Jason Statham really got out of his comfort zone when he signed on to Spy. I kept wondering how his casting even came about, but in Jason’s new Guardian interview, the reporter says that writer/director Paul Feig is apparently a HUGE Statham fan and wrote the role with Jason in mind. And to his credit, Jason understood that signing on to the film was a smart move for his career, plus it just seems like he had a ball making the movie with Melissa McCarthy.

Up until this point, Jason’s interviews haven’t been anything special. His recent Esquire cover profile was exceedingly boring – go here to see. But The Guardian actually got him to open up and chat about a lot of different stuff. He even threw some shade on the current crop of superheroes, which I enjoyed. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

How he approached comedic work: “Paul was saying, ‘Look, just don’t try and be funny. That’s not what I want.’ It harks back to Guy Ritchie saying, ‘Don’t try and act. That’s not what I want!’”

He had difficulty improvising & he bowed down to Melissa: “She was just … great. For myself, it’s not something I’ve been accustomed to experimenting with.”

Whether he does crazy workouts all the time: “It’s been feast and famine. I’ve had untold years of burning the candle: going out, overeating, over-drinking. Even when you do it, you understand you can’t live that way. As you get older, you get a bit wiser.”

He’s still committed to doing action films: “I really like doing action movies. It’s opened the door for me and I’ve had a great career out of it. Why not continue doing something I’ve always wanted to do?”

He hates the younger crop of action stars: “They are not doing what they’re supposed to be doing. I’m inspired by the people who could do their own work. Bruce Lee never had stunt doubles and fight doubles, or Jackie Chan or Jet Li. I’ve been in action movies where there is a face replacement and I’m fighting with a double, and it’s embarrassing. But if you really are an aficionado of action movies, you know who’s doing what and who ain’t. To me it’s a little bit sad.”

He’s not impressed with the superheroes either: “You slip on a cape and you put on the tights and you become a superhero? They’re not doing anything! They’re just sitting in their trailer. It’s absolutely, 100% created by stunt doubles and green screen. How can I get excited about that?”

Would he love to play James Bond? “Could I do it? Abso-f–king-lutely. Would I do it? Abso-f–king-lutely. Is Daniel Craig a great Bond? Abso-f–king-lutely. Yeah, I’d make a decent Bond. But it’d be very, very different if I did it.”

Would he play a Bond villain? “Er …I don’t know if I wanna to do that. That’s not my thing. I’d rather play the other guy.”

[From The Guardian]

I really like what he says about action-oriented actors needing to understand how to do their own stunt work. I think that’s fair for Jason in particular to say, since he prides himself on doing all (or almost all) of his own stunt work. And I like that he name-checks Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Jackie Chan as icons of “action actors.” As for Jason and James Bond… he’s 48 years old now. It’s not going to happen. But he’s right, he would have been an interesting choice for Bond.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

After spending part of last week in LA to celebrate daughter Lily Rose’s 16th birthday, Johnny Depp has returned to Australia to resume work on Pirates 5. Apparently authorities held him and Amber Heard on his private jet for an hour to search the aircraft to go through their luggage, extra suspi…      

Dame Diana Rigg has an excellent new interview with The Daily Beast. Rigg is currently starring on Game of Thrones as Olenna Tyrell, the Queen of Thorns. Rigg is 76 years old, and it sometimes feels like she’s having the time of her life on GoT – she’s like the Dowager Countess on Downton Abbey, a salty-tongued truth-teller and shade-thrower. You can read Rigg’s full interview here – she talks a lot about GoT and feminism, amongst other subjects. Some highlights:

Filming the scene with Littlefinger in the brothel: “I loved that! I thought I’d have a photograph taken and use it as a birthday card. There were broken dildos all over the floor—ceramic dildos. At my age, shock was a long way off.”

The rape of Sansa Stark: “I think people just don’t like to be confronted with that sort of reality, and obviously react. But the fact of the matter is it does go on—not least of which in Africa and places of war. Wherever there’s a war, there’s rape.”

