Category: Entertainment

The U.K. government said on Tuesday that streaming services with more than 500,000 U.K. users, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, ITV’s ITVX and Channel 4’s services, will be covered by enhanced regulation by U.K. media regulator Ofcom “designed to protect audiences and improve accessibility.”

The government unveiled “secondary legislation to implement the Media Act 2024, bringing the largest, most popular VOD services in the U.K. under enhanced regulation by Ofcom,” it said. “Platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, and the public service broadcaster VOD services like ITVX and Channel 4, will be required to follow similar Ofcom content rules to those currently in place for traditional broadcasters.”

By designating the most popular streaming platforms as “tier 1” services, they will need to adhere to a new VOD standards code. “Similar to the Broadcasting Code, this will ensure that news is reported accurately and impartially and audiences are protected against harmful or offensive material,” the government said. “Audiences will be able to complain to Ofcom if they see something concerning, and Ofcom will have powers to investigate, and take action, where they consider there has been a breach of the code.”

Under a new accessibility code covering the services, they will be subject to minimum requirements for accessibility features. For example, streamers will need to ensure that at least 80 percent of their total catalogue is subtitled, 10 percent is audio-described, and 5 percent is signed.

The regulations are designed to “reflect the significant shift in how audiences choose to watch TV,” the Labour Party government said. After all, around two-thirds of U.K. households subscribe to at least one service from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Disney+, with 85 percent of people using an on-demand service each month, compared to 67 percent who watch live TV.

“While licensed television channels must comply with Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code and accessibility requirements, such as subtitles, many of the U.K.’s most popular VOD services are not regulated to the same standard,” highlighted the government. “Some are not regulated in the U.K. at all. This poses a risk to audiences and a lack of consistency across TV and TV-like services.”

As a result, the U.K. government called its move an attempt to “create a more level regulatory playing field and ensure that U.K. audiences – particularly children and parents – can be confident that protections from harmful material are in place, whether they tune in via traditional channels or a mainstream on-demand service.”

Said Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy: “We know that the way audiences watch TV has fundamentally changed. Millions now choose to watch content on video-on-demand platforms alongside or, in the case of many young people, instead of traditional TV. The Media Act introduced vital updates to our regulatory framework, which this government is committed to implementing. By bringing the most popular video-on-demand services under enhanced regulation by Ofcom, we are strengthening protections for audiences, creating a level playing field for industry and supporting our vibrant media sector that continues to innovate and drive growth across the U.K.”

Ofcom will shortly begin a public consultation on the new standards and accessibility codes to provide an opportunity for the public and providers to set out their views on the rules.

The story of Jesus Christ has inspired countless adaptations for stages, pages, sermons and screens big and small. But since this is the year 2026, there’s a new version being readied for podcast audiences just in time for the Easter holiday.

Faith Podcast Network will debut a four-part series, The Christ, billed as “an audio epic” and “the first ever full-scale audio dramatization of Jesus’ life across four immersive episodes using cinematic-quality sound, music and performances.” It will feature more than 100 different characters and some high-profile Hollywood names toplined by Task and Emmy-nominated Ozark star Tom Pelphrey as Jesus Christ, opposite David Oyelowo as Pontius Pilot, Paul Walter Hauser as John the Baptist, Courtney Hope as Mary, mother of Jesus, Patricia Heaton as the host and John Rhys-Davies as the narrator.

The Christ comes from a creative team that includes writer and director Paul Cuschieri, co-director and producer Mark Ramsey and producer Jim Young. The Christ drops during Holy Week, with the first episode debuting on March 30. A new episode will be released each day through April 2, scheduled accordingly so that the entire series will be available by Good Friday on April 3. The official logline says The Christ will cover “the life, death and legacy of Jesus of Nazareth. Through betrayal, courage, suffering and hope, the series explores how one man’s story reshaped history — and redefined love, authority and sacrifice.”

Needless to say, it’s a tall task to step into the shoes of the most famous man who has ever lived. But Pelphrey seems to have arrived at the opportunity at just the right time in his life and career. Engaged to fellow Emmy nominee and beloved TV star Kaley Cuoco, he’s a new father who has only recently started to share more about his life off set. Long considered an actor’s actor, Pelphrey longed to stay in the space of being able to disappear into roles like his acting idol, Robert De Niro. As his profile changed, thanks to critically acclaimed turns in Ozark, Mank and Task, so did his perspective on how to engage with the public as a recognizable actor. He largely credits the shift in worldview to his sobriety, which he revealed on Instagram last October.

