Category: Worldwide

Mark Hamill will forever be associated with Luke Skywalker. But the Star Wars Jedi isn’t the only iconic character he’s portrayed. To some, he’s arguably even better as the voice of Joker, which he started doing on Batman: The Animated Series in the ‘90s. It might seem like outside-the-box casting: Where Luke is (at least at first) boyish and earnest, the clown that fights Batman is very much the opposite. Indeed, Hamill may never have had the guts to try out for the role had it not been for someone who played the Caped Crusader.

“I had a confidence that really helped me, because there was this big outcry that Michael Keaton was going to play Batman,” Hamill said in a new video interview for Wired (as caught by IndieWire). “‘Oh he’s Mr. Mom, he’s a comedy actor.’ I mean they hadn’t even seen him, and they didn’t realize how great he would become. But there was great controversy.”

He continued: “So when I went in, I thought, ‘You think they’re going to hire Luke Skywalker to play the Joker? The fans will lose their minds!’ I was so sure that I couldn’t be cast, I was completely relaxed. A lot of times there’s performance anxiety because you want the part; here I knew I couldn’t get the part, so, who cares? And I drove out of the parking lot thinking, ‘That’s the best Joker they’ll ever hear, and it’s too bad they can’t cast me.’”

But, of course, Hamill did nab the role, which initially gave him some anxiety. “I was like, ‘Oh no, I can’t do this!’” he recalled.

But he could do it, and he’s been doing it for decades now. The last time he voiced Joker was on three episodes of Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?, from 2019 and 2020. It sounds like it’s fun playing him “because he’s insane, and because he’s insane, he’s never boring. It’s just fun to play a character who creates chaos everywhere he goes.”

Meanwhile, Hamill recently announced that he’s almost certainly never returning to the Star Wars-verse again. And Keaton? He’s back as Batman for the first time in over 30 years.

You can watch Hamill’s full Wired video interview below.

(Via IndieWire)

Paris Hilton and Kim Petras are an undeniably perfect pairing. The two stun beside one another with their platinum blonde locks on the artwork of their collaboration for a new version of Hilton’s 2006 hit “Stars Are Blind.”

Petras adds a new layer of exuberance and seduction to the bubblegum-pop track. Her sultry vocals mesh perfectly with Hilton’s; it makes for a perfect hot-girl summer anthem.

This crossover isn’t necessarily surprising. Hilton starred in Petras’s music video for “I Don’t Want It All” in 2017. Last year, Petras spoke about her friendship with Hilton more in an interview with Yahoo.

“She has just been such a supportive person for me,” she said. “I mean, that music video that she’s in? I didn’t really have a budget, so her agreeing to be in it was amazing. I had, like, no followers, and I had no proof of concept. I had just put out a single, and ever since then she has just kind of been a little bit of a fairy godmother to me. She just really gets it and has been saying such nice things about my music and posting my music. I love her for that.”

Listen to the song above.

Last year, Phoenix unveiled their highly anticipated new album Alpha Zulu. They returned in March with an effervescent remix of the track “After Midnight,” featuring Clairo. However, she wasn’t the artist who joined the group onstage at the We Love Green Festival in Paris on Saturday, June 3. That was Pusha T, who was headlining the same day.

Pusha T and Phoenix made for quite the unexpected crossover. Together, they performed Phoenix’s 2000 song “Funky Squaredance” with Pusha’s vocals adding an intriguing harmony. They then jumped into a cover of Clipse’s “All Eyes On Me.”

About Alpha Zulu, Thomas Mars told Uproxx, “Every album we make is a reaction to previous one.” He continued, “As we were digging into this one, we realized that we were putting the songs that had the least in common together. We tried to open the spectrum as much as possible and make a little bit of a Frankenstein. It’s similar to United because we played with all musical styles and genres on the record. It has this playfulness and this idea that you stretch the fabric as much as you can. Also, the pandemic gave us time to be inspired again because we didn’t see each other for a long time. It just hit the reset button a little bit more than with the previous albums.”

Watch fan footage of the performance above.

Donald Trump sure is in a whole mess of trouble. Since leaving the White House in disgrace — and no longer having protection the office afforded him — the former president has been hit with one lawsuit after another. So far he’s become the first U.S. president ever indicted on criminal charges and been found guilty of defamation and sexual misconduct. And that’s just the start. None of this has damaged his reputation with Republican voters. Quite the contrary. Indeed, one GOP lawmaker thinks all these legal woes make him a stronger candidate, if anything.

As per Rolling Stone, on Sunday Colorado representative Ken Buck — who tried to block Joe Biden’s certification, was against COVID-19 restrictions, thinks abortion should be mostly banned, among other MAGA positions — went on CNN’s State of the Union. Host Dana Bash asked if being the subject of multiple criminal investigations makes him a dodgy candidate.

