Oprah, Reese & Nicole Confess the Roles That Drove Them 'Cuckoo': Find Out Who Shattered a Glass Door from 'Rage'
Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman are veterans in TV and film, but even they struggle with turning off their characters when the cameras stop rolling.
Earlier this year, the trio of actresses starred in two acclaimed HBO drama series: Winfrey in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Witherspoon and Kidman in Big Little Lies.
Sitting down for The Hollywood Reporter‘s annual drama actress roundtable — along with Chrissy Metz (This Is Us), Jessica Lange (Feud) and Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) — the three veteran actresses opened up about the difficult aspects of current and past roles that they’ve played, and how embodying each of this season’s characters impacted them personally.
Oprah Winfrey In 2013, Winfrey starred in Lee Daniels’ The Butler as Gloria Gaines. During the candid interview, Winfrey recalled internalizing the emotions of her character and feeling the need to “burst into tears” after she left set.
“I had a scene where my son had died and I had gotten myself to the point where I’m ready to just let it all go, and the director, Lee Daniels, said, ‘Nope, I don’t want her to do that. I don’t want her throwing herself all over the casket. I just want her to hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it …’ And so, I didn’t release it. I left that scene, got on a plane, went to interview somebody else and was holding it …” said Winfrey, 63.
“Holding all of that energy in the middle of an interview, I thought I was going to burst into tears in the middle of somebody talking about something that was not even related to me bursting into tears,” admitted the former Oprah Winfrey Show host. “And I felt a little cuckoo. I realized it’s because I didn’t go through the process of letting go.”
Why Oprah Felt 'Intimidated' To Star In 'The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks'
Winfrey explains how she transformed physically for her new HBO film
Similarly, Kidman felt both the physical and mental weight of her character’s — Celeste Wright — tribulations while filming an abuse scene in BLL.
“There was one point when [director Jean-Marc Vallee] wanted to go back and reshoot me being slammed into the wardrobe because it wasn’t hard enough. I’m like, ‘I’ve got bruises because of how hard it was, so I can’t believe that it didn’t read that way.’ But as we all know, on film sometimes what you’re feeling doesn’t read. I felt my way through the character,” said Kidman, 49, who largely did not utilize a body double and filmed the majority of the violent scenes herself.
While filming the final scene of the episode, Kidman remembered lying on the floor of the set in her underwear and not being able to move.
“I just lay on the floor. I couldn’t get up. I didn’t want to get up. And I remember Jean-Marc coming over and putting a towel over me in between the takes because I was just like …,” she said. “I just felt completely humiliated and devastated. And angry inside. I went home and I threw a rock through a glass door.”
After throwing the rock through the glass in her hotel room, Kidman called her BLL costar, Witherspoon, to whom she confessed.
“We were staying at a hotel and she called me and she says, ‘I’ve just done the craziest thing.’ She got home from work and she had one of these horrible scenes and she goes, ‘I couldn’t get into my hotel room so I threw a rock through the window,’ ” Witherspoon explained. “And she goes, ‘I don’t do stuff like that.’ ”
In reflection of that emotionally taxing day, Kidman said, “I was obviously holding all that rage and what had been done.”
Director Jean-Marc Vallee dishes on the Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman led hit HBO show
Like Kidman, Witherspoon — she played Madeline Martha Mackenzie on the HBO drama — also had a breaking point during filming of BLL.
“We were shooting the finale and we were on our seventh day of night shoots, and I was losing my mind. And they kept saying, ‘OK, we’re going to do the scene where you have the breakdown and you tell Shailene [Woodley’s character] that you’ve cheated on your husband.’ And then they’d be like, ‘We ran out of time. We’re going to do it tomorrow,’ ” Witherspoon, 41, explained.
But after a week of preparing for the scene, which was continually being pushed back for filming, Witherspoon couldn’t take it anymore.
