Latest news with #WolfHall:TheMirrorandtheLight
Los Angeles Times
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Can PBS' fight against Donald Trump help its Emmy hopeful ‘Wolf Hall'?
You probably wouldn't be reading this newsletter if not for PBS. I'm Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. Hope you're making a snappy new day while we consider the value of public broadcasting. I was a weird kid. I'm sure this doesn't come as a surprise to you. We all have quirks, 'little weirdsies' to use the expressive term that writer and NPR host Linda Holmes coined years ago on John Hodgman's podcast. Back in the day, one of mine was watching a couple of film critics argue about movies on a TV series called 'Sneak Previews,' a show created by WTTW, a PBS member station in Chicago. Those critics, of course, were Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. I'd fire up their show on the tiny Sony black-and-white portable television that sat on my bedroom dresser, settle in and thrill to their passionate debates about film. And, of course, I took careful notes about the movies they told me I needed to see. I'm pretty sure I was the only kid on my block who asked for a ride to the multiplex to watch 'My Dinner With Andre.' I loved it! Maybe I just had a thing for listening to two guys talk about stuff. (Also: Watch this scene and note how completely on target André Gregory is about where the world is heading. 'Escape before it's too late,' indeed.) You see where I'm going with this. Without PBS, without 'At the Movies,' without Fred Rogers telling a lonely only child that 'I'll be back when the day is new, and I'll have more ideas for you,' I'm not sure that I'd be writing this newsletter today. I'm not the only one with a PBS story. Which makes me wonder if President Trump's recent request to Congress that it rescind the $1.1 billion it has set aside for all public broadcasters for the next two years might have some Emmy voters thinking about one small way it can signal support. Namely: Vote for 'Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light,' the spectacular adaptation of the last volume of Hilary Mantel's book series that aired on PBS' 'Masterpiece' earlier this year. It's not a reach to consider it. 'Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light' takes up where the 2015 series left off, covering the final years of the life of Thomas Cromwell, advisor to Henry VIII. The six hourlong episodes are the definition of event television, full of intrigue and tension and excellent acting from a cast of legends — Mark Rylance, Jonathan Pryce, Damien Lewis. The 2015 'Wolf Hall' earned eight Emmy nominations, including nods for limited series, actors Lewis and Rylance and for direction and writing. (It won zero, as 'Olive Kitteridge' dominated the categories.) Because it's a returning show, 'Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light' is submitted in the drama categories, where it faces more ample competition, just in sheer volume alone. But it's easily one of the best eight dramas of the past television year, and both Rylance and Lewis again merit nominations for their work. House Republicans on Thursday voted to cancel $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting previously appropriated by Congress, as part of a package of $9.4 billion in spending cuts. The measure now goes to the Senate, where advocates for PBS, National Public Radio and other affected outlets will have one more chance to defeat the bill. And while $1.1 billion sounds like a lot of money, consider it a drop in the bucket when compared with Trump's plan for a $175-billion space-based 'Golden Dome' missile defense system. And when you're willing to spend around $45 million for a military (birthday) parade or at least $134 million to deploy National Guard troops and Marines that nobody asked for, the cost of the funding is put into perspective. We vote for things for many reasons, some rational, some emotional. Voting for 'Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light' checks both boxes. I'm eager to see how many Television Academy members join me in that thinking. As Big Bird says, asking questions is a good way to find things out. Reporting from England, Times contributor Emily Zemler wrote a terrific piece on 'Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light,' explaining why it took a decade for the show's creators to complete the adaptation of Hilary Mantel's trilogy of books. 'I always knew that we would come back to it at some point,' producer Colin Callender told Emily. 'Although I never imagined it was going to take 10 years.' 'Part of it was that [author] Hilary [Mantel] took a long time to write it,' adds director and producer Peter Kosminsky. 'The first two novels were phenomenal successes. She became a celebrity almost overnight. But it was also a difficult book to write.' Have you caught up with the series yet? It's a quick watch — just six hours. The books have been on my reading list for years. But at nearly 2,000 pages, I'm going to need more than six hours. I'm going to need to retire.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Penguin's' Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti reveal the secrets behind their transformative performances (being huge Bat-fans helped)
