OMG. This ^^ is Domhnall Gleeson. I thought it was Thom Yorke at first. Which is a good thing because this is the most attractive Domhnall has ever been. Domhnall is very much a rising star these days, having shown a rather spectacular range in films like About Time, Ex Machina, Unbroken, Anna Karenina and more. He covers Interview Magazine because he’s in an assortment of films this year, and he also previewed his role in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Angelina Jolie did his Q&A for Interview (she directed him in Unbroken) and they ended up chatting about Star Wars. As it turns out, La Jolie has a favorite character!

Angelina Jolie knows her Star Wars well. Like very well. So well that she even has a favorite character.

“I’m personally a Boba Fett fan,” the Oscar winner says. Jolie revealed her admiration for the sci-fi bounty hunter when she interviewed her Unbroken star Domhnall Gleeson (he’s in Episode VII) for the new issue of Interview magazine. When Gleeson remarked that Jolie could probably get a part in director J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the iconic franchise if she really wanted one, she asked, “Can Boba Fett have a missus? Well, put in a good word for me, then.”

For the record, Gleeson admitted, “I was more an Indiana Jones kid than a Star Wars kid.”

During the twosome’s chat, Gleeson turned the tables on Jolie and asked her a few questions.

“So were you an actor first then director?” Gleeson inquired.

“Yeah, well pretty much,” Jolie said. “My mom always wanted me to be an actor. And I started going to theater and going on auditions young. I only realized about five years ago that I actually didn’t want to be an actor.”

Jolie also insisted being a movie star was never important to her. “I’m a very private person,” she said. “I don’t go out much. I’m home with kids. I go to work. I don’t really like being the focus of attention, which is why I like being behind the camera more.”

[From E! News]

Is she really a “private person”? I go back and forth on that. At this point, Angelina is only going to tell us what she wants us to know. She’s proven time and time again that she’s perfectly capable of flying under the radar for months at a time. But when she wants to be public, she’s all in. So no, I wouldn’t really say that she’s a “private person.” I’d say she’s secretive when she wants to be.

As for her love for Boba Fett…that’s hot. I would have thought that La Jolie would want to be a Sith.

Photos courtesy of WENN, cover courtesy of Interview.

One of the good things about the Sony Hack was that we got some intimate information about pay disparities between actors and actresses. I would imagine some of the information was even news to many major actresses, like how Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams got paid much, much less than their male counterparts in American Hustle. Some actresses used the information to their advantage: when Charlize Theron learned that Chris Hemsworth was getting a better paycheck for The Huntsman, she demanded and GOT an equal paycheck.

Even if you’re a director or producer not directly affected by the Sony Hack and the details of the crazy double-standard pay scales, you should probably still keep your nose clean and not make any kind of egregious pay disparities between your male lead and your female leads. That’s not what happened though. According to Star Magazine, Matt Damon got $18 million MORE than Jessica Chastain in The Martian, a film where their roles are pretty much equal.

This doesn’t look to be a fair game. Their talent and award-winning trophies may have the same weight—but Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain’s paychecks sure don’t in their upcoming movie The Martian.

“Matt’s getting $25 million for this role, with Jessica earning around $7 million, even though Jessica is really in demand and worked just as hard on the film,” a source exclusively tells Star.

But Jessica isn’t ignoring the reputation that divas on set can so easily get—and she really doesn’t want to become one so she’s keeping her feelings to herself. The last thing she wants to be labeled is difficult to work with because that’s when roles start to dry up for stars in Hollywood.

“She does think it’s unfair, but figures it’s simply a case of Matt’s team negotiating better than hers,” explains the insider. “And while Matt is embarrassed by the disparity, he’s not about to turn down the extra cash.”

[From Star Magazine]

While I think Matty D could easily command a $20 million-plus paycheck for another turn as Jason Bourne – by far his most successful franchise/role – it surprises me that he was able to get $25 million for a film that probably already has a crazy, bloated budget because of all of the special effects. Jessica’s paycheck seems about what I would expect – I imagine she’s commanded somewhere between $5 million and $10 million for a few years. While I think Matty D is the bigger star – and he will certainly have top billing and likely a heavier promotional schedule – it’s insane that the two leads of the same film have such wildly disparate paychecks.

