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Less than a year ago, Ted Cruz decided to leave his (literally) freezing constituents behind and flee to sunny Mexico during a deadly Texas ice storm. This made him the subject of derision and, eventually, “Cancun” comebacks when he started tweeting up a storm about how “America doesn’t heave Americans behind” during the inarguably botched Afghanistan withdrawal. Even when Ted had a slightly valid point, though, he still doesn’t get what he did wrong, which is why people so enjoyed this Halloween costume that immortalized the plight of Snowflake.

Ted missed the point on that joke, and he might be missing the point on his own joke. Following news that California Governor Newsom would vacation in Mexico for the Thanksgiving holiday, Ted pounced with glee. Pointing toward the extension of California’s COVID-related “State of Emergency,” Ted couldn’t resist tweeting, “Cancun is much nicer than Cabo.”

Naturally, people had plenty to say to Ted after his “joke.” Firstly, they don’t think it’s very funny that Ted appears to be making light of his whirlwind Cancun jaunt. Secondly, he’s doing the old apples-to-oranges thing, and Newsom’s taking a preannounced vacation and not sneaking around. And finally, Ted might wanna stay in his lane.

Does Cruz even realize why people were so mad over the Cancun trip? That’s debatable, and if there’s a truth, it’s still out there.

Tony Bennett made history yesterday when he became the oldest artist (at 95 years old and change) to be nominated for the Grammy Award for Album Of The Year (or for any general field Grammy). That’s thanks to his and Lady Gaga’s latest collaborative album, Love For Sale, and last night, Gaga spoke about the album and her relationship with Bennett on The Late Show.

Gaga and Stephen Colbert wrapped up their lengthy chat by talking about Bennett, and while the tone of their conversation had been lighthearted and airy throughout, Gaga spoke with more emotion while discussing Bennett. Colbert asked what it’s like to be friends with Bennett and Gaga started by speaking about their relationship and Bennett’s character, saying, “I love Tony so much. He is my musical companion. I’m so close with his family, which of course includes his amazing wife Susan Benedetto. He is a remarkable human being. He served our country. He also marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He used to sneak Duke Ellington in the back of hotels to play jazz music all night long. His commitment to civil rights and to humanity is something that he has taught me from a young age, to take with me in all that I do.”

She then spoke about Bennett’s Alzheimer’s disease, how they came to record their new album, and the impact that music has on Bennett today:

“I love him very deeply, and watching him begin his journey with Alzheimer’s years ago, I remember I wanted to make good on a promise I made to him. Because our album Cheek To Cheek went No. 1 and I called him and I said, ‘Hey Ton’! We’re No. 1 all over the world with a jazz record!’ And he goes, ‘Hey Lady!’ That’s what he calls me, he calls me ‘Lady.’ ‘Hey Lady, we need to make a Cole Porter record, all Cole Porter songs, all love songs.’ I said, ‘OK Tony, but you understand that we’re No. 1 all over the world?’ ‘Yeah yeah, we got to make a Cole Porter record.’ So I said yes. I always keep my word to Tony.

Then a couple years later, his Alzheimer’s just started to set on and I said, ‘Let’s go into the studio now,’ and we did. And when I tell you that when jazz begins, this man lights up in a way that is such magic. It just reminded me that anybody that has a family member or somebody that they love that’s suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia, music is… music is magic. Music is a miracle.”

The Late Show also premiered Gaga and Bennett’s performance of “Anything Goes” from One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett And Lady Gaga, the duo’s upcoming concert special that airs on November 28 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. So, find that below and watch Gaga’s interview above and below.

Will Smith‘s book tour continues to roll on, and with it, more personal details about the rapper’s meteoric rise from sitcom star to Hollywood’s A-list. This time around, Smith sat down with Idris Elba in London for “WILL: An Evening of Stories with Friend” where The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star opened up about having money troubles at the start of his career that he could only solve by borrowing money from a drug dealer.

According to Smith, he owed a substantial amount to the IRS in the early ’90s before becoming a prime star on NBC. However, he was determined to move to Los Angeles even if it required using unconventional means to fix his financial issues. Via Yahoo!:

“So Uncle Sam wanted his money,” he continued, adding: “I didn’t forget — I just didn’t pay.”

“I had to sell everything, and I knew whatever my new life was going to be I could feel it was going to be in Los Angeles,” he said.

