Zack Sharf Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Pedro Pascal won the SAG Award for male actor in a drama series thanks to his role on HBO’s “The Last of Us,” but he wasn’t exactly sober when he took the stage to give his acceptance speech. The actor admitted he thought he could get drunk, likely because he didn’t think he would win the SAG Award after “Succession’s” Kieran Culkin won the same category at the Golden Globes and Emmy Awards earlier this year.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Juno Temple confirmed to Variety On the Carpet presented by DIRECTV while at the 2024 SAG Awards that “Venom 3” is finally nearing the end of filming. The “Ted Lasso” star is one of the new additions to the “Venom” franchise alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor and Clark Backo in the upcoming third movie, which is being directed by Kelly Marcel and features a story that leading man Tom Hardy co-created. “We’re coming close to an end at the moment,” Temple said.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “The Devil Wears Prada” cast members Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt reunited at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards to present best actor in a comedy series. Blunt was also a nominee at the award ceremony for supporting actress thanks to her role in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” Streep took to the stage first alone and told the crowd that she had forgotten her glasses and the envelope with this year’s winner listed. Hathaway and Blunt then appeared to hand Streep her missing items, a nod to their roles as assistants to Miranda Priestly (Streep) in “The Devil Wears Prada.” “Meryl and Miranda Priestly are sort of like twins,” Blunt said, to which Streep fiercely disagreed.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Legendary director Werner Herzog was asked by Piers Morgan on the latter’s “Uncensored” talk show to weigh in on the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, but Herzog was no expert on the matter. The “Grizzly Man” and “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” filmmaker never got around to seeing Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb epic, and he seemed to be chilled to the bone after watching only 30 minutes of Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster Mattel comedy. “I have not seen ‘Oppenheimer’ yet, but I will do it.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Austin Butler‘s transformation into Elvis was widely documented last year. He spent three years researching the music icon and went fell Method actor during production, never abandoning Presley’s trademark southern drawl for months on end. For his role as the sociopathic villain Feyd-Rautha in Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune: Part Two,” Butler toned down the Method acting considerably.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Wendy Williams‘ team confirmed in a press release that the former daytime talk show host has been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Aphasia is a condition that affects language and communication abilities, while FTD is a disorder that impacts behavior and cognitive functions.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Greta Gerwig finally commented on the “Barbie” Oscar snubs heard around the world, telling Time magazine that it’s wonderful she’s still nominated for an Academy Award despite missing out on a best director nomination. Gerwig is nominated for adapted screenplay thanks to “Barbie.” Controversy has surrounded the 2024 Oscar noms ever since Gerwig was snubbed for best director and Margot Robbie was snubbed for best actress. Robbie is also still Oscar nominated this year for best picture as one of the “Barbie” producers.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Natalie Portman is the latest actor to speak about the decline of the movie star. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the “Black Swan” Oscar winner noted that kids these days like her own have no idea who movie stars are but are widely familiar with popular YouTubers. “The striking thing has been the decline of film as a primary form of entertainment,” Portman said.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Sylvester Stallone revealed on “The Family Stallone” Season 2 premiere that he never recovered from an injury he endured during the making of “The Expendables” (via People). The stunt gone wrong occurred during a scene in which Stallone got tackled by co-star and WWE legend Steve Austin. It left Stallone with dislocated shoulders and a fractured neck that have since required seven back surgeries and counting.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Nic Pizzolatto, the original creator of HBO’s “True Detective” franchise, published a bizarre Instagram post amid controversy generated in the aftermath of the show’s fourth season finale. “True Detective: Night Country,” starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, ended it six-episode run on Feb. 18.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Austin Butler was hospitalized after he wrapped filming on Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” and it appears it was something of a miracle he avoided a similar fate on the set of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two.” The Oscar nominee joins the epic franchise as Feyd-Rautha, the cruel and sadistic younger nephew of and heir to Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård). Butler told Entertainment Weekly that heat stroke impacted several people on set during his first week of shooting. How’s that for a welcome? “It was 110 degrees and so hot,” Butler said.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Helen Mirren recently told Entertainment Tonight that you can’t get too upset about Oscar snubs, especially when your movie is a historic and record-breaking box office phenomenon. Mirren, who won the Oscar for best actress thanks to her performance in “The Queen,” served as the narrator of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” which earned eight Oscar noms, including best picture, but failed to land Gerwig a best director nomination or Margot Robbie a best actress nomination. These omissions were widely considered the most shocking Oscar snubs of the year, not that Mirren is in too much of an uproar.