Latest news with #SonsofAnarchy
Scotsman
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
The White Buffalo is coming to Glasgow in August 2025
American singer-songwriter-guitarist Jake Smith aka: The White Buffalo, is coming to the UK for a special three-date tour which stops off at the O2 Academy in Glasgow on the 26th August. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A powerful and prolific storyteller through his songcraft, Jake Smith, aka The White Buffalo's body of work includes prominent song and soundtrack placements in the worlds of TV and Film including the TV series Sons Of Anarchy, This Is Us, Californication, The Punisher, The Terminal List, and the films Shelter, Safe Havenand West of Memphis. The White Buffalo'sdark blues and light Americana-roots-tinged folk provided a soundtrack of tunes for the entire seven-season run of the FX original series Sons of Anarchy, which included 11 songs overall. The last song in the series finale for SOA 'Come Join The Murder,' earned The White Buffalo his first-ever Emmy-Award Nomination. NPR's 'All Songs Considered' hailed The White Buffalo as an'amazing storyteller,'the Los Angeles Times added 'Smith's baritone echoes with villains and misfits, drunks, and philistines,' while Classic Rock magazine declared TWB 'America's darkest country/blues export…imagine a blue collar Tom Waits, or Nick Cave pumping gas in a station just off the highway.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad September 2024 saw the release of his first-ever live album, 'A Fright Train Through The Night'. Smith describes the record as: 'This album spans my entire career, over 20-plus years of writing and performing songs. With more than a hundred songs to choose from, some of these tracks I wrote in my 20s, and others were born just years ago. We selected crowd favourites and some deep cuts to give them a new life.' The White Buffalo He adds: 'We also did a completely reworked adaptation of the song 'House of the Rising Sun.' I wanted to establish a definitive version that was all our own, and representative of our sound, giving a fresh alternative to the original 'Sons of Anarchy' show version.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel on ‘The Better Sister' and taking control in Hollywood
Things got heated between Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel last summer. Sweat was poured. Scores were settled. Justin Timberlake even got involved. The intense showdowns occurred on a New York City padel court when the women had days off from filming their new Prime Video limited series, 'The Better Sister,' now streaming. Squaring off in the increasingly popular racquet sport, the actors, along with Biel's husband, Timberlake, and Banks' husband, Max Handelman, 'had a blast kicking each other's asses,' Biel said. Back on 'The Better Sister' set, Banks and Biel were happy to play on the same team. There, they both served as stars and executive producers, and they praised the collaborative, ego-free environment overseen by showrunners Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado. (Though their competitive streak did continue with between-takes Bananagrams.) 'This was a group of, frankly, a lot of moms, who were like, 'We don't have time for nonsense. We want our crew home to have dinner with their families,' ' Banks said. 'There was a lot of mutual respect going on, but then we all demanded the best from each other.' The eight-episode whodunit, adapted from the 2019 novel by Alafair Burke, is a twisty, Shakespearean tale: Two estranged sisters, the glamorous, successful Chloe (Biel) and the recovering addict Nicky (Banks), are thrust back together when Chloe's husband, Adam (Corey Stoll) — who used to be Nicky's husband — is murdered. When Nicky and Adam's son, Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan) — who was raised by Chloe and Adam — is arrested for the crime, the sisters must untangle a web of family secrets and betrayal. Yeah, it's complicated. 'So many shows I've written on are about muscular, macho men doing violent things to each other,' said Corrado, whose past work includes 'Sons of Anarchy' and 'Deadwood.' 'But I think the scariest thing is women in this space and the intimate damage we can do to each other, particularly as sisters.' While Biel, 43, and Banks, 51, both rose to prominence as actors, they've been increasingly expanding their resumes behind the camera. Over the past decade, Banks has directed films, including 'Cocaine Bear,' 'Pitch Perfect 2' and the 2019 'Charlie's Angels' reboot, and produced numerous projects under her and Handelman's Brownstone Productions banner. Biel has likewise segued into producing with her company, Iron Ocean, which backed the psychological thriller series 'Cruel Summer,' 'The Sinner' and 'Candy,' the latter two in which she also starred. (Biel is also in early development on a reboot of '7th Heaven,' the '90s series on which she got her start as the rebellious Mary Camden, though she won't reprise her role.) For Biel, those recent thriller projects, along with 'The Better Sister,' speak to what she finds 'endlessly interesting.' 'Why do humans do the things that they do?' she said. 