Dame Maggie Smith, ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Downton Abbey’ star, dies at 89
Maggie Smith, the venerable British actress whose career on stage, film and television spanned more than 60 years, has died. She was 89.
Her sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, confirmed she had died in a statement to the Press Association.
Having appeared in more than 50 films, Smith was considered one of Britain’s best-known actresses and was beloved by recent generations for her roles as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films and the Dowager Countess of Grantham on television’s Downton Abbey.
In addition to winning two Academy Awards, Smith earned five BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards, three Golden Globes, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Tony Award. In 1990, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
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James Cameron is shedding a little more light on his upgrade to the Terminator franchise, which he launched as an upstart director with his smash 1984 original.
To Empire magazine, Cameron says you shouldn’t expect to see a retread of the same characters and canon.
“This is the moment when you jettison everything that is specific to the last 40 years of Terminator,” he says, “but you live by those principles.” So it seems like we’re not going to be seeing a now-77-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger as the old reliable cyborg, the T-800; Linda Hamilton has said the underperforming Terminator: Dark Fate would be her last go as humanity’s savior Sarah Connor.
Cameron continues of the old canon, “You get too inside it, and then you lose a new audience because the new audience care much less about that stuff than you think they do. That’s the danger … but I think we’ve proven that we have something for new audiences.”
That said, as real-life technology has grown exponentially since the 1984 original — and indeed its “far future,” 2029, is now just a few of years away — Cameron says an update is in order, though certain themes persist.
“You’ve got powerless main characters, essentially, fighting for their lives, who get no support from existing power structures, and have to circumvent them but somehow maintain a moral compass. And then you throw AI into the mix. Those principles are sound principles for storytelling today, right?”
He enthuses, “So I have no doubt that subsequent Terminator films will not only be possible, but they’ll kick a**. But this is the moment where you jettison all the specific iconography.”
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 seriesis 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.
Daisy Ridley has revealed that she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease back in September 2023.
Graves’ disease is an immune system condition that affects the thyroid gland, according to Mayo Clinic.
The Young Woman and the Sea actress tells Women’s Health in an interview published Tuesday that she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease after her doctor suggested she see an endocrinologist following bouts of hot flashes and fatigue after filming the psychological thriller Magpie.
“I thought, Well, I’ve just played a really stressful role; presumably that’s why I feel poorly,” she says.
When she described her symptoms, which included a racing heart rate, weight loss, fatigue and hand tremors, to the endocrinologist, he said they were consistent with Graves’, often referred to as “tired but wired.”
“It was funny, I was like, ‘Oh, I just thought I was annoyed at the world,’ but turns out everything is functioning so quickly, you can’t chill out,” says Ridley.
While there is no cure for Graves’ disease, Ridley is managing her symptoms with “a routine pattern of daily medication and a more mindful diet,” according to Women’s Health, including going gluten-free.
“I am not super strict about it, but generally cutting down on gluten makes me feel better,” says Ridley, who has also been vegan for year.
She’s working to pay attention to her body by slowing down and resting when necessary, as well as integrating things like infrared saunas, cryotherapy, massages and acupuncture into her routine.