Sydney Sweeney and Christy team promised not to 'Hollywoodize' the true survivor story: 'Everythi...

The real Christy Martin had one request of the filmmakers and writers: &34;Please don't Hollywoodize my life.&34; They didn't. Sydney Sweeney and Christy team promised not to 'Hollywoodize' the true survivor story: 'Everything was pulled from truth' The real Christy Martin had one request of the filmmakers and writers: &34;Please don't Hollywoodize my life.&34; They didn't. By Nick Romano :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/NicholasRomanoauthorphotoadc9b60763e34711935cbf7b3d768d24.jpg) Nick Romano is a senior editor at with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment.

The real Christy Martin had one request of the filmmakers and writers: "Please don't Hollywoodize my life." They didn't.

Sydney Sweeney and Christy team promised not to 'Hollywoodize' the true survivor story: 'Everything was pulled from truth'

The real Christy Martin had one request of the filmmakers and writers: "Please don't Hollywoodize my life." They didn't.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in *Vanity Fair*, Vulture, IGN, and more.

EW's editorial guidelines

November 7, 2025 10:00 a.m. ET

Sydney Sweeney on the set of 'Christy' with director David Michod. Credit:

Black Bear Pictures

- Sydney Sweeney and the real Christy Martin discuss the harrowing true story behind the biopic of a women's boxing trailblazer.

- The one request Martin had for director David Michôd and co-writer Mirrah Foulkes: "Please don't Hollywoodize my life."

- "Everything was pulled from truth. The film is truthful from the very beginning to the end," Sweeney says.

Christy Martin, known in the ring as the Coal Miner's Daughter, made a deal with God after suffering several stabbings and a gunshot to the torso from her ex-husband, James V. Martin, in 2010. The trailblazer of women's boxing promised she would help one person before she died.

"And then I was like, 'No,' 'cause I'm arrogant, 'I wanna help one person every day,'" Martin recalls.

It's a story she tells often, first on stage at the world premiere of her biopic, *Christy*, at the Toronto International Film Festival this past September. She tells it again during a November interview with ** and actress Sydney Sweeney, who portrays Martin on screen. To date, she has already fulfilled that original promise — and then some.

"I actually got a text message from someone who was in the movie that it has saved her life," Martin tells EW. (Sweeney says she received the same text.) "Even to know the people that were in the movie — not the main cast, but just in the movie — it affected them in a positive way, we're doing what we're supposed to."

Christy Martin and Sydney Sweeney at the AFI premiere of 'Christy' in Los Angeles.

LISA O'CONNOR/AFP via Getty

Directed by David Michôd (of the Timothée Chalamet-led *The King*), who also co-wrote the script with Mirrah Foulkes, *Christy* is equal parts underdog sports movie and harrowing survivor's tale.

Starting with Martin's high-school years as a closeted lesbian in a homophobic West Virginian community, the story follows the pioneer's personal life through her swift ascent to the top of women's boxing. It covers her emotionally turbulent relationship with her mother (Merritt Wever); her life with Jim Martin (Ben Foster), who first became her trainer and later her manipulative, abusive husband; and finally coming back to the ring after surviving a near-fatal assault by Jim, who died in 2024 while serving a 25-year sentence for attempted murder.

'Christy' trailer depicts transformed Sydney Sweeney taking on epic battles in boxing biopic

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Martin had one request of Michôd and Foulkes: "Please do not Hollywoodize my life," she says. She means she didn't want to see anything that didn't actually happen added in for the sake of sensationalizing her story. "[Foulkes] would tell me, 'Enough crazy s--- has happened in your life, we don't have to Hollywoodize it,'" Martin recalls. "The script is real. Once I read the script, I just sat back and watched them do their thing. And boy oh boy...it was pretty amazing."

Sweeney, who also produced the movie, confirms no creative liberties like that were taken. "Everything was pulled from truth," the *Euphoria* and *Anyone But You* star says. "The film is truthful from the very beginning to the end."

Ben Foster as Jim Martin, Sydney Sweeney as Christy Martin in 'Christy'.

Black Bear Pictures

The pair remembers their first meeting over Zoom. Martin acknowledges how difficult it was to sense Sweeney's energy but describes the virtual encounter as positive. They later met in person while in pre-production, after Sweeney began transforming her body through boxing and physical training.

It didn't seem like just another role to Martin. "She wants to do this because she feels like it's important," she comments of Sweeney. "I was 100 percent in, and I was open to share my story, the little details that sometimes aren't easy to talk about."

When it came to the difficult material, the team filmed all the sequences in Martin's house with Jim during the first week of production, according to Sweeney. "We started off right out the gate with the very heavy and crucial moments of Christy's life," the actress remarks.

Christy Martin in the ring (1997).

Andy Lyons/Getty

That Wednesday marked Wever's first day filming as Joyce. It was the scene where Martin first shares with her mom how scared she was of her husband, only for Joyce to turn her away and take Jim's side. "My mother passed in February. It's all real, but it's still hard to see," Martin comments of that moment. "The last thing you want to do is go to your mother for help and not get it. That scene may be harder than the attack for me to actually watch."

Two days later, on that Friday, the team shot Jim attacking Martin with a knife and a gun. Martin wasn't on set for the filming of this moment, "upon the request of everyone, I think," she says. "It protected me."

Sweeney acknowledges that a lot of thought went into that attack sequence. "It was a very heavy week," she comments, "but having a scene partner like Ben and a director like David, you know that you're in good hands 'cause you feel safe with everyone, you trust everyone, and you know that everybody also is handling this with the utmost respect and care. You talk about it, you just go hand in hand, and you dive right in."

