Review: ‘The Little Mermaid’ (2023), starring Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Javier Bardem, Melissa McCarthy, Noma Dumezweni and the voices of Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina and Jacob Tremblay

May 22, 2023

by Carla Hay

Jonah Hauer-King and Halle Bailey in “The Little Mermaid” (Photo by Giles Keyte/Disney Enterprises Inc.)

“The Little Mermaid” (2023)

Directed by Rob Marshall

Culture Representation: Taking place in the 1830s, in and around the waters of an unnamed Caribbean island, the fantasy film “The Little Mermaid” (a live-action remake of the 1989 animated film of the same name) features a racially diverse cast of characters (black, white, Asian and Latin) portraying merpeople, humans and non-human animals.

Culture Clash: An 18-year-old mermaid princess falls in love with a young-adult human prince, and she unwittingly makes a deal with an evil witch to become a human, in exchange for the witch getting to keep the mermaid’s voice and making the mermaid mute.

Culture Audience: Besides appealing to the obvious fans of the original movie, this live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” will primarily appeal people looking for family-friendly movies with messages about love, bigotry and re-invention, but fans of the original “The Little Mermaid” might not like some of the uneven qualities of this remake.

Melissa McCarthy in “The Little Mermaid” (Photo courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.)

The visual effects are uneven, and some of the characters are bland, but this live-action remake of the 1989 animated film “The Little Mermaid” has enough appealing aspects to satisfy most viewers. Halle Bailey, Daveed Diggs and Melissa McCarthy are the standout cast members. The multicultural update to the live-action “The Little Mermaid” mostly works seamlessly, although some of it looks too forced and only there for the sake of looking multicultural.

The movie remake’s three new and original songs—with lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and music by original “The Little Mermaid” composer Alan Menken (who won also composed the score to 2023’s “The Little Mermaid” remake)—are very good but are not in the upper echelon of classic Disney songs. Menken won an Oscar for composing the score to 1989’s “The Little Mermaid.” The musical score and original songs for 2023’s “The Little Mermaid” work well enough for the movie, but none of it is going to win any Oscars.

Directed by Rob Marshall and written by David Magee, the 2023 remake of “The Little Mermaid” adheres closely to the original story with some noticeable changes that don’t alter the overall spirit of the original story. “The Little Mermaid” remake takes place in the 1830s, in and around the waters of an unnamed Caribbean island populated by many races. It’s in contrast to the original “Little Mermaid” which had a cast of mostly white people.

“The Little Mermaid” is inspired by Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale of the same name that was published in 1837. Although the writer of the original story was a white European, the story’s location of an island kingdom could be set anywhere in a cinematic version of “The Little Mermaid.” With a Caribbean island as the central human location for this remake of “The Little Mermaid,” it makes sense that the movie would have a multicultural/multi-racial cast, since many Caribbean islands are multicultural/multiracial.

Marshall has a background in movie musicals, having also directed 2002’s Oscar-winning “Chicago,” the 2009 version of “Nine,” the 2014 version of “Into the Woods” and the 2018 sequel “Mary Poppins Returns.” This remake of “The Little Mermaid” doesn’t look entirely like a musical but more like a movie with some music video segments incorporated into the film. Viewers will have varied reactions to how the movie puts some modern hip-hop and modern dance moves in a movie that’s supposed to take place in the 1830s.

Marshall also directed 2011’s “The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” so he has experience directing big-budget visual-effects movies taking place in a sea and in Caribbean settings. Although the visual effects get better in the last third of the live-action “The Little Mermaid,” the movie has some visual effects that look disappointingly fake and sloppy in the first two-thirds of the movie. For example, the movie’s opening scene, which shows the world of merpeople who live in an unnamed sea, has some off-putting visuals that make all of the merpeople look too much like computer-generated imagery.

It’s in this sea that viewers first see the underwater kingdom ruled by King Triton (played by Javier Bardem), a widower who has seven young-adult daughters of different races and who represent the seven seas. The daughters are Tamika (played by Sienna King), Perla (played by Lorena Andrea), Caspia (played by Nathalie Sorrell), Indira (played by Simone Ashley), Mala (played by Karolina Conchet), Karina (played by Kajsa Mohammar) and Ariel (played by Bailey). Unfortunately, the movie makes all of the sisters except Ariel have utterly tepid personalities that are indistinguishable from each other, thereby making all the sisters except Ariel look like “tokens” for whatever human nationality they’re supposed to represent.

At 18 years old, Ariel is the youngest and most open-minded of her sisters, who all have been taught to dislike and distrust the humans who live on land, because humans have been polluting bodies of water, thereby killing a lot of underwater life. King Triton has strictly forbidden his daughters to go above the water. Meanwhile, humans don’t trust merpeople, especially mermaids, because humans blame mermaids for casting spells on sailors (usually by singing) and causing these sailors to die.

Ariel has the belief that everyone should be judged on individual merits and not judged based on an identity group. It’s a belief that King Triton thinks is absurd and naïve. (Bardem does a reasonably good but occasionally stiff performance as King Triton.) Ariel is so fascinated with humans, she keeps a collection of human-made artifacts that she has found underneath the sea. In this early part of the movie, Bailey does a stellar version of “Part of Your World” that will hook even the most cynical viewers into wanting to see more of the movie.

Ariel’s closest companions are an amiable flounder appropriately named Flounder (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) and a gossipy seagull named Scuttle (voiced by Awkwafina), who is easily able to observe the worlds of humans and merpeople. King Triton’s chief aide is a nervous crab named Sebastian (voiced by Diggs), who is eventually tasked with keeping an eye on Ariel when her father suspects that Ariel wants to go above the water and interact with humans. And sure enough, that’s exactly what Ariel ends up doing.

This version of “The Little Mermaid” has a somewhat drab introduction of the humans in the story. Prince Eric (played by Jonah Hauer-King), who is in his early 20s, is the heir to an unnamed island kingdom. He is first seen on a ship with several members of the royal navy, who are all very uninteresting. None of these navy subordinates has a personality that stands out from the pack. The ship accidentally becomes engulfed in flames, so everyone has to abandon the ship. Not everyone makes it out alive.

In the chaos, Eric falls into the sea, where he is rescued by Ariel and brought on shore to a beach. A groggy Eric regains partial consciousness and finds Ariel embracing him and singing to him. Eric’s vision is blurry but he is utterly enchanted by Ariel’s beauty, compassion and her voice. It’s “love at first sight” for Ariel and Eric. However, Ariel is too frightened to be seen with Eric, so she quickly returns to the ocean. Eric is eventually found by some of his ship mates.

Eric didn’t see that Ariel was a mermaid, so he assumes that she is a human. He goes back to his kingdom and tells his skeptical, widowed mother Queen Selina (played by Noma Dumezweni) that the woman of his dreams saved his life, and he’s determined to find her, because he wants to date her and probably marry her. It’s explained in the movie that Queen Selina and Prince Eric (her only child) are of different races because Selina and her husband adopted Eric when he was an abandoned baby.