Colin Farrell found a novel way to test-drive the makeup devised for his portrayal of the sociopathic mobster Oz Cobb: He went to Starbucks in the elaborate regalia he'd ultimately disappear into to play The Penguin's fowl felon. "We went to a Starbucks when we did the first makeup test," Farrell revealed during an FYC panel for the HBO series, which spun off from the film The Batman, in which he initially played the role, clocking the coffee shop to gauge the reactions of his fellow customers to his foreboding, scar-pocked façade. "But nothing happened!" the actor confessed, adding that he also used the character's distinctive voice and shambling limp on the foray. "We're a bunch of starers — human beings stare if they see something different. But they just stared at their phones." More from GoldDerby How some Emmy categories lost and others gained nomination slots Peter Straughan breaks down the power plays and personal tragedy in 'Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light' 'House of the Dragon' director and cinematographer on the 'spontaneous creativity' of the fan-fave 'The Red Sowing' Still, moving about unnoticed in public was a victory in and of itself given the extreme nature of Farrell's transformation — so metamorphic that it boggled even the actor's own mind. "It was just weird," he said. "Talk about a personalized uncanny valley... And it never fully lost that either. I never fully got used to looking in the mirror and seeing that image look back at me. It was a very powerful thing." What didn't work, though, was Farrell's attempt to stay method by employing that signature waddling gait at all times. "I made the decision: 'I'm just going to walk-waddle like this the whole time,'" he explained. "And on Day 2, in between takes, it's like, 'F--k that!' Yeah, no, my hips couldn't take it, and I was a bit banjoed for a couple of months afterwards. Just was a bit." Getting to disappear underneath Oz's craggy, bulky exterior was a long-awaited dream for the actor. "I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of the makeup, I really was," he said. "I was so overwhelmed by it. I grew up watching John Landis' 'Thriller' video, and I grew up on Planet of the Apes and Dick Smith's extraordinary job. The Thing by John Carpenter is one of my favorite films, and Rob Bottin's work on that. So the idea of practical makeup, tangible things that become so real to the viewer as they did for me, I was just so giddy by it, and I knew that we could go other places with it." Farrell said the minute detailing in Oz's face offered him a roadmap to build the character out from. "I learned as much from looking at what Mike [Marino] designed as I did from what we usually learn our tricks from, which is the written word of the writer," he explained. "There was such a sense of history to Oz: a lonely, broken character, and obviously not to be trusted. It felt very human to me, and he does definitely have a heart, but just as dark a character as I'd ever like to explore, to be honest with you." He also conceded that his own efforts to etch out the Penguin's prior history ultimately ran afoul of what showrunner and executive producer Lauren LeFranc was concocting for the series. 'It's just fun… Write a little prose and just give your imagination license — and then I found out the backstory when Lauren pitches the show, and it didn't match at all," he laughed. "But I could hold on to a couple of little events that took place when Oz was 16 and 24 and some bare-knuckle fights and being in a lane way one day and getting opened by a bottle and stuff. It's a lot of trauma on his face, a lot of trauma in his physicality as well as a child, to have such blatantly obvious physical impedance in your life as we know what kids are like. [Oz] would've grown up around a lot more cruelty than we had the time or the inclination to get into in the show. But that was all there: a very damaged character." Farrell considers finding the sweet spot where the writing, his performance, and the makeup artistry merged as one of the most significant moments of his long career. 'I've had extraordinary days over 25 years of being an actor, but it was one of the most extraordinarily exciting days, the idea of entering Gotham," he said. "I grew up watching Burgess Meredith. I grew up watching Danny DeVito, and the idea that I was going to get to play the Penguin!" HBO Farrell's fandom for the Dark Knight's extensive filmography was matched by that of co-star Cristin Milioti, who played the tormented Sofia Gigante, the sheltered then abandoned scion of the mob family who craves vengeance. Joining Farrell, fellow cast members Rhenzy Feliz and Deirdre O'Connell and LeFranc and executive producer Dylan Clark for the panel at the Paramount Theatre on the fabled Paramount Pictures Studios lot, Milioti revealed her Bat-fangirl bona fides. "I've been such a huge fan of this universe forever," the actress enthused. "Every iteration of Batman — even Batman Forever. I mean, Batman Returns was the first one I saw, and then I made my dad take me to see Batman Forever — five times... I love this universe. I think you're able to do these grounded things. Obviously some of the versions go to very heightened, campy places, but still, even those versions I would find devastating because they're all about loneliness and hurt. All of them. Even when you're even Batman, all of them." Milioti was eager to throw herself into the role. "Before we started shooting, I had hours of conversations that Lauren was very sweet to entertain and take my call each time, and then I got to read the first four [episodes]," she said, indicating the big reveal behind Sofia's history. "So I knew about [the fourth episode] when we were going in, and that was my bible for everything." That time-spanning fourth episode also had a truncated production timeline, requiring Milioti to play Sofia in different eras of her life in a single day. "I would be her 10 years apart," she noted, "but also the sort of chaos of it can sort of sweep you along. Some days it's frustrating, but for the most part you just feel like you're on this roller coaster and I really deeply, deeply loved it." And like Farrell, she found herself adopting a signature style of walking when costumed in Sofia's final look, with wild hair, warpaint makeup, vampish red-draped gown and stiletto heels. "If you wear that, there's a certain way you've got to walk," she laughed. "Put that on and light three cigarettes, I dare you, and try not to feel great." Best of GoldDerby Tina Fey on 'The Four Seasons': 'It was a challenge to be restrained about where we put jokes' 'The best job I ever had': 'From 'Supernatural' to 'The Boys,' Eric Kripke talks his biggest hits — and miss (ahem, 'Tarzan') 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge on building an aspirational hero — who's not a superhero Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How some Emmy categories lost and others gained nomination slots
