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Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Only four teenagers have won Emmys. ‘Adolescence' star Owen Cooper deserves to join them
'Adolescence' co-creator Stephen Graham isn't exactly shy when it comes to praising Owen Cooper, the young actor at the center of his hit Netflix limited series. 'This may be a big thing to say, but I haven't seen a performance [of this caliber] from someone so young since Leo [DiCaprio] in 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape,'' Graham tells me via Zoom. 'And I say that because I love Leo and he's a good friend. And that's a performance beyond someone his age. It's the same when I watch Owen.' Not content to leave it at that, Graham later points out that he recently related a story on Graham Norton's BBC talk show about the time he told Cooper's mom that her son was the 'next Robert De Niro.' Cooper happened to be on the show too, taking it all in, smiling shyly. And wouldn't you know it, De Niro was there as well, sitting next to Cooper on the couch, giving him a tender pat on the knee. So, DiCaprio, De Niro ... Do you want to drop a Brando comparison to complete the trifecta? I ask. 'I can't find enough superlatives to describe the boy,' says Graham, who also co-wrote the show and stars as his father. Honestly, I can't either. Apart from Noah Wyle's heroic, beleaguered doctor in 'The Pitt,' you could make the case that Cooper's turn as Jamie, a 13-year-old accused of murdering a classmate, is the year's best work on television. The show's third episode, a two-hander where Jamie is interviewed and evaluated by a psychologist (Erin Doherty) at a juvenile detention facility, is an astonishing showcase, particularly when you consider that it, like all four of the series' episodes, is shot as a continuous scene. It also bears mentioning that 'Adolescence' marks Cooper's professional debut as an actor. He is now 15. It's an extraordinary story, though you have to wonder if some Emmy voters will see it that way. The Emmys have not embraced child actors over the years, with only four teenagers winning trophies: Roxana Zal, 14 when she won for her supporting role in the 1984 TV movie 'Something About Amelia'; Kristy McNichol, 15 and 17 at the time of her two supporting drama actress wins for the 1970s series 'Family'; Scott Jacoby, 16, for the 1972 TV movie 'That Certain Summer'; and Anthony Murphy for the 1971 British limited series 'Tom Brown's Schooldays.' Murphy was 17 when he won and, like Cooper, had never acted professionally. And after 'Tom Brown's Schooldays,' he never acted again, pursuing painting instead and enjoying a long career in that medium. Perhaps that explains Emmy voters' reluctance to go all in and reward young actors. Are they in it for the long haul? Or are they going to do something crazy like go off to college and chase a more stable career, like ... just about any other line of work? With Cooper, such concerns appear to be unfounded. Since 'Adolescence,' he has made a BBC comedy, 'Film Club,' starring Aimee Lou Wood, and just finished playing young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell's upcoming adaptation of Emily Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights.' Fennell obviously saw the tortured antihero that everyone else did in 'Adolescence.' Easy to see that now. But finding the next De Niro from a pool of 500 to 600 young actors, most of them unknowns, almost all of them around Jamie's age, was a taller order. Graham says the casting team had considered looking for an older boy, given the demands of the role and the show's unsettling subject matter. 'But that age is unique,' Graham says. 'It's that breaking point. Your body is changing. Your voice is changing. We needed that authenticity.' That's all well and good. But what was it like for Doherty, a veteran actor with many credits — including Princess Anne in 'The Crown' — to take on a single-shot, 52-minute episode requiring her to parry and push and prod a young actor on his first job? 'It was definitely the cause of most of my nerves before I met Owen,' Doherty tells me. 'I was so unflinchingly aware that it is a huge ask, even for an actor who has been doing it for 40 years.' Then she met him on the first day of rehearsal, and Doherty, who says she is obsessed with the elements, saw that Cooper was a 'very earthy human being.' Grounded. Present. Real. They rehearsed for two weeks and then spent a week shooting the episode, Monday through Friday, two takes a day. They used the last take. Probably because they felt confident they had already nailed it, Doherty says that last time through was like they were 'doing it for free.' 'There was more of a playful dynamic between the two of us,' Doherty says. 'We were poking each other in ways we hadn't done before.' As Doherty's psychologist nudges Jamie to recognize truths about himself that he doesn't want to acknowledge and admit that he holds certain toxic beliefs, you see Cooper shift Jamie from guarded innocence to explosive rage and then to surrendering desperation. There are a lot of showy moments, but one of the best comes shortly after the two characters meet when Jamie lets out a yawn. 'Am I boring you?' she asks. Look at that self-satisfied smile on his face. 'That was the only time he did that,' Doherty says. 'And Owen was probably genuinely tired. But also, I'm thinking, 'This kid Jamie is really trying to push my buttons.' We were really playing a cat-and-mouse game.' With young actors, there's sometimes the perception that the director is guiding them — which, of course, is the director's job with any actor. But in that moment, you see Cooper using an accident and turning it into something malevolent. 'Owen has an unspoken magic,' Doherty says. 'That's nothing to do with his age. He has something that can't be taught, and it's always going to be with him.'