“12 years sober today,” he posted on Oct. 1, 2025. “Sober by the grace of God. Deeply grateful for my sobriety and the life I get to live because of it.” He wrote more words about it, but the one mentioned above — God — is most necessary for the below conversation with The Hollywood Reporter as Pelphrey opens up on the intimidation of voicing Jesus in The Christ, how some early Shakespearean acting advice from Mark Rylance came in handy while recording his first podcast series and the beauty of being able to wait for “the next thing that just lights me up.”

What was your reaction when your reps presented an opportunity to play Jesus in a new podcast?

I was so excited. Faith is such a big part of my life, and it has been for a while now. This came to be out-of-the-blue, and I was so excited to be a part of it and tell this great story.

Tell me more about your faith. How far back and how deep does it go?

I was raised Catholic, and you can still see remnants of the ashes on my forehead from [Ash Wednesday services]. But my real relationship to faith started when I got sober, and that is actually what got me sober. When people talk about sobriety, you often hear the phrase “by the grace of God.” I fully believe that to be true in my case. My life went from chaos into order. Maybe a lot of people can relate to this, but I think of my faith like the story of the prodigal son. You’ve gone astray and get beat up out there. You’re sad, scared and don’t know what to do, so you think you should go home. But instead of getting yelled at, punished or kept at arm’s length, you are received with joy. That’s how it felt for me. To now have an opportunity to be a part of telling a story about Jesus, who I believed saved my life, and for that story to possibly help someone who has felt lost, stranded, sad or scared, is deeply meaningful to me.

That was beautiful, thank you for sharing. You get the job, then comes a challenge of finding the voice of Jesus, perhaps the most famous person who has ever lived. Obviously, he sounds a bit like Tom Pelphrey, that’s why they hired you, but how did you settle on what Jesus sounds like?

I have to say that there’s a certain size to this that if I thought about it in a certain way, I would’ve been too scared to even attempt it. I’m new to voiceover work, and so regardless of the role, I was already a little intimidated. But I was also very nervous leading up to it. I felt that I shouldn’t try and do too much. And I thought that if I could add to this in any way, I should try and add what it is that I feel like I do best — try and find the most human interpretation of what Jesus is experiencing. That’s part of the power and the beauty of the story — fully God, fully man — and it was interesting to walk through the story by thinking of it more on the fully man side. For me personally, those are the moment in the story that have always touched me the most when Jesus felt and responded like a vulnerable human being.

You mentioned being nervous. How did those nerves affect you?

I knew I would be saying some of the most famous sayings in human history, and if that doesn’t intimidate you a little bit, God bless, but it intimidated me. This is a slightly different way to talk about it but when I was in college at Rutgers, we got to study at [London’s] Globe Theatre, and it was amazing. It was such an incredible juxtaposition of what we were learning with [Sanford] Meisner and the kitchen sink, and all of that. We learned to stand up tall, use your voice and project.

Mark Rylance was still the artistic director there, and he came to talk to our class. At one point, he gave us an example of performance by doing the “to be, or not to be” speech five different ways in a row. He just ripped it, like, whoa. In my mind, what got blown open was how it was this very famous Shakespeare text that is so well known and can, at times, seem inaccessible because it’s so sacred and revered, [that it] became something else. Mark said, “Make everything personal.” He taught us to know what you’re saying and live in the truth of what’s happening. It blew my mind open. To come full circle, I was nervous because [the Christ project] was this very heightened and important role based on something that everybody knows and is familiar with and there’s a presumption that it needs to be said perfectly. I just knew that I would never say it perfectly. When we were about to start, it came time to surrender to the idea that it was never going to be perfect. But what I could offer to the best of my ability was that if I put myself into it, made it personal, said it how I felt it and how it made the most sense to me, we would accomplish the best version of that.

Logistically, what was the recording process like?

