as well as interviews with the nominees below. The 2025 Oscars will be presented on Sunday, March 2. See also: Yura Borisov, "Anora" "Anora," the Palme d'Or winner at last year's Cannes Film Festival, is a sly and at times uproarious comic-drama of Anora, a Brooklyn sex worker, who enters into a Cinderella romance and marriage with the flighty son of Russian oligarchs. But Russian oligarchs are not to be taken lightly, nor the strongmen that are tasked with righting a perceived wrong. However, writer-director Sean Baker is not interested in familiar, stereotypical mob muscle. When two guys who are used to wielding fists or baseball bats to make a point are confronted with the determined Anora (best actress nominee Mikey Madison) who refuses to be a damsel in distress, one in particular – Igor (played by best supporting actor nominee Yura Borisov) – finds himself torn by his allegiance to his bosses, and by his fascination with Anora's moxie. Throughout most of the film, Borisov's performance is not dependent upon dialogue; he's an observer, an instrument of others, and a guardian. In this scene, Igor and Anora seem to recognize that – for all that has happened between them – there is nonetheless a connection that transcends their circumstances. Non-spoiler alert: I will not give away the actions preceding and following this clip, but they are at the heart of the film's tremendous emotional impact: In an interview for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Borisov was asked to describe his character's transition, from being a threat to Anora, to becoming a vulnerable, empathetic confidant, feeling things about her he didn't expect. [Indeed, Igor shows more compassion to Anora than anyone else in the movie.] "I don't know how to answer, 'cause if I could explain it by words, I better to be a writer than an actor," he said. "That's why I tried to explain by [actions]. It's thanks to Sean, his editing, because he used some right moments, and that's why you could feel what [Igor] feels. … And thanks to Mikey, she just going forward to her goal, I'm just going behind her and trying to help and protect. That's it." Borisov told the Associated Press that the theme of the film was about making connections: "Connection between people, between mentalities and nationalities and cultures. Especially today, because I think that it's possible, this connection, between everybody of us. Of course, it's not easy. I know, and everybody knows, but it's possible. And during this shoot I feel this – that we are different but at the same time we're absolutely similar. And I feel that humans, in the most important things, are similar and I feel everybody of us like children and souls, you know. For me, it's about connection between souls, and it's possible." Born in Moscow, Borisov's credits include "The Bull," "Kalashnikov," "Compartment No. 6," and the Netflix film "Silver Skates." For his performance in "Anora" he received Golden Globe, BAFTA and two Screen Actors Guild nominations. He tied with Kieran Culkin ("A Real Pain") for best supporting performance from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. He was in a car with his wife and two daughters when he heard the Oscar nominations being announced. "My [category] was first, and my name was first. And after that, she starts screaming and crying. And after that, I lose everything. … It's a very emotional moment, I can say, for everybody." "Anora," a Neon release, is now playing in theaters and is available via VOD. Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain" Kieran Culkin won an Emmy Award for "Succession," playing the snarky son of a tycoon whose media empire is seemingly up for grabs among his duplicitous offspring. In the movie "A Real Pain," Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg (who wrote and directed) play cousins on a trip to Poland to see where their late beloved grandmother was raised – and take a Holocaust heritage tour. Culkin's character, Benji, is a charming but rudderless man-child. Asked why he connected with the role, Culkin told "Sunday Morning,""I don't really know what it was with me, but … I instantly knew who this guy was. I understood the dynamic, and I really wanted to play." Speaking of Benji, Culkin has described himself as being "one quick little misstep away from being that person." That person is someone who – in his cousin's view – says the wrong thing, acts inappropriately, and raises the discomfort level in social situations. In this scene, Benji reacts to the absurdity of riding a train in comfort compared to the situation facing Jews on trains in 1940s Poland: "I feel like I easily could've gone down that path," Culkin said of Benji. "There was something in that that I recognized as myself, but I'm not that guy at all. But I think I'm worried that I easily could've become that guy, [had I