Latest news with #Helberg
UPI
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Simon Helberg finally gets to play the hero in 'Poker Face'
1 of 3 | Left to right, Natasha Lyonne, Simon Helberg and Lili Taylor star in "Poker Face," which wraps ups its second season on Thursday. Photo by Ralph Bavaro/Peacock NEW YORK, July 10 (UPI) -- The Big Bang Theory icon Simon Helberg says he signed on to star in Poker Face because the mystery dramedy gives him the rare chance to play the hero. "I never got to do these kinds of action sequences and car chases and it's been really exciting," Helberg, 44, told UPI in a Zoom interview Tuesday. "I read for this part and really wanted to do it because I haven't gotten to play a character like this," he said. "As soon as I read it, I knew it was spectacular because sometimes you can just tell even, literally, from the way it looks on the page. There's such an art and a craft to how Rian [Johnson] writes. I was just thrilled to get to be a part of this world. It was such a three-dimensional character, who ends up becoming this unlikely hero." The series stars Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a human lie detector who helps solve crimes as she drifts from town to town, on the run from gangsters. One step ahead. Always. Watch the season finale of #PokerFace this Thursday on Peacock. Peacock (@peacock) July 8, 2025 Helberg plays Luca, an FBI agent with whom Charlie keeps crossing paths. "They have a symbiotic relationship," Helberg said of Charlie and Luca. "At the same time, they need each other and they're, obviously, at odds with each other in some way, which is really sort of oddly sweet and romantic," he added. "There's kind of like almost a forbiddenness to their dynamic." While her talent for sniffing out deception gets her in a lot of trouble, it can frequently be an asset to Luca. "She's inadvertently helping Luca fumble up the ladder of the FBI," Helberg joked. "Then, he helps bail her out in moments where she's in a sticky situation," he added. "There's some kind of chemistry there. It's really fun because we don't know as actors -- or as the audience -- where it's going exactly, but it feels kind of electric to me." Having a different case and guest cast each week also adds to the fun. "There's such a brilliant use of everybody," Helberg said. "To have Richard [Kind], who everyone loves in the deepest parts of their bones -- he's like a national treasure -- to have him get killed by me, being set up by John Mulaney, who's the most cherubic, sweet, again, national treasure, and little Rhea Perlman on the other end of it, is so well-crafted," he added. "It's constantly shocking and funny and can be poignant and that's just because the writing is so great." Although he doesn't always get to share scenes with the guest stars, Helberg said he likes knowing some of his old friends like Jason Ritter and Melanie Lynskey are part of the Poker Face world, too. "It's like going to summer camp," he said. "[With] Jason and Melanie, we were kind of crossing paths," Helberg explained. "I didn't work with them, but then I hit the trailer and I found, 'Oh, they're there!' Or you see Tim Meadows walking out, or Haley Joel Osment has an eyeball hanging off this head. It feels like a very classic, nostalgic kind of Hollywood where there's just this crew of players, like a repertory [company] or something." Helberg has been working steadily in Hollywood for more than 20 years, turning in great performances in a wide range of films such as Van Wilder, Walk Hard, Old School, Good Night and Good Luck, Florence Foster Jenkins, A Serious Man and Annette. Asked about his strategy for picking roles, Helberg said he has developed an instinct for finding projects that combine memorable characters, excellent writing and people with whom he likes to work. "I have to fight for a lot of roles, too," the actor said. "I'm just looking to do new things for my own satisfaction, but, also, to show different colors and different parts of me to the people watching," he added. "It's odd that I got to play the same character for 12 years. I went in to audition for a character and I played it for 12 years, so that's more [unusual]. So, the idea that I get to play different characters isn't usually the stretch. You don't usually get to play the same character forever, but I did." And now he's eager to play characters different from Howard, the awkward aerospace engineer he portrayed on The Big Bang Theory from 2007 through 2019. "I'm trying to break into, 'Hey, look, I'm going to push the limits of maybe what they think I am or what I can do and push myself, too.' That's the goal," Helberg said. Season 2 of Poker Face wraps up on Peacock Thursday.
