Sydney Sweeney Tours Rome, Visits Historical Sites for New Photoshoot

Willem Dafoe is keeping it real in his acting. So real, that when a scene required a slap from costar Emma Stone, he had her practice on him 20 times. More amazing, the slap is off-camera in the film.

Emma Stone is speaking out about her experience working with her co-star Willem Dafoe in their upcoming movie, "And." The two have also previously appeared in "Poor Things."  "There’s this instinct to perform that many actors have — the ‘Look at me, look at me!’ kind of performer," Stone told the New York Times. "He’s the opposite of that.

EXCLUSIVE: Abramorama and Giant Pictures have acquired North American rights to Nuclear Now, the latest documentary from 3x Academy Award winner Oliver Stone, which premiered (as Nuclear) at last year’s Venice Film Festival.  

And, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Favourite). In a profile interview with Dafoe by The New York Times, it’s revealed that Dafoe asked to be slapped repeatedly for a scene where Stone slaps his character, despite him being off camera in the shot.In the interview, it’s described how Dafoe “insisted that the move would look more genuine if he were actually being slapped”, and that he took the staged hit 20 times.“That’s what you want from actors,” Lanthimos said about Dafoe being on set even when he’s not required to be.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Emma Stone hasn’t acted in a film since 2021’s “Cruella,” but that will soon change thanks to two new collaborations with her “The Favourite” director Yorgos Lanthimos. The first is “Poor Things,” a Frankenstein-inspired story in which Stone plays a woman whose brain gets replaced by that of her unborn child, and the second is “And,” plot details for which remain under wraps. In both films, Stone stars opposite Willem Dafoe. But it was only “And” that required Stone to slap Dafoe across the face 20 times. In a new Dafoe profile published by The New York Times, it’s revealed that Dafoe asked to be slapped repeatedly for a scene in which he does not even appear on camera. Stone slaps Dafoe’s character, who is off camera in the shot. But that didn’t stop Dafoe from wanting to be present on set even though he wasn’t required to be there.

Moving on! Real Housewives of Miami star Lisa Hochstein has found new love with boyfriend Jody Glidden amid her ongoing divorce from ex Lenny Hochstein.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor If you’ve been to enough concerts, there’s a feeling you recognize when a new-ish artist’s career is about to blast off — when the audience isn’t just singing along with the hit but with nearly every song, half of them with hands over hearts, many dressed in the artist’s merch or artist-identifying outfits, and at least a few singing emphatically, with tears and/or mascara running. That feeling isn’t always accurate, but it was present at Billie Eilish concerts in 2019 and Lorde’s club shows in 2013 and even the Killers almost 20 years ago — and without setting the bar unfairly high, it was definitely in the air Chappell Roan’s packed concert at New York’s 1,500-capacity Webster Hall on Tuesday night.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Nick Panella has been named the leader of a new podcast and audio group at Agency for the Performing Arts, Variety can report exclusively.  Panella joins the company from Workhouse Media, where he worked extensively with names like Shonda Rhimes, Ellen DeGeneres, “Modern Family” co-creator Chris Lloyd and Oprah Winfrey.  Announced by APA’s head of content development Kyle Loftus, the hire is yet another strategic move from the agency to pick up slack lost in CAA’s acquisition of ICM Partners, the hulking-up of Endeavor, and other dramatic shifts in the representation landscape. Panella has produced over 2,000 podcast episodes and led Workhouse clients to over 1 billion downloads, the agency said.

Sydney Sweeney‘s outfit is partially covered by giant umbrellas as she arrives for a top secret project in Sydney, Australia on Friday (February 24).

Rachel Brosnahan and Oscar Isaac are celebrating their new off-Broadway show!

