OHMYGOSSIP — Samuel L. Jackson prefers to star in “popcorn movies”.
The 73-year-old actor has appeared in hit films including ‘Jurassic Park’ and the ‘Star Wars’ prequels during a prolific movie career and admits he gravitates towards flicks he would have enjoyed when he was younger.
Samuel told the I newspaper: “I don’t do a lot of cinematic character studies. I tend to do popcorn movies and movies that I would have gone to see when I was a kid, movies that make me happy. Because, I think, people go to the movies to be drawn into joy and excitement of life.”
The ‘Pulp Fiction’ star will receive an honorary Oscar at the Academy Awards later this month but has never been honoured with an actual Oscar despite appearing in more than 100 movies and he has claimed that a gong should be given for the most popular picture of the year.
He recently said: “They should have an Oscar for the most popular movie. Because that’s what the business is about.”
Samuel also claimed that winning an Academy Award would have made little difference in the grand scheme of his acting career.
He said: “(Winning one) doesn’t change your career trajectory that much. A lot of people have them and haven’t done much since.”
The ‘Last Days of Ptolemy Grey’ star also claimed that the process of making a film has been “demystified” by the rise of smartphones and has made it easier for actors to break into the industry as a result.
Samuel explained: “Even filmmaking (itself) has been demystified. It used to be like a big old mystery kind of thing: how do you make a film?
“Now, you don’t even use film. So people make movies on their phones, kids make movies in elementary school. So you demystify the process, more people do it, and it gives greater access to the public.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Nicolas Cage turned down a role in ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ multiple times.
The 58-year-old star plays a fictionalised version of himself in Tom Gormican’s upcoming movie but confessed that he had no interest in the movie until he received a letter from the filmmaker.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Nicolas said: “I turned it down three or four times.
“I wanted no part of it. But when I got Tom’s letter, then I thought, ‘OK, he’s not just trying to mock so-called Nick Cage; there is a real interest in some of the earlier work.’
“His tone was more of a celebration of some of (the actor’s iconic) moments – like being at the bottom of the pool in ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ or using the gold guns in ‘Face/Off’.”
The black comedy sees a down-on-his-luck version of Cage accept a $1 million offer from a wealthy fan (played by Pedro Pascal) to attend a party in Spain. However, he soon finds himself in a real-life action adventure with references to his past movie roles.
Nicolas insists that the character is not particularly close to his real-life persona as he would always put his family before his career.
Asked if character was like his off-screen counterpart, the ‘Wild at Heart’ star said: “Not very close. And it’s hard to put family life aside – that is the biggest departure in Tom’s movie.
“I always put my family first and I have turned down some enormous opportunities as a result of that.”
Cage recalled: “When I was in a divorce situation (in 2001 from Patricia Arquette), I wouldn’t leave (my son) Weston to be in New Zealand for three years shooting ‘The Lord of the Rings’ or ‘The Matrix’. My choice was always wanting to stay in LA and be with my son.”
Nicolas also felt that his alter ego was far too sweary in the movie.
He said: “I also said to Tom, ‘I don’t use that much profanity’. He’s got me saying the F-bomb every other sentence. Where’s this coming from? That’s not me.
“He said, ‘Neurotic Nick Cage is the best Nick Cage’. I have a lot of quiet moments at home with just my cat, reading. Do we want to show any of that? No, because it’s not fun.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Colin Farrell revealed that the COVID-19 health and safety protocols for ‘The Batman’ were “incredibly strict”.
The 45-year-old actor stars in the film as Penguin alongside Robert Pattinson, 35, as Batman, Paul Dano as Riddler and Zoe Kravitz, 33, as Catwoman.
Filming for ‘The Batman’ began in January 2020, just two months before the beginning of the global pandemic and once coronavirus took hold Warner Bros. shutdown production on March 14, 2020. and didn’t resume until mid-May, and once it did the rules in place meant that testing was constantly carried out as well as social distancing rules.
He said: “The protocols on this were incredibly strict. We broke in March when it was beginning to peak in London — we were in London. I got on one of the last planes that was allowed back into America so I could get home to my family.”
Revealing some of the specific protocols on set, he added: “[There was] testing every day, six foot rule, if we were shooting inside … every six minutes we’d get like a take and a half or two takes, and then we’d break, they’d open the windows, people would have to go outside and come back in. It was insane.
“It did change the business, but essentially at the end of the day we all adapted very quickly.”
He also joked about the headlines that said Batman had COVID when Robert Pattinson tested positive in September 2020.