Meanwhile, Ariel has become lovesick over Eric. One of the merpeople in this underwater kingdom who has noticed Ariel’s mopey mood is a sea witch named Ursula (played by McCarthy), who hatches a plan to use Ariel for a self-serving scheme to gain control of the kingdom. Ursula, who has a grudge against King Triton, is the half-human, half-octopus sister of King Triton, who banished Ursula years ago for her misdeeds.

Years before Ariel was born, Ursula thought that she would be the one to inherit the sea kingdom, but Triton was named the ruler instead. As part of this leadership position, Triton has a magical triton that has the power to be a weapon as well as way to transform creatures. Whoever owns the triton will essentially be the leader of this sea kingdom.

Ursula introduces herself to Ariel, who is wary because she heard from her father to stay away from Ursula. However, Ursula knows that Ariel and Triton have been arguing because he found out that Ariel disobeyed his orders to stay underwater. Triton also discovers that Ariel has fallen in love with the human prince whom she rescued from death. A smooth-talking Ursula uses this father/daughter conflict to her advantage.

Ursula makes a deal with Ariel: Ursula can turn Ariel into a human for three days, but Ursula will keep Ariel’s voice during this three-day period. If Ariel is able to get a “true love” kiss from Eric, Ariel can remain a human and be with Eric. But if Ariel fails to get this kiss from Eric before the three days are over, then Ariel will be turned back into a mermaid forever and Ursula will get to keep Ariel’s voice.

It’s a big risk that Ariel is willing to take. She’s transformed into a human and ends up naked (covered in seaweed and rope) when she is caught in a fisherman’s net. Ariel is given clothes by the fisherman and eventually finds her way to the kingdom’s palace, where she turned into a handmaiden, who is mute but who catches the attention of Eric. Ariel does not tell Eric that she was the one who rescued him.

Even if people didn’t already know the entire story of “The Little Mermaid,” it’s easy to predict what will happen in this Disney princess story. What makes this movie watchable are the luminous performance of Bailey, the lively voice acting of Diggs (who does a passable Caribbean accent) and the scene-stealing turn by McCarthy. The overall chemistry of the cast members works best when the characters played by Bailey, Diggs and McCarthy are on screen.

Bailey is entirely believable as Ariel, with a performance that is a skillful blend of sheltered innocence and independent curiosity. (A little joke in the movie is that Ariel believes Scuttle’s incorrect statement that a fork is a mini-triton that humans use to comb their hair. Ariel eventually finds out the truth.) Bailey shows undeniable star quality in “The Little Mermaid” (her first starring role in a movie), so it will be interesting to see what other leading-lady roles she will do after this breakthrough performance.

As the frequently exasperated and worried Sebastian, Diggs brings some swagger and bounce to a character whose loyalties are often torn between King Triton and Ariel. Sebastian is also the voice of reason when Ariel becomes too impetuous and stubborn, or when Scuttle becomes too scatter-brained and hyper. The comedy for Scuttle seems to try too hard, while the comedy for Sebastian seems more organic and natural.

Some viewers might not like the touches of comedy that McCarthy (whose speaking voice as Ursula has a lower octave than McCarthy’s real voice) brings to the Ursula character, but these moments of levity are needed and welcome in a movie that comes dangerously close to taking itself too seriously. McCarthy also handles the singing quite well, particularly in Ursula’s signature song “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” McCarthy’s version of Ursula might not be as menacing as many people expect Ursula to be, but McCarthy does a convincing job of portraying a bitter witch who feels entitled to take what she thinks is owed to her.

Viewers will also have mixed reactions to Awkwafina as Scuttle, since people either like or dislike Awkwafina’s speaking voice. One of the highlights in “The Little Mermaid” is the new song “The Scuttlebutt,” a rap-pop hybrid performed by Awkwafina and Diggs, who each has a background in performing rap music. The only drawback to “The Scuttlebutt” song is that is it shows Awkwafina has limited singing skills and sounds better as a rapper.

The other new and original songs in this version of “The Little Mermaid” are “Wild Unchartered Waters” (performed by Hauer-King) and “For the First Time,” performed by Bailey. There’s also a new reprise of “Part of Your World,” performed by Bailey. “Wild Uncharted Waters” and “For the First Time” sound more like traditional Disney musical songs. Some viewers will like that conventional sound, while other viewers will think the songs play it too safe and should have been more inventive.

Sebastian’s showcase songs “Kiss the Girl” and the Oscar-winning “Under the Sea” (with music by Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman) join the Menken/Ashman songs “Part of Your World” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from the original “Little Mermaid” movie that are in this “Little Mermaid” remake. The live-action movie remake of “The Little Mermaid” has a total running tme of 135 minutes, which is a little too long for a movie that just added only three orginal songs. If the movie needed to be this long, it would have been better to replace some of the duller dialogue scenes with dazzling musical numbers that have new and original songs.

Where the live-action version “The Little Mermaid” falters the most is in not really living up to the potential to have more exciting supporting characters. Hauer-King is perfectly pleasant as Prince Eric, but his performance doesn’t have star-making charisma. Hauer-King’s chemistry with Bailey evokes more of a puppy-love crush rather than the type of passionate true love that can lead to a quick marriage. Tremblay’s capable but uninspiring performance as Flounder is overshadowed by the squawking of Scuttle and the wisecracking of Sebastian.

This live-action version of “The Little Mermaid” has a real imbalance in making the sea inhabitants much more interesting overall than the human inhabitants. Prince Eric in particular should be the type of heartthrob who makes millions of admirers swoon, but that type of magnetic romantic appeal just isn’t there in Hauer-King’s performance. Queen Selina and royal court member Sir Grimbsy (played by Art Malik), who is Prince Eric’s chief advisor and confidant, go through the usual motions, but there’s nothing exceptional about the performances of these two characters. There’s also a royal maid named Lashana (played by Martina Laird), who helps Ariel adjust to work life in the palace, but Lashana is ultimately a very generic character.

That doesn’t mean all of the sea life is compelling in this version of “The Little Mermaid.” The eel characters of Flotsam and Jetsam (who are minions of Ursula) are silent, mostly forgettable, and barely in the movie. It’s a missed opportunity to give Flotsam and Jetsam memorable personalities in a live-action remake. And as previously mentioned, the movie makes Ariel’s sisters look like soulless CGI images, instead of mermaids with specific and identifiable personalities.

In other words, this live-action version of “The Little Mermaid” is a mixed bag of flaws and assets, with more assets than flaws. Seeing this movie on the biggest screen possible just makes these assets and flaws more noticeable. The movie’s concept that a female has to change her physical appearance in order to attract and marry a man seems a little outdated in a post-feminism world, even though most of today’s beauty standards for females are still based in these patriarchal ideals. The live-action “The Little Mermaid” doesn’t quite deliver an epic and authentic-looking romance, but the movie does have some delightful performances while staying true to positive messages of overcoming bigotry and self-doubt.

Walt Disney Pictures will release “The Little Mermaid” in U.S. cinemas on May 26, 2023.

