Jessica Williams Joins ‘Shrinking’ Apple TV+ Series; James Ponsoldt To Direct & Exec Produce

Thania Garcia Pharrell Williams has announced the return of his summer music festival “Something in the Water,” produced by Redrock Entertainment and Live Nation.The festival will take place in Washington, DC on Juneteenth weekend (June 17-19) with the rapper and producer included on a lineup that also features Lil Baby, Chloe x Halle, Lil Uzi Vert, Tierra Whack, Run the Jewels, Pusha T, Dave Matthews Band, and more (See the full lineup below).The festival first opened its stages in Williams’ hometown of Virginia Beach back in 2019, however, the festival has since been relocated to Washington, D.C.In a press statement released last October, Williams shared that the festival would not take place in Virginia due to “toxic energy” from local authorities. The fallout was a result of the March 2021 death of Donovon Lynch, Williams’ cousin, who was killed by a Virginia Beach police officer not wearing an active body camera amid other alleged affairs.

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Urie (Ugly Betty), Luke Tennie (CSI: Vegas) and Lukita Maxwell (Generation) round out the main cast of Apple TV+’s comedy series Shrinking, joining previously announced stars Jason Segel, who also serves as writer and executive producer, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams and Christa Miller.

Hallmark Channel has just announced the first of its’ upcoming summer movies for 2022!

Emily Longeretta This year’s “Summer Nights” programming event is officially underway at Hallmark Channel, as production has kicked off on a new movie, “Two Tickets to Paradise.” The film, being shot on location at the iconic Royal Hawaiian Resort in Oahu, Hawaii, stars Ashley Williams, Ryan Paevey and Mary-Margaret Humes.“Two Tickets to Paradise,” an Island Film Group Production, is executive produced by Jason Sallee. Ric Galindez and Roy Tjio are producers on the movie, with Dustin Rikert directing the script by Tracy Andreen and Kevin Taft.Last year, Hallmark Channel premieres six original movies in May and June, including four for its annual “Summer Nights” lineup.

Maisie Williams grew up onscreen, cast as Arya Stark in “Game of Thrones” when she was just 12, playing the character throughout her adolescent years.

Marvel’s highly-anticipated Ironheart series continues to gain momentum as the studio has set Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes to direct the series for Disney+. Ironheart will star Dominique Thorne as Marvel character Riri Williams, a genius inventor and  creator of the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. Deadline recently broke that Anthony Ramos would also be joining the cast. Deadline has also learned that Ryan Coogler’s production company, Proximity, has come on as producers.

EXCLUSIVE: Christa Miller (Head of the Class) is set as a lead opposite Jason Segel, Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams in Shrinking, Apple TV+’s 10-episode comedy series written and executive produced by Segel and Ted Lasso‘s co-creator/executive producer/showrunner Bill Lawrence and star-writer-producer Brett Goldstein.

Some good news from Broadway: Take Me Out, the well-received revival of Richard Greenberg’s baseball play, has extended its run by two weeks at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJessica Williams has signed on to star opposite Jason Segel and Harrison Ford in the Apple comedy series “Shrinking,” Variety has learned.In addition, James Ponsoldt has boarded the show to direct multiple episodes and executive produce. That marks a reunion for Ponsoldt and Segel, who previously worked together on the film “The End of the Tour.”“Shrinking” follows Jimmy (Segel), a grieving therapist who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks.

Ironheart TV series will be the first to bring a transgender character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.The TV series coming to Disney+ has already cast Dominique Thorne (Judas And The Black Messiah, If Beale Street Could Talk) as genius inventor Riri Williams in Ironheart, an original series about the creator of the most advanced suit of armour since Iron Man.Now, a casting call seen by POC Culture says the studio is looking for a “Black, Latina or Afro-Latina transgender woman who is around 18-22 years old” to play a character who is “unapologetically nerdy” with a “mystical bent and unique sense of humour”.Ironheart is expected to release in 2023, though no confirmation has been given.Over the years Marvel has slowly introduced LGBTQ+ characters within its universe.Last year, Chloé Zhao’s Eternals film introduced the first openly gay superhero in the MCU with Phastos, played by Brian Tyree Henry. And Loki’s fluid gender identity and bisexuality were confirmed in his popular Disney+ series last year.Tessa Thompson’s character of Valkyrie has also been confirmed as part of the community.

Jesse Williams is celebrating the opening night of his Broadway show!

Michael Appler Jesse Williams and Jesse Tyler Ferguson celebrated the Broadway opening for “Take Me Out” on Monday evening in New York at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater.A revival of the 2003 Tony-winning best play, headlined by Williams, Ferguson and Patrick J. Adams, “Take Me Out” is the third of 19 new shows that will open this month, continuing the march of star-driven offerings in Broadway’s first regular season since its return after the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

“So much of what happened after that is still a blur,” writes Serena Williams in Elle’s adaption from Arrival Stories: Women Share Their Experiences of Becoming Mothers. In the essay, Serena, 40, recalled the complications — and multiple surgeries — that followed the birth of her and husband Alexis Ohanian’s daughter, Olympia. “My husband left—to get food and shower back at the house—and this started a trend in which every time he’d try to leave, I’d wind up back in the operating room,” writes the tennis icon.

While Chris Rock immediately went into “joke mode” after being slapped by Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars, there was some underlying emotion.