We recorded for four or five days. It was really nice because the recording process allowed us to be in the room with multiple actors at once, so that was a really nice way to play scenes. All of the actors are excellent voice actors, and they are so professional and can talk about the differences between this microphone and that microphone, all of this stuff that I didn’t know about. It was amazing to be in the room with them and be able to ask questions in between takes and learn a little bit of technique. I remember when a light bulb went off when I understood how the less volume you had, the more chance there would be for dexterity within the speech.

You can cheat these things because there’s a microphone so close to you. You can literally just get right on top of the microphone and whisper if you want. It’s very powerful and becomes very dynamic. Being in the room with these other actors was so helpful for performance and to build a sense of momentum so that every word, every line wasn’t uttered in isolation in a vacuum. It allowed me to pick up technique, which I’m always trying to do with everybody I work with. What can I steal here? What can I learn here? How can I get better?

Was there something you stole that was most impactful or meaningful during the process?

Understanding how much more you can play with dynamics in terms of sound, volume and proximity to the mic. I started on stage, and there’s a certain amount of volume and projection needed for that. When you start to work in film and TV, you understand that everything is going to come sit in your lap, and you can whisper and barely move your eyes and everything will be projected. I needed to make that jump in the booth as well. That was definitely something I felt like I walked out of there with on day five that I hadn’t walked in with on day one.

What was the most challenging or most emotional scene?

The obvious answer is the entire passage on the crucifixion. That was obviously a very intense thing to try and capture sitting on a chair in a booth. We tried to get as creative as we could to try and help that feel a little more impactful, even if that meant standing during some of those efforts, or even doing something as simple as breathing. I haven’t listened to it yet to see how it turned out.

How are you with that part of your job, as in listening to or watching your performances?

The nice thing is when there’s a lot of space between when you do it and when you might get to watch it. In general, I am not in love with myself and I don’t hate myself, so it’s OK. It’s really useful if you can try and watch it somewhat objectively. You can learn and see where you can get better the next time, which is always the goal. But what happens is when you first do something, you have so much information about it in your head. If I saw a scene on Task a month later, I still remember what we ate for lunch that day or that the scene required six hours of setups. You have so much information about it that you are not able to experience it for the first time or how the audience is experiencing it. But you are able to get that feeling the more time that has gone by. I’ve never once watched myself and didn’t think that there’s a lot of good things I could learn and do better the next time. But I don’t watch it and think, oh, I’m horrible, or anything like that. I feel like I’m getting better all the time, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted. I’m excited to listen to this.

There were some challenges of being in an audio booth when you’re meant to embody something very physical, because how do you create that? There were specific things that you would never have to do in any other context. I never have to be on set and act like I’m struggling to lift something or I’m exhausted sitting on a chair. If I’m on set and they want me to do that, I can go pick the fucking thing up and start running up and down with it until I’m exhausted and having a hard time lifting it, and then they can film me doing that.

Was the decompression time after work different for this type of project?

Credit to the group of people I worked with — and this happens on a great set, too — but, honestly, every day I left in such a great mood. There are times when you work on things, and you can’t help but to feel like there’s an energy that comes and it lives in you. You can feel it. When you get to work in such a way and you’re accumulating that energy in the process of working, you release it and leave happy, even if what you worked on or released was very dark or intense or heavy. This doesn’t happen to me much anymore but when I was younger, I might leave feeling heavy. If you haven’t been able to live through or share that energy, that’s when you feel bad because you’ve cooked up something that is not yours and you weren’t able to get rid of it. It’s an energy thing.

This was also lovely because David Oyelowo is one of my good friends. The day before I was going in, I looked at the call sheet and I said to [my wife Kaley Cuoco], “David’s going to be there!” It was my first day and would be the first thing I ever recorded, and thank God it was with David because it just calmed me down and put me in such a great mood. He’s incredible. What a sweet, sweet, good, gentle, beautiful man. Paul Walter Hauser is also a buddy. He didn’t get to be there in person but he Zoomed in and I was able to say hi. It was a great group of people.

I’m doing this interview because it’s Tom Pelphrey playing Jesus, alongside other well-known actors like David Oyelowo and Paul Walter Hauser. They could’ve cast famous actors from the faith space but since it is recognizable Hollywood names, this has the potential to travel to a wider audience. Did you think about how it might circulate in the world with your involvement, and was that a motivator at all?