“So I borrowed $10,000 from a friend of mine who was a purveyor of neighborhood pharmaceuticals,” he continued as the audience laughed.

Not missing a beat, Elba asked, “Was his name Stringer Bell?” a reference to Elba’s drug kingpin on HBO’s The Wire. Considering Smith’s financial transaction occurred almost 30 years ago, he’s probably not looking at any trouble with the government for the unorthodox loan. More importantly, for once, he didn’t divulge way too much information about his sex life, which is nothing short of a miracle.

(Via Yahoo!)

Nearly every main cast member from the original Saved by the Bell returned for Peacock’s surprisingly good revival, minus two: Dennis Haskins, who played Principal Belding, and Dustin Diamond. Screech’s absence was explained away by him living on the International Space Station, which sounds ridiculous until you remember he once built a robot named Kevin. Sadly, Diamond died earlier this year, but he got a touching tribute in the season two premiere.

The episode begins with the students and teachers of Bayside High returning to school for the first time since the pandemic started. Slater (Mario Lopez) refuses to attend “the thing at The Max,” or even explain why, until he changes his mind and joins his friends, Jessie (Elizabeth Berkley), Zach (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Kelly (Tiffani Thiessen), and Lisa (Lark Voorhies). They bond over the new addition to the restaurant’s menu, Screech’s Spaghetti Burger (it’s a fun throwback), and reminisce about their friend.

A transcript, provided by TV Line:

Zack: Do you guys remember the time that he got struck by lightning and was psychic for a week?
Jessie: And then you used his powers to cheat on a midterm?
Zack: Yeah! Why didn’t we go to, like, Vegas? Or… stop the Gulf War?
[Awkward silence]
Lisa: Hey, you know, I was still mad that that little dweeb beat me at becoming Miss Bayside.
Kelly: Yeah, me too!
Jessie: He was so funny.
Slater: Yeah…
Zack: To Screech!

Although it is never revealed how Screech died (or even if he did in the universe of the show; it’s only heavily implied), his pals remember the old days with a montage of some of his most memorable moments. Executive producer Tracey Wigfield explained that “it would have been wrong to not acknowledge [Diamond’s death] in a real way and to not have our OG characters mourning this character that we’ll never get to see again.”

Saved by the Bell season two is available on Peacock now.

(Via TV Line)

It’s been 30 years since big and small screen “that guy” character actor Chris Diamantopoulos got his start as a Canadian child actor in commercials. Before, as he says, puberty wreaked havoc on him.

Theater and the prospect of walking in the footsteps of his personal hero and old school song and dance man Danny Kaye (White Christmas) re-lit the lamp and Broadway opportunities soon popped up. Then came voicework (which also offered a chance to sing here and there, such as in his role as the voice of Mickey Mouse) and an on-screen career purposely focused on avoiding typecasting while playing Moe Howard, Robin Williams, everyone’s favorite fictional VC douchebag Russ Hanneman on Silicon Valley, and a would-be homewrecker on The Office.

Now Diamantopoulos is popping up as villains of decidedly different flavors in Red Notice and True Story (dropping November 24 on Netflix) while lending his voice talents to Inside Job and the upcoming Diary Of A Wimpy Kid. The man is busy, he might also be the most “happy to be here interview” I’ve ever had, talking with boundless exuberance and a genuine affection for his craft, the history that surrounds him, and the chance to play with the biggest stars on the planet. Between those moments and him falling into tremendous impressions of Kaye, Sean Connery, and Mickey Mouse where he delivered full sections of dialogue lifted from various projects, there’s plenty of conversation about those two distinct projects (specifically the tonal changeup with his brooding True Story character), the pressure of playing Robin Williams, and that time everyone blamed him for almost wrecking The Office.

With Red Notice and True Story, obviously, these are both villainous characters where you’re trying to find shades and flavors within that same kind of role, so that you don’t get bored and so that you feel like you’re contributing something unique each time and don’t get pigeonholed. Can you talk a little about that?

So I mean, I’ve made a career of trying to avoid that as best I could. I did Silicon Valley, before that show I hadn’t really done a lot of comedy. I mean, I did Three Stooges, but I was on 24, I was more a dramatic actor. Silicon Valley hit and then all of a sudden everyone wants me to play a prototypical douchebag, which is fine, but you got to write it as well as it’s going to be written with Silicon Valley, and that was about as good of TV writing as you could get.