Katy O'Brian as Lisa Holewyne, Sydney Sweeney as Christy Martin in 'Christy'.

Black Bear Pictures

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

Martin remains overwhelmed with the reaction she's seen to her story. She's been promoting the film with her now-wife Lisa Holewyne and their dog, Champ, by her side. Holewyne, also a former professional boxer, appears in the film by way of Katy O'Brian (*Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning*). After squaring off in the ring, the two developed a long-term friendship that eventually blossomed into a romantic relationship.

"Women are coming to share their story about domestic violence. There's people coming to me about sexuality," Martin says. "They're really reacting in a positive way."

For Sweeney, "It's honestly a life-changing experience in a way, of knowing that I can be a part of Christy's story that can help others."

For Martin, "This movie's bigger than Hollywood."

*Christy* opens in theaters this weekend.**

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Elle Fanning freaked out Predator: Badlands costar with this unique talent: 'Did she just break h...

Dimitrius SchusterKoloamatangi and Fanning also discuss the challenges of learning Yautja, the alien language created for the film. Elle Fanning freaked out Predator: Badlands costar with this unique talent: 'Did she just break her arms?' Dimitrius SchusterKoloamatangi and Fanning also discuss the challenges of learning Yautja, the alien language created for the film. By Lauren Huff :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/PXL202501060627063092a245c0a56a194868af7b6a47af56223c.

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Fanning also discuss the challenges of learning Yautja, the alien language created for the film.

Elle Fanning freaked out Predator: Badlands costar with this unique talent: 'Did she just break her arms?'

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Fanning also discuss the challenges of learning Yautja, the alien language created for the film.

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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Thia (Elle Fanning) in 'Predator: Badlands'. Credit:

20th Century Studios

Double-jointedness can come in handy when you're a movie star.

Just ask Elle Fanning, who got to put this talent to good use in the sci-fi action thriller *Predator: Badlands, *where she played a synthetic human (synth, for short) named Thia, who happens to be missing the lower half of her body.

"I do have double-jointed elbows, which is kind of shown off in a couple scenes, which I am proud of," she tells **, adding, "Dan [Trachtenberg, director] loved that."

And that's not all Fanning can do. "I can also keep my eyes open for a very long time without blinking, and so I would like to say I did that myself," she says. "They did not do that with the computer. There's a scene where I have to look like I'm shut down, like a robot shut down, and I kept my eyes open. That was me."

Sitting next to Fanning during this interview is Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who plays Dek, the film's young Predator. Outcast from his clan, Dek goes on a quest to prove himself with a treacherous first hunt on a remote alien planet, where he finds an unlikely ally in Thia. Schuster-Koloamatangi calls his costar a "hell of a performer," but admits to being freaked out by her more unusual talents.

"When she did her double-jointed thing, I remember looking over, I was sitting down just cooling off, and she was showing Dan, and I was looking like, wait, *what the hell just happened*?" he says, laughing. "*Did she just break her arms*? It was very practical."

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How 'Predator: Badlands' director made a predator to 'fall in love' with, hints at 'Alien' connection

When Fanning first read the script, she says she had no idea how she was going to spend so much of the film using just her torso, but she credits Trachtenberg, whom she calls "a man with a plan," for figuring it all out. "Most of the time I had very stylish blue stockings on, and I was cut in half and had to learn how to walk on my hands," she explains. "But it was also in a robotic way because she does have a superhuman strength to her that she can walk fast, and she's not a human, so we were trying to figure out that physicality."

Thia also spends a lot of time strapped to Dek's back, which involved wires and a wheelbarrow attached to Schuster-Koloamatangi's hips that Fanning would sit in. But, at the end of the day, Fanning says she put all her faith in her director. "I really put my full trust into him, and to join the ranks of other actors who have played these iconic Weyland-Yutani synths and androids — it was pretty exciting for me. I'm a big fan of that world and that franchise," she says.

Thia (Elle Fanning) and Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) in 'Predator: Badlands'.

Courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Balancing practical and visual effects was also a challenge when it came to the looks of the characters themselves. Surprisingly, both actors spent about the same amount of time in the hair and makeup chair — typically between an hour and an hour and a half — largely because Dek's face was mostly CGI.

"I was lucky enough, I only had to wear the prosthetic suit, so it came on limb by limb, and then we zipped everything up and covered it with the tunic," Schuster-Koloamatangi says of his day-to-day routine. "I had an open-face cowl, so I thank God I didn't have to sit in the chair for hours getting prosthetic makeup on. They kind of just left it as is to capture the performance. So it was only literally an hour."

The film also required both stars — especially Schuster-Koloamatangi — to speak an entirely new alien language, Yautja, which was created for the movie by linguist Britton Watkins. The costars admit that learning the language was one of the biggest challenges in making the film. "It's so interesting, I've never done anything where I have to pretend I completely understand what he's saying, but he's speaking in an entirely new language that was constructed for this film," Fanning says, before bragging on her costar, "Yautja, it's a true language that he is fluent in now."

Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) and Thia (Elle Fanning) in 'Predator: Badlands'.

Courtesy of 20th Century Studios

According to Schuster-Koloamatangi, the most challenging aspect of the dialect is the clicking and vibration noises it requires, all of which he produced himself, much to his own surprise. "I thought it was going to be fake as well. I thought I could freestyle all my lines when they told me," he says with a laugh. "But yeah, it was a cool process, and I think it's such a cool detail for fans of the franchise. They've never had a language established within the Yautja culture that people can enjoy and have fun with and learn."

