'Frankenstein' returns to SF Ballet as a cautionary tale for the AI age
Why it matters: The production resurfaces at an important time and even more so as a cautionary tale as society navigates the widespread adoption and use of AI, said Joseph Walsh, a stager and principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet.
"Where is technology taking us and how are we going to fit into the next few years as AI really starts to take over? We are in this super precarious place," he added.
State of play: The story follows Victor Frankenstein — an ambitious young scientist whose obsession with scientific discovery eventually leads to his downfall.
Driven by a desire to unlock the secrets of life, Frankenstein creates a monster who he later comes to regret following a series of tragic and violent events.
The big picture: The performance's resurgence is part of a broader effort from Artistic Director Tamara Rojo to introduce and captivate new and younger audiences into the fine arts, Walsh said.
The creative shift towards more contemporary performances has also drawn interest from donors and classical ballet enthusiasts, he added.
"Through a bit of interesting programming and finding new voices and fresh takes on old stories, we're seeing a much younger audience come into shows," he said.
Catch up quick: Choreographer Liam Scarlett's rendition of Mary Shelley's novel as a ballet first premiered in 2016 at the Royal Ballet in London, prior to debuting in San Francisco in 2017.
Between the lines: Set in a dark and gothic backdrop, the show features special effects, pyrotechnics and a suspenseful original score meant to amp up the drama.
What they're saying: For Walsh, who also performs as the titular mad scientist in the show, the creature's tragic storyline represents how "the othering of somebody can really just lead to the demise of that person and everyone around them."
The intrigue: Sci-fi, gothic and steampunk lovers, fans of the film " Poor Things," true crime junkies and anyone who appreciates "where the eerie meets the edgy" will enjoy this performance, according to SF Ballet.
If you go: The show, timed at 2 hours and 47 minutes, is running now until Sunday at the War Memorial Opera House.
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
I worked out with Pedro Pascal's trainer for 'Fantastic Four.' The results shocked me.
The internet is buzzing about Pedro Pascal's fitness transformation as Mr. Fantastic in "The Fantastic Four." How did he do it? Well, I have a bit of an idea. In October, I arrived at Jason Walsh's private gym in West Hollywood. A strength and conditioning coach, Walsh has been in the business of turning actors into action stars − including Pascal − for about two decades. He trained Brie Larson for "Captain Marvel," Jake Gyllenhaal for "Road House," Matt Damon for "Elysium," John Krasinski for "13 Hours," Bradley Cooper for "American Sniper" − and many more. During this time, Walsh was busy flying back-and-forth from California to London, where he was getting Pascal in shape to play Mr. Fantastic. Still, he was able to fit me in for a training session. Walsh had recently launched his own protein powder, Rise311, a plant-based supplement geared to those who have trouble digesting whey, and he was doing some press. I was there for an interview and a workout, but, selfishly, I also wanted to know his secret. What are these ripped celebrities doing that I'm not? Walsh quickly dispelled me of any magic shortcuts. There's no secret, he said − but there are smarter ways to train most people often overlook. "There's misunderstanding of what it is and what it takes," he said. "It's a mentality. There's a personality. It's hard to put it into words. But there's the people that want to just cheat their way through it, and I like the people that want to do the work and do it from the ground level and build all the way through." How Pedro Pascal, Jake Gyllenhaal more stars get ripped for movies You probably wouldn't notice Walsh's gym while driving down Santa Monica Boulevard. Located above unassuming storefronts and with no signs on the door, it's the perfect place for celebrities to get a workout in away from the prying eyes of paparazzi. If you walk through the front door and up the narrow staircase, however, you'll find a massive loft full of fancy exercise equipment. Walsh said he even has a device that scans clients' bodies, revealing exactly what mobility issues they may have prior to training. More: How Pedro Pascal got in Mister Fantastic shape for Marvel debut When a studio hires him for a project, Walsh sometimes only has a matter of weeks to get an actor in action-star shape. It can be a daunting task, and he said a big part of his job is talking to studios about what's realistic and what's not, given the time frame. "Taking someone who has never done this before and then building them from the base level all the way up, it's a huge endeavor," he said. "It takes a lot of work, a lot of dedication, a lot of pain and suffering in a way. You're just sacrificing a lot to get this thing done." He also said he feels responsible to the public to be transparent about the process as well. Sure, working out and eating right alone often yield tremendous results. But, when it comes to movies, there's usually more going on behind-the-scenes. He says it's common for actors to go through periods of intentional dehydration or extreme calorie manipulation to look as chiseled as possible while cameras roll. Such a physique, however, is not sustainable − nor should it be the goal. "Jake Gyllenhaal, the