Domhnall Gleeson’s character in HBO’s Run is far more complex than you’d think at first glance. In retrospect, that sounds about right for an actor who has managed to glide through mainstream Hollywood franchises (Star Wars, Harry Potter), more cerebral, indie fare (Ex Machina), and sweeping epics (Anna Karenina, The Revenant) with the same level of aplomb, like it’s no difficult feat. In Run, he stars as Billy, one half of a pair of college exes, who previously made a pact that a text from one of them was an invitation to abandon their lives and run away for a cross-country trip together. That seems like the worst romantic idea in the universe, yes? Well, Gleeson and Merritt Wever (as Ruby) pull off this romantic-comedy-thriller series and do so with feeling.

Oh, so many feelings, both positive and negative and everything in between those two opposites. The series hails from creative-dynamic duo, Vicky Jones and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, as a followup upon their Fleabag and Killing Eve success. The show is full of complex characters who must navigate their own flaws while searching for fulfillment, and Domhnall’s Billy is no exception. Gleeson was gracious enough to sit down with us to discuss our own bizarre times and the strange journey of his Run character, along with scattered other moments of his acting career.

Domhnall, I hope you are well. Your name is so difficult for Americans to pronounce, but I worked on it.

It is a tricky one. I’m doing good though, how are you?

Pretty good, considering these surreal times.

I know, it’s so weird to start these conversations now, and it feels like the new version of “hello” is “Jesus Christ, I hope you’re okay, for Christ’s sake.”

Yes, and it’s great to talk about shows that have elements of comedy to get us through this time.

I know, that’s where I’m going to. It’s either, like, comedies, or else full-on documentaries about death. Anything in the middle feels like a waste of time. It’s either total escapism, or try to understand these bizarre times.

With Run, you’re returning to a romantic-type role. Your first such role was in Anna Karenina, and you hadn’t considered yourself for that kind of character when Joe Wright cast you, but have you eased into it more now?

Right. That was certainly true at the time. But I think in the way that you aren’t sure that you can do certain accents or not, the only way is to try at 100%, and I adored the work on Anna Karenina, working with Alicia [Vikander] and with Joe, that kind of love story. I had the same sort-of experience on About Time, a very beautiful experience of concentrating on love for a whole job. It’s such a pleasant place to put yourself. It’s a positive way of thinking. On Run, I guess it was slightly different because I think they love each other, those two people, but their circumstances are stretched in a very different way. And there’s much more deception going on in Run. So it’s a different experience between these love stories, I think, but I enjoyed it.

Well, Billy seems to be a simple character at first, but we find out, slowly, how complex his life is, along with that of Ruby. What appealed to you most about him?

Well, he seems to be in love. He seems to be a bit of a liar, and he seems to be a weird mix of controlling and very eager to please. And he was on a journey, like, I didn’t know what was going to happen to him next. I didn’t know how his story would end, and I thought that was a very good thing in terms of wondering where this guy could go, and what I could discover. Most of all, I thought that he was in love, and he was changing his life to try and chase this, or so we think. Or we hope. And I found that very appealing.

I was wondering how much you knew going in. I’ve seen through episode 5, so it had turned into a bit of a caper at that point. Do you think Billy will be judged for texting Ruby?

Oh, that’s hard to say without seeing all seven episodes. I think there’s more of that story to tell. I hope that [people] find him to be complicated, and I hope that he’s not just definitely the person that you want to run away with or definitely the person that you want to avoid in your life. Because I think different people view each other in different ways. That’s part of what the whole thing is about, and sometimes your flaws match up well with somebody else’s strengths. Sometimes they match up terribly with somebody else’s flaws, and I don’t know, I think that without giving anything away, I think on Billy’s side of things, there’s a lot about his relationship with Ruby that would work for both of them, you know? Circumstances are everything. That’s something you normally don’t see in a whole story. Normally, circumstances are there to cut paths, and certain circumstances are a little trickier than that. And real life throws things in the way that are sometimes unassailable, and I think they find themselves in moments like that. I haven’t been talking about the show for very long, so my thoughts are still being formed, and I know we haven’t got much time, so I’m sorry about that.

Oh you’re good, I know that the script was so layered, and Vicky Jones parceled out bits of information on a need-to-know basis, so viewers are going to also work hard to solidify it in their own minds over time.

Yeah, hopefully. And hopefully, it also builds to a sort-of ending that is satisfying. I mean, hopefully, by the time that people have seen episode seven, they feel like a real story has been told. You know, I would like that.

What do you think of this question: “Should you text your ex?”

I think that would be the perfect Twitter conversation to have, but every situation is so different. I think that Billy is well within his rights to text Ruby because they made a deal.

And that’s very much a thing in this show.

I think that with a deal, you’re within your rights to ask, and the other person is within their rights to say no.

I was not clear, but it seemed like one party had instigated that pact. We’re not supposed to know for a while?