At this, Fanning cuts in to share that some fans have even started to slide into Schuster-Koloamatangi's DMs with some Yautja. "Yeah, it's crazy," he says. "I was like, wait, did you watch the film? How did you even? Did someone leak the film? I got scared [thinking] I leaked the film, and I was like, wait, no way. It's really cool for the fans, I think, that they have this to watch and enjoy, and have a little fun with themselves."

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.*****

*Predator: Badlands* hits theaters Friday.

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Everything to know about the controversial Michael Jackson biopic (and what Paris Jackson thinks ...

Jaafar Jackson, Michael's nephew, leads the cast alongside Colman Domingo and Miles Teller. Everything to know about the controversial Michael Jackson biopic (and what Paris Jackson thinks of it) Jaafar Jackson, Michael's nephew, leads the cast alongside Colman Domingo and Miles Teller. By Randall Colburn :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/RandallColburnauthorphotoe7e8b48d9f8645588439077e721a5f48.jpg) Randall Colburn Randall Colburn is a writer and editor at . His work has previously appeared on The A.V. Club, The Guardian, The Ringer, and many other publications.

Jaafar Jackson, Michael's nephew, leads the cast alongside Colman Domingo and Miles Teller.

Everything to know about the controversial Michael Jackson biopic (and what Paris Jackson thinks of it)

Jaafar Jackson, Michael's nephew, leads the cast alongside Colman Domingo and Miles Teller.

By Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn is a writer and editor at **. His work has previously appeared on *The A.V. Club, The Guardian, The Ringer*, and many other publications.

EW's editorial guidelines

November 7, 2025 10:32 a.m. ET

Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in 'Michael'; Michael Jackson at the opening of 'Dream Girls' in 1983 in Los Angeles. Credit:

Glen Wilson/Lionsgate; Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Getty

- Following years of development and production, Antoine Fuqua's Michael Jackson biopic is arriving in April 2026.

- Jaafar Jackson, Michael's nephew, stars as the pop icon alongside Colman Domingo, Miles Teller, and Nia Long.

- Several controversies have circled the production, including criticism from Paris Jackson.

*Michael*, an upcoming biopic about pop icon Michael Jackson, promises to unleash the man in the mirror.

The film's roots date back to 2019, when producer Graham King, an architect of the Oscar-winning Freddie Mercury biopic *Bohemian Rhapsody,* announced his intentions to bring Jackson's story to the big screen. The project has secured several high-profile artists, from A-listers like Colman Domingo and Miles Teller to director Antoine Fuqua and Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan.

But *Michael* has also hit several roadblocks, with the King of Pop's past legal troubles haunting the production and Jackson's daughter, Paris, decrying its depiction of her late father, who died in 2009 from acute propofol intoxication.

Here's everything we know about the Michael Jackson biopic, from its release date and cast to the controversies that have plagued its production.**

What is Michael about?

Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in 'Michael'.

*Michael* aims to deliver a life-spanning portrait of the icon, "tracing his journey from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as the lead of the Jackson 5 to the visionary artist whose creative ambition fueled a relentless pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world."

The official logline continues, "Highlighting both his life off stage and some of the most iconic performances from his early solo career, the film gives audiences a front-row seat to Michael Jackson as never before. This is where his story begins."

A previous synopsis called the project "a riveting and honest portrayal of the brilliant and complicated man who became known worldwide as the King of Pop," promising a peek at the artist's "triumphs and tragedies on an epic, cinematic scale."

See cast of Michael Jackson biopic and the real people they're playing

Colman Domingo says Michael Jackson biopic is 'gonna surprise people'

Playing Michael is the singer's real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, the son of former Jackson 5 member Jermaine Jackson.

Speaking at Las Vegas' CinemaCon in April 2024, King spoke about what drew him to the project. "The filmmaking stories that I've always gravitated to have characters that are multi-dimensional, and where there are elements of drama, intrigue, conflict, emotional stakes," he said. "Then I try and find the untold version of the story — and try and set it from a perspective that hopefully gives the audience something new to take away creatively. As you can only imagine, Michael Jackson ticks all those boxes."

He also briefly acknowledged the numerous controversies surrounding Jackson, including multiple allegations of child sex abuse (which the Jackson estate has deemed "absolutely false").

"[Michael was] an enigma, full of eccentricity, electrifying talent, arguably the most famous entertainer to ever cross the planet," King continued. "And yet behind the unrelenting scrutiny and the accusations and the grinding media spotlight, he was simply a man. A man who lived a very complicated life. The movie will get into all of it, including over 30 songs, recreating some of the most iconic performances on stage as well as his life out of the public eye."**

Is there a Michael trailer?

Yes, the first teaser trailer for *Michael* arrived in November 2025. "I know you've been waiting a long time for this," intones a record producer in the opening moments, a sly nod at the film's long road to production.

The minute-long teaser is heavy on performance footage, with Jaafar Jackson adopting the famous outfits and dance moves that made his uncle famous. Most notable? A shot of the young performer in the zombie makeup from Michael's beloved (and still freaky) "Thriller" music video.**

Who's in the cast of Michael?

The Jackson 5 in 'Michael'.

Glen Wilson/Lionsgate

Jaafar Jackson, the pop star's real-life nephew, leads the cast as Michael. This will be Jaafar's screen acting debut, though the young artist is a singer and dancer in his own right. As of this writing, the video for his 2019 single "Got Me Singing" has nearly 10 million views on YouTube.

