In a bit of unexpected casting news, Helen Mirren is coming to ABC in a new unscripted comedy series that will feature the British actress narrating improvisational scenes voiced by comedians and starring real animals.
“I am excited by the opportunity to reveal the ‘true inner lives’ of the noble creatures with whom we share the planet,” Mirren said in a statement to Variety:
“When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren” stars Helen Mirren as the voice of Helen Mirren, who narrates a cheeky look at animals and the wild. The show is based on a BBC Studios format that “features comedians putting words into the mouths of beautiful beasts, teeny-tiny frogs, beatboxing badgers and more in captivating footage from all over the world,” the network said.
The ABC series marks a busy June for Dame Helen. The day after her new comedy show airs, she can be seen in F9 where, at long last, the muscle car series puts one of the world’s most distinguished actresses behind the wheel as Vin Diesel is forced to ride shotgun. Mirren is also playing the villain in the new Shazam! sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which began production last week. Between that production and however Universal is handling the F9 premiere, Mirren is going to have her dance card full this month.
When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren premieres Thursday, June 24 on ABC.
Breakout star Olivia Rodrigo released her highly-anticipated debut album Sour last month and is still riding high. The album debuted at No. 1 and had the biggest opening week of 2021. Seeing as Rodrigo is gaining recognition for her music, it’s only fitting that she’s now showing love to another artists who’s had a big year: Phoebe Bridgers.
Rodrigo has made it no secret that she has consistently idolized Taylor Swift since a young age. But now, Rodrigo has cosigned another singer who’s making waves in the music industry. Rodrigo shared a clip of her sitting her the car with her friend and former Bizaardvark costar Madison Hu. The opening chords to Bridgers’ hit Punisher track “Kyoto” can be heard on the stereo and the two act like they had never heard the song before scream-singing its hook.
While Bridgers’ album did not break charting records like Rodrigo’s, it still earned her critical acclaim. The LP led to her being nominated for four Grammy Awards this year, including Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Alternative Music Album. Bridgers also turned heads several months ago with her buzzworthy performance on SNL. The set saw her smashing a guitar on stage, which ended up outraging some (mostly male) rock fans and delighting others.
In the colorful video for Yung Baby Tate‘s new single “Eenie Meenie,” the burgeoning Atlanta star makes her lyrics literal with a campy take on a classic carnival game. Instead of whacking moles, she’s whacking hoes — or in this case, f*ckboys — with a giant inflatable hammer, making them adjust to her ways rather than the other way around. There’s also a “blink and you’ve missed it” cameo from fellow rapper Westside Boogie, who’s often addressed similar sentiments in his own music.
Tate’s new single comes from the recently released deluxe version of her first major-label EP (and sixth overall) After The Rain, which arrived May 21 after months of teasing from Tate and finagling from fans. In addition to the original seven songs, the deluxe features six new tracks, including “Eeenie Meenie” and the TikTok-favorite “Focused,” as well as more R&B-focused tracks that show off her singing and songwriting. The “Eenie Meenie” video is her second video from the EP after the Flo Milli-featuring, affirmational “I Am.” Tate detailed the making of that clip for Uproxx’s Behind The Video.
Watch the “Eenie Meenie” video above. You can read Uproxx’s newly released digital cover story here.
Yung Baby Tate is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The evolution Kratos and God of War went through in 2018 was really spectacular. This was a franchise that was well-known for button mash style combat and aggressively over-the-top set pieces. It made sense — the player was battling gods, after all, but the tone change in the 2018 release caught a lot of people off guard. 2018’s God of War was in some ways a sequel, but also a reboot of the franchise and it showed that even Kratos was capable of being a deep character. It also made a lot of people excited for the new future of the series.
Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait a little bit longer to experience the future that we have wanted for so long. God of War: Ragnarok, first announced in September 2020, was supposed to have a 2021 release date, but it is going to join the growing list of delays that has defined this year in gaming. Developers Sony Santa Monica announced the delay today on Twitter. Expect the game some time in 2022.
— Santa Monica Studio Is Hiring (@SonySantaMonica) June 2, 2021
This is unfortunate, but also not entirely unexpected. When Ragnarok was first announced, it was done with nothing more than a title screen. Typically a game that is a year away from release is going to have more to show than that. The optimist would have said that they didn’t show much because they didn’t want to give too much away, while the pessimist would say that they didn’t have enough to show. Considering the tumultuous year-plus in the gaming world, it’s very likely that it just isn’t close to being done yet.
We will just have to wait and see on what happens with God of War. While it’s unfortunate to have to wait longer, at least the game is going to get the work it deserves.
