It List spring movie guide: Michael B. Jordan, Florence Pugh and the stars stepping out of their comfort zones with new movies
Spring isn't quite blockbuster season, but it isn't awards season either. Movies released in this time frame often fall into a hard-to-define middle ground. For that reason, it can be the perfect time for actors to try something new.
Whether they're prestigious award winners dabbling in action films or internet darlings trying gritty new roles, we rounded up the stars who seem to be challenging their comfort zone.
Will Poulter is everywhere
Will Poulter and Daisy Edgar-Jones in On Swift Horses. (Sony Pictures Classics/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Upcoming projects: Death of a Unicorn is in theaters March 28, Warfare is in theaters April 11 and On Swift Horses is in theaters April 25.
What to know: It'll be tricky to go to the theaters this season and not see a poster with Will Poulter's face on it. He's starring in a horror comedy, a war drama and a historical romance that all hit theaters in March and April.
How these roles are different: Poulter has come a long way from playing the goofy younger brother in We're the Millers. He's still goofy at times, but this spring, he's out to prove that he can be an action star and a romantic villain, too.
D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai can do it all
D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai attends the premiere of Warfare. (Stewart Cook/A24 via Getty Images)
Upcoming projects: Hell of a Summer opens in theaters on April 4 and Warfare opens in theaters on April 11.
What to know: D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai stands out in two ensemble casts for vastly different reasons: In a satirical slasher set at a summer camp, he's a whimsical cool kid. In a gritty drama based on a true story of warfare, he's stoic in the face of unimaginable horrors.
How these roles are different: Woon-A-Tai made a name for himself in the dramedy series Reservation Dogs, but as he told Yahoo Entertainment, as his star rises, he doesn't want to be pinned down to any one genre.
Finn Wolfhard is in his auteur era
Finn Wolfhard in Hell of a Summer. (Neon/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Upcoming project: Hell of a Summer is in theaters April 4.
What to know: Best known for playing a teenager terrorized by evil forces in franchises like Ghostbusters, Stranger Things and It, Finn Wolfhard knows a thing or two about horror. He stars in the satirical slasher Hell of a Summer, which he also co-wrote and co-directed.
How this role is different: Wolfhard's acting in Hell of a Summer references many of his past characters, but he's out to prove that he's mastered horror enough to satirize it both in front of and behind the camera.
Viola Davis is undefinable
Viola Davis in G20. (Ilze Kitshoff/Amazon Prime Video/Courtesy Everett Collection)
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Upcoming projects: G20 starts streaming on Prime Video April 10.
What to know: Viola Davis stars as the president of the United States who must defend her family when terrorists take over the G20 summit in South Africa. We'll be seeing her doing a lot of stunts in a gorgeous red dress.
How this role is different: As Timothée Chalamet said, Davis is one of the greats. She doesn't have to prove anything — though she's currently making the case that she can do anything any time.
Meghann Fahy gets gritty
Meghann Fahy in Drop. (Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Upcoming project: Drop is in theaters April 11.
What to know: Meghann Fahy stole the show in The Perfect Couple and The White Lotus playing sublimely cool women with a knack for leisure. In Drop, she plays against type as a nervous widowed mother who's terrorized by mysterious messages.
How this role is different: Instead of playing a deliciously wealthy person with a dark twist, she's leading with darkness, launching her bid to escape typecast purgatory.
Rami Malek returns to action
Rami Malek in The Amateur. (John Wilson/20th Century Studios/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Upcoming projects: The Amateur is in theaters April 11.
What to know: Rami Malek plays a CIA cryptographer who embarks on a one-man mission to avenge his wife's death in The Amateur — his first lead role since playing Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
How this role is different: Deciding what to do with your time after winning an Oscar is an exciting problem to have. He's played a Bond villain before, but Malek is out to prove he can lead an action flick.
Michael B. Jordan plays the villain
Michael B. Jordan attends the premiere of The Fire Inside in 2024. ()
Upcoming projects: Sinners opens in theaters April 18.
What to know: We don't know much about Sinners yet, besides the fact that Michael B. Jordan plays twin brothers, and in the trailer, at least one of them appears to be a vampire.