Emmy nomination voting started Thursday, but voters won't get to fill out as many names in some categories as in previous years. When nominations are announced July 15, there will be the fewest nominees in the lead acting categories since 2008. That was the last year all acting categories had five slots before the Television Academy expanded to six. In 2020, the TV Academy mixed things up again with a sliding scale. Excluding Best Drama Series and Best Comedy Series, which are fixed at eight slots each, the number of slots per category will be determined by the number of submissions. Since then, some of the lead categories across drama, comedy, and limited/TV movie have gotten six slots. Last year, drama and comedy leads had six, while limited leads had five. This year, however, barring a tie, all of the lead categories will have five slots for the first time ever under this system. More from GoldDerby Peter Straughan breaks down the power plays and personal tragedy in 'Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light' 'House of the Dragon' director and cinematographer on the 'spontaneous creativity' of the fan-fave 'The Red Sowing' Golden Reel Awards: MPSE bans generative A.I. sound from awards eligibility to 'keep artists at the forefront' The lead races are the only categories that saw the number of submissions dip from last year. The limited/TV movie supporting categories will drop to six from seven. Best Limited/TV Movie Writing will shrink to five. Best Talk Series will go from four to three slots, due to just 13 submissions this year. And while the number of slots is unaffected — still five — Best Limited Series only had 33 entries this year compared to 49 in 2024. On the other hand, some categories gained slots: The comedy supporting races will go from six to seven. The drama guest ones will increase from five to six. And drama directing will bump up to seven. The other major categories will have the same number of slots as last year. So how did some categories lose a slot and others gain? SEE 2025 Emmy nominations voting: Here's the number of slots in the major categories Overall, there are 600 submissions across all the program categories this year, 14 fewer than last year. In just drama, comedy, and limited series, there are 228 entries, one fewer than last year. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out this had led to the decrease in slots. The submission decline isn't surprising as we're now in the second post-strikes Emmy cycle, and lots of productions are still recovering from the industry shutdown or were just shut down altogether. In 2023, there were 309 submissions across drama, comedy, and limited series. In terms of leads, there will always be fewer leads of shows in general compared to supporting cast members. The comedy lead categories last year were supposed to have five slots, but they ended up with six due to a tie. Some shows might have one true lead but a big supporting cast. And with fewer shows, there are fewer leads. This season, some of the biggest shows also have large ensembles or supporting casts, like The White Lotus, which has always submitted its actors in supporting, or The Pitt, which only counts Noah Wyle as a lead. The Last of Us is also fielding supporting players for the first time alongside its leads Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal (and don't forget, lots of fans don't think he should submit in lead due to his diminished presence in Season 2). The drama lead categories came very close to scoring six slots. You need at least 81 submissions, and drama actor had 77, while drama actress had 75 (only one category needs to hit the threshold because of a parity rule). It might make one wonder why don't studios submit as many performers as possible or why don't more performers (or their reps) pay the fee and self-submit to try to clear the thresholds and get as many slots as possible. But if a show is canceled, it's a tough call to make, for networks at least, whether to invest in submissions, let alone a campaign. Some do, some don't. Starz, for example, did not submit the canceled The Serpent Queen, and none of the actors self-submitted either. Comedy Central The roughest drop is arguably Best Talk Series only getting three slots, but it's also reflective of the waning number of late-night shows over the years and the end of such shows as Conan and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Per TV Academy rules, for categories with eight to 19 submissions, the number of slots is determined by dividing the number of submissions by four and rounding to the nearest whole number. Thirteen submissions means three slots. Had there been 14 submissions like last year, there would be four slots. It's another blow to the late-night community, which in 2022 successfully lobbied for the category to retain a fifth slot. Last year, The Daily Show won Best Talk Series over Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. So one of these shows will now be boxed out. This year's talk series submissions are The Daily Show, Everybody's Live with John Mulaney, Hart to Heart, Have I Got News For You, Hot Ones, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Midnight Snack with Julie Chan, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Very Important People, and Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. In 2023, the TV Academy rejiggered the variety categories and moved seven-time champ Last Week Tonight with John Oliver from variety talk series to the revamped Best Scripted Variety Series category, where it beat Saturday Night Live and A Black Lady Sketch Show. Last year, Last Week Tonight and SNL were the only nominees in scripted variety series, which is likely to be the case again this year. There are only six submissions, sending the category to peer group review. Those with 70 percent approval will get a nomination. The comedy supporting categories gained a slot, but it nearly didn't happen. Best Comedy Supporting Actor had 163 submissions, barely surpassing the 161-entry threshold for seven slots. Had it not done so, there would've been six slots again in the comedy supporting categories as supporting actress only had 141 submissions. Best Drama Directing is also getting seven slots, which is not that