CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso are on their Free Spirits World Tour until November, but they’ll be hitting the state again in 2027 for one of the biggest milestones of their career. On Thursday, Harry Styles dropped the dates for his Together, Together 2027 tour, and fans quickly noticed the Argentine duo’s name.
CA7RIEL and Paco Amoroso are one of the most unique acts in music right now
Styles will be in six cities on the North American leg of the global stadium tour before heading to Europe. CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso will be joining them on April 9 and April 10 for their shows in Dallas, Texas, at AT&T Stadium.
The duo met in first grade after sitting next to eachother by chance
The duo, often mistaken for brothers due to their shared surname, consists of Catriel Guerreiro (aka Ca7riel) and Ulises Guerriero (aka Paco Amoroso). They met way back in primary school when they were six.
Catriel said in an interview with Arte that they sat next to each other. “It was first grade. Just one of those f***ing coincidences in life; we ended up sitting next to each other,” he explained.
Since the beginning, people thought they were siblings, and they started trolling together immediately. “The teacher was taking attendance and said, ‘Okay, Ulises Guerriero?’ He raised his hand. ‘Catriel Guerreiro.’ I raised my hand. “Oh, are you brothers?” she asked. And we said yes,” he said.
CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso performs on stage at Movistar Arena on May 28, 2025 in Madrid, Spain
They sat in music workshops together, one strumming guitar, the other violin, eventually forming a rock band called Astor y las Flores de Marte in 2010. They officially became a duo in 2018, shifting into the experimental-trap/funk/hip-hop/pop world, and are among the first wave of Urban musicians in Argentina.
Now, they’ve practically become blood. “We’re not brothers, but we’re basically brothers,” Catriel told Arte.
They dropped their debut studio album, Baño María, in April 2024. But everything changed when they lit up the international scene with their viral Tiny Desk session, released on October 4, 2024, which has garnered over 55 million views at the time of this publication.
Riding the wave of success, they went on tour, opened for Kendrick Lamar, and have played at the world’s biggest music festivals, venues, and stadiums.
The artists won 5 Latin GRAMMYS
In 2025, they were the stars of the show at the Latin GRAMMYS. Tied with Mexican legend Edgar Barrera for the second most nominations after Bad Bunny, they won 5 awards at the Latin GRAMMY Premiere Ceremony: Best Alternative Song, Best Long Form Music Video, Best Alternative Music Album, Best Short Form Music Video, and Best Pop Song. They also made out.
Summer is quickly coming to an end, but there’s still time to have some fun in the sun, especially since it seems to just be getting hotter. This week, there were some great releases that will have you dancing, thinking about your ex-situationship, and ready to party. Get your playlist ready and let’s have some musical fun.
Jota Rosa, Alvaro Diaz – Detective
Puerto Rican artist and producer Jota Rosa steps in front of the mic for the first time with “DETECTIVE,” a Latin Alternative collaboration with Álvaro Díaz. The smooth and infectious track kicks off a new chapter for Jota Rosa, who turns the confusion of a complicated relationship into a playful investigation of mixed signals, red flags, and unanswered questions. “DETECTIVE” also serves as the first look at his upcoming project and a new side of the artist beyond production.
Ryan Castro – LA SAPIÓ
Colombian superstar Ryan Castro is back in full perreo mode with his new single “La Sapió,” a catchy reggaetón track produced by longtime collaborator SOG. The song taps back into the raw energy of his El Cantante del Ghetto era while teasing what’s ahead on his upcoming album. The release comes as Castro celebrates a 2026 Billboard Latin Music Awards nomination for Latin Rhythm Song of the Year for “La Villa” with Kapo and Gangsta.
Chuwi – Bashiata
Puerto Rican quartet Chuwi is turning everyday burnout into bachata with “Bashiata,” a hauntingly beautiful track about the pressure to work, consume, and constantly keep up. Rather than romanticizing the grind, the song captures the frustration of feeling stuck in the same cycle and the realization that something has to change.
Camilo, Evaluna Montaner – La Medalla
Camilo is entering a new chapter with Para Cuando Sean Mayores, his fifth studio album. The release comes a week after he took the stage, performing “El Árbol” at Premios Juventud. The 13-track project is inspired by fatherhood and a desire to reconnect with his inner child, and explores love, time, and living in the present. It includes one collaboration, “La Medalla,” featuring his wife Evaluna. The album will hit the road October 9 with the Para Cuando Sean Mayores Tour, beginning in Miami before traveling across the U.S., Latin America, and Mexico
Dalex – Calendario
Dalex gets smooth and sexy with “Calendario.” The Puerto Rican artist taps into the nostalgia of a past relationship for a track that will have you in your feelings, trying to stop yourself from texting your ex. “Calendario” follows his EP Cuarto Rojo and continues his signature R&B-driven sound.
