Latest news with #VampireAcademy
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kieron Moore and Rose Ayling-Ellis Didn't Have a Chemistry Test for ‘Code of Silence'
Crime drama Code of Silence, which premiered on ITV and streamer ITVX in the U.K. on Sunday and will debut on streaming service BritBox in the U.S. and Canada in July, features British star Rose Ayling-Ellis as Alison, a determined deaf woman working in a police canteen who gets recruited to use her lip-reading skills in a covert operation. As such, the show, created and written by Catherine Moulton (Baptiste, Hijack) and also starring Kieron Moore (Vampire Academy, Masters of the Air, The Corps), Charlotte Ritchie (You, Ghosts), and Andrew Buchan (Black Doves, The Honourable Woman, Broadchurch), is helping to redefine how deaf characters are featured on screen More from The Hollywood Reporter Nicola Walker, Jermaine Clement to Lead Disney+ British Comedy Series Kneecap Member Charged With Terror Offense, Band Vows to "Vehemently Defend Ourselves" Billy Williams, 'Gandhi' and 'On Golden Pond' Cinematographer, Dies at 96 During a recent panel discussion of castmembers, Moore, who plays Liam, shared the impact the experience of being on the show's set had on him. In the opening episode, his character seems to feel a special connection with Alison. 'Rose and I didn't do a chemistry test, which is quite insane,' he shared, highlighting that he felt they built a connection very quickly. 'We just met [in person] on the first day of filming.' Their first scene was for a later episode when their two characters have already been through all sorts of things. 'Arguably, it's one of my favorite scenes, because I think it goes to show when you're truly paying attention to someone and you're truly invested in them, chemistry is undeniable,' Moore said. 'I felt so safe with Rose. And I think anyone who meets Rose will come to say this: I felt like I'd never been truly listened to until I met Rose. She pays so much attention to you when you talk that I was constantly learning how to be a better person, as well as being a better actor, which I think I had in common with Liam.' About his character, Moore also had this to share: 'Liam's had a relatively troubled past, and he's very untrusting. And he sees this person who is like a bright bit of light.' Code of Silence is executive produced by Bryony Arnold and Damien Timmer for ITV Studios' Mammoth Screen, alongside Robert Schildhouse and Stephen Nye for BritBox, as well as Ayling-Ellis and Moulton. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
NDTV
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Ex-Actress Claims Harvey Weinstein Took Erectile Shot, Then Raped Her In Hotel
On the witness stand again after five years, former actress Jessica Mann cried as she told a New York jury how disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein allegedly raped her in a 2013 Midtown hotel room. Ms Mann, now 38, sobbed as she recounted the alleged assault at the DoubleTree Hotel in Midtown on March 18, 2013. She described how Weinstein trapped her in the room, injected himself with a substance she later learned was used to treat erectile dysfunction, and then forced penetrative sex on her. "This is about the moment where I just gave up," she said, recalling how Harvey Weinstein allegedly blocked the door and asked her to undress, as per The Hollywood Reporter. After the encounter, Ms Mann said she found a needle in the trash labelled with a word resembling "necro-something." "I found on Google that it basically meant 'dead penis,'" she told the jury, explaining how the medication could only be used a limited number of times. "I was freaked out. Did I get exposed to something? It was scary." Despite the traumatic incident, Ms Mann testified that she continued a complex relationship with Harvey Weinstein afterwards. "I just decided to have a relationship with him. I'm sorry if that's a bad decision. I just did. I also just wanted to buy time because I really didn't know how to handle it," she said, crying on the stand. She described Harvey Weinstein as "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", referring to the 19th-century gothic horror novella about an outwardly respectable man who commits shocking crimes. "Sometimes he validated me so much... but the word 'No' was like a trigger to him. This other personality, I called it 'The Monster side', would come out," she said. Before the 2013 hotel room rape incident, Ms Mann said Weinstein previously performed unwanted oral sex on her during their first private meeting in Los Angeles. She told the jury that he invited her and a friend to his hotel room on the pretext of giving them a script for Vampire Academy. Once alone with her in the bedroom, Ms Mann said Harvey Weinstein forced himself on her despite her resistance, describing the encounter as a "battle." Though shaken, Ms Mann testified that she decided to enter a relationship with him afterwards, hoping it would make sense of the traumatic experience. "I just thought it would take the pain away," she said in court. Ms Mann said she feared speaking out at the time due to his influence and his powerful connections, including with former US President Bill Clinton. "I remember imagining if I ever said anything, he would call his friend and the Secret Service would come get me," she said, as per The NY Post. Ms Mann added she never accepted money from Harvey Weinstein. "It just felt like you're trying to pay me like a dirty prostitute. I never wanted his dirty money. I wasn't for sale." The retrial comes after Harvey Weinstein's 2020 conviction, where he was found guilty of third-degree rape against Ms Mann - was overturned. He now faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the most serious rape charge related to Ms Mann's account. Jessica Mann is the third and final accuser to testify in the retrial. Earlier, former teen model Kaja Sokola and former production assistant Miriam "Mimi" Haley also took the stand, alleging similar assaults by Harvey Weinstein. Prosecutors are presenting each of these women's testimonies not only for the specific charges but to show a pattern of predatory behaviour. The 73-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harvey Weinstein accuser Jessica Mann describes alleged rape in Midtown hotel