Yeah, I think once you see the whole thing, it might be worth another conversation. Because I think it’s complicated, the story of who texted and why, is complicated enough without being overly complicated. I mean, it’s the right amount of stuff going on with that element of that story, and I think that there are layers to that, which I think are interesting and worth talking about. So yeah, that’s something you’ve definitely got to watch to the end to find out.

What was it like to shoot in those tight confines on the train? It looked potentially claustrophobic.

There were elements of it that were rough because it played with your sense of balance because they had these big screens that were connected remotely to the camera, and depending on where the camera moved, the moving images would change perspectives, to make sense for the camera’s eye. It was all quite new technology. The problem with that is that your eye is not connected to the camera’s eye, your eye is just seeing the screen change perspective while moving. And then the train itself is moving from side to side. It was shot inside the studio, and that really makes you want to puke. So, that was not great, but I actually love trains, and I love kind-of smaller spaces.

There are also wonderful little moments in this show, like when Billy pretends to read Ruby’s palm. Was that all-scripted or slightly improvised?

I don’t think so, I think they left in a word here and there, but there were no sweeping changes from the script. The script was already drawn. So, sometimes there would be things that I’m doing in my acting, but I can’t remember how much of any of that was left in, and probably I imagine that all of it was scripted or what was agreed upon on that day, and depending on whether what was scripted was coming across or not.

We’ve gotta talk about Ex Machina for a minute. I recently talked to Alex Garland about the movie, but with you, I’m wondering how people bring up that “Get Down Saturday Night” dance scene to you.

Not often, surprisingly! My character’s role in that was representing the audience, and they probably ask Oscar [Isaac] all the time.

I often find myself often saying, “After a long day of Turing tests, you gotta unwind.” And then your puzzled face pops into my head.

[Laughs] Well, I’m proud to be a part of whatever madness is going on in your noggin! Yeah, it’s funny though, I hear that Alex’s new show is amazing. I haven’t seen Devs yet. I’m looking forward to it very much.

Before we go, I wanted to mention that my daughter is a huge Star Wars fan.

Oh nice!

But your resumé is so diverse that when I mentioned your name, she started shouting about Bill Weasley.

Well, tell her that Bill Weasley said hello from Ireland!

Stay safe over there. Everything is so wild right now with even Peter Rabbit 2 delayed.

Yes, but that’s okay, It’s delayed until January. It’s already done. We lucked out there, and we’ll wait until January.

We will through all of this, as humanity.

Yes, we’ll get back to cinemas. I can’t wait!

HBO’s ‘Run’ premieres on Sunday, April 12 at 10:30pm EST.

The NBA has been on indefinite hiatus for almost exactly a month now amid the coronavirus pandemic that is wreaking havoc across the globe. But that doesn’t mean both the league offices and the players’ union have been sitting on their hands. From the beginning, the two sides have been discussing possible ways forward once it becomes safe to do so.

There’s been talk about resuming with an abbreviated season, skipping the remaining games and jumping right into the playoffs, or in the worst-case scenario, cancelling everything altogether and starting fresh next season once the virus is under control. All options are currently on the table.

For now, though, everything remains on hold. Soon after the league shut down, they announced they were putting a temporary moratorium on all transactions until about the second week of April when things could be re-evaluated. Now that we’re here, both the NBA and NBPA have decided to extend that moratorium indefinitely, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The NBA and NBPA have agreed to extend the moratorium on transactions (agreements, trades, player/team options) indefinitely, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.

Business remains paused.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 10, 2020

In the meantime, the two sides are currently focused on the new HORSE competition that will premier on ESPN this weekend featuring both NBA and WNBA stars. Beyond that, uncertainty remains surrounding just about everything league-related and otherwise.

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Plenty of artists are making music while in self-isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic. Charli XCX is going about it in an innovative way, though. She announced recently that she was making an album, titled How I’m Feeling Now, with help from her fans, sharing snippets of works in progress online and incorporating ideas from her followers into the music. “Forever,” the first official release to come from this endeavor, was just released, and now she is calling on fans again to help her with the song’s video.

Yesterday, Charli took to Twitter to ask her fans to submit clips to possibly be included in the “Forever” video. There are several categories of videos that Charli is looking for, like clips of places people had been to in the past, POV videos of people walking around their homes, a video of somebody’s reaction to a joke or compliment, and others. Fans are encouraged to select two or three video types, generate or find 5- to 30-second clips, and send them to the How I’m Feeling Now email address by Sunday, April 12.

How I’m Feeling Now is out 5/15.

Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

This week, Selena Gomez dropped the deluxe edition of her latest album, Rare, which initially came out back in January. The expanded version of the album features a handful of fresh tracks, including the highly anticipated “Boyfriend.” Now Gomez has shared a video for the song, and in it, she has a choice to make, as she finds herself out on dates with multiple men.

Gomez sings on the track, “There’s a difference between a want and a need / Some nights, I just want more than me.” This mirrors what she previously said of the song, “Many of you know how excited I’ve been to release a song called ‘Boyfriend.’ It’s a lighthearted song about falling down and getting back up time and time again in love, but also knowing that you don’t need anyone other than yourself to be happy. We wrote it long before our current crisis, but in the context of today, I want to be clear that a boyfriend is no where near the top of my list of priorities. Just like the rest of the world, I’m praying for safety, unity, and recovery during this pandemic.”

