In Pictures: Stars glam up for the Vanity Fair Oscars party
While glamour was still the order of the day, some stars opted for unusual or revealing outfits.
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Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
The Eerie Meaning Behind Princess Diana's Funeral Dress Revealed Decades After Her Death
Princess Diana and Gianni Versace's friendship marked a significant shift from her royal days to cementing herself as a fashion icon. However, both celebrities' lives were marked by tragedy. Diana and Gianni Versace met in 1985 at Milan's Teatro alla Scala, but didn't form a bond until she was free from her divorce from Charles. 'Over the next several years, Gianni gradually became one of her favorite designers, although she often made him remove the gaudy medusas and overwrought details he piled on his clothes,' Deborah Ball wrote in her book House of Versace. 'He gave her first pick of his couture collection and designed pieces exclusively for her that were classic but had a pinch of glamour.' More from StyleCaster Princess Diana's Royal Family 'Lookalike' Duchess Sophie Revealed What She Really Thought of Her: 'I'm Not...' The Truth Behind Princess Diana & JFK Jr.'s Secret Night Together After Her Divorce From Charles In this time, Diana became more affiliated with more bold looks that were different from what the Firm had expected. She became closer to the designer when he dressed her for the 1997 Vanity Fair cover. 'I had a fitting with her last week for new suits and clothing for spring, and she is so serene,' the fashion designer said. 'It is a moment in her life, I think, when she's found herself – the way she wants to live.' The pair would often get dinner with another close friend, Elton John. The 'Benny and the Jets' singer reportedly had a closet said to contain every Versace shirt made. 'Gianni Versace is an aesthete,' the Princess wrote in the forward of Rock & Royalty. 'In search of the essence of beauty, which he captures with grace and ease.'In 1996, Gianni Versace was killed by serial killer Andrew Cunanan at his residence in Miami. A week later, Diana wore a sleek black Versace look for the funeral. More specifically, the autumn/winter 1997 shift dress was paired with pearls and the Dior Diana bag. Sabai Lubnow, curator of The Gianni Versace Retrospective at The Arches in London Bridge, said, 'That bag was never called the Diana bag by Gianni. The same with the so-called Bondage collection; Gianni called it Miss S&M. But these names come from collectors, fans, people who wear and love the pieces. That's where the connection sticks.' 'Do you think they'll do that to me?' she said, according to her former bodyguard Lee Sansum the following morning after Versace's death. Six weeks after the funeral, Diana died in a car crash following a paparazzi chase in Paris alongside her lover Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul. Her appearance at the funeral had only been a portent of her tragic death. Diana and Elton John had a brief falling out, but later was brought together by their friend's death. 'Gianni Versace was murdered, and then Diana rang me up and we reconciled,' John recalled on Lorraine in 2018. 'And six weeks later, I'm in the same house, and she's dead. It was an extraordinary and mesmerising summer, and I just couldn't believe what was going on.' Best of StyleCaster The 26 Best Romantic Comedies to Watch if You Want to Know What Love Feels Like These 'Bachelor' Secrets & Rules Prove What Happens Behind the Scenes Is So Much Juicier BTS's 7 Members Were Discovered in the Most Unconventional Ways
USA Today
13 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."
