Marc Malkin-Senior Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Kal Penn admits he didn’t know much about Anna Nicole Smith’s physician, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, before he was approached to star as the doctor in the indie adaptation of his memoir, “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.” “But then I read the doctor’s autobiography and found it interesting and compelling,” Penn told me Monday night at the South Asians at the Oscars party on the Paramount lot. Variety’s Tatiana Siegel exclusively reported Feb.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and EventsThe 96th Academy Awards may not be happening until March 10, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of Oscar partying and celebrating going on before, during and after Hollywood’s biggest night.Things got off to a starry start a week before the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted ceremony when Jamie Foxx made an appearance to pick up with the Producers Award for his Foxxhole Productions at the AAFCA Special Achievement Awards Luncheon at the Los Angeles Athletic Club on March 3. Later that night, Taraji P.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Elton John’s touring life may have come to an end last year with his five-year, 330-concert worldwide Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, but the work continues, including recording new music. “He’s been working away,” says his husband and manager David Furnish. “I don’t think you’re going to have to wait too long [for new music].

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events As Hollywood gets ready to gives its final bow of awards season, parties and events fill the days and nights leading up to the 96th Oscars. From Zendaya and Cate Blanchett at the Green Carpet Fashion Awards and Essence celebrating Danielle Brooks and Halle Bailey to Elton John holding court at his annual viewing dinner, here’s a look at this year’s Oscar party calendar. March 4 South Asians at the Oscars PartyCo-hosted by Kal Penn, Lilly Singh, Hannah Simone, Tan France, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Rupi Kaur, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Anita Chatterjee, Shruti Ganguly, and Archana Misra Jain, with a musical performance by Ankur Tewari.Paramount Pictures Studios, Los Angeles7-10 p.m.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Kathryn Hahn admits she’s not very athletic. “I love stretching and working out, but I don’t play sports,” says the star of Marvel’s upcoming “Agnes” series.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events After months of speculation, Ryan Gosling will officially perform “I’m Just Ken” live at the Oscars. Sources tell Variety that the actor will sing the Academy Award-nominated song from “Barbie” during the 96th annual ceremony on March 10. The Academy declined to comment.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and EventsFebruary kicked off with a slew of Grammy pre-parties before the big awards night, which included a Miley Cyrus performance, a surprise appearance by Celine Dion and Variety cover star Victoria Monét going home with multiple statuettes.At about the same time, “Rustin” star Colman Domingo was in New York City being honored by the Human Rights Campaign and Selena Gomez joined her friend, first-time director, Nicola Peltz-Beckham at the premiere of “Lola” in Los Angeles.Despite the torrential downpour clobbering Los Angeles, Cole Sprouse and Kathryn Newton premiered their new Zelda Williams-directed horror comedy, “Lisa Frankenstein,” at the Hollywood Athletic Club after a location change from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery due to the bad weather.Keep checking back here all month long for the best February celebrity pics from Hollywood, New York and beyond.Olivia Rodrigo kicks off her Guts World Tour at Acrisure Arena on Feb. 23 in Palm Springs, California.“Kung Fu Panda 4” star James Hong at his Hand and Footprint Ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on Feb.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Danielle Brooks is tired. For a very good reason. She’s in Los Angeles for the SAG Awards after a 13-hour flight from New Zealand, where she’s spent the last month shooting the movie adaptation of the popular video game “Minecraft” with Jack Black and Jason Momoa.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Everyone could use a good cry now and again. And what better way to get those tears flowing than watching a movie? Variety caught up with this year’s Oscar nominees at the Academy’s annual nominees luncheon at the Beverly Hilton to find out the last time they cried at the movies. “I cried at ‘Parallel Mothers,’” said “Oppenheimer” star Emily Blunt.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Oprah Winfrey and Niecy Nash-Betts will be honored at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on March 14. Winfrey will be presented with the Vanguard Award for championing allyship and making a significant difference in promoting acceptance of LGBTQ people and issues.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Joey King says she and Gypsy Rose Blanchard have recently been in touch. “She and I have privately talked a little bit, which has been really nice,” King told Variety on an upcoming episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. King portrayed Blanchard, a woman sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder for the death mother Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard in Hulu’s limited series “The Act.” Blanchard was recently released from prison on parole in late December after serving eight years for the 2015 crime.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Charles Melton’s awards campaign for his breakout role in “May December” started in May when the Todd Haynes drama co-starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman premiered at Cannes. Since then, Melton has gone on to receive a slew of award nominations and wins. He picked up Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award noms and won a Gotham for outstanding supporting performance.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Broadway is coming to Santa Monica. Jenna Ushkowitz (“Glee”) and Merle Dandridge (“The Last of Us,” “Station 19”) are teaming up and gathering their singer friends to raise money for Harvest Home L.A., a non-profit for unhoused pregnant women. “Jenna, Merle, and Friends: A Night of Song” will feature pop and Broadway tunes performed by Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”), Cheyenne Jackson (“American Horror Story”), Katie Lowes (“Scandal”), Kevin McHale (“Glee”), Austin Mackenzie (“Spring Awakening”), Adam Shapiro (“Never Have I Ever”), Tracie Thoms (“9-1-1”), Carly Thomas Smith (“Rent”) and Kim Dawson (“Sing Off”).