Now, that’s not to say that I don’t want to play a role that I’ve played before, but with Red Notice and True Story, I will say, yes, they are both villains, but that’s really where it ends because Red Notice is larger than life, it’s a fantasy, it’s a 90s action-comedy romp that requires a little bit of a tongue in cheek, nefarious sort of quality. A mustache twirl if you were. It was an opportunity to work with the three biggest movie stars in the world, a terrific filmmaker, and to try my hand at that sort of Bond-ian trope. True Story is very, very rooted, very grounded, very Scorsese-esque. The character says very little, and only engages physically and quite brutally.

Oh, he’s like a human bullet, it’s great.

I appreciate that, and that was really the intention. I wanted the character to be like a lion in the prairie where it’s like, “Oh, so placid and he’s not really doing anything. He’s just kind of chewing.” And then when the gazelle shows, it’s just fucking on and nothing is going to stop him. And I love that idea. I love that notion. And that’s what excited me about that role. For an actor that’s as facile with words as I am and as verbose as I can be, it was a great opportunity to just turn all that off and put it all just into physicality and into the face.

In terms of the physicality, it’s interesting because Wesley Snipes would appear to me to be larger than you. And obviously, comes with a reputation of just kicking ass in Passenger 57 and Blade and everything like that. In Red Notice, obviously, you’re going up against Dwayne Johnson, who is a human mountain. How do you take on that challenge with the physicality of going up against guys that are, no offense, but if I were to do a tale of the tape, I’m probably giving them the edge in a fight.

That’s a great question and no offense taken. I mean, look, one of the great things about what I do for a living is the level of fantasy that I can allow an audience into and I can also allow myself that freedom to have the fantasy that… so what would it be like if I could pose a threat to these people? Right? And so it really just begins with the backstory of the characters. In each instance, as funny as this may sound, it’s not the size, it’s the quality. And it really is. Because I may be physically slightly smaller than Wesley and I may be physically much smaller than DJ, but in the instances that I am posing a threat to each of them, there’s no chance that they’re going to get out of it. Both of them are at the risk of losing their lives because my character has been either more clever or more vicious than them. So actually, there was something quite freeing about it. I didn’t need to peacock to pretend to be bigger than either of them, I was just going to be scarier.

A thing that I loved about the character [in True Story], is that Wesley was a window for the audience. Wesley showed our level of disgust and fear, and my character would look at him like, “What the fuck? What? You’re disgusted by this?” The amount of torture that my character in True Story inflicts, it’s like he’s taking a fast-food order. There’s nothing to it. That’s the true sociopathic nature, which I think actually makes for a good villain. And in that sense, I would love Hollywood to come calling with more villainous roles because there are so many ways to be a villain.

You’ve been a villain in a few different places. People could say you were a villain in The Office.

Okay. And people do. Sometimes people will scream at me and say, “I can’t believe what you tried to do to Jim and Pam!”

Walking up to that situation, knowing how beloved those characters were and that you were going to present a blockade to the happy ending that I think everybody was envisioning — what’s it like to go into that situation?

I was petrified because I loved the show and I loved Jim and Pam and it was an ever-evolving storyline as it was pitched to me, and Greg [Daniels, show creator] and John [Krasinski] and Jenna [Fisher] were so deeply engaged, and at times not necessarily in agreement as to how it should wrap up. And so it made for some tenuous moments for me because typically, I want to collaborate on a set. You know what I mean? I want to be able to add my input, but in this instance I knew my place, right? I mean, these people spent a decade crafting these characters, and for me to just come in and throw a monkey wrench in, I didn’t really have the currency to say, “Oh well, what if Brian did this?” You know what I mean?

I knew better to sit back and let them figure it out. To their credit, I think they did a good job, but we ended up shooting a bunch of stuff that didn’t end up in the show. I know Jenna had some ideas that were different than John’s originally, and I know that Greg had some ideas that were different than both of theirs as well, but there was a real collaborative spirit. And you could tell that all of them wanted this to go the right way. I think that there was also just that notion of, “There might be a couple of right ways. Let’s see.”

I want to get back to something you were saying about working with the three biggest movie stars in the world. Despite your experience, there has to be a level of intimidation, right? Tell me a little bit about how that’s changed in your career and just how you still deal with it?

