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USA Today
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Eric Bana reveals what he almost took from Netflix's 'Untamed' set, talks Marvel future
NEW YORK - Eric Bana thought about taking something from the set of Netflix's "Untamed" back home to Australia: the horse he rides in the new limited series about an agent investigating a death at Yosemite National Park. "It was expensive," Bana, 56, says of the cost to transport a horse from British Columbia, where the show was filmed. "I'm not even sure if he was for sale, but I looked into it. I was going to smuggle him." Bana jokes that his wife Rebecca would have had no issue with the addition to the household, "so long as it was (my) responsibility." The actor has two pets, a poodle and a Burmese cat, and confirms that both "live in harmony" together. Bana tackles demons and a murder case in 'Untamed' "Untamed" is set in Yosemite National Park. Bana stars as Kyle Turner, the special agent investigating the death of a woman in the park. As the case unfolds, so does Turner's past, which includes the death of his son, a struggle with alcohol abuse and a divorce. "There's a shared trauma between the two of them," Bana says of the relationship between Turner and his ex-wife Jill (Rosemary DeWitt)." Their son's death "affects him, as it would any human. It's a very spiritual connection that he has with the park as a result and with nature. And we really try and tap into that." Bana says he received the script of the pilot episode as early as 2018, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the Hollywood strikes delayed production. He also signed on as an executive producer, something he does, "when I really feel like I want to be extremely supportive of the original vision and not have it diluted at all. There's a version of this show that you could sell to someone and (the studio says), 'Yeah, we'll make this show. Do you really need to go to that location? Do you really need that much time in the forest?'" he says. "Luckily, in this case, we were all moving in the same direction." Bana's succinct response to a Marvel return Bana played the title character in the 2003 film "Hulk," but he wasn't asked to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Edward Norton also made a single appearance as the superhero, in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk.") Would he ever consider it, as fans speculate he might for "Avengers: Secret Wars," due in 2027? The actor offers a firm "no." "It was a one'er for me," he adds of the MCU experience. "I love doing what I'm doing (now)."
Elle
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
How SZA, Ariana Grande, and a ‘Formative' Experience on Broadway Inspired Natalie Gurrero's Debut Novel
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Spoilers below. Natalie Guerrero didn't intend to write a New York story. Her initial plan for her captivating and charming debut novel, My Train Leaves at Three, was to set it in California, where she had recently moved, and use her evocative new surroundings to explore power dynamics in the workplace. But, as she drafted, something about that concept wasn't working as Guerrero had hoped. So she turned to an exercise popularized by Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way: waking up each morning to write three pages of stream-of-consciousness in longhand. 'The 'morning pages' work,' the New York native tells me from her sunny Los Angeles abode. 'I know it sounds very woo-woo, but the book revealed itself to me. I did a free-write one morning, and the first few lines I wrote were, 'I was supposed to have a poodle and a pool, but my sister's dead and my hair is still frizzy.' All of that just came out. I thought to myself, 'Oh. This [book] is about grief and sisterhood.'' Soon, Guerrero had re-positioned her main character, Xiomara Sanchez—a gifted Afro-Latina singer in her late 20s who dreams of performing on Broadway—in Manhattan's uptown neighborhood of Washington Heights. 'I was so happy that it landed there,' she says. The novel—out today—follows Xiomara as she grieves the tragic loss of her older sister, Nena, while also trying to kickstart her budding theater career. Her journey to self-actualization is complicated by monotonous odd jobs, a thorny relationship with her mother, and predatory dynamics with older men. (Oh, and she must also navigate her Saturn Return.) Below, Guerrero sits down with to discuss the sprawling themes behind My Train Leaves at Three; the childhood connection to Broadway that inspired the story; and the forthcoming feature adaptation that's currently in the works. My older sister and I are 11 months apart, and she's someone whom I couldn't ever imagine losing. She often jokes that this book is like a eulogy and love letter to her. Sisterhood in all its forms is important to me. I thought about the worst thing that could happen that would make someone lose their voice and sense of self, and that was losing a sister. I also grew up in a house where my mom experienced sibling loss when she was pregnant with me, so I always felt called to the topic. That kind of experience forms grief over generations, and I grew up around that energy. So once those themes came out on the page that morning with my free-write, I decided to go in that direction. Oh, I had