Demanding a higher salary on The Avengers in the 1960s: “They painted me as a mercenary person, which I wasn’t being at all, I just wanted parity. I thought it was ridiculous that I was being paid less than a cameraman, and I wanted to shame them. And I did.”

She didn’t want to be the face of second-wave feminism: “They approached me, and by that time they were very, very politicized, and quite honestly, I’ve always thought it was a question of money, largely. You can’t actually legislate what goes on in people’s minds and their attitudes, but you certainly can legislate for parity where pay and salaries are concerned. In the tennis world, for example, Billie Jean King did the most wonderful battle against the inequalities that were happening there, and got a lot of respect for it. If you’re earning equal pay to a man you get respect. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is. Everything else follows. And if a woman has her own money and is in a relationship, she’s free to do exactly what she wants, and doesn’t have to answer to the man.”

1960s London: “FUN with a capital F-U-N. There were quite a few wild times. I remember Paul McCartney arriving on my doorstep quite out of the blue. He had their latest record, Sgt. Pepper’s. He just arrived, said he wanted to meet me, and gave me this record and it was absolutely charming… and that was it!”

[From The Daily Beast]

You know how some people are obsessed with World War II or the Civil War or the Jazz Age or whatever? For me, that’s London in the 1960s. If I could go back to any place and time, I would want to see London in the ‘60s. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, all of the models and actresses and artists… it just seems like that was such a cool moment. As for Rigg’s thoughts on feminism and everything else… I kind of agree with her. Oh, and she says she gets along really well with all of the younger ladies on GoT and they all teasingly call her “Dame.”

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Sir Paul McCartney is passing on grass these days.

The Beatles member – who has four grown children and 11-year-old daughter Beatrice – says he no longer smokes marijuana.

“I don’t do it anymore,” the legendary musician, 72, told the Daily Mirror. “Why? The truth is I don’t really want to set an example to my kids and grandkids. It’s now a parent thing.”

“Back then I was just some guy around London having a ball, and the kids were little so I’d just try and keep it out of their faces,” he added. “Instead of smoking a spliff I’ll now have a glass of red wine or a nice margarita. The last time I smoked was a long time ago.”

With five children and eight grandchildren, McCartney keeps fit and healthy for his family.

“I feel pretty fit. I’m not the sort of person who particularly needs a trainer. I’ll just watch what the trainers do and then copy them,” he shared. “I do a bit of the cross-trainer, a bit of running, a bit of cardio and then I do some weights, some abs on the Swiss ball, before ending up on the mat doing a few stretches. And then standing on my head.”

And he is loving his regular exercise routine.

“What’s cool about it is that I’ll be in the gym with all these guys doing really big weights, while I’m there doing not big weights,” he explained. “And afterwards, when I’ve done my headstand for about five minutes, these big guys will come up to me and say, ‘That was pretty impressive, man!’”

By his investors, that is. Cavill was slated to star in the blatant Bond knock-off Stratton, in which he was to play an embattled MI5 agent who is the world’s last hope against corruption or conspiracy or crab monsters or whatever. The movie was supposed to start principal photography this week, …      

I have to give it to Alexa Chung – this might be one of her strongest editorials ever. Usually, I’m so meh on Alexa. I don’t understand why she’s a thing, especially in the UK, which is where so many people seem to worship her style and “look.” Harper’s Bazaar UK put Alexa on their July cover and they just released these photos. Unfortunately, they did not release anything from the interview. Too bad. Because I’d like to know if Alexa is going to publicly lay claim to Alexander Skarsgard. We first heard rumors about Alexa and Alex back in February of this year. It seemed, from the gossip and fan-sightings, to be a newish thing. Then there were more sightings of them at Paris Fashion Week in March. And then… nothing. But Us Weekly says they are still happening!

New couple alert! True Blood fans may be disappointed to learn that vampire hunk Alexander Skarsgard is officially off the market. The sexy Swedish actor, 38, is dating British model and TV personality Alexa Chung, Us Weekly exclusively reveals.

“It is serious and has really heated up,” a source tells Us of the new couple. Another source adds, “It’s a fun relationship for both of them. She’s just about as busy as he is and it’s not really feasible [for them] to become a more committed couple, but the hang outs are great.”

