Damson Idris reflected on his early days working on FX’s Snowfall, and the words of inspiration he received from series creator John Singleton. Singleton died in 2019 at the age of 51.
29.01.2022 - 03:49 / variety.com
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you have watched Apple and A24’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” which is now playing in select theaters and streaming on Apple TV Plus. In “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Denzel Washington plays the titular Lord Macbeth — a Scottish nobleman whose last grasp at power ultimately leads to his downfall.In addition to memorizing Shakespeare’s powerful soliloquies (“It this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?”), the Academy Award winning actor and many in the troupe, including Corey Hawkins (Lord Macduff) and Alex Hassell (Ross), were also required to brush up on their dueling skills for the production, adapted and directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Joel Coen.
(Coen also produced the film, alongside fellow Oscar-winner Frances McDormand, who stars as Lady Macbeth.) Neither Washington nor Hawkins were master swordsmen before signing on for the Apple and A24 movie, but Hawkins had previously trained in stage combat and Washington had handled long knives in 2010’s “The Book of Eli.”“My swords were a little rusty,” Washington quipped, detailing the fight prep in an interview with Variety.If you know your Shakespeare, you’ll recall that Macbeth and Macduff face off in a duel at the end of the story. In the days building up to shooting the confrontation, he and Hawkins refined the choreography to execute the grueling fight separately.
Filming the scene marked the first time they squared off against each other.Washington described it as “a sweaty day,” explaining that, with all the leather gear the actors wore while performing take after take, he “lost some weight that day.”Hawkins was sweating for a different reason. “It was a little nerve-racking [fighting Denzel].
Damson Idris reflected on his early days working on FX’s Snowfall, and the words of inspiration he received from series creator John Singleton. Singleton died in 2019 at the age of 51.
NAACP Image Awards is ready to dole out shiny new trophies to honor the trove of Black excellence that made 2021 so special. The annual awards show highlights the achievements of people of color across television, music, literature and film, and the promotion of social justice through their creative endeavors.This year's NAACP Image Awards class is even more of a star-studded list than ever, with nominations for everyone from Megan Thee Stallion to Jonathan Majors, Ariana DeBose, Marsai Martin, Denzel Washington and more.
A lasting legacy. Chadwick Boseman was celebrated during the nominations ceremony for the 2022 Oscars nearly two years after his death.
Denzel Washington’s nomination for best actor in the Joel Cohen film The Tragedy of Macbeth marks him as the most nominated Black actor in Oscar History, with ten nominations and two wins.
Has anyone been upset they were nominated for an Academy Award? Of course not! That’s why the reactions from the 2022 Oscars nominees were filled with joy and, of course, many thanks for their collaborators. READ MORE: 2022 Academy Award Nominations [Full List] Here’s a rundown of this year’s nominee reactions.
Angelique Jackson Following a record-breaking year for diversity at the Academy Awards, with nine actors of color nabbing nominations in 2021, the 2022 lineup featured just four actors of color: Ariana DeBose, Aunjanue Ellis, Will Smith and Denzel Washington.With this latest nomination for “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Washington extended his lead as the most-nominated Black actor at the Oscars, with a total of 10 nods and two wins. Smith earned his third best actor nomination and his first nod as a producer for “King Richard.” The sports drama landed six nominations in all, as Ellis represented the film in the supporting actress category, where she was joined by fellow first-timer “West Side Story” star DeBose, who becomes the first Afro-Latina actor (and the first openly queer woman of color) ever nominated.
The Tragedy of Macbeth.The film was an adaptation of Shakespeare's tragic play, with Frances McDormand starring as Lady Macbeth opposite Washington. The Tragedy of Macbeth was also nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.
The 2022 Oscar nominations are in.
Will Smith has received his third Oscar nomination this morning, earning his place on the Best Actor list for his role in King Richard. Smith played Richard Williams, the father of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, in a story charting the early days of their careers, and his role in the movie has been a favorite with critics and guilds all season long. In addition to pending nominations from SAG, BAFTA, and Critics’ Choice, Smith has already claimed prizes from several critics groups. It is a long-overdue return to the Oscars spotlight for Smith, whose turn in Warner Bros.’ King Richard, written by Zach Baylin and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, has been recognized 15 years on from his last citation by the Motion Picture Academy.
Clayton Davis After 49 films, eight Oscar nominations, with two wins for “Glory” (1989) and “Training Day” (2001), Denzel Washington seems to still not be good enough for the Brits, getting snubbed in leading actor by the BAFTA Awards for his work in “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”Despite over 270 accolades across his 45-year career in film, Washington has never received a BAFTA nomination, one of the more obvious omissions in BAFTA’s 75-year history. While many of his slights are either head-scratching or poorly-timed with late U.K.
Clayton Davis The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) will reveal its nominations tomorrow and we’re expecting anarchy, at least in the acting categories.Beefing up its membership considerably over the last few years, and instituting jury methods to the voting process in performance and director categories last year, yielded an unexpected field of contenders that may or may not have a rippling influence on the Oscars race.Notable actors are looking for boosts from the British voting bloc, including Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”), Andrew Garfield (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” and “Tick, Tick … Boom!”) and Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”).Following the results of a diversity review, the group threw the awards season for a loop with surprise selections like Radha Blank and Adarsh Gourav last year. The top two vote-getters from Round One are automatic nominees, but we don’t know who those individuals are, nor is it clear if the jury knows either.Some leading contenders eyeing their first BAFTA nomination are Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”), who, despite two Oscar wins with eight total noms, has never been recognized by his colleagues across the pond.
From playing tennis royalty to former First Daughter Sasha Obama, Saniyya Sidney is making her mark in Hollywood this year.
NEW YORK -- There are two women who Chanté Adams always thanks before hitting the stage each night on Broadway: her grandmothers, together in a picture frame in her dressing room.“Those are my angels that kind of watch over me, my ancestors that provide guidance. It’s their prayers that got me here," she says before joining her cast at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre for “Skeleton Crew.”“There’s just something about having that photo there that makes them feel like they’re here with me and able to witness.
Stuart Miller Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” is, among other things, visually gripping, a stark, haunting dreamscape that often seems to exist outside of time. While the film is carried by Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, much has been made — justifiably — of Kathryn Hunter’s eerily limber witch: you can’t look away as she bends and contorts, calling to mind a real-life Smeagol.But the movie starts with a whiteout, and so we hear Hunter before we see her. It pulls viewers in and reinforces the notion that this nimble performance (she is echoed into all three witches) is not merely a physical marvel or a gimmick.
where has this been all my life?Did you know that Tony Scott and Denzel Washington made a time-travel thriller (complete with a car chase occurring in two different timelines) almost a decade-and-a-half before Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which starred Washington’s son John David? Well, it’s true! Co-written by “Pirates of the Caribbean” scribe Terry Rossio, “Déjà Vu” concerns the aftermath of a terrorist bombing in New Orleans (this was one of the first big post-Katrina productions in the city) with Washington’s ATF agent being sucked into an experimental government time travel project; initially it’s just surveillance but, of course, Denzel zaps himself to the past to try and prevent the tragedy. Most of the cast, including Adam Goldberg and Val Kilmer as the nerds behind the project, is operating at an 11 (perhaps in an effort to compete with Scott’s gonzo visual aesthetic), with Paula Patton adding some nice emotional nuance as a victim that could be key to the terrorist (Jim Caviezel).