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has announced that he is launching a new podcast.Entitled This Little Light, the 15-part series will see him sharing his musical memories with the likes of Rick Rubin, Cynthia Erivo, Thundercat, Patti Smith, and Margo Price on topics including first teachers, early influences, experiences, and how all these lessons shaped their creativity and careers.A portion of the proceeds from the podcast will go towards the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a non-profit music school and organisation that Flea founded in 2001.“I wanted to do This Little Light to benefit my music school, the Silverlake Conservatory of Music,” Flea said in a statement via Rolling Stone. “The idea behind it being music education, falling in love with music and embarking on a musical journey for your life.

Lise Pedersen The Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival, also known as CPH:DOX, has unveiled the full program of its 20th edition, which includes 200 new films, more than half of which are world premieres, sealing CPH:DOX’s reputation as one of the leading events of its kind in Europe. For the first time, all 13 films competing for the top Dox:Award are world premieres. These include “A Storm Foretold,” the long-awaited doc on Donald Trump’s former adviser Roger Stone by Danish political journalist Christopher Guldbrandsen; established filmmaker Margreth Olin’s highly anticipated epic film “Songs of the Earth”; “A Tiger in Paradise,” a surreal journey into Swedish singer José González’ inner world by Ruben Östlund’s regular creative partners Mikel Cee Karlsson and Erik Hemmendorff; and “Total Trust” by Jialing Zhang (“One Child Nation”), described as “the first major film about the Chinese surveillance state (…) – a disturbing tale of technology, (self-) censorship and abuse of power in the 21st century.”

Shayeza Walid Acclaimed New York-based theater director Tina Satter has worked on productions on and off Broadway for more than a decade. Now, in her first ever venture into film, Satter makes her directorial debut with “Reality,” starring Sydney Sweeney, based on Satter’s play “Is This a Room.” The film premiered Saturday at the Berlin Film Festival with Variety critic Jessica Kiang calling it a “clever, gripping docudrama.” For Satter, who co-wrote the screenplay with James Paul Dallas, making this movie was always in the books. The film, based on the real-life FBI interrogation transcript of whistleblower Reality Winner, is one Satter could envision the first time she came across the documents of the conversation between Winner and the Federal Bureau.

Sydney Sweeney showed off some skin while attending a photocall for her new movie Reality during the Berlinale International Film Festival.

Sydney Sweeney is hard at work filming her new movie!

youngest self-made billionaire, fashion mogul and mom, just to name a few.But she hasn’t forgotten about the one that made her famous: popstar.In a new interview for British Vogue’s March cover story, Rihanna, 34, opened up about motherhood, her Super Bowl gig and the ever-present question of new music on the horizon.The Barbadian singer hasn’t released an album since “ANTI” in 2016, and confessed in the new interview that there’s a lot of “pressure” to put out a follow-up record, saying “that if it’s not better than that then it is not even worth it.”“I realized that if I keep waiting until this feels right and perfect and better, maybe it’s going to keep taking forever and maybe it’ll never come out and no, I’m not down to that. So I want to play.

Rihanna just gave a wide-ranging interview to British Vogue for their March 2023 issue, on newsstands on February 21. She covered the mag alongside her partner A$AP Rocky and their son!

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, whose statements on transgender people have drawn widespread criticism over the years as transphobic – including from some of the Potter film franchise’s biggest stars – now says her viewpoint has been “profoundly” misunderstood.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor J.K. Rowling, nearly two years after she ignited a firestorm over her comments widely perceived as denigrating transgender people, is speaking out about the controversy in a new podcast — and claims that fans have “profoundly” misunderstood her point of view. In the forthcoming podcast, “The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling,” Rowling says, “What has interested me in recent years, particularly on social media [is when fans say], ‘You’ve ruined your legacy. Oh, you could have been beloved forever, but you chose to say this.’ And I think: ‘You could not have misunderstood me more profoundly.’” Rowling, in the trailer for the podcast, says, “I never set out to upset anyone. However, I was not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal.”

Sharon Stone's younger brother Patrick Stone has died. On Monday, editors at TMZ reported that the Hollywood actress's sibling passed away "suddenly" on Sunday morning. A representative for the coroner's office told the outlet that Patrick's death is being treated as "sudden cardiac death due to heart disease".