such a hard Saturn Return. And that's probably the L.A. part of me that snuck its way into the book. I do think when you say 'Saturn Return' to women who are in our age range, it's a vocabulary we can all relate to. I was in mine when I started writing, and I just kept thinking, 'When is this gonna end? This is really hard.' I went through a big heartbreak, moved across the country, had an intense job, and was stressed about finances. Everything that could happen during a Saturn Return was happening to me. But then I started having a lot of conversations with my white friends about it, and I felt like there weren't many opportunities to talk to Black girls about this woo-woo thing. The stark difference I notice between my white friends and my Black or Latina friends is that most of my Black girlfriends aren't as self-indulgent. I thought Xiomara deserved to indulge in the wild world of getting to know herself—something we really don't often get to do. And it's something I feel committed to doing in my own life. But it's quite an American thing. My dad's Dominican, and my mom's Puerto Rican. I didn't grow up seeing Black or Latin women asking themselves about themselves, so the Saturn Return was a wonderful way to get there. I'm gonna go way back for a second. I was a child actor, and I played Young Nala in The Lion King on Broadway. It was a really gratifying and formative experience, but it was also incredibly traumatic. I don't talk about it a lot, but I usually like to say that it was the first place I learned that women 'shouldn't' be bigger than men. I was constantly scrutinized for how tall I was getting. Mind you, I was 12. And I'm 5'4 today. But everyone kept saying to me [at the time], 'You're getting too tall, and your contract's not going to get renewed. You can't be taller than Simba.' It was so horrifying to me, and I would look in the mirror and try to be smaller. After I finished acting and put that chapter aside, I worked at WME in the books department, then came out to L.A. and worked for a production company. And the common denominator in those spaces was that there were men who I felt were smaller than me who were allowed to take up so much more space than I was. Manny's power looms over Xiomara in such a horrific way. He deliberately uses his power to get what he wants. But then I also think it's a commentary on the line of consent when you're talking about someone who has so much more power. A lot of their relationship was consensual, and also, there's a gray area of how much of it was a transaction. I always had two non-negotiables when I was selling the book: Xiomara is Black, and she's also never getting the part. Those were two things that I was never going to change. So much of Broadway had been tainted for me because of my experience and my growing pains away from it. I distanced myself for so long, but it's my first love, so I was excited to write about it. I can dissect so much of this book, and it can be a little heady, but with this, I was like, 'She's grieving her sister, having horrible sex, and getting assaulted. Let's give her a voice. Let's let her have some fun.' I also loved the playlist that I listened to while I was writing, and being able to dive into what songs she might sing. I genuinely believe that people who hate musical theater haven't seen the right musical. You have to inherently believe in hope and storytelling to love musical theater. A lot of musical theater like the Songs for a New World soundtrack. I was also listening to Olivia Dean and SZA. SZA is such a storyteller. I was listening to her on repeat because she really captures that angst that Xiomara was feeling. Then there was a lot of Latin music, like Elvis Crespo and Juan Luis Guerra, and the classics: bachata, merengue, and salsa. Oh, 100 percent. That and Ariana Grande's 'Saturn Returns Interlude.' Harmony, not balance, babe. [Laughs.] But no, there are some days when I'm not promoting the book at all because I'm at this amazing writers' residency and I want to give those writers my full attention. I'm also working on my second book right now. I'm still figuring out where I need to pour into myself so that I can have the energy to pour out. I'm definitely a writer who can get into that mode of like, 'I didn't write today. What am I doing?' That 'grind' work ethic has really gotten into me, so I'm trying to get out of that. But I'm committed to being in community with other writers, and it's something that my day job has allowed me, and I want to continue to do that. She's amazing. She's one of those Black writers from the generation before me who helped hold the door open. Jenifer Lewis is another one. I worked with her on her essay collection, Walking in My Joy. I've found mentors in Mara, Jenifer, and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, who I worked for when she was at WME. I think mentorship is so important. I do look at it that way. I definitely don't want this cycle to end with me. And I'm just getting started, so by no means am I on the top of the mountain. But I would really like to help other people while simultaneously growing with them, too. It's a little too early. I haven't even given it to my editor yet, but please stay tuned! I can share, though, that I'm now starting to adapt My Train Leaves at Three for film, and I'm really excited. Thank you! I'm adapting the feature script, and I just started writing act 1. I'll be working with Dominican filmmaker Gabriella Ortega. In deciding who to collaborate with, it was important to me to work with another amazing Dominican voice to bring Xiomara's story to life. We're circling a few high-level producers who I can't name just yet, but it's going to be indie, gritty, raw, sexy, and fun. All the things! This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The Sun