not] married, kids, or figured out how to, you know, get my s*** together." Jesse Eisenberg, the writer-director of "A Real Pain," told "Sunday Morning" he hadn't seen Culkin's work on-screen (he avoided watching "Succession," he said, because he was afraid of how great it might be). But he had auditioned with him for 2009's "Adventureland." "He came into this audition room and started, like, beating me up like in the script and making fun of me… and being so brilliantly funny, and then walked out of the room, and we were like, 'That was brilliant and aggressive, fascinating and so brazen.' And so, when I was thinking about who would work well with me in this movie playing a character who comes on that trip that I plan and who kind of beats me up but also charms the group at my expense, I was thinking, Oh yeah, that's the relationship I had briefly with this brilliant actor … That seemed to me just so perfect. "And then, Kieran showed up on set and within two seconds it just felt like we had been doing this for years." Culkin, an Emmy Award-winner for "Succession," won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and the Screen Actors Guild awards for "A Real Pain." This is his first Academy Award nomination. "A Real Pain" is streaming on Hulu and Disney+, and is available via VOD. See also: Edward Norton, "A Complete Unknown" Edward Norton has previously been nominated for three Oscars – for playing a homicide defendant in "Primal Fear," a neo-Nazi in "American History X," and a Method actor in "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)." For "A Complete Unknown," a biography of Bob Dylan, Norton portrays legendary folk singer Pete Seeger, who became a mentor of Dylan's. In this early scene, Seeger, having been found guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to name names in a political witch hunt, responds to the developments with a patriotic song: Norton told "CBS Sunday Morning" that playing a music legend like Seeger was both sublime, and terrifying. "I think every actor, some part of 'em wants to be a rock star, you know?" he said. "I think every actor holds the dream in some sense. I mean, I almost started crying at the idea of it, because, well, I was nervous about it. I was nervous about the whole enterprise. Because I thought the idea of a biopic about Dylan – if you just said it that way, I was, like, Oooh, like, I'm not sure. 'Cause to me, it has a mythical kind of place in me, and I thought, this could be really, really a bad idea." Just one of the challenges: Seeger was an accomplished banjo player, so Norton had to become one as well. "Yeah, I made the joke that I googled, you know, 'Is there an AI that can replace my hands with Steve Martin's?'" Norton laughed. "Or, you know, that thing where you put your arms behind your back and Steve Martin puts his hands under my armpits and does the playing for me? Which I'm not saying is not what happened, you know? It might have. Who knows?" In the finished film, his playing looks and sounds authentic, because it is: He said the film offered him a chance to channel greatness: "If channeling their frequency gets people refocused on what it looked like when people were using the talents they had to further ideas and values that were bigger than themselves, then that is what makes it worth doing. Can we get people to re-engage with and be moved by and inspired by the idea of artists as agents of change?" Watch an extended interview with Edward Norton: In addition to his Oscar nod, Norton was nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Nominated for 8 Academy Awards (including best picture and best director), "A Complete Unknown," released by Searchlight Pictures, is playing in theaters and is available via VOD. Guy Pearce, "The Brutalist" In "The Brutalist," architect László Tóth (best actor nominee Adrien Brody) emigrates from post-war Europe to the United States, where he hopes to revive his career. He gets his chance with a job that tantalizes industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (best supporting actor nominee Guy Pearce). In this scene, Van Buren announces to Tóth that he has decided he wants the architect, an apostle of the Brutalist style of architecture, to design a grand edifice in honor of his mother – a community center in the hinterlands of Pennsylvania. But Van Buren also hints that he doesn't expect Tóth, or anyone, to deny him his wishes, as Van Buren begins to take ownership over Tóth: At the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Pearce spoke of the dynamic between his character and that of Brody's: "The interesting kind of position that Van Buren takes, or tries to take, in life generally is that he is the top dog, that he is the one in control, that he is the one who has the power, that he is the one who decides. And I think a lot of that does come from insecurity, from