How this role is different: Jordan played a villain in Black Panther, but it's been a while since we've done anything but root for him onscreen. We'll see if he can escape his own likeability and take a sinister turn — or if we'll keep rooting for him in his newfound villainy.
Florence Pugh powers up
Florence Pugh in Thunderbolts*. (Marvel/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection)
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Upcoming projects: Thunderbolts* opens in theaters on May 2.
What to know: This isn't Florence Pugh's first Marvel movie, but it's her first time leading one. Thunderbolts* is about a group of antiheroes on a dangerous mission.
How to watch them: We know Pugh can win accolades and boost a blockbuster ensemble, but this could be a career-defining role that sends her on a path similar to Scarlett Johansson's — ping-ponging between prestige roles and box office hits.
The Weeknd goes Hollywood
The Weeknd at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. (Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
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USA Today
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- USA Today
Play a game, win free Chick-fil-A: What to know about return of Code Moo
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Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
A Flock Of Seagulls' Mike Score Talks Playing On ‘Lost 80s Live!' RetroTour
ANAHEIM, CA - JANUARY 26: Singer Mike Score of the band the Flock of Seagulls performs onstage ... More during KEarth's Totally 80's Show at Honda Center on January 26, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by) More than 40 years after they first burst onto the scene with radio-friendly hits like 'I Ran (So Far Away),' 'Space Age Love Song' and 'Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)' and stylish videos, the British synthpop band A Flock of Seagulls is still performing to audiences and recording music. And although the era of big hair, pastels and Pac-Man has long gone, A Flock of Seagulls and their '80s contemporaries left an indelible imprint on pop culture with their New Wave sound and look. 'I think anything that keeps our name upfront somewhere is good,' says Mike Score, the band's founding singer. 'Suddenly, you find out that every era has some great music…And a lot of new bands, I think, are very inspired by the '80s with a bit of '90s and of what's going on now. So it's basically a case of: you just stick with it, stick by your guns, and it'll come back around for you.' This summer, A Flock of Seagulls is back on stage again for this year's installment of Lost 80s Live!, the long–running 1980s retro tour for which the band has been a regular staple. The tour, which kicks off on July 31 in New Haven, Connecticut, also features such artists as China Crisis, Big Country, the Vapors, Josie Cotton, Belouis Some, General Public, Polecats, Peter Godwin and the Icicle Works, — all of whom will be performing their biggest and well-known hits from that decade. 'We do it every year,' Score says. 'I think we missed one — I don't know whether it was last year or two years ago. When you're gigging all the time, you just forget what you've just done. You do a gig, you move on, you're onto the next one. Suddenly, you know you've been on tour for four or five months. And you're like, 'Where did the time go?' It's very strange.' To Score, the appeal of Lost 80s Live! is that there are no backstage egos but rather a spirit of respect and camaraderie among the different acts. 'It's great,' he says. 'The main thing there is that all the bands know each other. We're all happy to be doing it. 'The crowds are great,' he continues. 'Usually, they know all the songs from everybody. So they're all singing along. They're all having a good time. And that comes from them to the band. So you know by the time we go on, we're having a good time. It's just a good vibe all around.' It's a guarantee at Lost 80s Live! that Score and his band will play their famous hits that defined '80s pop music. It all began in Liverpool in 1979 when Score, his drummer brother Ali Score and bassist Frank Maudsley founded the group; guitarist Paul Reynolds later joined, solidifying the classic lineup. UNITED KINGDOM - NOVEMBER 01: Photo of Frank MAUDSLEY and Paul REYNOLDS and Ali SCORE and FLOCK OF ... More SEAGULLS and Mike SCORE; L-R: Ali Score, Mike Score, Frank Maudsley, Paul Reynolds - posed, group shot, studio (Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns) 'In the old days with the original guys, it was just fun,' Score recalls. 'It was so weird that we rehearsed probably for a year every night for like six or seven hours and wrote a bunch of songs. Somebody heard them. We did a gig. And, I think, like a month after that, we got this huge deal with Zomba Records.' Released in 1982, A Flock of Seagulls' self-titled debut album became a huge success, featuring such songs as 'I Ran (So Far Away),' 'Space Age Love Song,' 'Telecomunication,' 'Messages' and the Grammy-winning 'D.N.A.' The band's music was a perfect amalgam of futuristic electronic pop and guitar-charged rock. 'When you've got an album like that, you've got to realize that it took a year to write,' says Score of A Flock of Seagulls. 'We rehearsed five or six nights a week. And every night, I would say we would write two new songs. So you're talking maybe 100-150 ideas that came down to maybe 10 or 12 ideas, and that became the first album,' he says. Of the classic lineup, Score says: 'The chemistry was there. We had a ball when we were rehearsing. We always had a great time. And we knew that we were writing some good stuff. But even so, we thought, 'We're going to get a deal here. We're going to get a single out or something.' We didn't expect the five-year deal from Zomba. That came as a big surprise.' 