There are so many versions of me answering this. I love being an actor, and I will say that for a long time, I really struggled with sharing any part of myself publicly. I really tried to dance around it, partially because of how it made me nervous and partially because of all the insecurities around it. Also, I read an interview once a long time ago with a young Robert De Niro. He was one of my heroes as a young actor. He said that the more people knew about him, the harder it was for him to do his job. I must’ve read that at 17, and it burned into my brain because it’s undeniably true. As an actor like De Niro, which is the kind of actor I’ve always wanted to be, you want to disappear. You want to serve the character. But we don’t live in that world anymore. As much as Robert De Niro was able to do that back then, it’s not the world we live in now.

Sharing about sobriety and faith are so personal to me, and it means so much to me. The other thing you notice is when people are sharing things, you could say a word to a thousand people, and a thousand people hear a different version of that word. In all humility, to share something that matters to you, you first have to come to an understanding and acceptance that you’re surrendering how it’s going to be heard or what it means to anyone listening. You have no control over it. That’s been an amazing process to go through.

You’re quite new to sharing parts of your life, too.

Yes. We were talking about sobriety and the first time I ever shared, on my own, about my sobriety was in the past year. There are a million reasons for that, and part of it was that with sobriety, with faith or getting to do a podcast like this, there came the possibility that at some point, an honest sharing of any of this in whatever humble way I can could potentially help someone or make them feel less alone. That outweighed my fear of being misunderstood. It’s an amazing thing. Once the seal was broken, it felt very freeing. I’m grateful that, like you said, on some level, my participation or David and Paul’s participation would lead you to want to do an article about this. It’s wild. Also, being a dad, you start to think about everything differently.

That was beautiful, thank you. And I appreciate you sharing about your sobriety because as someone who has been a fan of your work, seeing you share about your sobriety last year led me to think of your work in a new way. I know how meaningful of an experience it is and how it changes your life. But where do you go from here? How do you follow up playing Jesus Christ?

Well, I don’t imagine that I will ever have an experience quite like that again. But I will tell you that I will do the same thing that I always do. I wait patiently for the next thing that just lights me up. Honestly, right now, I’ve been waiting for a long time but there are some things coming that I’m really excited about. That in and of itself is such a blessing. You want to talk about life-changing, 12 years ago, I was just hoping for a way to pay my rent. I’m not able to wait forever now, but I can sit back a little bit and be a dad and I don’t need to work immediately to pay my bills. I can wait for things that really move me or speak to me. The longer I am in my sobriety, the deeper I am in my faith, the more I feel that there’s a real power in trying your best in all ways to be of service. I want to be like that as an actor, too. When I read something, if I feel like I can bring something special to it or help it come to life in a very unique way, then I go for it. I felt that way when I read Task because I felt like I could be of service to something bigger than me, and that’s where I want to live these days. I don’t feel that way all the time, so I wait until I do.

What a perfect way to tend. But I do have one more quick question because looking at you, you’re giving a little bit of Jesus today with the longer hair and the beard. Have you thought about letting it grow so when the podcast drops, you sound like Jesus but look a little like him, too?

As tempting as that might seem on some level, the last thing we need anybody thinking is I’m like Jesus in any way. I am a very poor, poor, pale imitation. But Jesus is somebody I’m trying to be more like. Like we say, it’s progress, not perfection.

J.K. Simmons, The Bear actor Abby Elliott and John Reynolds are toplining Purgatory, Lindsay Lanzillotta’s coming-of-age comedy/drama and feature directorial debut.

The indie, which has just wrapped production in St. John’s, Newfoundland, also stars newcomers Ruby McGurrin, Lauren MacRae, Mary Walsh, Jack Innanen, Julianne Arrieta, Marcus Ngo and Gemma Rosaria Rae.

A synopsis from the producers reads: “Set in the early 1980s, the film follows thirteen-year-old Beatrice Gravel (McGurrin), whose comfortable world—family, school, and church—fractures when her mother (Elliott) moves out to “self actualize,” leaving Beatrice and her sister (MacRae) with their devastated father (Reynolds). As Beatrice doubles down on a plan to ‘fix’ her family, she barrels through bullies, friendship blowups, a make-out party, and a kleptomaniac babysitter—forcing her to decide who she wants to be when she can’t get what she wants.”

