Michael Kopsa, a Canadian actor whose roles on hit and cult-favorite like The X-Files, Highlander, Smallville and Stargate SG-1 made him an immediately recognizable TV presence, died Sunday, Oct. 23, of complications from a brain tumor. He was 66.
07.10.2022 - 21:17 / variety.com
Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Josh Gordon and Will Speck’s live-action musical “Lyle Lyle Crocodile” lives up to it name. The story, about a crocodile named Lyle voiced by Shawn Mendes that can dance and sing, features songs penned by the award-winning Justin Paul and Benj Pasek. The dup then brought in a team of songwriters to carve out toe-tapping, infectious earworms. From the get-go songwriting and composing duo Pasek and Paul knew Lyle would be a singing crocodile which made the project all the more exciting for them. “But when the voice actor became Shawn Mendes, that really informed a lot of the style and what we were going to write for,” explains Pasek.
With Mendes attached, the writers behind “The Greatest Showman” and “Dear Evan Hansen,” could blend musical theater with contemporary pop. “The aim was to create something with his voice,” says Pasek.
The next step was assembling a group of writers — Ari Afsar, Emily Gardner Xu Hall, Mark Sonnenblick, and Joriah Kwamé — to help crack the tunes. The pandemic precipitated an unconventional collaboration, with the songwriters working over Zoom and Google docs, and only meeting for the first time at the recent New York premiere. One of the first songs written was “Take a Look at us Now,” a charming and energetic anthem performed by Javier Bardem’s Hector, a showman and magician oozing razzle-dazzle. The tune is likely to be an original song contender. Pasek says the team was searching for a phrase that could be a big showy moment up top, but double for the relationships between Hector and Lyle, and later Josh (Winslow Fegley) who inherits Lyle after Hector skips town. As they were looking for a hook, Kwamé suggested, “What if the song is called ‘Take a Look at Us
Michael Kopsa, a Canadian actor whose roles on hit and cult-favorite like The X-Files, Highlander, Smallville and Stargate SG-1 made him an immediately recognizable TV presence, died Sunday, Oct. 23, of complications from a brain tumor. He was 66.
Jules Bass, whose work as a producer and director of stop-motion and animated television specials such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town and The Year Without A Santa Claus has become an integral part of the holiday season for generations, died today in Rye, New York, of age-related illnesses. He was 87.
Jonathan Martin is returning to Politico after almost a decade at The New York Times.
During a televised debate on Sunday night, Democratic candidate Marcus Flowers accused House Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of being at least partially responsible for the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, citing as evidence Greene’s false and oft-repeated stance that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.
In 2011, I was shot in the head while meeting with constituents. In 2013, two years to the day from being shot and a month after the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, I founded a gun violence prevention organization today known as Giffords. I’ve spent the past 10 years fighting for gun safety — and I’m also a gun owner.
Ethan Shanfeld Not much is known about Nintendo’s upcoming “Super Mario Bros.” movie, but Keegan-Michael Key revealed to Variety that his character Toad has a musical moment in the film. When asked if Toad shows off his singing chops in the animated movie, Key said, “He does. I got to improvise a song in ‘Super Mario Bros.,’ which was an absolute blast. That was just a stick of fun, that whole thing.” Regarding Toad’s voice, Key said, “I was working on the voice with my partner and trying to find the voice through the internal journey of the character. And then with the directors [Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic], we sprinkled some things in, we moved it around.”
Actor Anthony Rapp got emotional in a New York courtroom on Wednesday. Rapp testified Wednesday that he decided to publicly reveal a 30-year-old encounter with Kevin Spacey because he knew he wasn’t the only person Spacey had made inappropriate sexual advances on. Toward the end of the third day of testimony in the civil sex abuse lawsuit Rapp brought against Spacey in Manhattan federal court, his voice shook as he commented in response to a question about his motivations.
Jessica Chastain, who plays a nurse in her latest film, said she feels nurses have been “forgotten about” following the pandemic. The American actress, 45, stars in The Good Nurse, which follows the true story of nurse Amy Loughren, who becomes suspicious that her colleague, played by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne, is responsible for a series of patient deaths. The crime drama, directed by Tobias Lindholm, tells the story of serial killer Charlie Cullen and is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Charles Graeber.
Paramount+ today debuted the official mid-season trailer for season one of its original animated kids’ series, Star Trek: Prodigy. The trailer was introduced by executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman, during the “Star Trek” universe panel at New York Comic Con.
Emma Stone didn’t receive a warm welcome while attending the first post-season game for the New York Mets.
Third time is the charm? The Super Mario Bros. Movie has been a major topic of conversation ahead of its release — from the mysterious plot to lead actor Chris Pratt‘s accent in the film.
Mindy Kaling and Constance Wu sat down at HBO Max’s Velma panel during New York Comic Con 2022 on Wednesday (October 6) in New York City.
Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Samuel L. Jackson, Laurence Fishburne, Whoopi Goldberg and Zendaya are just some of the stars who appear in Elvis Mitchell’s “Is That Black Enough for You?” Netflix documentary. Mitchell’s doc bows this weekend at the New York Film Festival. Mitchell, a film critic who has written for LA Weekly and The New York Times takes on the role of writer, director and narrator as he traces the history of Black representation in cinema. The documentary examines Black cultural achievement in the 1960s and ’70s and debunks the notion that Black cinema in that period only meant Blaxploitation films.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Bethenny Frankel says she’s had enough of scammers on TikTok using her voice, image or content to sell counterfeit products. The entrepreneur and star of “The Real Housewives of New York” filed a federal lawsuit against ByteDance’s TikTok, the hugely popular short-form video app, alleging that TikTok has ignored her requests to remove unauthorized content that misappropriates her likeness. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, demands unspecified monetary damages and a permanent injunction barring TikTok from misusing the “personas, voices, content and/or likenesses” of Frankel and other potential members of the class. “Despite demands on TikTok to remove and police this corrupt conduct, TikTok has ignored such demands, and even taken countervailing positions,” Frankel’s lawsuit says. “Aside from not being compensated, the reputation and brand of Ms. Frankel and Class Members are being damaged and tarnished through unauthorized associations with counterfeit goods and other products that they do not support.”