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Simu Liu’s hosting reel keeps on growing. The “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” star’s past hosting gigs include the Time 100 gala and the Junos. He also hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 2021 and has guest-hosted “Jimmy Kimmy Live!” Now, he’s taking the reins of the People’s Choice Awards.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Riley Keough, Bob Odenkirk and Danny Ramirez will star in a live reading of the Oscar-nominated drama “Anatomy of a Fall,” as will Jay Ellis, Kate Berlant, Quincy Isaiah and Olivia Wilde. Keough (“Daisy Jones & the Six”) takes on the lead role of Sandra, which earned Sandra Hüller an Oscar nomination for best actress at the upcoming Academy Awards. In addition to the human cast, the movie’s dog Messi will reprise his role as Snoop.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events SPOILER ALERT: This story contains mild spoilers for “Lisa Frankenstein,” in theaters now. Zelda Williams has no problem admitting that her feature directorial debut “Lisa Frankenstein” isn’t destined to be considered a cinematic masterpiece. “First and foremost, this movie ISN’T a groundbreaking spiritual journey that will change your worldly perceptions,” she wrote in a filmmaker’s statement, “but it IS a ride — so maybe just try to put your hands in the air and let the coaster take you!” And that it is — a rollercoaster homage to 1980s slasher films.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events The new HBO documentary “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” chronicles the Grammy winner as he embarks on his debut concert tour of the same name. The behind-the-scenes film includes the Grammy winner talking about how his family has come to not only accept his queerness, but embrace his sexuality. He’s even taken his dad to a gay bar.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events It was recently announced that Joel Kim Booster was teaming up with Searchlight Pictures again following the awards-nominated success of his 2022 queer rom-com “Fire Island.” This time around, Booster’s new script is about the gay best friend (Booster) of a bride-to-be who’s in charge of making sure his bestie’s wedding goes off perfectly. However, Booster says he’d like to start moving away from playing the “gay best friend.” “I know how the industry works,” Booster tells me on this week’s episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. “I know that there are a couple more gay best friends in my future.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Anne Hathaway walked out of a Vanity Fair photo shoot Tuesday morning in support of the Condé Nast Union walk out. Nearly 400 union members who work at Condé Nast are currently holding a 24-hour work stoppage to protest negotiation practices they claim are unlawful. Hathaway was unaware of the work stoppage when she arrived at the New York City photo shoot.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Shortly after the Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday morning, “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan recalled watching Cillian Murphy transform into J. Robert Oppenheimer for the first time. “It was really in the hair and makeup tests, which we shoot on Imax and in black-and-white,” Nolan told Variety.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor have been dating for about eight years, but they’re not looking to work together onscreen anytime soon. “I can’t imagine,” Taylor told Variety on the Emmys red carpet. “I don’t like seeing couples doing things because I’m always aware of the coupledom.” Holland did reveal that they have been pitched “one or two” projects and admitted that she can see them on stage together in “The Chalk Garden,” a 1955 play by Enid Bagnold about a murder mystery involving a grandmother, her granddaughter and a governess.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events “Succession” said farewell last year after four seasons, but we may not have seen the last of the Roy family. Brian Cox, who played patriarch Logan Roy on the hit HBO series, says he’s open to a “Succession” movie. “We’ll see,” Cox told me on Saturday at the BAFTA Tea Party at the Maybourne hotel in Beverly Hills.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Neve Campbell announced in June 2022 that she was leaving the “Scream” franchise because she didn’t feel she was being properly compensated to reprise her role of Sidney Prescott in the sixth movie. Even so, she could see herself coming back some day “under the right circumstances,” Campbell told me Saturday at the BAFTA Tea event at the Maybourne hotel in Beverly Hills. That said, it’s unclear what is happening with the franchise at the moment after director Christopher Landon dropped out of the seventh film.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Niecy Nash-Betts may be the nicest person in Hollywood. In a town where getting your next role could be cutthroat, Nash-Betts actually tells her actor friends to audition for roles that she may already be reading for. “Before I was even cast in ‘Getting On’ on HBO — I had not even gone in yet — I called every actress I knew and was like, ‘This is going to be something.