shape that he got in for 'Road House' was insane, and that is not sustainable," Walsh said. "It's pure manipulation. It's dehydration protocols. It's conditioning protocols, low calories during certain times. We literally undulate constantly. And all you got to see is the edits of him with his shirt off." When he meets a new client, Walsh said he first asks what they want out of training. If someone comes to him wanting to look like Gyllenhaal in "Road House," Walsh said he wouldn't discourage them, but he'd be honest about what it actually takes to get there − and encourage them to consider if it's really something they want to put themselves through. More: I worked out with Jake Gyllenhaal, Matt Damon's trainer. The results shocked me. What's more fulfilling, Walsh said, is getting people in shape so they can live healthier, fuller lives. This, he said, plays just as big a part in transforming someone into a superhero as aesthetic muscles do. "I want you to feel strong, because it becomes part of that character too, right?" he said. "It's confidence. It's not false confidence; it is confidence. You can lift something heavy. You can take a fall and get up and not be injured. Brie Larson's one of those clients. She's a perfect example of someone who would have a hard time taking the bottle cap off a bottle, and then, by the time we finished with her, she was doing all of her own stunt work. And for her, she felt like a superhero, which is beautiful." I asked Jason Walsh to turn me into a superhero. Here's what happened. So, did Walsh turn me into Thor in one hour? Well, no − that's impossible. Instead, he did something else. I ask Walsh to train me as if I was just cast as a Marvel's newest hero, and this was day one. He said we should start with a basic screening to find where my body's mobility might be holding me back, something he does with every client. This might seem tedious − especially for someone who's been working out for a while − but he said it's essential. Doing so helps prevent injuries as workouts ramp up. It also makes a big difference in how clients feel day-to-day. "It's not always about aesthetics," Walsh said. "I want to clean up any and all issues." What health & wellness means for you: Sign up for USA TODAY's Keeping It Together newsletter Walsh had me do leg stretches and immediately clocked limited flexibility in my lower body, particularly my right hip. So, we got to work. He put me through the ringer of stretches and body-weight exercises, all aimed at my glutes. At one point, he had me take side-steps across the gym in various positions with bands around my legs. He had me do squats on a balance ball. By the end, my glutes were on fire, and I was sweating bullets. When we finished, the difference was startling. My squat was deeper and more even. My balance had improved. My posture was better. Even walking felt easier. "We all want to look good, don't get me wrong − and there's some really big benefits to the psychology of looking in the mirror and going, 'Oh,' " Walsh said. "It's encouraging. I just don't find that it is the primary focus for me." What is the primary focus, he said, is helping people live their best lives. The next Tom Cruise? Brie Larson got ripped, did most of her own 'Captain Marvel' stunts Coming into the session, I thought exercise had to involve heavy weights or heart-pounding cardio to be valuable. After working out with Walsh, however, I learned detailed work on a specific issue is often much more important − especially if it gets at a root problem that's been long neglected. It's a mindset shift he himself has undergone over the course of his own fitness journey. "I'm trying to evolve myself and open myself up to different ideas," he said. "I was pretty hardheaded about stuff, because, coming from coaching, it's a very, very masculine, alpha-male kind of mentality. And so, here, I think you have to have a little more sensibility and understand people. Us regular people, we go through (things) constantly. We carry that. We have things on a daily that would hinder us from doing the things that we want to do sometimes." More: Jake Gyllenhaal got a staph infection making 'Road House,' says his 'whole arm swelled up' Now that I'm squatting like a superhero, I wonder what other issues I may have in the rest of my body that have gone unnoticed. As I continue to work out and lift weights on my own, I'm going to pay attention. More importantly, I know that, if I do achieve a superhero physique one day, it needs to be built on a solid foundation − one that, ultimately, makes the aches and pains of life a little easier. After all, what's the point of looking like a superhero, if you don't feel like one too? Look out, Thor − I'm one workout closer to stealing your hammer.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Guillermo del Toro's ‘Frankenstein,' Benny Safdie's ‘The Smashing Machine,' Kathryn Bigelow's ‘A House of Dynamite' Among Stellar Venice Lineup