Review: ‘Thor: Love and Thunder,’ starring Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe and Natalie Portman

July 5, 2022

by Carla Hay

Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth in “Thor: Love and Thunder” (Photo by Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios)

“Thor: Love and Thunder”

Directed by Taika Waititi

Culture Representation: Taking place on Earth and other parts of the universe (including the fictional location of New Asgard), the superhero action film “Thor: Love and Thunder” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans, Latinos and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Nordic superhero Thor Odinson, also known as the God of Thunder, teams up with allies in a battle against the revengeful villain Gorr the God Butcher, while Thor’s ex-girlfriend Jane Porter has her own personal battle with Stage 4 cancer. 

Culture Audience: Besides appealing to the obvious target audience of comic book movie fans, “Thor: Love and Thunder” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and action movies that skillfully blend drama and comedy.

Christian Bale in “Thor: Love and Thunder” (Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios)

“Thor: Love and Thunder” could also be called “Thor: Grief and Comedy,” because how of this superhero movie sequel balances these two themes with some results that are better than others. The movie goes big on showing bittersweet romance and the power of true friendships. Some of the movie’s subplots clutter up the movie, and any sense of terrifying danger is constantly undercut by all the wisecracking, but “Thor: Love and Thunder” gleefully leans into the idea that a superhero leader can be a formidable warrior, as well as a big goofball and a sentimental romantic.

Directed by Taika Waititi, “Thor: Love and Thunder” is also a commercial showcase for Guns N’Roses music. It’s the first Marvel Studios movie to blatantly shill for a rock band to the point where not only are four of the band’s hits prominently used in major scenes in the movie, but there’s also a character in the movie who wants to change his first name to be the same as the first name of the band’s lead singer. The music is well-placed, in terms of conveying the intended emotions, but viewers’ reactions to this movie’s fan worship of Guns N’Roses will vary, depending on how people feel about the band and its music. The Guns N’Roses songs “Welcome the Jungle,” “Paradise City,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “November Rain” are all in pivotal scenes in “Thor: Love and Thunder.”

“Thor: Love and Thunder” picks up where 2019’s blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” concluded. What’s great about “Thor: Love and Thunder” (which Waititi co-wrote with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson) is that the filmmakers didn’t assume that everyone watching the movie is an aficionado of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), nor did they assume that everyone watching “Thor: Love and Thunder” will know a lot about the Nordic superhero Thor Odinson (played by Chris Hemsworth) before seeing the movie. Near the beginning of the movie, there’s a montage summary (narrated cheerfully by Waititi’s Korg character, a rock-like humanoid who is one of Thor’s loyal allies) that shows the entire MCU history of Thor up until what’s about to happen in “Thor: Love and Thunder.”

The movie’s opening scene isn’t quite so upbeat, because it gets right into showing that grief will be one of the film’s biggest themes. In a very barren desert, a man and his daughter (who’s about 8 or 9 years old, played by India Rose Hemsworth) are deyhdrated, starving, and close to dying. The girl doesn’t survive, and the man is shown grieving at the place where he has buried her. Viewers soon find out that this man is Gorr the God Butcher (played by Christian Bale), who is the story’s chief villain. But he didn’t start out as a villain.

After the death of his daughter, a ravenously hungry Gorr ends up a tropical-looking, plant-filled area, where he devours some fruit. Suddenly, a male god appears before Gorr, who is pious and grateful for being in this god’s presence. Gorr tells the god: “I am Gorr, the last of your disciples. We never lost our faith in you.”

The god scoffs at Gorr’s devotion and says, “There’s no eternal reward for you. There’ll be more followers to replace you.” Feeling betrayed, Gorr replies, “You are no god! I renounce you!” The god points to a slain warrior on the ground and tells Gorr that the warrior was killed for the Necrosword, a magical sword that can kill gods and celestials. The Necrosword levitates off of the ground and gravitates toward Gorr.

The god tells Gorr: “The sword chose you. You are now cursed.” Gorr replies, “It doesn’t feel like a curse. It feels like a promise. So this is my vow: All gods will die!” And you know what that means: Gorr kills the god in front of him, and Thor will be one of Gorr’s targets.

Meanwhile, Thor is seen coming to the rescue of the Guardians of the Galaxy, who need his help in battling some villains on a generic-looking planet in outer space. All of the Guardians are there (except for Gamora, who died at the end of “Avengers: Endgame”), and they see Thor as a powerful ally. However, the Guardians are worried that Thor has lost a lot of his emotional vitality. Thor (who hails from Asgar) is grieving over the loss his entire family to death and destruction.

Thor is also still heartbroken over the end of his romantic relationship with brilliant astrophysicist Jane Foster (played by Natalie Portman), who was in 2011’s “Thor” and 2013’s “Thor: The Dark World.” Viewers will find out in a “Thor: Love and Thunder” flashback montage what really happened that caused the end of this relationship. Jane and Thor are considered soul mates, but their devotion to their respective work resulted in Thor and Jane drifting apart.

Guardians of the Galaxy leader Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord (played by Chris Pratt), tries to give Thor a pep talk, because Star-Lord can relate to losing the love of his life (Gamora, played by Zoe Saldana), but the main difference is that Thor has a chance to see Jane again because she’s still alive. As shown in the trailer for “Thor: Love and Thunder,” Jane will soon come back into Thor’s life in an unexpected way, when she gains possession of Thor’s magical hammer, Mjolnir, and she reinvents herself as the Mighty Thor. As an example of some of the movie’s offbeat comedy, Korg keeps getting Jane Foster’s name wrong, by sometimes calling her Jane Fonda or Jodie Foster.

The Guardians of the Galaxy section of “Thor: Love and Thunder” almost feels like a completely separate short film that was dropped into the movie. After an intriguing opening scene with Gorr, viewers are left wondering when Gorr is going to show up again. Instead, there’s a fairly long stretch of the movie with Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy

After spending a lot of meditative time lounging around in a robe, Thor literally throws off the robe for the battle scene with Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy, as the Guns N’Roses song “Welcome to the Jungle” blares on the soundtrack. After the battle is over (it’s easy to predict who the victors are), Thor’s confident ego seems to have come roaring back. He exclaims with a huge grin: “What a classic Thor adventure! Hurrah!”

As a gift for this victory, Thor gets two superpowered goats, which have the strength to pull space vessels and whose goat screaming becomes a running gag in the movie. The visual effects in “Thor: Love and Thunder” get the job done well enough for a superhero movie. But are these visual effects groundbreaking or outstanding? No.

The Guardians’ personalities are all the same: Star-Lord is still cocky on the outside but deeply insecure on the inside. Drax (played by Dave Bautista) is still simple-minded. Rocket (voice by Bradley Cooper) is still sarcastic. Mantis (played by Pom Klementieff) is still sweetly earnest. Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) still only has three words in his vocabulary: “I am Groot.”

Nebula (voiced by Karen Gillan), who is Garmora’s hot-tempered adopted sister and a longtime Guardians frenemy, is now an ally of the Guardians. Guardians associate Kraglin Obfonteri (played by Sean Gunn) makes a brief appearance to announce that he’s gotten married to an Indigarrian woman named Glenda (played by Brenda Satchwell), who is one of his growing number of his wives. It’s mentioned in a joking manner that Kraglin has a tendency to marry someone at every planet he visits.