The pair were spotted on a romantic date in Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Prospect Park and Botanical Gardens on Friday, May 29. They got cozy together under a tree and took photos of one another around the grounds.

Chung, 31, shared a shot of herself taken by Skarsgard on her Instagram account, writing, “O rose, thou are sick!”

Skarsgard previously dated actress Kate Bosworth from 2009 to 2011, and Chung was in a four-year relationship with Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner until July 2011.

[From Us Weekly]

You can see Alex’s photo of Alexa posted on her Instagram here. It’s a cute photo. So, do you think that Alexa and Alex went from causal hookups to super-serious in about four months? Sure, it could happen. I think he was single and ready to mingle for a while, and there were stories about Alex with various ladies for months, but then Alexa came into the picture and suddenly there weren’t any stories about Alex making out with that lady or this lady. Here’s the weird thing: Alex Skarsgard has the same taste in girlfriends as Chris Martin. If Alexa and Alex ever break up, will Alex go for Gwyneth Paltrow? Yikes at the thought of that.

Photos courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar UK.

CFDA Awards last night in New York. Julianna Margulies wore a sheer Michael Kors to show off her black underwear which, really, is the only way to make this dress interesting because otherwise I don’t love it. The material is what bothers me, I think. The material is dress emporium, destination: …      

Pop superstar Britney Spears shared a sweet snapshot on her Instagram page.

Looking beautiful in all black, the mom-of-two, 33, was all smiles posing with sons Preston, 9, and Jayden, 8.

On Friday, the “proud skate mom” posted a photo of her boys and their skateboards.

And on Mother’s Day, the Toxic hitmaker shared another shot with her boys.

“Feeling so special and proud to be a mom to these handsome boys. Love them!,” she wrote.

The Grammy Award-winning singer – who recently returned to her Las Vegas show after taking some time off to recover from a spill onstage – co-parents the boys with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

A photo posted by Britney Spears (@britneyspears) on May 30, 2015 at 3:53pm PDT

This is easily one of the funniest Benedict Cumberbatch stories ever. It’s just really, really random. Which means that I sort of believe it. It’s now pretty much confirmed that Benedict and Sophie bought a new townhouse in London for £2.7 million. Some of the Cumberbitches believe that the townhouse isn’t really big enough for a whole Cumberbrood, and that Benedict will still be keeping his bachelor pad (which he had previously shared with his long-time girlfriend Olivia). The theory was that Sophie made him buy a new place because she didn’t want to live in the same place he had lived with Olivia. But what if Sophie just wanted to find a way to get Benedict to edit his massive collection of bird paraphernalia?

When Benedict Cumberbatch and his heavily pregnant wife Sophie Hunter move into their new house in North London, they may find their biggest obstacle is not logistics, but the meaning of the word ‘nesting’.

Because while theatre director Sophie, 37, is no doubt keen to adapt their £2.7 million property to family life, the 38-year-old Sherlock star will also be planning for another arrival.

I hear he has a secret fascination with birds — the winged variety, of course — and plans to transfer the impressive collection of toy birds and gold bird cages that he has amassed in his Hampstead bachelor pad.

[From The Daily Mail]

Granted, a bird fascination isn’t as funny as a fascination with otters. Or lizards. Or aliens. Or whatever else you want to call Benedict. Is Benedict a closeted bird-obsessive? Is that a dealbreaker? The thing is… of all of the obsessions and interests to have, I kind of think this is harmless. So he digs toy birds and bird cages. It’s a thing. And it’s sort of cute. But I can imagine Sophie is trying to get rid of all that stuff. It doesn’t go with her amazing, operatic, intellectual artiste lifestyle.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Dear Gossips,

Um. Excuse me. Did we know that Mimi is on Match.com! That totally deserves an interrobang. (Thanks Duana)

According to PEOPLE, Mimi collaborated with Match to premiere the video for Infinity, featuring Jussie Smollett. In the “In Her Own Words” section of her profile, she q…