Simmons plays Beatrice’s confidante Father Malone, Innanen portrays her school’s vice principal and her mother’s new love interest, while Walsh portrays a teacher and Arrieta is the PTA president.

Lanzillotta directed Purgatory from a screenplay by Christine Speer, and in a statement said of the film: “Beatrice Gravel is just so much fun. At my core, I’m still that teenage girl watching my parents’ divorce, and when I read Christine’s heartfelt and funny take on Beatrice’s experience, it felt brutally honest, real, and oddly comforting. I’ve always loved films that can entertain a wide audience while taking on hard subjects with heart and humor, and that’s what pulled me back to the ’80s to tell this story as a first-time director.”

Purgatory is produced by Lanzillotta, Simone Kirlew, Aldo Lanzillotta, Deniz Gumustas, Mark O’Neill and Gus Murray. The executive producer credits are shared by Ryan Horton, Elliott, Tai Truesdall and William Patterson.

McGurrin is represented by The Characters Talent Agency, while Elliott is represented by Paradigm Talent Agency and OPE Partners. Reynolds is represented by CAA and Entertainment 360, and Simmons is represented by the Gersh Agency.

Warner Bros. Discovery says that it is officially reviewing a sweetened bid for the company from David Ellison’s Paramount.

The details of Paramount’s revised bid were not immediately known. The company had offered $30 per share, with a “ticker” that would raise the price for every quarter the deal had not closed past the end of this year. The company is still recommending that shareholders vote for the Netflix deal next month, as of now.

“Following engagement with PSKY during the seven-day limited waiver period, we received a revised PSKY proposal to acquire WBD, which we are reviewing in consultation with our financial and legal advisors,” WBD’s board said in a statement Tuesday morning. “We will update our shareholders following the Board’s review. The Netflix merger agreement remains in effect, and the Board continues to recommend in favor of the Netflix transaction. WBD shareholders are advised not to take any action at this time with respect to the amended PSKY tender offer.”

While previous bids from Paramount have been made public, this was the first “authorized” bid for the company since WBD inked its deal with Netflix, with the company opening a seven day negotiating window last week. It is not clear if Paramount will choose to disclose its latest bid before WBD makes its next move.

The new bid from Paramount is likely to see WBD go back to Netflix to see if they will respond by “matching” Paramount’s bid, as they are permitted to do under the signed deal agreement. Of course, Netflix is only buying the Warner Bros. studio and HBO business, so a match wouldn’t necessarily be exactly the same deal.

Streaming giant Netflix has sweetened its takeover bid for the studio and streaming operations of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) in a move to fend off an increased offer from David Ellison’s Paramount, which had put pressure on WBD to consider reopening sales talks.

Members of the board of WBD had given Paramount a deadline of early this week for a revised best and final bid, while Paramount has also been pushing its hostile takeover bid directly with shareholders in its effort to derail the previously agreed $82.7 billion Netflix deal. That deal was first unveiled in December and amended into an all-cash bid in late January.

On Feb. 10, Paramount had added sweeteners to its own bid for all of WBD, including with a promise to cover the $2.8 billion fee owed to Netflix if WBD pulled out of its deal with the streamer and to backstop a refinancing that would cut costs by $1.5 billion. Paramount also added a so-called “ticking fee” of $650 million in cash per quarter if the deal is not completed by the end of 2026. Said Ellison: “We are making meaningful enhancements – backing this offer with billions of dollars, providing shareholders with certainty in value, a clear regulatory path, and protection against market volatility.”

Warner Bros. said in response that it would review the amended offer, but didn’t immediately modify its recommendation for shareholders to approve the Netflix deal. Some smaller shareholders have pressured WBD to engage with Paramount.

The big transaction has been a drag on Netflix’s stock, with Guggenheim Securities analyst Michael Morris recently noting: “We expect the path to conclusion on the WBD bid will remain a primary sentiment driver and likely share appreciation limiter over the next three months.”  

And Robert Fishman, analyst at MoffettNathanson, recently wrote: “Netflix’s stock price should have a harder time rebounding as long as the ongoing WBD potential bidding war continues.”

With a vote on the Netflix deal set for March 20, the battle for WBD appears to be nearing its end for now … unless and until regulators get in the game themselves.