'When you're pressed up against the wall and you're fighting for your life or to keep your kids safe, what would you do? How far would you go?' In a joint video interview, Banks and Biel discussed making 'The Better Sister' and their decades of experience that led them here. These are edited excerpts from the conversation, which includes a few spoilers. What initially attracted you to 'The Better Sister' and your specific roles? Biel: I first read for the Nicky part, and I was definitely interested in it. Then, a couple days later, I got the call saying, 'They want you for Chloe.' When I heard that Elizabeth was talking to them about Nicky, I was like, oh, yes. This makes more sense to me now. I've also heard for a million years that we look like sisters. Banks: I had never heard a bad word about Jessica Biel in the industry. She was known as kind, generous, talented, a great collaborator, easy to be around. And I thought, well, that sounds easy and fun. Craig Gillespie, who directed our pilot, got on with me and said, 'I want you to be a mess, Banks. It needs more humor, and you'll be funny.' He sold me on this messy Nicky, in contrast to Jessica, and I thought that sounded like a great idea all across the board. Elizabeth, as an actor, you've received the most recognition for your comedic roles, but you've been focused lately on quieter, dramatic parts. Is that a direction you'd always hoped to go in? Banks: It's interesting. I started my career in a lot of dramas. Man, I remember making 'Seabiscuit.' It was nominated for seven Academy Awards. It was very serious fare, and I was put in that [dramatic] box early on. It honestly took making 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' to even clue people in that I was funny. Like, I knew I was. I thought I was going to come in and do rom-coms, but when I started making films, it wasn't a skill that was asked of me. I love that I got to reset my career, and I've been able to do it multiple times. The very title of this series, 'The Better Sister,' pits these two women against each other. How have you seen that comparison game play out in your own experiences in this industry? Biel: You're constantly compared. At least back in the day, it felt like people were trying to keep women away from each other. You'd sit in an audition room, and there would be this energy because your agents and managers would have made you feel like these women are your competition. There really was a feeling of 'you are against everybody, and everybody is against you.' I feel like that's changed so much, but this industry is cutthroat. I have a lot of real experience in feeling less than, feeling judged, feeling like the industry has been putting their thumb on top of you, and you have to fight, fight, fight for every opportunity. Banks: I had a similar experience coming up as an ingénue. There's a scarcity mentality, like there's only so many roles. Now we have all of this incredible data, like what the Geena Davis Institute has collected, about women's roles in Hollywood. At some point, I just looked around and thought, the numbers are against me. The very first film I ever made ['Wet Hot American Summer'] was with Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper, and they went on to play superheroes. I'm never going to get that, especially once I got over a certain age. You start to understand that it's systemic, and it is a numbers game. You can keep playing that game, or you can do what so many incredible women have done before me, which is create your own opportunities. I know that we are encouraging the next generation because I made a movie with them called 'Bottoms.' Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri, they're doing it now. They're going to make their own stuff, and it's incredible. I think the industry has changed because women changed it. I just want to make sure that we have actually learned the lessons, and we are creating the opportunities. Biel: I really do hope it is different and better and more fair and more loving because, man, it was hard. One of the big themes in this show is trust. This idea of, can we trust our family? Can we trust our partners? Can we trust the police? Can we trust our memories? Did working on this show make you question anything about your own realities? Banks: My father served in Vietnam, and we never talked about it when I was a kid. Vietnam vets suffered when they came back. America was not interested in them. What does that do to people's psyches that had served their country and now they're being spit at? This brought up a lot of those notions for me about how little you actually know your parents when you're a child and how the layers come out the older you get. I was the older sister, and I was able to protect my younger sister from the version of my father that I knew. He didn't give that version to her because he and my mom had learned a lesson about what was going on with him. I'm 11 years older than my brother. He did not get the same version of my parents that I did. Biel: Where I parallel a little bit in Chloe's world is this weird, naive trust of police. It's interesting watching Elizabeth in the scenes where she's expressing Nicky's feelings about, 'Don't trust these people. Don't give them anything.' I was wondering if I have those same