Hindustan Times
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
How world's highest-paid actor lost $650 million, spent $30K a month on wine, bought islands, faced $100 million debt
There was a time in the late 2000s and early 2010s when Johnny Depp could do no wrong. The actor was riding on the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and has also been cast as Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts series. As a star of two billion-dollar franchise, his star was shining bright. He was the highest-paid actor in the world and one of the richest as well. But then it all went downhill, spiralling out in a way that left the Hollywood superstar on the verge of bankruptcy. Making his debut as a teen heartthrob in the 80s, Johnny Depp worked his way up in Hollywood with critically acclaimed performances in the 90s in films like Edward Scissorhands, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Ed Wood and Donnie Brasco. But it was the Pirates of the Caribbean series (starting in 2003) that made him a global superstar. He added Public Enemies and Finding Neverland to his repertoire. In 2012, the Guinness Book of World Records recognised him as the highest-paid actor in the world, with earnings of $75 million. After he was cast in the Fantastic Beasts series, it was expected to go even higher. Around 2014, Forbes estimated Johnny Depp's net worth at $900 million, making him one of the richest actors in the world. TMG responded with a cross-complaint that called the actor 'spendthrift of epic proportions' and said he refused to control his 'selfish, reckless, and irresponsible lifestyle' despite warnings from his manager. The expenses were over $2 million a month, TMG claimed, including $30,000 a month on wine 'flown to him around the world'. Other big purchases included private islands and jewellery worth millions. TMG claimed that his exorbitant spending cost the actor more money than he was earning. In his legal battle against ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp admitted that he lost over $650 million in net worth over time. At one point, the actor had even incurred debts of over $100 million. Johnny Depp is attempting a comeback today after his financial troubles and long legal battle with Amber Heard. As per Variety, his net worth is now a relatively modest $150 million. The 61-year-old is currently filming Marc Webb's Day Drinker, which will be releasing in 2026. The film also stars Penélope Cruz and Madelyn Cline.
Buzz Feed
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
23 Movies To Watch When You Need A Good, Snot-Dripping Ugly Cry
Warning: The list below will spoil certain movies! Read at your own risk! Let's be honest: sometimes you just need a good ugly cry every now and then. So, when Reddit user MoneyLibrarian9032 asked: "What is the most depressing scene ever?" over 10k people shared their movies. Here's what they said below. 1. " The Land Before Time. You know which scene." View this video on YouTube 2. "Opening montage of Up. No lines or words spoken. Just 10 minutes of love, loss, and unfulfilled dreams. Heartbreakingly beautiful." View this video on YouTube 3. "For me, the scene in What's Eating Gilbert Grape: when the mom realizes what everyone thinks about her weight. Then there's one after where it shows her at home, kind of processing feelings that make me feel very, very, very bad for her." 6. "When Shadow gives up climbing out of the mud pit. [ Homeward Bound. ]" View this video on YouTube 7. "'Brooks was here.' I wept. The Shawshank Redemption." View this video on YouTube 9. " Lilo and Stitch. In the scene where Stitch is leaving the house with the ugly duckling book, she says, 'I'll remember you, though, I remember everyone who leaves.' I know the ending is happy, but the sadness in her voice paired with Stitch's depression and uncertainty because he believes he's causing the destruction of their lives when he's just trying to be himself and also protect himself, kills me inside. It's such a deep moment for a Disney film, and it hurts even thinking about it. It's such a beautiful moment of him sacrificing his own future for the sake of theirs." 11. "Neil Perry killing himself in Dead Poets Society." View this video on YouTube 13. " Jojo Rabbit is such a beautiful movie! Fun and charming at times, and absolutely devastating at others. Perfect movie." View this video on YouTube 14. "There are so many, but the scene in Dumbo where the mother cradles him from behind the bars destroyed me. A few years back, I was protesting outside (peacefully, just holding placards) of a circus that still used live animals, and they had an elephant that was so stressed, and I thought of her." View this video on YouTube 15. " Grave of the Fireflies." View this video on YouTube 16. "The scene in Gladiator, where Maximus comes home to find his wife and little boy slaughtered and hanging. Any dog death in a movie just kills me; I usually can't even watch them: I Am Legend, for instance." View this video on YouTube 19. "In Encanto, when they're giving abuela's backstory, and you see her village leaving but being pursued by the bad guys. Abuelo sees what's happening, kisses his babies goodbye, and goes to stop the riders. Whew. Just got dusty in here." View this video on YouTube 21. " Cast Away. When Tom Hanks' character loses Wilson. I don't even remember what the majority of the movie was like because the last time I saw it, I was super young. However, that screaming and fighting to get Wilson back, only to watch as Wilson drifts away slowly, will always be burned into my memory." View this video on YouTube Is there a movie that makes you cry unbelievably hard every time you watch it? Tell us what it is in the comments or anonymously in the Google form below.