Watch the “Boyfriend” video above.

Rare (Deluxe) is out now via Interscope. Get it here.

By this point, it’s easy to feel like Rudy Gobert’s positive COVID-19 test and everything that happened in the aftermath occurred a decade ago. Instead, it’s been about a month, and there’s still a number of unresolved things that have yet to occur, like the NBA figuring out any sort of plan for playing games again.

The Utah Jazz are also trying to put out a fire that popped up due to Gobert’s test: the subsequent positive test received by Donovan Mitchell. It has previously been reported that Mitchell wasn’t particularly happy with Gobert, and a new piece by The Athletic takes things a step further, indicating that while the franchise is trying to stress to Mitchell that there’s no guarantee he got sick because of Gobert, there are major concerns about whether or not things will be cool between them going forward.

The Jazz have already begun working on the Mitchell-Gobert relationship, but sources say Mitchell remains reluctant to fix what might have been broken.

“It doesn’t appear salvageable,” one source with knowledge of the situation said.

Obviously the Jazz have a major problem on their hands if the two cornerstones of their franchise are not on good terms, especially considering Gobert is eligible for a supermax contract and Mitchell reportedly wants to put pen to paper on a new deal this summer. The good news is that at least one teammate isn’t particularly concerned with all of this — Joe Ingles told The Athletic the he has “no doubt when we go back to training, or when our season starts again, our team is going to be what we have been and what we are.” He was also appeared to address the report pretty succinctly…

…and when he was asked about this, Ingles decided to crack a joke.

Utah has plenty of time for this to all sort itself out — again, the Jazz-Thunder game that served as the major inflection point in all of this happened on March 11 — so we’ll see how this situation plays out over the coming days, weeks, and months.

You have to give Top Chef some credit. Whereas last week’s episode had a movie tie-in that came out last summer, this episode, in the midst of a pandemic, managed to tie into the only initially theatrical major movie release on the schedule, opening the same day. That’s pretty impressive, especially for a show that filmed almost a year ago and has to be shot sequentially, right? Granted, the movie was Trolls World Tour, but still. Hey, remember when time had meaning? Those were the days.

Kelly Clarkson, who does a voice in Trolls World Tour, introduced the quickfire challenge, in which the contestants all had to incorporate an ingredient from every color in the rainbow. At this point, my fiancee pointed out that Padma looks like a Na’avi from Avatar and Kelly Clarkson looks like a gnome and now it’s all I can see. I’m sharing this curse with you in the hopes I can rid myself of it.

After the quickfire, the contestants split into teams for a progressive dinner, vegetarian style. And guess what! We had our first big Judge’s Table Beef of the season! Did someone get thrown under the bus? Were they not here to make friends? You bet your food-related forearm tattoo!

POWER RANKINGS

12. (-1) ((Eliminated)) Lisa Fernandes

AKA: Salty. Aka: Grimes.

Surprise elimination! After narrowly losing out to Gregory (the quickfire king) in the quickfire challenge (which would’ve given her immunity), Lisa ended up at the bottom in the elimination challenge — thanks to some dry brussels sprouts. Most of the judge’s table segment was spent litigating whether Lee Anne’s crudité was underseasoned because of Lee Anne or because of SABOTAGE, with Lisa mostly flying under the radar. Which was why the outcome, Lisa going home, felt like such a shocking, Shyamalanian twist.

Her dish, incidentally, was a fried brussels sprout with raw apples dish that Lisa tried to defend on the grounds of rusticity. Tom wasn’t having that. It’s always a bad sign when a judge asks you whether your dish was supposed to be warm or not. It seemed like a bit of a cruel twist after Lisa nearly won the quickfire, but as I said last week, it was a pick-em race between Lee Anne and Lisa for who’d go home first. Turns out it was Lisa, the latest victim of when keeping it rustic goes wrong. Pour out some ceviche broth for Lisa, it looks like Top Chef Heaven just gained another eyebrow ring.

11. (+1) Lee Anne Wong

AKA: Frazzle. Aka Loud Mom. Aka Queasy. Aka Anomaleeanne.

Let me just say what we’re all thinking: How the hell is Lee Anne still in this competition?

To recap: the big fight in this episode was over whether it was Lee Anne’s or Shenanigans’ (aka Brian Malarkey’s) responsibility to season Lee Anne’s dish. Which, by the way, was a crudité with butternut squash hummus. Leaving aside the question of why you would want squash in a hummus (a dish which is already vegan), there’s the question of whether you think you’re going to win this competition with crudité.

Really, a crudite? You’re going to win a chef competition with cut up raw vegetables? Who’s the judge, a horse? Leaving that aside, the one part of that dish that would seem to require actual “cooking” (sort of) — the seasoning — Lee Anne managed to delegate to someone else. Which allowed Lee Anne to somehow play the victim when Shenanigans (correctly) pointed out that he couldn’t have been responsible for the hummus being underseasoned. “Do you see the bus tracks on my back??” Lee Anne asked, in the promo soundbite repeated at every commercial break.