feeling powerless, from feeling like he's not in control. And he's worked his way to seemingly a position in life where he has the dominance. And yet, László comes into his life, who he's intuitive enough and has enough taste to recognize not only his skill but also his artistry, etc. But the thing he really detects in László is, I believe, sort of an underlying sense of self-confidence, an ability to see the truth of the world, where my character is ... whatever truth he's feeling within himself, he's masking, hiding, being presentational, etc. "And so, I think the yearning for a man like this, to be a man like this, to perhaps possess a man like this is quite the mirror and quite the turmoil for Van Buren," Pearce said. Pearce described the dualism of his character in "The Brutalist" to the Associated Press: "I'm really aware of how precarious we are as human beings … Good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things. Moment to moment, we're trying to just get through the day. We're trying to be good. And we can do good things for ourselves and other people, but pretty easily we can be tipped off course." "There's a performative element to Van Buren," he said. "He exhausts himself because he's trying to dominate, to be the one in charge, be Mr. Charming. I don't think he can ever enter a room without being self-conscious. That's an exhausting way to be, I reckon." Born in England, Pearce moved to Australia and at age 20 starred in the popular soap opera "Neighbours." He shot to international fame starring in "L.A. Confidential" and Christopher Nolan's "Memento." And while he appeared in the best picture winners "The King's Speech" and "The Hurt Locker," and the "Alien" franchise, much of his resume has been in smaller films, such as "Animal Kingdom," "The Rover," and "Factory Girl" (playing Andy Warhol). He won an Emmy for the HBO mini-series "Mildred Pierce." This is Pearce's first Academy Award nomination. His "Brutalist" performance also received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. "The Brutalist," released by A24, is playing in select theaters in 70mm, and is available via VOD. Adrien Brody on "The Brutalist" ("Sunday Morning") Jeremy Strong, "The Apprentice" "Attack, attack, attack. Deny, deny, deny. Never admit defeat." That is the lesson imparted on a young Donald Trump by his mentor, the notorious lawyer/fixer Roy Cohn, in "The Apprentice." Cohn (who'd served as Joe McCarthy's chief counsel during the 1950s McCarthy hearings) was a New York powerbroker who represented such figures as Cardinal Spellman, George Steinbrenner, and the Genovese crime family. Set in 1970s and '80s New York City, the film (written by journalist Gabriel Sherman and directed by Ali Abbasi) traces the origins of the real estate tycoon and future reality TV star/U.S. president through his relationship with Cohn, who, it could be said, helped make Trump what he is today. In this scene, Cohn (best supporting actor nominee Jeremy Strong) shares with Trump (best actor nominee Sebastian Stan) a cynical lesson about how to get ahead without letting such a thing as the rule of law get in the way: After it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, "The Apprentice" was attacked by the Trump campaign, which threatened to sue. They didn't, but potential distributors were cowed, until Briarcliff Entertainment released the film shortly before the election. In October, Strong told "CBS Mornings,""I think we knew that we're playing with fire making a film like this, coming out in the context that it's coming out in. But the role of cinema and art in general is to hold a mirror up to nature and to show us ourselves. So, I don't think we were afraid of doing it. It feels necessary. I also think, I personally think, it's like essential viewing for everyone. "I think the intention of the film is to hold a mirror up to this person's life, this relationship, and to show us, in a way, how Donald Trump was made, how he became the person that we know today, what his ideological and philosophical framework is and where it came from," Strong said. "And I think we in this country tend to have a kind of historical amnesia, and there's that famous thing that I'll probably botch but that Churchill said in 1948, that those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it. "So, I think that this movie is both an opportunity to learn about the past, but learn from the past in this really historically unprecedented election." This is the first Academy Award nomination for Strong, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of Kendall Roy in the HBO series "Succession." He received Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA nominations for his "Apprentice" performance as well. "The Apprentice," nominated for two Oscars, is available via VOD. More on the 2025 Oscars: In: Academy Awards