With his confidence renewed as the God of Thunder, Thor decides he’s ready to end his “retirement” and go back into being a superhero. He says goodbye to the Guardians, who fly off in their spaceship and wish him well. Little does Thor know what he’s going to see someone from his past (Jane), whom he hasn’t seen in a long time.

Sif (played by Jaimie Alexander), an Asgardian warrior who was in the first “Thor” movie and in “Thor: The Dark World,” re-appears in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” but she now has a missing left arm and has to learn to re-adjust her fighting skills. Sif’s presence in this movie isn’t entirely unexpected. It’s a welcome return, but some viewers might think that Sif doesn’t get enough screen time.

Meanwhile, as shown in “Avengers: Endgame,” Thor gave up his King of New Asgard title to his longtime associate Valkyrie (played by Tessa Thompson), who’s finding out that being the leader of New Asgard isn’t quite as enjoyable as she thought it would be. She’d rather do battle alongside her buddy Thor instead of having to do things like attend dull council meetings or cut ribbons at opening ceremonies. New Asgard is a fishing village that has become a tourist destination that plays up its connection to Thor and his history.

The stage play recreation of Thor’s story was used as a comedic gag in 2017’s “Thor: Ragnarok” (also directed and written by Waititi), and that gag is used again in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” as this play is staged in New Asgard, but with an update to include what happened in “Thor: Ragnarok.” Making uncredited cameos as these stage play actors in “Thor: Love and Thunder” are Matt Damon as stage play Loki (Thor’s mischievous adopted brother), Luke Hemsworth as stage play Thor, Melissa McCarthy as stage play Hela (Thor’s villainous older sister) and Sam Neill as stage play Odin (Thor’s father). This comedic bit about a “Thor” stage play isn’t as fresh as it was in “Thor: Ragnarok,” but it’s still amusing.

One of the New Asgard citizens is a lively child of about 13 or 14 years old. His name is Astrid, and he announces that he wants to change his first name to Axl, in tribute to Axl Rose, the lead singer of Guns N’Roses. Axl (played by Kieron L. Dyer) is the son of Heimdall (played by Idris Elba), the Asgardian gatekeeper who was killed by supervillain Thanos in 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War.” As fans of superhero movies know, just because a character is killed on screen doesn’t mean that that character will never be seen again. And let’s just say that “Thor: Love and Thunder” makes it clear that people have not seen the last of Heimdall.

Jane has a poignant storyline because she has Stage 4 cancer, which is something that she’s in deep denial about since she wants to act as if she still has the same physical strength as she did before her cancer reached this stage. Jane’s concerned and loyal assistant Darcy Lewis (played by Kat Dennings) makes a brief appearance to essentially advise Jane to slow down Jane’s workload. Jane refuses to take this advice.

The way that Jane gets Thor’s hammer isn’t very innovative, but she finds out that the hammer gives her godlike strength and makes her look healthy. It’s no wonder she wants to explore life as the Mighty Thor. (Her transformation also includes going from being a brunette as Jane to being a blonde as the Mighty Thor.)

And where exactly is Gorr? He now looks like a powder-white Nosferatu-like villain, as he ends up wreaking havoc by going on a killing spree of the universe’s gods. And it’s only a matter of time before Gorr reaches New Asgard. With the help of shadow monsters, Gorr ends up kidnapping the children of New Asgard (including Axl) and imprisoning them in an underground area. Guess who’s teaming up to come to the rescue?

After the mass kidnapping happens, there’s a comedic segment where Thor ends up in the kingdom of Greek god Zeus (played by Russell Crowe), a toga-wearing hedonist who says things like, “Where are we going to have this year’s orgy?” Zeus is Thor’s idol, but Thor gets a rude awakening about Zeus. Thor experiences some humiliation that involves Thor getting completely naked in Zeus’ public court. Crowe’s questionable Greek accent (which often sounds more Italian than Greek) is part of his deliberately campy performance as Zeus.

“Thor: Love and Thunder” packs in a lot of issues and switches tones so many times, it might be a turnoff to some viewers who just want to see a straightforward, uncomplicated and conventional superhero story. However, people who saw and enjoyed “Thor: Ragnarok” will be better-prepared for his mashup of styles that Waititi continues in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which has that same spirit. “Thor: Love and Thunder” tackles much heavier issues though, such as terminal illness and crushing heartbreak.

The movie’s cancer storyline with Jane could have been mishandled, but it’s written in a way that has an emotional authenticity among the fantastical superhero shenanigans. “Thor: Love and Thunder” also goes does fairly deep in exposing the toll that superhero duties can take on these superheroes’ love lives. Thor and Jane have to come to terms with certain decisions they made that affected their relationship.

The movie also provides a glimpse into the personal lives of supporting characters Korg and Valkyrie. In a memorable scene, Valkyrie and Korg are alone together in an area of Thor’s Viking ship, and they have a heart-to-heart talk about not finding their true loves yet. They are lovelorn cynics but still show some glimmers of optimism that maybe they will be lucky in love. It’s in this scene where Korg mentions that he was raised by two fathers, and Valkyrie briefly mentions having an ex-girlfriend. A scene later in the movie shows that Korg is open having a same-sex romance.

All of the cast members do well in their roles, but Hemsworth and Portman have the performances and storyline that people will be talking about the most for “Thor: Love and Thunder.” The ups and downs of Thor and Jane’s on-again/off-again romance are not only about what true love can mean in this relationship but also touch on issues of power, control, trust and gender dynamics. It’s a movie that acknowledges that two people might be right for each other, but the timing also has to be right for the relationship to thrive.

Bale does a very solid job as Gorr, but some viewers might be disappointed that Gorr isn’t in the movie as much as expected. That’s because the first third of “Thor: Love and Thunder” is taken up by a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy interactions with Thor. In other words, Gorr’s villain presence in “Thor: Love and Thunder” is not particularly encompassing, as Hela’s villain presence was in “Thor: Ragnarok.”

The movie’s final battle scene might also be somewhat divisive with viewers because one member of Thor’s team is not part of this battle, due to this character being injured in a previous fight and being stuck at a hospital. Fans of this character will no doubt feel a huge letdown that this character is sidelined in a crucial final battle. Leaving this character out of this battle is one of the flaws of “Thor: Love and Thunder.”

The mid-credits scene and end-credits scene in Thor: Love and Thunder” show characters who are supposed to be dead. The mid-credits scene also introduces the family member of one of the movie’s characters, while the end-credits scene teases the return of other characters who exist in another realm. Neither of these scenes is mind-blowing. However, they’re worth watching for MCU completists and anyone who likes watching all of a movie’s credits at the end.

What “Thor: Love and Thunder” gets right is that it shows more concern than many other MCU movies about how insecurities and isolation outside the glory of superhero battles can have a profound effect on these heroes. Saving the universe can come at a heavy emotional price, especially when loved ones die. Whether the love is for family members, romantic partners or friends, “Thor: Love and Thunder” acknowledges that love can result in grief that isn’t easy to overcome, but the healing process is helped with loyal support and some welcome laughter.

Disney’s Marvel Studios will release “Thor: Love and Thunder” in U.S. cinemas on July 8, 2022.