Sunday World
31-05-2025
- General
- Sunday World
Probe reveals why massive cargo ship ran aground in Norway, narrowly missing man's house
In an incident that made headlines around the world, the 135-metre cargo vessel, the NCL Salten, ran shore just before 5am on Thursday The view from the window of Helberg's house of the ship in his garden Johan Helberg spoke of the 'unreal' moment he went out into his garden to see the ship's bow rearing up into the sky An investigation has revealed the reason why a massive container ship ran aground in Norway, narrowly missing one man's house. In an incident that made headlines around the world, the 135-metre cargo vessel, the NCL Salten beached just before 5am on Thursday after entering the Trondheim fjord on its way to the western town of Orkanger. Local man, Johan Helberg, spoke of the 'unreal' moment he went out into his garden to see the ship's bow rearing up into the sky. 'I went to the window and was quite astonished to see a big ship,' Helberg told the Guardian. 'I had to bend my neck to see the top of it. It was so unreal.' The view from the window of Helberg's house of the ship in his garden The ship's second officer, who has admitted to having fallen asleep just before the incident, has been charged with negligence in connection with the incident. However, he has since claimed that the bridge alarms had been switched off before the ship grounded. This has been confirmed by Norwegian authorities who launched an investigation to determine the events that led up to the incident. They have established that the navigation watch alarm system (BNWAS) on the ship was already switched off by the time it came ashore. A local newspaper, NRK, has reported that an official with the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) said the grounding could have been avoided if the BNWAS had been switched on. The ship remained stuck aground on Thursday after the first attempt to remove it was unsuccessful but it has since been refloated and towed to Orkanger. Local authorities have determined that none of the local houses were damaged and that no injuries or oil spills occurred as a result of the mishap. An astonished neighbour recalled watching the ship, which was travelling at about 16 knots (approximately 30kmh), heading straight for the shore into Helberg's garden, narrowly missing his house. Helberg, who lives in Byneset, near Trondheim, slept through the entire drama and only awoke when his neighbour rang his doorbell. Johan Helberg spoke of the 'unreal' moment he went out into his garden to see the ship's bow rearing up into the sky News in 90 Seconds - May 31st 'Normally ships turn left or right into the fjord. But this went straight ahead,' Helberg, who has lived in the house for 25 years, added. 'It was very close to the house.' North Sea Container Line, the operator of NCL Salten, has confirmed that it is cooperating in the investigation into the mishap. NCL's chief executive, Bente Hetland, said there was 'no reason to believe this was intentional'. 'Incidents like this should not happen, and we have started an investigation into the causes. Today, we are relieved that there were no injuries, and our main focus is on the people near the ship and our crew,' she added.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Funny old world: the week's offbeat news
From how smelly penguins are saving the world to how Dr House got it wrong, your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world. - Fragrant penguins keep us cool - The whiff coming off penguin poo is helping save us from climate catastrophe, say scientists who have made one of the year's most unexpected discoveries. Ammonia wafting from penguin guano is creating cloud cover over coastal Antarctica, blocking sunlight and keeping the continent cool. The odour generated by a colony of 60,000 Adelie penguins on Seymour Island, off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, is literally strong enough to change the weather, scientists reported. They found that cloud-seeding aerosols surging from the stink were thick enough at times to generate a dense fog. "This is just another example of this deep connection between the ecosystem and atmospheric processes, and why we should care about biodiversity and conservation," Matthew Boyer, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Helsinki, told AFP. - Ships in the night - A Norwegian man woke up to find a cargo ship had run aground only feet from where he was sleeping soundly in his seaside cabin. Johan Helberg was woken by a panicked neighbour who rang his doorbell and frantically phoned to warn him that the ship was heading for his home. The 135-metre (443-foot) NCL Salten rammed into the shore just metres from Helberg's wooden house in a fjord near Trondheim. "The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don't like to open," Helberg said. His neighbour said he was roused at around 5:00 am by the sound of the ship heading at full speed towards Helberg's house. Police said the Ukrainian helmsman had fallen asleep, with the seaman saying the ship's alarms had not gone off. No one was hurt, and the ship was later pulled from the rocks. "It's good to have said hello, but now it's time to say goodbye," Helberg told Norwegian TV. - Treat thyself doctor - He was the pill-popping maverick medic you loved to confound the