NEW YORK — One-time actress Jessica Mann told jurors Monday she 'felt like I was being discovered' when film mogul Harvey Weinstein met her at a party and told her she was prettier than Natalie Portman — but that feeling gave way to horror and, ultimately, rape. Mann, 39, testified in grim detail about how the fallen Hollywood mogul forced himself on her in the Doubletree Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, commanding her to 'undress now' despite her pleas of 'Please, no, I don't want to do this.' 'And this is about the moment where I just gave up and I just wanted to be out,' Mann said, hyperventilating and crying as she recounted the alleged March 18, 2023 attack. 'I undressed and he stood over me and he waited until I was fully naked, and he told me to lay on the bed, so I obeyed and I did it.' Mann took the stand Monday in Weinstein's sex assault retrial in Manhattan Supreme Court, more than five years after she testified at his first trial in 2020 that he raped her in 2013 in New York and Beverly Hills. Weinstein's guilty verdict was overturned by the state's highest court last year. Mann, an evangelical raised in Washington state, wept as she described her history as a sexual abuse victim dating back to when she was 16 and an older man from her church assaulted her. 'My stepfather told me that it was my fault because I turned him on and also that it would be my word against his and that would open us up to a lot.' She wound up moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting dream, and she and her roommate, Talita Maia, met Weinstein at a party sometime at the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013. 'He told me that I had a really good look. He said I was prettier than Natalie Portman. He was interested in me. He knew how to spot talent, things like that,' she said. 'I don't know, I felt like I was being discovered.' She described how he once pressured her into giving his blackhead-covered back a massage — 'I would describe it as the texture of bark' — and told the jurors about his disfigured genitals, which looked burned, and 'like he had a vagina.' After she and Maia attended an Oscar-viewing party in February 2013, the two women accompanied Weinstein to room in the Montage Hotel, she said. With Maia in another room, the movie producer cornered Mann, held her arms and performed oral sex on her. 'There was a certain point where I just wanted to get out of here, so I faked an orgasm, thinking it will make him stop, which he did,' she said. She entered into a 'relationship' with him after that, partly because she had her career and a possible part in the movie 'Vampire Academy' to think about. She didn't get that part. 'I think there was a lot of reasons that go into this. At that time initially I was very confused about what had happened. I was giving him a sense of benefit of the doubt,' Mann said. 'The other part of that is with the film on the line, I've given up so much to pursue acting…. You don't want to p–s off a very important person.' She referred to Weinstein as 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,' explaining that at times he'd validate her and encourage her, though 'the monster inside' would come out when he heard the word 'No.' The attack at the Doubletree Hotel came while she was on vacation with an agent friend. Weinstein wanted to meet her, and he showed up one morning at the hotel desk, asking for a room she said. Panicking, she tried to signal to the hotel staff that she didn't want to go to a hotel room with Weinstein, but staff booked a room for him anyway. She followed him upstairs, she testified, and raped her. After the attack, she saw a needle in the bathroom trash, that she later learned was to restore function to his penis. She didn't tell anyone about the attack, she said, or call police, because she didn't think it would make a difference. 'I didn't think anyone would believe me. For me, the minute I told somebody, that's the minute I would really lose control,' she said, adding that she feared he had powerful friends, like former President Bill Clinton. 'I also felt like there wasn't a system that was big enough to hold him accountable…. He could just call his friends and I'd have Secret Service come to my door. I don't know. I had all these ideas.' Mann kept in touch with Weinstein throughout 2013, often showering him with compliments and lines like, 'Miss you, big guy,' in e-mails. She testified she was trying to keep him at arm's length, but didn't want to anger or reject him. She refused to take money from him when he offered, though, and declined to accept an envelope of cash he was trying to send her in 2013. 'I never took money from him. I never wanted his dirty money. I wasn't for sale,' she said. 'And I f—ing needed it. I was starving. I was really broke.' Her testimony resumes Tuesday. The Manhattan Supreme Court retrial has featured days of testimony from two other accusers, former TV production assistant Miriam Haley, and Polish model and aspiring actress Kaja Sokola. Haley also testified at Weinstein's 2020 trial, which ended with a jury finding him guilty of raping Mann and of criminal sex act based off Haley's allegations. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison, but the state state Court of Appeals overturned that conviction, ruling 4-3 that the trial court judge shouldn't have allowed testimony of 'uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes.'
