Glen Powell is a disguised college football player in ‘Chad Powers’ 1st look

August 23, 2024

Hulu

A first look at Glen Powell starring in the new half-hour comedy series Chad Powers was released on Thursday, featuring a photo of Powell with a mop-top haircut decked out in football gear.

The series coming to Hulu, which has officially started production, has an executive producing team that includes former NFL stars Peyton and Eli Manning, Powell and Loki veteran writer Michael Waldron.

The release also noted that the show is based on a sketch that originally aired on ESPN+’s Eli’s Places series, in which Eli explored various college football scenes across the country.

Powell, who has been featured in a streak of several high-budget films in recent years, including Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You, Twisters and Hit Man, co-wrote the pilot with Waldron.

The Manning brothers are no strangers to entertainment, hosting ESPN’s Manningcast, a Monday Night Football broadcast of Peyton and Eli Manning.

Disney, the parent company of ABC News, is the majority owner of Hulu.

‘Shōgun’ and ‘The Crown,’ ‘The Bear’ and ‘Only Murders’: A look ahead to Sunday night’s 76th Emmy Awards

Anna Sawai, Hiroyuki Sanada in Shōgun — FX/Katie Yu

ABC is presenting the 76th annual Emmy Awards on Sunday, hosted by Eugene Levy and his son, Dan Levy — Schitt’s Creek Emmy winners both and the first father-son duo to host the show.

FX’s Shōgun leads the pack for drama with 25 nominations, while another FX show, The Bear, leads the comedy category with 23 — despite the fact that pretty much nobody, except apparently the Television Academy, thinks the series is a comedy.

Shōgun is already a big winner: It led the recent Creative Arts Emmys with 14 wins, including Outstanding Guest Actor in a drama for Nestor Carbonell. In fact, its performance broke Game of Thrones‘ record for the most Emmys won by a show in a single year.

In the drama category, the series is up for more trophies with awards-night mainstay The Crown; the acclaimed video game adaptation Fallout; Mr. and Mrs. Smith; The Gilded Age; The Morning Show; Slow Horses; and the sci-fi book adaptation 3 Body Problem.

As for comedy, The Bear is in a cook-off against previous winners Abbott Elementary, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Hacks, in addition to Palm Royale, What We Do in the Shadows, Reservation Dogs and Only Murders in the Building.

The Bear also sizzled at the Creative Arts Emmys, taking seven, including one for Outstanding Guest Actress for Jamie Lee Curtis.

The 76th Emmys could see some records set, too. According to factoids compiled by VegasInsider.com, if he takes home a trophy Sunday night, Robert Downey Jr., nominated for playing three roles on HBO’s The Sympathizer, could be the first actor ever to win an Oscar, a Daytime Emmy and a Primetime Emmy in the same year.

Abbott Elementary star and creator Quinta Brunson could become the first Black actress to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category two times. But if Selena Gomez bags her first-ever acting trophy for Only Murders In The Building, she could be just the second Latina performer to win in that category, after America Ferrera.

Nicole Kidman misses Venice Film Festival award, returns to Australia after mother’s death

Janelle and Nicole Kidman in 2003 – Peter Carrette Archive/Getty Images

Nicole Kidman arrived at the Venice Film Festival in Italy on Sept. 7, only to turn around and head back home to Australia when she learned that her mother had passed away.

Janelle Ann Kidman had been in poor health since at least 2022, according to interviews the Oscar winner gave at the time, but the death of Kidman’s mother was evidently unexpected. She was 84.

Kidman announced her mother’s passing via her director Halina Reijn, who accepted Kidman’s Best Actress award at the festival for her work in the film Babygirl. According to video shot by Deadline, Reijn quoted the star saying, “Today, I arrived in Venice to find out shortly after, that my beautiful, brave mother Janelle Ann Kidman has just passed.”

At this, there was an audible gasp from the crowd.

“I am in shock and I have to go to my family,” Kidman’s statement continued.

Reijn continued to quote Kidman’s statement; in it, the actress said of her mother: “This award is for her. She shaped me, she guided me and she made me. I’m beyond grateful that I get to say her name to all of you through Halina. The collision of life and art is heartbreaking, and my heart is broken.”

Filmmaker Brady Corbet, who took the podium next to accept his Silver Lion award for his film The Brutalist, expressed his condolences to Kidman and her family.

“I don’t like fame”: HBO drops trailer to new documentary ‘Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes’

HBO

One of Hollywood’s most iconic leading ladies, Elizabeth Taylor, takes center stage in a new HBO Original documentary, a trailer for which just dropped.

Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes debuts Aug. 3 and “allows Elizabeth Taylor’s own voice to narrate her story, inviting audiences to rediscover not just a mega star of Hollywood’s Golden Age but a complex woman who navigated lifelong fame, personal identity, and public scrutiny on a global stage from early childhood.”

Taylor died in 2011 at 79 years old.

The network continues, “Through newly recovered interviews with Taylor and unprecedented access to the movie star’s personal archive, the film reveals the complex inner life and vulnerability of the Hollywood legend while also challenging audiences to recontextualize her achievements and her legacy.”

Taylor is heard via recently unearthed audio from a 1964 interview, and director Nanette Burstein also had “extraordinary access to personal photos, home movies, archival interviews, and news footage.” The project is “illustrated with clips from the iconic roles that mirror her real-life challenges and triumphs.”

The Lost Tapes “offers an unprecedented window into the life of a woman who defied the era’s expectations, ultimately found peace within herself, and who cemented her legacy by turning the tables on her own fame by becoming a fierce activist and advocate for the LGBTQ community.”

Alongside Elizabeth Taylor, the documentary features the voices of Debbie Reynolds, Richard Burton, Roddy McDowall, George Hamilton, and others who knew and worked with the star.