On Smallzy’s ‘Celebrity Small Talk’ podcast, he revealed: “Then we broke for four or five months and went back in September I think. And then Batman got COVID, which was just an incredible headline, and we stopped again for a couple of weeks. It was a nerve wracking experience, we were all in the dark, globally, about this disease and how it was affecting people and how transmissible it was and stuff, and it was really strict.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Shawn Levy is directing ‘Deadpool 3’.
Ryan Reynolds – who plays the titular wise-cracking antihero in the blockbuster Marvel franchise – has confirmed he’s reuniting with the ‘Free Guy’ and ‘The Adam Project’ helmer on the third movie.
The 45-year-old actor tweeted a snap from ‘Deadpool’ and tweeted: “The third film in my Shawn Levy trilogy will be a tad more stabby.”
Ryan has been working on the script with ‘Bob’s Burgers’ writers the Molyneux sisters – Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin and Wendy Molyneux – and previously admitted he was having “a lot of fun” in their regular sessions.
He said: “It’s something that is just a daily process. Writing is kind of like that, you’ve gotta allot time to do it and walk away, and I’m working with the Molyneuxs on it, it’s been great.
“They’re incredibly talented and so, so smart. They so understand that world and know how to zig when everyone’s expecting a zag, so it’s been a lot of fun.”
Meanwhile, Ryan just admitted he has no interest in directing himself.
The Hollywood star doesn’t fancy following in the footsteps of his wife Blake Lively – who helmed a music video for Taylor Swift – as he thinks storytelling and producing are more important.
He said: “It genuinely doesn’t… Storytelling interests me in every way, shape, and form. Producing interests me in every way, shape, and form. Same with performing.
“And I get to work with guys like Shawn Levy. I don’t know why I would try to think I can do that on my own. That would be idiotic.”
The ‘Just Friends’ star enjoys the process of working with a director and wouldn’t want to deny himself that chance by getting behind the camera.
Ryan explained: “I also just really feel like, why would I deprive myself of that amazing collaborator? I just think that’s so important in everything that I do. I don’t ever pretend to be a person who’s just unilaterally deciding this or that.
“I love the creative process of having someone to bounce something off of. I love the creative process of trial and error, of ripping something apart and rebuilding it again. That’s the thing I’m most interested in, and I love doing that with someone.”
Shawn also explained how Ryan is deeply invested in the creative process during the making of a blockbuster.
The filmmaker said: “I really have to say, obviously Ryan has been a famous actor and a star for a long time, but I’ve never had an actual fellow producer alongside me who was as additive and is as additive to every step of the process as Ryan.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Ben Affleck “surprised” ex-girlfriend Ana de Armas throughout filming ‘Deep Water’ with the range of his acting.
The pair – who enjoyed a real-life romance after meeting on the set of the movie but split early in 2021 – play wealthy couple Vic and Melinda Van Allen in the thriller and the 33-year-old actress was very impressed with how well her co-star easily adjusted to the different tones of various scenes in the film.
Ana told TV and Satellite Week magazine: “Vic is a very complex role – his character is the engine of the story.
“Ben managed to surprise me in every scene.
“Playing Vic required him to move between tragedy and irony or between realism and the most absurd comedy and he did it with ease.”
Director Adrian Lyne recalled how his lead stars had obvious chemistry from the minute they met.
The 81-year-old filmmaker said: “I tested Ana and Ben in my house. It’s more fun to do it that way – it feels a bit more real.
“There was banter between them. It was flirtatious but angry.”
The movie had a number of racy sex scenes, which the ‘Fatal Attraction’ director knows the film is most likely to be remembered for.
He said: “I always find it difficult to detach the sex from the rest of the film.
“The thing is that people tend to remember the sex.
“In ‘Fatal Attraction’, there’s a minute of Michael Douglas and Glenn Close getting together over a sink in the kitchen.
“It’s actually only a tiny part of the movie, but that’s what people tend to take away when they leave the cinema.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — ‘Dune’ writer Jon Spaihts has hinted at a third movie.
Following the success of Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-nominated adaptation of the cult sci-fi classic, another sequel is already on the way, as well as a spin-off TV series, and now it’s been suggested it could be made into a trilogy.
The scribe told Variety: “I ended up getting moved off of it to work, not just on ‘Dune: Part 2’, but to investigate other cinematic prospects in the ‘Dune’ universe, which we are still talking about and which, again, I’m not allowed to say very much about. But it is a very rich world in which to play, and I think it is ripe with opportunities for storytelling in every direction.”
