Star Wars actor Ben Mendelsohn cuts a suave figure in stylish monochrome look at exclusive event in Los Angeles
The Rogue One actor, 56, rocked a cool monochrome ensemble featuring a light blue polo shirt layered under a sleek black jacket, paired with matching tailored trousers.
He completed the look with crisp white sneakers, adding a relaxed yet refined touch to the red carpet appearance.
The Emmy-Award winning star exuded quiet confidence as he posed for photos, flashing his trademark smirk and keeping his hands casually tucked into his pockets.
The low-key but chic look was a far cry from the darker characters he's become known for on screen - with Mendelsohn having played a string of villains throughout his impressive Hollywood career.
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He is one of Australia's most celebrated actors with starring roles in The Dark Knight Rises, Rogue One and Animal Kingdom.
Back in 2018, the critically acclaimed actor revealed he was once forced to work low-paying jobs to pay the bills.
He washed dishes at a restaurant in Sydney's Bondi and was also employed at a Brumby's Bakery during a career slump, according to the Herald Sun.
Reflecting on his incredible reversal of fortune since then, Ben said: 'It's been extraordinary. But that's what has been very sweet about it - you don't expect that in this business.'
He added: 'I still drive around and look back on a lot of years where things were leaner. I am still happily spun out by it.'
The Melbourne-born actor has a history of playing villains in films, but recently said he doesn't overthink the roles he plays.
In an interview with The Project, he said his penchant for playing bad guys has turned out 'all right' for him so far.
However, he said he's 'got a couple more feathers' in his cap and would like to play more diverse characters in the future.
He is currently reprising his role as Orson Krennic from the 2016 movie Rogue One in the Disney+ spinoff Andor.
The show has been critically praised, with viewers praising its second season 'the best TV show they've seen this year'.
Andor follows Cassian Andor, a character who first appeared in the 2016 movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
The series serves as a prequel to the film in the early days after the Galactic Republic became the Empire.
Among some of the very first to react to season two of Andor was critic Jordan King, who put it in his 'top five' shows.
He said: 'It is the best TV you will see this year, and cements the show's place in my all-time Top 5.
'It's mature, it's knotty, it's uncompromising, and it's emotional in ways you won't see coming. And *that* arc? Astonishing.'
The Observer echoed Jordan and wrote: 'The second season, somehow, eclipses [the first] in an impressive fashion, building a masterful narrative arc that is undeniable in its prescience to the rising fascism around the world.'
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The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Australian woman who introduced the hula hoop to the world – but missed out on the profits
What began with a large bamboo ring wrapped in brown paper and posted across the Pacific to an Australian war bride in the US launched what became one of the world's greatest fads of the late 1950s – the hula hoop. But Joan Anderson, the parcel's recipient and the woman who delivered the concept of the hoop to America, was left out of the loop – ignored by the toy company that sold more than 100m hula hoops before the fad was replaced. It was not until 2018 that Anderson, who died on 14 July aged 101, was credited for her role in introducing the hula hoop after her story was shared in the short documentary film Hula Girl. The film provided Anderson the opportunity to tell her side of a story that involved the thrill of innovation quickly followed by the ache of betrayal and the worth of a 'gentleman's handshake'. In 1956, while on a return visit to her home town of Sydney, Anderson noticed how many people were having fun with large bamboo hoops, wriggling them around their waists and shimmying their hips like Elvis Presley. 'Everywhere I would go, everybody was giggling and carrying on and when I asked what was going on they said, 'Oh, everyone's doing the hoop',' she said. The joy was contagious and upon her return to the US where she was living, she told her husband, Wayne, about it. He wanted to see one of these hoops, so Anderson's mother posted one over and during a dinner party demonstration of the hoop, after a guest compared Anderson's moves to those of a hula dancer, the name hula hoop was born. 'There are so many stories about where the name came from, and they are all fictitious' Anderson said in the film. 'This is the true story about it.' Realising its potential as a toy product, the Andersons contacted an associate of Wayne's named Arthur 'Spud' Melin, the founder of the Wham-O toy company, whose instincts they trusted. They met in the company's parking lot. 'There were no witnesses; just Spud, my husband and myself,' Anderson recalled. 'We told him we've called it the hula hoop, and he thought that was a great name for it.' Melin was intrigued and, as he and Wayne shook hands, he assured the Andersons that if the hula hoop made money for him, it would make money for them too. By 1958, as the popularity of the hoops – now patented, plastic and produced by Wham-O – escalated and, with sales exceeding US$30m in two months, the Andersons' phone calls remained unanswered, messages not returned. The only credit given to Joan Anderson was as the 'friend from Australia' who had inspired Melin. 'I think that bugged me more than anything,' Anderson said. 'I was not a 'friend'.' Joan Constance Manning was born in Sydney on 28 December 1923 to Claude and Ethel Manning. After leaving school at 14, she began modelling, with ambitions to become a film star. She was a diminutive figure, just over five feet tall, and was nicknamed the Pocket Venus. In December 1941, Joan was the cover girl of Pix magazine and was declared to be 'a typical Australian holiday girl' whose war work included knitting socks and writing letters. She received a picture of herself from troops at Tobruk who wrote, 'you make us forget Libya'. While swimming at Bondi beach in 1945, Joan was approached by US Army Air corps P-38 pilot Wayne Anderson, who did not make an impression until she saw him that night at a dance in his uniform. Four months later, they were married and, in early 1946, she joined hundreds of other war brides on their journey to America. In 1961, the Andersons filed a lawsuit against the Wham-O toy company and eventually settled with a small amount of compensation. 'Why be angry with something you can't change? The world isn't fair but life goes on. I had a great life,' Joan Anderson said. 'My husband lived to be 87 and we had 63 wonderful years together. Happiness is the best revenge.' She and Wayne had four children: Warren, Gary, Carl and Loralyn, three of whom survive her. Wayne died in 2007. Despite the hula hoop disappointment, the Anderson children all had hoops as they grew up. 'It was never a big deal in our family. [My parents] went on with their lives. They knew they messed up with the business deal,' Loralyn Willis said. Somalian Australian circus artist Marawa, an inductee of the Guinness World Record Hall of Fame for her hooping prowess, met Anderson in 2018 and was struck by her grace over her lost business opportunity. 'If I can be like Joan when I am 100 then I'll be happy,' she said. 'Meeting her made me realise I've made the right career choice for a long life.' Willis said her mother was 'fun-loving, adventurous and willing to try anything'. She was ziplining, parasailing and boogie boarding with her grandchildren until her mid-90s. 'Mom was pretty happy that she got the recognition in the end and that she was able to bring so much joy to people around the world,' she said. 'How can you hula hoop without being happy?'