Fox Presents the iHeart Living Room Concert of America: Elton John hosts; performers include Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mariah Carey, Tim McGraw

March 25, 2020

Elton John (Photo by Craig Sjodin/ABC)

The following is a press release from iHeartMedia and Fox:

iHeartMedia and Fox announced today Fox Presents the iHeart Living Room Concert of America, a music event to provide entertainment relief and support for Americans to help fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to celebrate the resilience and strength of the nation during this pandemic. Hosted by Elton John, the event will feature performances by Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mariah Carey, Tim McGraw and more, from their own homes, filmed with their personal cell phones, cameras and audio equipment, to ensure the health and safety of all involved. The concert will air in the iHeartRadio Music Awards’ original broadcast time slot—Sunday, March 29, from 9:00-10:00 PM ET/6:00-7:00 PM PT on Fox—and on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide, as well as via the iHeartRadio app. The benefit special will be broadcast commercial-free.

In addition to featuring music, the hour-long concert will pay tribute to the front line health professionals, first responders and local heroes who are putting their lives in harm’s way to help their neighbors and fight the spread of the virus. It also will encourage viewers to support two of the many charitable organizations helping victims and first responders during the pandemic: Feeding America® and First Responders Children’s Foundation.

To extend the reach of the commercial-free special’s charitable component, FOX will offer the event across all of its linear and digital platforms.

Additional details and performers to be announced soon. For more information, visit iHeart.com/LivingRoomConcert.

Executive producers for Fox Presents the iHeart Living Room Concert of America are John Sykes and Tom Poleman, for iHeartMedia; and Joel Gallen, for Tenth Planet Productions, who produced the multi-network telethons immediately following 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti Earthquake.

About iHeartMedia

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ: IHRT) is the number one audio company in the United States, reaching nine out of 10 Americans every month – and with its quarter of a billion monthly listeners, has a greater reach than any other media company in the U.S. The company’s leadership position in audio extends across multiple platforms, including more than 850 live broadcast stations in over 150 markets; digital radio via its iHeartRadio digital service available across more than 250 platforms and 2,000 devices; through its on-air influencers; social; branded iconic live music events; and podcasts as the #1 commercial podcast publisher. iHeartMedia also leads the audio industry in analytics, targeting and attribution for its marketing partners with its SmartAudio product, using data from its massive consumer base. Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.

About FOX Entertainment

A division of Fox Corporation, FOX Entertainment’s 30-year legacy of innovative, hit programming includes “9-1-1,” “9-1-1: Lone Star,” “The AMsked Singer,” “Lego Masters,” “Prodigal Son,” “Empire,” “Last Man Standing,”  “24,” “The X-Files” and “American Idol.” Delivering high-quality scripted, non-scripted and live content, Fox Entertainment’s broadcast network airs 15 hours of primetime programming a week, as well as major sports; and is the only major network to post year-over-year growth among viewers during the 2018-2019 broadcast season.

March 27, 2020 UPDATE:  iHeartMedia and Fox announced that Camila Cabello, Dave Grohl, H.E.R. and Sam Smith have been added to the lineup. The concert will also feature inspirational messages from guests as well as special appearances from Ciara, Demi Lovato, Lizzo, Russell Wilson and more.

March 29, 2020 UPDATE: Ellen DeGeneres, Lady Gaga, Ken Jeong, Ryan Seacrest, Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone have been added to the lineup.

March 30, 2020 UPDATE:  Last night’s broadcast of the benefit special Fox Presents iHeart Living Room Concert of America brought viewers together to thank our first responders and medical workers on the front lines and to celebrate America’s everyday heroes. The event raised money to support two charities that are doing critical work during these challenging times – Feeding America and First Responders Children’s Foundation. The one-hour special was created to help fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to celebrate the resilience and strength of the nation during this pandemic.

The benefit special raised nearly $8 million (and counting) for Feeding America® and First Responders Children’s Foundation. This is thanks to the generosity of fans, as well as corporate partner Procter & Gamble, which donated $500,000, and which Fox Corporation matched. Additionally, FOX employees raised funds in support of the cause, as did corporate partner PwC.

YouTube, which also made a donation in support of the cause, is now streaming FOX PRESENTS THE IHEART LIVING ROOM CONCERT FOR AMERICA, through Wednesday (April 1, 2020) at 10:00 PM ET on iHeartRadio’s YouTube Channel.

“Our goal from the start was to ‘do good’ at a tough time in the world. And that we were able to accomplish anything of that sort is because of the amazing artists who participated in this event, our producing partners, iHeart Media, and the outpouring of support from our employees, viewers and corporate partners,” said Charlie Collier, CEO, FOX Entertainment. “Many thanks to everyone involved with the production of this special and everyone who gave generously to the wonderful charities. It is they who support the really important work happening across our communities.”

In addition to airing on FOX, the special ran on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide, via the iHeartRadio app; and is streaming on YouTube both domestically and globally until Wednesday, April 1, 2020. To extend the reach of the commercial-free special’s charitable component, FOX also offered the event across all of its linear and digital platforms, including FOX.com and the FOX NOW app. FOX will air an encore of the special Monday, April 6 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).

The Fox Presents iHeart Living Room Concert of America delivered 8.7 million viewers and a 2.0 Live + Same Day aggregate rating among Adults 18-49 across all of FOX’s linear properties, including Fox Network, Fox News, Fox Business, FS1, FS2 and FOX Deportes. It added more than 700,000 starts and eight million minutes viewed across FOX’s digital properties.  On Fox, it delivered a 1.5 Live + Same Day rating and 5.5 million viewers, making it the #1 and most-watched iHeart Radio special ever (excluding awards shows) and this year’s #1 Sunday entertainment telecast (excluding post-NFL and award shows) among Adults 18-49 (#1T) and Adults 18-34.

Donations will continue to be accepted via the Internet at Feeding America and First Responders Children’s Foundation.

Hosted by Elton John, the event featured performances by Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys, Dave Grohl, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Tim McGraw, Sam Smith, Demi Lovato, H.E.R., and Mariah Carey, from their own homes, filmed with their personal cell phones, cameras and audio equipment, to ensure the health and safety of all involved.

The hour-long concert also featured inspirational messages from guests, as well as special appearances from Ken Jeong, Ciara and Russell Wilson, Ryan Seacrest, Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone, Lady Gaga, Lizzo, and Ellen DeGeneres, as the benefit special paid tribute to the front line health professionals, first responders and local heroes who are putting their lives in harm’s way to help their neighbors and fight the spread of the virus.

For more information, visit iHeart.com/LivingRoomConcert.

Executive producers for Fox Presents iHeart Living Room Concert of America are John Sykes and Tom Poleman for iHeartMedia and Joel Gallen for Tenth Planet Productions, who produced the multi-network telethons immediately following 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake.

2019 Academy Awards: performers and presenters announced

February 11, 2019

by Carla Hay

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 6, 2019. (Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBC)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced several entertainers who will be performers and presenters at the 91st Annual Academy Awards ceremony, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. ABC will have the U.S. telecast of the show, which will not have a host. As previously reported, comedian/actor Kevin Hart was going to host the show, but he backed out after the show’s producers demanded that he make a public apology for homophobic remarks that he made several years ago. After getting a  firestorm of backlash for the homophobic remarks, Hart later made several public apologies but remained adamant that he would still not host the Oscars this year.

