Viggo Mortensen defends playing gay character in new film ‘Falling’

Over the past several years, a lot more attention has been paid to how Hollywood casts LGBTQ+ characters in films and TV projects. In years past, it was common for straight actors to play gay characters and be praised for their “brave” career choices.

Kristin Cavallari answered questions about rumored beau Jeff Dye, her former Laguna Beach and Hills costars and her ex-BFF Kelly Henderson on Thursday, November 26.The 33-year-old reality TV personality’s bestie Justin Anderson hosted the Instagram Q&A, which was fueled by red wine.

Happiest Season, identified a “gray area” in terms of the decisions artists should make.“I think about this all the time. Being somebody who has had so much access to work, I’ve just lived with such a creative abundance,” Stewart told Variety when asked about the debate.

Wilson Cruz was a TV groundbreaker.

Kate Aurthur editorIn Clea DuVall’s “Happiest Season,” Kristen Stewart plays Abby, an art history Ph.D. student whose girlfriend, Harper (Mackenzie Davis), has invited her home for Christmas. Though she’s at first reluctant to go, Abby then decides she’ll actually propose to Harper, assuming that meeting the family goes well — but Harper tells Abby she hasn’t yet come out to her parents, and they both have to pretend to be straight.

Sia has received backlash online for casting a neurotypical actor as the autistic lead in her upcoming new film, Music.The singer’s directorial debut follows Music, a young girl with nonverbal autism, who finds herself in the care of her older half-sister, the newly sober Zu (played by Kate Hudson).A press release describes the film as “a wholly original exploration of the healing power of love and the importance of community.”It continued: “Sia’s music is integral to the story of the film as

Bruce Haring pmc-editorial-managerA war has broken out online between singer-songwriter Sia and the autism community over her upcoming film, Music.The controversy was sparked by the release of the trailer for the film, which depicts a young woman with autism, played by dancer/actress Maddie Ziegler.

Sia is addressing the backlash she's received after casting former "Dance Moms" star Maddie Ziegler as a character with autism in her new movie "Music" even though the 18-year-old is not autistic in real-life.  After Sia tweeted out the trailer for the upcoming movie on Thursday, which she directed and co-wrote, a Twitter user responded: "It’s a mighty shame that someone with such a colossal platform is using it to exclude disabled and neuro diverse actors from their own narratives.

Ohhh, this is messy.

Tim Gray Senior Vice PresidentAfter 35 years in the industry, Viggo Mortensen makes his writing-directing debut with “Falling,” which has been on the festival circuit and is starting to make the rounds in Oscar season. It certainly merits awards consideration in multiple categories.In his review from Sundance, Variety’s Peter Debruge wrote the film is “More deeply felt than your average American debut,” and praised Mortensen’s work as writer-director and actor.

Twitter on Friday morning responded to numerous online critics of the first trailer for “Music,” who said among other things that her film excluded disabled actors, that it was an example of “cripping up” by casting Ziegler in the lead role and that she didn’t do her research or failed to consult the disabled community.“Duh. I spent three f—ing years researching.

Lady Gaga may be joining the star-studded cast of David Leitch’s upcoming assassin thriller film, Bullet Train.As reported by Collider, the Oscar-winning singer and actress has apparently joined Brad Pitt, Zazie Beetz, Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Andrew Koji, Masi Oka and Michael Shannon for the film.The script, written by Zak Olkewicz, is based off Japanese author Kotaro Isaka’s novel, Maria Beetle.

Vanessa Hudgens had to take on triple duty for the sequel to Netflix’s 2018 holiday rom-com,The Princess Switch. The original film, based on Mark Twain's 1881 novel The Prince and the Pauper,features Hudgens in a dual role.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterCary Joji Fukunaga, the filmmaker behind “Beasts of No Nation,” “Maniac” and the upcoming James Bond sequel “No Time to Die,” has announced the creation of a production grant at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts to support rising filmmakers.The grant, which will fund student thesis films and create mentorship opportunities for aspiring filmmakers, was created to support historically underrepresented voices and to promote Black, Indigenous, or people of color