Daily Mail
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From child star to billionaire: Hollywood's richest actress is unrecognizable on rare outing
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Daily Mail
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Rebel Wilson's new movie brutally slammed by critics: 'Worst film of the year'
Rebel Wilson 's latest film has been savaged by critics, with one branding it the 'worst film of the year'. The film, Bride Hard, hit Australian cinemas on Thursday, and the reaction from Australian critics has been less than stellar. Rebel stars alongside Anna Camp, Stephen Dorff and Anna Chlumsky in the action-comedy. Billed as Die Hard-meets-Bridesmaids (the clue is in the title), the film follows a mercenary group who get more than they bargained for when they take a wedding party hostage. Little do they know that the maid of honour, played by Rebel, is actually a secret agent. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Writing for PerthNow, critic Ben O'Shea did not pull any punches in his scathing assessment of the action-comedy. 'Things this critic would rather do instead of ever watching Bride Hard again include, but are not limited to, giving Donald Trump a back wax and personally removing the next fatberg from Perth's sewerage system,' he wrote. He didn't stop there, arguing it could be the worst film he's ever seen. 'Rebel Wilson's latest comedy is so bad, it is the front runner to claim worst film of the year and might just be the worst film yours truly has ever seen,' Ben added. It was a similar sentiment expressed by News Corp critic Leigh Paatsch, who also derided the film. 'While there have been worse reasons for a movie to be wished into existence, there is much to this uneven production that will have you wishing it never existed at all,' he wrote. 'Inept joke construction and lifeless line delivery tease an eerie emptiness from scene after scene, cold-bloodedly killing each and every chance of a laugh.' While giving few points for comedy, Leigh did find favour with some of the film's action sequences, claiming the 'mindless mayhem offers some welcome respite from all those thudding punchlines.' The film was released in the US on June 20, and has received a very similar lukewarm reception. It currently boasts a depressing 18 per cent critic score and a slightly better 57 per cent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Similarly, IMDb rates the comedy at a lacklustre 4.3 out of 10. Writing for The Guardian ahead of the US premiere, Benjamin Lee lambasted Bride Hard as 'awful' and a 'rubbishy attempt' to marry comedy and action. 'The awfulness of Bride Hard just isn't worth pointing and laughing at, it's the kind of joyless slog that pushes you to check out early and never gives you reason to check back in,' he wrote. 'It wasn't all naysaying, though with critic Carla Renata labelling the film 'fluffy fun'. 'Bride Hard makes it easy to grab your girls, some snacks (or drinks), and enjoy a little fluffy fun at the cinema,' she wrote. Viewers were less kind, taking to social media platform X to also slam the film. 'Bride Hard with Rebel Wilson may be the worst film ever made, and I only saw 90 seconds of it,' one disgruntled moviegoer wrote. Another seemed confused by the whole affair, offering: 'Just came back from watching bride Hard. Bruh wtf did I just watch?' A third said they could only stomach the film for ten minutes before walking away. 'After 10 minutes of watching Bride Hard with the GF, we shut it off in disgust. Even she hated it,' they commented. 'It's neither funny, nor exciting. Not even a chick flick guilty pleasure, like Pitch Perfect. It's awful. 'Don't bother. I'd put it on my Worst of '25, but I need to finish it.' It didn't end there either, with another slamming the acting while praising the cast and story. 'Bride Hard's acting is just awful,' the cranky cinephile wrote. ' They had a good story, not a new concept, but it could have been interesting. 'The cast is good, the acting is just bad. They took and easy pay check if you ask me.' The less-than-rave reviews have come at a bad time for Rebel, who is facing a second lawsuit from the producers of her film The Deb over claims she made false and derogatory statements about them. Those statements include accusations of engaging in 'inappropriate conduct' towards actress Charlotte MacInnes, who stars in the film. They also claim Wilson falsely accused them of embezzling the film's funds, The Australian reported on Thursday. Producers Vince Holden, Gregor Cameron and Amanda Ghost on Thursday filed proceedings against Wilson in the NSW Supreme Court. Wilson is also being sued for defamation in the US courts by the three producers, who have accused her of injurious falsehood, misleading and deceptive conduct and breaches of contract and director's duties. They also allege that Wilson threatened the Australian distributor of the film, Kismet, by seeking an injunction to block its release.