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Michael Keaton told People magazine in a recent interview that reuniting with Tim Burton and shooting the “Beetlejuice” sequel (officially titled “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”) was “the most fun I’ve had on set in a long time.” The film is the follow-up to the duo’s 1988 comedy classic. Keaton stressed how refreshing it was to embrace practical filmmaking after “years” spent working with giant green screens. Prior to “Beetlejuice 2,” Keaton reprised his Batman role for the VFX-heavy comic book tentpole “The Flash.” “On one hand, you’d go, ‘Well, of course it’s the most fun.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Cillian Murphy recently joined CBS’ “60 Minutes” for an interview on his “Oppenheimer” awards campaign tour and showed off his copy of the script written and directed by Christopher Nolan. In classic Nolan fashion, the screenplay is printed on red paper and written in black ink so it can’t be photocopied. It also includes a heartfelt note on the title page that Nolan wrote to Murphy: “Dearest Cillian.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Stephen King recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to question why Warner Bros. is holding back its new film adaptation of “Salem’s Lot,” based on King’s 1975 horror novel about a writer who returns to his hometown in Maine and discovers its residents are becoming vampires. The movie went into development back in 2019 and shot in Massachusetts in 2021.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dakota Johnson was asked by MTV during a video interview on her “Madame Web” press tour to reveal her “most traumatic audition story.” She didn’t need a lot of time to pick one and revealed that a television creator once slammed her as “pretentious” simply because she introduced herself to the crew that was in the audition room. Johnson did not name the creator, nor did she reveal what show she had gone in to audition for at the time.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Sharon Stone says the fame that surrounded her in the mid-1990s after “Basic Instinct” exploded her career was so wild that she was forced into hiding by the police during the infamous 1994 O.J. Simpson car chase. A new InStyle interview with the Oscar-nominated actor begins with the startling revelation that the Los Angeles Police Department “dispatched a squad to find Stone at home and tell her she had 10 minutes to pack a suitcase” amid the car chase because “she was being moved to a hotel for her own protection.” “He’s dangerous,” Stone remembered an LAPD officer telling her at the time.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kristen Stewart graces the latest cover of Rolling Stone, where she talked openly about her days headlining the “Twilight” franchise. Stewart played Bella Swan in five “Twilight” movies that grossed a combined $3.3 billion worldwide and turned the actor and her castmates Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner into global superstars. Stewart caught some flak from critics at the time for her moody screen acting, but she told Rolling Stone she was just keeping her interpretation of Bella true to the book series.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Joker: Folie à Deux” director Todd Phillips marked Valentine’s Day 2024 with a special new look at his highly-anticipated sequel, which pairs returning Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix with Lady Gaga as Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn. Phillips added as the caption to the post: “Hoping your day is full of love.” Specific plot details for the second “Joker” film are not yet known, although it’s been described as a drama with musical elements set in and around Arkham Asylum. The supporting cast includes returning “Joker” star Zazie Beetz opposite franchise newcomers Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland and Harry Lawtey.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director When news broke last November that Universal Pictures was developing a sixth Bourne movie with “All Quiet on the Western Front” director Edward Berger, fans were left wondering if Matt Damon would be returning to his iconic action franchise. The Bourne series, which includes four films headlined by Damon and one by Jeremy Renner, has earned $1.6 billion worldwide. Damon’s last outing was 2016’s “Jason Bourne.” Damon made a recent appearance on “The Late Show” and stopped short of confirming he’ll star in the new Bourne movie when the topic was brought up by host Stephen Colbert.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Sarah Snook said during an interview on Times Radio that her “Succession” co-star Brian Cox had a habit of outbursts on set fueled by his Type 2 diabetes. Snook, who recently won an Emmy for playing Shiv Roy on the final season of “Succession,” said Cox’s voice could get “terrifying sometimes” during these moments of rage. “He has a habit of sometimes going into a false — or could it be real, who knows? — diabetic rage,” Snook said.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Roy Wood Jr. said on fellow comedian Mike Birbiglia’s “Working It Out” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) that he was going to remain on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” as a correspondent for more time when the plan was for Hasan Minhaj to be named the permanent new host.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jennifer Lopez revealed in a new Variety cover story that “The Bear” Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri apologized to her before they filmed their “Saturday Night Live” episode at the start of February. Edebiri hosted the episode, with Lopez serving as musical guest to promote her upcoming album “This Is Me…Now.” In the week leading up to the episode, a 2020 episode of the “Scam Goddess” podcast resurfaced on social media as it featured Edebiri speaking critically of Lopez.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Sylvester Stallone appeared on a recent episode of “The Tonight Show” and gave Ryan Gosling his blessing to star as the next Rambo in a potential revival of Stallone’s iconic action franchise. Stallone played the eponymous United States Army Special Forces veteran in five movies. The first “Rambo” opened in 1982.