The conspiracy-minded might point out that Lee Anne was a producer on the show in between her runs as a contestant and say that that may account for the apparent special treatment. I don’t know. But the promo for next week’s episode showed Lee Anne’s mom fainting, so at least they’re getting some entertainment miles out her. The saving grace of this entire segment (and of Top Chef generally) is Tom Colicchio’s complete inability to play along with any traditional reality show drama.

He knows he’s supposed to pander here but he can’t even pretend. I feel seen. Tom Colicchio is, as the kids say, a whole dang mood.

10. (-3) Brian Malarkey

AKA: Grandpa Fancy. Aka Shenanigans. Aka Squirrelly Bird. Aka The Emperor.

Did anyone else notice that Shenanigans seems to have bleached his dentures in between last week and this week? It looked like he had his veneers set to “halogen.” People, I’m saying his teeth looked white. Anyway, Shenanigans spent the whole quickfire alternately cackling as he blew up the ice cream machine by dumping skittles and pine cones into it and stuffing his face with cotton candy, which was perfectly on-brand for a guy who mostly reminds me of a metrosexual Buddy the Elf. Thank God for Grandpa Fancy, what would I even write about without him?

Later, Malarkey (Joe Biden hates this one weird contestant!) basically overcompensated for the relative failure of his overcomplicated curdled “curry pumpkin ice cream” in the quickfire challenge (which, it bears pointing out, for all the screen time it got, didn’t actually land him in the bottom three) and turned in an undercomplicated burrata salad in the elimination challenge. Too boring! You really have to thread the needle between “brave” simplicity and “boring” simplicity on this show. Gail Simmons said Brian’s Burrata was “a beautiful version of a dish we’ve seen a million times.” Meanwhile, much was made of his team’s decision to serve “two raw dishes in a row.”

But do you even think of burrata as a “raw dish?” All the damn crudités, crudos, and ceviches on this show and you’re going to complain about a Caprese salad? I think what’s actually at work here is something I call the Sopranos factor. You have to remember that Tom is an Italian from New Jersey, meaning any Italian dish you’ve seen someone eat on that show, Tom has probably had eight trillion times and possibly been force-fed by an antagonistic mother figure. It triggers Tom’s inner Jersey shame and he projects his anger onto the chef — see: him sending Grayson home for “Jersey red sauce” and the time he asked, “Did Snooki cook this?” One of the unspoken rules of Top Chef is that you can never make Tom feel like he’s at Il Vesuvio.

Anyway, Malarkey made a boring burrata and was kind of a spaz like always, but it seems like the show overplayed how bad he actually did in this episode. I’m interested to see what headwear/frame combo he brings to the next episode.

9. (even) Jennifer Carroll

AKA: Calamity Jenn

Once again, Calamity Jenn made neither the top nor the bottom three in either challenge, so it’s anyone’s guess as to where she really belongs in these rankings. Hell, she didn’t even make the “Padma’s Angels” joke segment in the beginning of the episode. To be fair, it’s hard to imagine someone as sneeringly cynical as Calamity Jenn participating in any uplifting yaas qween girlpower stuff anyway. Jenn is punk as fuck and I can’t tell if she even knows it. Have you ever seen anyone look so comfortable in a chef’s coat and so uncomfortable out of one?

This week she had some minor drama when someone maybe turned up the burner on her cashew cream (SABOTAGE PART 2). It looked like she was about to lose it (which was relatable, I almost punched a hole in my wall when spilled an entire pizza the other night while attempt to transfer it to the oven), but instead she simply calmly remade the cashew cream and everything seemed hunky-dory. She went head to head with Bryan Voltaggio and it was unclear who came out ahead. Honestly, who knows where the hell Jenn really stands right now. Nonetheless, I eagerly await the moment something truly pisses her off and she finally hulks out.

8. (+2) Stephanie CMar

AKA: C-Monster. Aka Underdog.

Once again in the quickfire, the C-Monster seemed to envision a smart dish — a fried spring roll with colorful interior dipped in peanut sauce — but couldn’t muster the technique to make it work. She got dinged for it being too sweet and not tightly wrapped and landed in the bottom three.

Then in the elimination challenge she went head to head with Gregory (undoubtedly one of the favorites) and seemed to pull off a win — with her cauliflower a la plancha with peri-peri sauce. Padma gushed “I love this dish” (as we’ve seen, Padma like-a da spice) and Beard Judge (I refuse to look up this guy’s name) said it was one of his favorites of the night. Sadly, she was on team Frazzle and the crudité/caprese combo dragged the C-Monster down like an anchor. She was ineligible for a top finish even if the dish warranted it. It was either a solid comeback episode and proof of resilience, or just Stephanie’s usual up-down pattern. Hard to say at this point.

7. (-2) Eric Adjepong

AKA: Ghana. Aka Thesis. Aka Uncle Rico. Aka Kanye West Africa.

