Latest news with #TonyTost
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Halsey on Learning From Sydney Sweeney on ‘Americana' and Creating Her Own New Series: 'Really Cool to Be Part of a Project I Don't Face'
Halsey has been making the transition from musician to movie star in recent years — including with a breakout role in 2024's MaXXXine — but the first major project she shot is just now making its way to theaters. Americana — a modern western from writer-director Tony Tost which follows several people as their lives violently intertwine while fighting over an expensive Native American ghost shirt— was shot in 2022, premiered at SXSW in 2023 and is finally heading to this big screen this month. More from The Hollywood Reporter Trump Swoons Over Sydney Sweeney Amid Reports That She's a Republican American Eagle Responds to Sydney Sweeney Jeans Campaign Amid Controversy JD Vance Mocks Protests of Sydney Sweeney's Jeans Ad: "They Can't Help But Freak Out" 'I'd been waiting a really long time, I'd been really cautiously picky about what I was going to do for my first project for getting into this world, into this space,' Halsey told The Hollywood Reporter at the film's Los Angeles premiere on Sunday. 'Tony reached out and he was so personable and so talented and I just really connected with the script and the character. Little did I know we were going to be making it during COVID, which was a crazy experience. And from the moment I read the script until we started shooting, I got pregnant, had a whole pregnancy, gave birth to my son, had my son on set with me, and without giving anything away, it's really serendipitous to [her character] Mandy's arc in the film.' The film also stars Sydney Sweeney — who walked the carpet in her first public appearance following her American Eagle controversy — Paul Walter Hauser, Simon Rex, Eric Dane and Zahn McClarnon. It marks a reunion for Halsey and Sweeney, after the Euphoria star appeared in Halsey's 2019 music video for her song 'Graveyard.' 'We were actually hanging out a bunch during COVID, so when I got the call she was doing the movie we had like just gone hiking a few days before, so it was like, 'Oh cool, I'll see you there,'' Halsey recalled. 'It was just really great to have someone to learn from, to ask questions to — the stupid questions you don't think of. It was my first time on a movie set in a real way; just being like 'Who do I look at? Who do I listen to? What's the cool code words I don't know, the actor lingo?' So having someone to ask the stupid questions to was great.' Next up, Halsey is making another pivot and developing series Bloodlust for Amazon, serving as creator, writer and EP. The dark comedy series has also enlisted MaXXXine filmmaker Ti West to direct and executive produce. 'I started the pilot a few years ago and Amazon wanted it and they took it and now we're getting it on the road. There's not so much that I can say but it's really cool to be a part of a project that I don't face. It's quite relieving,' Halsey explained, confirming that she will not appear on screen in the show. 'Just behind the scenes, just the puppet master,' she noted, celebrating, 'I don't have to do my makeup.' Americana hits theaters Aug. 15. Best of The Hollywood Reporter The 25 Best U.S. Film Schools in 2025 The 40 Greatest Needle Drops in Film History The 40 Best Films About the Immigrant Experience
Perth Now
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Halsey was 'picky' before making movie debut in Americana
Halsey was "cautiously picky" before deciding to make her major movie debut in Americana. The 30-year-old star features in Tony Tost's modern Western and explained that she "really connected" with the project, which is finally hitting cinemas later this month after being filmed in 2022. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at the movie's LA premiere on Sunday (03.08.25), Halsey said: "I'd been waiting a really long time, I'd been really cautiously picky about what I was going to do for my first project for getting into this world, into this space. "Tony reached out and he was so personable and so talented and I just really connected with the script and the character. Little did I know we were going to be making it during Covid, which was a crazy experience." The Bad at Love singer - who has son Ender, four, with her ex-partner Alev Aydin - added: "And from the moment I read the script until we started shooting. I got pregnant, had a whole pregnancy, gave birth to my son, had my son on set with me, and without giving anything away, it's really serendipitous to (her character) Mandy's arc in the film." Halsey stars in the movie alongside Sydney Sweeney - who had previously appeared in the music video for her 2019 song Graveyard - and was grateful to the Echo Valley actress for answering her "stupid questions" on set. She recalled: "We were actually hanging out a bunch during Covid, so when I got the call she was doing the movie we had like just gone hiking a few days before, so it was like, 'Oh cool, I'll see you there.' "It was just really great to have someone to learn from, to ask questions to - the stupid questions you don't think of. It was my first time on a movie set in a real way; just being like, 'Who do I look at? Who do I listen to? What's the cool code words I don't know, the actor lingo?' So having someone to ask the stupid questions to was great." Halsey - whose real name is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane - has revealed that she is developing the new Amazon series Bloodlust, although she is thankful that she will not be acting in the dark comedy. She explained: "I started the pilot a few years ago and Amazon wanted it and they took it and now we're getting it on the road. There's not so much that I can say but it's really cool to be part of a project that I don't face. It's quite relieving." Halsey added: "(I'm) just behind the scenes, just the puppet master. "I don't have to do my makeup."
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Poker Face' EP & Showrunner Tony Tost On His Season 2 Episode 'Hometown Hero' & Not Overdirecting Natasha Lyonne On The Page
During the early part of Tony Tost's writing career, he was a poet and an academic, however, he found a way to TV writing thanks to his pal, True Detective co-creator Nic Pizzolatto. He tells us about his journey and offers up writing advice to aspiring writers on today's Crew Call. The Poker Face showrunner gets a written by credit for episode 5 in season 2, 'Hometown Hero'. Poker Face creator Rian Johnson wanted to set an episode of the Natasha Lyonne slacker clairvoyant series in the world of minor league baseball. More from Deadline How 'Poker Face', 'Only Murders In The Building' & 'The Residence' Editors Capture The "Difficult Tone" Of Comedic Murder Mysteries 'Materialists' Filmmaker Celine Song Knows Something About Love - Crew Call Podcast From Grammy Nominated Hip Hop Artist To Indie Filmmaker With 'Paradise Records': The Rise Of Logic - Crew Call Podcast 'Hometown Hero' follows a used-to-be-a-contender 100mph pitcher Russ Waddell (Simon Rex) whose bad losing streak nearly puts his minor league team out of business. He's given notice by the couch. He then bands with his team members to bet on their losing streak to make an enormous sum of money. A new firecracker pitcher enters the scene. There's black mail and murder, and you have to watch the episode on Peacock to find out what happens. In the mix Lyonne's Charlie Cale. Tost and Johnson took inspiration for the episode from the John Huston directed 1972 boxing movie Fat City about two boxers who comes to blows as their careers take different directions. Tost takes us into the writing process of Poker Face, what Johnson looks for, the Columbo inspiration of it all, and the trick when it comes to writing for the deadpan and blunt Lyonne: 'So much of that, that gate, that cadence, that way of looking, the line delivery, that's all Natasha. That's what she brings. We try not to overindex it in the script not overwrite it. We do our underwritten version of it. Natasha comes in and tweaks the dialogue…try not to overdirect her on the page; let her go and stay out of the way of it.' Tost's feature directorial debut, Americana, starring Sydney Sweeney and Paul Walter Hauser, hits theaters via Lionsgate on Aug. 22. The movie which world premiered at SXSW 2023, follows the lives of local outsiders and outcasts who violently intertwine when a rare Lakota Ghost shirt falls onto the black market in a small South Dakota town. Here's our conversation with Tost: Best of Deadline 'Bachelor in Paradise' Cast Announcement: See Who Is Headed To The Beach For Season 10 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