After a year of touring in support of their debut self-titled EP was wiped clean due to the pandemic, Bay Area trio Sour Widows retreated to the studio to work on new music. The new EP Crossing Over is the result of those focused sessions, four tracks that revel in sparsity and find the band more locked in than ever before.
To celebrate the new EP, the trio sat down to talk Big Thief, Massachussets, and Elf In the latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Friendship, spiderweb, loud, soft.
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
The soundtrack to all the good parts of life on Earth.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?
Hadley, Massachusetts.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
Big Thief – each member of the band brings something fresh, unique, and personal to the world of rock music, and watching their processes and evolution as a contemporary group has taught us so much.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life?
Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights IL (with our friend JP, most special dessert ever).
The best concert the whole band has attended is a tie between Sen Morimoto at Mayfest in Beloit, WI in 2019 and Duster at the Great American Music Hall in SF the same year.
What is the best outfit for performing and why?
Whatever makes you feel the most yourself that night – sometimes it’s your Woodstock ‘99 original t-shirt with jeans and sometimes it’s your vintage Harley Davidson long sleeve with the spiderweb elbows over a slip dress, wear the thing that is going to be the best conduit for your shred energy.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
Attic crawl space in Columbus, Ohio.
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
2 members of the band have a tattoo that says “YELLOW BELLY” which is a lyric from an old song and the name of one of our guitars, we got it in Portland, OR on the first tour we ever planned 3 weeks after starting the band.
What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?
Queen, Coldplay, Megan Thee Stallion.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
Listened to our music 🙂
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
You are gay.
What’s the last show you went to?
A show we played in Portland, OR with some friends two days before lockdown.
What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?
Elf.
What would you cook if Obama were coming to your house for dinner?
After breaking up in 2002, Hole reunited for a few years about a decade ago. Since then, there has been some talk of another Hole reunion, like in late 2019, when members of the band were seen rehearsing together. As things stand now, though, it would seem that there is absolutely no chance that Hole will ever reunite.
In a new interview with Variety, Courtney Love was asked about her relationship with her former bandmates and she responded positively, saying, “We’re all really good friends, and [Melissa Auf der Maur] and I are especially close — we talk every day. But [Eric Erlandson] is kinda off the grid right now — I think he’s in Japan literally becoming a monk. I’m not even kidding. Melissa, [Patty Schemel], and I think he’s become a monk or something on that level of asceticism.”
She was then asked if she thinks there will ever be a “proper Hole reunion,” and she was clear with her answer:
“No, absolutely not. And you guys have gotta get over it. Our old manager Peter Mensch calls once a year to ask about a reunion: ‘Hey, just doing my thing I do every year with you and Jimmy Page.’ And I’m so honored to be in that company, but it’s just not gonna happen.”
If Hole truly is done for good, then their final album was 2010’s Nobody’s Daughter, which followed their most commercially successful effort, 1998’s Celebrity Skin.
Netflix’s Sweet Tooth feels precisely like what people should want to watch after over a year of enduring a pandemic. Granted, the show does involve a virus as part of the setup, but what unfolds is an awe-inspiring story that’s based upon a comic-book (which ran under DC’s Vertigo imprint) by creator Jeff Lemire. The show carries a lighter spirit than the comic, but we’ve still got a post-apocalyptic fairytale about what happens when a great sickness (which is poorly dealt with by humans) ends with a miracle. That miracle would be the appearance of “hybrids,” babies who are born half-human and half-animal, and as one might imagine, a certain segment of mankind still does not react well.
Despite what sounds like a downer of a description, the show’s a slam dunk for Warner Bros. and executive producer Robert Downey Jr. Much of the success is down to the central dynamic, a hybrid deer-boy named Gus, a.k.a., “Sweet Tooth” (Christian Convery), and a wandering loner named Tommy Jeppard, a.k.a. “Big Man” (Nonso Anozie). Together, they give off a real odd-pair vibe that’s not unlike what we’re currently seeing in The Mandalorian (i.e., the protector and the scene-stealer with the adorable ears); and the duo sets off on a cross-country quest, which sees them through a whirlwind set of events that neither could have imagined. The episodes demonstrate extraordinary world-building that should lead into future seasons, if the Netflix audience knows what’s good for them.
It certainly helps that Convery (who is only 11 years old with an impressively lengthy list of credits) and Anozie (RocknRolla, Game of Thrones) churn out a chemistry that will keep viewers invested in this show after the season finale. The pair was gracious enough to sit down with us and tell us why this post-apocalyptic series is so unique, and (in a few ways) how the show’s much more than “Mad Max Meets Bambi.”