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The Independent
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
The Basketball Diaries at 30: How Leonardo DiCaprio started – and abandoned – his ‘bad boy' era
Leonardo DiCaprio may have been born in 1974, but he was made in the 1990s. Over the course of just a few years, DiCaprio went from total unknown to household name. Everyone remembers the Oscar-nominated turn as a learning-disabled child in What's Eating Gilbert Grape; his role as Claire Danes's star-cross'd paramour in the whizzy, revisionist Romeo + Juliet; and, of course, Titanic, that unsinkable behemoth of a romantic blockbuster. Fewer people, however, are likely to remember The Basketball Diaries, released 30 years ago today. But that film endures as a curious detour for the actor – the apex of DiCaprio's hurriedly aborted 'bad boy' era. For much of the first half of The Basketball Diaries, DiCaprio's insouciant athlete is almost a caricature of a teenage rebel: he fights; he smokes; he steals; he smoulders. An early scene sees him hunched over at the front of a classroom, receiving a robust rear-end paddling from a starchy Catholic schoolmaster. The bell rings. 'Too bad, Father,' DiCaprio's character smirks. 'I was just starting to enjoy myself.' He and his delinquent cronies (James Madio, Patrick McGaw, and a just-out-of-Funky-Bunch Mark Wahlberg) then skive off school for the day; we watch as DiCaprio perches on the back of a moving bus, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. The film veers into darker territory, as DiCaprio's character becomes addicted to heroin and lives on the streets. It's all in all something of a mixed bag: unevenly paced, self-consciously edgy, and lacquered with histrionic cliché. Put this together with the film's meagre commercial performance and it's unsurprising that The Basketball Diaries islittle more than a footnote in the scheme of DiCaprio's career. (It may in fact be best known for a dream sequence depicting a school shooting, which later prompted lawsuits in the wake of two real-life shootings.) But it's noteworthy just how rare it was to see DiCaprio explore a character this smarmy and obnoxious. Not too long after The Basketball Diaries was released, DiCaprio signed on to Woody Allen's Celebrity – another instance of his apple-cheeked persona breaking bad. (Back in the 1990s, Allen films were of course a hugely attractive proposition for any actor, not fraught with ignominy as they are today.) The glossy black-and-white comedy cast Kenneth Branagh as an archetypical Allen nebbish, and DiCaprio, in a supporting role, as a bratty and mercurial A-lister. By that point, DiCaprio and his social circle (a group of young, mostly male celebs including Tobey Maguire, future Entourage star Kevin Connolly, and the magician David Blaine) were the subject of significant tabloid attention. Celebrity 's metatextual overtones were hard to miss – hot young superstar DiCaprio playing hot young superstar Brandon Darrow – even if the extremity of the character's hotel-room-trashing behaviour was a fabrication of the film. The late 1990s also saw a protracted dispute over Don's Plum, a bizarre and unpleasant indie film starring DiCaprio, Maguire, and other members of their friend group (who styled themselves, if tabloid reports were to be believed, as the 'p***y posse'). It's perhaps the grimmest iteration of DiCaprio's edgelord phase; one moment sees DiCaprio's character yell at Amber Benson that he will 'f***ing throw a bottle' at her face, calling her a 'goddamn wh***.' The film was panned by critics, but its release was infamously blocked, with its actors claiming to have participated in the understanding that they were making a short film, not a feature. There would be other roles for DiCaprio that loosely fit the 'bad boy' remit – his thrill-seeking globetrotter in The Beach had elements of this, certainly – but it never played to his strengths. (He was nearly cast as the lead in the 2000 adaptation of American Psycho – a prospect that would have really put his capacity for nastiness through its paces.) In the Nineties, he was defined by a sort of boyish, approachable-but-not-too-earthy confidence; it's what makes his Romeo, and the plucky Jack in Titanic, such winning romantic leads. He seems too much the pretty boy to be a natural fit for malignity, and it's no surprise that the 2000s saw him largely pivot back to more likeable leading-man roles. From the very offset, DiCaprio has never really been an actor with a rigid persona. It's significant that his breakthrough – playing the learning-disabled Arnie in What's Eating Gilbert Grape – was a distinct, mannered performance, more befitting a 'character actor' than a movie star. As the 1990s progressed, and he became a little more consistent