Speaking of streaky, there’s Eric. I think Eric is on a bit of a roll and starting to look like the favorite we thought he was, but he didn’t quite manage a top three finish in the quickfire and him ending up on the winning team in the elimination challenge seemed partly coincidental. He received high marks for his “butternut squash and goat milk pudding with chocolate hazelnut soil” (any time you can get rated highly for a dish named after dirt it’s a feather in your cap) but hard to say if he would’ve beaten Nini straight up. Eric is drafting in the middle of the pack like the dude Jenn Carroll right now but I have to think his Kanye-esque delusions of greatness give him the edge.

6. (even) Nini Nguyen

AKA: Broad City. Aka Quipz. Aka Bolo.

I’m still keeping the Nini faith but is it more religion than science at this point? This human emoji turned out a frankly pretty weak ass-looking purple potato gnocchi in the elimination challenge and ended in the bottom three. But she busted out her dessert skills in the elimination challenge with a peaches and cream creampuff, which looked good as hell and seemed to match her personality. It was hard to tell if she would’ve beaten Eric straight up, but the judges liked both of their dishes and Nini being on the losing team seemed mostly coincidental. “I want this dessert every day,” said Gail Simmons.

5. (+3) Karen Akunowicz

AKA: Good Witch. Aka Glenda. Aka Aunt Kitty. Aka Rosie The Triveter

The Good Witch was thrilled to cook for lesbian icon Kelly Clarkson this week and she showed up for it, landing in the top three with a crunchy tartare. Then in the elimination challenge she was the only one to make a pasta dish for the vegetarian challenge, which honestly, seems like kind of a no-brainer.

That’s a top three and a top-five finish in the same episode, if you’re keeping score at home. She easily squeaks into my top five. You never want to bet against a well put together lesbian in a cooking competition.

4. (even) Kevin Gillespie

AKA: Hops. Aka Oops All Kevins. Aka Bachelor Fried Rice.

For his vegetarian dish, Kevin made an “heirloom tomato and melon salad with avocado tofu, fresh dates, and a California togarashi” which I will now sum up with a classic Simpsons gif:

I know what those words mean, but together they’re just a mess. Yo, dawg, is that a melon salad or a word salad?

Regardless, the judges seemed to like it, and anyway Kevin was paired against Brian Malarkey, whose dish Tom dynamited on the launch pad, asking pointedly, “Why did you serve us mozzarella and tomatoes [you fucking IDIOT]?”

That being said, Kevin didn’t make any identifiable mistakes this week so I’m keeping him locked in that the number four spot.

3. (-2) Bryan Voltaggio

AKA: Flatbill Dad. Aka Bry Voltage. Aka Kyle Shanahan. Aka Linkin Clark Griswold.

Bry Voltage really let us down this week. He landed in the bottom three in the quickfire with his “mushy” shrimp and uni ceviche. “Looks like we’re both making ceviche, huh? Ha Ha ha,” Bryan said to Kevin during prep, dadly.

I mean two Top Chef contestants both making a ceviche at the same time? Imagine that! Anyway, the Dadliest Catch here made a classic Top Chef error: trying to cook for a celebrity guest judge the same way you would a professional food judge. Remember that country twerp from last season who dinged a tomato dish because “I’m really cautious about acidic things” and gave the win to an oatmeal? Kelly Clarkson wasn’t that much of a baby, but still, I got the feeling she wasn’t feeling that uni.

In the elimination challenge, Bry did a smoked beet with sprouted legumes (Bry Voltage lists sprouted legumes in the “hobbies” section of his social media profiles) going head to head against Jenn Carroll, with an inconclusive outcome. He ended up on the losing team, but on a team with Lisa, Lee Anne, and Brian Malarkey you know there was no way Voltaggio was ever in danger of going home. It was a bad week but I see him turning it around.

2. (+1) Gregory Gourdet

AKA: Kravitz. Aka Hepcat. Aka Lids.

With Dad faltering this week, Gregory and Melissa solidified their one-two positions. Gregory edged out Melissa in the quickfire and won high marks for his charred carrots (with various other charred vegetable oils ) in the elimination challenge. But ultimately he lost out to Melissa’s corn soup. The quickfire win gave him both immunity and Top Chef‘s most coveted prize of all time: a trip to the Trolls World Tour world premiere! It’s unclear if he was ever able to collect on that prize after the movie was downgraded to a digital release, but some things are just too good to be true.

On the one hand, you would expect the avowed healthy yoga guy to crush a vegetarian challenge, but on the other, he had two top finishes to Melissa’s one, even if he didn’t win in the end. Gregory seems like the most consistently competent chef in this competition but he almost seems too chill to win it all.

1. (+1) Melissa King

AKA: Zen Master. Aka Dimples. Aka Shutterstock.