Your characters are strangers at the beginning of the season. Did you do any bonding exercises beforehand, or let the bond develop on its own?
Christian: We’d never met before! We never even got a chance to say hi! We never talked to each other, that’s it. We never did, and then the first day on set for him, he comes in, and he’s in costume, and we’re just being thrown into a scene, and I guess we just developed a connection on the fly?
Nonso: Yeah, we just clicked. It was interesting. Obviously, with people who you work with, you want to get on with them because you’re gonna spend time telling the story, so it’s convenient for that to be the case. But we genuinely clicked, we didn’t have a chemistry test, we didn’t do any of that. They spent so much time trying to cast Gus and trying to cast Jeppard, and that’s what they had the time to do, to make sure, “These are the guys that we want,” but how we related to each other wasn’t something that we had a chance to do beforehand, because we were in different parts of the world as well. It’s just so amazing that we just came together and kicked. He’s like my little brother, do you know what I mean? My little little brother, so it was easy to me to play a kind-of father figure to Gus. There’s that natural and genuine real connection there, for me, anyway.
The connection feels real, and meanwhile, the comic book has been described as “Mad Max meets Bambi.” How do you think that holds up for the series?
Christian: Uhhhhh, I’ve never watched Mad Max.
Nonso: [Laughs] Whaaaat?!
Yeah, you probably have a few years to go before that’s a good idea, Christian.
Nonso: Oh, I can answer the question. That’s an interesting analogy, and I think there’s definitely themes in both of those films that run through Sweet Tooth. I’ve always been the one to kind-of think that there’s no right or wrong with people’s interpretations, and we’ve done our best job to tell the story. And it’s up to the people at home and all the families who sit down and watch Sweet Tooth and to make up their mind about what they think it is. I definitely feel that there’s something for kids, and something for adults and something for everyone. So, everyone’s going to get a chance to take what they need.
So, if Gus and Jeppard could visit any movie in the world outside of Sweet Tooth, where would you want them to show up?
Christian: I’d probably put Jeppard and Gus into a fairytale fantasy, I’d say something like Peter Pan, I guess?
Nonso: That would be awesome. And I’d love to see Jeppard and Gus as, like, vampire hunters. With utility belts like stakes and all kinds of weapons.
Christian: Yeah, that’d be funny.
Netflix
Christian, you’ve already been in so many comic book projects already: Venom, Lucifer, and more. Sweet Tooth seems like a natural progression, so how did you react to getting this role?
Christian: Soooo when I got the role, I was so excited. I was screaming and jumping up and down on the bed, like constantly. And then I got to researching, and then I realized, “Oh wait, I just remembered that Sweet Tooth is a comic book!” And I never really was into comic books or graphic novels at the time, but then I was like, “Mom, can we please order all the comic books for Sweet Tooth!” And she was like, “Yeah, because you got the job, sure!” We ordered them all, and I just read them over and over, like, five times. That’s when I really started to get into graphic novels and comic books more.
And Nonso, you’re known for roles on high-profile shows like on Zoo and Game of Thrones. How did you create a character with an ambiguous background and who we don’t know much about?
Nonso: I really do feel like Jeppard is a very straightforward character for me. I would just approach it like I do most things. I break down exactly what the character does and what’s written about him and what he says, and that kind of gives me all of my objectives and what I need to do to play the character. What excites me about Jeppard, though, is that he’s a bit of an outsider. Like, I think everybody’s their own outsider in this world, because we’re in a world where there’s no law and no government. To survive a day, you pretty much have to do the worst things, the most despicable things that you never thought you were gonna be capable of doing. You have to lie, cheat, steal, and kill to be alive in this dystopian nightmare in the story of Sweet Tooth. That’s gonna have some way of shaping the character that you build, but I think somewhere deep inside, there is a good part of Jeppard, and I think Gus brings it out, and their relationship together is definitely what shapes and helps to reveal more of Jeppard’s character.
Christian: And on that note, because Jeppard is really tough on the exterior and doesn’t like to show fear or anything like that or be a people person, I would say, I think that Gus is really chipping away at the exterior and getting to his heart and on the inside, I feel like he’s giving Jeppard hope, and he’s giving him inspiration and positivity and energy. I also feel like could take away from the show hope and positivity in a dark time, and that it could bring us hope and positivity.
We definitely need that these days, no doubt about it.
Christian: Yeah, exactly! Because currently during COVID, we need hope and positivity that we’re gonna get through this, which we will.