Of course. And I get goosebumps and I get butterflies on every sound stage set and stage that I step on, partially because, as corny as it sounds, I still fucking love it and it still feels like the first time I get to do it. I mean I drive by Paramount and I’m like, “There’s Paramount.” I mean, I still do that. I don’t know why.

Is there an Imposter Syndrome aspect to it? Do you feel like somebody’s going to tap you on the shoulder one day and tell you it’s over?

Yes, for sure. Every job I do I think is going to be the last job I’m going to do. Not because I think I’ve done something horrible, but because I just think, I can’t be this lucky. At a certain point, my luck’s going to run out. And I love what I do so much that I don’t want it to run out.

Does that help to push your interest in staving off complacency with the roles you choose?

If it’s going to be my last one, I might as well go for it. That’s part of it. The other part of it is that I got into this because I enjoyed playing as a kid, pretending as a kid. And so when I show up in the room and there’s DJ and Ryan and Gal, for me to not play even more would be a disservice to myself and to my 10-year-old self. It’s like, yes, I mean it was hugely challenging for me to be in the room with those three and not be intimidated, and then I took that intimidation and just put it into my exuberance for being there.

In terms of, still speaking to that intimidation factor and that factor of trying to pay service to your 10-year-old self, you were familiar with the Three Stooges growing up, but when you’re playing a character like Moe Howard, or Sinatra, or Robin Williams what’s the intimidation factor to get that right? Especially with Robin Williams where it’s someone who was alive at the time.

So in that project, the challenge was that I was such a fan of Robin Williams. He was such a hero of mine, but I was a young working actor that was hungry to work. And so when I auditioned for this and I got it, I wasn’t going to say, “Oh, I can’t do this because it’s material about…” I had to do it. The other challenge was when I got the script, I realized that all the impressions in the script, we weren’t allowed to do them because it wasn’t an authorized biography and he wasn’t going to allow us to do any. So I had to go through and find impressions of characters that he’d never done before and make it seem like he’d done them.

So there was that challenge, and then the last challenge was that whole thing, for me, was an homage to him. And I’m sure, I’m not sure if he saw it, he probably didn’t, and if he did, if I were to be in his shoes, he probably wouldn’t have seen it as an homage. You know what I mean? Because it was invasive by virtue of what it was, but it was an homage. It was a love letter. So the challenge for me was to allow myself to get over that and to really just try and tell an honest story. To be frank, I love when I’ve had the opportunity to play a character that comes from history that I might have heard or seen, because it gives me a really fully loaded arsenal as an actor. If I know the voice, if I know the physical stature, if I know the cadence, if I know the gait, that eliminates so many variables that I don’t have to create, I can use those. I can mold my body, my voice, my face, my being into that.

With Silicon Valley and Russ Hanneman, have you had any interactions with actual tech bros and gotten any feedback? I would imagine, just based on the lack of self-awareness, that they fucking love it.

Well, let me tell you, as I… Hang on. First let me fill my cup with… [raises a “This Guy Fucks” mug]

There it is. Wow.

The VC startup bro billionaire world seems to have adopted Russ as their unofficial Patron Saint.

That must feel great.

I mean, look, what’s great about it is talk about a liberty and a freedom as an actor. When you’re playing the most reviled douchebag of a human being, when you’re playing the worst man on earth, well what can you be afraid of? If you’re already universally loathed, well, then you’re kind of impervious, then it’s like you’re from Krypton.

History has proven that out over the last few years, I’ll say.

But really there was something so liberating about not needing to be… Look, every character I play, I want to make sure that people like this or that or that it… With Russ, it didn’t fucking matter. It really didn’t matter. I mean, add to that the fact that I was given such tremendous writing, but really I could just go for it. I think that the community really embraced Russ very, very well, and it’s been a hoot for me. People yell, “This guy fucks,” at me all the time when I walk down the street. It’s not great when I’m with my children, though.

Not the best timing.

No.

‘Red Notice’ and ‘Inside Job’ are streaming on Netflix. ‘True Story’ drops on Netflix November 24

Jimmy Kimmel seems to have a sort of soft spot (for lack of a better term) for Mike Lindell, which at this point is kind of understandable. In many ways, the MyPillow man seems to be Donald Trump’s biggest champion, perhaps even more so than Trump himself.

While the former president will likely spend the upcoming holiday playing golf, stuffing his face, and possibly exchanging texts with Kyle Rittenhouse—“U up?”—Lindell will continue spending his time, energy, and money trying to prove that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. And, as he admitted on Tuesday night’s show, Kimmel wants to be a part of it.

