‘Wicked’ Star Jonathan Bailey Recalls Filming Shutdown Due to SAG-AFTRA Strike: ‘It Was Savage’

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events While the LGTBQ rights movement has made tremendous strides since that first rock was thrown at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in 1969, there are still many areas of the U.S. where the queer community doesn’t feel safe. In the new Hulu documentary, “We Live Here: The Midwest,” director Melina Maerker and producer David Clayton Miller chronicle queer families living in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Ohio.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events As Fantasia Barrino rides the awards season buzz for her feature film acting debut in “The Color Purple,” the second season “American Idol” winner is thinking of her next moves on the big screen. “I want something very challenging,” Fantasia told Variety Tuesday night at Elle’s Women in Hollywood event in Los Angeles, where she was honored alongside her co-stars Danielle Brooks and Taraji P. Henson.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Gael García Bernal is nursing a slight cold. He thinks he may have caught a bug during a flight to Los Angeles. But he theorizes it could have also come from the Academy Museum Gala, held in the museum’s open-air atrium, which he attended two nights before I meet him for breakfast at Chateau Marmont.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Joey King is speaking out about her “Kissing Booth” co-star Jacob Elordi’s criticism of their hit Netflix rom-com franchise. “I think it’s unfortunate anyone would feel that way,” King told me Saturday at the Balenciaga fashion show in Los Angeles. “I had a great time making those movies no matter what anyone says.” Elordi disappointed the casts of the three “The Kissing Booth” films as well as their fans when he slammed the film in his GQ Men of the Year cover story.

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Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickson didn’t know each other well before shooting their new drama “The Iron Claw.” But then came their first wardrobe fitting and camera tests. “Our bodies had to be completely shaved,” White told me at a reception for the film at NeueHouse Hollywood on Monday in Los Angeles. “We were strangers at the time.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor “Fellow Travelers” stars Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer will not be competing against each for a Golden Globe. Sources tell me that Bailey has decided to submit for supporting actor in a limited series for his work in the Showtime series, clearing the way for Bomer to go for lead. “Fellow Travelers,” written by Ron Nyswaner and based on the Thomas Mallon novel of the same name, tells the story of a decades-long romance between a Washington D.C.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor SPOILER ALERT: This story contains descriptions of key scenes and storylines in “Saltburn.” Oscar-winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell’s new twisted thriller, “Saltburn,” includes several graphic scenes that have left moviegoers debating whether to be titillated or disturbed. “It gets under your skin,” Fennell told me Tuesday at the film’s Los Angeles premiere. “We just want to make something that makes people feel something.

Bridgerton season 3 is fast approaching, and Jonathan Bailey is teasing what’s in store for the Netflix series!

Issa Rae is opening up after the Hollywood strikes have come to an end.

Jonathan Bailey is opening up about the Wicked movies and an interesting thing that happened when the SAG-AFTRA strike began earlier this year.

CBS is revealing their new TV schedule!

John Oliver started off Last Week Tonight talking about the SAG-AFTRA strike ending but then questioning if movies were still needed.

James Gunn has some exciting news for fans of Superman following the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Timothée Chalamet got another turn at hosting Saturday Night Live for the second time and acknowledged the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike during his monologue.

Fran Drescher, the union’s president, has not only secured tentatively a historic three-year deal with studios but also garnered praise from some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Among them, George Clooney who expressed sheer astonishment at the deal.

Sydney Sweeney is back on set just hours after the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

in the person of its president, Fran Drescher) and the major Hollywood studios (AMPTP). It’s a rinse-and-repeat following on the heels of the writers’ guild (WGA), which ended its strike in early October after five months as TV scribes headed back to their writers rooms to crank out late-night monologues or plan for new episodes of their series.“I’m thrilled it’s over,” former “Parks and Recreation” co-star Jim O’Heir told me from Kansas City, where he’s starring in a play (“Catch Me If You Can”) during his strike-enforced downtime from television.

The SAG-AFTRA strike is finally over after 118 days.

The six-month production shutdown due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes is officially over today, and TV studios are not wasting a minute, with TV series — mainly returning broadcast shows going into full prep immediately.