(Shh… don’t tell CB, because she loves him, but I judge Matty D for not standing up for the sisters. If he was aware of the pay disparity, which Star says he was, I would expect him to pull rank and stand up for what is right.)

Here’s the trailer for The Martian. The special effects look incredible. But did anyone else expect the landscape to look… red? THIS IS NOT RED ENOUGH FOR MARS.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Bobby Flay got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday, and the ceremony was mostly notable because someone (!!) brilliantly timed it so a plane would be flying overhead, flaying a big “CHEATER” banner. I covered that yesterday. Many of you assumed that Stephanie March – Flay’s estranged wife, who is currently trying to get a crappy prenup thrown out – was the one to arrange the CHEATER banner. Stephanie March wants you to know that you are wrong.

When the Walk of Fame becomes the Walk of Shame!? Bobby Flay may have been posing with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday, June 2, but it was something in the sky that really had cameras flashing. As seen in pics, the celebrity chef — who is in the middle of a messy divorce — looked up to find a “Cheater” airplane banner flying over his ceremony. Many speculated that his estranged wife, Stephanie March, was behind the stunt, but her lawyer says she’s not involved.

“Stephanie is absolutely not behind [this],” her attorney, Deborah Lans, tells Us Weekly in a statement.

[From Us Weekly]

I honestly believe that Stephanie March did not call up this plane-banner-flier and order this act. I don’t think she would waste money on that, nor do I think she’s dumb enough to leave her fingerprints all over it by directly ordering it. But would March’s lawyers do it? That’s the question. And I still think it’s a solid possibility that one of Bobby Flay’s alleged “other women” might have had a hand in it too. After all, Stephanie March’s homebase is New York, not LA. But Giada De Laurentiis and January Jones live in LA. Cough.

Next up: March’s lawyers will arrange for a “HE A HO” billboard to be placed outside the courthouse.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

Kim Richards went MIA for about a week after her meltdown at her daughter’s wedding in Mexico about two weeks ago. Reports claimed that Kim was boozing hard, that she missed her scheduled return to rehab and had to be escorted back to LA from Mexico by a security guard hired by her sister, Kyle. Kim eventually checked back into rehab this Monday, a week after she was supposed to. In the interim she is said to have been unreachable by Real Housewives of Beverly Hills execs, who have canned her from the show. We heard this was a possibility, but I’m honestly surprised it’s happened.

“It was decided this morning at a meeting that Kim is not being asked back on the show because of her failure to communicate everything with her bosses,” a well-connected network insider tells Radar.

As Radar previously reported, NBC, which is the parent company to the production company that produces Bravo’s hit show, were undecided about the 50-year-old’s status on RHOBH, due to the fact that she could not seem to maintain sobriety and was considered to be a “liability for the show.”

So when Richards suffered yet another relapse during a week-long alcohol-fueled disappearing act after her daughter Brooke’s Mexican wedding on May 23, the writing was on the wall.

“When Kim went missing in action she refused to answer calls of anyone from the network for the entire time. They had to find out about her entering rehab again from a family member,” the source tells Radar.

“They decided that it was time to let her go because there was a lack of communication, and they are glad to see her go. Finally, they can no longer be held accountable for her misconduct.”

[From Radar Online]

E! has confirmed that Kim is off the show for season six and states that “it’s possible Kim may return for a cameo, or a few appearances, but not as a full-time series regular.”

You have to be SUCH a mess to get fired from a Real Housewives show. They thrive on drama, so one stint in rehab is fine (Kim did her last rehab while on RHOBH, not her first one, in 2011) and a second might have been passable in Kim’s case, but she couldn’t even stick with it for 30 days. Chica has issues.

The hits keep coming for Kim. She was sued for the second time by a victim of her pit bull, Kingsley. Kim’s friend Kay Rozario was awarded an $8,000 judgment for damages last month. (She was seeking a million, so that was a positive outcome for Kim.) Another victim of Kim’s pit bull just filed suit against her for unspecified damaged.