Melissa is nearly as chill as Gregory and just as well put together, but also seems to lap the rest of the field in Big Dick Energy. Stop being so comfortable with yourself, it’s weirding me out. Melissa’s corn soup in the elimination challenge made me want to lick the screen (usually only Padma’s cleav– uh, never mind) and she seems to be peaking. Is she peaking too early? Is that even a thing? All I know is that every episode should dedicate five or 10 minutes to Melissa roasting Brian Malarkey.

Vince Mancini is on Twitter. Read more of his cooking commentary and mom jokes in UPROXX’s Cooking Battles. For past Top Chef Power Rankings, go here.

Netflix’s Brews Brothers is a ridiculously funny comedy series that does not hold back on the raunch factor. The show’s vulgar as hell and heartwarming as hell and offers a hefty helping of frivolity. Furthermore, it’s as breezy as a shandy and goes down as smoothly as a Guinness while focusing on two estranged brothers, Wilhelm and Adam Rodman (Alan Aisenberg and Mike Castle), who must work together to resurrect a struggling brewery. Unfortunately for them (and fortunately for the audience), getting along with each other proves to be as tough as the task at hand.

The show, which hails from brothers Greg Schaffer (That ’70s Show) and Jeff Schaffer (The League), comes by its tough brotherly love honestly. Wilhelm and Adam stand at opposite ends of the beer-making and personality spectrums, but they’re both braumeisters in their own way. Aisenberg — who people will remember as Orange Is The New Black‘s naive CO Bailey, whose fate became hopelessly intertwined with the tragic outcome of Poussey — was gracious enough to talk with us about how much he enjoyed returning to comedy. We also chatted about beer, of course, and how Brews Brothers gets crazier than people will expect.

Lots of folks are Netflixing their way through quarantine. Beyond that, how are you spending your days?

I am at home in my New York apartment, alone. Lots of reading and writing, and the Peloton bike is keeping me sane. If not for that, I think I’d be going very crazy.

It’s strange to remember that Peleton was considered controversial, months ago.

I know, and I bought it right before that, and all my friends were making fun of me for, you know, being one of those people, and now, they all look at me with envy and send me texts full of apologies for all of the ridicule they sent my way.

I watched Brews Brothers while sweating it out at home, and honestly, I needed this comedy. Do you find yourself gravitating towards any particular TV shows right now?

Yeah, I’m kind-of going through some comfort-series, so I rewatched Oh Hello On Broadway, Nick Kroll and John Mulaney’s show, which is on Netflix. I saw that three times when it was on Broadway, and that just brings me joy, and I started watching that over the weekend. The Office, and then some other stuff on Netflix that I love, like Tim Robinson’s I Think You Should Leave, which I think is a perfect sketch show, and Astronomy Club on Netflix. I’m just trying to surround myself with silly, fun things.

If you had to recommend this show based on people liking another show, what comparison would you make?

If you like Curb Your Enthusiasm and The League, you will love Brews Brothers. If you like laughing, I think you will like our show.

You guys shot the series last year, so it’s right on schedule.

Last summer, yeah. Between June and September of 2019, which now feels a different world ago, in downtown LA in the middle of summer.

Folks know you best from your tragic Orange is The New Black character, but you have otherwise gravitated more toward lighthearted roles. Was it refreshing to get back to those parts?

It was really nice. I loved my time on Orange. I came onto that show to play a funny character and really got to do that for like a year and a half, and it was the longest I’d spent on one job and got really comfortable with those people and that material. Then to really do my first dramatic work ever there, while very difficult, I felt at home. So, I could try things, and it was the perfect place to learn how to do that. But at the end of the day, I was still going to work and having to sob all day and to go to really dark places. So with something like Brews Brothers, I knew that I was going to show up to work and was still going to cry pretty much every day, but because I was laughing so hard, not because my character had done something really, really tragic. So it was really refreshing to wake up in the morning and know that I’m gonna have a very crazy 14 hours ahead of me, but they’re going to be filled with giggles and hard laughs and just positive thoughts.

Do you think people are prepared for the level of raunchy insanity? Like monks with “garbage accents” and the “Picasso of dildos.”

No, I don’t think people are ready for how crazy this show gets. As Greg [Schaffer] pitched out this season to us, and we started reading these scripts, we saw that this show never truly lets up. At any point when you think that our characters are comfortable with the situation and have gotten control of how things are going, Greg and the writers have found a way to push it, ten times further than you think. Once they settle again, they push it again, and the show keeps getting wilder and wilder and wilder. Even when I tell people about certain plotlines, they think I’m joking. Like, “How did they let you do that in a TV show?” And now that people are watching the show, they’re so excited to realize that we did do some crazy things.

The show’s spicy but brings some sweetness, too.

Yeah, totally. The show is about brotherhood and heart. The show is loosely taken from our creator, Greg Schaffer and his brother, Jeff, who directed almost half the episodes and was there pretty much every day. A lot of stuff was based upon things that were in their relationship. I’m playing the Greg-like character, and Mike [Castle] is playing the Jeff-like character. And they love each other. I worked with these guys every day for a summer. They truly do have an incredible amount of love and respect for each other, and the characters in the show have the same thing. They fight, but they’re brothers, and they do eventually find a way to love each other, even with their differences.

