‘Cruel Intentions’ series features new chapter for the cult classic: Watch trailer

Shrinking is back. The first two episodes of the Apple TV+ series are out now, and fans will once again be able to enjoy the love/hate relationship between Jason Segel’s grieving therapist character, Jimmy, and Harrison Ford’s grumpy fellow therapist, Paul. 

Segel tells ABC Audio that while Jimmy may get under Paul’s skin, there’s much more to their relationship.

“I feel like a lot of Jimmy and Paul’s dynamic is Paul sort of berating and being frustrated by Jimmy and Jimmy intentionally, like a child, trying to irritate Paul,” he says. “It is a very paternal dynamic between those two.”

And it seems both stars enjoy that dynamic, with Jason sharing, “I really enjoy irritating Harrison, and I think he really enjoys yelling at me.”

But the off-screen relationship between Segel and Ford is completely different.

“We’re actually — off camera — super, super supportive of each other,” he says. “We have like a very tender relationship in that I think that both of us care really deeply about the work being good.”

While Shrinking is a comedy, there are certainly plenty of dramatic moments, although even when those are happening, Jason is looking for the laugh.

“Even when we are given dramatic scenes in Shrinking, I make a point of trying to find like, yeah, but where’s the clumsy part?” he says. “Where is the part where someone gets being mad wrong a little bit?” 

He explains, “You know, like, do you ever get your dad mad … and he gets too mad for the occasion? You know, like, ‘Oh, look at him go. He’s really mad about that sandwich,’ you know?” 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Actor Jonathan Majors and his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari have agreed to resolve her civil claims that followed his misdemeanor assault conviction in New York, according to a court filing.

Majors and Jabbari stipulated to a dismissal of her lawsuit for defamation and assault that she brought against him in March, the filing said. A reason was not given.

Jabbari sued Majors about the same time he was sentenced to domestic violence intervention classes in April. She alleged he physically abused her and then defamed her by denying the assault in an interview with ABC News.

Majors was found guilty of one count of misdemeanor third-degree assault and one count of second-degree harassment, but was acquitted of two other counts of assault and aggravated harassment in a split verdict.

Since the verdict, Majors has been dropped from his management and PR firms. In addition, he was cut from future Marvel films and his role as Kang in Avengers: Kang Dynasty.

As part of his sentencing, Majors was ordered to complete a 52-week in-person batterers intervention program in Los Angeles, continue mental health counseling and stay away from Jabbari.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Nearly two and a half decades after the monumental film Gladiator hit theaters, acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott is returning the iconic Roman-era epic to the big screen with Gladiator II.

The film, starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen and more, is a Roman warrior story of redemption, family and nation, told on a scale big enough to match its preceding legacy.

In an interview with Good Morning America, the cast opened up about making the second installment of a classic, carrying on the Gladiator legacy and how Scott “built” Rome for the new film.

“We thought about it for 24 years — not every day, it was always there in the back of my mind,” Scott said of making the sequel. “But in that time, I did 17 other movies. Big ones. So, it really wasn’t an incredible challenge other than saying ‘It would be nice to get to it,’ And we finally got to it by sitting down at a table and saying, ‘Whatever happened to Lucius?'”

Enter: Mescal as Lucius, the son of Maximus — the main character from Gladiator, played by Russell Crowe.

Mescal undoubtedly had big boots to fill, succeeding Crowe as the leading man in the sequel. According to two-time Oscar winner Washington, who plays Macrinus in the new film, Mescal was more than able to carry the staggering legacy of Crowe’s character.

“First of all, he pulls it off,” said Washington. “I can only imagine the pressure he must have felt coming behind Russell 25 years later.”

Despite that pressure, Mescal made clear his dominant feeling was one of excitement. “Obviously there was a nervousness attached to it and concern because you care about the work that you do,” he said. “But the predominant thing was one of getting ready to go — and excited about it, to be honest.”

Scott’s Rome, which he built with production designer Arthur Max, featured more than 500 extras filling rows in a replica Colosseum that reached a third of the original structure’s actual size.

“I’d never been on sets like that,” said Washington, explaining the scope of the production. “They built Rome, basically.”

Mescal said actors on Scott’s set are immersed in the world of Gladiator — barring the cameras of course, though he was sure to note that Scott even dresses up the camera operators in costume.

“It is a total, total gift,” said Mescal of the elaborate set design. “You walk onto set, and if you can’t act in that environment, I don’t think this job is for you.”

Gladiator II premieres in the U.S. on Nov. 22.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.