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Lenny Tavárez – SATISFExXxO
After surpassing 1 billion streams, Puerto Rican singer Lenny Tavárez explores eight different chapters of love on his new EP 8, his latest and most personal project. The eight-track release blends his urban sound with salsa, cumbia, and afrobeat, with “Satisfecho” serving as the focus track and marking the first time he brings his real-life love story with wife Natasha Nazario into the project.
ROBI, Arón Piper – De Sueño En Sueño
Puerto Rican pop star ROBI teams up with Spanish actor and singer Aron Piper for “De Sueño En Sueño,” an intimate alternative-pop track about the memories and feelings that linger long after someone is gone. “I love that ‘De Sueño En Sueño’ speaks to something I think a lot of us have experienced: believing you’ve moved on from someone, only to realize they still exist somewhere inside you,” ROBI says. “They may no longer be part of your everyday life, but they show up in a memory, in a song, or when you fall asleep.”
Marcos Villalobos, Martinwhite – Bésame
Get ready to dance with Mexican singer Marcos Villalobos and Chilean artist MartinWhite and their new track “Bésame.” The sultry song will have you instantly moving your hips and blends electronic music, guaracha, trap, and urban sounds. The song follows Villalobos’ *P3* and *P7* bundles and recent single “Mon Mon” as he continues building toward his debut studio album.
Ricky Martin, Grupo Frontera – Tu Recuerdo
Ricky Martin is revisiting some of the songs that defined his decades-long career with ReVivo, a new EP that reimagines his musical legacy for a new generation. The project includes a new version of one of his most beloved songs, “Tu Recuerdo” with Grupo Frontera.
Alex Rose, De La Ghetto – Fueras
Alex Rose is bringing his 2018 Latin R&B roots into the present with “Fueras,” his new collaboration with De La Ghetto. The track arrives alongside LA ROSA, Rose’s six-track EP inspired by the era that helped shape his career, blending melodic R&B with reggaetón and trap. “Fueras” also gets an official music video, adding another visual chapter to the project’s story.
There’s a lot of stuff to stream nowadays. In hopes of helping you watch more good movies and TV, we compile some of the most exciting titles streaming across all platforms in our weekly column, What To Watch.
Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz shaking hands on day ten of the US Open
The US Open is concluding this week, making it the must-watch event of the weekend, featuring unmissable matches. The women’s finals will be played between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina. In the case of the men’s, Ben Shelton will play against Francis Tiafoe. The winner will play against the winner of the semifinal between Alexander Zverev and Karen Jachanov.
The Paper (Peacock)
The Paper is back for a second season. The sequel to The Office, following the same documentary crew as they explore a new workplace setting: this time, at the Toledo Truth Teller, a fading newspaper run by volunteer reporters.
The Drop (Hulu)
Set in the ’90s, “The Drop” is a spin-off from “Snowfall,” following two of the original characters as they try to break into the era’s rap scene in Los Angeles.
Supergirl (HBO Max)
The new DC movie is available on HBO Max, serving as the introduction to Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock), Superman’s cynical cousin. Her adventure takes her across space as she hunts a mercenary and teams up with Lobo and other superheroes.
A Killer Story (HBO Max)
HBO’s new documentary series follows an investigative journalist on a six-year hunt into the case of Dana Chandler, a woman who was charged with murdering her ex-husband and his girlfriend.
Colin From Accounts (Paramount+)
The new season of “Colin From Accounts” is available on Paramount+. The beloved TV show continues the story of two singles in Sydney, Australia, brought together by a car accident and a stray dog.
Practical Magic (HBO Max)
Now that “Practical Magic 2” is out in theaters, it’s the perfect time to catch up with the original, streaming on HBO Max. The movie follows the Owens sisters, played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, as the descendants of a long line of witches. They live with a curse that results in every man who falls in love with them meeting an early death.
A years-in-the-making initiative by the Canadian government and industry financiers has led to a historic close-up for Indigenous filmmakers at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.
“What we’re seeing is continued momentum that is real and is only increasing in the diversity of filmmaking and the success of (indigenous) filmmakers themselves,” Kerri Swanson, CEO of the Indigenous Film Office (ISO), tells The Hollywood Reporter after her organization helped finance eight First Nations filmmakers with movies premiering at TIFF this year.
Those include Cody Lightning’s hockey drama Smudge The Blades, Marie Clements’ Los Angeles-set drama How We Stand, Alexandra Lazarowich’s Turtle Island RAP and Nyla Innuksuk’s In the Heart of the South.
Federal Canadian government financing has been key to supporting ongoing efforts to fund First Nations filmmakers, including higher film budgets than in decades past, and to foster reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians after historical racism and injustices. “It’s about indigenous peoples telling your stories in your voices, and often in your languages, and that’s indispensable to showing the beauty of Indigenous culture,” Canadian minister of identity and culture Marc Miller told a TIFF event on Saturday morning hosted by the ISO.
Gail Maurice, who was at TIFF last year with the world premiere of her second feature, Bloodlines, about a Métis same-sex romance led by actor Dana Solomon, insists ISO support has been key to launching and sustaining her as a director, including for her debut feature Rosie. “The ISO has backed me up right from the beginning of my career. Without them, I don’t think I would have made my first feature film,” Maurice tells THR.