A lot has been written about how the Quiverfill movement operates and how a family like the Duggars are seemingly more likely to produce a predator like Josh Duggar because of the way they set up the relationships between boys and girls, men and women. While I think that’s interesting and notable to remember, I also think it’s an excuse. Josh Duggar understood that he was doing something wrong, which is why he self-reported. But then he kept doing it because he had gotten away with it, because his parents found a way to rationalize and excuse his behavior. Josh preyed on those closest to him – his sisters and a babysitter, name unknown. We already knew that Josh had preyed on his sisters, but it wasn’t until last night’s Fox News interview that we got a confirmation on the identity of two of his victims: Josh’s younger sisters Jill and Jessa.

The confirmation came hours before the Duggar interview aired. The confirmation came via a press release from Fox News. Keep that in mind. In Touch Weekly didn’t publicize Jessa and Jill’s names. THEIR PARENTS DID. Fox News did. At the end of Megyn Kelly’s hour-long Duggar interview special, she gave a preview of her interview with Jill and Jessa, which will air on Friday. The clip is hard to watch because these two young women are obviously very upset and they’re trying to figure out who to blame.

I feel genuinely sorry for them. No victim deserves to have their names put out there in the public sphere. Which is why In Touch Weekly redacted their names in their reporting. CNN pointed that out too – the mainstream media has been showing a great deal of restraint in not specifically naming Josh’s victims. While I understand Jill and Jessa’s hurt and anger, they might want to direct some of that hurt and anger at their parents (who have totally sold them out) and Fox News for exploiting their pain just to paint a larger story about a vast liberal conspiracy against a “wholesome” Christian family (with parents who covered up a series of molestations).

Jessa also tells Fox News that Josh’s actions were “very wrong” but “I do want to speak up in his defense against people who are calling him a child molester or a pedophile or a rapist, some people are saying. I’m like that is so overboard and a lie really, I mean people get mad at me for saying that but I can say this because I was one of the victims.” HE IS A CHILD MOLESTER. I don’t want to negate her feelings or further victimize her, but come on.

Photos courtesy of the Duggars’ Facebook.

Cara Delevingne the actress is upon us, like it or not. She gave some interviews in Cannes that are still filtering out. Cara plays the Enchantress in Suicide Squad. We glimpsed the character in costume, but the PR focus is on Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn (for good reason). Cara told Entertainment Weekly that she doesn’t even like superhero (or supervillain, in this case) movies because “there are so f***ing many.” Yet she believes this film will be “f***ing insane,” and “I’ve never been so excited to see a film.” Hmm. I feel like Cara will dabble in films for awhile, but she’ll go back to her day job like most models do.

Cara raised some eyebrows with a tweet about her feelings on race. I believe this tweet was spontaneous and not prompted by a current event. But who knows with Cara:

There is only one race! The human race

— Cara Delevingne (@Caradelevingne) June 2, 2015

Ehhh. Cara’s speaking in an idealistic way, which is easy to do from a position of privilege. She’s being overly simplistic and trying to say race doesn’t matter, right? Which is the same thing as denying that racism exists. I don’t think Cara meant any harm with this tweet. Cara simply sounds like she has no idea what she’s talking about, but she’s trying to sound lofty and above everything. The supermodel who sleeps through interviews and parties her life away tried to school us all.

Photos courtesy of WENN

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know how I felt about the trainwreck that was the Duggars’ Fox News interview. It was so bad, I have to wonder who thought it was a good idea, because Michelle and Jim-Bob Duggar were so obviously coached and so obviously had their talking points, so someone, somewhere, thought it was a great idea for them to this interview. I’m sure there were several dog-whistles just for the evangelical crowd (all of the Jesus talk, of course), but most of the time, whenever the Duggars tried to deflect to their faith, Megyn Kelly jumped in with a question about specific acts by Josh Duggar or specific inaction by Michelle or Jim-Bob. Note: I’m going to cover the Jessa and Jill Duggar information in a separate post. This post is just for Michelle and Jim-Bob. Some interesting moments from the interview plus my thoughts, in no particular order.