"It's uncanny how much he's like Michael," Fuqua previously told **. "Sounds like him, dances like him, sings. It's really uncanny. Graham King, who is a fantastic producer, found him, and introduced him to me, and I was blown away." If you don't believe him, just take a look at the picture.

Two-time Oscar nominee Colman Domingo, who won an Emmy for his turn on HBO's *Euphoria* (2019–present), plays Michael's father, Joe Jackson, a controversial figure in his own right.

"I wanted to take it on because I know that there's many public opinions about Joe Jackson that are in conflict of what maybe family members or people who knew him think or believe. And even that is very complicated," the actor told EW in February 2024. "I want to figure him out and find out what made him tick. How did he create these magnificent artists, these world-acclaimed artists? Because it was a lot through Joe, what Joe did and his impact. Whether good, bad, or ugly, I'm not sure."

Miles Teller, acclaimed for his turns in *Whiplash* (2014) and *Top Gun: Maverick* (2022), costars as John Branca, Michael's lawyer and manager. Nia Long (*The Best Man*) appears as Michael's mother, Katherine, while Larenz Tate (*Power*) features as music producer Berry Gordy, who worked closely with the Jackson 5.

Many of Michael's famous contemporaries will also appear in the film. Kat Graham (*The Vampire Diaries*) will notably appear as Diana Ross, the "Queen of Motown." Audiences will also see Liv Symone (*Power Book III: Raising Kanan)* as Gladys Knight, Kevin Shinick (*Robot Chicken)* as Dick Clark, and Kendrick Sampson (*Insecure)* as Quincy Jones.**

What are the Michael Jackson biopic controversies?

Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in 'Michael'.

Kevin Mazur for Lionsgate

Michael's complicated legacy and numerous allegations of child sex abuse have been raised by many critics since the film was announced. In 2003, the singer was arrested and charged with child molestation. He was acquitted of all charges in 2005 following a trial that spanned nearly four months.

Foremost among the film's critics is Dan Reed, the filmmaker behind the 2019 documentary *Leaving Neverland*, which unpacks the allegations of two men who claim Michael sexually molested them as children.

After reading a draft of the script, Reed condemned the project as a "complete whitewash" of Michael's life. "It's an out-and-out attempt to completely rewrite the allegations and dismiss them out of hand, and contains complete lies," Reed told *The Times of London* in March 2024. "You never even see him alone with any boys, when it is a matter of fact that he shared his bed with small children for many years."

Fuqua, *Michael*'s director, previously told EW that his goal was to "tell the facts as we know it, about the artist, about the man, about the human being." The film has the backing of the Jackson estate.

Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in 'Michael'.

Glen Wilson/Lionsgate

Early in 2025, the production allegedly hit a legal roadblock due to a clause in a settlement made with one of Jackson's former accusers, Jordan Chandler.

In 1993, Chandler accused Michael of sexually abusing him when he was 13 years old, leading to a settlement with the musician for a reported $25 million. In a January 2025 report from *Puck*, which cited multiple sources, the settlement reportedly states that the Chandlers are not to be mentioned or dramatized in any film about Michael. This was overlooked prior to production.

*Puck* declared this to be a "nightmare scenario" for the production, as Chandler was reportedly a key figure in Logan's script. The result, per the outlet, was heavy rewrites and reshoots.

A source close to the production disputed this characterization to PEOPLE. "The Michael Jackson biopic is not in total chaos," they said. "The inflammatory headlines about the moving halting are simply not true. The film is moving forward, and reshoots are happening in March."

Spokespersons for Lionsgate, King, and the attorney who represents the Jackson estate did not respond to **'s request for comment.**

What has Paris Jackson said about Michael?

Paris Jackson at the Chloe Womenswear Fall/Winter 2025-2026 show as part of Paris Fashion Week in March 2025.

Marc Piasecki / Contributor / Getty Images

Paris Jackson, Michael's daughter with his second wife, Debbie Rowe, has voiced criticism of the project, saying the draft of the script she read was "dishonest" and "filled with inaccuracies."

According to an Instagram Story shared by Paris in September 2025, she offered feedback on an early draft of the script and was told that production "was not actually going to address" her notes. Since then, she said, she has not been involved.

She did, however, warn fans not to expect an honest portrayal of her dad's life. "A big reason why I haven't said anything up until this point is because I know a lot of you guys are gonna be happy with it," she said. "A big section of the film panders to a very specific section of my dad's fandom that still lives in the fantasy, and they're gonna be happy with it."

She continued, citing the glut of musical biopics in recent years. "The thing about these biopics is, it's Hollywood. It's fantasyland. It's not real. But it's sold to you as real," she said. "The narrative is being controlled. And there's a lot of inaccuracy and there's a lot of just full-blown lies. At the end of the day, that doesn't really fly with me."**

When does Michael come out?

*Michael* is slated to arrive in theaters on April 24, 2026.**

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.*****

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'Star Wars' actor says he would be open to work with Disney again if they don't 'succumb to fascism'

'Star Wars' actor says he would be open to work with Disney again if they don't 'succumb to fascism' Alexander HallNovember 10, 2025 at 5:00 PM 0 Oscar Isaac, who starred in Disney's "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, said on Sunday that he would consider working with the entertainment giant again if it refuses to kowtow to "fascism." GQ magazine published the interview Monday, where he was asked by GQ senior culture editor Alex Pappademas about possibly reprising his role as Poe Dameron in "Star Wars." "I'd be open to it, although right now I'm not so open to working with Disney.

- - 'Star Wars' actor says he would be open to work with Disney again if they don't 'succumb to fascism'

Alexander HallNovember 10, 2025 at 5:00 PM

0

Oscar Isaac, who starred in Disney's "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, said on Sunday that he would consider working with the entertainment giant again if it refuses to kowtow to "fascism."