You actually can no longer drink beer after you were diagnosed with Celiac Disease last year, right?

That’s true.

Do you miss it? Are you having cravings?

I do, it was kinda weird, during the first month when we were shooting. I found out that I couldn’t drink beer on a Monday and got the show on a Wednesday, and then Friday, I was flying to LA to shoot it. It happened very fast, and then during the first month, I really craved it because I was in a brewery. We shot this on location, at a real, formally-functioning brewery. And I was surrounded by, like, the best beer and a lot of beer snobs. And I couldn’t enjoy any of it, but in the second month, I finally let the craving go, and now, really in the last month, being stuck in my apartment and watching the show, I’m like, “Oh, I could go for a very heavy, double IPA right now.” I can’t have it, but I’m glad that I can at least watch people pretend to drink it while living vicariously through these characters.

Have you at least picked up any alternative vices?

Working out? No, I’ve become a fan of the Old Fashioned — whiskey, which is very different than a beer. That, or tequila, but I don’t think anybody’s gonna make a show about guys who make tequila anytime soon.

Which brother would you rather have a drink with?

Oh, I’d rather have a beer with Wilhelm. I think after spending so much time pretending to be sick of Alan’s antics, I think I actually am sick of Adam’s antics? Like, oh man, that is an annoying character, which I think is what makes it so worthwhile when we see him start to open up towards the end of our first season, and we see that he’s got a heart and is lovable. But no, Adam in the first couple of episodes, I don’t wanna be anywhere near him.

Your character’s name, Wilhelm, is that historical?

Yeahhhh. His name’s Will, and he renamed himself Wilhelm, which is after the guy who started the beer purity law in German.

The Duke of Bavaria, I think?

Yes, he’s someone who loves the history of beer, and he loves the passion, and so any way he can honor it, and changing his name to something that is pronounced “Vil-helm” in English is pretty annoying, and he found a way to do it.

There’s a debate in this series about whether beer should be in cans and bottles. Where do you stand?

There’s nothing more satisfying than a bottle. It’s like how seltzer comes in cans. Seltzer does not come in glass bottles, really. I think beer is an art form, and people who make art should have it present in way that is, you know, at a higher level. I’m Team Bottles.

Can I challenge you to name the four magical ingredients of beer?

Oh my god. I knew it when we were shooting the show. Let’s see, hops, water… barley… and… I’m embarrassing myself that I don’t know this! This is not good for my street cred.

Yeast and malts. Full disclosure: I totally looked this up before speaking with you.

Yes, yeast and malts! I’m gonna get so much hate mail for that, but here’s the thing: our show is written about really true beer aficionados, we had experts on set every day, who live and drink beer. And while my memory’s a little bit foggy because we shot awhile ago, and I haven’t been able to drink beer, the show is very authentic. We’ve shown it to folks from big beer companies, and they’ve been very open about the authentic experience in our show, in terms of what is represented in how breweries function. So don’t take my current ignorance for an indicator of what our show’s like.

Do you have any particular hopes for where a second season might go?

Oh yeah, this is my dream job. It’s a place where you are treated as a partner and that your voice is heard and to work on material that is really funny and carefree and just loose. Like this is the job that I wanna do for the rest of my life, but also, our first season has a very cool ending, and it’s very open-ended ending, and I think it’d be devastating as someone who is a fan of the show to not see where these characters go. Hopefully, people will watch our eight episodes, and by the end, they’ll feel the same. When they see where the season ends, they’ll wanna know where these guys are going.

Netflix’s ‘Brews Brothers’ streams on April 10.

Last Updated: April 10th

There was a time when tales of aliens, space travel, and robots were believed to be the strict province of four-eyed basement dwellers, but the truth is that everybody can find something to enjoy in the weird world of science fiction. The best sci-fi works in both universal truths and hyperspecific detail, using fantastical yet fully-realized worlds to tell stories about our own.

Netflix‘s selection of good sci fi movies isn’t exhaustive, but there’s still plenty worth exploring nestled among the sequels and paycheck-generators. Keep on scrolling for 10 of the best sci-fi movies on Netflix streaming to watch right now, all taking you from the moon, the farthest reaches of space, and to the outer fringes of reality itself.

Related: The Best Sci-Fi Shows On Netflix Right Now

1. Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982)

Run Time: 117 min | IMDb: 8.1/10

Harrison Ford’s lived long enough to see quite a few of his sci-fi franchises get the reboot treatment but this futuristic 80s flick still ranks as one of his best genre outings. Ford plays Rick Deckard, a blade runner charged with terminating four replicants — synthetic humans — who have escaped captivity and are plotting rebellion. Deckard treks across a dystopian Los Angeles, confronting ideas about humanity and morality while fighting off bioengineered humanoids and his fellow man.