medical establishment with his unorthodox diagnoses. But TV's Dr House often got it wrong, Croatian researchers have found, with a neurologist working at the wrong end of a patient (doing a colonoscopy) in one episode and an infectologist performing an autopsy in another. - Carlsen takes on the world - Two brains are better than one, but 145,000 are not necessarily superior to a single cerebrum, particularly if the grey matter belongs to the legendary chess master Magnus Carlsen. An army of chess fans was unable to outfox the 34-year-old Norwegian in an online match billed as "Magnus Carlsen vs. The World". Carlsen held them to a draw after a six-week contest, with each side allowed 24 hours to make a move. In fact, Carlsen thought he "was a little bit better" early in the game, but as soon as his opponents got their act together "honestly, they haven't given me a single chance". - No crack in this system - It was almost the purrfect crime but guards nabbed a drug-running cat breaking into a Costa Rican prison just in time. The black-and-white moggie jumped the fence of the jail in Pococi with 230 grams of marijuana and 67 grams of crack cocaine strapped to its body in the middle of the night, the justice ministry said. It may have hoped to catch the guards cat-napping. Instead it was quickly spotted and is now behind bars itself in an animal sanctuary. burs-fg/js
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Poker Face': Simon Helberg on Singing Sondheim With John Mulaney and ‘Getting Into the S—‘ During Big Shootout Scene
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from 'Poker Face' Season 2, Episode 3, now streaming on Peacock. FBI agent Luca Clark (Simon Helberg) returned for more action in Episode 3 of 'Poker Face,' which is in the midst of a second season boasting more murders, more Charlie (Natasha Lyonne) investigations and more guest stars — including stand-up comedian John Mulaney. More from Variety 'Poker Face': How Old Hollywood Camera Tricks Were Used to Create Cynthia Erivo's Quintuplets Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne's 'Poker Face' Is Still Quite the Card Trick in Season 2: TV Review Natasha Lyonne to Direct Feature 'Uncanny Valley' Combining 'Ethical' AI and Traditional Filmmaking Techniques Rian Johnson's charming murder-of-the-week show features different marquee guest stars in every episode. But since Helberg plays one of the show's few recurring characters, he's had a chance to grow the trajectory of Luca since Season 1. 'It's exciting to see how he fumbles up the ladder, starting from driving around geriatric retired ex-cons in witness protection, all the way to cracking these really significant cases for the FBI and getting into the shit,' Helberg tells Variety. 'As an actor, it's a real dream because I haven't gotten to play a lot of heroic figures. It's really cool to play these moments where there's a damsel in distress, you're pulling out your gun and sticking your head out of a sunroof. It's probably stuff that Luca's seen in movies.' This episode sees Helberg back in action when Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman) tries to find who in her crew is a mole — with the unexpected help of Charlie. Helberg recalls his first day on set — a car scene with Richard Kind, who plays Beatrix's murdered husband. 'It was showing up with this huge chunk of dialogue, a lot of, 'Hello, nice to meet you' on set, then jumping right into the scene,' Helberg says. 'It's unique because it's a TV show in its second season, but because you've got this rotating cast and rotating crew and directors, it always feels a bit like the first day of school on each episode.' Below, Helberg breaks down singing Stephen Sondheim tunes with Mulaney, why he thinks Luca would try to emulate 'Twin Peaks'' Dale Cooper and the 'fever dream' of returning to the Warner Bros lot to film the Season 3 finale of 'Night Court,' which was recently canceled at NBC. I was very excited that the 'John Mulaney type' referenced in the script actually became John Mulaney. That was a treat, because that's how he was described. Even if it ended up just being a 'John Mulaney type,' I'd be excited, but I had the real thing. He couldn't have been kinder and sweeter. We had to jump right in and wrestle each other and squeeze each other's cheeks with strange, clumsy fighting. And we were supposed to be best friends, too. So all of that breaks the ice pretty quickly when you're groping another guy on set. I had become, like most people, kind of obsessed with him. He's a very curious follow who's interested in everything that's happening and everybody that's around him. His observations are what sets him apart from everybody else. In terms of any kind of cliché about stand-ups being awkward or hostile, which there are some, John couldn't be farther from that. It's pretty verbatim on my part. I know John and Natasha improvised a bit in their scene when he's under arrest. But the writing is just so sharp. The team is so keen to good storytelling — always a beat ahead and shocking in a way that still feels authentic. We didn't meet with any musical coaches or work too intensely on those beats. I know Sondheim and some musicals, but I actually wasn't super familiar with 'Merrily We Roll Along' for some reason. And I don't know if John was. We didn't really talk much about it. Best