thoughts that Chloe does, where I would just offer up information that I shouldn't because I trust that they're here to protect me. Would I be in a situation where I would not be taking care of myself or my family members because I felt obligated to almost please this police department who is supposed to help me? So, [I was] trying to understand that system a little bit better, alongside all the questions you have about your parents and what version you got as a child. My brother and I are three years apart, but I was working when I was really young, and he wasn't. He was at home. I basically abandoned him. But I was so self-absorbed, I didn't think about it in that way. I just was doing what was my passion. I know he had a very different experience in our family than I did. I feel nervous to talk to him about it sometimes because I have guilt around that. He was in my shadow, and I left him. Spoilers for the final episodes — we ultimately learn that Nicky killed Adam, and that reveal puts everything we've seen her do thus far in a different light. Elizabeth, what went into playing a character who's keeping a huge secret from everyone, including the audience, for so long? Banks: Look, I literally say right after he gets arrested, 'Tell them it was me. I'll say I did it.' But nobody's going to believe her. I was actually always thinking about 'Presumed Innocent,' the original [film], where she knows all along that she can make him free. Ethan's not going to jail. Nicky was willing and ready every minute of this entire series to offer herself up and say, 'I'm going to jail for this. I did it.' I think she almost expects that it's where her life is supposed to go — but she also can't let Adam win. So, there is a lot of strategy going on for Nicky. She's playing chess, and she's playing the long game, and poor Chloe is not in on any of it. Chloe then ends up framing Adam's boss for the murder in the finale. Jessica, how did you feel about that decision and the motivations around it? Biel: It felt to me that it was what had to happen. Because once it's revealed that Adam set Nicky up and pushed those drugs on her, and she's not this horrific mom, her son was not in danger — that realization for Chloe is just like — oh, my God — everything that she has done has been in vain. She ruined her sister's life. She's taken over being the mother of this child. For what? It's all a lie. So, when all of that comes out, that is the moment where she is 100% loyal to Nicky. They are officially in it together. Now she has to protect Nicky in order to protect Ethan, and to do that, we need somebody to take the blame for this because we are all culpable. Everybody is playing their part, and nobody is innocent. There's a line in the show to the effect of, 'Nothing ever really disappears,' whether that's because of the stories that people tell about us or the permanence of the internet. Is there a story or project that's followed you around that you wish would go away? Biel: I'm sure you could dig up some stuff about me, and I would probably be like, 'Oh, yeah, that wasn't the best choice.' But you have to fall on your face, look like an idiot, sound like an idiot and get back up and go, 'All right, won't do that again.' I don't know where I would be if I didn't stumble around a little bit. I don't want to be stumbling around too much anymore at this age. On the flip side, what past chapter of your life are you the most proud of? Banks: I really am proud that I was able to use the opportunity that came during 'The Hunger Games,' where I had this guaranteed work with these big movies. I started my family then, and I started my directing career then, and it was because I wasn't out there shaking it trying to make a living. It was a real gift to have some security for a hot minute because it allowed me to look around and go, is this what I really want? What are my priorities? What opportunities can I pursue while I have this security? I'm proud that I took advantage of it. Biel: I think back in my early 20s, taking the opportunity to start my little [production] company [with co-founder Michelle Purple], which was dumb and small and lame for like 10 years. We didn't make anything, and it was a disaster. But we hustled, I took control and said I'm going to start making headway to make things for me. I'm not going to just sit and wait for a phone call from my agents, which is what I had been told to do. I started procuring material and working with writers and learning how to develop them. Now, my little company is making some stuff, which is cool. Neither of you come from industry families. Did you feel like outsiders stepping into that world? Banks: I still feel like an outsider. Biel: I was going to say the same thing! Banks: I know my worth, and I know what I've earned, so I don't have impostor syndrome anymore. But I do feel like there's a party in Hollywood that I'm not necessarily on the inside of. It keeps me scrappy, to be honest. Biel: It also keeps you from getting lost in the sauce. You're not paying so much attention to everybody else or what you're not getting. It's a good mindset to be in because you just focus on what you're doing. When I'm outputting creatively, that's what fuels me. The joy is in doing it.