GQ magazine published the interview Monday, where he was asked by GQ senior culture editor Alex Pappademas about possibly reprising his role as Poe Dameron in "Star Wars."

"I'd be open to it, although right now I'm not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great," said Isaac, who was one of many public figures criticizing or distancing themselves from the entertainment company at the time.

Young Conservatives Say Kimmel Faced 'Consequences,' Not Cancel Culture After Abc Suspension

John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac attend the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" at Cineworld Leicester Square on Dec. 18, 2019 in London, England.

"That would be great," Pappademas replied.

"But if that happens, then yeah, I'd be open to having a conversation about a galaxy far away — or any number of other things," Isaac added.

Read On The Fox News App

Isaac's attitude toward "Star Wars" appears to have softened. In June 2020, he said he would only be interested in reprising his role if he needed "another house or something."

Rogan Calls Out Media For Fussing Over Jimmy Kimmel As Uk Govt Arrests People For Online Speech

In an editorial note, Pappademas told readers that the interview was conducted two days after ABC and Disney suspended production of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Kimmel's show was pulled off the air after remarks about the alleged assassin of TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk sparked outrage, a warning from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and two major ABC affiliate owners yanking his program across the country. Kimmel had falsely suggested the alleged killer was a MAGA supporter, although he's reportedly claimed he was taken out of context.

The brief suspension sparked immediate outrage from Kimmel's fellow late-night hosts and many prominent liberals in the entertainment industry. Kimmel's show was restored after only a few days.

Disney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture

Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show was briefly pulled off the air after the host's remarks about the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk sparked outrage.

Original article source: 'Star Wars' actor says he would be open to work with Disney again if they don't 'succumb to fascism'

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'Star Wars' actor says he would be open to work with Disney again if they don't 'succumb to fascism'

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Valerie Bertinelli Reveals Shocking Blonde Hair Transformation

Valerie Bertinelli Reveals Shocking Blonde Hair Transformation Charlotte PhillippNovember 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM 235 Rodin Eckenroth/Getty; Valerie Bertinelli/Instagram Valerie Bertinelli. Valerie Bertinelli just surprised fans with a new look The actress and celebrity chef, 65, took to Instagram to show off her blonde hair transformation "New hair who dis?" she joked in the caption Valerie Bertinelli is embracing a new look! The actress and celebrity chef, 65, took to Instagram to show off a bold blonde hairstyle.

- - Valerie Bertinelli Reveals Shocking Blonde Hair Transformation

Charlotte PhillippNovember 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM

235

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty; Valerie Bertinelli/Instagram

Valerie Bertinelli. -

Valerie Bertinelli just surprised fans with a new look

The actress and celebrity chef, 65, took to Instagram to show off her blonde hair transformation

"New hair who dis?" she joked in the caption

Valerie Bertinelli is embracing a new look!

The actress and celebrity chef, 65, took to Instagram to show off a bold blonde hairstyle. In the selfie, Bertinelli's golden blonde hue was styled in loose waves and a center part, with darker roots peeking through.

"New hair who dis?" she joked in the caption.

She then revealed it was a wig styled by celebrity pro Chris Appleton, best known for his work with Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopeze.

Valerie Bertinelli/Instagram

Valerie Bertinelli.

Bertinelli has been candid in the past about how she deals with gray hair. In an Instagram video shared last year, the Food Network star shared a "PSA about filters and gray roots," addressing comments she's received online about her hair and use of filters.

"I'm filming with no filter today because some of y'all get really bent out of shape when I choose to use a filter, which I've told you about," Bertinelli said at the start of the video. "Sometimes I use filter, and sometimes I don't. Most of the time, I do use filter because this is me with no makeup, and this is no filter."

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After explaining that one of her followers accused her of wearing a wig, she bent her head down and showed off her gray hair.

"Can you get me a wig without flipping gray roots then, please, because I'm tired of getting my roots done every two weeks," she said. "Thank goodness 99.9 percent of you are really kind, sweet people and don't give a flying flip whether I have roots or I put a filter on. But some of y'all need to chill out, ok? I mean seriously."

Dia Dipasupil/WireImage

Valerie Bertinelli in March 2024.

Bertinelli also recently opened up about how her style has changed as she ages. Earlier this month, she took to Instagram to give fans look behind the scenes of the development of her forthcoming memoir, Getting Naked.

In the post, she shared outtakes from the book cover's photo shoot, in which she's wearing only a white button-down shirt and tan-colored stiletto heels. (She poses completely nude on the cover.)

In the caption, the author spoke candidly about "letting it all hang out" despite fear or what critics may say, because, as she believes, "that's the point."

"When I feel that fear, I know it's an opportunity to learn something," she wrote. "The older I get, and the more I unearth and absorb, the better I get at how to process it. Consequently, the less scary it gets."

Bertinelli goes on to say that she's practicing emotional regulation every day, only going with the feelings that are actually hers and worth guarding, and what's not worth keeping, including other people's opinions.

"Every experience is an opportunity to learn more and I welcome them all," she said, adding that she hopes her book can help readers "walk you through a few challenging experiences" of their own and get to the other side of them.

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Valerie Bertinelli Reveals Shocking Blonde Hair Transformation

Valerie Bertinelli Reveals Shocking Blonde Hair Transformation Charlotte PhillippNovember 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM 235 Rodin...

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Dwayne Johnson reveals how he accidentally announced Osama bin Laden's death before the president...