The celebrities who will be on stage at the Oscars this year are several of those whose songs are nominated for Best Original Song. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper will perform their duet “Shallow” from their movie remake of “A Star Is Born.” Jennifer Hudson will perform “I’ll Fight” from the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary “RBG.” David Rawlings and Gillian Welch will team up for the duet “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from the Western film “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.” It has not yet been announced who will perform “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from the Disney musical sequel “Mary Poppins Returns.”** It also hasn’t been announced yet if Kendrick Lamar and SZA will take the stage for “All the Stars” from the superhero flick “Black Panther.”

Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic do the music for the “In Memoriam” segment, which spotlights notable people in the film industry who have died in the year since the previous Oscar ceremony.

Meanwhile, the following celebrities have been announced as presenters at the ceremony: Whoopi Goldberg (who has hosted the Oscars twice in the past), Awkwafina, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Tina Fey, Jennifer Lopez, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Amandla Stenberg, Tessa Thompson Constance Wu, Javier Bardem, Angela Bassett, Chadwick Boseman, Emilia Clarke, Laura Dern, Samuel L. Jackson, Stephan James, Keegan-Michael Key, KiKi Layne, James McAvoy, Melissa McCarthy, Jason Momoa and Sarah Paulson. Goldberg and Bardem are previous Oscar winners.

Other previous Oscar winners taking the stage will be Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney, who won the actor and actress prizes at the 2018 Academy Awards.

Donna Gigliotti (who won an Oscar for Best Picture for 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love) and Emmy-winning director Glenn Weiss are the producers of the 2019 Academy Awards. This will be the first time that Gigliotti is producing the Oscar ceremony. Weiss has directed several major award shows, including the Oscars and the Tonys. He will direct the Oscar ceremony again in 2019.

**February 18, 2019 UPDATE: Bette Midler will perform “The Place Where Los Things Go,” the Oscar-nominated song from “Mary Poppins Returns.” British rock band Queen, whose official biopic is the Oscar-nominated film “Bohemian Rhapsody,” will also perform on the show with lead singer Adam Lambert. It has not been revealed which song(s) Queen will perform at the Oscars.

February 19, 2019 UPDATE: These presenters have been added to the Oscar telecast: Elsie Fisher, Danai Gurira, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Keaton, Helen Mirren, John Mulaney, Tyler Perry, Pharrell Williams, Krysten Ritter, Paul Rudd and Michelle Yeoh.

February 21, 2019 UPDATE: These celebrities will present the Best Picture nominees: José Andrés, Dana Carvey, Queen Latifah, Congressman John Lewis, Diego Luna, Tom Morello, Mike Myers, Trevor Noah, Amandla Stenberg, Barbra Streisand and Serena Williams.

2018 E! People’s Choice Awards: Melissa McCarthy to receive People’s Icon Award; Nicki Minaj among performers

November 6, 2018

Melissa McCarthy
Melissa McCarthy (Photo by Kristina Bumphrey/StarPix)

The following is a press release from E!:

E! announced today that acclaimed actor, writer, producer and director Melissa McCarthy will be the inaugural recipient of The People’s Icon of 2018 award at The E! People’s Choice Awards. McCarthy will be honored for her work across film and television including “The Heat,” “The Boss,” “Spy,” Ghostbusters,” “Tammy,” “St. Vincent” and “Bridesmaids,” which she was nominated for a SAG and an Academy Award. On the television side, she has amassed a total of eight Emmy nominations, three of which came from her role as Molly Flynn in the critically acclaimed series “Mike and Molly” garnering one win in 2011 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and her portrayal of Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on “Saturday Night Live” earning her second Emmy win for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2017. Additionally, McCarthy is nominated for Comedy Movie Star of 2018 at this year’s ceremony.

In addition, global superstar Nicki Minaj will open The E! People’s Choice Awards with a performance of song from her most recent certified platinum album, “Queen.” Minaj is nominated for two awards this year, including Female Artist of 2018 and Album of 2018.

The E! People’s Choice Awards will broadcast live from Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, CA across the cable networks of NBCUniversal, including Bravo, E!, SYFY, Universo and USA Network on Sunday, November 11 from 9:00-11:00pm ET/PT.

“Melissa McCarthy is a multi-talented actor, writer, producer and director and who has starred in some of the most iconic movies and television shows of the past decade,” said Jen Neal, Executive Producer, Live Events, Executive Vice President, Marketing for E! “She is beloved by the people and we couldn’t think of anyone more fitting or deserving to honor as ‘The People’s Icon of 2018.’”

Melissa McCarthy can currently be seen starring in Fox Searchlight’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?.” She starred earlier this year in Warner Bros. “Life of the Party” which she co-wrote and produced with husband Ben Falcone, who served as the film’s director, through their On the Day Productions. Next year she will star in Warner Bros. “Superintelligence,” directed by Ben Falcone and Warner Bros “The Kitchen.” McCarthy has previously won four People’s Choice Awards, three in the Comedic Movie Actress category and one in the Comedic TV Actress category.

“The E! People’s Choice Awards” is produced by Wilshire Studios and Den of Thieves with Executive Producers Jesse Ignjatovic and Evan Prager.

About E! Entertainment

E! is the only global, multi-platform brand for all things pop culture. The network is currently available to 91 million cable and satellite subscribers in the U.S and 161 countries globally. “E! News” airs nightly on the network and is the leading multi-platform publisher delivering breaking entertainment news and pop culture coverage 24/7 across EOnline.com and all digital and social media. E! programming includes popular series “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” “Total Divas,” “Total Bellas,” “Botched,” “Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry,” “Very Cavallari” and its newest late night topical series “Busy Tonight.” The brand’s robust digital programming slate includes “E! News’ The Rundown” “Face Forward” and “What The Fashion” on Snapchat. E!’s “Live from the Red Carpet” signature events keep fans connected to their favorite stars on pop culture’s biggest nights and on November 11 E! becomes the home of “The E! People’s Choice Awards.” E! is a network of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. For more corporate information, visitwww.nbcuniversal.com.

About Wilshire Studios
Wilshire Studios develops and produces a diverse slate of original unscripted programming for multiple platforms, aligning with award-winning producers and innovative storytellers to create compelling content that explores reality through a variety of formats. From E!’s signature “Live from the Red Carpet,” USA Network’s “The Cromarties” and Oxygen’s “Mysteries and Scandals,” “The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell” for Netflix, “Real Country” for USA, “Unspeakable Crime: The Killing of Jessica Chambers” for Oxygen and the debut “The E! People’s Choice Awards,” Wilshire Studios produces series that are informative, revealing, thrilling and entertaining. Wilshire Studios is part of the NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment portfolio.

