Road to the Oscars 2025: All about Sunday’s broadcast

Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard is speaking out on Karla Sofía Gascón‘s offensive posts amid the backlash that his lead actress has recently received.

In an interview with Deadline published Wednesday, Audiard condemned Gascón’s tweets, which contained Islamophobic, racist and other offensive remarks on a wide range of topics.

“It’s very hard for me to think back to the work I did with Karla Sofía,” Audiard began. “The trust we shared, the exceptional atmosphere that we had on the set that was indeed based on trust.”

He continued, “And when you have that kind of relationship and suddenly you read something that that person has said, things that are absolutely hateful and worthy of being hated, of course that relationship is affected. It’s as if you fall into a hole. Because what Karla Sofía said is inexcusable.”

Audiard said he hasn’t spoken to Gascón since her comments resurfaced.

“I don’t want to,” he said. “She is in a self-destructive approach that I can’t interfere in, and I really don’t understand why she’s continuing. Why is she harming herself? Why? I don’t understand it, and what I don’t understand about this too is why she’s harming people who were very close to her.”

“I’m thinking in this thing of how hurting others, of how she’s hurting the crew and all these people who worked so incredibly hard on this film,” he added. “I’m thinking of myself, I’m thinking of Zoe [Saldaña] and Selena [Gomez]. I just don’t understand why she’s continuing to harm us.”

Audiard continued, “I’m not getting in touch with her because right now she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions.”

Emilia Pérez earned 13 Oscar nominations, including best picture. Audiard is nominated for best director for the film, as well as best adapted screenplay. Gascón is nominated for best actress. She is also the first openly trans actor to earn an Oscar nomination.

Good Morning America has reached out to a representative for Gascón, Audiard and Netflix.

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John Lithgow said he will play Dumbledore in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series.

Lithgow said he will play the beloved wizard in a Monday interview with ScreenRant, saying the decision is “going to define me for the last chapter of my life.”

The Conclave actor said the casting “came as a total surprise,” adding that the decision to take up the role in the new HBO series did not come easy.

“I just got the phone call up at the Sundance Film Festival for yet another film, and it was not an easy decision, because it’s going to define me for the last chapter of my life, I’m afraid,” said Lithgow. “But I’m very excited.”

“Some wonderful people are turning their attention back to Harry Potter,” he added.

Speaking to the potential length of the commitment, the six-time Emmy winner said, “That’s why it’s been such a hard decision. I’ll be about 87 years old at the wrap party, but I’ve said yes.”

HBO has not confirmed the casting.

The network said in a statement to Good Morning America Tuesday it “appreciate[s] that such a high-profile series will draw a lot of rumor and speculation. As we make our way through pre-production, we will only confirm details as we finalize deals.”

Dumbledore was played by Richard Harris in the first two movies of the Harry Potter film franchise, with Michael Gambon stepping in to play the Hogwarts headmaster in the remaining projects following Harris’ death in October 2002. Jude Law portrayed Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts films.

Max officially announced the new Harry Potter series in 2023, stating in a press release at the time that the show would “feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail, much loved characters and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over twenty-five years.”

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Last Breath, a new movie starring Finn Cole, Simu Liu and Woody Harrelson, plunges into theaters Friday. The film chronicles the incredible true story of Chris Lemons, a man who survived for more than 30 minutes on the ocean floor with almost no oxygen.

Last Breath is directed by Alex Parkinson, who co-directed a 2019 documentary of the same name. That movie depicts a crew of saturation divers in the North Sea, off the coast of Scotland, who are tasked with doing some repairs in the Huntington oil field.

Saturation, or SAT, divers live in pressurized underwater crafts for weeks at a time.

“I love movies that teach me something, you know, about a weird part of the world or a weird job that nobody really knows about,” Liu tells ABC Audio.

Lemons was cut off from his oxygen supply when a storm knocked his crew’s ship off course while he was underwater, forcing him to survive on just one oxygen tank. That tank was thought to be good for about five minutes of breathing. He survived, unconscious, for more than 35 minutes. A few weeks after the ordeal, Lemons and his crew returned to the seafloor to finish the job they’d started.

Cole says the documentary was instrumental in his understanding of SAT diving and of his character, Chris Lemons. Also helpful? Meeting the divers in person.

“Meeting the guys was just, like, so interesting for me — being able to ask them all the dumb questions and all the crazy kind of existential questions. It’s cool,” Cole says.

Much of the film takes place in claustrophobic environments, like the helmet of a diver’s suit.

“It’s a massive challenge — probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to do,” says Cole.

“Acting in this little space,” says Harrelson, gesturing to a nearby SAT diver helmet. “Demanding!”

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