‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’: How VFX Team Used a Stand-In Actor to Bring the Singing Reptile to Life

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.

Zack Sharf Jack Black has gone viral on social media thanks to a clip of him serenading a young “School of Rock” fan diagnosed with a rare illness. The two met at the Layla Paige and Friends Walk for TrinityKids Care, which Black hosts each year to raise funds for child hospice programs in Southern California. A clip shared by Upworthy shows Black singing a “School of Rock” song to Abraham, a 15-year-old with a rare mitochondrial disease called Pearson syndrome. The video earned over 1.5 million views on Twitter in a single day. The TrinityKids Care fundraising event took place on Oct. 8. Abraham’s mother told Upworthy, “It’s almost been a week since the meet and Abraham is still talking about how he got to meet Jack.” Because her son is a big fan of “School of Rock,” she arranged a meeting with Black during the event.

J. Kim Murphy As Nintendo’s Bayonetta 3 closes in on its long-awaited release date of Oct. 28, the video game franchise’s fanbase has been rocked by a statement shared by the series’ original lead voice actor, Hellena Taylor, who shares that she did not return for the new entry after being offered only $4,000 to reprise her role. “The Bayonetta franchise made approximately $450 million. That’s not including merchandise. As an actor, I trained for a total of seven and a half years,” Taylor shared in a statement on her Twitter. “What did they think this was worth? What did they offer to pay me? The final offer to do the whole game — as a buyout, flat rate — was $4,000. This is an insult to me [and] the amount of time that I took to work on my talent and everything I’ve given to this game and to the fans.”

Hellena Taylor, the actress who voiced the title character in the first two Bayonetta video games, is asking fans to boycott the upcoming third game.

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” tells (and sings) the story of a stage-shy crocodile who has the voice of an angel (Shawn Mendes). Lyle gets discovered by Hector P.

Katie Reul editor Two generations of children — and their parents — are familiar with the colossal purple dinosaur that frolicked across their television screens each week. The PBS series “Barney & Friends” amassed 14 seasons between 1992 and 2010 in the course of its lengthy run before coming to a flaming halt. The reasons for the show’s initial success and accursed demise are outlined in a two-part docuseries from director Tommy Avallone, titled “I Love You, You Hate Me,” which is available for streaming on Peacock on Oct. 12. With parallels to Sundance award-winner “Feels Good Man,” the 2020 indie documentary about Pepe the Frog that explores how a meme can be transformed from a comedic icon into a hate symbol, “I Love You, You Hate Me” delves into the lesser-known evils of the Barney bashing movement, when teenagers and adults alike began to bastardize the once-beloved character with acts of violence both physically and online.

Prince William and Kate Middleton may be known around the world, but they’re trying to make life as normal as possible for their three children.

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re speaking with Working Title Television’s Surian Fletcher-Jones, the executive producer who is responsible for bringing the likes of Nida Manzoor’s We Are Lady Parts and Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love to the small screen. 

Pity the purple dinosaur. He came to spread a message of love, and got the stuffing knocked out of him.

Adam Thomas left his fans and celebrity friends floored over his incredible hidden singing talent as he shared a candid video of himself performing over the weekend.Taking to Instagram, the former Emmerdale star, 34, posted a clip of himself singing captioned: "Want to come to a concert with me??? "I know times are pretty tough right now… so thought I’d try and put a smile on someone’s face x If you can name the artist and the song, am gonna pick someone at random to come and watch him in Manchester!!" A smiling Adam further explained in the video: "I have been singing this song all morning" to which a piano was heard in the background. The actor continued: "Now I'm about to sing it for you guys.

Kelly Clarkson is of course known for her incredible singing voice, but she’s also made herself a household name for her down-to-earth demeanor, humor and honesty.

Fiona Apple has released a brand new song!

Maane Khatchatourian News Editor, Variety.com Popular stand-up comic Judy Tenuta, known to her fans as “The Love Goddess” and “Aphrodite of the Accordion,” died of ovarian cancer on Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles. She was 72.

Sarah Ferguson has given an update on the late Queen's beloved dogs and said it was a "big honour" to have taken on the pets.

Taking TikTok to court. Bethenny Frankel is suing the social media platform in a class action lawsuit, claiming the site misused her image and likeness.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic The movie format where a character beloved by kids becomes a CGI creature, who is then plugged into a live-action universe, is one of the most casually technically astonishing of all popcorn genres — and, as often as not, one of the most stunted. It almost doesn’t matter if the hero is Garfield or Stuart Little, Alvin and the Chipmunks or Sonic the Hedgehog: The way this genre has descended from the noisy bravura of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” the actors tend to be reduced to one-note stooges who get stuck in too many green-screen reaction shots, whereas the critter at the center — the animated star — is, almost inevitably, a preening chatterbox who wears out his welcome by pelting the live-action players, and the audience, with too many bad punchlines.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Tara Strong is a pioneer in the world of voice acting. With more than 600 credits, she is the voice behind Raven, Batgirl and Harley Quinn on shows including “Teen Titans,” “Teen Titans Go!,” “Rugrats,” “The Powerpuff Girls” and “My Little Pony.” Later this year, the Society of Voice Arts & Sciences (SOVAS) will honor Strong with the Voice Arts Legacy Award for Arts and Entertainment. Strong spoke to Variety about how she takes care of her voice and the empowering impact of her work as the voice of superheroes that inspire young viewers. It’s a tremendous responsibility and honor. I feel so very lucky that I’ve been able to provide voices for characters that empower girls, and friends of girls and women. A lot of those characters started not as the stars of the show. When I booked Batgirl, there were some great women-empowerment episodes on that series. With “Powerpuff Girls” and all the amazing, very strong feminine DC and Marvel characters I’ve played over the years, Harley is probably the one that most mirrored my life.

Thor movies, have been one of Hollywood’s power couples for well over a year now. While there have been rumors swirling about the two secretly getting married, Ora recently gushed about her boyfriend/possible husband.  The two began dating back in 2021 and have had the most adorable relationship.