&34;Just got word that will shock the world Land of the free...home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!&34; Johnson wrote on Twitter at the time. Dwayne Johnson reveals how he accidentally announced Osama bin Laden's death before the president: 'Oh s' &34;Just got word that will shock the world Land of the free...home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!&34; Johnson wrote on Twitter at the time. By Lauren Huff :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/PXL202501060627063092a245c0a56a194868af7b6a47af56223c.

"Just got word that will shock the world - Land of the free...home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!" Johnson wrote on Twitter at the time.

Dwayne Johnson reveals how he accidentally announced Osama bin Laden's death before the president: 'Oh s---'

"Just got word that will shock the world - Land of the free...home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!" Johnson wrote on Twitter at the time.

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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November 7, 2025 7:11 p.m. ET

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Dwayne Johnson; Barack Obama. Credit:

Emma McIntyre/Getty; Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Bloomberg via Getty

Dwayne "The President" Johnson, is that you?

During a recent appearance on the *Awards Chatter* podcast, the *Smashing Machine* star was asked about that time he announced that al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden had been killed... before then-president Barack Obama shared the news with the public. So, how did it go down, according to Johnson?

The actor explained that he has "a friend of a friend" who gave him a call to relay the news — though he doesn't name this person. "The call was like, 'Hey, this thing happened,'" he added. "And I said, 'Okay, wonderful news.' I was told on the call that the president at that time [Barack Obama] was going to make his speech in 20 minutes or whatever."

Johnson continued, "I said, 'Okay, great.' So 20 minutes go by, and at about the 25th minute, I tweet this. Then I get a second call, and the call is, 'Yeah, the president didn't go on yet.' And I went, 'Oh s---.'"

Dwayne Johnson in his new film, 'The Smashing Machine'.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

The tweet in question, which was indeed shared on May 1, 2011, read: "Just got word that will shock the world - Land of the free...home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!"

Of course, at around 11:35 p.m. EDT that same evening, Obama gave a televised address from the White House in which he said bin Laden, who orchestrated the 9/11 terrorist attacks, had been killed.

"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan," Obama said at the time. "A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body."

How Brendan Fraser helped Dwayne Johnson 'kick off' his acting career

Dwayne Johnson reacts to 'The Smashing Machine' being his lowest opening ever

Speaking with Moviefone in 2012, Johnson remained similarly secretive about who this friend of a friend source was.

"If I tell you that, I won't have to 'kill' you, but I'll have to behead you — no, I got my sources," he said at the time. "I got friends in high places and low places. It was a very interesting day. ...The individuals who were there were proud to let me know."

He added, "I knew the president was going to give his speech; I thought he was going to give it at a certain time and so I thought, I think it's appropriate that I tweet 'I'm damn proud to be an American' and keep it in that space without giving away too much information."**

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Guillermo del Toro on the Frankenstein scene he had to argue for, and how Jacob Elordi found the ...

The director, Elordi, and Oscar Isaac join EW for a laughfilled conversation about the new adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic novel. Guillermo del Toro on the Frankenstein scene he had to argue for, and how Jacob Elordi found the Creature's voice The director, Elordi, and Oscar Isaac join EW for a laughfilled conversation about the new adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic novel. By Gerrad Hall :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/Gerrad413fcf02541834f43bb26c0de8fe66f66.jpg) Gerrad Hall is an editorial director at , overseeing movie, awards, and music coverage.

The director, Elordi, and Oscar Isaac join EW for a laugh-filled conversation about the new adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic novel.

Guillermo del Toro on the Frankenstein scene he had to argue for, and how Jacob Elordi found the Creature's voice

The director, Elordi, and Oscar Isaac join EW for a laugh-filled conversation about the new adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic novel.

By Gerrad Hall

Gerrad Hall is an editorial director at **, overseeing movie, awards, and music coverage. He is also host of *The Awardist* podcast, and has cohosted EW's live Oscars, Emmys, SAG, and Grammys red carpet shows. He has appeared on *Good Morning America*, *The Talk*, *Access Hollywood*, *Extra!*, and other talk shows, delivering the latest news on pop culture and entertainment.

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November 7, 2025 9:01 p.m. ET

Director Guillermo del Toro and Oscar Isaac on the set of 'Frankenstein'. Credit:

Ken Woroner/Netflix

Guillermo del Toro loves a good movie monster.

In the case of his latest, *Frankenstein*, he actually has two. Yes, there's the Creature (a prosthetics-covered Jacob Elordi) created by scientist Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac), but he, it turns out, is just as monstrous, if not worse — cruel and abusive in his treatment of the experiment he thinks is unsuccessful but in reality just needed more of his time, attention, and love.

The Creature is the latest on a long list of del Toro "monster" movies, including the Pale Man and Faun in *Pan's Labyrinth*, the Amphibian Man in *The Shape of Water*, and *Hellboy*'s Abe Sapien. But his monsters aren't there just for the sake of pure horror; they often symbolize the story's deeper meaning. In this case, it's a father-son relationship and Frankenstein author Mary Shelley's core themes of pain and regret. But del Toro expands the emotional spectrum with forgiveness.

The director has waited his whole life to make this movie — he's a superfan of Shelley's 1818 novel and has a collection of Frankenstein memorabilia at his famous Bleak House in Los Angeles — and at one time, it was going to be two movies: one dedicated to Victor, and the other to the Creature; now it's one movie in two acts. After premiering at the Venice Film Festival and a successful limited theatrical/Oscar-qualifying run, it's now available to stream on Netflix.