“I started to scream, and I’ve never screamed like this. Like, howling. And instead of having this feeling — like, ‘Oh, my God, what did I just do?’ — all the women came over and said, ‘Girl, I have so been there,’ ” Witherspoon said. “And Nicole goes, ‘Jean-Marc, she’s ready to shoot right now, right now. We need to get Jean-Marc.’ ”
Through starring in over 100-plus films throughout her three decades in Hollywood, Witherspoon can speak for a majority of leading actors about one of the most frustrating elements of their profession.
“We’re not machines, and we are expected to turn it on and off,” said Witherspoon, who added, “and sometimes it’s the most maddening aspect of what we do.”
#RHoA: Sheree Whitfield on Forgiving Phaedra Parks: ‘It Will Be Hard for Any of the Women’
No white flag here. Sheree Whitfield tells Us Weekly that she doesn’t see her Real Housewives of Atlanta costars forgiving Phaedra Parks anytime soon after that bombshell reunion finale.
“My heart dropped so far,” Whitfield recalled of the explosive moment when host Andy Cohen called out Parks for spreading the "megawatt lie" that fellow castmate Kandi Burruss and her husband, Todd Tucker, were planning to drug and take home Porsha Williams. “I was in shock! We were all in shock.”
When asked if she thinks Parks will be forgiven, Whitfield, who is currently on her Wives, Fiancées, and Side-Chicks of Hotlanta book tour, told Us she doesn’t see them mending things in the near future.
“I don't know, it's so hard right now. It's hard to establish trust with someone like that because, for me, it seemed that she showed no remorse for what she did and for her actions,” Whitfield explained. “I think it will be hard for any of the women to forgive.”
As for Parks’ ‘alleged’ exit from the series— Whitfield is uncertain how she feels.
“I never want to take money out of anyone's pockets and that's not who I am, but in this instance, it's hard to say,” the reality star concluded.
Stay Tuned!
#EMPIRE: Gabourey Sidibe Shows Off Slimmer Body In Bathing Suit In Barbados
The 34-year-old Oscar-nominated actress and author took to social media to share what a great time she had on vacation.
Between the grueling hours of being on set for Fox’s Empire and promoting her new book This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare, it’s clear that this was a much-needed and deserve break for Sibide.
Here’s to working hard and playing hard too!
#MUSICNEWS: Chris Brown Premieres ‘Welcome To My Life’ Documentary
Chris Brown welcomed fans, friends and family to his ‘Life’ on Tuesday night’s star-studded Los Angeles premiere of his long-awaited documentary “Welcome To My Life.”
Breezy was joined by his 3-year-old daughter Royalty and mother on the red carpet.
Some of his famous friends also showed their support, including Diddy and his sons Justin and Christian, Tyga, Kid Ink, O.T. Genasis, Kap G, K Camp, Trevor Jackson, and Jhené Aiko, who praised the doc.
While conducting interviews, Brown gushed about Royalty and how much she means to him. “She is my life,” he said. “She’s a part of my life in all aspects. I thought music was at first but she’s number one, and then the music. Bringing her here, I wanted to show her that daddy is cool, I guess.”
With appearances from Jamie Foxx, Usher, DJ Khaled, Jennifer Lopez, Rita Ora, and Mary J. Blige, Welcome to My Life is set to hit U.S. theaters on Thursday (June 8).
Nicki Minaj Says she Wants to Make a ‘Classic Hip-Hop Album’
As Nicki Minaj preps her fourth studio album, the rap queen says she’s aiming for a certified hip-hop classic.
Speaking with DJ Whoo Kid, the “No Frauds” MC explained her mission with her first album since 2014’s The Pinkprint. “That’s next on my bucket list,” she said, “to deliver my fourth album and make sure that it’s a classic hip-hop album that people will never forget.”
Although she didn’t say whether it’s done or not, Nicki did claim that it will be her best yet. “I know it’s going to be my best body of work and I always love to be in real time, see my fans reacting to something,” she added. “That’s what I’m looking forward to now. Obviously, I’m not telling them when my album is coming out, but I know that it’s gonna be amazing because I want to thank the people who’ve rocked with me for all of these years.”
