Willem Dafoe: ‘Challenging Movies’ Don’t Do Well on Streaming Because ‘People Go Home’ and Say ‘Let’s Watch Something Stupid Tonight’

Travis Kelce is shaping up to be quite the triple threat: football star, restaurateur, and future actor??

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Emma Stone‘s quest to compete on “Jeopardy!” got a promising update courtesy of the game show’s host Ken Jennings, who said during an interview on “Live With Kelly and Mark” that the “La La Land” Oscar winner would be welcomed on the game show “in a heartbeat.” Now it’s your move, Stone. During an appearance on Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast earlier this month, Stone went viral for revealing she is a “Jeopardy!” junkie and applies to be a contestant on the game show every year. “I apply every June,” Stone said.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Sebastian Stan is back at Sundance this year for the world premiere of A24’s “A Different Man,” co-starring Adam Pearson and Renate Reinsve. The three actors joined director Aaron Schimberg at the Variety Studio presented by Audible to discuss the film, which centers on an aspiring actor with a facial disability who undergoes a radical medical procedure to transform his appearance that proves to be his downfall.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director One of the boldest movies premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival is “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” directed by Kobi Libii. The film takes aim at the Magical Negro stereotype and centers on a young man (Justice Smith) who is recruited into a society in which African American members are tasked with ensuring that white people’s lives remain easy. Libii, Smith and co-star David Alan Grier visited the Variety Studio presented by Audible and spoke about the reactions to their button-pushing satire.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dominic Fike appeared at the Variety Studio presented by Audible while attending the Sundance Film Festival and compared his experiences playing a character struggling with drug addiction on HBO’s “Euphoria” and his new Sundance premiere, “Little Death.” The latter title marks the feature directorial debut of music video helmer Jack Begert, who happens to be one of Fike’s friends. Fike has been open in the past about his real-life addiction struggles, so his proximity to Berget made playing a drug addiction in “Little Death” a bit easier than playing one in “Euphoria.” “I’ve done that before, like acted like a drug addict,” Fike said. “I actually am a pretty big drug addict myself, believe it or not.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jesse Eisenberg is officially giving his Lex Luthor advice to Nicholas Hoult, and it’s blunt: “Don’t watch me!” During an interview at the Variety Studio presented by Audible while attending the Sundance Film Festival, Eisenberg suggested Hoult should forge his own path and not pay attention to Eisenberg’s own work as Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder’s DC Universe. “Whenever you play a role you feel connected to it,” Eisenberg added to Variety‘s Matt Donnelly about playing the DC villain for a short time.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jenna Ortega told E! on the Emmys red carpet that she’s “received some scripts for the second season” of “Wednesday,” her Netflix mega-hit that debuted in fall 2022 and became one of the streamer’s most-watched original series of all time. Production on Season 2 got delayed by the Hollywood strikes last year but is expected to kick off in the spring. “We’re definitely leaning into a little bit more horror,” Ortega said in an update to fans.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic In “Poor Things,” Willem Dafoe plays God, bringing his devilish grin to the role of an ethically unbound surgeon who grafts body parts from one creature onto another, blending ducks and geese with dogs and goats — and, in the case of Emma Stone’s Bella Baxter, implanting a spare brain in the corpse of a drowned woman. The Dr. Frankenstein-like character is just the latest leap of faith for an actor who spoke to Variety, apropos of receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Throughout his career, Willem Dafoe hasn’t shied away from challenging roles. And he wishes streaming audiences would challenge themselves in similar ways instead of watching lowest-common-denominator content.

Selome Hailu You might be able to spot Ramy Youssef for a minute in Gus Van Sant’s 2018 film “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot.” Maybe. “I think I’m in it? I don’t remember if I saw it,” laughs Youssef, who is credited for the role of Drinker. “There were so many times where I booked roles where the character has a name like Drinker or Guy in Kitchen, and then I would, like, not be invited to do anything.

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Yorgos Lanthimos‘ Poor Things, the darkly comedic genre-bender penned by Tony McNamara that marks a reunion of the Greek filmmaker with McNamara and star Emma Stone after 2018’s Oscar-nominated The Favourite.

Pedro Pascal got a little handsy with Willem Dafoe’s wife, Giada Colagrande, Monday at the “Spider-Man” actor’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. In a TikTok with almost 6 million views, the notoriously handsome Pascal is seen standing up after crouching down to pose for photos with Dafoe’s new star, then turns to Colagrande, an actress and director, and caresses her chin as she chuckles.Dafoe, 68, dropped his smiled as he watched the whole thing, muttering something inaudible to his co-star in “The Great Wall,” who quickly kept his hands to himself.

Pedro Pascal recently paid tribute to fellow actor Willem Dafoe in a heartwarming way. Pascal recounted a funny anecdote about watching the classic war movie “Platoon” as a kid with his dad, which involved Dafoe’s memorable performance.

Willem Dafoe received the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame of 2024. This is a well-deserved honor for the actor, who has been in dozens of movies in his career and is internationally respected for the versatility and boldness of his roles.

Jaden Thompson AARP The Magazine has announced the nominees for the annual Movies for Grownups (MFG) Awards. “Barbie,” “The Color Purple,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro” and “Oppenheimer” will contend for best picture/best movie for grownups.

Jenna Ortega has revealed the actor that she most admires, as well as her all-time favourite film.The Wednesday and Scream star was asked the questions by fans and responded in a Stories reel on Instagram earlier today (January 9).Replying to the inquiry about her favourite actor, Ortega wrote: “Too hard, but I do love Harry Dean Stanton. Paris, Texas is one of my favorite movies.

Willem Dafoe is being honored!

Willem Dafoe has said he doesn’t think “challenging” movies are popular any more thanks to the onset of streaming.The actor, who is currently promoting his latest film Poor Things with Emma Stone, opened up about the current situation of the film industry in a new interview with The Guardian last weekend (January 7).He told the publication he thought the way people are viewing films now more via streaming has affected the types of films being made as a result.He explained: “…The kind of attention that people give at home isn’t the same. More difficult movies, more challenging movies can not do as well, when you don’t have an audience that’s really paying attention.

Emma Stone has said that a sequel to the 2021 film Cruella is a “work in progress” in a new interview.While on the red carpet at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Thursday (January 5), Stone spoke with Variety about the sequel to Cruella, a prequel to Disney’s animated 1961 film 101 Dalmatians in which Stone played the titular villain, Cruella de Vil. “You tell me,” Stone said, responding to a question about when the sequel will be released.

“It’s a very different film,” Yorgos Lanthimos said Sunday about his next movie with Emma Stone, titled Kinds of Kindness,which he’s currently editing. It marks the third time the pair have worked together.