“You know, it’s interesting,” Buck replied. “I think that the multiple investigations and civil lawsuits that have been brought almost give this presidential candidate and former president credibility. He keeps saying that the world is against him because he’s trying to make these changes.”

Bash tried to be diplomatic, saying, “I know what you’re saying, it gives him credibility maybe with some of the electorate but for you, Ken Buck, does it give him credibility to you?”

Buck responded vaguely, saying, “I was in the House when he was president. I voted on his bills. I voted against his bills sometimes, his budgets and whatnot. So I have seen him personally. I don’t look at the actions that he has taken that are being investigated as much as his role as former president and what his policies were.”

Buck’s position isn’t rare among the GOP electorate. According to Rolling Stone, seven in ten Republican voters stand by Trump, even as the majority of Americans believe the investigations into his actions are “fair.” Fun times.

(Via Rolling Stone)

Donald Trump sure is in a whole mess of trouble. Since leaving the White House in disgrace — and no longer having protection the office afforded him — the former president has been hit with one lawsuit after another. So far he’s become the first U.S. president ever indicted on criminal charges and been found guilty of defamation and sexual misconduct. And that’s just the start. None of this has damaged his reputation with Republican voters. Quite the contrary. Indeed, one GOP lawmaker thinks all these legal woes make him a stronger candidate, if anything.

As per Rolling Stone, on Sunday Colorado representative Ken Buck — who tried to block Joe Biden’s certification, was against COVID-19 restrictions, thinks abortion should be mostly banned, among other MAGA positions — went on CNN’s State of the Union. Host Dana Bash asked if being the subject of multiple criminal investigations makes him a dodgy candidate.

“You know, it’s interesting,” Buck replied. “I think that the multiple investigations and civil lawsuits that have been brought almost give this presidential candidate and former president credibility. He keeps saying that the world is against him because he’s trying to make these changes.”

Bash tried to be diplomatic, saying, “I know what you’re saying, it gives him credibility maybe with some of the electorate but for you, Ken Buck, does it give him credibility to you?”

Buck responded vaguely, saying, “I was in the House when he was president. I voted on his bills. I voted against his bills sometimes, his budgets and whatnot. So I have seen him personally. I don’t look at the actions that he has taken that are being investigated as much as his role as former president and what his policies were.”

Buck’s position isn’t rare among the GOP electorate. According to Rolling Stone, seven in ten Republican voters stand by Trump, even as the majority of Americans believe the investigations into his actions are “fair.” Fun times.

(Via Rolling Stone)

Ethel Cain is currently on tour for last year’s instant classic Preacher’s Daughter, whose track “American Teenager” was one of Obama’s favorite songs of 2022.

The singer, whose real name is Hayden Silas Anhedönia, is a beloved live performer. Seeing her on stage is a religious experience to her devoted fans, who often refer to her as “mother.” However, on Saturday, June 3, she collapsed at her show at the Sydney Opera House. She was one of the headliners at Vivid Festival and reportedly fell backwards during her third song.

Anhedönia addressed the incident in an Instagram Story. “Hi everyone,” she wrote, “so sorry I wasn’t able to finish the show last night but all this touring and traveling has finally caught up with me :/ am feeling better today though and am excited for the show tonight!! I promise I will make it up to those of you from last night whenever I can. Thank you much sydney, love u all.”

Fans on social media are wishing her a speedy recovery as well as asking those who were in attendance to not share footage of the incident out of respect. She has more performances scheduled in Australia within the next few days.

Warning: This article contains spoilers about the final season of Succession.

Some actors, like Samuel L. Jackson, love watching themselves on-screen and get really excited about their work. Others treat it more clinically. Are you surprised that Brian Cox — hater of Method-esque acting and freethinker who speaks his mind — is of the latter category? And are you shocked to learn that the beloved thespian, who didn’t enjoy that his Succession character Logan Roy kicked the bucket prematurely into its final season, hasn’t even watched the show’s final episode?

“I’ve never liked watching myself,” Cox said in a recent interview with BBC (as caught by Insider). “Somehow or other, because of what happened to Logan, I’ve been disinclined to watch.”

Besides, it’s not like he’d be shocked by what occurred. “I knew how it was going to end because I knew that Logan had already set it up, and so I gather that ultimately, in the end, Logan’s won through even though he’s in the grave,” he said.

“It’s a strange situation,” explained Cox. “I don’t cling onto things. When I’m over, it’s over, and I go on.”

Cox may not know everything about what went down, but he’s heard everyone “rightly got their just desserts in the end.”

Succession streams on the service now known as Max.

(Via BBC and Insider)

Taylor Swift has imbued The Eras Tour with many surprises, especially special guests. New Jersey got Ice Spice; Nashville got her rumored boyfriend Matty Healy. On Saturday, June 3, Chicago was blessed with the presence of Maren Morris.