'I Ran' was the runaway hit that introduced the U.S. to A Flock of Seagulls ('When we played it to people, they were like, 'That song is amazing. It's got synths. It's got guitars. It's got rhythm. It's got a story. It's got everything,'' Score remembers). The song's accompanying video gave further exposure to the group, who became recognized for their look, particularly Score's distinctive and unforgettable hairstyle. 'It's indescribable, really,' he says of making it in the States. 'I remember we arrived in New York to do a couple of club shows. 'Telecommunication' was pretty big on the dance charts by then. And 'I Ran' was just starting to scratch around the Top 100. We got off the plane and we got into a limo. As we went to New York, 'I Ran' came on [the radio]. We were stunned. It's like, 'How do they know this song here in New York?' We all just looked at each other and it was smiles from ear to ear, and 'Wow, we're in America.'' During that period, A Flock of Seagulls not only became MTV staples but also toured with the Go-Go's and the Police and headlined themselves. 'We were going up and up and up,' Score says. 'It was literally a case of 'Do not look down. It's too far. If we can't stay this high, it's going to be a hell of a fall.' We just closed our eyes and kept going.' For A Flock of Seagulls, writing and recording the second album, 1983's Listen, was a bit of a challenge, although it yielded another hit in 'Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You).' 'We had no time to write it at all,' Score recalls. 'So that's where you fall into the trap of second-album problems. We did the second album straight on tour. I think we recorded it in three or four weeks but straight back out on tour because the first album was still doing well. The second album was riding on the back of it.' The group's third album, 1984's The Story of a Young Heart, produced another hit single in "The More You Live, the More You Love." Its reflective and moody tone departed from the first two band albums, as indicated on the poignant 'Remember David,' which was inspired by the death of Score's best friend from school. 'I wrote that whole album about him. I went into rehearsal every day, and I wrote a new song for 12 days or something like that. Steve Lovell, who was going to be our producer, was with me and he'd make his production notes. Then we brought the band in to work on it. The whole thing is about that except 'The More You Live.' I had a relationship that broke up. And my mom said to me, 'Don't worry, lad. The more you live, the more you love.' So that became the inspiration for that song.' By the end of the 1980s, the departures of Ali Score, Frank Maudsley and Paul Reynolds left Mike Score as the only member from the popular lineup. 'We'd lived in each other's pockets for a couple of years, and things happen,' he says. 'You're all in the same hotel room. You're all traveling together. You're playing together. You're getting drunk together. Your wildness comes out on tour and you're having a great time, and you end up getting on each other's nerves. And after three years, we split.' During this period, Score moved to the U.S., where he has since lived for many years. 'The girl I was going out with at the time just said, 'Come over here and hang out for a bit.' So that's what I did. My brother married an American girl, so he moved. I think Frank stayed in England. He was back and forth for a bit. But now I live between England and America. I love going back to England. Because I've been here so long. I'm an American citizen now. So to me, America is home and England is a second home.' Although there were many personnel changes in the group with Score being the constant, the classic lineup reunited for the albums Ascension (2018) and String Theory (2021). 'I wouldn't say we're best friends now, but we are friends again,' Score says. 'We got together and did a few things, the orchestral stuff. That was good fun, but I don't know if we could all live together again and do stuff on the road.' In addition to touring, Score released new A Flock of Seagulls music in 2024 as the Some Dreams album. "I never stopped writing songs,' he says. "In fact, I was trying to write a song before, and I was just like, 'You've lost it, man.' But I'll give it another go this afternoon and I just sit down at the computer with a guitar or something and start playing. And if the song comes out, great. If it doesn't, there's always tomorrow. We didn't stop in the '80s. And there are new songs that they may go for. Who knows?' 'Some of the songs, even on the new album, I experimented a bit,' he says. 'But I also have to reach back to where my inspirations came from. I look back at our first album, and sometimes I go, "Oh, this one sounds like it could have been on the first album.' Then I write it that way. Then other songs, I go, 'Well, this one's not particularly Seagulls, but it's got a Seagulls core.' And then I try and push that into a more experimental area.' The durability of A Flock of Seagulls' music lives on through the Lost 80s Live! tour. which is not only an opportunity for fans of the band and members of Generation X to relive the music of their youth, but also for younger people to experience the 1980s. 'A lot of people bring their kids to that,' Score says. 'And of course, they're showing the kids the music they liked. To us, that is great because it helps it carry on to another generation. We've been going, I don't know, 42 years or something silly like that now. Personally, I like it when a little kid comes along and he's got my old hairdo. He's a baby Seagull, you know what I mean.'