Press and Journal
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Press and Journal
Scottish actor spotted filming on the streets of Inverness
An Inverness business helped a Scottish actor dress in his best finery just in time for his close-up in Inverness. Tommy Flanagan, known for his roles in Gladiator and Braveheart, was spotted filming on the streets of the city this week. The star, who plays Filip 'Chibs' Telford in the FX crime series Sons of Anarchy, was pictured wearing a kilt and full highland dress. Accompanied by American author Drew Chicone and a small film crew, the pair were seen venturing down Church Street. Staff at Ben Wyvis Kilts were thrilled when the pair dropped by to film as part of a new series. Sharing a picture of the duo outside their Inverness store, they said it was a 'pleasure' to meet them. They wrote: 'Our special guests can finally be revealed. We had the pleasure of meeting Tommy Flanagan and Drew Chicone, who came into our newly refurbished shop to film for an upcoming series. 'I think we can all agree they both look amazing. We can't wait to watch the show when it releases! Thank you for shopping local and letting us kit you both out.' It is understood that the footage will feature in an upcoming series. Inverness City Centre BID also shared a series of images of the pair in the heart of the Highland Capital. Taking to social media, they echoed the delight of local traders. He said: 'We were excited to see Tommy Flanagan and Drew Chicone in Inverness today, who were filming for an upcoming series. 'They were kitted out by local kilt maker Ben Wyvis Kilts Ltd. We can't wait to see them on screen.'
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Walton Goggins is reinventing the modern leading man
One of the hottest actors working now has a receding hairline, too-big teeth and an unforgettable name: Walton Goggins. The 53-year-old Georgia native has been an actor for years, first making a name for himself in shows like The Shield and Sons of Anarchy. His major breakout moment came when he starred in Fallout, The White Lotus and The Righteous Gemstones within roughly a year, becoming a staple in prestige television. 'I'd love to work with Goggins … he's incredible. That guy's been cooking for a long time,' Brendan Sklenar, who starred in the horror movie Drop, told Yahoo Entertainment shortly after the final episode of The White Lotus aired. 'I think everyone wants to work with Walton Goggins right now,' his costar Meghann Fahy added. We'll be seeing plenty more of Goggins as he enters Emmy campaign season, hosts Saturday Night Live and promotes The Uninvited, a new movie now in theaters, and that's great news for his fans. Claudia Hernandez, an associate communications director and longtime fan, told Yahoo Entertainment that she's been rooting for Goggins since his run on FX's Sons of Anarchy. 'People try to qualify his draw by pointing out his 'atypical' features for a leading man — we're confused as to why we're so drawn to him, but magic defies logic. I think that's evident in the explosion of his fanbase post-White Lotus,' she said. 'He's not playing a flashy character in that show — he's actually kind of a rude buzzkill … yet people were still drawn to him in spades. I'm not sure that would've happened had another actor had that role.' In The White Lotus, Goggins plays the grumpy Rick Hatchett, who is mysteriously focused on vengeance and neglecting his much younger girlfriend. On The Righteous Gemstones, he plays an over-the-top, cocaine-addicted religious entertainment mogul named Uncle Baby Billy. They're very different roles, but both tap into Goggins's now-signature charisma. 'I think this versatility is what makes him so compelling, because it has to come from such a secure place internally, and he can relay that versatility in a show or an interview or even a photo shoot,' Hernandez said. 'It's a magnetism that can't be faked — true to Scorpio fashion.' The key to that versatility might just be confidence. White Lotus star Patrick Schwarzenegger told Interview magazine about Goggins's response when he asked him on set if he still gets nervous. 'And [Goggins] was just like, 'Yeah, I get nervous.' And then, he kind of put his finger on my chest and said, 'But, I never f***ing question that I'm the right actor for this job, and I never f***ing question my process and that I can go out there and crush it.'' Schwarzenegger said. 