Adding to this, Nicki said she continues to strive for improvement because she doesn’t want to let her fan base down. “My fans are a different level of die-hard,” she said. “I always feel like I gotta make them proud. I gotta go hard. I gotta impress them. They always waiting for me. That’s a blessing in itself.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Nicki spoke about what it was like to reunite with her Young Money brothers Drake and Lil Wayne at the Billboard Music Awards, where Drizzy won a record-setting 13 awards.
“It just felt so nostalgic,” she explained. “I don’t know if people remember. That’s how we used to accept awards before. Every time I would win my award from BET, Best Female Rapper, I would bring up the whole team. We always used to be so unified.”
That unity is still there, according to Nicki, who says that they continue to grow together. “We feed off of each other,” she said. “No matter how big Drake has gotten, no matter how much of a legend Wayne is, it’s amazing that when we all get together, we still feed off of each other and we still are so proud of each other and the whole Young Money movement.”
#SADNESS: Danny Dias Dead - 'Road Rules' Star Found Dead in Possible Suicide
Police say they found “2 vertical lacerations on his forearm,” and are now looking into his cause of death as a suicide. Our continued thoughts are with Danny‘s loved ones.
Danny Dias, who starred on season 13 of MTV’s Road Rules, has passed away. He was reportedly 33 years old.
Danny competed on the reality show back in 2004 and was found dead in his Brooklyn, New York apartment on Monday (June 5). No official statement has been released.
According to TMZ sources, a friend tried to contact Danny this past weekend and eventually went to the apartment to find him deceased. His official cause of death has not been revealed.
Our thoughts are with Danny‘s loved ones during this time
Oprah Says OWN Doesn’t Want ‘Underground’ Because Of Low Ratings + High Cost
There was a brief moment in time when we all hoped that Oprah Winfrey’s Network would snatch up the now cancelled WGN show “Underground”. But, alas that hope was dashed when it was announced that OWN had passed on the escape thriller, leaving us all asking “Why Oprah, whyyyyy?!”
Well, Lady O has answered that question quite clearly and bluntly — money and ratings. During a Q&A about her hit show “Queen Sugar”, journalist Soraya McDonald asked why the media mogul swiped left on “Underground”. She posted their interaction on Twitter:
While we mourn what could have been a magical merging of “Underground” and OWN, we will hold out that someone, somewhere can afford the stellar show and maybe even help bump up those ratings. It really is a show everyone should be watching
WHOA! “Well Endowed” A. Rod Accused Of Cheating On J. Lo
Apparently, there are two things you need to know about Alex Rodriguez on this Wednesday morning; He’s manhood is huge and he’s been using it to cheat on Jennifer Lopez … allegedly.
A. Rod and J. Lo have been #couplegoals for the past few months, but leave it to the National Enquirer to make us wonder if we gave them the hashtag too soon. According to the tabloid mag, the former MLB superstar has been sexting an old flame named Lauren Hunter. The two used to date in 2011 (the same time Alex was with Cameron Diaz) and now they have, “began FaceTiming again three or four times a day and [Hunter] was sending him explicit messages and photos.” The Enquirer also claims, “On May 10 [Rodriguez] told [Hunter] he missed her, and May 11 he asked her to send a video of her [doing a sex act].”
Oh, and then there’s this little nugget of info: “Hunter also alleges that, in 2011, the third baseman offered her a $20,000 allowance in return for a threesome with another woman he was with. She said he was “very into threesomes,” liked her to dress up as a schoolgirl and he was “good in bed” (but) “he’s rough” and (ahem) “well endowed.”
Hunter also alleges that, in 2011, the third baseman offered her a $20,000 allowance in return for a threesome with another woman he was with. She said he was “very into threesomes,” liked her to dress up as a schoolgirl and he was “good in bed” (but) “he’s rough” and (ahem) “well endowed.”