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
‘Practical Magic' star reveals they aren't returning for the sequel: ‘Not in my control'
Evan Rachel Wood is not returning for 'Practical Magic 2.' The actress, 37, shared the news in a message on her Instagram Stories Friday. 'I am getting asked about this a lot, so l'll just clear it up now; I was not asked to come back and be in the #PracticalMagic sequel,' Wood wrote. Advertisement 9 Evan Rachel Wood speaks at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in Sept. 2022. Getty Images for The Recording Academy 'l offered my services, even if it was one scene or one line,' Wood explained, adding that she 'was told they are re-casting' her role as Kylie Owens from the 1998 film. 'I am sorry to disappoint the fans,' Wood continued. 'It was not in my control or my choice. I would have happily rejoined my sisters.' Advertisement 9 Evan Rachel Wood tells fans she won't be in 'Practical Magic 2.' Evan Rachel Wood/Instagram 9 Evan Rachel Wood attends the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Getty Images Wood portrayed Sandra Bullock's on-screen daughter in 'Practical Magic.' The film, directed by Griffin Dunne and based on Alice Hoffman's 1995 novel, follows sisters Sally (Bullock) and Gillian Owens (Nicole Kidman) who are taught magic by their aunts after their parents die. Advertisement The movie grossed over $68 million worldwide and became a cult classic. 9 Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock in 'Practical Magic.' Moviestore/Shutterstock 9 Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are returning for 'Practical Magic 2.' ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection Wood's announcement came after the news that Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest are reprising their roles as Aunt Frances and Aunt Jet, respectively, for the sequel. Advertisement Bullock, 60, and Kidman, 58, will also be back for the 2026 follow-up film, which Susanne Bier is directing with a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman and Georgia Pritchett. 9 Stockard Channing, Evan Rachel Wood in 'Practical Magic.' Moviestore/Shutterstock New cast members include Maisie Williams, Joey King, Lee Pace, Xolo Maridueña and Solly McLeod. The 'Practical Magic 2' filmmaking team said in a statement last week: 'Twenty-five years ago, Sally, Gillian, Aunt Jet and Aunt Franny flew off the pages of Alice Hoffman's beloved novel and into theaters around the world, and we are thrilled to bring the Owens family back to the big screen with Joey, Lee, Maisie, Solly and Xolo joining the next chapter in our story.' 9 Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman in 'Practical Magic.' ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection 9 Nicole Kidman in 'Practical Magic.' ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection 'The enduring affection for these characters has been our inspiration to deliver the next installment in the Owens' story to new fans, and those who've been with us since the beginning,' the statement added. In May, Kidman told Variety that the 'Practical Magic' cast thought about making a sequel when they shot the original film. Advertisement 9 Nicole Kidman, Goran Visnjnic, Sandra Bullock in 'Practical Magic.' ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection 'We're so excited. Yes, yes, beyond excited. You heard our spell. We put out our spell already,' she shared. 'Practical Magic 2' is scheduled to be released in theaters on Sept. 18, 2026.