She adds that legends-led storytelling by indigenous filmmakers requires Canadian industry funders and distributors to be aware of different First Nations cultural backgrounds and communities from across Canada, coast to coast. “We have our own beliefs, and much of the world bunches us up into what they remember from Westerns. We’re so much more than that and we’re seeing that representation in films at TIFF,” Maurice added.
Annual funding for indigenous filmmakers in Canada offers support on a number of fronts, from script development to support at major film festivals like Toronto, Cannes and Berlin. ISO’s Swanson points to increased collaborations with U.S. partners, such as with Reservation Dogs, the coming of age series created by Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo and which featured an all-Indigenous lead cast and creative team filled with Canadians.
“They have shared relations, a shared history and the (U.S.-Canadian) border is arbitrary for the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island,” Swanson argues.“There’s a natural desire to work together and the cross-border collaboration is something that the ISO has been really advocating for since the beginning and for a flexibility to allow us to work together across the border, not just in Canada.”
The Toronto Film Festival continues through to Sept. 20.
Amid a busy fall festival season, all eyes were back on the Lido Saturday night as Woman Unknown won the Venice Film Festival‘s coveted Golden Lion for best film.
The honors were handed out by the international jury, headed up by U.S. filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal, as stars dressed to the nines one last time for this year’s final, glitzy Lido red carpet. Among the other big winners were DAU director Ilya Khrzhanovsky, who took home the Silver Lion for best director; Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love, which won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize; and NAZA, which received the Special Jury Prize.
May el-Toukhy’s stylish depiction of post-World War II Denmark came out the most triumphant of all. The film focuses on a maid (Mathilde Arcel) whose past during the Nazi occupation threatens to unravel her future. El-Toukhy, just one of two female filmmakers in competition this year, told THR in a sit-down pre-festival interview: “I’ve worked 16 hours a day for more than a year. I’ve spent all my savings. I’ve used every part of me to make this film and all the resources, all the muscle power I have.”
The Danish filmmaker continued onstage: “Making films is very collaborative, which requires sacrifices, and so thank you all for helping me tell the story. For me personally, Woman Unknown talks about the woman’s body as a battlefield. At the same time, the film tells the story of invisible women who are not and who do not have a voice … Thank you to the jury for this wonderful honor,” she added. “Thank you especially to you, Maggie, because you use your voice [to talk about] the lack of equal opportunities for the directors in the [competition].
Gyllenhaal told Venice at the jury’s early presser about the lack of women in competition: “There’s a systemic problem […] It’s much harder for women to get their films financed. Also, could it be possible that the things that women, having had a different experience of being alive in the world, want to make movies about are not always deemed high art?”
Woman Unknown has won the Golden Lion in Venice
Venice Film Festival
Elsewhere during Saturday’s awards, acclaimed Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong won the Silver Lion, Grand Jury Prize for social drama Possible Love. Following a struggling working-class family and the well-to-do documentarian who picks them as a subject for her new film, his film received some of the best reviews out of Venice, with most critics, like THR‘s David Rooney, singling out the film’s “superlative ensemble” including veteran Korean actors Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu alongside rising stars Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong.
Netflix and producer Anonymous Content will be confident of its award-season chances for the feature, which has been selected by South Korea as its submission for the Oscars’ best international feature category. “Without the patience and faith of so many people, this film would not have been possible,” Lee said while collecting the award. (Check out an exclusive first look at the film, released by THR ahead of Possible Love‘s Venice debut.) Possible Love also won the international film critics’ Fipresci award for best film in Venice.
Ilya Khrzhanovskyreceived some overdue flowers for DAU. The Russian filmmaker built a sealed world in Ukraine, populated it with thousands of participants and filmed them for three years. Two decades, 14 films and innumerable scandals later, his original epic finally arrived in Venice — and he took THR inside it all earlier this week.
NAZA, a documentary from Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, and a late addition to the Venice lineup, won the Special Jury Prize after a record-breaking 25-minute standing ovation at its Thursday night premiere. The Venice sensation features testimony from 24 Israeli military officers outlining the systems and protocols they allege Israel uses to target and kill civilians in Gaza. Its title, NAZA, comes from an acronym the Israeli military uses as a shorthand for civilian casualties.
“It’s honestly not very easy to stand here,” began Abraham as he and Szor accepted the trophy to raucous applause. “I’m thinking of all the people — the Israeli politicians, the journalists back home — who are now attacking this film, denying it, without even seeing it. And so much is being done to not look at reality.”
“The reality is that since this festival started, just over these 10 days, Israel killed six Palestinian children in Gaza at least, a three-year-old girl at a school that was bombed, a seven-year-old with her father in a car, two sisters at home sleeping. The Israeli intelligence officers we spoke with talked to us about how this mass killing is systemic. Not my accident but by design,” he continued.