“Tonight I’m gonna play a song I’ve never played live before so that’s fun,” Swift said onstage. After talking a bit about re-recording her music, she continued, “So for these songs, when I was doing Fearless as a re-record, I thought it would be so cool to have one of my favorite artists sing on one of the songs that was from the vault. And we are so lucky Chicago, so incredibly lucky, because not only did that artist say yes, Maren Morris is actually here!”

The pair then performed “You All Over Me” for the first time. Fans in the audience sung along to the tame, emotional ballad, a nice reprieve in between so many bombastic, upbeat songs.

At the first Chicago show on June 2, Swift also gave a speech for Pride Month. “I’m looking out tonight, I’m seeing so many incredible, just individuals who are living authentically and beautifully and this is a safe space,” she said. “This is a celebratory space for you. One of the things that makes me feel so prideful is getting to be with you and watching you interact with each other, being so loving and so thoughtful and so caring.”

Watch fan footage of the performance of “You All Over Me” above.

Big movies are typically sold to the public in the same way: They’re screened in advance for reporters and critics, then their stars and filmmakers do the press and late night rounds. Not The Flash. Its star, Ezra Miller, has been AWOL from the public, and for many, many good reasons. But that’s not all Warner Bros. Discovery has been keeping hidden away.

As per Variety, the company is going above and beyond to keep what is described as a “secret ending” under wraps:

The version that screened at CinemaCon in April ended abruptly, with a chunk of the final scene missing. At screenings on the Burbank lot this week, the final scene was intact, but Warners blurred out key elements. In fact, the final scene was changed multiple times pre-CinemaCon, the source adds. At the height of Miller’s PR problems, Warners was looking to keep its options open with regards to the future trajectory of the speedster.

Is the ending really so mind-blowing? It will likely have to pull off the feat of connecting the old DCEU — the one with Henry Cavill’s Superman, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, et al. — with whatever new honchos James Gunn and Peter Safran have planned for their big brand-saving make-over. Or maybe, you know, it’s just a really cool ending.

In any case, The Flash will only have one premiere, a mere four days before its release date — a most unusual move for such a pricey picture.

Meanwhile, there’s its troubled star. Miller hasn’t been seen much since they agreed to stop doing…all that and seek some help. They won’t be chit-chatting with journos nor telling Jimmy Kimmel wacky stories about their attention-nabbing misadventures with Johnny Law.

“Ezra wants the movie to open and the conversation to be about the movie and not about Ezra,” explained a source close to Miller. “They are focused on their mental health and don’t want it to be transactional.”

Still, Miller https://uproxx.com/movies/will-ezra-miller-be-recast-as-the-flash/#:~:text=’The%20Flash’%20Director%20Has%20No,Miller%20If%20A%20Sequel%20Happens&text=Following%20a%20tumultuous%202022%20for,movie%20making%20it%20into%20theaters., says The Flash director Andy Muschietti. Will it have been worth keeping Miller while canning a bevy of performers who haven’t tried to start a cult? We’ll find out after the film opens on June 16.

(Via Variety)

Marjorie Taylor Greene may be the loudest and most prolific chaos agent in Congress right now, but she’s not the messiest. That would be her on-off pal Lauren Boebert. The Colorado representative doesn’t make news as often as Greene, though she’ll still do things like heckle President Biden while he’s talking about his dead son Beau. Her personal life, though, is a shambles. She’s in the midst of divorcing her junk-exposing, maybe process server-attacking husband. And now it turns out she’s not the daughter of a former wrestler.

The latest Mad Libs Boebert news comes from The Daily Beast, who revealed that her mother, Shawn Roberts Bentz, has for decades claimed that her daughter is the result of a fling she had with now-retired WCW wrestler Stan Lane. Not even a court-ordered DNA test performed ages ago, which came out negative, could persuade her. The Boebert side even claimed that the lab worker had switched the vials after taking a bribe.

Cut to last month and Boebert and Lane decided to put this tall tale to rest by taking another DNA test. Surprise! The two are still not related.

To her credit, Boebert never thought Lane was her dad. “I personally have never publicly claimed he was my father — but certainly, that allegation is out there,” she told The Daily Beast. She even joked about it. “The Toby Keith song ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ hits a bit differently now.”

Lane has not enjoyed spending decades linked to someone who would later become one of the poster children for the MAGA movement. Bentz even sought child support payments from him.

“This situation and the numerous false claims made against me over the years has been stressful for me and my family,” Lane said in a statement. “I feel my otherwise good reputation has been tarnished considerably. I and other close members of my inner circle have been dragged into this as well.”

So congrats to Lane, who can rest easy knowing he didn’t sire the lawmaker who was all for crashing the U.S. economy.

(Via The Daily Beast)