About Den of Thieves
Den of Thieves is a force for ambitious, music-driven event shows and uniquely stylized television series. Using their extensive experience working with talent, their credits cover a vast array of formats that include ABC’s The Gong Show, FOX’s American Idol, the multi-network broadcast of Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief and the digital stream of March for Our Lives. Beyond that, Den of Thieves thrives in the live event & award show space, having produced the MTV Video Music Awards for 12 consecutive years, the iHeartRadio Music Awards, MTV Movie Awards, Radio Disney Music Awards, Peabody Awards and more. In addition to spearheading some of the world’s leading premier event shows, Den of Thieves is also the name behind the production of documentaries, documentary-series, and comedy specials for Netflix, Comedy Central and Apple – to name a few

About People’s Choice

E! acquired the “People’s Choice Awards” and serves as the exclusive home of the popular annual award show that celebrates the best in pop culture. E!’s ownership of “People’s Choice Awards” includes the annual live event along with all digital and social assets. Now in its 44th year, the People’s Choice Awards is the only major awards show voted on entirely by the public for fan favorites in movies, music, television, and pop culture. The People’s Choice official website at www.PeoplesChoice.com houses the voting platform where fans determine the nominees and winners for the annual awards show. “People’s Choice Awards” was originally created in 1975 by Robert Stivers. “People’s Choice Awards” was previously owned by Procter & Gamble and produced by Mark Burnett airing on CBS.

 

Melissa McCarthy makes a dramatic departure as a desperate forger in ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’

October 19, 2018

by Carla Hay

Melissa McCarthy at the New York City premiere of "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
Melissa McCarthy at the New York City premiere of “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Photo by Kristina Bumphrey/StarPix)

Melissa McCarthy has played several characters who are social misfits, but those are usually in comedies. The dramatic film “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” which is inspired by the true story of author-turned-forger Lee Israel, is a very different role for McCarthy, who is getting a lot of critical acclaim for playing the troubled Israel. McCarthy has already won Emmy Awards for starring in the sitcom “Mike & Molly” and guesting on “Saturday Night Live,” and she received an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in 2011 comedy film “Bridesmaids,” but “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” is her first dramatic film for which she is getting significant awards buzz. The movie, which is set in 1990s New York City, tells the story of how a financially desperate Lee, who was once a successful biographer but whose latest books have been flops, turns to fabricating letters from famous dead authors and selling the forgeries to pay her bills. When some of her buyers start to get suspicious, she resorts to stealing real archived letters from research institutions, replacing the original letters with forgeries, and selling the stolen originals.

Lee is an unapologetic loner whose brusque manner often alienates people, but she reconnects with an old acquaintance—perpetual con artist Jack Hock (played by Richard E. Grant)—to help her with her forgery scams, with the flamboyant and charming Jack going to potential buyers and selling many of the fake documents for her. The relationship between Jack and Lee isn’t exactly a warm and fuzzy friendship; it’s more like an uneasy alliance that probably wouldn’t have happened if the ill-mannered and introverted Lee didn’t need a cohort who was better at dealing with people.

The real Lee Israel, who died in 2014 at the age of 75, forged hundreds of documents, and she and Jack were eventually caught and faced legal consequences. She wrote about her life of crime in the 2008 memoir “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” The movie was directed by Marielle Heller, with a screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty. The film’s cast also includes Dolly Wells as a bookstore owner who tries to befriend Lee; Jane Curtin as Lee’s increasingly exasperated agent; Anna Deavere Smith as Lee’s ex-lover whom Lee still tries to contact; and Ben Falcone (McCarthy’s real-life husband) and Stephen Spinella as literary collectors who make multiple purchases of Lee’s forgeries. McCarthy recently sat down with me and other journalists for a roundtable interview at the “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” press junket in New York City. Here is what she said.

Did you ever have a time when people told you that you couldn’t be an actress, but you did it anyway?

Yeah. I don’t even know if I knew what an actress was. I don’t know exactly what I thought I was going to do. I didn’t even quite have a thing to conjure. I know when I came to New York, I did not know how to do the business side of it. I’m not upset that I focused on the work. I studied, and I did plays. It didn’t help me survive any better, but I think it was good for learning.

I finally met with a manager, and I was so excited. I met with her in her studio apartment. Then she was like, ‘You’re never going to work.” I do remember her saying, “You’re never going to work. You have to lose weight.” But the point of that was, I think I was a [size] 6. I was like a little thing. And, somehow, in me I was just like, “Well, that seems crazy. That seems nuts.”

I was like, “I think you’re working out of your studio. Maybe you’re not the most business-savvy either.” I don’t know where that came from. Now at 48, I was like, I’m so glad I said it. It was probably a fluke.

But I remember just being in there and being, like, “I’m not going come back and sit in your bedroom to talk about why I’m not going to work, so see you later.” I think that stopped me from looking for representation for a long time. I thought, “I’ll just submit myself for plays.”

Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Photo by Mary Cybulski)

A lot of people are talking about how different “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” is from your other movies. Can you talk about how different you are from the real Lee Israel, who was a bitter, depressed person who liked cats more than people?

I’ve had up to 30 cats.

Up to 30 cats at one time?

Yes. I’ve had 25 to 30 cats rush [up to] a car, and it would actually scare people. It was like a horror movie. People would have [cat] litters, and nobody would adopt them. And that’s how you end up with 30 cats outside.

There was a lot, energy-wise and social-wise, that Lee is different from me. But Michelle Darnell [the character McCarthy played in “The Boss”] and her harshness were also so abrupt, but a different energy. It’s fist-forward for her. I see similarities for them: Shove first before you’re shoved.

But certainly, the inward quality of Lee was fascinating to play. Instead of verbally responding, to know that Lee would probably just sit and watch and wait for that person to leave. Certainly, verbally she could have always come up with a line and a quip, and she often did, but it was interesting to change that pacing and timing, and direct it inward and wait someone out.

Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Photo by Mary Cybulski)

Can you talk about getting into costume for the Lee Israel character?

It’s a bit of Tetris of what will fit. One of my favorite things was when things didn’t fit right. I was like, “Leave it.” Like It shouldn’t fit, it’s 15 years old. She’s probably not the exact same shape, size, from age, from whatever it is. I did love that, because you don’t get that in a movie very often, where you let the bad fit kind of ride. It always helps.

When it all clicks in, I feel like, “Now I know the gait. Now I know the walk.” I kept thinking of it as her armor—her cashmere and tweed armor—but once it got on, I really felt the weight of her. The [clothes] were heavy. I just had things of a certain weight on me at all times. I thought she really feels weighted.

Marielle Heller and Melissa McCarthy on the set of “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Photo by Mary Cybulski)

What did you know about Lee Israel before doing this movie? And what attracted you to the role?

I didn’t know her story. And it bothered me that I didn’t. I felt like I should have. What attracted me was, first of all, it’s a fascinating story. It’s not even the area that you’d expect a crime to happen. You don’t expect that type of person to end up with the FBI after them. And it’s not like she’s smuggling drugs; it is for literary forgeries. I know it’s a crime. She’s grifting people, for sure.

I think especially now, I loved how she did not require anyone to tell her what she was. I think we’re in a current state where people really need people to validate who they are. “How was my vacation? Do you like me if I went to this party?” They need the reflection of others to see themselves.

I don’t think like that, and I love that Lee just didn’t need it. She was going to be who she was going to be, even when it made it much more difficult for her. I find that a really attractive quality. Even when it’s slightly unpleasant, I still admire it.