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harvey Weinstein accuser Jessica Mann describes alleged rape in Midtown hotel
One-time actress Jessica Mann told jurors Monday she 'felt like I was being discovered' when film mogul Harvey Weinstein met her at a party and told her she was prettier than Natalie Portman — but that feeling gave way to horror and, ultimately, rape. Mann, 39, testified in grim detail about how the fallen Hollywood mogul forced himself on her in the DoubleTree Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, commanding her to 'undress now' despite her pleas of 'Please, no, I don't want to do this.' 'And this is about the moment where I just gave up and I just wanted to be out,' Mann said, hyperventilating and crying as she recounted the alleged March 18, 2023 attack. 'I undressed and he stood over me and he waited until I was fully naked, and he told me to lay on the bed, so I obeyed and I did it.' Mann took the stand Monday in Weinstein's sex assault retrial in Manhattan Supreme Court, more than five years after she testified at his first trial in 2020 that he raped her in 2013 in New York and Beverly Hills. Weinstein's guilty verdict was overturned by the state's highest court last year. Mann, an evangelical raised in Washington state, wept as she described her history as a sexual abuse victim dating back to when she was 16 and an older man from her church assaulted her. 'My stepfather told me that it was my fault because I turned him on and also that it would be my word against his and that would open us up to a lot.' She wound up moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting dream, and she and her roommate, Talita Maia, met Weinstein at a party sometime at the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013. 'He told me that I had a really good look. He said I was prettier than Natalie Portman. He was interested in me. He knew how to spot talent, things like that,' she said. 'I don't know, I felt like I was being discovered.' She described how he once pressured her into giving his blackhead-covered back a massage — 'I would describe it as the texture of bark' — and told the jurors about his disfigured genitals, which looked burned, and 'like he had a vagina.' After she and Maia attended an Oscar-viewing party in February 2013, the two women accompanied Weinstein to room in the Montage Hotel, she said. With Maia in another room, the movie producer cornered Mann, held her arms and performed oral sex on her. 'There was a certain point where I just wanted to get out of here, so I faked an orgasm, thinking it will make him stop, which he did,' she said. She entered into a 'relationship' with him after that, partly because she had her career and a possible part in the movie 'Vampire Academy' to think about. She didn't get that part. 'I think there was a lot of reasons that go into this. At that time initially I was very confused about what had happened. I was giving him a sense of benefit of the doubt,' Mann said. 'The other part of that is with the film on the line, I've given up so much to pursue acting…. You don't want to p–s off a very important person.' She referred to Weinstein as 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,' explaining that at times he'd validate her and encourage her, though 'the monster inside' would come out when he heard the word 'No.' The attack at the DoubleTree Hotel came while she was on vacation with an agent friend. Weinstein wanted to meet her, and he showed up one morning at the hotel desk, asking for a room she said. Panicking, she tried to signal to the hotel staff that she didn't want to go to a hotel room with Weinstein, but staff booked a room for him anyway. She followed him upstairs, she testified, and raped her. After the attack, she saw a needle in the bathroom trash, that she later learned was to restore function to his penis. She didn't tell anyone about the attack, she said, or call police, because she didn't think it would make a difference. 'I didn't think anyone would believe me. For me, the minute I told somebody, that's the minute I would really lose control,' she said, adding that she feared he had powerful friends, like former President Bill Clinton. 