Jacob Elordi as the Creature and Mia Goth as Elizabeth in 'Frankenstein'.

Courtesy of Netflix

Below, del Toro, Oscar Isaac, and Jacob Elordi sit down with ** to talk about the director's vision for his long-gestating film, how Isaac found his way into the mad scientist, how Elordi connected with the Creature and found his voice, and more.

How 'Frankenstein' was influenced by the kidnapping of Guillermo del Toro's father

'Frankenstein' cast: Who's who in Guillermo del Toro's heartbreaking Netflix adaptation

**: Guillermo, I know this movie was a dream of yours to make for a few decades, and you had a very specific vision for it. But what did these guys bring that you weren't expecting? What did they bring that wasn't necessarily part of that vision? **

**GUILLERMO DEL TORO:** Honestly, themselves. And each of them was a surprise because when I met with Oscar the first time, we were just having a general meeting.

**OSCAR ISAAC:** He wasn't even into my acting.

**DEL TORO: **I thought he was an insurance man. I said, "I'll take that." [*laughs*] No, but when we started talking about our fathers and being fathers and the lineage of pain in a family, how it passes from one generation to the next, at the end of the chat, I said, "I'm gonna write it for you." And when I spoke with Jacob the first time on Zoom, I texted Oscar, timestamped, and I said, "I found him. We found him." You can talk about range, you can talk about this, but it's essence. If the character's essence is perfect for the actor, or the actor's to the character, you don't have to think again. You just tailor it to them, and watch them grow. They can't fail.

**Oscar, you had previously told me Victor Frankenstein was not on your list of dream roles, but the experience became a dream...**

**OSCAR ISAAC:** I mean, you say what you gotta say when you're in room... [*laughs*]

Oscar Isaac in 'Frankenstein'.

Ken Woroner / Netflix

**But you did say that it was kind of a dream experience for you, and what you got to do here. How did this push or change you or challenge you in ways that previous roles haven't?**

**ISAAC:** The form of it is so heightened and extreme, which was really exciting. And very early on, Guillermo said, "This is not naturalism. This isn't naturalistic. I want speed: speed of thought, speed of language. You've got lots of things to say, but I need it to move at a much quicker pace than maybe you'd think naturally you would want that to be." Finding the voice, we talked a lot about what that would be, that would ignite that way of speaking. And also, he encompasses such an incredibly physical character. It's very elemental. He's Jungian, he's archetypal...

**DEL TORO:** And running up and down...

**ISAAC:** Yeah! Those tiny little boots, running up and down those steps.

**DEL TORO:** Those cute little boots.

**JACOB ELORDI:** So cute. [*laughs*]

**ISAAC:** So everything about that, which was also what was so indelible and so pleasurable about that, was also what the big challenge was, encompassing all that.

**Your dad is a doctor, and he got to come to set. You told me you were going to take him to the premiere. What was that experience like for him?**

**ISAAC:** Yeah, he came to set and he criticized Guillermo [*laughs*] and he didn't understand why he was doing so many takes.

**DEL TORO:** He said, "I think you got it on the take before." [*laughs*] I said, "Thank you, sir." And then I understood everything.

**ISAAC:** Then he really understood me! He was like, I made the right decision. [*laughs*] And I did, I brought him to the screening in Venice, and at a certain point I was watching it, and I heard some sniffles behind me. I think it really impacted him.

**DEL TORO:** But funny, his dad was very pleased that we had a medical advisor on the set. He goes, "Does he know about Victorian surgery?" ... "He does." ... "Okay."

Jacob Elordi as the Creature in 'Frankenstein'.

Ken Woroner/Netflix

**Jacob, when you look at yourself in the movie, what do you see?**

**JACOB ELORDI: **I love it. It's really nice because I can see how I feel inside when I watch the film, but I can't see me. So it makes it a lot easier to enjoy the picture as a whole 'cause if it was me on screen without all of that, I think I'd be sitting there scratching holes in my head. But I see a lot of myself behind closed doors.

**Oscar mentioned finding the voice. Was there a lot of trial and error for you, finding that very specific sound?**

**ELORDI:** Yeah. Even while we were filming, [Guillermo would] come back from the edit the next morning and he'd say to me, "There's a gravel that needs to be there," because I was developing with the Creature as the Creature developed in the film. I was lucky enough to, for the most part, shoot it in something of a chronological order. So I got to develop the voice as I played it live. But I had a lot of conversations with [*pointing at Oscar*] Gerry early on, and there was this kind of throat chant thing that we would practice and work on, but it was something that evolved.

**DEL TORO: **Tibetan.

**ELORDI:** Tibetan, yeah. A Tibetan throat chant. But it was something that evolved, depending on the physicality of the scene or how he's being treated in the moment affects the way his voice works. And there's also a sensitivity that you wanna find because you don't just want to growl and do something that doesn't mean anything. But I think the voice really comes from every incision, every memory, every different bit of flesh, every life lived — you have to build something that sounds like that.

**ISAAC:** We worked with Gerry Grennell, was a great voice coach.

**DEL TORO:** [Jacob] didn't think [Oscar] was Gerry. [*laughs*]

**ELORDI:** This is my buddy, Gerry.

**ISAAC:** He calls me Gerry. It's totally fine.

**DEL TORO:** The other thing that was very fortunate, not by design, is the way we shot the movie. We started with the scenes where he was most articulate, and then we went to the ones where he was learning vowels and consonants with the Blind Man (played by David Bradley). It happened in the right way, finding the "f" and the "s." The monologue with the Blind Man was out of the teeth...