'And I was like, 'Wow.' He was like, 'It's totally fine to get nervous, but you have to have the confidence that you've done your work and were picked for the right reason.'' Since Goggins's star has risen, headlines about his receding hairline and oversized teeth have attempted to explain why viewers have gone so gaga for him as he subverts typical Hollywood beauty standards. Kirsten Tretbar, a therapist, told Yahoo Entertainment that she used to be an acting teacher who helped students figure out their 'type' so they'd know 'how to best portray themselves in front of casting directors.' 'I would say that Goggins's strength comes out of the contradictions his face and body represent. He looks and feels, both scary and sad, strong and fragile, cruel and misunderstood, intelligent and angry,' she said. 'He has a combination of very castable traits, which make him a heartbreaking, fascinating villain, someone you want to run from,and someone you'd also like to rescue.' Daren Banarsë, a therapist, told Yahoo Entertainment that Goggins's distinctive smile and hairline have become 'signature elements of his appeal.' In Banarsë's work with clients struggling with body image and self-acceptance, he often references cultural figures like Goggins who demonstrate how 'embracing one's distinctive features can become a superpower rather than a limitation.' 'These characteristics serve as honest markers of individuality in an era where polished perfection can read as inauthentic,' he said. 'There's something deeply refreshing about someone who owns their uniqueness rather than attempting to conceal it.' Banarsë said that the intensity of someone's perspective can override our programmed beauty preferences. 'Our brains are wired to respond to confidence and authenticity as indicators of psychological security — traits that, evolutionarily speaking, signal reliability and strength of character,' he said. 'When someone projects complete comfort in their own skin, we intuitively recognize and respond to that self-assurance.' He's known to be open-hearted and intense — he's romantic about his big moment finally coming and open about how emotional it was to immerse himself in a role in Thailand, where he went after his first wife died about 20 years ago. That intensity was on display when rumored drama between Goggins and his The White Lotus onscreen girlfriend, Aimee Lou Wood, began to spread. 'What in the Fleetwood Mac Hell Is Going on Between Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins?' Vogue's Emma Specter wrote in April, and speculation of a close relationship that dissolved into a feud has only grown since then. Even as their White Lotus castmate Jason Isaacs continued fueling rumors about on-set drama, Goggins called Wood his 'soulmate' and said that they became 'enmeshed.' Whatever was happening while filming, Goggins seemed to be in the middle of it, adding to his intrigue. He recently shut down a reporter who probed him about his relationship with Wood, directing the conversation back to the film that his wife wrote and directed and he starred in. Affair allegations are at odds with his 'wife guy' persona, but they come at a time when people are more starved for classic Hollywood drama. Another element that adds to Goggins's appeal is the deluge of thirsty photo shoots he's participated in over the past year, from Speedo-clad poses in Cultured magazine and the western imagery of Man About Town to a seemingly random shirtless portrait shoot and the shirtless horseback riding of GQ. And let's not forget the multiple instances of full-frontal nudity on The Righteous Gemstones. He has a propensity for virality, whether it's a clip from one of his onscreen performances, selling 'Goggins Goggle Glasses,' singing along to Radiohead or giving a tour of his house. It puts his versatility on display — and makes him familiar to us, which only increases his attractiveness. His most viral moments have been either fully ridiculous — like Uncle Baby Billy in The Righteous Gemstones performing as a teenage Jesus, or stoic in the face of ridiculousness, like his wide-eyed response to Sam Rockwell's monologue in The White Lotus. He's said that he manages his own social media accounts, which adds to the charming authenticity of his posts. Carolina Estevez, a psychologist, told Yahoo Entertainment that the 'exposure' effect is at play here, because people tend to 'develop stronger preferences for people we see frequently.' 'Goggins is everywhere right now, and every role he plays reinforces his persona: intense, unapologetic and compelling. That repetition builds familiarity, which can deepen our sense of connection to him,' she said. 