Fast Company
14 hours ago
- Fast Company
Elon Musk used to be a movie hero. Now he's the villain
I recently saw James Gunn's new Superman movie, and as I sat there in the dark theater, I couldn't help but think that Nicholas Hoult based his Lex Luthor on Elon Musk. Something about that smirk he kept flashing throughout the movie reminded me so much of the Tesla CEO's. But Hoult's mannerisms weren't the only thing. His Luthor had several other characteristics that I, and many others, see in Musk, most notably a savior complex and a need to be adored. That's in addition to the fact that in this film, Luthor is a tech billionaire with significant contracts with, and influence over, the government. The thing is, during a lie detector test conducted somewhat in jest by Vanity Fair, Hoult told Superman star David Corenswet that he did not base his Lex Luthor portrayal on Elon Musk. Corenswet noted that Hoult had previously said he wanted to make his Luthor 'as alpha as possible,' and asked whether there were any alpha male podcasts Hoult listened to to prep for the role. Hoult replied that he hadn't listened to any podcasts, but he did listen 'to the audiobook of Elon Musk's book, even though I didn't base the character on Elon at all. But I just thought it'd be interesting.' [Note: Hoult did not clarify if he was talking about Musk's official biography, written by Walter Isaacson in 2023, or Ashlee Vance's unofficial Musk biography, from 2015.] Still, it's hard not to spot the similarities between the controversial Musk and Superman's greatest foe. And Superman isn't the first movie with such similarities, intended or not. In recent years, Musk and other tech billionaires have seemed to have served as direct inspiration for movie villains. Yet things haven't always been this way. [Photo: Marvel Studios] Elon Musk inspired the most iconic superhero of the 21st century Before Robert Downey Jr. starred as Tony Stark in 2008's Iron Man, few people outside of the comic book world could tell you who Iron Man was. Yet, thanks largely to Downey Jr.'s portrayal, Iron Man became a household name—and kick-started the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has allowed now-owner Disney to rake in tens of billions of dollars in box office receipts over the past 17 years. In the script, Downey Jr.'s Stark was charming, intelligent, and slightly arrogant. He leveraged his extreme wealth and technological prowess to make the world a better place. This take on the character—who had existed in comic book form since 1963—was heavily based on Elon Musk. In a 2022 interview with New York Magazine, Iron Man screenwriter Mark Fergus made it clear that the Tesla billionaire was an inspiration for Stark. Fergus said that Stark had historically been a Howard Hughes-style figure, but 2008's Iron Man needed a more contemporary inspiration. Fergus and his colleagues decided that the contemporary Stark was somewhat of a trinity figure, a mixture of three people. The first two were Donald Trump and 'maybe a little Steve Jobs.' But it was Elon Musk who was 'the guy who grabbed the torch [from Howard Hughes]'—an industrialist who also would appear in the gossip pages. 'Trump was fun before he became president—he was actually kind of a goofy celebrity. Steve Jobs was always serious and angry; he never quite had that gift of the bullshit . . .' Fergus explained. 'Musk took the brilliance of Jobs with the showmanship of Trump. He was the only one who had the fun factor and the celebrity vibe and actual business substance.' Marvel didn't shy away from this comparison, either. After the first film became a smash hit in 2008, the studio quickly greenlit a sequel, Iron Man 2, which came out in 2010. In that film, Downey Jr.'s Stark actually meets the real Elon Musk at a party in Monaco and compliments the real-world billionaire on SpaceX's Merlin engines. Yet, the late 2000s are a long time ago now, especially in terms of politics, culture, and Musk's public persona. advertisement Musk and tech billionaires are now movie villains I've previously opined about how the world will likely never have another Steve Jobs—a tech leader beloved by the general public. There are many reasons for this. The primary one is that Big Tech companies were generally seen as wondrous institutions improving our lives on a nearly monthly basis in the early 2000s. Since then, their integration with our lives and influence over it have dramatically expanded—and not for the better. Tech companies are now largely viewed as self-interested entities that prioritize their profits over the greater good. E-commerce giants destroy small businesses, social media companies' engagement algorithms reward bad behavior and poison public discourse, and artificial intelligence firms are so entwined with government and power that one can't help but be concerned about where it will all lead. And because of this shift in public sentiment towards tech companies, a shift has also occurred in the public's perception of the billionaire CEOs who lead them. This is perhaps nowhere more true than with Musk, who has publicly involved himself in governmental affairs of nations like no other CEO before him. All these changes have led, rightfully, to more distrust of the tech industry and those who lead the companies that power it. Suddenly, those same leaders have become the role models for fictional movie villains. It's hard to watch the 2017 film The Circle and not see parallels between Tom Hanks's evil social media CEO and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. And two films in 2022—Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Jurassic World Dominion seem to have patterned their villains after Musk and Apple's Tim Cook, respectively. The thing is, no director or actor in these movies has confirmed that any real-life tech CEO is the direct inspiration for these characters. In Glass Onion's case, director Rian Johnson denied that the antagonist, Miles Bron, played by Edward Norton, was based on Musk, despite many observers seeing similarities between the two. 'That's just sort of a horrible, horrible accident,' Johnson told Wired. But he also noted that 'There's a lot of general stuff about that sort of species of tech billionaire that went directly into [the movie],' adding, 'But obviously, it has almost a weird relevance in exactly the current moment.' That 'weird relevance' has lasted years now. And, as Superman shows, it's easier than ever for audiences to accept tech CEOs as modern-day villains, whether or not that villain is directly inspired by any singular individual. Society's ongoing tendency to now view tech leaders as the bad guys likely means that we can expect more in the future. At least until they own all the movie studios.