left unspoken, I think. I listened to those songs and those phrases like a psychopath on repeat. There's these moments where he'll say something quippy and put on sunglasses and like, he's seen 'The Fugitive.' He's seen 'Point Break.' He knows that there's something to the suaveness that detectives can have and there's probably an awareness of that. I don't know if I should be embarrassed, or it's just a fortuitous thing, but I hadn't seen 'Twin Peaks' until after shooting the second season. I'm actually in the middle of watching it, but Kyle MacLachlan's Dale Cooper is completely someone who I think Luca would probably have seen and maybe even tried to emulate. After watching it, I was like, 'Wow, it's the same hairstyle!' There's that sort of earnestness and good-doer quality, trying to be the best FBI agent you can be. When I opened the script for this episode, I saw in the third page or something that I got shot in the head. I did get scared, but I guess that was the point. It was really technical and, in many ways, plays on things that I don't feel particularly skilled at doing. You're supposed to have a real second-nature quality to all that stuff, obviously, and it's not like I got to really spend a ton of time with the gun and doing those kinds of stunts with the time you have on set. There was some of that where, mechanically, you just want it to feel lived in. It's very piecemeal, shooting those kinds of action sequences. Sometimes you'll just film a moment of ducking out of frame, or it's the stunt person who falls in the shot but you're on the ground in the next. It's like hearing an album out of the order and trying to remember where each song goes on the playlist because you're like, 'Where are we in this?' And then you see it all put together and it might be 30 seconds on screen, but it's got 50 shots. It was a little like a fever dream getting to drive back on the Warner Bros. lot and going back on the sound stage. Seeing Melissa and some of the same crew was really a joy. I love Melissa so much. It was great to kind of hint at our former relationship and dynamic that we had on 'The Big Bang Theory' but still stray so far from it. The whole scene was really kind of a hint — letting the audience into a secret past that they didn't know she had. It was fun to pop in there and play a different version of husband and wife. My goal is to always be doing something different. I just hope not to repeat too many beats and too many of the same characters, which is funny coming from somebody who played the same character for 12 years. And maybe that's part of it. But when I started 'The Big Bang Theory,' it was, 'Hey, maybe we'll do a pilot and then get picked up.' I auditioned just like every other job, every other character I've ever played and it happened to last for an incredibly long time. So I'm just really hungry to have opportunities where I can challenge myself. It does tend to be in opposition to 'Big Bang' just because I did that for so long. This interview has been edited and condensed. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
443-foot ship pulled free after nearly hitting home as owner slept
Salvagers on Tuesday pulled a massive cargo ship, which made world headlines for running aground just meters away from a house in Norway, back into the water, the head of the company managing the operation said. A Ukrainian sailor in his 30s was on watch at the time and said he had fallen asleep, according to Norwegian police, who have charged him with "negligent navigation." The 443-foot NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just a stone's throw from a wooden house around dawn on Thursday. "It's good to have said hello, but now it's time to say goodbye" the occupant of the house, Johan Helberg, told broadcaster NRK on Tuesday. The containers on the ship, except for those removed to lighten the bow, are still on board and will be unloaded this evening, Ole T. Bjornevik, the managing director of BOA Offshore told AFP, adding that the operation only lasted 30 minutes and an inspection is underway "This went better than expected," he told NRK. "This went beyond all expectations." The Ukrainian seaman has said none of the cargo ship's collision alarms had worked, prosecutor Kjetil Bruland Sorensen told news agency NTB. The investigation will also look into whether the rules on working hours and rest periods were adhered to on ship, according to police. Helberg, also slept through the incident and only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor rang his doorbell and called him on the phone. "The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don't like to open," Helberg told television channel TV2. The ship reportedly caused damage to a heating pipe in Helberg's cabin, TV2 reported, but the homeowner said he considered himself lucky. "If the ship had hit the rocky cliff right next to it, it would have lifted up and hit the house hard," he told TV2. "It wasn't many meters off." None of the 16 crew members were injured. Bente Hetland, the CEO of the shipping company that owns NCL Salten, told TV2 that the same ship ran aground twice before — once in 2023 in Hadsel and again in 2024, in Ålesund. Delta Air Lines' 100th year takes flight Trump delivers Memorial Day remarks at Arlington National Cemetery Full interview: Jack McCain on "Face the Nation"