Asked if a third film is possible, he replied: “I think that’s right. There are a few tantalising strands that lead into the future and suggest that we might not be done in this universe, despite the fact that the ending of ‘Dune’ as a novel, which will be the ending of the second film, is a very satisfying conclusion.”
‘Dune: Part 2’ will see Timothee Chalamet (Paul Atreides), Rebecca Ferguson (Lady Jessica) and Zendaya (Chani) all reprising their roles, and Denis recently admitted it will be “more challenging” than the first film.
He said: “I will say it is mostly designed. The thing that helps us right now is that it’s the first time I’ve revisited a universe. So I’m working with the same crew, everybody knows what to do, we know what it will look like.
“The movie will be more challenging, but we know where we are stepping. And the screenplay is written. So I feel confident. Frankly, the only big unknown for me right now is the pandemic.”
‘Dune’ has earned 10 Oscar nominations but some fans were disgruntled by the lack of focus on the villainous Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard), which Denis claims is a result of adapting Frank Herbert’s novel across two films.
The director said: “When you adapt, you have to make bold choices in order for the things to come to life. In the second one, I want to have more flexibility, and it will be possible to go a little bit deeper into some of these details.”
Denis continued: “It’s like a chess game. Some new characters will be introduced in the second part and a decision I made very early on was that this first part would be more about Paul Atreides and the Bene Gesserit, and his experience of being in contact for the first time with a different culture.
“Second part, there will be much more Harkonnen stuff.”
Florence Pugh and Austin Butler are in talks to join the sequel, playing Princess Irulan and Feyd-Rautha, respectively.
Production is due to commence later this year, with the flick slated for release on October 20, 2023.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Jane Campion won the biggest prize at the DGA Awards on Saturday (12.03.22).
The ‘Power of the Dog’ filmmaker’s win for the Theatrical Feature Film prize at the event will now put her in the frame as frontrunner for the Best Director accolade at the Academy Awards later this month as there have been only seven times since the award was first handed out that the winner has differed from the eventual Oscar winner for directing.
Each nominee for the prestigious award – which also included Sir Kenneth Branagh (‘Belfast’), Paul Thomas Anderson (‘Licorice Pizza’), Steven Spielberg (‘West Side Story’), and Denis Villeneuve (‘Dune’) – was presented with a medallion and gave a speech at the podium at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, though the ‘Death on the Nile’ filmmaker offered a taped address as he wasn’t in attendance for the ceremony.
In her speech, Jane reflected on how much progress has been made for female filmmakers.
She said: “We often hear this time of year about ‘first this’ and ‘second that’ — glass ceilings that are left shattered left and right in this industry.
“The road here has been long. I remember being the only woman in the room. I remember that outsider feeling as I fought to get my stories told, to bring dynamic stories from underserved perspectives to light.
“I think it’s perhaps a time to claim a sense of victory on that front. We’ve come so far and what’s more, we’re never going backwards. That sense of the eternal horizon, that spectrum of possibility invigorates me. I hope it invigorates you as well.”
Elsewhere at the ceremony, which was hosted by Judd Apatow, Maggie Gyllenhall was recognised with the First Time Feature Film award for Netflix’s ‘The Lost Daughter’, while Stanley Nelson picked up the Documentary prize for ‘Attica’.
The TV Movie or Limited Series accolade went to Barry Jenkins for ‘The Underground Railroad’, while Lucia Aniello earned the Comedy Series award for an episode of ‘Hacks’.
Mark Mylod campaigned for a British equivalent of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) when he accepted the Dramatic Series prize for the ‘All the Bells Say’ episode of ‘Succession’, one of the show’s five nominations in the category alongside a single episode of ‘The White Lotus’.
He said: “When I first came here [to America], things were quite low in my personal life.
“Coming to work here and joining the DGA literally did change my life. So thank you to all of you and thank you to that institution. I wish Britain could have something as strong, and I hope it will one day.”
Spike Lee was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Motion Picture Direction, and he dedicated the accolade to his grandfather’s sister’s son, Maceo A. Walker, who he found through making ‘Miracle at St. Anna’.
He said: “He was in Company 1, 3rd Battalion, 366 infantry regiment, 92nd infantry division, one of the Buffalo Soldiers, private 1st class,” Lee said. “He was killed in action on February 10th, 1945. He was only 20 years old. Here’s another example of how African Americans have fought and died for this country. We love a country that always hasn’t loved us. So this award goes to Pvt 1st Class Maceo A. Walker.”
Joseph Reidy and Garry Hood received Special DGA Awards for their contributions to the guild.