'I also felt like there wasn't a system that was big enough to hold him accountable…. He could just call his friends and I'd have Secret Service come to my door. I don't know. I had all these ideas.' Mann kept in touch with Weinstein throughout 2013, often showering him with compliments and lines like, 'Miss you, big guy,' in e-mails. She testified she was trying to keep him at arm's length, but didn't want to anger or reject him. She refused to take money from him when he offered, though, and declined to accept an envelope of cash he was trying to send her in 2013. 'I never took money from him. I never wanted his dirty money. I wasn't for sale,' she said. 'And I f—ing needed it. I was starving. I was really broke.' Her testimony resumes Tuesday. The Manhattan Supreme Court retrial has featured days of testimony from two other accusers, former TV production assistant Miriam Haley, and Polish model and aspiring actress Kaja Sokola. Haley also testified at Weinstein's 2020 trial, which ended with a jury finding him guilty of raping Mann and of criminal sex act based off Haley's allegations. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison, but the state state Court of Appeals overturned that conviction, ruling 4-3 that the trial court judge shouldn't have allowed testimony of 'uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes.'
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harvey Weinstein trial prosecutors call witnesses to set up testimony for accuser Jessica Mann
Prosecutors set the stage Thursday for Harvey Weinstein accuser Jessica Mann to take the stand in the disgraced movie mogul's sexual assault retrial in Manhattan. Mann, now 39, testified at Weinstein's trial in 2020 that she was trying to break into acting in 2013 when he raped her in a New York hotel on March 18, 2013, and again later that year in a Beverly Hills hotel room. She's expected to take the stand again in the retrial, after the state's highest court threw out Weinstein's guilty verdict last year. Jurors on Thursday heard from one of Weinstein's assistants, Elizabeth Perz, who testified that Weinstein invited Mann and her friend, actress and model Talita Maia, to an Oscar viewing party in February 2013. She also told jurors how Weinstein's assistants maintained a running 'FOH' or 'Friends of Harvey' list. 'A Friend of Harvey was a woman that he'd meet at events or parties or festivals or wherever,' Perz testified. Perz testified about spotting prescription bottles and empty bottles in Weinstein's bags, and when asked to describe the medications she saw, she responded, 'It's for erectile dysfunction.' Mann is expected to testify about getting into a toxic and confusing relationship with the twice-her-age movie producer after she moved to Los Angeles from Washington state, and acknowledge that several of their sexual encounters were consensual. The charges against Weinstein involve an alleged episode at a Midtown hotel in 2013 when Mann said no and Weinstein didn't listen, raping her. Jurors also heard from Marci Liroff, a longtime casting director who now works as an intimacy coordinator on film sets, who testified that she agreed to see Mann and Maia at the Weinstein Company's insistence while she was casting the 2014 film 'Vampire Academy.' She was instructed to keep Weinstein out of the casting process, but ultimately acquiesced, she said. 'I didn't think it was a wise choice … to say no to Mr. Weinstein,' she said. 'I have a career to look after.' She did so reluctantly, she said, because Mann was too tall, too old, and not a strong enough actress to play the teenage vampire 'Mia.' The part went to another actress. Weinstein's lawyer, Diana Samson, pressed Liroff on whether she resented having to see Mann, and she responded that she simply didn't have the time to see people she didn't think were right for the role. 'I did make the time because I was forced into it. Do you understand? I kept getting phone calls from the Weinstein Co. saying Harvey needs you to meet these women,' she said. The Manhattan Supreme Court retrial has featured days of testimony from two other accusers, former TV production assistant Miriam Haley, and Polish model and aspiring actress Kaja Sokola. Haley also testified at Weinstein's 2020 trial, which ended with a jury finding him guilty of raping Mann and of criminal sex act based off Haley's allegations. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison, but the state state Court of Appeals overturned that conviction, ruling 4-3 that the trial court judge, James Burke, shouldn't have allowed testimony of 'uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,'