Megyn Kelly was a Duggar water-carrier. There were some moments where Megyn really forced a certain issue or really dug for an answer on a specific question, but she still allowed Jim-Bob and Michelle to make Josh Duggar’s systematic and escalating child molestation all about THEM. It was all about how THEY felt. There was little concern for Josh’s victims from Michelle and Jim-Bob. Kelly also carried water for them as they tried to deflect to the bigger issue, which in their mind was the vast left-wing conspiracy to get Josh Duggar to admit that he molested five little girls.

What we know about Josh’s crimes is all Josh’s story. All Michelle and Jim-Bob know about Josh’s crimes is from his own self-reporting to them. Jim-Bob and Michelle bent over backwards to give Josh credit for telling them that he molested his sisters. But all I can think is… how many incidents and victims did he not disclose to his parents? We’re just taking his word for how many victims he had and how many times he molested over the course of more than a year.

Jim-Bob confirms. He said that Josh molested four sisters and a babysitter. Jim-Bob also said he made Josh call the babysitter and apologize to her after he molested her and I guess Josh demanded that she forgive him.

Josh is M.I.A. Why didn’t Josh speak in his own defense? He’s a 27 year old man and his mommy and daddy are still bending over backwards to excuse his crimes.

No harm, no foul. The Duggars kept emphasizing how Josh’s crimes were “mostly” on sleeping girls. The emphasis was so extreme, it ended up being MORE disturbing. Not only did they end up painting their son as the kind of predator who preyed on unconscious victims, the fact that his victims didn’t understand what happened to them – and that the Duggars at no point explained what happened to them – made it all somehow worse. Jim-Bob even made the argument of “hey, it’s not like Josh raped one of them.”

The Duggars are terrible liars, or dumb, or both. Within minutes of the Duggar interview, Jim-Bob’s story had already changed about five times. Did Josh “only” molest sleeping girls or were some of his victims awake? How many times did Josh molest? How many girls did Josh molest? How many months or years was he preying on girls? We don’t know the answers to any of those questions because Jim-Bob and Michelle couldn’t keep their stories straight.

Were all of the incidents of molestation over-the-clothes? Jim-Bob was in the middle of saying that not every incident involved over-the-clothes molestation when Michelle interrupted him and shut him down.

Teaching girls not to get molested. Rather than teaching Josh not to molest. The Duggars insisted that they set up “safeguards” at some point to insure the safety of their daughters. Those safeguards worked so well that Josh kept molesting, incidentally. The Duggars also emphasized that they changed the “rules” for brothers and sisters’ interactions, like Josh wasn’t allowed to babysit his sisters. Basically, instead of dealing with Josh’s behavior head on, the Duggars blamed their daughters for being too molest-baity.

Josh was kicked out of the house temporarily after molesting a five-year-old. Probably because it was difficult for Jim-Bob and Michelle to figure out a way that a five-year-old was responsible for her own molestation.

The receipts. I’m going to need the receipts on all of the “professional counseling” that Josh and his victims received.

Slander. The Duggars don’t know the meaning of the word. They confirmed all of In Touch Weekly’s reporting – based off a completely legal FOIA request – and then some. If In Touch’s sourcing was impeccable and the Duggars confirmed everything in In Touch’s reporting, how is it slander? Still, Jim-Bob and Michelle are talking to some lawyers because they’re thinking about suing. Sure.

Gawker did a comprehensive list of all of the excuses the Duggars made for Josh during the interview – go here to read. It was all profoundly disturbing.

PS… Remember, I’ll be covering the Jessa and Jill stuff in another post. Please don’t threadjack!

Photos courtesy of WENN, Duggars’ social media.

View image | gettyimages.com

“Race” is a social construct more than anything else. I can believe that while simultaneously believing that Hollywood has a significant problem casting Asian actors. For weeks now, there have been many, many complaints lodged against Aloha and Cameron Crowe for significant race problems. The film is set in Hawaii, one of the most racially diverse states in America, but the cast of Aloha is as diverse as a bar of Ivory soap. Bedhead covered the general complaints about the casting decisions (every major role is played by a white actor) previously.

