BE SO INCLINED

Beverly D’Angelo is thrilled to be one of the singers in the PBS tribute to country legend Patsy Cline. The versatile actress brought the music icon to life in the movie, Coal Miner’s Daughter, and has always felt a strong connection to her.

“I love that this star-studded concert, Patsy Cline: Walkin’ After Midnight, celebrates her life and legacy,” she told INDUSTRY. The special was taped at Patsy’s home stage, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.”

She continued: “When I started singing, I sang with the legendary Ronnie Hawkins, who was a rockabilly before they came up with that name, in Canada. And he said, ‘You know, Bev, you should check out the Patsy Cline songbook.’ So I knew about those songs and sang them way before I played Patsy Cline. I came to that movie as a singer more than an actor. I’d just started acting. I think it was the third movie I ever did. I sang my way into it. So I would say that for me, it was more like an homage. It wasn’t about trying to sound exactly like her. It was more to find the similar resonances, and it was an actor’s journey for a singer.”

WONDERFULLY WICKED

One of the most anticipated releases this holiday season is the fantastic film version of the mega-hit musical, Wicked, which tells the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West, the legendary character from L. Frank Baum’s book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz.

The musical tells the untold story of the witches of Oz, with Tony winner and Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo as the green-skinned Elphaba, who has magical powers, and the Grammy-winning, multiplatinum recording artist Ariana Grande as the rivalturned-friend, Glinda.

Grande uses her full name, Ariana Grande-Butera, in the film’s production credits. “Technically, it’s my little girl name. It felt like a homecoming for me. I feel like I came home to myself in many ways, learning from Glinda and Elphaba. That was the name I had when I first saw Wicked at ten years old, and it just felt like a lovely way of honoring that moment. It felt full circle.”

PARTY FOWL

Though thoroughly British, the hilarious stop-motion animated characters Wallace & Gromit have mass global appeal. Creator and director Nick Park was thrilled to see his latest film, Vengeance Most Fowl, celebrate its world premiere at the recent AFI Film Festival.

“When I think back to my National Film School days, even just thinking up two goofy names for the characters was amazing,” he recalled while creating A Grand Day Out. “To see that they’ve stuck and become household names now is just phenomenal and unbelievable.”

Carla Shelley, the film’s executive producer, has worked with these beloved characters since the 1980s.

“I joined Aardman Animations just as Nick was finishing off A Grand Day Out, so we started at the film school and then finished it there,” she said. “Wallace & Gromit have evolved a little bit – they look a little different now than they did in that first film and it’s been delightful to watch their journey. It’s very exciting.”

TOUR DE FAMILY

In Jesse Eisenberg’s new film, A Real Pain, two quirky cousins, David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin), go back to Poland to see where their recently deceased grandmother came from. As they embark on a Holocaust tourism tour, the grieving characters explore the troubled, nostalgic, bittersweet love they have for one another.

“They were kind of joined at the hip when they were younger and have since grown apart based on circumstance and personality,” explained Eisenberg, who also wrote, directed, and produced the film.

As he wrote the scenes, he felt drawn to Poland, his grandmother’s homeland. “We filmed this inside the house that my family lived in up until 1939, when they were taken out during World War II. So there are so many autobiographical details in this movie, including when the characters talk about their grandma, and have all these very specific references to this woman in their lives. It’s based on my great Aunt Doris who died at 106; she was the most important person in my life.”

EYE FOR A SPY

If you’re looking for a riveting new spy thriller to sink your teeth into, check out Netflix’s Black Doves, starring Oscar nominee Keira Knightley and Emmy, Golden Globe, and BAFTA winner Ben Whishaw. The show premieres on December 5.

Knightley believes audiences will devour the delicious blend of “murder, mayhem, and a faint touch of noir,” dubbing the show as a classic spy thriller, but with a unique twist.

“I think what makes this different is the platonic relationship at its heart, two creatures who can’t be themselves with anyone else in the world but can be their whole selves together,” she said. “That’s something I’ve never played before, that kind of deep love and knowledge of each other, but also a kind of loneliness that they both have. Because, of course, they’re looking for a connection with romantic partners that because of their life choices and what they’ve done in their lives, they can’t have. So they tried to get it from each other, but it’s never enough.”