Dolly Wells and Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Photo by Mary Cybulski)

As an artist, how do you view the limitations of talent versus the business side of art?

It’s a very current issue, and it’s a constant issue. Lee was an incredible writer. That was she did. It was the only things she did. And to suddenly be told that you are no longer valid, that you’ve come to a certain age, and you’ve become obsolete. Her writing was still good, but she was a woman of a certain age. She wasn’t adaptable. She had no flexibility to go out and get a different job, or go out on an interview and charm someone. That was not going to happen. We see it in the film. That was accurate to her life. She couldn’t do anything else. And she wasn’t a people person, to say the least.

And I was thinking, “What would any of us do if we lost our one means to survive?” She was on welfare at one point. She was going to lose her apartment. She was going to be homeless. It’s not like she had a bunch of friends that were going to take her in.

And at a certain age, instead of being revered, like, “Oh my gosh, you have 30 years of experience! How amazing,” it’s “What about that 20-year-old?” or “What about that person who’s more fun at the party?” It certainly doesn’t make that person a better writer or artist or fill in the blanks of whatever you may be. But it’s strange that more experience means you’ve become outdated. I find that very strange.

Dolly Wells, director Marielle Heller and Melissa McCarthy on the set of “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Photo by Mary Cybulski)

What did you learn about that era of New York City?

That era of New York is my New York. I moved here when I was 20. I lived here from 1990 to 1997. So, to me, it’s the most magical time. I loved it. I came from a little farm town, so the grit [of New York City] and people working four jobs [appealed to me]. We [my roommates and I] lived three in a studio, but we had a Manhattan apartment. And it all seemed magical, like going to Alphabet City and saying, “There’s a party on B [Street]. Do we risk it? Yes!” Now, it’s like $2 million studio apartments. I’m like, “What?”

I don’t understand the current New York. It’s not mine, so I take maybe unreasonable ownership of those ‘90s, and it was everything to me. It’s not the shiny walk through Central Park New York that you so often see in movies and films, which is beautiful and I love.

But I think [“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”] is a really great glimpse into really living in New York and to be part of the city that you’re tethered to in a different way.  We’re not always strolling through the park. It’s the real pulse of it. I think recreating that, I felt pretty overwhelmed a couple of times. I never thought I’d get to have that back.

Marielle Heller and Melissa McCarthy on the set of “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Photo by Mary Cybulski)

What inspired you to move to New York?

I just wanted something different. We went to a Chinese restaurant on the outskirts of Chicago when I was a kid, and I heard theme music. It was the most exotic thing I had ever seen in my entire life. My dad, who’s from the South Side of Chicago, said, “We moved out to a farm to keep you out of the city, and you literally had a magnet [to go to a big city]. Once you hit a certain age, the fascination was unreasonable.”

I moved to New York having never been there [before]. I don’t think I was on a plane until I was 19. I had $35 when I landed at LaGuardia [Airport], which was not the smartest move. I mean, thank God it was based on no good thinking, or I never would have done it. I just showed up, and I thought, “This should be easy. Then I was like, “What am I doing? Oh my God, I have no money!” I was sharing a bagel a day with somebody, and I just started collecting jobs.

Richard E. Grant and Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Photo by Mary Cybulski)

Lee and Jack both happen to be gay. How do you think having that in common affected their friendship?

People were not rushing out to help [the LGBTQ community]. We still have a ways to go, but [homosexuality] is not accepted as it is now. In my heart, I think it was just two people who were on the outside. It was one more slice of the pie of their loneliness, their isolation.

They were both kind of desperate. I think they were both people who probably couldn’t go back to their families. It was just one more element to why these two very unlikely people colliding into each other and why it worked.

Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Photo by Mary Cybulski)

Lee’s career downfall was partially due to her having writer’s block, but a deeper issue was that she was locked into this idea that she could only be a biographer, and she didn’t want to go out of her comfort zone. Considering her knack for making things up, she would have made a great fiction writer. As a writer yourself, can you talk about being put in certain category and going outside of your comfort zone?

We love to categorize people. I agree with you. I thought so many times, “Boy, I would’ve just loved to have heard her roll out a fictional story. It would’ve been so funny and have a bite to it, for sure. This is my opinion, and how I think I run parallel to Lee: I love what I do because I do it via someone else. Maybe it’s the coward’s way.

I don’t want to play a person who’s really similar to myself. I don’t know how to do it. I actually feel like I don’t have the skills to, in a scene, figure out what I would do. Through someone else, I’m much more assertive or vulnerable when I get to wear the cloak of someone else.

And I feel like Lee did the exact same thing. I feel like we had the ability to channel through people. So doing biographies was her way of always having someone kind of shield her. She was at her best kind of standing behind someone else.

Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Photo by Mary Cybulski)

People know you for comedy, so how do you think your comedy-loving fans will react to you in this role?

I didn’t pick it or fall in love with it for any different reason from anything else that I do. I loved the character of Lee and the story. And when I read the script, I thought, “This is something that doesn’t come around [that often].

When I first read it, [my husband] Ben had the part first when [the movie] was in its original incarnation, which fell apart, as movies do. I read it because he was doing the part that he ended up playing. I read the script in record time, and I said, “This is unbelievable.” I said, “I don’t know why, but I think I love this woman. She shouldn’t be so endearing, but she is.”

And I just kept talking about it. And when it didn’t work out, I couldn’t let it go. I wanted to see the movie, and I thought, “Well, somebody has to do that [role]. It’s too good, and it’s fascinating. Who’s going to do it?”

And weeks later [I was still talking about it], and [Ben] was like, “Oh my God! Let it go!” It really bothered me that her story wasn’t going to be told. So I wormed my way into Ben’s movie. I was just like, “I feel like I have a connection to her that doesn’t happen very often.”

Mari [Heller] came in [to working on the movie] almost at the same time. We just had the same gut feeling about the tone and how we wanted to tell it, and it all then came together really quickly.

Anytime I take something, no matter how it does or how it plays, I’ve been lucky enough to have loved the people I’ve played. Once I really lock on to a person, I feel really responsible to tell their story.

Melissa McCarthy and Jane Curtin in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Photo by Mary Cybulski)

If Lee were alive today, what questions would you ask her? And what advice would you give her to be a happier person?

She wouldn’t [ask for my advice]. She’d probably tell me to stop talking. I’ve often said, “I wonder how annoyed Lee would be with me, because I would ask her a lot of questions.” I would have loved to have met her.

There are so many stories from [producers] David Yarnell and Anne Carey, who knew her for many years. David knew her for 20 years. He’s actually the reason why she wrote the memoir. He says she was such a pain in the butt because she did not want to write it. She did not want to write about herself.

As in Lee’s fashion, everything about it was difficult. She finally wrote it, and it was great thing for her, but it took a long time. Anne Carey knew her for 10 years. That’s where I got all my Lee stories from.

Do you think that your role in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” is the best acting you’ve done so far?

I certainly loved every minute of doing it. There was a very solid feeling. Every single person who came into this little movie … it felt different. It felt like we were in this bubble floating through Manhattan and getting away with something or existing in this alternate universe. I never want to start ranking [my work]. I’d go insane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHgCxSlELVw

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