“Actions and murder that are based on total dehumanization of the Palestinians. I want to be very clear: This truth has been documented and is known from the very first day, thanks to Palestinian journalists, [and] more than 200 [journalists] have been killed in Gaza by the Israelis; their voices were silenced and denied,” he said. “We believe that the denial of a crime is what helps it persist, and that’s why it’s important for us that the Israelis see this film … [and] especially here in Italy because your government and the German government are blocking pressure on Israel that can end this. That Americans watch it because that country is funding much of the killing,” Abraham added, before giving thanks to the doc’s producers.
Riding the wave of immense Oscar buzz, John Malkovich claimed the prestigious Volpi Cup for best actor for his performance in Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine. The pitch-black buddy comedy, starring Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as CIA operatives in Chile in the 1960s, was arguably the biggest crowd-pleaser in Venice this year. The movie is going out worldwide via Searchlight Pictures and boasts a great outing from Malkovich, who gives a sharp and surprisingly touching performance as a veteran CIA agent facing a self-reckoning.
John Malkovich wins best actor in Venice for Wild Horse Nine.
Diego Araya Corvalán/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Malkovich wasn’t in attendance to accept the prize in person. He told the crowd via a pre-recorded video: “I am really glad to have been chosen for this award which has been given to many actors. […] Thanks to Martin McDonagh for having written an incredible screenplay and for his exceptional direction and for having given me, in fact, the opportunity to play this fantastic role. Thanks to all my colleagues, especially Sam Rockwell,” he added. “I’m sorry, unfortunately, I can’t be there with you. I would have loved to be there, but I am currently filming another film.”
Danish star Arcel picked up the Volpi Cup for best actress for her role in el-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown. “This is my first lead role and it’s the first time I’ve participated in a film festival, and so I’m really extremely honored, and I’m really lucky to be here,” said an emotional Arcel. “I am truly fortunate to be in Venice with you, people who are really the best filmmakers, actors and actresses in the world, whom I’ve watched all my life.”
Meanwhile, A Good Little Soldier from Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo and Olivier Gorce took home the award for best screenplay.
The big winner from the Horizons (Orizzonti) section was Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni’s Diane in the Loop, a Belgian feature about a woman who sets out to avenge her mother when she finds out she was raped three years before Diane’s birth. Riccardo Scamarcio won Horizons’ best actor award for Children of the Monkey; Laleh Marzban became emotional upon receiving the best actress prize for Falling House, and Jacqueline Lentzou nabbed best director for A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra, a film inspired by the real-life killing of a teenager by police in Athens in 2008.
See below the full list of winners from the 83rd Venice International Film Festival:
Golden Lion for Best Film
Woman Unknown, May el-Toukhy
Silver Lion, Grand Jury Prize
Possible Love, Lee Chang-dong
Silver Lion for Best Director
Ilya Khrzhanovsky, DAU
Special Jury Prize
NAZA, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
Award for Best Screenplay
A Good Little Soldier, Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo and Olivier Gorce
Volpi Cup for Best Actor
John Malkovich, Wild Horse Nine
Volpi Cup for Best Actress
Mathilde Arcel, Woman Unknown
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress
Malou Khebizi, A Place to Heal
Luigi De Laurentis Award for Debut Film
House of the Wind, Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
Armani Beauty Audience Award
I Matter, Alina Serban
Horizons, Best Film
Diane in the Loop, Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni
Horizons, Best Director
Jacqueline Lentzou, A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra
Horizons, Special Jury Prize
House of the Wind, Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
Horizons, Best Actor
Riccardo Scamarcio, Children of the Monkey
Horizons, Best Actress
Laleh Marzban, Falling House
Horizons, Best Screenplay
Children of the Monkey, Tommaso Landucci
Best Short Film
A Few Moments of Happiness, Shaden Safieddine Tazi
Venice Classics, Best Restored Film
Long Night of 1943, Florestano Vancini
Venice Immersive, Grand Prize
The Pigeon Ring, Shixin Tao and Yuqi Zhang
Venice Immersive, Special Jury Prize
Out of the Ashes, Rory Mitchell and Nonny de la Peña
Venice Immersive, Achievement Prize
Empire at Sea, Peter Flaherty
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement (previously announced)
George Clooney, Ellen Burstyn
This story was first published on Sept. 12 at 9:56 a.m.
Celine Dion shed tears as she kicked off her eagerly anticipated 16-date residency tonight at Plenitude Arena on the outskirts of Paris, marking her first major series of live shows since stepping away from the spotlight in 2022.
“I had promised myself not to cry,” Dion told thousands of adoring fans in the opening moments of her show. “I don’t keep my promises. But I’m so happy to see you all. I missed you. I’m going to sing like you without crying.”
She later added, “Thank you so very much for coming. If it’s your first time in Paris, I hope you fall in love with it just like I did. Finally, it’s amazing we are all together. I made a promise to come back, to be back on stage. So here I am, singing for you and singing for me, singing live! Thank you so very much for your support, your patience and if I may say so, I am everything I am because you loved me.”
