GOOD GUY GONE BAD

Tony Danza has played nice guys his whole career, but in the fourth season of Starz’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan, he’s flexing his villain chops.

“I just wanted to take a shot at trying to be a bad guy for a change!” he enthused. “One of the things that I love about Raising Kanan is the work: the words, the writing, the production, and the actors I am working with. It’s an honor to work with them. I think it’s a testament to the environment that’s there, that everybody’s really trying to reach for new heights, for something special.”

Danza has, ironically, frequently played characters named Tony, but in this series, he takes on a new persona, named Stefano. When asked if it was odd to not be called Tony on set, he quipped: “Well, what am I going to do, play Dennis? Come on! Listen, in the history of blunders of my life, that may have been one: that I continued to play Tony after Tony!”

He continued: “But I really love this character [Ste fano]. He’s a little different than the run-of-the-mill criminal. It’s a lot of fun to play. And he’s a particularly fun bad guy to play.”

MOMENT OF GRATITUDE

Adrien Brody is that rare actor who deeply immerses himself physically, mentally, and emotionally into every role he portrays.

“Acting is a very fragile profession,” he said in his 2025 Oscars acceptance speech, picking up the Best Actor award for The Brutalist. “It looks very glamorous and in certain moments it is, but the one thing that I’ve gained from having the privilege to come back here is to have some perspective. And no matter where you are in your career, no matter what you’ve accomplished, it can all go away, and I think what makes this night the most special is the awareness of that. And the gratitude that I have to still do the work that I love.”

In The Brutalist, Brody plays László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish architect who, after surviving the Holocaust, flees to the U.S. to begin a new life while awaiting the arrival of his wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones, who was also Oscar-nominated), who is stuck in Eastern Europe with their niece following World War II.

SACHS SPEAKS OUT

Filmmaker Wendy Sachs has been busy with her latest project, OCTOBER 8, which investigates antisemitism on American college campuses, on social media, and in neighborhoods, starting the day after Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.

“When I saw the rally in New York’s Times Square on October 8th celebrating Hamas, it felt like the world had lost its mind,” said Sachs, who directed the film, with actress Debra Messing executive producing.

“I’ve done a lot of important work during my career that I believed was consequential at the time, but nothing feels as urgent, as existential, and as personal as making this film.”

The film features exclusive interviews with several high profile people, including Messing, comedian Michael Rapaport, author Noa Tishby, Mosab Hassan Yousef (son of Hamas’ founder), former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, Congressman Ritchie Torres, and many more.

ROGEN GOES BIG

Seth Rogen’s buzzy new Apple TV+ satire The Studio made waves at the SXSW festival in March, during which the Golden Globe nominated comedian shared his inspiration behind the series. Needless to say, he took his research seriously, meeting with just about every Hollywood Studio head in Tinsel Town to pick their brains.

In the show, Rogen plays Matt Remick, the newly appointed head of movie studio Continental Studios. Episodes follow Remick and his team as they struggle to keep the studio in the green while making prestigious, award-worthy films.

“As much as we thought we knew, we had never really just sat down with the heads of the studios and been like, ‘Explain to us your fears, the things that stress you out the most, your greatest accomplishments, the things you’re proudest of.’ To really get that kind of first-hand information from the studio executives was great,” Rogen said. “They were all very excited and nervous to watch it I think, but they seem to like it.”

LESS IS MOORE

While many hoped Demi Moore would take home the Best Actress award for her masterful performance in The Substance, the Oscar went to Anora’s 25-year-old star, Mikey Madison. Said one fan on Moore’s social media platform: “Demi you were robbed! I hate that the Academy did what your film, The Substance, denounced/ criticized. What a shame!”

Indeed Moore’s Oscar loss drips in irony: The Substance follows the story of a once-popular celebrity who is fired from her aerobics TV show by her superficial boss (Dennis Quaid), who thinks she is too old, and wants to replace her with someone younger.

In real life, the 62-year-old Moore doesn’t feel snubbed. On Instagram, she wrote: “As this awards season comes to a close, I’m so overwhelmed with gratitude for this journey. It’s been the ride of a lifetime, and we’re just getting started!” She also gives kudos to the winner, writing, “A huge congratulations to #MikeyMadison can’t wait to see what you do next!”