Nonso: Absolutely, and I think it’s key to remember that the original story of Sweet Tooth was created over a decade ago, so it’s kind of coincidence that the two stories, in terms of the fantasy that we’re telling and the real-life that we’re living, they actually match up. But it’s definitely a beacon of hope in this time that we can overcome anything.
Netflix
Christian, can you tell me about those deer ears that you wore? They looked so realistic, the way that they moved with you.
Christian: Basically, I have a skull cap that goes on my head, and the ears or attached to that, and they’re remote-controlled by a puppeteer who sits at the camera and watches me move, and he can move the ears to that, basically. So, all I can say is that it’s teamwork, so we’re both working together to make them move as best as possible.
I enjoyed the minimal CGI here, for sure. Also, what do you both feel that this show brings to the post-apocalyptic genre that other shows do not?
Christian: I think that this post-apocalyptic, sci-fi fantasy adventure of a story between Gus and Jeppard will bring a completely new vibe to any movie/TV show that you’ve ever watched. Because first of all, in some movies, there’s some virus that sends the world into chaos, but this story is so unique because of hybrids. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen that concept in a movie or a TV show before. There’s that whole new element about how these new people work together. I think that it also brings a new story about family, friendship, hope, and positivity all into one big, eight-episode season.
Nonso: Yeah, I think what’s unique about it, well, there are many things. One thing is it reminds us sharply about the world that we’ve been living in for the past year even though it wasn’t intended for that purpose. It serendipitously ended up that way. I feel like it’s a dystopian drama and a comedy and there’s satire, and it’s a bit sad, and it has these happy moments that are uplifting, and the whole family can watch it. Now, I love Mad Max, but the whole family can’t watch Mad Max, and I feel like Sweet Tooth is unique in that sense, that it presents really difficult topics in a way that, and it honors the story of the original comic books, in a way that the whole family can watch, and that’s quite unique.
Let’s do one final question. What have you guys been watching during the pandemic?
Christian: I’ve just been binge-watching every good show I can find on Netflix. That’s all.
Christian: Oh! I started that but didn’t finish it because I found another good show. I’ve been watching everything.
Nonso: The great thing about Netflix is that you can start and stop things whenever you want, and there’s such a variety of TV shows, so there’s always something new. And hopefully soon, Sweet Tooth is gonna be up there.
With every single released off his forthcoming project, Montreal-based singer Chiiild seems to explore a new genre. His recent track “Gone” was a coffeehouse anthem while his previous tune “Sleepwalking” was a driving lullaby. Now taking his sound to new heights, Chiiild leans on groovy bass guitar for his funk-forward single “Eventually.”
“Eventually” is the fourth preview Chiiild has shared of his impending debut album Hope For Sale. The song opens with atmospheric synths before Chiiild’s brooding vocals melts over a layered beat. “I know eventually / You will fall for me baby / And then you’ll want me back / I know you want me bad,” he sings at the chorus.
Previously speaking about his upcoming project in an interview with Uproxx, Chiiild noted his intentions for Hope For Sale:
“The intention I think was — to break it down — lyrically, to be more conversational, to reflect the times [more]. A lot of the artists that I love and I grew up on are just like mirrors of society… it’s beautiful because you see what’s happening, what’s trending in life, not so much just music, and you’re like, ‘Hey this is what I need to reflect, this is my reaction to that trend.’”
Listen to “Eventually” above.
Hope For Sale is out 7/23 via Avant Garden. Pre-order it here.
We’re a couple weeks out from Nickelodeon show iCarly‘s big revival over Paramount+. We’ve got a trailer, and the majority of the cast is back and ready to provide some laughs to Millennials in dire need of them. However, one key component of the show is noticeably missing, leaving fans asking, “where’s Sam?” Turns out, Jennette McCurdy’s absence from the show is not entirely personal — she’s just given up acting completely.
Back in February, Jennette McCurdy explained on an episode of her podcast Empty Inside that she no longer has any desire to be in front of the camera — and never really did. Around the thirty-minute mark of the episode “fish out of water,” which also features guest Anna Faris, McCurdy confirmed she has quit acting to pursue a career in writing and directing, and “it’s going great.” She also explained that she actually was never very interested in being acting, but pressure to financially support her family locked her into it.
“I initially didn’t want to do it,” she explained. “My mom put me in it when I was six and by age 10 or 11, I was the main financial support for my family. It was very much the pressure of my family didn’t have a lot of money and this was kind of the way out. Which I actually think was helpful in driving me to some degree of success because I don’t think I would have been as ambitious if I didn’t know that it was further for my family. I had to f**king do good and hit my mark and nail my thing. But always always always acting was difficult for me in the sense of the anxiety aspect.”