OK folks, we’re gonna have to call BS on this one until we see real receipts. Lauren, who is NFL Hall of Famer Marcus Allen’s baby’s mother, could just be salty that he cut her off for a little Jenny lovin’ instead. Or she could be the woman who is reportedly trying to extort money from A. Rod by using their old text messages to make it look like they’re new. And if that is the case, Rodriguez is said to mount a legal defense to take her down.
Word to the wise, Lauren if you’re a liar you may want to just stop now.
‘Optimus Prime Time’ Events Set Nationwide For ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’
Autobots…roll out!
Transformers: The Last Knight opens in theaters on June 21, but fans will have the opportunity to partake in “Optimus Prime Time” events nationwide on Tuesday, June 20.
Here’s the scoop: Ticketholders at these events will receive exclusive collector’s edition TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT Prime Time t-shirts or other promotional items while supplies last at each participating theatre, subject to additional restrictions. For complete details and to buy tickets go to Tickets.TransformersMovie.com.
Director Michael Bay, who shot TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT in native 3D and filmed with IMAX® cameras, will bring to theaters later this month a film that shatters the core myths of the Transformers franchise, and redefines what it means to be a hero.
Humans and Transformers are at war, Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving our future lies buried in the secrets of the past, in the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Saving our world falls upon the shoulders of an unlikely alliance: Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg); Bumblebee; an English Lord (Anthony Hopkins); and an Oxford Professor (Laura Haddock).
There comes a moment in everyone’s life when we are called upon to make a difference. In Transformers: The Last Knight, the hunted will become heroes. Heroes will become villains. Only one world will survive: theirs, or ours.
Visit www.TransformersMovie.com for more info
Yara Shahidi has Confirmed She's Going To HARVARD!
Yara Shahidi Our fave "blackish" teen activist (who will also be going to college on TV next fall in her new spinoff "College-ish" on Freeform) has made her college decision. After getting into every school she applied to, Yara Shahidi is going to Harvard!
Along with commenting on Harvard's Instagram page lately, the YBF Teen posted up a pic rocking the school's merch to let everyone know it's real. She captioned the above pic, #CrimsonPride.
The University posted about a recent graduate on IG saying:
“Damon Clark ’17 is a Native American and concentrated in social studies at Harvard.”
Yara commented:“Love this! Can’t wait to be a social studies major.”
Kanye West Celebrates 40th Birthday With Kim Kardashian in the Bahamas, Then Gets Back to Work
Kanye West turns 40 years old today!
The “Famous” rapper rocked a beige sweater, camouflage cargo pants, and his new, unreleased Yeezy sneakers while leaving a business meeting on Wednesday (June 7) in Calabasas, Calif.
This past week, Kanye and his wife Kim Kardashian dropped nearly half a million dollars (via E! News) and headed to the Bahamas with their family for some early birthday celebrations.
The two “had a great time on vacation in Baker’s Bay [on the island of Great Guana Cay in the Bahamas],” Entertainment Tonight reports. “They spent six days at a private home and were able to go totally off the map. No work or social media, it’s just what their family needed. Kanye brought his friend, Don Crowley, along with his family. The children had a great time. They hung around at the pool most of the day.”
They reportedly stayed at the home of Mike Meldman, who owns Casamigos Tequila along with with Rande Gerber and George Clooney.
Two weeks ago, Kanye and Kim rang in three years of marriage with a romantic meal.
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
‘The Dirty Chair’
Now I know why my wife insists we wash everything we buy before we use it. Didn’t think I’d ever get the clap from buying a patio set
#EGGPLANT NATION: Meet Gerónimo!
Meet Gerónimo!. And you can see all of him when you CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PICS!! And remember they’re NSFW!
DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT OWN any images posted on this blog. All images are found online or submitted.
Enjoy!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!
EFREM