surprising. First, there was also a rule tweak this year that paved the way for more directing submissions. A director or directing team can now enter multiple submissions per category if they're for different shows. Previously, they could only submit one entry per category. Now, they will be able to submit an episode from each show they directed per category. Second, a bunch of shows over-submitted here. If you're nomination-competitive, it's best to be conservative with submissions — one or two episodes, maybe three if you're a top-tier show — as to not vote-split. Numerous dramas submitted four or more episodes in directing, including The Boys (five), House of the Dragon (five), Yellowjackets (five), Your Friends & Neighbors (four), Will Trent (six), and Doctor Odyssey with a whopping 11. These shows will probably not get a directing bid, but they did their greater part in ensuring more slots for everyone. Maybe other categories will take note next year? Best of GoldDerby Tina Fey on 'The Four Seasons': 'It was a challenge to be restrained about where we put jokes' 'The best job I ever had': 'From 'Supernatural' to 'The Boys,' Eric Kripke talks his biggest hits — and miss (ahem, 'Tarzan') 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge on building an aspirational hero — who's not a superhero Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Peter Straughan breaks down the power plays and personal tragedy in ‘Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light'
Few screenwriters working today are as adept at exploring the ins and outs of power—who has it, who wants it, and who will do anything to get it — as Conclave Oscar winner Peter Straughan. After picking up the Academy Award, he returned with another twisty, intricate tale of men plotting behind one another's backs with Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, the second and final adaptation of Hilary Mantel's historical novels that just finished airing on PBS Masterpiece. "Hilary's very accurate," Straughan tells Gold Derby over Zoom. "All the externals are accurate. And then, her great gift was to make the internals come to life." More from GoldDerby The surprising scene that the 'Andor' cinematographer loved the most Clancy Brown, Joel McHale, and more actors who self-submitted at this year's Emmys 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge on building an aspirational hero - who's not a superhero Mantel's beloved novels cast a fresh look upon the court of Henry VIII, in particular his advisor and confidant, Thomas Cromwell. And though Straughan had to condense Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies into a single season, The Mirror and the Light gets a full six episodes. And Straughan relished the challenge of distilling a nearly 800-page book into six hours of TV. "It's a huge novel, but I would give anything, any day, to have books like that to adapt," he says. "The material is so great. It's full of things you can use for drama: incredible scenes, great dialogue. The task was, of all the TV dramas you could make out of this, which one do you want to make?"Ultimately, Straughan focused on the ways in which Cromwell is unable to extricate himself from Henry VIII's seductive — and dangerous — inner circle, despite more than a few opportunities. And one of the great gifts of The Mirror and the Light is getting to see Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance return as Henry and Cromwell, playing their sometimes fraternal, sometimes fractious relationship for all its worth. "It gives you tremendous confidence when you're working with actors of that caliber," Straughan says. 'It makes you feel like you can do a lot of things that might make you nervous otherwise. When you're nervous about a scene, you put a lot more scaffolding in to make sure everything's clear. When you've got someone like Mark or Damian, you can [write] it with fewer touches, because you know they're gonna fill it all in with their faces, with their eyes." Those moments are among the most memorable — not just because of the performances, but because of Straughan's unerring eye for the telling detail and his pitch-perfect selection of what will work onscreen from Mantel's book. Think of Henry VIII's disappointed eagerness with Cromwell's reaction to his fancy dress costume, or Anne Boleyn's heartbreaking trembling in the moments before her execution, which opens the series. In this version, the executioner makes a noise behind Anne, which she turns towards, still blindfolded. And in the span of that moment, he steps back to her other side and slices off her head. The moment is unnerving, a stark reminder of the very real life-and-death stakes at play in Henry's court. There's another remarkable moment in that scene that Straughan also pulled from the book and singles out: 'She puts her hand up, and Cromwell says, 'Put your hand down. Put your hand down, because he'll cut through the hand.' Which is a horrible detail, but it always gets to me.' And though casual history buffs know that Cromwell, too, will end up on the executioner's block, Straughan's scripts have a level of immediacy that allows us to forget. 'We all know death's at the end of the journey. Always. The important thing is how does it happen?' Straughan says. 'And the thing that was so interesting with Cromwell's story was it's not very linear. It wasn't a slow decline. It was more like he was holding onto a balloon, then he goes higher and higher and you get scared for him. But I do think it's amazing that I felt myself, when I was watching it, that even though you know how it's gonna end, there's a bit of, like, Anne in the end of the first season, who still hopes somehow she's gonna be saved.' Best of GoldDerby 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge on building an aspirational hero — who's not a superhero Jonathan Pryce on the 'great responsibility' of playing a character with dementia in 'Slow Horses' 'Feel good about not conforming': Christina Ricci reflects on her iconic roles, from Wednesday Addams to Misty Quigley Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Damian Lewis on returning to ‘Wolf Hall': ‘Who doesn't want to play Henry VIII?'