Speaking of the uphill battle she waged with her health, Dion said, “By living with it day in and day out, I’ve come to terms with it. And I’ve decided to make it my reason for living.”
She continued, “But look around here—all around you, right here in this room—we don’t know what the person next to us is going through. There are people going through hardships, grief, and sorrow. There are people radiating energy and joy. So let’s take that energy and share it. That’s what music is for. Tonight, we’ll sing, we’ll dance, and we’ll celebrate.”
Dion’s arrival in Paris two weeks ago has dominated headlines and sparked a frenzy on social media as well as in the streets of the French capital. The metro station near the concert venue has also been renamed Celine and has been decorated with some of her most famous lyrics. Fans from every corner of the world have been camping in front of the Royal Monceau hotel behind security barriers and have been singing her more popular songs every time she comes out. Clips of Dion engaging with fans, singing a cappella with them and making some dance moves in front of the Parisian palace have gone viral.
Not all of those hardcore fans will make it to the Paris concerts, however. Some may be turned away if they unknowingly bought fake tickets from the more than 200 fraudulent websites and social media accounts that popped up right when presale tickets went on sale in April, according to the Associated Press, which quoted Group-IB, a Singapore-based cybersecurity firm.
Her comeback isn’t just being eagerly anticipated by fans — it’s also being touted as a potential lifeline for France’s state coffers heading into 2027. French newspaper Liberation dedicated the cover of its weekend edition to Dion’s residency with a picture of the singer doing a prayerlike gesture, looking upward with a bright halo of light behind her and a headline that reads, “Celine Dion — is she going to save the 2027 budget?” Her Paris concerts could indeed generate €1 billion in economic impact for France, that’s four times more than what Beyoncé’s Paris concerts in June 2025 brought and roughly a fifth of what the entire Paris 2024 Olympics generated, according to French radio Europe 1.
More than 33,000 people are expected at the Plenitude Arena. As much as 60% of the set list is expected to be from her French repertoire, mainly songs penned and composed by Jean-Jacques Goldman, including “Pour que tu m’aimes encore” and “J’irai où tu iras.” She’s also teased that her first show will last over two hours in an informal chat with fans in front of her hotel and told them to wear comfortable shoes, as reported by France Info.
Rumors have been circulating about a potential surprise duo with Beyoncé who happens to be in the French capital with Jay-Z, who gave a concert in Paris two days ago.
An estimated nine million people signed up for advance tickets for the shows after Dion announced her concert comeback on her birthday, on March 30, during a glamorous bash (which she didn’t attend but delivered a message on video) in front of the Eiffel Tower, which was illuminated in tribute, with a choreographed light show set to Dion’s greatest hits.
Dion’s Paris concerts were originally scheduled for 2020 at Paris La Defense Arena as part of her Courage World Tour, but were postponed due to the pandemic and then delayed again due to her health issues. In 2022, Dion was diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological and autoimmune disorder that causes muscular stiffness, inhibiting the ability to walk and sing. Her fans lost hope she would ever come back after seeing Dion struggle against this illness in the 2024 documentary “I Am: Celine Dion,” which was directed by Irene Taylor.
In his decades-long career, John Cho has covered quite a bit of ground. He broke out playing comedy, then deftly transitioned into drama and now easily moves between the two. He has tackled prestige TV (The Sympathizer), blockbuster franchises (Star Trek) and festival-favorite indie films (Better Luck Tomorrow). Onscreen, he has gone everywhere, from outer space (a couple of times) to White Castle.
One thing he can’t remember doing? Playing a villain. But with Bassam Tariq ’s Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, which premiered Sept. 12 at TIFF before being released by Amazon MGM, he finally gets the chance.
The movie stars Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as Latif, a devout Muslim and contract killer in Texas who is grieving the loss of his wife and struggling to take care of his three children as a single father. Both Latif’s job and attempts to look after his kids put him in the crosshairs of Cho’s Haun Yoon, an Army veteran whose near-death experience prompted him to start a militant Christian church that uses violence as a righteous way to rid their community of what they see as even greater evils.
Cho describes the movie as “this spectacular combination of the story about family and faith, but set in this action thriller.” Ahead of its premiere, the actor talked to THR about the nerves he felt working with Ali and the transformative power of teeth grillz.
What was it about your character in particular that made you want to sign on to the movie?
Well, cosmetically, he’s such a different role for me. It felt like such a gift to be able to do something that looks so different. I immigrated from Korea to Houston, Texas as a kid. And I recall my mother, when I must have been seven years old, being told that there was something called “Western Heritage Day” at school, and her having to scramble as a 28-year-old Korean mother trying to get a cowboy hat and cowboy boots for her boy. It was kind of a full-circle moment for me to play a character who grew up in Houston and looked like this.
Howdid Haun’s audacious look influence your performance?
