TIM TUNES IN

Timothée Chalamet has been getting serious Oscar buzz for his riveting role as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Performing over 50 songs throughout the film, he and the cast members had an enormous amount of music to learn. “We knew that we needed to capture a lot of this stuff on set and have our actors prepared to do it,” said music producer Nick Baxter. “The fact that Timmy learned these songs and can perform them under different circumstancesincluding scenes where he’s writing, showing someone a song for the first time, or performingis incredible. He’s not beholden to anything. He can stop, walk away from the mic, mess up a lyric, add a harmonica solo, and go up and down in tempo and pace the song differently. I don’t know if this movie would really work without him being able to do that. He has a ridiculous memory, and was just a student of the character and of the music. But at the same time, in these early writing scenes, it’s almost better if it’s raw in your mind because you can pull in different lyrics and rearrange things.”

HART AND SOULMary Hart has been the mistress of ceremonies at the Palm Springs Film Festival since 2003 and has seen countless celebrities participate in its annual gala, which kicks off awards season in California each January. “This year, the festival is honoring Adrien Brody, Timothée Chalamet, the ensemble cast of Conclave, Kieran Culkin, Colman Domingo, Ariana Grande, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Mikey Madison, and Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard and actors Karla Sofia Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Edgar Ramírez,” said Hart. “After retiring from CBS’popular series, Entertainment Tonight, which I was on for 30 years, I still wanted to keep myself involved in Hollywood,” she told INDUSTRY. “Hosting the film festival was the perfect fit to do just that, because each year, they honor incredible talent! It’s been amazing to see these icons like Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, and Timothee Chalamet grow up right before my eyes!”

LIVE FROM NEW YORK

After Gabriel LaBelle received rave reviews when he played Steven Spielberg in The Fabelmans, director Jason Reitman asked him to play legendary producer Lorne Michaels in Saturday Night, a fast-moving film about the chaotic first episode of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. “Lorne’s had this idea for a show for a really long time, and it’s finally the night where his dream can come true,” said LaBelle. “Everything goes wrong, but he pushes through regardless. He just really wants to try something new that he hasn’t seen before, and he’s gathered all his friends to help him do it.” “In the character of Lorne Michaels, we need that quiet brilliance and sly comedy of a young man way beyond his years,” said Reitman. “He needed to be an inspirational surrogate father for this unusual cast of comedians and musicians. Gabriel LaBelle has that in him. I met him standing next to Steven Spielberg, and I saw the kind of energy and leadership that people would get behind.”

TRUTH & SECRETS

Marianne Jean-Baptiste is elated to be working with the legendary writer/director Mike Leigh again on Harsh Truths. Back in 1996, the duo came together for his outstanding Academy Award-nominated film, Secrets & Lies. “It’s amazing, you get very excited, because you know you’re going to be in for something really special,” said Baptiste at a recent press conference. “You’ll get to use your imagination, your intelligence, and whatever talent you havehe’s going to drag all of it out of you.” The veteran actress tried to prepare for her role as Pansy as much as possible, thinking about how to deal with such a volatile character who is drowning in fear and tormented by mental health afflictions. “Mike and I talked a lot about what she was afraid of and what she didn’t like, even the cleaning products she used. I’ve got a notebook downstairs with lists and lists of things, everything from kiwi to coconut. The list is endless!” she quipped.

WORTH THE WAIT

Kate Winslet is over the moon that her film about the American war correspondent/photographer Lee Miller came to life after eight years. In Lee,audiences see how Miller’s unabashed aggressiveness resulted in her taking some of the most intense photos of World War II, including one of her, posing rebelliously in Hitler’s private bathtub. Winslet is Golden Globe-nominated for this role, as well as for the political satire series, The Regime. “I’m beyond grateful for this nomination,” said Winslet. “Making Lee meant the world to me, so to be acknowledged for playing a brave complicated woman who did so much to be a voice for the voiceless, is something that brings me incredible pride. And to be included this year, among all these exceptional performances is deeply humbling. A huge thanks to the Golden Globes for giving all of us who worked on The Regime an additional nomination. Wow!” Winslet had stumbled upon Miller’s work at an auction while bidding on a kitchen table, which turned out to be owned by Miller’s husband!