But in the past week or so, people have been complaining specifically about Emma Stone and her character, Allison Ng. As you can probably tell from the name, Emma’s character is supposed to be mixed-race, one-quarter Asian and one-quarter Hawaiian. While it’s perfectly possible to have mixed-race ancestry and be a blonde and blue-eyed person, it also seems like Cameron Crowe quite literally white-washed a character. It would be like creating a character named Deepak Ravishankar Singh and casting Bradley Cooper (I just made myself laugh, but you know Hollywood would TOTALLY DO THAT). So, long story short, Cameron Crowe had to issue an apology/explanation.

From the very beginning of its appearance in the Sony Hack, “Aloha” has felt like a misunderstood movie. One that people felt they knew a lot about, but in fact they knew very little. It was a small movie, made by passionate actors who wanted to join me in making a film about Hawaii, and the lives of these characters who live and work in and around the island of Oahu.

Thank you so much for all the impassioned comments regarding the casting of the wonderful Emma Stone in the part of Allison Ng. I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heart-felt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice. As far back as 2007, Captain Allison Ng was written to be a super-proud ¼ Hawaiian who was frustrated that, by all outward appearances, she looked nothing like one. A half-Chinese father was meant to show the surprising mix of cultures often prevalent in Hawaii. Extremely proud of her unlikely heritage, she feels personally compelled to over-explain every chance she gets. The character was based on a real-life, red-headed local who did just that.

Whether that story point felt hurtful or humorous has been, of course, the topic of much discussion. However I am so proud that in the same movie, we employed many Asian-American, Native-Hawaiian and Pacific-Islanders, both before and behind the camera… including Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele, and his village, and many other locals who worked closely in our crew and with our script to help ensure authenticity.

We were extremely proud to present the island, the locals and the film community with many jobs for over four months. Emma Stone was chief among those who did tireless research, and if any part of her fine characterization has caused consternation and controversy, I am the one to blame.

I am grateful for the dialogue. And from the many voices, loud and small, I have learned something very inspiring. So many of us are hungry for stories with more racial diversity, more truth in representation, and I am anxious to help tell those stories in the future.

[From Cameron Crowe’s blog]

See, now I feel bad. The character was based on a real person under similar circumstances. I can understand that. It still feels awkward, but I get it. It also feels like Crowe is taking the hit for a much larger problem, as I said: that Asians and Asian-Americans are massively underrepresented in films and TV. That’s not just on Crowe.

Massive sidenote: I realized as I watched Lucy Liu play Joan Watson in Elementary how groundbreaking it is to have an Asian-American woman in that role specifically. It changes the Holmes-Watson dynamic in so many positive ways, and in other major ways, Liu’s casting is a non-issue. Meaning that the character works both as racially-blind and race-and-gender specific. I’d like to see more directors and producers figure out a way to do that.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Getty.

The ladies of OITNB grace the new issue of Rolling Stone to promote the show’s third season. Naturally, Taylor Schilling and Laura Prepon (who’s returning as a regular) take the cover to push the Piper-Alex chemistry. You can see the full photoshoot (with many other cast members) here. I’m looking forward to the new season even though there’s so much other television languishing in my Netflix queue. This is a good first world problem to experience. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Laura Prepon on auditioning for Piper: “It’s funny; when you look at both characters, I definitely identify more with Alex. When I talked to Jenji [Kohan] later, she told me, ‘You know, with Piper you’re worried she’s gonna get her a** kicked in prison. When I look at you, I’m not scared about you getting your a** kicked.’ Not to say that Taylor would get her a** kicked, ’cause I think she’d do okay. But Alex is Maleficent-like, sexy, sassy — she can definitely looks like can take care of herself. She’s not getting her a** kicked.”