It takes me out of myself, which is something that was a little hard for me. This is really different than any other way I’ve worked. I usually work from the text and then work backwards, but this seemed like we should go back to creating an origin story and then trust that that would serve the script. The designers and Basam had such different ideas, and Basam was so open to exploring where this guy was coming from with me. So, the hat came, the boots came, and I liked how it affected my physicality. It took me out of myself, made me feel more physical, made me feel more dangerous. It made me feel more like a leader who was comfortable having all eyes on him. And then the final piece was a Basam suggestion, which was the grill. And I resisted that at first. I’m not sure if I voiced it, but I was like, “Can I carry this off? Will this work?” Yeah. Well, we just walked forward with it, and it’s my favorite thing about my character is the grill because it took me away from myself.
In terms of Huan being this faith leader, were you and Bassam looking to real-life churches for inspiration?
There’s a reading of the character, and there’s the possibility of playing him as a charlatan or a crook. The first thing that Bassam and I decided together was that he had to come from an authentically inspired place; he had to have a real mission. So, rather than draw inspiration from existing churches, we were trying to come up with a character history first, and then think, ‘What would that church look like?’
While Pastor Haun may not think of himself as the villain, he is undoubtedly the main villain in this movie. Looking back on your career, I don’t remember you ever playing the straight villain before.
I’m trying to think back. I was on a show called The Exorcist on Fox years ago, and I played someone who was possessed, but I wouldn’t consider that the villain. But to your point, this is not what people would expect from me, so it makes it all the more special. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten to play anything, even in this neighborhood, really. So to get a chance like that, well into your career, I just can’t believe it.
Having not played a character like this before, what did that preparation look like?
Rehearsal time is harder and harder to schedule these days, and Basam really made sure that we had the time. And Mahershala came to these rehearsals, and we talked through both our characters and talked about where we were coming from as actors. The content of that, I’ll keep private, but it was so important in order to play someone who could potentially take on this imposing character, Latif, and the actor, Mahershala, I had to be welcomed to do that. Basam and Mahershala just brought me in, invited me into their story, and made me feel empowered so that I could empower the character. Beyond that, I had to keep in mind that I was a soldier and I am capable of killing, and clearly willing to do it. You carry yourself a certain way when you have the ability and are willing to do damage like that. My takeaway from these rehearsals was that, in some ways, [Latif and Haun] were the same person, presenting in vastly different ways, but both driven by their own versions of faith.
Outside of the mental preparation, this is a heavy action film, with your character in plenty of fight sequences. What did that physical preparation look like?
I’m trying to stretch and not get hurt. [Laughs.] We had to learn the choreography, and it was an incredible piece of choreography. They were doing a lot of fight beats per shot, where a punch is one beat, a duck is the second beat, then a roundhouse kick is the third beat. It felt like Mahershala was doing like 30 beats in a row during these takes. Mahershala had the much heavier lift. Sometimes it felt like he was using a sword with one arm, shooting a gun with the other, and kicking somebody in the face with his leg. It was just making sure we were in sync and not punching each other accidentally.
Heading into filming, was there any one scene that you were most anticipatory of being able to pull off?
I’m sure the scene that I was sweating was my introduction when I first meet Latif. I was nervous for a lot of reasons. There was a lot going on in that scene in terms of everyone’s hidden motivations. And honestly, I was just really nervous about working with someone I admired so much. Sometimes it can be distracting. I am just such an admirer of his work and of Mahershala’s work, and then I met him, and I couldn’t love him more. So then I don’t want to let him down. He went to bat for me. All of that came to a head on this one day when we had to maintain a connection with each other for a really long time. I remember being quite exhausted, but feeling so invigorated from what I felt was a really deep connection with this other actor.
And then right after that, you all are jumping into an intense fight sequence.
And, by the way, I walked into that set, and I was like, “It’s all mirrors in here!” We’re doing a fight sequence in a mirrored room. It was like a Nordstrom dressing room. [Laughs.]
Ever since Denis Villeneuve’s forthcoming James Bond film was announced, the million-dollar question has been: Who will take on the role of the iconic spy? Now, former 007 Pierce Brosnan is offering his thoughts.
In a recent interview with The Times, the actor, who played the character in four films from 1995 to 2002, said that “there are lots of good hats in the ring” and “lots of great actors” being considered. “I see it. I follow it. They could probably just go left-field and pick someone that none of us know about.”
When it comes to names, Brosnan remained neutral: “I wouldn’t pick anyone,” he continued. “My wife told me not to say anything and I’ve said too much. Because once I say something it goes [everywhere] and I get hanged.”
Brosnan also explained that he hasn’t revisited his own Bond films since their release. “I have no desire to see myself in Bond,” he said. “I’m just a member of the audience now awaiting the next Bond and wishing him well.”
This isn’t the first time the actor has waded into the Bond waters — back in Aug. 2025, while speaking with the Radio Times, Brosnan joked that he’d return as a senior citizen Bond.
“I don’t think anyone wants to see a craggy, 72-year-old Bond, but if Villeneuve had something up his sleeve I would look at it in a heartbeat,” Brosnan said. “Why not? It’s great entertainment. It could be lots of laughs. Bald caps, prosthetics… who knows?”