'We could have all just said, 'Nah, I don't want to do it,'' Damian Lewis tells Gold Derby about returning to the Tudor court for Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. 'But the experience in the first series [Wolf Hall] was so enjoyable — and anyway, who doesn't want to play Henry VIII?' Especially the way screenwriter Peter Straughan writes the king, by way of author Hilary Mantel's original trilogy. This Henry VIII is feckless and petulant, terrifying and sometimes touchingly vulnerable. But Lewis ensures that we never forget this is a man who could (and did) easily send close friends, confidantes, and wives to their executions. Or at the very least, years of imprisonment. More from GoldDerby The surprising scene that the 'Andor' cinematographer loved the most Clancy Brown, Joel McHale, and more actors who self-submitted at this year's Emmys 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge on building an aspirational hero - who's not a superhero 'He wants to go out, he wants to have a good time,' Lewis says. 'He wants to be with his guys and he wants to be loved, clearly.' Throughout The Mirror and the Light, Lewis makes Henry's sometimes delusional attempts at romance and courtship both misguided and moving. 'I think he really wants to love the woman that he's with and try to woo each of them with songs, poetry,' Lewis says. 'That moment of him coming in [disguised to meet fourth wife Anne of Cleves], the theatricality of that. There's something sweet about him. If that comes across then I'm pleased.' Lewis chuckles a bit and amends himself, 'Sweet in a murderous kind of way.' Jeff Spicer/BAFTA/Getty Images That ever-present threat Henry poses to everyone around him in The Mirror and the Light makes even a casual exchange with friend and advisor Thomas Cromwell fraught. And in Mark Rylance's Cromwell, Lewis has an ideal foil. ' He's the best kind of actor,' Lewis says. 'It's not pre-choreographed. It's not pre-programmed. He comes in ready in the moment to listen and respond to what you do. And I hope I did the same for him. Our scenes in this series in particular are chess scenes, really from the get go. In fact, we even have a scene over a chess board at one point. ... Working with Mark is fabulous. He's unbelievably skilled. He's Sir Mark Rylance for a reason, probably.' One of the most hypnotic aspects of Lewis' performance as Henry VIII is seeing the ways in which he takes pleasure. There's the Henry who thrives on attention, who loves a feast or a revelry. But there is also the Henry who takes delight in seeing others, and eventually especially Cromwell, unsettled. That Henry increasingly comes to the fore as his health deteriorates and he's unable to enjoy the outdoors life he previously did. The physicality of Lewis' performance is remarkably subtle, ending in the Henry that feels most familiar to how history remembers him. After debating spending the season in a fat suit, the team decided to focus more when to introduce his pronounced limp and begin the season with Henry's weight gain. The first episode picks up where Wolf Hall left off 10 years ago. "It's a slightly odd sort of psychological state to be,' Lewis says. 'Everybody knows that we're starting [with] the same day as the last series finished. But at the same time, in the hinterland of everyone's mind, it's 10 years later. We played on that and said, 'Right now's the time to create the expanded, overweight Henry. 'I actually started wearing no makeup, just so I could look as old as Henry,' Lewis adds with a laugh. 'It turned out I looked as old as Henry. They just didn't have to make me up. Who knew? I've never been so insulted.' Best of GoldDerby Tina Fey on 'The Four Seasons': 'It was a challenge to be restrained about where we put jokes' 'The best job I ever had': 'From 'Supernatural' to 'The Boys,' Eric Kripke talks his biggest hits — and miss (ahem, 'Tarzan') 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge on building an aspirational hero — who's not a superhero Click here to read the full article.
