Richard Gadd, Jamie Bell to star in HBO/BBC series ‘Half Man’
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Richard Gadd’s follow-up project to Baby Reindeer is taking shape.
Gadd is confirmed to star in the HBO/BBC series Half Man alongside actor Jamie Bell. The series follows estranged “brothers” Niall, played by Bell, and Ruben, played by Gadd.
It will cover the ups and downs of Niall and Ruben’s relationship over the course of 40 years. The show kicks off with Ruben making a surprise appearance at Niall’s wedding, which leads to a violent altercation that sends the viewer back throughout their lives.
“I am delighted to confirm I will be playing Ruben in the newly crowned Half Man for the BBC / HBO alongside the incomparable Jamie Bell,” Gadd, who created and will executive produce the show, says in a statement. “When I wrote the show, I did it with him in mind, never thinking for a second we would manage to land him. So I could not be happier for everything that has come to pass in getting him on board.”
Bell adds, “I’m so excited to join this incredible creative team. Richard has once again crafted something poignant and singular. I’m honored to have been asked to bring this to life with him.”
If you’re a Friends fan, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood has just made some holiday plans for you.
In celebration of the sitcom’s 30th birthday, the tour is bringing back one of its fan-favorite traditions: Friendsgiving. Bookings are now available for you to get your seat at the table.
“This special event offers fans the ultimate opportunity to celebrate the beloved show with a unique behind-the-scenes tour and themed holiday dining at the location where the show was originally filmed!” the ad copy announces.
Highlights include a Friendsgiving holiday meal at the iconic fountain where the opening credits were shot. There are even vegetarian and gluten-free options for the Phoebe in your group.
Just remember to wear your Thanksgiving pants, like Joey did.
There’s also a 90-minute Friends-themed studio tour where fans can visit iconic locations, including the studio in which the show was shot. The tour will also include trivia contests and exclusive clips of the show’s stars.
For the sake of your Insta feed, there will also be a costume display where you can take photos of screen-used costumes from the show, and you can “sip character-inspired drinks at Central Perk Café” — and naturally there is exclusive Friends merch to be had at the boutique.
The event will be open Nov. 8 through Nov. 10; Nov. 15 through Nov. 17; Nov. 21 through Nov. 24; and Nov. 29 through Nov. 30.
Kris Kristofferson, the singer, songwriter and actor whose songs were among the most admired not just in country but music in general, has died, according to a post on his official Facebook. He was 88.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the news our husband/father/grandfather, Kris Kristofferson, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 28 at home,” reads the message. “We’re all so blessed for our time with him. Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all.”
Kristofferson’s resume was eclectic: Rhodes scholar, U.S. Army veteran, pilot, Golden Gloves boxer and award-winning actor. But it was his famous songs — including “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night” — that made him a music legend. No less a luminary than Bob Dylan was once quoted as saying about Kristofferson, “You can look at Nashville pre-Kris and post-Kris, because he changed everything.”
Born Kristoffer Kristofferson in the border town of Brownsville, Texas, on June 22, 1936, he earned a master’s from Oxford, moved to California, joined the Army and became a helicopter pilot — and began writing songs on the side. Inspired by Dylan, he rejected an Army assignment to teach literature at West Point and instead moved to Nashville.
After struggling for several years, and even working as a janitor at the same studio where Johnny Cash and Dylan recorded, Kristofferson got his break when established stars like Tom T. Hall, Ray Price, Roger Miller, Ray Stevens and Cash recorded his songs. Cash’s hit rendition of “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” helped it win the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year trophy in 1970, the same year Kristofferson released his debut solo album.
That album featured “Me and Bobby McGee,” which Janis Joplin recorded before her death in October 1970. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971 and is now known as her signature song.
In 1971, Kristofferson launched his acting career, and over the years he appeared in films like A Star Is Born, which won him a Golden Globe, and Semi-Tough, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, Lone Star and Blade.
In 1985, Kristofferson joined his old pal Johnny Cash in the supergroup The Highwaymen, which also included Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. He also continued his solo career and toured nonstop until 2020. He was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and won multiple Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.
When Nelson was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023, he advocated from the stage for Kristofferson’s induction, as well.
Kristofferson, who dated Joplin and once wed fellow singer Rita Coolidge, is survived by his wife, Lisa, as well as eight children from three marriages and seven grandchildren.
The arrest of Bad Boy Records head and hip-hop icon Sean “Diddy” Combs continues to reverberate throughout Hollywood, and Taye Diggs has now sounded off on the arrest of the person he says he once considered a hero.
In a three-count federal indictment, the music mogul faces charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and interstate transportation for prostitution. These charges threaten to end his entertainment empire and his freedom.
Combs was taken into custody Sept. 16 and confined at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal correctional facility.
On Thursday’s episode of Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson‘s Sibling Revelry podcast, Diggs said “all of it blindsided me.”
The stage and screen actor added, “He was a hero to me … he didn’t come from much, he started out as a dancer. All the things that I wasn’t growing up, he was.”
Diggs admitted, “So much confidence and a certain arrogance that I loved, and he made being Black cool. … He wore it like a badge.”
He continued, “I really put him on a pedestal and it was disappointing to see some of what happened. I couldn’t believe it. And I didn’t like that feeling.”
Taye tried to see a silver lining in the news. “On one side, I’m like, this is great for people to know that this happens: We can think life is to be lived a certain way, we can think a person is a certain way and they can be the exact opposite and get used to that, you know?”
Oliver noted, “If these allegations and the things are they’re saying are true, you know,” before sighing and saying, “People are sick.”