Oscar season starts here. With its 2025 line-up, announced Tuesday, the Venice Film Festival has (again) taken the award season pole position, with a program packed with a frankly absurd number of must-see movies. More from The Hollywood Reporter BBC Studios Unscripted Boss on Tom Hanks, Stanley Tucci Series and the Recipe for U.S. Success Busan Film Festival to Honor Jafar Panahi as Asian Filmmaker of the Year 'Dune' VFX House DNEG's Immersive Experiences Unit Names NBCU's Jeff Lehman Exec Producer (Exclusive) Among the hot awards titles heading to the Lido are Benny Safdie's The Smashing Machine, from A24, featuring Dwayne Johnson as two‑time UFC heavyweight champion Mark Kerr and Emily Blunt as his wife Dawn; Luca Guadagnino's #MeToo–inspired thriller After the Hunt, for Amazon MGM Studios, starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri, will premiere out of competition; and Guillermo del Toro's dark reimagining of Frankenstein, featuring Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth, a Netflix production. This will mark the Venice festival debut for both Roberts and Johnson. Netflix, which sat out Vence last year, is back in force for 2025. Alongside Frankenstein, the streamer has Noah Baumbach's comedy‑drama Jay Kelly, co-written with Emily Mortimer, and headlined by George Clooney, premiering in competition, and Kathryn Bigelow's ticking bomb geopolitical thriller A House of Dynamite, starring Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Greta Lee, Gabriel Basso, and Jared Harris. The Venice line-up is an embarrassment of riches, for award-watchers and regular film fans alike, with the competition selection including the latest from A-list auteurs Park Chan-wook (No Other Choice), François Ozon (L'Etranger), and Laszlo Nemes (Orphan). A year after Brady Corbet's The Brutalist launched in Venice, en route to three Oscar wins, the film's co-writer (and producer) Mona Fastvold arrives in competition with The Testament of Ann Lee, a historical drama musical film starring Lewis Pullman, Amanda Seyfried, and Tim Blake Nelson, that she co-wrote with Corbet. The Voice of Hind Rajab, the new film from Four Daughters director Kaouther Ben Hania, is certain to be one of the most talked-about films in Venice this year. The film tells the true story of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old girl who, on January 29, 2024, was trapped in a car on fire in Gaza. She called Red Crescent emergency workers, who kept her on the line while they tried to get an ambulance to her. The Party Film Sales is handling worldwide sales on the film and co-representing North American rights with CAA Media Finance. Another politically-charged title in competition is Olivier Assayas' The Wizard of the Kremlin, starring Jude Law as Vladimir Putin and Paul Dano as the fictional Kremlin insider Vadim Baranov. Yorgos Lanthimos, a Venice Golden Lion winner for Poor Things, returns in competition with Bugonia, an adaptation of Jang Joon-Hwan's 2003 South Korean sci-fi film Save the Green Planet!, featuring his frequent collaborator Emma Stone. Focus Features will release the film stateside, with Universal Pictures handling internationally outside of Korea, where CJ ENM will release. And iconic indie director Jim Jarmusch, a Cannes regular, will bring his latest to the Lido this year, premiering Mubi's Father Mother Sister Brother, a triptych with an all-star ensemble cast including Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, Indya Moore, Vicky Krieps, Tom Waits, Luka Sabbat, and Charlotte Rampling. The 82nd Venice competition line-up also includes the latest from A-list auteurs Park Chan-wook (No Other Choice), François Ozon (L'Etranger), and Laszlo Nemes (Orphan) Italian Oscar-winning Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty) will open this year's festival with La Grazia (Grace), a love story starring his long-time collaborator Toni Servillo. La Grazia, co-starring Diamonds actor Anna Ferzetti, will premiere in competition on Aug. 27. Mubi picked up the film ahead of its Venice bow. Dog 51, a new action-packed French sci-fi thriller from Bac Nord director Cedric Jimenez will close the festival, out of competition. Gus Van Sant's return to feature films, Dead Man's Wire, starring Bill Skarsgard, will also screen out of competition. Other out-of-competition highlights include Anders Thomas Jensen's Danish dark comedy The Last Viking starring Mads Mikkelsen, Julian Schnabel's long-awaited The Hand of Dante, and Scarlet, the first anime feature in four years from Japanese master Mamoru Hosoda. Venice has selected four TV series for its small-screen sidebar: Etty, a limited series from Israeli showrunner Hagai Levi (In Treatment, The Affair), loosely based on the diary of Dutch Jewish writer Etty Hillesum, starring Julia Windischbauer and Sebastian Koch, which Studio TF1 is selling worldwide; Portobello, the first Italian original production for HBO Max in which Italian director Marco Bellocchio (The Traitor), follows the true story of the downfall of one of Italy's most beloved TV hosts; Studiocanal's A Prophet – The Series, a TV reboot of Jacques Audiard's classic French prison drama from 2009, directed by Enrico Maria Artale; and Il Mostro (The Monster), a true-life serial-killer drama from Gomorrah series director, Stefano Sollima, made for Netflix. This year's Golden Lion career achievement honorees are legendary German director Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo, Grizzly Man) and Vertigo star Kim Novak. 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USA Today
11 hours ago
- USA Today
How Pedro Pascal got in Mister Fantastic shape for Marvel debut