**ELORDI:** And David Bradley is also super instrumental in the voice, because I had recordings of him doing Shakespeare when he was younger, and then I had him sitting in front of me telling stories about drinking with John Hurt. And you can hear the way he draws words out. And when he remembers something, the way his voice would change to when he's speaking in the present, the way his voice would change. There was just so much to absorb and draw from.

Director Guillermo del Toro and Jacob Elordi on the set of 'Frankenstein'.

Ken Woroner/Netflix

**How closely does the final look of your Creature resemble your original ideas of what he might look like?**

**DEL TORO:** I have a sketch from 1987 that has a couple of the...

**ISAAC:** He had it on set!

**DEL TORO:** The thing that evolved was newly minted. It needed to feel not like a repaired body but a newly minted individual, a soul. And I think the evolution, if you've see *Cronos*, when I'm trying that look with the vampire, and then I try it again with a vampire in *Blade*, it takes a while to find somebody like Mike Hill, who is a true artist and is a true partner in creation to make it feel exquisitely designed, frail, and vulnerable — all these things that should not go together. The difference between Mike and everybody else: 99 percent of makeup artists are gonna create a monster; one percent are gonna create a character, and Mike is in that one percent.

**When we spoke in Toronto, I had not seen the movie yet, and I asked you to describe him. You said "staggeringly beautiful," and I was like, *What's that going to mean*? And when I saw it, it really blew me away.**

**DEL TORO: **Because it is about, can we ruin something beautiful? And sadly, the answer as humans is yes.

**ELORDI:** Always.

**DEL TORO:** You have to see the purity of the moment when Victor touches his cheek and understand that there *could* be a happy ending, but there won't be. When I saw Jacob in *Priscilla*, there's a moment of rage there, I knew from talking to him on the Zoom that he had all this innocence and pain in his eyes, but the *Priscilla* rage, I went, *Okay, this is what can happen*. The work of a director is to watch and listen.

**Jacob, when I spoke with Guillermo in Toronto, he shared with me that you had said you felt the Creature was more you than you. Can you elaborate on that? What is it about what you got to explore that you connected with so deeply?**

**ELORDI:** I was thinking about this as I was driving here. I don't think you can attempt to find truth in something like this without mining into yourself. You can't just do a roar or bend your fingers a certain way. It has to be everything that you have. And I had such a short amount of time from Guillermo calling to go and shoot the film that the only way through was to go and find a place that I hadn't been to before, which is also — [*pointing to Oscar*] which you'll attest to — the treat of acting. It's constantly evolving, and every time there's somewhere else you can go. The Creature gave me this sort of space. It's the kind of character that allows you to fully go to the bottom of whoever you are, and you have to go down there to play it. Otherwise, you sort of have no chance of attempting to do it honestly if you don't,

Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi in 'Frankenstein'.

Courtesy of Netflix

**What was the hardest part about making this for each of you that you weren't expecting? Aside from the days your dad was there.****

**DEL TORO:** Honestly, the way you connect, it becomes a hall of mirrors. And you are all looking for truth and sincerity. I jokingly say it is the first time I have method-directed because it affected me emotionally in a way that no other movie had. Perhaps *Pan's Labyrinth* and *Shape of Water* — those and this are the three times. But this one, I lasted from sort of the first quarter all the way to the end. I felt emotionally involved with the Creature and, sadly, for me, with Victor. [*laughs*] I identified the good traits and the bad traits, and it made me softer.

**For you guys? ****

**ELORDI:** Probably working with Oscar.

**ISAAC:** Me too.

**ELORDI:** Tough stuff. [*laughs*]

**DEL TORO:** Finally, they agree on something. [*laughs*]

**I think people would expect maybe prosthetics, but was that a limitation? **

**ELORDI:** It was so delightful. And I knew it was gonna come to an end as well. There's a finite amount of time that you can put them on for, 'cause the movie has to finish. So to squander any moment in them, I would've just hated myself. People say this all the time, but the more I look back on it, and I look back at being in it, it was just delightful. It was like your dreams playing live, and you are in them, and you're fully conscious and fully awake in your dream. So I can't say anything that was difficult.

**ISAAC:** It's funny 'cause it's not just like looking back now with rose-colored glasses. I kept a journal, and throughout it's like, "This is amazing! ... Oh my God, this day was even better than the last day!" And it really was like that. But of course, there's days where it's like, *Oh, I didn't trust enough, I didn't quite find my flow state, and I was reaching for something when I didn't need to*. So you come in really wanting to leave everything out on the floor, but that's not necessarily different from other films where you just wanna make sure that you're giving everything you can, but the actual joy of doing it was daily.

**Guillermo, you put your own spin on this story, and that includes changing the end of Mary Shelley's version. How did you come to this conclusion? **

**DEL TORO:** I knew I wanted the Creature to have his only act as a human. Meaning, he reacts to love with love, he reacts to hatred with hatred. But the moment they make each other human — father and son — he comes out and he decides in a beautiful moment to say, "The people that attacked me, I'm gonna free them." And turns and pushes [the ship]. And to me, how moving it was... and we were missing a shot that I had to argue with my producing partner — I said, "No, you don't understand, we need that shot." Because you're pushing the ship and looking at it for a second, that gained a lot more weight, I thought. It's a liberation. And I think that's the difference with the book. This ends in a note of possible hope.

*This interview has been edited for clarity and length.*

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.*****

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Guillermo del Toro on the Frankenstein scene he had to argue for, and how Jacob Elordi found the ...

The director, Elordi , and Oscar Isaac join EW for a laughfilled conversation about the new adaptation of Mary Shelley's c...

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