“The MyPillow Man Mike Lindell… has quite a weekend planned. He’s hosting a 96-hour-long ‘Thanksathon’ on his website. He’ll be doing his greatest hits about election fraud and whatnot. He announced today that he planning to bring his case to the Supreme Court in order to ‘do a new election.’ I’m sure they’ll get right on that.

I mentioned last night: Mike Lindell invited me to call into his Delusia-Palooza this weekend, which honestly I would enjoy doing. I’d probably let him come over for Thanksgiving dinner. He goes on and on about the election, my father tells us about his knee surgery—I think they could cancel each other out. But my wife isn’t as excited about me getting on a Zoom with a bunch of conspiracy theorists over Thanksgiving as I am.”

Though Kimmel probably won’t be able to make it, Lindell saw that coming. So is suggesting that just as Kimmel has a guy who plays a Fake Mike Lindell, Lindell has decided to get a Fake Jimmy Kimmel to come on his marathon of lies. Kimmel shared a clip of Lindell, who decided that if Kimmel won’t commit to being a part of his Thanksgiving festivities, he will work on finding a Fake Jimmy—and Kimmel couldn’t be more thrilled by the idea.

“Ok, well now I’m not going to commit,” he told viewers, “because I’m dying to see who the fake Jimmy is going to be. That would be fun, right? What are they going to come up with?”

Only time will tell whether Lindell features Real or Fake Jimmy. Whichever the case, we’re sure you’ll be able to catch the highlights online. Then again, sitting through all 96 hours of Lindell spouting off looney conspiracy theories and suggesting we melt down voter machines to make prison bars isn’t that much different than what Thanksgiving will be for most of us.

You can watch the full clip above. The Lindell conversation begins around the 3:00 mark.

Due to its dystopian setting involving poverty-stricken contestants playing children’s games to the death, Squid Game has reportedly found a receptive audience in North Korea, where the show has to be literally smuggled in by USB flash drives. Unfortunately, such an act violates the government’s newly passed Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture law, which has already reportedly doomed a man to death by firing squad for selling copies of the Netflix series to high school students, who are also facing severe punishments.

Even their teachers are feeling the brunt of it. Via Radio Free Asia:

“The government is taking this incident very seriously, saying that the students’ education was being neglected. The Central Committee dismissed the school principal, their youth secretary, and their homeroom teacher,” the source said.

“They were also expelled from the party. It is certain that they will be sent to toil in coal mines or exiled to rural parts of the country, so other school teachers are all worrying that it could happen to them too if one of their students is also caught up in the investigation,” said the source.

According to sources, the government is relentlessly pursuing how the copies of Squid Game were abled to be smuggled in despite border restrictions, and from the sound of things, the process won’t be pretty.

“It means that the bloody winds of investigation and punishment will soon blow,” a source told Radio Free Asia, which also reports that at least one of the students’ wealthy parents have been able to bribe officials and spare their child punishment. It’s almost like a scenario straight out of Squid Game, so no wonder the show is hitting so hard with anyone who’s willing to risk watching it in North Korea.

(Via Radio Free Asia)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Wesley Snipes stands out in a supporting role, supplying gravitas, charm, and/or energy, causing people to remember that this dude is one of the true movie stars of the last 30 years with a run of classics across comedy, action, and drama that’s hard to best. That’s been the narrative surrounding Snipes’ performances in Dolemite Is My Name and Coming 2 America, and so it shall be in True Story, a tense slow-burn tale about family, fame, lies, and what we’re capable of when we feel like someone is trying to take everything from us.

In the seven-episode Netflix series from former Narcos showrunner Eric Newman, Wesley Snipes plays Carlton, a prideful drain on his famous comedian brother’s bank account and an impediment to him getting some distance from his bad habits. Kevin Hart is the star of the show as The Kid, and he’s never been better as his character is pushed deeper and deeper in a hole with the aid of Carlton. But Hart feeds off of Snipes’ layered and wildly compelling portrait of a conman trying to work the angles no matter the heaving danger in front of him or the evidence against him, navigating these moments with a mix of bluster, charm, and pitty.

We spoke with Snipes and Newman about building this character, how Snipes set the tone and Hart had something to prove, comeback kid labels, how True Story definitely isn’t Curb Your Enthusiasm, and more.

How did this story come to be?