Variety previously reported that Amazon MGM Studios enlisted casting director Nina Gold to find the new secret agent. Her credits include the Netflix series “The Crown,” five films in the Star Wars franchise, “Les Misérables,” “The Martian” and “Conclave.” In 2025, she was nominated for an Oscar for her work on “Hamnet.”
While the final casting for the film has not been confirmed, Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Harris Dickinson and Jack Lowden have all been reported as among those in the final running.
That is the big question concerning the Irish actor’s towering performance in “Elsinore,” which debuted in Telluride before playing the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Simon Stone, the film features Scott as Ian Charleson, a Scottish actor whose career has slowed down since featuring in “Chariots of Fire.” The year is 1989, and when Daniel Day-Lewis walks offstage during a production of “Hamlet” at London’s National Theater, Charleson sees it as an opportunity to show the world what he’s made of as an actor — even as his body is being ravaged by AIDS, and against the advice of his doctor (Olivia Colman), who warns him that the stress could further worsen his health.
As Variety’s Clayton Davis wrote, “The casting is too perfect to be accidental. Scott is himself a celebrated London Hamlet, here playing a man whose Hamlet was his last act of defiance. ‘Elsinore’ is, at its heart, a love letter to actors — to the craft as vocation, to the courage of standing in the light when the body is failing. And a milestone waits inside the role. No openly gay man has ever won the Oscar for best actor, and Scott could very well become the first.”
Scott was widely seen as “snubbed” for his embodiment of Richard Rodgers in “Blue Moon” and the haunted Adam in “All of Us Strangers.”
On Saturday, Sept. 12, Scott took the stage at the Royal Alexandra Theatre to roaring applause as part of TIFF’s “In Conversation” series to discuss his much-heralded turn in “Elsinore” and his storied career. The talk was moderated by Keith Bennie, TIFF’s vice president of public programming.
The talk began with Bennie asking Scott, 49, who was sporting a striking purple jumper, about the internet’s obsession with him.
“I don’t have the internet. I never see it,” he joked, before adding, “It’s actually wild: You never know what feral things people [will say].”
“Elsinore” is the first film Scott has ever produced, so he said it “took a huge amount of encouragement and support and vision from so many people” to bring it to fruition. It was also a very personal project for Scott, who is openly gay and has been acting in theater since the ‘90s, including his aforementioned turn as Hamlet in 2017.
“You go through stages with it, and the film is so incredibly personal for me, which is the reason why I chose to produce this one,” he explained. “It’s set in the theater and about the representation of gay actors in the ‘90s, and it’s about family. So many things that I really relate to.”
Scott made his acting debut as a teenager in “Korea,” an Irish film that premiered at TIFF in 1995. And it was a formative experience for him, since he was given a crash course in how to conduct himself on a film set by watching his co-star, screen veteran Donal Donnelly, who led with authority but treated people with dignity and respect.
“Depressing. No, it was extraordinary. I was 17, and it was the first film I’d ever made,” offered Scott. “I learned how to be on a set because [Donnelly] was incredibly kind and fun with everybody… He wasn’t in any way cruel or anything like that.”
When Scott was a child, he had a speech impediment, which, in a roundabout way, is how he “fell in love with acting.”
“When I was a kid, I had a speech impediment — I had a very strong sort of lisp— so I had to go to elocution lessons at seven or eight,” he shared. “It had a drama section to it where you could improvise in front of the other kids.” Performing poetry and monologues in front of a crowd, however small, “amplified something that was dormant” in him.
At one point during the talk, Bennie shared a scene of Scott’s priest acting alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the second season of “Fleabag,” which became an internet sensation and earned his character the nickname “The Hot Priest.”
“If you had got a script that said, ‘The Hot Priest,’ you’d be like, ‘This is dodgy,’” joked Scott. “It was just called ‘The Priest’ and then the internet took over.”
Scott, however, was immensely proud of “The Hot Priest” craze in the sense that it helped ease some of his own anxieties about whether the audience would accept a gay actor in a role as a woman’s love interest.
“I guess there was a fear that I wouldn’t be able to get cast in those roles. That’s what everybody said,” he confessed. “But I knew, because when I did plays, that the people that were waiting at the stage door, they knew my sexuality and they did not care.”
He continued: “I feel very proud that that was quite a big moment because people were like, ‘The actor is gay. Whoa!’ And it is like this idea that the audience is stupid. We go to see ‘Batman,’ and it’s like, ‘Oh my god! He is not a bat?’”
And if you don’t like Scott in those types of roles, that’s on you.
“That’s just prejudice,” said Scott. “And we won’t cater to those people, or I’m certainly not going to.”
About an hour in, the talk swung back to “Elsinore,” a film — and performance — that people will be talking about throughout awards season.