in his choices, his forays into antiheroism can perhaps be seen as an effort to resist Hollywood's natural pigeonholing. Later in his career, he would branch out into scumbaggery with greater success, in projects such as Django Unchained and The Wolf of Wall Street. Here's a coincidence for you: The Basketball Diaries is in fact one of two entirely separate projects in which DiCaprio is spanked with a paddle. The second is 2023's Killers of the Flower Moon, wherein DiCaprio's character – a spineless, selfish and dimwitted poisoner – is given a paddlin' by his uncle (Robert DeNiro) in a masonic ritual. The difference between these two scenes is actually rather illuminating. In The Basketball Diaries, we watch DiCaprio's character bear the punishment with a kind of defiant cheek we are supposed to find charming. In Killers of the Flower Moon, it's a silly and embarrassing spectacle for all involved. Watch DiCaprio in any recent film, and it's noteworthy just how uninterested he is in preserving his own dignity. It's a shamelessness that he hadn't yet mastered back in the days of The Basketball Diaries, or even Celebrity. In something like The Basketball Diaries, we see the seeds of the performer that DiCaprio would one day become. He just had to wait a couple of decades for those seeds to sprout.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Bitter' Corey Feldman claims Johnny Depp cost him ‘What's Eating Gilbert Grape' role by telling producers he was a ‘junkie'
This has been eating Corey Feldman up for a long time. The actor, 53, appeared on Billy Corgan's 'The Magnificent Others' podcast this week and claimed he was originally set to star alongside Johnny Depp in 1993's 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' — but Depp, 61, allegedly sabotaged his opportunity. 'I was actually cast to play Leonardo DiCaprio's role,' Feldman shared. 'I never saw the film because I'm still bitter. Bitter leaf in that one. But yes, I was originally cast for that role.' 'Did they push you out?' Corgan, 58, asked. 'Johnny Depp,' Feldman said. 'He was cast after I was, and apparently whispered into the producers' ear that he wasn't fond of me.' Feldman claimed of Depp, 'He said that I was a junkie and that he didn't work with junkies. And this is the first time I've ever telling this story, so I'm sure I'm gonna get hung by this one.' As a young actor, Feldman dealt with alcohol and drug abuse. He previously said his addiction started from being sexually abused in Hollywood. Feldman spent 10 months in rehab for his heroin addiction. In 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape,' the coming-of-age drama directed by Lasse Hallström, Depp plays a grocery store clerk who cares for his family, including his disabled younger brother Arnie (DiCaprio). The film also stars Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen, John C. Reilly and Darlene Cates. Feldman said on the podcast that, despite Depp's alleged claims to producers, he 'was sober' when he was up for the role of Arnie. 'I had just gotten sober. I had just turned my life around,' he insisted. 'And in fact, [I] was trying to help River [Phoenix] at the time, who he was running with at the time. As we all know, River's last night on Earth was at Johnny's establishment.' Phoenix, who struggled with addiction, overdosed at Depp's LA nightclub, the Viper Room, on Halloween in 1993. He was 23 years old. 'So as you can imagine, there was a bit of a thorn in the side on that one,' Feldman continued. 'And, had I not been pushed out and done that role, who knows what would have happened from that point forward.' Feldman noted that 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' scored DiCaprio, 50, his first Oscar nomination in his career. 'There was a bitter tea there,' Feldman added about allegedly being cut from the film, 'but that said, you don't hang on those, you get past 'em.' The Post has reached out to Depp's rep for comment. Feldman went on to reveal that he and DiCaprio faced off for another movie role not long after 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape.' 'Ironically, just a couple years later, I also was up for 'Titanic', so there was kind of a double banger with Leo,' he said to Corgan. 'But that was OK, because that one I wasn't as close,' he admitted. 'I was up for it, I read for it, I know that I was in the contention somewhere.' Feldman said he was also in the mix to play Samwise Gamgee in 'The Lord of the Rings,' but the job ultimately went to his 'Goonies' co-star Sean Astin. 'I was actually up for Sean's role, and I heard I got pretty close on that as well,' he recalled. 'Although I couldn't have gained the weight, so I'll give him that. He did a great job aesthetically being able to add that weight. It's something I cannot physically do.'