Eric Newman: Kevin [Hart] called me sometime during, I think, the fifth season of Narcos. Kevin called me out of the blue, and he said he wanted to kill someone. He said he wanted to do something dark and different and get his hands dirty. And I thought about it a bit and came up with a version of it that worked for me. I kept coming back to this character of his brother, the betrayer. In all great stories and perhaps in even not great stories, each person is a victim or hero in their own story. And in Kid’s brother Carlton, we needed a little bit of both. And for this whole exercise to work, that part became essential.

I remember having a conversation. I’ve been a fan of Wesley’s forever. And I tried to put him into Narcos at one point. We met, and that didn’t work out. But I said to Kevin, “The guy that should be your brother is Wesley.” And we got on the phone with Wesley, and he either thought we were insane or that we were going to fail spectacularly. And he wanted a front-row seat to that. Or perhaps more likely, he saw that we were serious, and he joined us. And I think he tied the whole thing together.

Wesley, is that your memory of it? Were you just trying to get a front-row seat?

Wesley Snipes: That’s not the memory I have of it at all! [Laughs] Actually, I thought it was going to be like Curb Your Enthusiasm. And if you remember, Eric, I said that on our first Zoom meeting, and the whole conference call went silent. Everybody went quiet. Not Curb Your Enthusiasm. I don’t know. Like some other comedy? They were like, “No, no, this is serious. Very serious.”

Maybe on the next season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, they make a hard turn. Larry kills somebody. You never know.

Snipes: I gotta get Eric a commission off of that.

Wesley, did I hear a little Charlie Murphy in the voice that you use for Carlton? Is that just me?

Snipes: Very good! Very good. I did draw a little bit from Charlie Murphy. And me and Charlie knew each other. Rest in peace, my brother. Oh, man. Yeah. We knew each other very well. We used to go to the same places to get our hair trimmed, our lines and stuff. And I always thought Charlie’s way of talking was very unique. You know? Trying to look at how the Philly guys talk and what that tone is like and how they use their fingers and then use their hands and talk with their hands and all of this kind of stuff. I said, “Okay, let me try to bring a little bit of this into it, to give it some authenticity.” My training is to go and find those pieces of personality that people recognize or are familiar with and try to make it organic and authentic. And yeah, I looked at a lot of tapes and listened to a lot of Roots music. You know who The Roots are?

Yes, I do.

Neo-soul, and how these cats talk and try to bring some of that to it.

This is really a different look for Kevin Hart in a lot of ways. Did he just completely blow away your expectations?

Snipes: Definitely. He did more than I expected. He was much more committed than I anticipated. And he recognized that to be someone else and to create a narrative that’s not you, you got to go in deep, you got to be focused. You got to be emotionally committed to it. And he went there. Yeah. I was most pleased with it. But for me, the best thing is the process. While we’re doing it, I’m enjoying it… I’m like a pig in slop, baby. I am enjoying myself. You know what I’m saying? The magic that emerges from one of those moments where the fire is really there and it really connects, I get off on that. I love it.

Eric, same question to you about Kevin’s performance.

Newman: I credit Kevin’s determination and ambition, but I think Wesley raised the bar for everybody. You don’t show up to set if you’re in a scene with Wesley Snipes where you are not prepared, and you’re not willing to rise to the challenge. And I think it set a great bar. To be honest, some of the most complicated stuff we did in the first five days of shooting, Kevin and Wesley together, Kevin’s big scene with Billy Zane, all of these scenes were… You try to set a tone. And the hope is you have a schedule that allows you to kind of get into it a bit and everyone to get comfortable. We didn’t have that, but we had Wesley. And when Wesley walked on set, you felt it, you felt it for the whole crew. I have so much respect for what actors do. Great actors. And so, we didn’t cast this show because of the way anyone looked, though, they all look great. It was, who’s the best person for this part who understands the part, and who can deliver? And truthfully, and Kevin will admit this, Kevin was the one that had to grow into this. Kevin was the one with something to prove. And I think that this cast came through for him, and he came through for it. And as I said, and Wesley knows this, because I’ve said it to him a million times, I’m so grateful to have Wesley in this show. And part of me still can’t believe that I have Wesley in this show.

Wesley, I can see the future and see what the reviews are going to be. And it’s kind of along what Eric was saying. So often in your most recent projects you stand out and everyone calls it a comeback. You’ve been doing this for a long time, and you’ve been amazing for a long time. How do you take that praise?