'And don't underestimate the power of voice. A deep, raspy voice with a Southern twang adds a sensory layer to his appeal — it is not just what he says but how he says it that makes an impression.' People find him compelling not just because of the way he looks or sounds, though that certainly helps, especially as we become more familiar with him. They're responding to how he makes them feel, Estevez explained. 'He does not shy away from his unique look or tone; he embraces it, and that boldness resonates,' she said. 'This is a classic example of what psychology calls the 'pratfall effect,' where a person's flaws or quirks can make them even more appealing when paired with competence or charisma.' Lauren Badillo Milici, a writer, has interviewed Goggins twice. She praised his 'effortlessly cool-guy vibe.' 'He's funny, he's excited about everything he does, and he has this crazy confidence — kind of like a cowboy in Old Hollywood westerns,' she said. Her favorite Goggins moment is a clip from Vice Principals, in which his character, who is tripping on acid, hallucinates a demon goat. He turns around shocked, then 'mugs the camera.' 'The fact that he just absolutely serves instead of showing fear just encapsulates his entire aura, I think,' Milici said. 'He's one of those actors where I'm just glad we get to live in a world where he makes stuff. Having 100-plus credits and then hitting your big career peak in your 50s is crazy — and just shows you that we ain't seen nothing yet.'
San Francisco Chronicle
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Review: ‘The Surfer' is Nicolas Cage at his most unhinged
Nicolas Cage's character in 'The Surfer' is a man running on empty. So much of his life is going wrong, and to obtain a shred of dignity, he has put in a bid on his beachside childhood home overlooking the Australian surfing spot he hung ten as a budding young man. All he wants to do is surf this beach, but a group of hard-edge locals — imagine 'Sons of Anarchy' motorcycle gang types, except surfers — led by a weather-beaten Julian McMahon, won't let him. 'Don't live here, don't surf here,' they say repeatedly. When the movie begins, the Surfer (no one in the film has a character name) is taking his son (Finn Little) out to catch waves when the locals stop him. The teen isn't really interested in surfing; this is his dad's thing. He seems uncomfortable around his dad, who is going through a painful divorce from his mother. The dad takes his son home, but returns to the beach, determined to surf. That's it. That's the movie. As the Surfer becomes increasingly desperate in the contest of wills, he becomes unhinged, and in cinema, an unhinged Nic Cage is the best Nic Cage. Really, it seems like this one-of-a-kind film could only have been made with Cage in the lead. It's quite possible that had he passed on the project, Finnegan would have shelved the project. Cage has created his own genre, characters whose madness is a valid response to the increasingly chaotic world around him: The man on parole bent on revenge in David Lynch's 'Wild at Heart' (1990); the bingeing alcoholic in 'Leaving Las Vegas' (1995), which won him an Oscar; the corrupt cop in ' Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans ' (2009); the hermit-like former chef in 'Pig' (2021); and more recently, the lunatic carjacker in ' Sympathy for the Devil ' and the befuddled professor who inexplicably appears in people dreams in ' Dream Scenario ' (both 2023). And that's just to name a few. 'The Surfer' has a sun-dappled look of idyllic nostalgia, and feels like an exploitation movie from a half-century ago. It reminded me of 'The Swimmer' (1968), a movie with Burt Lancaster as a man trying to reclaim his standing with the privileged community that has shunned him by 'swimming' across the neighborhood through each of his wealthy neighbors' backyard pools; or the 1971 'Ozploitation' Australian film 'Wake in Fright,' in which a school teacher arriving in a remote small town is forced to go on a weekend drinking binge with the coarse, sweaty locals. Interestingly, writer Thomas Martin and Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan based 'The Surfer' on a real life surfer gang, the Lunada Bay Boys, who ruled a Southern California surf spot in Rancho Palos Verdes and were recently ordered to stay away as part of a legal settlement. I doubt that the Lunada Bay Boys ever had to deal with a character like Nic Cage, though. Who in the real world has? The movies are where his distinctive characters live, and the cinema is better for it.