74th DGA Awards selected list of winners:
Theatrical Feature Film:
Jane Campion – ‘The Power of the Dog’

Dramatic Series:
Mark Mylod – ‘Succession’ (Episode: ‘All the Bells Say’)

Movies for Television and Limited Series:
Barry Jenkins – ‘The Underground Railroad’

Comedy Series:
Lucia Aniello – ‘Hacks’ (Epsiode: ‘There is No Line’)

First-Time Feature Film Director:
Maggie Gyllenhaal – ‘The Lost Daughter’

Documentary:
Stanley Nelson – ‘Attica’

Reality Programmes:
Adam Vetri – ‘Getaway Drive’ (Episode: ‘Electric Shock’)

Children’s Programmes:
Smriti Mundhra – ‘Through Our Eyes’ (‘Episode: ‘Shelter’)

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OHMYGOSSIP — Mark Rylance took inspiration from Sacha Baron Cohen when shooting ‘The Phantom of the Open’.
The 62-year-old actor plays Maurice Flitcroft – a crane operator who entered the British Open golf tournament in 1976 on a whim – and he knew it was important to get the tone of his character right.
Explaining his approach to the character, Mark said: “I know Sacha Baron Cohen, who I’ve worked with once, makes lots of different takes, trying different timings as I would on- stage.
“It takes a number of performances before you find the right timing, the right mix of words, for a line to get a response.”
Mark was fascinated by Maurice when he did his research.
He told the Big Issue magazine: “There’s some lovely YouTube stuff, hilarious interviews he did. You can’t tell whether he’s taking the p*** or being sincere.
“Yet he absolutely seems to think he’s as good as Seve Ballesteros on a good day, although he’s never played a round of golf.”
Meanwhile, Mark recently shot scenes as Satan in Terrence Malick’s ‘The Way of the Wind’.
But because of the way of the director works, he has no idea if he’s made the final cut.
He said: “Terrence is very private in terms of his process. No one knows.
“And remember ‘The Thin Red Line’?
“I think the actor who was cast as the lead went to the premiere and was totally cut from the film.
“There are four or five Satans so I may not even be in it. And that’s fine.
“’Don’t Look Up’ had whole scenes cut. It’s like cooking a meal. The bits of vegetables you don’t need end up in the compost.”

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