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Olivia Rodrigo hasn’t completely abandoned her acting career for music. The “Vampire” singer tells me she’d love to star in a film. “I love movies, I love telling stories,” Rodrigo said at the Academy’s Governors Awards on Tuesday night in Hollywood.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Penélope Cruz has no plans at the moment to slip into spandex and a cape, but the Oscar winner says she’d love to do a superhero movie. “If it’s something interesting, why not? It’s fun,” Cruz told me Friday at Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch brunch at the Parker Palm Springs. “As you could imagine, that’s what my kids ask me sometimes, ‘Are you ever going to do that, mom?’ Because I’ve done so much drama and so many films I can’t show to them yet.” Cruz said she has had “conversations here and there” about appearing in a superhero movie, “but nothing specific that will happen soon.” What is probably happening soon is a musical movie.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Goodbye, Christmas and New Year’s. Hello, awards season! The Golden Globes are upon us, and that means the festivities kick off with W Magazine’s annual Friday night soiree toasting its Best Performances Issue. Expect to see well-heeled, A-List celebrities mix and mingle elbow-to-elbow in the penthouse suite of the Chateau Marmont.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events If the Jacob Elordi “Saltburn” bath water candles are sold out, just blame his co-star Barry Keoghan. “I already have 10 of them,” Keoghan joked with me Wednesday night at the opening of the Louis Vuitton pop-up in West Hollywood. “They’re all burning at my house right now.” At least, we think he was joking.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Jeremy Allen White may co-star with Zac Efron in Sean Durkin’s new wrestling drama “The Iron Claw,” but the Emmy-winning “The Bear” actor has something to admit — he has never watched a “High School Musical” movie. “I haven’t seen them,” White says on this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast. “Sorry, Zac.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events After diving in to play Diana Nyad’s best friend and swim coach in the real-life Netflix sports drama, “Nyad,” Jodie Foster is ready for her next cinematic adventure. “I really like doing things where I learn stuff,” Foster tells me. “I don’t know how to play any musical instruments.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Jennifer Lopez admits not everyone in her camp initially supported the idea to document her romance with husband Ben Affleck in her upcoming “This Is Me…Now” album and companion film. “As artists, we have to follow our heart and this is me following my heart and doing something that maybe everybody didn’t think was the best idea, but I had to do it,” Lopez tells me. Lopez is set to drop “This Is Me…Now,” a new album that marks the 20th anniversary of “This Is Me…Then,” on Feb.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Annie Starke doesn’t want to talk about last Christmas. The host of the freshly minted Magnolia Network show, “The Mountain Kitchen,” admits her family dinner was a disaster. “I probably had too many drinks in the morning,” Starke tells me, laughing.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events With so many Broadway icons — including Christine Baranski, Kelli O’Hara, Michael Cerveris and Nathan Lane, to name a few — starring in HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” Morgan Spector thinks a musical episode of the series is overdue. “You know what we should do? There’s the British tradition of the Christmas special,” Spector tells me on this week’s episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. “If we could have a Christmas special, then we could have some singing and it would be great.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events “The View” co-host Sunny Hoston is taking a little more time to enjoy the TV milleu. The multi-hyphenate is in the early stages of developing her first novel, “Summer on the Bluff,” as a television series for Amazon MGM Studios. The series will be produced Hostin’s Sunny Hostin Productions, Amazon MGM Studios and Octavia Spencer’s Orit Entertainment.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events As we know by now, Zack Snyder has massive plans for his “Rebel Moon” universe. The franchise launches with the Netflix movie “Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire,” followed by a sequel that will be released next year. Snyder is developing a “Rebel Moon” comic book series, mobile game (“I would love to do big console game,” he says), an animated component, and is even releasing his first book of photography featuring a collection of black and white portraits he shot on set.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Lena Waithe can’t be anymore direct when talking about “A Thousand and One,” writer-director A.V. Rockwell’s feature film debut. “Films like this oftentimes are not always seen or recognized by the Academy,” says Waithe, a producer on the Sundance Film Festival winner.