Snipes: Yeah. I take it with a grain of salt, you know? For us, it’s about learning to master the craft, similar to a martial artist or a boxer, an athlete, learning to really be a master of the craft and being able to demonstrate your proficiency in any circumstances, regardless of what it is. The show must go on. So, COVID protocols, no COVID protocols, 12 weeks, 30 weeks to film? The goal is to be ready for all of it and still push the envelope of your talent and your skills and make it believable and hopefully entertaining it at the same time.

Last question, and it’s a silly one, but it’s on my mind. Demolition Man era, the hair. When you see Dennis Rodman with the same hair back in the ’90s, does that make you feel good? Or are you like, “This man’s ripping off my look?”

Snipes: [in mock anger] Hell no, I’m mad! You owe me money! All of them cats, man. Black guy with blonde hair. [Laughs]

Should have trademarked it. Should’ve trademarked that and that three seashells thing.

Yeah. Next time. Next time. I got new hairdos I’m coming up with, so I’ll get another shot at it.

‘True Story’ will be available to stream on Netflix starting November 24

Hawkeye (for the holidays) premiered two episodes on this pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday, and the show’s surprisingly (to me) engaging. Hailee Steinfeld rocks her Kate Bishop role while wearing a suit and roasting Clint Barton for needing a good rebranding. For his part, Hawkeye only wants to go home and retire again, so he is overall miserable, but he should be able to pass the bow and arrow on soon. And not only will his successor be worthy, but she’ll also enjoy what she’s doing.

Yep, Kate grew up in the shadow of the Avengers’ global introduction during the Attack on New York, and fans are (of course) looking forward to seeing Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova come for Hawkeye after Valentina blamed him for Natasha’s death. However, the premiere episodes revealed a few other new MCU characters, and one of them could capture the hardest of hearts. That would be Lucky, a.k.a. “Pizza Dog.” He is one of the goodest of boys, and because of that, he got his own poster.

Lucky, of course, took a fancy to Kate, and he’s got quite an action-packed history in the comics. Dating back to 2012, the comics painted him as a dog (previously named Arrow) owned by a Tracksuit Gang member. He lost an eye while saving Hawkeye’s butt, and Clint changed his name to Lucky. And as Marvel has previously demonstrated with Goose from Captain Marvel, Alligator Loki (from Loki, obv), and Morris from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Kevin Feige sure knows how to do mascots well.

Everyone is ready to throw down for Lucky’s continued safety, too.

Another little gut punch happened along the way: the “Thanos was right” message scrawled as bathroom graffiti.

And then there was the villainous reveal at the end, which will undoubtedly see followup in the coming weeks. Echo will get her own Disney+ MCU show, but in the meantime, she’s coming for Hawkeye. She’s the orphaned daughter of Kingpin/William Fisk and a previous adversary of Daredevil/Matt Murdock. The decision to introduce her as the head of the Tracksuit Gang (before she later switches sides and becomes heroic) is a telling one, so watch out for next week, Hawkeye and Kate.

And where is Yelena? We’re waiting for her, too.

Hawkeye debuts new episodes on Wednesdays.

The Recording Academy unveiled the full list of nominees for the 2022 Grammys yesterday, and naturally, people were displeased with how some areas of the list went. Some were upset, for example, when they noticed that Marilyn Manson, who is currently facing multiple sexual assault and emotional abuse lawsuits, earned an Album Of The Year nomination thanks to his work on Ye’s Donda.

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. was asked specifically about Manson’s nomination by TheWrap and he responded:

“We won’t restrict the people who can submit their material for consideration. We won’t look back at people’s history, we won’t look at their criminal record, we won’t look at anything other than the legality within our rules of, is this recording for this work eligible based on date and other criteria. If it is, they can submit for consideration.

What we will control is our stages, our shows, our events, our red carpets. We’ll take a look at anyone who is asking to be a part of that, asking to be in attendance, and we’ll make our decisions at that point. But we’re not going to be in the business of restricting people from submitting their work for our voters to decide on.”

At the previous Grammys, the rules for Album Of The Year stated that the “award credited artists, features artists, songwriters, producers, mixers, engineers with 33 percent playing time of the album.” For the 2022 Grammys, though, the “33 percent” part of the rule has been removed, which means Manson is included as part of Donda‘s nomination.

Find the full list of 2022 Grammy nominations here.