29-06-2025
- The Sun
Exec who ‘stole £1m before going on run and faking death in Majorca where she was exposed by giant poodle' faces court
A SUSPECTED German fraudster who faked her own death and was given away by her giant pet poodle will face court on Monday. Inna Z, 51, was arrested by police in Majorca after her company doubted the claim she had been killed in a car accident and tracked her down with detectives. 3 Her giant poodle was noticed walking the streets and led investigators back to the exec. The tax adviser was accused of defrauding around £900,000 from the German solar power firm she worked for. She was summoned to court in November 2020, but her sister reported she had been killed in a car crash of March that year. It said: "We regret to announce the sad passing of our founding partner in a traffic accident." A death certificate was provided, but her company in Rostock, north Germany, smelt a rat and hired private detectives to investigate. They discovered that her social media was still active, meaning Inna was either still alive or being impersonated. They also found out she owned a giant poodle. The pooch became the object of their search, and was spotted out for a walk in Santa Ponca, Majorca. Large poodles are not a common sight on the island, so the canine stuck out. It led the team to a swanky villa in the town - and the supposedly dead Inna. Horror in Majorca as at least five bodies with hands and feet shackled are plucked from water off Brit holiday island She had cut her hair and changed its colour to drastically alter her appearance. Inna admitted to staging her demise after false documents were found in the house. Appearing in court soon after her arrest, she said: "It was clear they were going to catch me, but I wanted some time." The prosecutor's office has estimated the total amount she defrauded sits at around £5million. This week she reached a plea deal where she will avoid jail if she repays £1.5million. Her sister Anna, who wrote the email to the court, will also avoid jail. It comes as a British dad died this week on the island when he fell off a wall onto rocks. Ben Clark, 41, died instantly when he plunged 15ft in the early hours of Friday morning. His daughter, Kaci Fraya, is believed to have been on the Spanish holiday to Cala Agulla on the island's northeast coast with her dad at the time of his death. 3
Malay Mail
17-06-2025
- General
- Malay Mail
Rescue, retrieve, repeat: Nilo the poodle is on a mission to save swimmers in Spain — one stroke at a time
TORROX, June 17 — Poodle Nilo has joined four labradors on a dog rescue squad at Las Lindes beach near Malaga in Spain, helping lifeguards tow people back to shore. With his fluffy white coat, a life vest strapped across his chest and sunblock slathered on his long nose, the two-year-old Standard Poodle cuts an unusual figure, as Spanish dog beach rescue squads generally use Labradors and Newfoundlands. Miguel Sanchez-Merenciano, 45, Global K9 instructor, stands on the shore as he gives instructions to his dogs Nutella, 6-months-old, a female Labrador Retriever; Brown, 3, a male Labrador Retriever; and the latest member to his dog rescue team, Nilo, 2, a male Standard Poodle dog, during a rescue training on the first day of work of the summer season at Las Lindes beach, in Torrox, southern Spain June 14, 2025. — Reuters pic Nilo's handler, dog instructor Miguel Sanchez-Merenciano, 45, told Reuters that he enters the water first to reach a swimmer in distress before calling Nilo or other dogs to help them back to safety. Miguel Sanchez-Merenciano talks to members of the beach lifeguards team. — Reuters pic Poodles, an originally German breed, were historically used for water rescue, he said, though mainly in hunting and retrieval work in northern European lakes, their lustrous fur protecting them from the cold. Indeed, the name 'poodle' comes from the German verb 'puddeln,' which means to splash, Sanchez-Merenciano said. Poodles are also known for their superior intelligence and exceptional learning ability, according to the American Kennel Club (AKC). Nilo was once scared of loud noises and crowds, so his training had to be done step by step, Sanchez-Merenciano explained. Nilo tows instructor Miguel Sanchez-Merenciano to shore during a training session. — Reuters pic 'He has gone from swimming vertically and incorrectly to swimming completely horizontally, with perfect strokes, using his tail perfectly like a rudder to turn and to move.' — Reuters
CBC
17-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Life's a beach for poodle on Spanish dog lifeguard team
A standard poodle named Nilo made a splash on his first day as the newest member of a beach rescue team in Málaga, Spain. Such teams are usually populated by Labradors and Newfoundlands, but Nilo's handler says the two-year-old pooch 'knows how to go with the flow' and has made great strides during training.