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2. Ex Machina (2014)

Run Time: 108 min | IMDb: 7.7/10

Alex Garland’s sci-fi thriller breathed new life into the tired A.I. trope when it landed in theaters a few years ago. The film focuses on a naïve young programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) who’s selected amongst a pool of applicants to evaluate a new A.I. lifeform. The poor kid is whisked away to a remote villa to spend time with the eerily-human-looking robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander) and her eccentric, often cruel creator Nathan (Oscar Isaac), a genius with an ego to match his talent. The film takes some twists you don’t expect, and Isaac gives cinema one of its greatest dance sequences, in case you needed more reason to watch.

3. The Matrix (1999)

Run Time: 136 min | IMDb: 8.7/10

The Wachowski sisters created one of the greatest sci-fi films in cinematic history with their mind-bending Matrix trilogy, but the original is hard to top. Keanu Reeves plays Neo, a young man unplugged from the matrix — a kind of alternate reality that keeps humans docile, so machines can harvest their life energy. He teams up with a band of rebels fighting the machines (Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus and Carrie-Ann Moss as Trinity) and faces off against a henchman named Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving). The real draw of this trilogy, besides its inventive storyline, is the CGI effects. The movie also sports some of the most imaginative fight sequences you’ll ever see on the big screen.

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4. Her (2013)

Run Time: 126 mins | IMDb: 8/10

Spike Jonze imagines a world in which Artificial Intelligence can become something more than just a personal assistant program. Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a depressed introvert going through a divorce who starts up a relationship with an OS named Samantha. Things get serious before Theodore begins to realize that romance with an A.I. is more complicated than he thought. What follows is a thoughtful exploration of love, relationships, and the ways human beings find a connection in a plugged-in world.

5. Equilibrium (2002)

Run Time: 107 min | IMDb: 7.4/10

Christian Bale and Sean Bean star in this sci-fi drama set in an oppressive future where all forms of emotion are outlawed. Bale plays a man named John Preston, who’s charged with enforcing the law, but when he accidentally forgets to take a dose of the medicine that suppresses feelings and artistic expression, he begins to question the system he upholds and, eventually, leads an uprising.

6. Okja (2017)

Run Time: 120 min | IMDb: 7.4/10

Bong Joon-Ho’s send-up of corporate farming and environmental abuses isn’t subtle. Tilda Swinton goes all-out as the CEO of an evil corporation only to be outdone by Jake Gyllenhaal’s broad turn as an unstable TV host. But its tale of an endearing, genetically modified “super pig” and the girl who loves him is effective and contains both some terrific action set pieces and the most affecting child/strange beast relationship this side of E.T.

7. Snowpiercer (2013)

Run Time: 126 min | IMDb: 7.1/10

Chris Evans stars in this sci-fi thriller from auteur Bong Joon-ho. The film, set years into the future following a devastating ice age caused by mankind, follows Evans’ Curtis who lives in poverty on a train that continuously circles the Earth and contains all that remains of human life. Curtis is part of the “scum” the people relegated to the back of the train while the “elite” enjoy the privilege of wealth and status that comes with living in the front. Curtis sparks a rebellion that ends in bloodshed and a devastating reveal when he makes it to the train’s engine room and discovers just how the elite have been fueling their operation. It’s a dark, grimy action piece that should give fans a new appreciation for Evans’ talent.

8. April And The Extraordinary World (2015)

Run Time: 105 min | IMDb: 7.3/10

In an alternate version of 1941 where France has been led by a line of Napoleons and leading scientists mysteriously disappear, young April, her talking cat Darwin, and the shady Julius go searching for April’s missing parents. It’s an interesting take on a history where technological advancement isn’t a thing, where “steampunk” is reality and TVs and cars don’t exist. April’s journey starts in the dreary, stuck-out-of-time France but leads her to fantastical advancements that still make sense in the world we’re presented with. The heart of the film lies in the love that plucky, stubborn April has for those she cares about, and the film’s driven by charming animation and a genuinely interesting concept. It’s enjoyable action that’s just out-there enough for adults while being accessible for the young and young at heart.

9. Moon (2009)

Run Time: 97 min | IMDb: 7.9/10

A beautiful, claustrophobic sci-fi film, Moon focuses on Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), an employee on an extremely isolated solo mission harvesting resources on the moon. With the end of his contract in sight, his hope of returning to his family is put in jeopardy once he has an accident in a lunar module and makes a startling discovery. It’s best not to know more than that about the story as it would pooch the twist. With Rockwell being pretty much the only actor in the movie, Moon obviously relies heavily on him, both for levity and existentially dramatic turns, and he doesn’t disappoint.

10. Under The Skin (2007)

Run Time: 108 min | IMDb: 6.3/10

Scarlett Johansson stars in this sci-fi thriller about an other-worldly woman with a dark agenda. The film sees Johansson using her sex appeal to lure unsuspecting men to their watery doom while beginning to contemplate her own existence with every new partner she seduces. It’s a subtle reverse of rape culture, with themes of race and immigration mixed in, but if all of that goes over your head, you’ll at least enjoy seeing Johansson off a bunch of frat bros and rapists.

Recent Changes Through April 2020:
Removed: Men In Black
Added: The Matrix

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