Prepon on hanging with the ladies: “I get along with everybody. But I play poker, I watch UFC, I have a motorcycle — I tend to do things that guys like to do. Though recently I’ve acquired this awesome, really small group of women outside of the show, who are all rad. I’ve learned it’s important to have amazing women in your life.”

Uzo on the cast’s no a*** policy: “We are not going to be the example for how women don’t work together.”

Uzo on the “great responsibility” of playing Crazy Eyes: “In terms of mental health? Absolutely. Because here’s the thing: It’s such a closed-door subject, a closeted subject. People aren’t walking around and saying, ‘I suffer from mental illness,’ or ‘I have depression,” or “I’m f***ed up.’ We kind of bury it, cover it up, guard it with our life. Yeah, I feel a huge responsibility to just take care of her and the people who can relate to her. ‘Cause it’s not easy.”

Laverne Cox on the series’ legacy: “We’ve revolutionized television. The unprecedented diversity that we just saw in pilot season I think would not be possible if it weren’t for us.”

[From Rolling Stone]

I love that the cast is mostly women, and they truly enjoy each other’s company. One look at their social media accounts (here’s a handy collection) reveals how they’re all cool with each other. No catty stereotypes to be found, and Uzo says that showrunner Jenji Kohan purposely laid that rule out before filming ever began. The no-drama expectations were clear. Good plan.

The cast also covers the July issue of Essence, which has released the tiniest of excerpts about body image and acceptance. These women all look stunning.

Photos courtesy of Rolling Stone, Essence & WENN

Alicia Vikander really is going to have a breakout year. This happens every other year or so, when an actor has been working consistently and then everything comes out within a six-month span and people are like, “Whoa, this person has RANGE.” That happened to Jessica Chastain several years ago. Alicia is this year’s Jessica Chastain. Only it feels like Alicia really, really wants it. She’s been preparing herself for it. She welcomes it. Alicia sat down with the Daily Beast for a lengthy and interesting new interview to promote Testament of Youth (with Kit Harington) – go here to read the full piece. Some highlights:

Working on The Danish Girl, seeing Caitlyn Jenner’s VF cover: “Yes, the Vanity Fair cover! It was a beautiful cover. It’s interesting what topics are being told, because people say that the film is ‘so now,’ but The Danish Girl took 12 years to develop. In society, it takes time for people to realize what is happening.”

Playing a robot in Ex-Machina: “The silver mesh that you see, except for the parts where I’m see-through, that’s just a whole Spider-Man suit. And the actual head that’s put on my skull they build on top, so I had a bald cap that was the silver mesh, and then they built my forehead on top of my skull every morning, which took almost four hours.”

The future of artificial intelligence: “You’re afraid of the unknown, afraid of losing control, and afraid that machines are taking control of humanity. Since I was doing the character of Ava and felt along with her, in a way, Alex reminded me how if you believe that you can make a consciousness, then we need to take care of it in the same way we do every consciousness. There’s so much evil in humanity, and what if this could be something greater than that?”

Finding the right roles: “It is still very hard in this industry to find very strong female characters.”

Her costar Kit Harington: “I’ve seen about four episodes of Game of Thrones! I know he has long hair on the show. We were both in a film called Seventh Son, and became friends off set. It’s in his contract, I think, that he can’t cut his hair! But when I saw him with a wig on [in Testament], I was surprised by how good it looked.”

Being in-demand as an actress: “It feels a bit surreal that I’ve been working with such high-profile directors that I’ve looked up to, and actors that I saw on the big screen growing up in Sweden. It’s all very exciting.”

[From The Daily Beast]

Oh, that answers some questions I had about Kit in Testament of Youth. I was wondering why he looked so different and baby-faced and it was because he not only shaved Jon Snow’s beard, but he was wearing a wig. Got it. As for the rest of it… she talks at length about her character in Youth but am I wrong for not really being interested in this film at all? It’s got a strong female lead so I feel like I should be more into it than I am. Meh, I’d rather see Far From the Madding Crowd.

Here are some photos from a Tuesday screening/premiere in NYC. She wore Louis Vuitton (she’s the brand ambassador for LV).

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN, Fame/Flynet.