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Before Samuel L. Jackson became synonymous with the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to his decades-long role as Nick Fury, it was “Star Wars” that was the first Hollywood mega-franchise to open its doors for the beloved actor. Jackson played Jedi master Mace Windu in George Lucas’ “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, and it’s a role he appears quite eager to play again despite Mace being killed off in 2015’s “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” after Anakin severs his hand with a lightsaber, and Emperor Palpatine electrocutes him and sends him flying out of a building window.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kate Winslet said in a new interview with Net-a-Porter that she actively took roles in smaller, independent films after the record-breaking success of “Titanic” because the fame that resulted in starring in James Cameron’s epic was “horrible.” Winslet was just 22 years old when “Titanic” opened in 1997 and became a cultural phenomenon. It won 11 Oscars, including best picture, and became the highest-grossing film of all time, as well as the first to gross $1 billion worldwide. To say it turned Winslet and co-star Leonardo DiCaprio into overnight superstars would be an understatement.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Ahead of his return as host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart stopped by “CBS Mornings” to explain why it was finally time to return to his old job. Stewart hosted the network’s flagship news show from 1999 to 2015. He’ll now be hosting only Monday episodes throughout the 2024 election cycle.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dwayne Johnson railed against journalist Nick Sortor on X (formerly Twitter) over “toxic, false clickbait garbage” after the latter framed Johnson’s appearance at a recent WWE press conference in a way that called out the superstar’s relief efforts in Maui. A video from the WWE event showed Johnson getting booed by the crowd.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jon Cryer appeared on the Feb. 9 episode of “The View” and more or less shot down the idea of a “Two and a Half Men” reboot ever being made. Cryer starred on the CBS mega-hit sitcom for 12 seasons, eight of which he co-headlined with Charlie Sheen.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Christopher Nolan appeared on “The Late Show” for a lengthy discussion with Stephen Colbert in which the filmmaker heaped praise on his “Oppenheimer” star Robert Downey Jr., who is widely considered the Oscar frontrunner for best supporting actor. Nolan said he always wanted to work with Downey because of his “generosity” and “charisma.” The director went on to call Downey’s role as Iron Man, which birthed the Marvel Cinematic Universe and carried it for a decade, one of the most important casting decisions ever made. “With anybody you work with, with actors…you’re looking for some kind of connection emotionally, empathetically,” Nolan said about being drawn to Downey.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Whenever Denis Villeneuve decides it’s time to make a third “Dune” movie, Zendaya is ready to reprise her role of Chani. During a cast interview with Fandango ahead of “Dune: Part Two” opening in theaters, Zendaya said returning for a potential “Dune Messiah” movie is a no brainer. Villeneuve has already stated publicly that his dream is to make a third “Dune” film — he confirmed in December that a script for the project is almost finished.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Hayden Panettiere said in a recent interview with The Messenger that filming “Nashville” was “very traumatizing because I felt like I was acting out my own life.” The actor played country pop singer Juliette Barnes on the ABC musical drama, which ran for six seasons and 124 episodes between 2012 and 2018. Panettiere suggested the show’s writers often pulled from her real life while crafting Juliette’s storylines, which was emotionally traumatizing for her as storylines used her real-life struggle with alcoholism. “Straight from the beginning, it was like, I’m dating a football player, [and then] Juliette dates a football player,” Panettiere said.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director The debate around Oscar snubs exploded following the announcement of the 2024 Academy Award nominations, which now infamously excluded “Barbie” filmmaker Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie from the best director and actress races. Michelle Yeoh, who won the best actress Oscar last year for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” was asked to weigh in on the controversy during a recent interview on “Today.” “Joy and disappointment, it seems to go hand in hand,” Yeoh said. “There’s not enough nominations to go around.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Succession” Emmy winner Sarah Snook said on a recent episode of BBC Radio 4’s “Today” program that she was too “young and naive” to push back against a film producer who openly berated her for eating cake on set. It was one of two instanced of body shaming that Snook remembered during an interview with The Sunday Times published earlier this month.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director How do you choose between Tom Cruise and Quentin Tarantino? It’s a dilemma Austin Butler faced before his Oscar-nominated performance in “Elvis” turned him into a global star. During an interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via People) while promoting his new Apple TV+ series “Masters of the Air,” Butler confirmed reports he was in the running to star opposite Cruise in the blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick.” “I ended up having to choose between going to the screen test for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ or saying yes to Quentin Tarantino,” Butler said.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Whoopi Goldberg is an Oscars legend, having won an Academy Award for “Ghost” and hosted the ceremony four times and served as an Academy board member. So perhaps moviegoers might want to listen to Goldberg when she says there are no such thing as Oscar snubs amid the uproar over Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie missing out on nominations for best director and best actress, respectively, at the 2024 Oscars. “Barbie” earned a total of eight nominations, including best picture, and Gerwig is a nominee for screenwriting and so is Robbie as one of the film’s producers.