“It’s about how we use our time, and he was enormously fun, attractive, beautiful, amazingly gifted actor,” Scott said of playing Charleson. “And the film is about the support that he got and the courage that he displayed. The reason I was so attracted to it, I think, is because it doesn’t end well for any of us, and quality of time is what he chose… I know what an Olympian, absolutely exhausting task that is [to play Hamlet]. I did it 150 times… The idea that he did it when he was so unwell, it always just gets me.”
Scott, who got choked up while discussing the film, also lamented how difficult it was for Charleson to act, or even exist, at a time when gay men, particularly those with HIV/AIDS, were being viciously discriminated against.
“There weren’t any gay actors — for no reason,” he remarked. “That was taken away from them.”
More than a year after her American Eagle ad controversy, Sydney Sweeney is facing backlash for another campaign: her sexualized promotion for sports trading app Novig.
The Euphoria actress partnered up with Novig on Wednesday to support the new platform, which launched last month. She not only starred in the ad but also joined Novig as a strategic partner and equity holder.
Novig’s “platform combines the mechanics of modern financial exchanges with a sports-first experience, creating a more efficient and transparent way for fans to trade on sports outcomes,” per a release. It’s also dubbed “the only prediction market to maintain a 21+ age requirement,” which the brand argues “[sets] a higher standard for responsible participation as the category continues to grow.”
Some users are arguing Sweeney’s ad for the age-restricted platform could have used an R-rated rating as well. “I couldn’t believe when that ad came on the tv. I had my 2 children in the living room I had to yell at them to look away from the TV. I don’t understand WHY they would need to create such a [vulgar] ad,” a TikTok user commented on a post made by Marissa Womack, manager of game day promotions and programming for minor league baseball team the Harrisburg Senators.
Others took to Sweeney’s Instagram comments, including one user who called out Instagram’s inconsistencies with taking down potentially sexualized content. “Love how @instagram allows for stuff like this but the moment I post something in a bikini , the post is removed,” they wrote, while another added, “22.4 million views but not even 1 million likes… why? Because this is not what we want for our sports ads. ESPECIALLY when kids like and follow sports as well.”
Other descriptors for the ad in the Anyone But You star’s comments include “disgusting,” “pathetic,” “sad” and “inappropriate.”
The Hollywood Reporter reached out to reps for Novig and Sweeney for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Womack explained her frustration with the ad in her TikTok video, calling out the representation of women in the sports industry. “This [criticism] isn’t about me being jealous or insecure of [Sweeney]. … it’s about the fact that this is already a male-dominated field where we are constantly having to prove why we belong. it’s about having passions and joy working in this industry and when the only representation is sexualization, you see less and less young women wanting to pursue this industry!”
The campaign, in Sweeney’s own words, “was about embracing a fun idea.” She added in a statement, “The concept is simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports. The campaign brings that idea to life with confidence, humor and a playful edge.”
The only “sports” that are featured in the ad, however, are different balls and uniforms placed provocatively on top of Sweeney’s mostly naked body. One TikTok user directly criticized the sexualization of the actress in the ad in the comments of a video shared by Sam Tirelli, a studio/field director for a Maryland-based sports network: “There is 0 reason to have somebody naked just saying sports over and over again. You can make amazing ads and content without constantly having women be sexualized.”
Many users also slammed the ad for being “exactly why women in sports aren’t taken seriously,” one TikToker argued. They also called out the notion that “they probably knew it was going to be controversial too,” with TheHousemaid star being known to spark controversy through brand advertisements.
Most prominently, her viral 2025 American Eagle jeans ad caused widespread backlash, partly due to a piece of the advert where Sweeney said, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
Some people argued that the campaign tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” was a play on the term “great jeans” versus “great genes” and claimed the ad promoted eugenics. The ad garnered so much online backlash at the time that it prompted American Eagle to respond, releasing a statement that read in part, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story.”
Sweeney has addressed the controversy numerous times, saying that “the reaction definitely was a surprise.” She later commented on the cultural conversation that arose with the American Eagle ad, with a Cosmopolitan interviewer asking her about being labeled “MAGA Barbie,” as she’s repeatedly said she does not want to address her personal politics.
“I’ve never been here to talk about politics. I’ve always been here to make art, so this is just not a conversation I want to be at the forefront of,” Sweeney said. When asked in the same interview if she sees herself confirming her political beliefs in the future, she said, “No.” Sweeney added, “I’m not a political person. I’m in the arts. I’m not here to speak on politics. That’s not an area I’ve ever even imagined getting into. It’s not why I became who I am. I became an actor because I like to tell stories, but I don’t believe in hate in any form.”
Sweeney also made sure to note that politics were not to be bet on when trading on Novig. “No betting on wars or deaths, and no politics,” she said, before a clip of her from behind and masking her breast with only her hand was shown, as she adds, “Just you, your takes and sports.”
A mini logline provided in a press release for the Novig ad reads, “Ahead of football season, Sydney Sweeney is putting the focus exactly where it belongs, on ‘Just Sports.’” However, that “focus” is now anywhere but sports and instead back onto another conversation-starting ad led by the two-time Emmy nominee.
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