Once McCurdy’s mother passed away, McCurdy said she formally began to back away from acting, as “with [my mother’s] death kind of died a lot of her ideas for my life, and that was its own journey and a difficult one for sure.” Later on in the podcast, McCurdy told Faris she also believes acting was “detrimental” to her childhood. While she never mentioned iCarly in particular, the former actress said she is “ashamed of the parts she’s done in the past,” “resents her career in a lot of ways,” and felt ostracized by her peers. In addition, she said taking on the role of another person prohibited her from feeling like one herself.
“I kind of had my own emotions on the back burner as a kid. I think it was really detrimental to my own emotional well-being because this character’s emotions were the priority and also I was always playing the sad, crying kid kind of thing,” she said. “It’d be like, I want to know what I’m actually feeling but I guess I’m a child prostitute this week so I guess I’m sad.”
In addition to internal struggles, it’s no secret McCurdy was also involved in a handful of “scandals” while acting, the most notable one being with Ariana Grande back in 2014 which ultimately led to their show, Sam & Cat, being canceled. While she has still appeared in a handful of short films, since 2014 she has been writing and directing short films and television episodes.
However, while McCurdy might not be making an appearance in the reboot of the 2007 teen sitcom iCarly, the rest of the main cast has returned for what is essentially the show’s seventh season. The thirteen-episode series debuts June 17, and stars Miranda Cosgrove (Carly), Nathan Kress (Freddie), Jerry Trainor (Spencer), and newcomer Laci Mosley (Harper), who has already received a whole lot of hate for “replacing” Sam on the show, despite the cast reassuring fans that was not the case. Here’s hoping the reboot is considerably less traumatic than the situations surrounding it and its cast.
Daverius Peters, 18, must have felt like he was wandering through a nightmare on May 19 when he was refused entry to his high school graduation. He was dressed in his cap and gown, ready to receive his diploma in front of his proud family when he was stopped at the front door for a dress code violation.
“She said my shoes violated the dress code and I couldn’t attend the ceremony unless I changed them,” Peters, a senior at Hahnville High School in Boutte, Louisiana, told The Washington Post.
Male students were instructed to wear dark-colored dress shoes to the ceremony. Peter wore black leather sneakers with white soles. “I thought I could wear them because they’re black,” he said.
Also? Whether or not they lived up to the letter of the graduation dress code, there was not one thing wrong with the perfectly respectable shoes Daverius Peters originally chose (which fit and paired better with his gown and pants than the borrowed shoes). pic.twitter.com/Czj97VYRDN — Cindy McLennan 🗽💉💉 (@cindymclennan) June 1, 2021
After being barred from being admitted to one of the most important events of his young life, he went outside to figure out a solution. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough time to buy a new pair of shoes.
He paced nervously in front of the gym until he spotted John Butler, a paraeducator at the school for the past two years. Peters explained the situation to Butler and he couldn’t believe what he heard.
“Of course, that sounded crazy to me,” said Butler. “There was nothing eccentric about his shoes.”
“In total disbelief I go down to confirm,” Butler later recalled on Facebook. “And sure enough she tells me the same thing. So then it becomes a no brainer to me, a no more questions asked scenario,” he wrote.
So Butler gave Peters the shoes off his feet and he was allowed back into the ceremony. The funny part is that Butler wears a size 11, and Peters, a size nine, so he looked a little clumsy while walking on stage to get his diploma.
The new shoes caught the attention of his mother, Jima Smith. “Wait a minute, whose shoes does he have on?” Smith recalled telling her family. “We were all confused.”
Her other son noted there was a man in the audience who had no shoes and they put two and two together.
After the ceremony, Peters returned his loafers to Butler and he wasn’t shocked by the educator’s generosity. “I wasn’t surprised because Mr. Butler is that type of person,” Peters said. “At school, if you’re having a bad day, he’ll be the one to take you out of class, walk around the school with you and talk to you.”
Butler later posted a photo of the type of shoes Peters wore to the ceremony and they could easily be mistaken for dress shoes.
Butler is having a meeting soon with school officials to discuss its graduation dress code.
“Something that small shouldn’t rob a kid from experiencing this major moment,” said Butler. “It’s something that needs to be thoroughly discussed.”
Butler’s quick thinking and sacrifice won’t soon be forgotten by Peters’ mother.
“He gave the shoes off his own feet to my child,” Smith said. “That says a lot about what type of man he is.”
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