Hollywood fitness guru Jason Walsh chronicles how the Emmy nominated actor conquered debilitating pain after a stunt injury for the new 'Fantastic Four' movie. A post shared by JASON WALSH (@risemovement) Pedro Pascal swears he would not be walking, much less prepping to play a superhero, if it weren't for this guy. The four-time Emmy nominee is just one of many A-list clients who have achieved action star physiques through physical trainer Jason Walsh's holistic approach to health and fitness. In the case of Pascal, however, the mutual admiration between trainer and client extends far beyond the four walls of Walsh's West Hollywood gym. The two first crossed paths back in 2014 in Qingdao, China, on the set of the action blockbuster "The Great Wall." At the time, Walsh was training the film's star Matt Damon, who played a mercenary warrior alongside Pascal. "We instantly had a good chemistry," Walsh told USA TODAY. "You're going to all these really cool places, the Great Wall, experiencing all this stuff and you got somebody that's a good friend. And I started training him then." A decade after they first met in China, Walsh would help Pascal transform his body to play the brilliant and elastic Mister Fantastic in the upcoming "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," out in theaters nationwide Thursday, July 24. The superhero genre is familiar territory for Walsh, who previously trained Anne Hathaway to play Catwoman in 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises" and Brie Larson to take on the role of the titular intergalactic heroine in 2019's "Captain Marvel." A stunt injury, however, would make Pascal's latest fitness journey the actor's most daunting yet. 'Gladiator II' stunt left Pascal with long-lasting back pain Fans of Pascal may remember the moment photos from Vanity Fair's cover shoot dropped on June 24, showing his physique in its full glory. Unbeknownst to drooling fans at the time, Pascal endured months of turmoil and uncertainty to achieve the muscled-up look. During a stunt for last year's "Gladiator II," he dislocated his shoulder, tore his psoas (lower back) muscle and weakened his hip flexor after tackling co-star Paul Mescal on set. Walsh said Pascal experienced long-lasting back pain that took a psychological toll as a result. Pain and injury can feel extra defeating when someone enters their late 40s or early 50s, Walsh said, adding that "you start to program your mind and start believing that this is the new you. This is the way it's going to be." "He came to me and just said, 'I'm a wreck,'" Walsh recalled. "'I can't step up, I can't lunge, I can't squat, I can't do these things because my back hurts.'" With a looming deadline and hectic schedule ahead of filming for "Fantastic Four" in England, "The Materialists" in New York and Season 2 of "The Last of Us" in Canada, Pascal asked the trainer one question. "'Can it be done?' And I was like, 'absolutely,'" Walsh said. The mission was less about achieving a shredded superhero figure for Pascal and more about reclaiming functionality over his body and conquering his pain, Walsh said. Pascal placed his full faith in the Hollywood strength guru, who had experience with post-injury training. He previously prepared Matt Damon for 2016's "Jason Bourne" after a bike accident broke his collarbone. Walsh explained to Pascal that the process would be slow and tedious, but that the two would eventually change his body. "I just took it on as a project, and I took it seriously because I saw my friend who was in pain and psychologically down," he said. Now, the 50-year-old heartthrob not only looks chiseled but feels well enough to become the next Reed Richards in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Walsh says his secret isn't a 'magic formula' While Walsh had no desire to be a personal trainer growing up — even to clientele like Jake Gyllenhaal, John Krasinski and Bradley Cooper — he saw a void he could fill in the fitness space. He takes a multifaceted approach to training that involves adding calculated amounts of stress to the right parts of the body. With Pascal, Walsh curated a routine that would allow his body to hold onto muscle at his age. The workouts prioritized isometric exercises that built a connection between mind and body while also advancing his tendon strength. "Mostly it's a progressive model. So it's pretty simple. It's just very basic. It's not a magic formula. I don't need to tell you that there's cool exercises that we do that nobody else does. I don't do that [expletive]," Walsh said. Instead, he reinforces solid patterns and proper recovery time, complemented by plenty of sacrifice. He also worked with a chef who prepared a diet focused around caloric intake and macronutrients that would become habitual for Pascal. This nutrition philosophy later prompted Walsh to launch his own protein powder, a plant-based supplement called Rise311, geared toward those who have trouble digesting whey. Walsh posted an Instagram reel in June 2024 of Pascal trying a Rise311 shake for the first time, which the Chilean-born actor called "delicious." A post shared by JASON WALSH (@risemovement) Pascal lost 25 pounds ahead of Marvel shoot Walsh said his first big win with Pascal was when the actor noticed a gap between his belly and a pair of pants on the set of "The Last of Us." "We took 25 pounds off of him by changing up his diet," Walsh said. Beyond the weight loss, Pascal told Walsh he felt his pain and limitations dissipate as his body grew stronger. Before they both knew it, Pascal was ready to put on his blue suit. "You build this little bit of trust with people by fixing something and then reminding them that they couldn't do something [before]," Walsh added. Ultimately, Walsh finds victories like Pascal the most rewarding. "It was just a slow, tedious climb, but he was down for it and now he's asking me for workouts and things because he wants to keep going with it," Walsh said. "He understands the benefit of that kind of sacrifice and dedication and hard work. It pays off."
